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THE NODES OF THE MOON

by Brian Habit

NOTE: To find out where the nodes are in your birth chart, go to www.astro.com, enter your birth information, and print a free copy of your chart. Then find the "True Node." That's your North Node. The South Node (not shown) lies directly opposite the North Node, in the opposite sign and house.

Most of the key points in a person's birth chart are planets. Each of the planets corresponds to some physical body in our solar system. The Nodes of the Moon are unlike the planets in this respect. Rather than correspond to physical bodies, the Nodes relate to the Moon’s revolution around the Earth.

South Node in Virgo in the 4th House

Simply put, the South Node represents your past, and the North Node represents your future.

You came into the world marked by history, with a past. A series of causes and effects unfolded before you were born. We could think of the past in terms of genetics or reincarnation or both.

If we think of the past in the sense of our genetic inheritance, then the South Node symbolizes the impact that our ancestors have on us. Our genetic endowment ensures that we’ll have certain strengths and weakness.

If we think of the past in terms of reincarnation, then this life is one in a series of lives, and over the course of them, we develop awareness. We develop both productive and destructive tendencies. We bring these tendencies or karma into life with us. We can think of karma as cause and effect: past behavior affects the quality of one’s life—or lives—in the future.

It’s beyond the scope of astrology to determine whether reincarnation is an acceptable belief. Such a question falls within the purview of philosophy, or religion, or another type of belief system. However, whether we believe in reincarnation or not, we can say that the South Node represents the lingering influence of the past on the present.

The South Node represents the past and how it affects us, whether we talk about it in terms of the past lives of our ancestors or in terms of our own past lives. It indicates instinctive, automatic ways in which we act. It represents both positive and problematic potentials. The South Node’s house represents an area of activity to which we are effortlessly drawn. The South Node’s sign represents the attitudes or motivations that come naturally for us. These unconscious biases shape how we perceive our experiences.

Your South Node lies in Virgo, in your 4th house (the house of roots). Whether because of heredity or karma, you are automatically, instinctively adept in acting in Virgoan ways (facing specific facts squarely, with practicality, attention to detail, the ability to see yourself as you really are, and the ability to do the same with other people and the rest of the world). You also have a natural orientation toward the affairs of the 4th house—focusing on matters in your private life or on the home front. From the get-go, you take a Virgoan approach to 4th-house matters. In the process, you weed out the development of behaviors that clash with such an approach. You prevent them from developing. For example, it comes pretty naturally for you to appreciate the difference between the current state of your home or family life and how much better it could be, and to work to move it in that direction. No fuzzy-headed vague game plan, in that department of life, for you.

Now, if we don’t recognize our natural biases and stretch ourselves beyond them, then we get into a rut. We cover the same ground over and over and digging a hole for ourselves. We could take the easy way out and stick to South Node behaviors and pursuits. Based on experience, we know that if we act in certain ways, we’ll tend to get certain results pretty reliably. If we focus primarily on doing those things in our lives, we may seem successful because we’re such “naturals” at it. However, the victories that we win could feel very hollow. We might be successful in the world, but we also feel bored, unsatisfied, and empty.

The work of the South Node is all work that we’ve finished already. It’s behind us, not ahead of us. We’ve done everything we can in that department of our lives, and it’s time to move on to new assignments. The South Node indicates which of the qualities indicated elsewhere in the chart we have developed through experience.

Let’s look at some examples of the sorts of problems that you could run into if you focus on acting in South-Node kinds of ways. Focusing on the South Node means erring in terms of the 4th house and/or Virgo.

Anytime the South Node is in the 4th house, one risk is that a person will use her home not as an occasional haven in which to recharge but as a routine refuge from the world. If you do that, then you withdraw from your public life in the face of pain, disappointment, or sensitivity to criticism. Rather than subject yourself to the visibility of being in a “fishbowl” under public scrutiny, you stay close to the home front. You’re like a young woman who’s so crushed by not getting chosen in a singing audition that she spends days and days in bed. 

You could also hit a snag by going to one Virgoan extreme or another. At one extreme, you might act devoted to a relative or romantic partner to the point of being subservient. In that case, you tow the line faithfully, while the other person takes advantage of you. It’s as if you think, “If I just do ___ better, he’ll love me / she’ll show me some real respect.” Try as you might, however, the prize eludes you because the other person’s standards are impossibly high. His or her standards become a moving target, escalating higher and higher, and you only end up humiliated and exhausted. Maybe you’re raised in an overly disciplined, regimented family, or you go to work at an early age because your family struggles to make ends meet.

