The Lunar Nodes

Vectors of Our Destiny

The human being, possessor of an immortal soul, comes back to earth, each time in a new incarnation, with the goal of pursuing his evolution. Therefore, his essence within an isolated incarnation is neither a common fact nor a static phenomenon, but a dynamic process.

Each soul has its own path, its unique mission, its destiny; for each soul an exclusive program is intended, as well as individual lessons and tests. We all are equals before God, in the sense that the rules are the same for everyone at the school of life: the soul expands its consciousness through the sphere of earthly experience, often painfully so, overcoming obstacles, making detours, sometimes finding itself in an impasse, until it finds its way to truth.

The Supreme Being has never left Man to himself, condemned to wander without understanding what to do, not knowing how to live or what direction to take. Throughout the history of mankind, moral laws have been received, in the form of commandments, through enlightened people and spiritual revelations. But it is not our one and only clue: in our lives, we often meet people who show us the direction, in an obvious manner or sometimes more subtly so. The Absolute uses various ways to communicate what it expects from us, we just have to be able to read the signs on our way.

How can astrology help us in this search, as the objective and accurate tool for the assessment of our level of self-development?

In the birth chart of each person is encrypted the axis of her destiny. This axis determines life lessons and unavoidable situations of destiny. It is determined by the position of the Lunar Nodes, from the South to the North Node, from the descending Node towards the ascending one.

The Lunar Nodes are two points of intersection between the lunar and terrestrial orbits. They are formed during the passage of the Moon from the southern hemisphere to the northern hemisphere. The Nodes slowly rotate around the Earth, clockwise, and make a complete revolution in 18.5 years. In the horoscope, they are always positioned in opposite signs of the Zodiac. For example, if the North Node is in Aries, the South Node will always be in Libra, the sixth sign after Aries, and so on. Approximately every two and a half years, the position of the Lunar Nodes in the signs changes.

The position of the South Node (the descending Node, or Ketu), is also called the Dragon’s tail. Its position in a sign and a house of the birth chart helps in determining the innate characteristics of a person, her abilities, talents and traits, all these things that manifests easily and effortlessly, naturally and unconsciously, since they were acquired in the previous incarnation. The South Node is the key to the deepest layers of our psychology; it describes the most entrenched patterns of our reactions. If we rely on these familiar reactions too much, we will find ourselves in an internal impasse. It is because the South “pole” of the chart is the path of least resistance (it is the way water flows from the top of a mountain to its foot). And when energy is not flowing into the desirable pole, from an evolutionary point of view, it inevitably accumulates in the opposite pole.

A person loses huge opportunities for evolution if she remains in this state and resists the necessity to go forward in her evolutionary path, a pathway which requires efforts, made ​​in a new direction. But one should not sacrifice what was given to him at birth, but should rather use it as a strength and advantage. The new direction is indicated by the North Node (Rahu, or the ascending Node), which is also called the Dragon’s head. It tells Man how he can take advantage of the opportunities offered to him by his destiny.

The position of the North Node determines the type of behavior and reactions to adopt preferably in moments of external challenges, the behavior that can open new paths and help a person solve her problems. Here we’re talking about new actions to undertake, new talents to develop, the goals to which a person should aspire and the difficult steps on the path towards their achievement. The North Node defines the true mission of a person, the way to move forward in her spiritual evolution. It characterizes our attitude towards the future and towards everything that is unfamiliar to us.

In the periods when we turn 18-19, 37-38, 56-57 and 74-75 years old, the Lunar Nodes return to their initial positions. These are key moments in one’s life, as they force a person to evaluate and reconsider her life experiences, to find the causes of her successes and failures. They provide an opportunity for adjusting one’s plans for the future based on the past results. These are critical and sometimes fatal years.

The age of 18-19 years old is the time when the first effects of the integration of the North Node manifest themselves. The person begins an independent life, and this time is marked by the painful psychological transition from childhood to adulthood.

The period from 37 to 38 years old marks the principal test of maturity. It is a time of deep crisis and internal restructuring. This period is characterized mainly by such events as the first adulteries, attempts to marry again, by weight gain or weight loss, by the loss of a job or the search for a new one… One’s whole life is undergoing radical changes, objectives evolve, new goals and new tastes appear, one meets new partners… It is also an age characterized by statistical peaks in deaths, when a lot of young people die, even though they were healthy and at the height of their life and talents…

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Why does this happen? Whether we want it or not, whether we are conscious of it or not, we must often solve problems of a cosmic nature rather than personal problems, and that regardless of our abilities or what we do in life. That is why we so often see, for example, an astronaut suddenly becoming a preacher, a doctor becoming a writer, a journalist becoming a parapsychologist, or the son of a lawyer getting involved in politics. We fight for love – and it suddenly seems to be a burden; we receive an education – and we fail to apply it in real life; we acquire wealth – and we lose it in a day; we improve our health – and we die in an accident. All these unforeseen events are the working of the Lunar Nodes.

But here we are not talking about making a categorical choice between two directions: the South Node or the North Node. It is very important not to go into extremes but rather to find a balance, because it is balance that will make a person evolve. If the balance is upset in an exclusive pursuit of the future, the person rejects the experience of the past, burning bridges behind her and ultimately losing all stable grounds. Losing his grounds, one also loses the vision of the appropriate direction to follow.

If the balance is disturbed in favor of an attachment to the past, the person refuses to accept changes, wants everything in her life to go according to patterns established in the past, a time during which she was finding her way more easily. This is a natural attachment, since these are patterns with which the person feels confident, but it blocks her evolution. She then starts to go around in circles.

Ideally, one would establish a balance between the two Nodes, because this balance brings quality of life and general well-being. But if this balance is not found, the person will live in the past, or will constantly be thinking about tomorrow. The question is: is a particular event a reflection of old and familiar situations, or is it a sign of new and unexplored situations?

It is a real art to be able to live the present day and to know which of our actions are related to our past. Similarly, it is also a big challenge to identify actions that will affect our future, and to be aware of how they will influence it. This art is definitely the heritage of wise people, but our life is given to us so that we can acquire wisdom!

Thus, a unique model for our way of life and our mission can be deciphered in the position of the Lunar Nodes in signs and houses of our birth chart, as well as in aspects they form with the real planets and the angles of the chart.

The table of the Lunar Nodes in the signs of the Zodiaz

In the left column of the table, you can find the period that includes the date of your birth. In the right column, in front of this period, is situated the Lunar Nodes pairing corresponding to your chart. For example, if you were born on the 19.12.1955, a date situated between the 04/02.1955 and the 10.04.1956, the position of the Lunar Nodes linked to your birth is « Gemini – Sagittarius». In this pair, Gemini corresponds to the North Node, and Sagittarius to the South Node. You can find the general interpretation of the position of your Nodes by following this link.

By analyzing the position of the Nodes in the Signs, we first realize what the two opposite Signs have in common: they face the same questions but approach them from opposing positions. Then we consider the position of the North Node and the South Node on the axis: what are the best and most wonderful possible manifestations of the Sign in which is the South Node? How will the work with the North Node contribute to the harmonization and fruition of the potentials of the South Node? Finally, the position of the Nodes in houses shows in what areas of life we can expect to encounter, and assimilate, the lessons offered by a specific axis of the Nodes.

The symbolism of the Lunar Nodes described above is very generic and does not take into consideration the position of the Nodes in Houses, or their aspects. A deeper interpretation has to be in relation with the overall picture of your birth chart and your life. If you want to understand your personality better, to understand the underlying processes that influence your destiny, to be aware of the true causes of the events happening around you, know that it can be done effectively through an analysis of your birth chart during a personal astrological consultation.