The Nodes of the Moon are not planetary bodies; they are points formed by the Moon’s orbit around the Earth intersecting with the Earth’s path around the Sun. The direction of the nodes is counterclockwise: The North Node is the ascending node (the point closest to our North Pole), and the South Node is the descending node (the point closest to our South Pole). They are always exactly 180 degrees apart. Some astrologers use the “True Node” calculation (which takes into account the actual wobbling of the Moon’s orbit), and some astrologers use the “Mean Node” (which does not take the wobbling into account). I use the True Nodes. The True Node and Mean Node positions are never more than 1 degree 45 minutes apart from each other.
All the planets have a North and South Node. The Nodes covered in this book are the North and South Nodes of the Moon, also known as the “Nodal Axis” of the chart. The information in the chapters is actually a description of the Northern/Southern Nodal Axis, although for the sake of simplicity, I have simply called it the “North Node” position. The South Node position in the chart (located at the point exactly opposite of the North Node) depicts an aspect in our character that has been overemphasized in past lives, and thus tends to take over the personality in this lifetime and throw us off balance. When we are acting without awareness, we tend to “act out” the South Node position in response to our environment because we have been accustomed to that approach working to our advantage. However, in this lifetime, our experiences show us that approaching a situation from the stance shown by the position of the Southern Node in our chart is no longer working. Although the main emphasis in this book is on the North Node, the information in these chapters is actually an integration of both “ends” of the Nodal Axis.
When astrologers refer to “the Nodes,” they are generally referring to the North and South Nodes of the Moon. In astrology, the Moon rules our feelings, our moods, dependency, insecurity, the feeling of belonging—it rules our emotional bodies. The Moon rules our self-image, that is, the way we instinctively see ourselves regardless of what we are expressing in the world. I consider the Moon to be the most important planet in the chart, from a karmic/past life perspective. It underlies the rest of the personality structure. In my first astrology book, writing the chapter on the Moon took more time than the other nine chapters combined. I found the depth of the signs of the Moon to be endless—my research kept going deeper and deeper—until one day I just had to close the lid and say “That’s it!” In following the path of the Nodes of the Moon, and thus rebalancing our emotional bodies, we are going a long way toward easing internal stress and reclaiming confidence in our individual beings.
For each of us, the North Node is located in a sign and in a house. The sign position can be obtained by consulting the table in the front of this book, and the chapter relating to your sign position will provide information and direction designed specifically to help you realize your full potential. For the most complete view, I recommend also consulting the chapter relating to your house position, which can be obtained from a local astrologer or a computerized birth chart.
The sign in which the North Node falls denotes the psychological shift that needs to occur within the personality. The house containing the North Node shows the experiences that allow the person to access this new psychological awareness.
In my experience, the house is at least of equal importance to the sign. The house position indicates the arena in which the life lessons of the North Node are learned. For example, if your North Node is in Cancer in the 11th House, you are learning to get in touch with and communicate your feelings (Cancer) through cultivating the energy of friendships and learning to “go with the flow” (11th House); if your North Node is in Aries in the 4th House, through getting in touch with your gut instincts (4th House) you can discover and communicate who you are (Aries).
If the sign of your North Node is in the same sign as the house containing your North Node (for example, North Node in Gemini located in the 3rd House, which is also Gemini; or North Node in Pisces in the 12th House, which is also Pisces), it simply means double the intensity of the same life lesson.
(This includes North Node in Aries in the 7th House; North Node in Taurus in the 8th House; North Node in Gemini in the 9th House; North Node in Cancer in the 10th House; North Node in Leo in the 11th House; North Node in Virgo in the 12th House; North Node in Libra in the 1st House; North Node in Scorpio in the 2nd House; North Node in Sagittarius in the 3rd House; North Node in Capricorn in the 4th House; North Node in Aquarius in the 5th House; North Node in Pisces in the 6th House.)
