THE NODES OF THE MOON Part 3

by Brian Habit

July 12, 2003

In part 1 of this series, I introduced the nodes of the Moon. I described the South Node of the Moon as representing your past (whether in terms of genetics, reincarnation, or both), and I described the North Node as representing your future.  To illustrate these principles, I used the example of the South Node in Scorpio in the 7th house and the North Node in Taurus in the 1st house. Last week, I looked at another example: the South Node in Cancer in the 8th house and the North Node in Capricorn in the 2nd house.

This time, let's consider the significance of the South Node in Gemini in the 12th house and the North Node in Sagittarius in the 6th house. For purposes of illustration, let's assume that you have not only these nodal positions but also: five planets in the 6th house (Sun, Mercury and Mars in Scorpio, and Venus and Neptune in Sagittarius), the Moon and Jupiter in Pisces, Saturn in Cancer, and Uranus in Scorpio.

The South Node in Gemini in the 12th House

Before we get into the South Node itself, let's review what the 12th house represents.

The 12th house includes those experiences that are beyond our control and disrupt our identification with our egos. It also represents our spiritual life, whether that means meditating, engaging in religious practices, reading spiritually inspired works of literature, or taking selfless action on behalf of others. The 12th house relates to behind-the-scenes, secluded or confined activities such as in hospitals or prisons, intellectual work carried out in solitude, and matters that are conducted behind closed doors or swept under the rug, away from the general knowledge of the public.

OK, that’s the gist of what the 12th house represents. Now let's assume that your South Node lies in Gemini, in your 12th house (the house of release). Whether because of heredity or karma, you are automatically, instinctively adept at acting in Geminian ways (thinking logically, communicating with curiosity and versatility, dealing with specifics, and so on). You also have a natural orientation toward the affairs of the 12th house—tuning into life’s spiritual and intangible dimensions. From the get-go, you take a Geminian approach to 12th-house matters. In the process, you weed out the development of behaviors that clash with such an approach. You prevent them from developing. You naturally tend to think about ideas that take you out of life’s mundane routines rather than throw your enthusiasm into dealing with nitty-gritty details, for example, when deciding what to do and what not to do.

Your South Node (representing what you’ve already done) lies in Gemini, and your Sun (representing what you’re trying to achieve in this lifetime) lies in Scorpio. How well does what comes naturally prepare you for what you’re learning to do now?

Well, Scorpio, like Gemini, is motivated to know what’s going on. With Gemini, the interest in knowing what’s going on is a more detached, intellectual curiosity. With Scorpio, it’s more of an emotionally-driven need to get to the bottom of things. This common ground between your Sun Sign and your South Node sign provides some support for you, as you go about the task of developing an identity. It can help you develop a strong, coherent sense of identity quickly, insofar as digging to get to the truth is important to having such an identity. In addition, much of your chart is similar to Scorpio in that it lies in emotional water signs—Scorpio, Pisces, or Cancer. With seven out of 10 planets in water signs, there’s a strong emphasis on intuition, reflection, and responding with sensitivity to your environment. This, too, will help you develop your Sun in Scorpio efficiently.

On the other hand, Scorpio and Gemini are quite different. Scorpio is a passionate, determined, deliberate, reflective sign. Scorpio needs depth and acts accordingly. Gemini is a light-hearted, flexible, improvisational sign, motivated toward having breadth. Therefore, in some respects, you have to learn how to have a working personality from scratch. Gemini doesn’t prepare you for learning how to approach life with Scorpionic intensity and depth. In some instances, you may have to go down the same road and fall in the same "hole" repeatedly until you realize some important points. It may take you a fair amount of effort to learn certain behaviors, such as zealously taking on projects or roles that require learning concrete skills and techniques.

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 thinking or communicating in ways that undermine your best interests.

Suppose your parents want you to go into business, when you really want to become a doctor instead. Maybe you come from a long line of business types. You don’t feel like hassling with them about it, and you’re not positive that you want to be a doctor, so you go off to get a Master of Business Administration. You find it all horribly boring, and you get more and more restless. You start cutting classes until your grades take a nosedive and you get kicked out.

Here’s another example: you’re at a point in your life where you’re not ready to settle down romantically with anyone in particular. You’re curious about what sort of people are out there in the world, and you want to have a lot of experiences before you commit yourself to someone else. You’re going out with one person who’s antsy to tie the knot with you. Rather than address the subject honestly and directly, you string your suitor along while you also start dating someone else. You don’t mention to Bachelor or Bachelorette Number Two that you’re dating someone else. Then one day the two of them find out about each other, and, feeling deceived, they both dump you. 

