dadsnook2000
We haven't covered the Nodal Axis, North Node and South Node, in our series of explorations. Since most of us mark the North Node in our charts we ought to think about its meaning.
WHAT ARE THE MOON'S NODES -- TECHNICALLY?
In astronomy and astrology the term "nodes" is most commonly associated with the Moon -- especially for astrologers. Astronomers are more likely to also note that each of the planets we observe in the sky have nodes as well. When a body orbits the Sun, its plane of orbit is not coincidental to the plane of the Earth-Sun pairing. The path of the Earth about the Sun describes the celestial plane known as the Zodiac. The plane of the Moon is tilted relative to our Earth-Sun plane -- when Moon orbits in its path around the Earth it moves from the northern half of its orbit thru the nodal axis into the southern half of its orbit. The point where its orbit takes it from the south to the north is called the North Node, the South Node being the point in its orbit where its path moves from the northern half to the southern half of the orbit.
Due to the forces of nature that are in play, this nodal axis moves backwards, on average, relative to the zodiac -- the zodiac being a convenient measuring tool and reference base. It takes some 18+ years for the node to move backwards and return to a given starting point. This is my understanding of the nodal axis in terms of what it is. I would note that the planets each have their nodal axis but these seem to stay relatively stationary over time and do not move much. For the most part they are seldom used by astrologers.
WHAT ARE THE MOON'S NODES -- ASTROLOGICALLY?
I don't have any reference books on the nodes except a small booklet, "The astrologer's node book" by Donna Van Toen -- less than 100 pages. She doesn't address the first point I want to make -- What are the Moon's Nodes -- Astrologically?
I see the nodes as the symbolic unifying link between the Sun-Moon-Earth. It is at the nodal axis that we have eclipses. Eclipses are special New Moon or Full Moon events when either the Sun or the Moon is blacked out; made to seem unseen. This only happens at or near the nodal axis. Once the Sun and Moon conjoin at a point more than a few degrees from the nodal point, the eclipse is on "partial" in nature, go to some greater number and you may not have any eclipse.
The eclipse-event darkens the Sun or the Moon, symbolically bringing one of the bodies into a symbolic focus. Which one? When we have an eclipse of the Moon, such as recently happened a few days ago, the Moon "goes out" but it happens when we can't see the Sun. So, which is more important; the Moon that goes invisible or the Sun that can't be seen? When we have an eclipse of the Sun, the Moon crosses in front of the Sun -- darkening the Sun, but the Moon (which we can't really see although we might be able to view its dark disk indirectly as it crosses the Sun) is not really visible either. So what is the key to understanding who does what to whom?
Enter the Earth. This is a three-ring circus after all; the Sun, the Moon, and the Earth. For a Lunar Eclipse, the Earth darkens the Moon, coming between it and the Sun. The Moon is temporarily freed from its "reflective" role, cleaned by darkness, and then re-introduced to its role of reflecting or mediating the Sun's light in the evening when sun light is not visible to us. The Full Moon Eclipse renews and refocuses our feelings, our primary needs, our habitual way of reacting to issues and events. The Moon then goes on into its waning half-cycle over the next several days, leaving us in the dark for the first part of the evening, then coming up over the horizon to help provide some light for our path to awareness. It is in this 13 or 14 days after the Full Moon Eclipse that we are to adjust ourselves to a changing world view and finds ways to be different, be better. We come to understand that there are things that are hard to see initially but that they become easier to see as time passes. As the Moon continues to move closer to "new moon" each day, we are weaned away from dependency upon external factors and can come to trust our memory, our emotional strength, our heritage to carry us through our personal night time.
A "new-moon" eclipse is really a Solar Eclipse. Here, the Sun darkens (although it last a much shorter time) as the unseen Moon moves between the Earth and the Sun. So, the Earth also darkens. The Solar Eclipse draws our attention to the subjects of will, of control, of wonder, of expectation, of confidence, of intent and direction -- all of the solar attributes. Do we feel threatened, do we take advantage of the eclipse in some way, do we fully understand what is happening? Do we care? The Solar Eclipse is selective in that it affects a particular path across the Earth's surface. This is in contrast to the Lunar Eclipse which is "out there" and is generally shared by a much wider audience and portion of the earth. Why are we impacted by the Solar Eclipse instead of those south or north of us?
