Evolutionary Astrologer Steven Forrest once said, “Astrology is the poetry of Astronomy”, and while “Astronomers seek to know the form of the heavens, astrologers pursue its meaning.”
Astrology has always held a sacred and mystical essence to it, speaking in intuition and frequency as much as symbol and mathematics. To know the language of astrology asks one to be connected deeply within just as much without. There is an esoteric whisper that flows through the science, speaking to the mundane of our human reality with just as much importance as the spiritual – or perhaps, reminding us that the spiritual is found in sinking deep into our humanness.
Our Natal Chart, a snapshot of the cosmos upon our first breath, contains within it insights into our core nature, deepest fears, driving forces, inner psyche, preferences, values – and our spiritual purpose, destiny, soul growth and in some schools, even past lives. While exploring, discovering, embodying, and living our entire chart – and by extension exploring, discovering, embodying, and living all of who we are – could be seen to be our ultimate purpose in each life, within the chart there are additional indicators that speak specifically to purpose.
The Lunar Nodes are not just one of them, but are the most insightful and prominent points of destiny in the chart and in our skies.
Related: The 12 Houses in Astrology and Their Meaning
What are the Lunar Nodes in Astrology?
Just like the essence of destiny itself, the Lunar Nodes are not tangible objects or planets in our skies. Rather, they are a mathematical point calculated by the Moon’s intersection with the ecliptic – the path of the Sun around the Earth. And while the Earth orbits (moves around) the Sun, the Moon orbits the Earth. The Moon’s Nodes, or the Lunar Nodes, are calculated by the location of the Moon crossing the path of the Sun around the Earth. Made up by one axis with two ends, we have the North Node on one end and the South Node on the other.
In Astrology, each zodiac exists on an axis in partnership with its opposite sign. Seemingly opposing one another, yet each an antidote to the other for this spectrum to come alive and be utilised. Seemingly opposite, yet one, they are different sides of the same coin.
As the North Node represents the direction we are evolving into, sitting on the opposite side of the zodiacal circle and therefore in the opposite zodiac sign, is the South Node, representing where we are coming from.
To look to the Lunar Nodes takes us deep into the esoteric side of astrology, exploring topics such as our life path, intention of evolution, highest potential, soul gifts, spiritual growth, purpose, and path of destiny.
We each have a path of individual purpose shown by the location of the Lunar Nodes at our birth, and simultaneously, a shared destiny as a collective body, shown by the movements and cycles of the Lunar Nodes in present time. Collectively, the location of the Lunar Nodes also dictates the signs that the Eclipses occur in for that period of time, bringing fated opportunities and destiny fuelled invitations.
Whether seen from an esoteric perspective as a guiding force inviting us into destiny and purpose, or the inevitable movement, change, and growth of life over time, the Lunar Nodes are always calling is in a direction, inviting us to explore a new relationship with ourselves, with life, and to venture beyond what is known. The North Node symbolises that direction, beckoning us into a particular focus of consciousness, growth, and evolution.
The North Node Meaning
In many schools of Astrology, the consensus is that as we embody more of our natal chart, we find fuller joy, connection, and fulfilment.
The North Node in our chart and in the heavens represents the direction that we are being called to explore and ultimately become. It may be new territory, but awaiting in that new territory is fulfilment and fullness like nothing else. And like all new territory, we might stumble about when reaching into it. Like all unknowns, we make mistakes, come up against our edges and meet many challenges along the way – yet we are invited to remember that these mistakes, edges, and challenges are where we find profound growth. It is not only in the arrival, but the journey and who we become in the process, that we are living our destiny and purpose.
Related: What is the Aura and What Color is Yours?
The South Node Meaning
The South Node represents comfort, what is known, safe, and secure within us. It is our retreat, our instincts, habits, what is easy, natural, and often automatic to embody and be.
From a more esoteric standpoint, the South Node can also be seen as Soul gifts – we know this zodiac space somehow, we know the medicine here and the value it has on offer. And while the South Node is where we come from in pursuit of where we are going (North Node), we aren’t abandoning this side of us, rather we are allowing it to buoy us in the direction of our North Node. If the top of the tree were the North Node, the roots are the South Node. And for one to thrive, other must too.