Here’s a third scenario: You wake up one day feeling ill. You have some annoying symptoms, but you don’t want to bother anyone with it, so you don’t go to the doctor. You rationalize not getting it checked out, telling yourself that it’s probably nothing and it’ll clear up in no time, but it doesn’t. Instead, it gets worse very quickly. Before you know it, you’re being rushed to the emergency room and a doctor is telling you that you’ll have a chronic condition for the rest of your life. If it had gotten diagnosed sooner, then it would have been curable early on, but because it’s already so advanced…

In yet another example, someone commits a crime. It wasn’t you, but it happens close enough to you that you get questioned about it. Maybe you don’t take the situation seriously enough, or you don’t consider the implications of something before you open your mouth. You say something that incriminates you, even though you’re innocent. The next thing you know, you’re being arrested, or fired, or ostracized, as if you had perpetrated the crime. When you try to clear up the misunderstanding, people don’t know whether to believe you or not.

Those are all examples of focusing on your South Node—focusing on the details but not considering the big picture, or dodging the truth, or rationalizing acting in a particular way, and suffering for it.

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

The North Node in Sagittarius in the 6th 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 Sagittarius, in the 6th house of responsibilities. Before we go further into the node, let's review the symbolism of this house.

The 6th house is all about become skillful and competent. It’s about acting responsibly, as a pupil, or adherent, or follower in accordance with some philosophy or some cause. We all have some need to feel like we’re competent and effective. We need to be good at something that other people value. In order to become good at something, we have to act with self-discipline and engage in some measure of self-sacrifice. We can’t do whatever we want, whenever we want. We can’t strike out on our own and do only what feels good. We have to apply ourselves, and we have to learn from others. We need role models, mentors, heroes or gurus—people that will teach us a particular skill or teach us how to apply a particular set of principles in the way we live our lives. We have to voluntarily submit ourselves to some process, and then carry out whatever become our responsibilities. The 6th house represents all of these things. The 6th house also represents how you relate to anyone who depends on you for concrete support, including people in your personal life and any pets that you might have. It represents your general health, including your physical health.

The North Node 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 zeal, your philosophical convictions, and your competence. You have five planets in your 6th house. Those planets are all pulling you toward addressing the 6th house issue of acting responsibly toward yourself and others. Two of those planets (social Venus and compassionate Neptune), lie in Sagittarius, so your social life and idealism thrive on fervent, adventurous Sagittarian-like behaviors.

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 Sagittarian or 6th-house nature, they call into question your automatic assumptions about life. In other words, when situations call for you to commit yourself to particular courses of action that you believe in, you might feel lost at first. The same thing could happen when situations call for you to act intuitively, to make a leap of faith based on possibilities that you or others envision, without factual evidence or logic to support it. When you have such experiences, you may feel like you’re out of your element.  The unfamiliar can be 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 lie 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 Sagittarius in the 6th house, you may not appreciate just how visionary and adventurous you could be. You may sell yourself short when it comes to taking on unfamiliar roles or responsibilities. Maybe teachers or others along the way threw so many messages or so much information your way that you wanted to just get away from it all. Maybe some strong figure ridiculed activists or others who rose up to champion some idealistic cause. He or she made such action seem foolish or flaky. However, the more you stretch yourself in such directions, the more satisfying you’ll find it in the long run. The more you engage directly with people about philosophical points of view, the more satisfied you’ll be. The more you take on responsibilities that you can truly commit yourself to pursuing with fervor, the more satisfied you’ll be. By all means use logic. Consider the details, not just the big picture. Spend some time in solitude, relaxing or helping others rather than trying to get ahead yourself. Do things for the sheer mental stimulation or curiosity of it, without trying to make a big statement. Just don’t limit yourself to such behaviors.

How could you do this? Returning to the example of the student from earlier, tell your parents that no, you’re not absolutely certain that you want to become a doctor, but you’re determined to try. Insist on going to medical school rather than business school, if that’s what interests you. Consider the implications of acting or not acting in a situation. Don’t settle for just doing whatever gets you through the immediate future. Make sure that it’s in line with whatever course you want your life to take in the long run. Don’t run for cover by avoiding conflict or escaping into substance abuse or some pleasant reverie. Speak openly and directly. You don’t have to be grim when you do it, by the way. Sagittarius has a sense of humor, so it’s fine to draw on that every now and then, too. Throw yourself into roles that make you want to work hard, or start an organization that advances your values. Consider what comes to your mind in “Eureka!” moments, out of nowhere. Don’t dismiss an idea or an inspiration just because you can’t argue its merits on logical grounds. The more you do such things, the more spiritually satisfied you’ll be, so ride it out. Give yourself time to master such techniques. You’ll be amazed how far they can take you in the long run.

Looking Ahead

Next week, I will continue my exploration of the lunar nodes by looking at the North Node in Aries in the 11th house and the South Node in Libra in the 5th house.

And What About Your Nodes?

Do you want me to interpret your North and South Node, and other key parts of your birth chart? Then order your very own birth chart interpretation. Click here to learn more. 

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