If your North Node is in a house opposing the sign of your North Node (as noted above), it will be necessary for you to carefully and continuously check with yourself to find the right blending of behavior. Remember that generally, the house indicates where to learn the lessons of the sign. The house is like a shell—the environment you need to support the content of the sign.
For example, if your North Node is in Aries in the 7th House, you are learning to develop a new sense of self-identity (North Node in Aries) through becoming aware of the identity of others (North Node in the 7th House). Through working cooperatively with other people and supporting them in reaching their goals, you will discover your own true identity. However, when you turn that around and focus on yourself, you lose your identity in trying to please others and be the nice person they expect you to be. In this case, the key to self-identity would actually lie in helping others in their search for identity.
Each chapter in this book begins with an overview. The purpose of the overview is to offer a quick reference point and a way of remembering a practical formula for achieving your life purpose. In a stressful situation, which is when you have the opportunity to implement a new choice in behavior that can lighten your karmic load, it’s useful to have a simplified way of remembering “how to win/how to lose” to hold on to and practice.
In working with the material presented in the overview, I recommend that you take one or two points that seem the most relevant to you, and then consciously practice to purify those qualities in yourself. Little by little, as you practice, the self-defeating tendency will dissipate and joy will begin to take over. Then, when you are ready, choose something else to let go of or consciously practice developing. It’s a process; although it takes effort and may seem like a tremendous personal risk, once you move forward you will never be pulled back into the fears and limitations of the past.
Some qualities take more time than others to purify or to let go of. Even if you are working to release a tendency that you worked on a week ago or a year ago, you will be working on it at a higher level and it won’t be nearly as painful or difficult. In this way, growth is more like a spiral than a circle. As you progress, you will find life a lot less threatening and the things you desire manifesting more easily and naturally. A magic begins to flow as you find yourself emerging fearless, light, and free . . . as the invisible chains from past incarnations begin to dissipate and fall away.
Each chapter’s overview gives a quick reference to Attributes to Develop, Tendencies to Leave Behind, Achilles’ Heel/Trap to Avoid/The Bottom Line, What These People Really Want, Talents/Profession, and Healing Affirmations.
These are gifts—talents—that are at your disposal in this lifetime. Just as you spent so much time and energy developing one aspect of your character in past lives, there was another part of you—the polar opposite—that was totally neglected. Thus, when you came into this incarnation, you were out of balance. (We all were, but the imbalance was different for each of us.) Life wants you to be happy. But as long as the imbalance exists, every happiness is going to be followed by an unhappiness. So you must consciously develop the part of you that was neglected in past lives by experimenting with, and building on, the talents and gifts described in this section. It’s like a muscle that hasn’t been used. Once you start exercising it, pretty soon it’s built up and balanced with the rest of you. Developing the tendencies in this category will enable you to win—every time!
These are tendencies that you, and members of your group, were born with. In past lives these behaviors served you well; when you acted from these motivations, you won. So you came into this incarnation with a subconscious memory of success, and you keep pursuing the same behaviors that enabled you to thrive in your past lives. However, in this incarnation these same patterns do not work (that is, they don’t produce success, confidence, and ease). If you look back over this lifetime, you can see that these behavior patterns have never worked for you, although you keep enacting them over and over again.
These qualities in and of themselves are not negative, but they describe part of your character that was overdeveloped in past lives. Lifetime after lifetime you kept strengthening this one part of yourself from every possible direction until it grew out of proportion. So in this incarnation, it is set up in your astrology chart for these old patterns not to work. Basically, following the tendencies in this section will cause you to lose—every time!
This is a description of the trap that you and the members of your group most easily fall into—the temptation that is so attractive that it’s easy to falter and go back into negative past life tendencies. It’s a part of you that is magnified in this incarnation—an appetite so exaggerated that it’s like a bottomless pit that can never be satisfied. This is the “red flag” category; when you find yourself driven by these motives, your best bet is to walk away, because you’re going to lose.
This category represents an integration of past life motivations and present life gifts. It means having the experiences we were born wanting—manifesting the desires in our hearts—through using the new tools that we were; given in this lifetime to balance the personality.
