Lunar Nodes in Astrology

The nodes of the moon are physical points of the moon’s orbit as related to the Earth. There is the North Node and South Node. Traditionally, the North Node represents your soul’s karmic mission, what you NEED to continue ascending the evolutionary spiral. The house and sign your North Node is in represent challenges and things that require effort. These are not areas of your life or character you can gloss over; the North Node will exert itself one way or another. The South Node represents that which you carry in from past incarnations, behaviors and tendencies so basic to your character that they are often subconsciously motivating your actions and feelings. The sign and house of your chart where your South Node falls represents stuff you “get away with,” stuff that you may not even realize you are doing.

I like to look at the nodes in charts because I feel there is always an intuitive jolt of recognition when someone takes a look at the sign and house where these points are located.

I have compiled some very good pages about this topic and present them to you here for your perusal at leisure 🙂

• Nodes of the Moon – Spiritual Life Lessons, via CafeAstrology.com
• South Node: The Point of Karmic Blowback, via North Bay Astrology
• North Node Is In…, a compilation of all the nodes in all the signs, via Depth Astrology
• The Moon’s Nodes in a Birth Chart, by Dane Rudhyar
• Moon’s Nodes in the Houses, by Marianne O’Hagan
• The Nodes of the Moon as Karmic Indicators, via MysticMarguerite.com
• The Nodal Axis, via EsotericOnline.net
• North Node Astrology: Rediscovering Your Life Direction and Soul Purpose, by Elizabeth Spring, who also maintains the great blog NorthNodeAstrology.com, which is all about such things

There’s a TON of resources online and in print about nodal astrology. The nodes also figure prominently in Vedic astrology.

I find the nodal axis fascinating and full of juicy info to unpack when looking at a chart. The nodes seem to indicate what an individual’s soul dilemma will be in an incarnation, and can indicate where a native is unconscious about his or her motivations (south node) and where the challenges which lead to soul evolution lie (north node).

The North and South Node – Aquarius/Leo

The Nodes of the Moon are two very important points in the interpretation of an astrology chart. There are probably millions of web pages, not to mention hundreds of books on the subject. But I just wanted to add my 2 cents here, specifically around my own nodal experiences using my own chart.

This astrologer writes a simple blog post on using the nodes in interpretation. The standard idea is South Node = karma, what you came into this life with, what you are “used to,” and what you can “get away with” or let others “get away with” and North Node = the soul’s purpose in this incarnation, the experiences the soul wants to have in this lifetime.

In addition to these ideas, I also find that the South Node represents behaviors and tendencies so deep in the subconscious that the native is unlikely to even be aware of them. These are the things you just do, without thinking: ways of being, doing, thinking, relating, problem-solving, etc. You can think of the South Node as what you came into this lifetime with: experiences, tendencies, and even perhaps deeply held memories.

The North Node, in addition to containing hints to what the soul wants in this lifetime is also a bit like a sign pointing to the areas where you will find the most spiritual growth. This is especially colored by the house placement.

Using my own chart as an example, my Aquarius North Node in the 6th house of service reinforces what I believe is my purpose in this lifetime: through service (yoga and healing) I can help bring about changes that affect humanity as a whole (an Aquarian theme). Look to where your North Node is, the sign and house placement. What are the themes of that sign? The house the North Node is in should give you a hint as to how to play out those themes. My North Node would be expressed differently if it were, say, in my 5th house of creativity or in my 2nd house of material possessions and values.

To borrow from Elizabeth Spring’s blog post I linked to above, the South Node contains the “gold of the shadow.” What are the positive elements of the sign in the South Node? Mine in Leo would point to warmth and gregariousness; its negative sides are over-indulgence in comforting things (food, shopping, sex) or a tendency to feel neglected if not the center of attention. Look for the “gold of the shadow” in your South Node to bring things from your past lives into this one. These may be tendencies so deep a part of you that you are unaware of them unless you look for them.

We can look at our Nodes are signs pointing the way. If we get stuck in our South Node comfort zones, we may never find our soul’s potential in this incarnation. Usually the North Node will be in a sign and placement that you instinctively say “yuck” to, but if you take the time to examine it, it should make sense. Nodal placements are gut-level, intuitive things, so don’t let that North Node scare you…move towards it and give your soul what it is asking for, for its own development.

Tibetan Yogis have been able to remember past lives and seek to achieve certain meditation techniques in present lifetimes so they can make an indelible mark on their mindstreams! If it is possible to know your past lives and think about your future ones in this lifetime, the Nodes become ever clearer guideposts!