Lunar Nodes

We think of the universe as being flat like a pancake, and it is, pretty much, but not exactly so. Planets orbit at different angles to the sun's equator. The earth, for example. And around the earth orbits the moon at its own angle. Think of an old 12 inch vinyl record as representing the earth's orbit around the sun. Now put a dime on the record's edge. This is the moon's orbit around the earth, but it isn't flat on the record. It slices through it, sticking out above and below. The points where the moon's orbit around the earth intersects the earth's orbit around the sun (or where the dime slices through your old Elvis record) are the nodes. Why the nodes have the characteristics they do is a major metaphysical argument, for the moment, look at the books below:

February, 2006: By dint of a number of years of hard work, I find myself with what I think is objective knowledge of my most recent past life. Of late I've been informally reading astrological delineations of past life influences (nodes & such) & contrasting them to what I've worked out. When I get the chance I want to publish how well the various delineations (ie, books) fit me. The results, as they say in science circles, won't be conclusive, but might just be telling.

July 2007: Results are now in. Here is:

Dave's Method for Reading the North Node: 1. The signs the nodes are in have no value. Ignore them. Because of this, so far as natal interpretation is concerned, there is no difference between Mean & True. Aspects to the nodes, which depend upon exact degree, are another matter. One that, by the way, I am not capable of judging. 2. Nodes have value in the houses. If your north node is in Aries in the 5th house, ignore Aries. Read for the 5th house. But note this exception: 3. If the sign on the cusp of the house does not match the sign of the node itself, read your node as if it was in the next house. If, for example, your north node is in Aries in the 5th, but the sign on the cusp of the 5th is Pisces, read your node as if it were in the 6th. Compare 5th house & 6th house, select the one that seems best to you. 4. What to do with intercepted nodes? In the case of the Aries node, what if Pisces is on the 5th, and Taurus on the 6th? Planets - and nodes - in intercepted signs would seem to be trapped. My best guess is that such an Aries node would be 5th house, but would work at a distance from it, which you must puzzle out for yourself. Look to the ruler of the node's sign (in this case, Mars), and its house & sign for more information. Also, I am of the opinion that the angles are natural barriers. A planet in the 3rd, 6th, 9th or 12th, in the same sign as the angle, remains in the 3rd, 6th, 9th or 12th. These planets would seem to work "at a distance", just as the trapped intercepted planet. 5. In the case of books, like Jan Spiller's, that only delineate nodes by sign, replace the sign with the house the node actually falls in (remembering rule 3), and then replace that house with the appropriate sign, where 1st house = Aries. In my case, my node is in Pisces in the 10th, with Aquarius on the MC. So I have an 11th house node, which, in Jan's book (11th = Aquarius), is Aquarius. My estimation of Spiller's book notched up considerably when I had that sorted out. ____________________________________________________________ In my case, to get a proper understanding of my north node meant changing both its sign and its house. My date & time of birth say it's in Pisces in the 10th. But in reality, it's in Aquarius in the 11th. I stumbled onto this while writing notes on James Braha's How to be a Great Astrologer. It's a book on aspects with some notes on the nodes. And they're pretty good notes, once you figure out what house to read. Aside from Spiller & Braha, my opinion of the other node books did not change as much.

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	ASTROLOGY FOR THE SOUL - Jan Spiller, $19.00 Contents: Acknowledgments The location of your north node Introduction How to use this book North node in Aries: Overview, personality, needs, relationships, goals, healing theme song North node in Taurus: Overview, personality, needs, relationships, goals, healing theme song North node in Gemini: Overview, personality, needs, relationships, goals, healing theme song North node in Cancer: Overview, personality, needs, relationships, goals, healing theme song North node in Leo: Overview, personality, needs, relationships, goals, healing theme song North node in Virgo: Overview, personality, needs, relationships, goals, healing theme song North node in Libra: Overview, personality, needs, relationships, goals, healing theme song North node in Scorpio: Overview, personality, needs, relationships, goals, healing theme song North node in Sagittarius: Overview, personality, needs, relationships, goals, healing theme song North node in Capricorn: Overview, personality, needs, relationships, goals, healing theme song North node in Aquarius: Overview, personality, needs, relationships, goals, healing theme song North node in Pisces: Overview, personality, needs, relationships, goals, healing theme song Comment: Years ago when I first got this book, I went to Pisces & read about my node. That didn't make any sense, so as I have a 10th house node, and as the 10th house relates to Capricorn, I read the Capricorn chapter as well. When neither of them did anything for me, I set the book aside. And for ten years, on the shelf it sat. Meanwhile, I was experimenting with different ways of reading a chart, different ways of looking at houses & the planets in them. In 2007 I had excuse to look at Braha's How to be a Great Astrologer. He's blunt. He says to ignore the node's sign & read its house instead (the opposite of Spiller). So I applied my new rule about planets in houses (look for the cusp with the same sign as the planet & that's your house) & for the first time read a delineation of my actual node. One that made perfect sense to me. Eager to try out my new discovery, I sorted through all the various node books on the shelf. And came to Jan's. She nailed it. She nailed me. More than she herself ever knew, since she has my chart (she was once my landlady). Oddly enough, we have the same node. She thinks hers is in Cancer. By Braha's rules, and according to Spiller's presentation, it's actually in Aquarius. Same as mine. Looking at her website, she seems blissfully unaware. One interesting observation: Jan says that when your node is in the house opposite to the sign that traditionally rules that house, that you should read both your north node, by sign (the only way they're presented in this book), as well as the opposite sign. So, for example, if your node is in the 5th house, in the sign of Aquarius (according to the ephemeris, not according to Dave), you should read the Aquarius chapter as well as the Leo chapter. Is this justified? I don't have direct experience, but I can say that a planet debilitated by sign looks longingly at the house (not sign) opposite. Which is how you should interpret Bill Clinton's 11th house Saturn in Leo. If that's true - and I think it is - then Spiller's observation is probably also true. In this book, each sign gets around 40 pages of text. More than you can imagine. Far too long, I think, and as a consequence, repetitive. Bantam, 528 pages.