In the beginning, it can be useful to exaggerate: totally negate (in our own mind) the past life tendencies, and concentrate fully on the present life qualities to be developed. It’s the pendulum principle: Swinging too far in the opposite direction can help us come back to the middle. Ultimately, it is through combining past life strengths and present life gifts that we gain true fulfillment. But the past life paradigms are strong, and initially the individual may have to “blow them up” or walk away from them altogether just to get the energy moving in the right direction.
This is a description of talents, bequeathed by the nodal positions, that could easily be turned into professional success in this lifetime. For a total picture of the profession or vocation, I recommend that the full astrology chart be consulted.
These sample affirmations are designed to defuse the obstructive energy of past life tendencies and release you into the vibrant freedom that is available in the current incarnation. The best way to use this section is to choose one affirmation that feels particularly strengthening for the qualities you want to develop. Then, throughout the day, experiment with saying that one affirmation to yourself in different situations until the quality within that you want to strengthen is reinforced and energized.
When that particular affirmation is no longer potent for you (which may be a matter of a month or several months), then choose another and experiment with that for a while. The affirmations are best used by choosing only one during any specific period, depending on what you resonate with at that point in your development.
In each chapter, this section deals with the idiosyncrasies of each group and how they differ from other groups (their special mannerisms, concerns, unique feelings, etc.). In our own experience, it feels as though we are working with this karma only on the personal, individual level. However, as we clear out the negative energy in our own lives, members of our nodal group (all those who have the North Node in the same sign) are also purified and advanced. The energy of our entire group will support us internally in learning and growing. We aren’t in this alone.
Those factors discussed under the Needs category, specific to each group, are valid desires. We do not have to change our essential selves or invalidate our needs. However, for success, it is sometimes necessary for us to alter our approach—the way we go about getting our needs met. This section describes our basic needs for security, what they feel like internally, and the best ways to fulfill them without getting “off track.”
This section examines how those in our group view relationships, their patterns of relating, and the special tendencies, obstacles, and resolutions that emerge when they are in a relationship (especially a close relationship, such as marriage or partnership).
This section deals with the group’s orientation toward goals—their strengths and weaknesses in obtaining what they seek. The information can assist group members in seeing their “blocks,” thus empowering them to overcome their inner obstacles and achieve their external goals.
Music has a special way of making magic in our lives, as it has access to a part of our brain that isn’t touched by the written word. The people in each nodal position face a different set of challenges, so I have written lyrics for “theme” songs uniquely suited to reaching and healing the underlying misunderstandings in each group. These songs are designed to shift the energy, in a positive way that can come most effortlessly through music. To begin the healing process, partial lyrics from each of the songs follow each chapter. The full lyrics for all twelve songs have been set to music and are available on both CD and cassette tape (for more information). Although the message of each song targets those in a specific nodal group, all of the songs are universally uplifting and have a healing effect on the listener—regardless of their nodal position.
Past lives: Previous lives lived in other bodies, prior to the incarnation in your present body.
Present life: This lifetime, as lived in the body you were born into in this incarnation.
Early environment: The patterns of behavior stimulated and enacted in childhood that you used to survive and cope in your childhood environment. These patterns duplicate past life tendencies; in fact, it is the unconscious, past life patterns that are activated during childhood. Clearly, the environment didn’t create these patterns or cause us to be this way, or they couldn’t be predicted by the natal birth chart. We were born with these patterns ready to be activated.
Achilles’ heel: The weakest, most vulnerable point in the personality structure.
Karma: Cause and effect; the results we experience from actions we have taken.
Native: A traditional astrological term referring to the group of people ruled by the sign being discussed.
The Guides: Each of us is surrounded by our own invisible helpers who assist us in successfully navigating life’s pathways. These positive helpers could be called “Guides,” “Guardian Angels,” or simply the voice of “intuition.”
She/He: At times I’ve used “she” or “he” to refer to a single person, but this is not meant to be exclusive to one gender or the other.