At the other Virgoan extreme, the roles are reversed. In that case, you measure your “clan” again some ideal standard, and you find it sorely lacking. For example, suppose you have Irish ethnicity in your background. Rather than coming to have a balanced appreciation of what it means to have such ethnic roots, you see it as something that’s largely negative. You’re embarrassed about where you came from. Or perhaps you act overly critical and rejecting toward one or more specific people in your family.     

Now let’s look at the point opposite your South Node--the North Node.

North Node in Pisces in the 10th House

The North Node represents the future to which we are drawn. It symbolizes the newest stage of our growth. Your North Node lies in Pisces, in the 10th house of public pursuits. It indicates which of the qualities indicated elsewhere in the chart that you’re developing through conscious effort, starting almost from scratch. You’re developing your public expression of your intuition, compassion, and imagination.

If we let ourselves experience our North Node, then we leave ourselves open to newness. With newness comes both awkwardness and excitement. We feel fascinated and anxious at the same time. After all, there’s not nearly the certainty that comes with South Node behaviors based on experience. With the North Node, all we’ve got is the uncertain future.

When you have experiences of a Piscean or 10th-house nature, they call into question your automatic assumptions about life. In other words, when situations call for you to listen to your gut, to act intuitively as you wield authority over others, you might feel lost at first. When circumstances demand that you take a visible stand, based on what feels right to you even though you can’t present a logical case for it, it can be disconcerting for you. When you have such experiences, you feel like you’re out of your element.  The unfamiliar is scary, at least at first.

If we first learn to recognize our natural biases and, secondly, decide to go beyond them through an act of will, then we’re on our way to growth. If we’re going to grow in this life, though, we have to stretch ourselves toward our North Node. That way lies both stress and fulfillment. The North Node indicates what we need to become in this lifetime. We can’t know from looking at our charts whether we will become that. The answer to that question depends on us. 

With your North Node in Pisces in the 10th house, you may not appreciate just how gentle and adaptable you could be. You may sell yourself short when it comes to making a name for yourself, based on your most imaginative, idealistic inclinations. However, the more you stretch yourself in such directions, the more satisfying you’ll find it in the long run. The more you focus on developing a visionary, romantic or altruistic approach in your most public pursuits, the more satisfied you’ll be. The idea here is to move toward your North Node in this life—to focus increasingly on developing Piscean strengths as you address the issues associated with the 10th house. Here a few ways that you might do this…

First, pursue a Piscean career: something artistic or imaginative (such as photography, fashion design, musical composition, or hair styling), something compassionate and healing (such as nursing), or something that involves psychic self-expression. Keep in mind that a career doesn’t have to be something that you get paid to do. It may be closely related to routine paid work (a job), but it may also be completely unrelated to it. It’s what you become closely identified with in the eyes of your community or those who know you by your reputation. For example, you might make a living as a police officer, an athlete, or a drama teacher, yet become more known for your civic efforts to prevent child abuse and neglect.

Secondly, take a less-than-conventional path to pursuing your aspirations. For example, if you find yourself drawn more to non-accredited, independent study of the occult, the metaphysical or the spiritual than you are drawn to a  conventional education, consider your intuition. Even if your parents never understand we’re you’re coming from, such a path might be well-suited for you. Or suppose you’re interested in an established field, such as journalism, but you’d like to approach it in an unconventional way. You don’t like asking other people questions because you feel like it might intrude on their normal thinking processes. You’d rather collect information in a more passive, observational manner. It might take more effort and self-confidence to establish such a style as a journalist, but it’s not necessarily impossible. With Pisces in the 10th house, you need a certain fluidity or otherworldliness in the path that you take toward realizing your ambitions. 

Thirdly, you might use your South Node as a springboard toward developing your North Node. For instance, suppose you have vivid, specific memories of experiences from growing up in your family, or you research your family’s genealogy. That’s a pretty South Node thing to do. It’s detailed (Virgoan), and it pertains to your personal or ancestral roots (your 4th house). By drawing on such a storehouse of information, and coupling it with your creative inspiration (Pisces), you could use it as a source of ideas in a career (your 10th house) as a writer. 

It may feel awkward for a while, but the more you cultivate such behaviors, the more spiritually satisfied you’ll be. Stick with it. Give it time. You’ll be amazed how far it will take you in the long run.