	COSMIC LOVE: Secrets of the Astrology of Intimacy Revealed - Jan Spiller, $18.00 Contents: Acknowledgments The location of your north node Introduction Essential information Part 1: The Signs: Bringing out the best in love relationships Aries north node people Taurus north node people Gemini north node people Cancer north node people Leo north node people Virgo north node people Libra north node people Scorpio north node people Sagittarius north node people Capricorn north node people Aquarius north node people Pisces north node people Part 2: The Houses, Destiny's gifts Introduction to the houses Receiving love: gifts your partner brings to you Their north node falls in your 1st house 2nd house 3rd house 5th house 6th house 7th house 8th house 9th house 10th house 11th house 12th house Giving love: Gifts you bring to your partner Your north node falls in their: 1st house 2nd house 3rd house 5th house 6th house 7th house 8th house 9th house 10th house 11th house 12th house Part 3: The Aspects: Navigating the energy of past life connections Information on aspects North node conjunctions: People who help along the way South node conjunctions: Past life contracts The Composite Chart Conclusion Comment: January, 2008: We continue the study of node books with Jan's new book. Previous study has indicated that node books may have their own special rules. Let's see if that's the case with this book, using myself as an example. I have a north node in Pisces. It's in the 10th, but the sign on the 10th is Aquarius. Pisces is on the 11th (Placidus houses). So, according to my rules, my node is in the 11th, which, in Spiller's books, makes it Aquarius. But I start again from scratch. My node is in Pisces. But, as before, Spiller's delineation of node in Pisces was not a good fit. So I went to node in Aquarius. To my surprise, the delineation was absurd. North node Aquarians, I learn, are selfish, bullying Leos. So, on hunch, I flipped it. I read her delineation of north node Leo. And that worked. But it was simplistic & repetitive. Much more simplistic, much more repetitive than that in Astrology for the Soul. It was as if Spiller was writing a sequel. Regrettably, not a very good one. But there's more to the book than rehashed natal node delineations. There's also nodal synastry. What does your partner's node bring to your chart? What does your node bring to theirs? Spiller's technique is simple, and straight-forward: Using its zodiacal position, place your partner's node in your chart & read the result by house. So I cranked up Solar Fire & dug up all the old girlfriend charts. My relationships have tended to cluster, 1957-59. Those nodes were all in Scorpio & Libra. Did I make any "changes" to those nodes? Did I shift them from sign to sign, did I shift them from sign to house? No. I read the data straight. According to Spiller's book, most of my romantic partners have brought me issues of creatity (5th house) or responsibility (6th house), because that's where those nodes fall in my chart. Which, try as I might, I could not see. I was going back a full quarter-century. So I exchanged the signs for their house positions in the "natural" wheel. Libra became 7th house, Scorpio the 8th. And to my surprise, Spiller's definitions fit perfectly. A Libra node person (7th house) bring partnership to his/her relationships. A Scorpio node (8th house) is a soul-mate. ("Soul-mate" is a derided term, but I had a Scorpio node partner for 15 years.) I then further tested my finding with the woman with a node in Cancer (ie, 4th house). The woman with a node in Aries (1st). Sagittarius (9th). All were good. The reverse, my Piscean node in their 12ths, was also good. The next section of Jan's book are delineations of your node conjunct your partner's planets. North & south nodes are separately delineated. From what I can glean from my own experiences, the north node delineations are basically okay. I was surprised to discover that, aside from my south node conjunct everyone's Pluto, I've never had a south-node-to-planet, or planet-to-south-node relationship. I am wondering if the south node, by its nature, prohibits close relationships. The final section, on composite charts, runs a mere ten pages. I rarely ever use composite charts, so I did not look at this section. If Ms Spiller should find herself reading these notes, I would caution her against the possibility of becoming an astrological parody, "the node astrologer." She is too talented for such a fate. Bantam, 458 pages.

