North Node it! Step outside your comfort zone and point your compass to your calling!
The Lunar Nodes in our natal chart hold a lot of insights on the lessons we have chosen to take on this lifetime. These are not planetary bodies; rather, where the Moon’s orbit around the Earth crosses the Earth’s orbit around the Sun. The North and South Nodes lie opposite in the zodiac, with the North Node being the direction of our path. Aries, Libra. Taurus, Scorpio. Capricorn, Cancer. Understanding these signs as pairs on the axis sheds light on both signs through their yin/yang energetics.
South Node
The South Node is our foundation, what we have built in the past. It’s what we are comfortable and familiar with. Here we can find our patterns, including unhealthy habits and emotional wounds. Under stress, we tend to fall back on the energetics of our South Node. We see these behaviours and strategies as what has worked in the past, leading us to believe this is where our security lies. That is an illusion. The key is to integrate the wisdom learned from our South Node experiences on our journey towards the North Node.
North Node
The North Node indicates the direction of our life lessons, path, and calling. This is our potential, what is new for us to explore. Because it feels out of our depths, we may deny it early in life. It takes courage to step out. We may not feel this pull until after our Saturn Return (around age 28) and even closer to our Chiron Return (around age 50). There is a longing that comes from our South Node and at some point, we realize that fulfilling our potential is the way to answer this longing. If we refuse to walk that way – to follow our life force, life shows up as resistance, leading us to contemplate the meaning of life, and our place in the big picture. The knocking on our door that begins as an inkling, intuition, a whisper gets louder as we refuse our destiny. All of us are ultimately here to walk our path and shine.
Exploring the Lunar Nodes
Look to the sign and the house placements of your Lunar Nodes. A fantastic resource is Jan Spiller’s Astrology for the Soul.
Remember we each are unique and have our own path. To appreciate our own and others’ North Node expressions requires that we release conditioned thinking. For example, with North Node in Aries, an individual is here to explore their own expression, needs, and desires. It is correct for them to be assertive and to focus on themselves, even while society may judge this in a negative light, as egotistical and selfish.
With their South Node in Libra, this individual comes from past experiences of relating to others, how to be fair and considerate. Relationships with others have been a primary focus in their childhood or past life, and relationships continues to be longing for them. This longing can give rise to unhealthy patterns. They may, for example, put aside their own needs in order to connect with other people. Often they avoid conflict and confrontation, even if it means doing so at their own expense.
Now it is time for these Aries North Node folks to honour their needs. Their longing to be with other people becomes fulfilled when they are able to first connect with themselves in a honest and authentic way. When we take care of ourselves, only then can we be available to show up fully for others. Through a deep connection to ourselves, we can be more compassionate and understanding of others. With self acceptance, we can come to accept other people as well.
Planets with your Nodes
You can also look to see if there are any planetary placements in the signs of your Nodes. For example, if you have your Sun in the same sign of your North Node, there is additional energetic support to discover and fulfill your potential. This is enhanced when there are no planets with your South Node.
Personal planets with your North Node can help dissipate some of the unfamiliarity and discomfort of the newness of your calling, versus the comfort and the past achievement associated with your South Node.
North Nodes on the Angles
If your North Node is on one of the four angles of your natal chart or conjunct the cusp of those houses, you may feel more energized towards your North Node. These are action and activity houses, the cardinal energies.
Other Considerations
When there are planets with the South Node, especially when there are none with the North Node, additional work is called for to move towards our calling. The releasing here is however a source of tremendous wisdom and strength and is worth the focus.
The energies of the North Node may be less accessible if it is intercepted (locked inside a house) or if there is a planet squaring it. To discover if there is a square, see if there are planets three signs away in both directions. Research the archetype of these planets to understand where our deeper lessons lie and how to move through the blocks manifesting through the square.
North Node It!
We have chosen these conditions for our incarnation, for consciousness to evolve through us. We have experienced different and likely all aspects of the spectrum. Understanding this allows us to have greater compassion for ourselves and our brothers and sisters on this journey. We’ve all been on both sides of the moral wrong and right.
In these interesting and fast-changing times, we may be wondering WTH is going on and how to move forward. Perhaps looking at your natal chart and contemplating your Lunar Nodes can provide insights as to where to focus your energies and to release unhealthy patterns that we have been using to satisfy our longings. When in doubt, believe in the foundation you have built via your South Node, and take a quantum leap. North Node it!
This article contains affiliate links. Should you choose to purchase through these links, you are also supporting What Therapy’s work and we thank you.