The Lunar Nodes in the Natal Chart
The Lunar Nodes spend approx. 18 months in each sign, and take 18 years to cycle through the complete zodiac circle. In July of this year, the Lunar Nodes moved into the Aries-Libra axis beginning a new 18-month chapter cultivating a new relationship to independence, action, courage, desire and selfhood. This means that anyone born between July 2023 and January 2025 will have their North Node in Aries and South Node in Libra in their individual Natal Chart.
Those of us with more years under their belt will find different their Luanr Nodes in different signs in their chart, speaking to their individual purpose aside from the collective movement in current time.
To find your Lunar Nodes in your Natal Chart, looking at your chart you will see two horseshoe like symbols: ☊ ☋
The upright horseshoe is your North Node ☊, and opposite to that will be the upside-down horseshoe, your South Node ☋.
They will also be positioned in specific astrology houses and just like the zodiac sign gives us insight into the energy we are here to embody, the houses show us the area in our lives we are here to express that energy and destiny. If there are any planets nearby either Nodes, these planets are another piece of the puzzle and as we cultivate a relationship with what the planets have to offer, we will naturally find ourselves moving in the direction of our soul path for this lifetime.
Unless you have other planets in the same zodiac sign that your North Node sits in, we often find that particular sign foreign or unknown. Can you begin learning more about the value, invitations, intentions, and overall essence of that sign? What are some of the traits of this sign that you admire and desire to possess? These traits live within you, too, and are calling out to be embodied and expressed through you. Looking to the sign of the South Node and giving thanks to its traits and how they support us can also provide a beautiful deepening of roots and a strong foundation upon which our growth sits.
The North Node in the Zodiac Signs
Lunar Nodes in Aries, Libra, 1st or 7th House
The Axis of the Self and the Other
The Nodes represent a lifelong exploration, a pathway that is with us for as long as we breathe. With the Nodes falling in both Aries and Libra or the 1st and 7th House, there is a lifelong journey of exploring the self and the other, and then the self among others. We are journeying with individuality and collaboration, independence and relationship, standing strong in our own needs and desires and knowing how to collaborate and bring balance to our desires with another’s.
North Node in Aries and/or the 1st house
We are learning to actualise the individual self and stand strong in owning our needs and desires. This is a lifetime of mastering the Self, leaning into the fires of inspiration and creation, independence, and excitement.
North Node in Libra and/or the 7th house
We are learning through the other. Through this journey we are expanding our sense of self by interacting with others and bringing their perspectives, ideas, thoughts and needs into our awareness. This path is towards that of beauty and harmony, balance and equilibrium, collaboration and partnership.
Collectively we are exploring this axis with the North Node in Aries and South Node in Libra until January 2025.
Lunar Nodes in Taurus, Scorpio, 2nd or 8th House
The Axis of Security
While Taurus stabilises, Scorpio transforms. As Taurus builds, Scorpio strips away. And while Taurus works in the tangible, Scorpio dives deep into the unseen. With the Nodes living in these signs and/or houses, we are navigating and bringing focus to our sense of worthiness, security, and safety.
With the North Node in Taurus and/or the 2nd house
Our direction is that of simplicity and stability. The guiding force in this lifetime is the building of security in the tangible by coming into our bodies, soothing our nervous system, and deepening into the medicine of tending to the foundational needs of our body, mind, and emotional world. Here we are on a path of building lasting value and stability through resources, skills, wealth, and other tangible assets.
With the North Node in Scorpio and/or the 8th house
There is an invitation towards true empowerment from an embodied trust that we can navigate the unknown, that we can swim in the depths of transformation. Here we are guided into a life of surrender and depth, and reminded that our constant is found only within, our sense of worth is found only within, and our true safety and power is in trusting ourselves to navigate any season of life. We are here to hold depth and intensities, and may find that we are invited to do so for others, too.
We have recently journeyed through this axis collectively experiencing these themes with the North Node in Taurus and South Node in Scorpio from January 2022 – July 2023.
Lunar Nodes in Gemini, Sagittarius, 3rd or 9th House
The Axis of Information and Knowledge
This realm lives in the mental and is a lifelong exploration of truth. While Gemini collects and gathers facts, Sagittarius seeks truth and wisdom. As Gemini lives in the objective reality, simply relaying information while living outside of it, Sagittarius live within subjective truth and cannot be separated from its beliefs. With the nodes along this axis, we find the destiny of teachers, speakers, writers, philosophers, and researchers.