The Solar Eclipse is personal. The Lunar Eclipse is shared by all. Let's think about these statements. I'm not sure this has ever been said before.
WHAT ARE THE MOON'S NODES -- ASTROLOGICALLY: PART TWO.
The nodal axis also links the Sun-Moon-Earth to the Zodiac -- the celestial plane that anchors the movements of all the planets and most (apparently) of the other bodies in our solar system. So, we might want to explore the idea that the Nodes link us to the zodiac, the seasons, the manner in which we measure the movement of the planets. The nodes are the link to that which guides us -- this is probably where the books come up with the "karmic" stuff that is always referred to. The planetary cycles that we are born into started long before our birth. The outer planet cycles define broad sweeps of cultural and social change, the type of world and the experience of all those older than us, that were/was here to welcome us and which shaped our young life as we grew up.
The personal planets are called "personal" because only those born very close to our birth time have those planets in about the same sign-positions and relative positions (to each other) as we have. The "personal" planets, like the Solar Eclipse and its path thru our locality, are actually only "somewhat" personal -- they are not unique to just us, but they are shared by very few in this world. It is only when we bring in the MC axis and Ascendant axis, both specific to our birth locality and birth time (therefore they are truly unique), that we have chart factors that are just our own. As far as the nodes go, they are not related to the house structure in our chart except casually.
So, its the Sun-Moon-Earth. It's the Nodes, the zodiac, the signs, the planets. The nodes are, for us humans, the cosmic link. As the nodes move backwards thru the zodiac they contact the planets, they pass thru the signs and they bring us eclipses. On occassion, they contact our truly personal points; the MC and Asc degrees.
So, this is the start of the discussion. In later threads I would like to offer some views on the Nodes in signs, in houses, in contact with Planets (natal and/or transiting). The only thing that is needed now is the views of the list on how important this topic is to them. What do you want to cover first:
* Nodes in signs
* Nodes in houses
* Nodes aspecting natal planets
* Nodes contacting transiting planets.
* Nodes and eclipses.
Dave.
WHAT ARE THE MOON'S NODES -- TECHNICALLY?
In astronomy and astrology the term "nodes" is most commonly associated with the Moon -- especially for astrologers. Astronomers are more likely to also note that each of the planets we observe in the sky have nodes as well. When a body orbits the Sun, its plane of orbit is not coincidental to the plane of the Earth-Sun pairing. The path of the Earth about the Sun describes the celestial plane known as the Zodiac. The plane of the Moon is tilted relative to our Earth-Sun plane -- when Moon orbits in its path around the Earth it moves from the northern half of its orbit thru the nodal axis into the southern half of its orbit. The point where its orbit takes it from the south to the north is called the North Node, the South Node being the point in its orbit where its path moves from the northern half to the southern half of the orbit.
Due to the forces of nature that are in play, this nodal axis moves backwards, on average, relative to the zodiac -- the zodiac being a convenient measuring tool and reference base. It takes some 18+ years for the node to move backwards and return to a given starting point. This is my understanding of the nodal axis in terms of what it is. I would note that the planets each have their nodal axis but these seem to stay relatively stationary over time and do not move much. For the most part they are seldom used by astrologers.
WHAT ARE THE MOON'S NODES -- ASTROLOGICALLY?
I don't have any reference books on the nodes except a small booklet, "The astrologer's node book" by Donna Van Toen -- less than 100 pages. She doesn't address the first point I want to make -- What are the Moon's Nodes -- Astrologically?
I see the nodes as the symbolic unifying link between the Sun-Moon-Earth. It is at the nodal axis that we have eclipses. Eclipses are special New Moon or Full Moon events when either the Sun or the Moon is blacked out; made to seem unseen. This only happens at or near the nodal axis. Once the Sun and Moon conjoin at a point more than a few degrees from the nodal point, the eclipse is on "partial" in nature, go to some greater number and you may not have any eclipse.
The eclipse-event darkens the Sun or the Moon, symbolically bringing one of the bodies into a symbolic focus. Which one? When we have an eclipse of the Moon, such as recently happened a few days ago, the Moon "goes out" but it happens when we can't see the Sun. So, which is more important; the Moon that goes invisible or the Sun that can't be seen? When we have an eclipse of the Sun, the Moon crosses in front of the Sun -- darkening the Sun, but the Moon (which we can't really see although we might be able to view its dark disk indirectly as it crosses the Sun) is not really visible either. So what is the key to understanding who does what to whom?