North Node in Gemini and/or the 3rd house
This placement is the messenger, with an invitation to continually open and clear the mind, bring in new information, and share that information with those around us. We are the lifelong learner and the more the mind is fed, the deeper fulfilment we find. As we continue to traverse a variety of subjects and interests, we are also exploring the nature of truth – is there one, or can many exist simultaneously?
The North Node in Sagittarius and/or the 9th house
The North Node here is an invitation to land deeply in our own truth, to live in it, and to form it in our own way from our own lived experiences. There may be many truths and perspectives out there, but what do we choose as our own? We may know plenty of information, but how can we bring that information into wisdom? We may learn a lot from books or teachings, but what does our lived experience teach us?
Lunar Nodes in Cancer, Capricorn, 4th or 10th House
The Axis of Foundations
While Cancer and the 4th house represent our roots, our internal foundation and our inner landscape, Capricorn and the 10th house are our offerings out in the world, our roles and responsibilities, and outer landscape. This axis represents our foundations. As we nurture our inner world, our outer can flourish. As we tend to the roots, the tree can bear nourishing fruit for all.
North Node in Cancer and/or the 4th house
A north node in Cancer and/or the 4th house is an invitation into our inner nature, to explore our emotional world and find the medicine within it, and to lean into family – whether given, chosen, or created. This is an internal, soft, intuitive and nurturing direction, where we are learning how to nourish and care for both ourselves and our loved ones.
The North Node in Capricorn and/or the 10th house
As the north node lives in Capricorn and/or the 10th house, we are guided out into the world. We know our internal space, we have gained deep nourishment from it, and now we are invited to share that nourishment with others on a grander scale. Our direction is leadership and lasting legacy, responsibility and contribution, and often manifests through large scale career desires and visions.
Lunar Nodes in Leo, Aquarius, 5th or 11th House
The Axis of Individuation and Interdependence
With the nodes along this axis we are on a journey of understanding the nature of interdependence, where a healthy collective is made up of healthy individuals. As we honour what makes us unique, different, and individual, the deeper we can feed into the collective.
North Node in Leo and/or the 5th house
With the north node in Leo and/or the 5th, we are moving towards deep creative expression of the self, and being honoured and celebrated by others for our unique essence. It may feel more comfortable to stand unseen in the group, but this path asks us of something different; to come forward as a leader, to be seen, stand out, and shine forth what makes us who we are, regardless of who the world tells us to be.
The North Node in Aquarius and/or the 11th house
A north node in Aquarius and/or the 11th house is the path towards the water bearer, pouring forth libations into the collective and with that, guiding society forward. It is through offering ourselves love and adoration for who we are that we needn’t rely on receiving it from the world around us. Though our role is reliant upon a strong sense of self, it also seems to go beyond the self and into the evolution of the collective.
Lunar Nodes in Virgo, Pisces, 6th or 12th House
The Axis of Service & the Conduit
A mystical realm, often spoken to as the conduit of the divine into form where Heaven and Earth meet. Pisces and the 12th house represent pure energy, boundless in nature, existing beyond time and space. Virgo and the 6th house represent the sacred vessel of the body, and the act of tangible steps, routine, and ritual that allow the divine to pour through into the physical world. Along this axis we often find healers; whether the doctor or the reiki therapist, the doula or the surgeon.
North Node in Virgo and/or the 6th house
A north node in Virgo invites us to bring the divine into form, to weave creativity, compassion, and dreams into tangible action and steps. To do so we are required to continually refine who we are, develop healthy boundaries, and ground ourselves into tangible reality focusing on daily routine and habit. There is an inherent connection to the unseen along this path, and the role of the north node in Virgo and/or the 6th house is to bring that unseen into the seen, where it can be of service to both ourselves and others in daily life.
The North Node in Pisces and/or the 12th house
The north node in Pisces and/or the 12th house is a path of surrender. Surrender to intuition beyond evidence. Surrender to wisdom beyond our understanding. And surrender to forces beyond what we can see and touch. We may be comfortable with tangible evidence, knowledge, and action, yet this path asks us loosen control and venture beyond that. As we do, we not only find our deepest fulfilment, but can offer truth and healing in a grounded and practical way to others around us.