Enter the Earth. This is a three-ring circus after all; the Sun, the Moon, and the Earth. For a Lunar Eclipse, the Earth darkens the Moon, coming between it and the Sun. The Moon is temporarily freed from its "reflective" role, cleaned by darkness, and then re-introduced to its role of reflecting or mediating the Sun's light in the evening when sun light is not visible to us. The Full Moon Eclipse renews and refocuses our feelings, our primary needs, our habitual way of reacting to issues and events. The Moon then goes on into its waning half-cycle over the next several days, leaving us in the dark for the first part of the evening, then coming up over the horizon to help provide some light for our path to awareness. It is in this 13 or 14 days after the Full Moon Eclipse that we are to adjust ourselves to a changing world view and finds ways to be different, be better. We come to understand that there are things that are hard to see initially but that they become easier to see as time passes. As the Moon continues to move closer to "new moon" each day, we are weaned away from dependency upon external factors and can come to trust our memory, our emotional strength, our heritage to carry us through our personal night time.
A "new-moon" eclipse is really a Solar Eclipse. Here, the Sun darkens (although it last a much shorter time) as the unseen Moon moves between the Earth and the Sun. So, the Earth also darkens. The Solar Eclipse draws our attention to the subjects of will, of control, of wonder, of expectation, of confidence, of intent and direction -- all of the solar attributes. Do we feel threatened, do we take advantage of the eclipse in some way, do we fully understand what is happening? Do we care? The Solar Eclipse is selective in that it affects a particular path across the Earth's surface. This is in contrast to the Lunar Eclipse which is "out there" and is generally shared by a much wider audience and portion of the earth. Why are we impacted by the Solar Eclipse instead of those south or north of us?
The Solar Eclipse is personal. The Lunar Eclipse is shared by all. Let's think about these statements. I'm not sure this has ever been said before.
WHAT ARE THE MOON'S NODES -- ASTROLOGICALLY: PART TWO.
The nodal axis also links the Sun-Moon-Earth to the Zodiac -- the celestial plane that anchors the movements of all the planets and most (apparently) of the other bodies in our solar system. So, we might want to explore the idea that the Nodes link us to the zodiac, the seasons, the manner in which we measure the movement of the planets. The nodes are the link to that which guides us -- this is probably where the books come up with the "karmic" stuff that is always referred to. The planetary cycles that we are born into started long before our birth. The outer planet cycles define broad sweeps of cultural and social change, the type of world and the experience of all those older than us, that were/was here to welcome us and which shaped our young life as we grew up.
The personal planets are called "personal" because only those born very close to our birth time have those planets in about the same sign-positions and relative positions (to each other) as we have. The "personal" planets, like the Solar Eclipse and its path thru our locality, are actually only "somewhat" personal -- they are not unique to just us, but they are shared by very few in this world. It is only when we bring in the MC axis and Ascendant axis, both specific to our birth locality and birth time (therefore they are truly unique), that we have chart factors that are just our own. As far as the nodes go, they are not related to the house structure in our chart except casually.
So, its the Sun-Moon-Earth. It's the Nodes, the zodiac, the signs, the planets. The nodes are, for us humans, the cosmic link. As the nodes move backwards thru the zodiac they contact the planets, they pass thru the signs and they bring us eclipses. On occassion, they contact our truly personal points; the MC and Asc degrees.
So, this is the start of the discussion. In later threads I would like to offer some views on the Nodes in signs, in houses, in contact with Planets (natal and/or transiting). The only thing that is needed now is the views of the list on how important this topic is to them. What do you want to cover first:
* Nodes in signs
* Nodes in houses
* Nodes aspecting natal planets
* Nodes contacting transiting planets.
* Nodes and eclipses.
Dave.
~ indigo rose
. And I shall be able to do it thanks to all things mystical and imaginative - that goes from tarot readings and psychic work, to inspirational talks and writing, to works of imagination. It fits the general direction my life is taking, but I have yet to see the returns! My fall-back, zone of comfort is - strangely - intense situations where I can feel useful and of service to others. That links up with my past work, of course, as a humanitarian in war and crisis zones. It carries over in my personal life too, as I tend to display a bit of a saviour complex. I must learn, instead, to nourish people's growth, rather than try to save them. That is the Taurus way. In the 12th house, it means nourishing spiritual growth and imagination (in myself and others). 