	LUNAR NODES - Mohan Koparkar, $6.95 Contents: Introduction Basic concept of lunar nodes Karmic controls Controlling aspects Nodes through the signs Nodes through the houses Aspects to the nodes in the natal chart Aspects to the nodes in the progressed chart Transiting nodes Transiting planets to the nodes Nodes in synastry. Comment: We were surprised to see a book so much different & so much better than the usual node books. In addition to the usual nodes in signs & houses, the key factor in this book are the planets ruling the nodes. Koparkar calls them Karmic Control Planets. As the south node is the inlet point for past karma, the planet ruling the south node is responsible for incoming karma. The planet ruling the north node is reponsible for karmic distribution. These two planets form some sort of angle to the nodal axis. Koparkar takes the shorter of the possibilities (eg, up to 90 degrees) and provides notes for conjunction, 6, 8, 9, 10, 13, 15, 18, 22, 30, 36, 40 45, 51, 60, 72, 80 & 90 degree ruling-planet-to-node aspects. A lot in a small book. Mohan Enterprises, 90 pages.

	THE MOON'S NODES & THEIR IMPORTANCE IN NATAL ASTROLOGY - George White, $11.95 Contents: Foreword 1. Introduction 2. What is meant by the moon's nodes 3. How the position of the nodes in the horoscope affects the stature of the native 4. The part the nodes play in the popularity, success & fame of an individual 5. Nodal epochs in life 6. The moon's nodes in relation to the signs & houses 7. Eclipses generally, and their effects by direction in horoscopes 8. The lights individually & the nodes 9. The moon's nodes in relation to the planets 10. Conclusion Maps & explanatory tables: Charts for Baden-Powell, C.A. Pearson, Lord Beaconsfield Positions of the planets' nodes: Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, presumably as of 1927, though they hardly move. How to find the position of the Dragon's Head at any date Comment: From 1927, one of the first books on the nodes. In Chapter 3, White notes that north node, placed in the 1st, 12th, 11th, 10th, 9th or 8th house, makes one tall. The south node in these houses makes one short. South node conjunct the ascendant can make for a dwarf. Chapter 4 has useful notes on aspects to the nodes. Chapter 5 discusses the nodes in aspect to the angles. Chapter 9 details nodes & planets. He gives the secret to transiting nodes: The node must be near the planet's own node, or the planet near its own node. When they are, the transit has impact. There is also impact if, at the time of the transit, the planets are within one-half degree of parallel. A small, oddly satisfying book. AFA, 102 pages.

	THE COMPLETE NODE BOOK: Understanding your life's purpose - Kevin Burk, $15.95 Contents: 1. Introducing the moon's nodes 2. The house axis 3. The Aries/Libra nodal axis 4. The Taurus/Scorpio nodal axis 5. The Gemini/Sagittarius nodal axis 6. The Cancer/Capricorn nodal axis 7. The Leo/Aquarius nodal axis 8. The Virgo/Pisces nodal axis 9. Aspects & Transits Appendix: "Ask Kevin". Comment: Burk improves on the house and/or sign model, to give us all possible combinations of nodes, signs & houses. North node in Aries in the first, north node in Aries in the second, north node in Aries in the third, etc., all the way to north node in Pisces in the 12th. How well does he do, with a chart like mine? North node in Pisces in the 10th, my actual node position, is a strikeout: I have virtually no family ties. North node in Pisces in the 11th (which how I would read it, see Dave's Method, at top), is not much better: I'm not all that creative. When I reformulate & read his section on north node in Aquarius in the 11th, I discover several things. One, Burk's writing is heavily formulistic (the same phrases repeated, word for word), and that he has a weak grasp of both houses & signs. Spiller's book, while wordy, is more penetrating. Llewellyn, 224 pages.

	NODES IN TRANSIT WITH ASPECTS - Clara M. Darr, $8.95 Contents: Introduction North node transits North node aspecting planets & nodes South node transits houses South node aspecting planets & nodes. Comment: Transiting north & south nodes taken individually through the houses & in aspect to natal planets. From the back of the book: The nodes in transit through the houses & in aspect to planets in the birth chart reveal another dimension of life potential & the promise of the birth chart as it unfolds. A valuable tool in predictive astrology, the Nodes signal opportunities to expand your horizons & delve into areas previously undiscovered. A brief monograph, newly reset (summer, 2005). AFA, 47 pages, small paper.

	RAHU & KETU (MOON'S NODES) IN PREDICTIVE ASTROLOGY - Manik Chand Jain, $8.00 Contents: 1. Introduction 2. Rahu & Ketu in Hindu astrology 3. Rahu & Ketu in western astrology 4. True conception of Rahu & Ketu 5. Rahu & Ketu in houses 6. Rahu & Ketu in signs 7. Rahu & Ketu in aspects 8. Combinations of Rahu or Ketu with planets 9. Rahu & Ketu in vimshottari dasa 10. Rahu & Ketu in transits 11. Transit Rahu & Ketu aspecting planets 12. Transiting planets aspecting Rahu & Ketu 13. Kala-Sarpa yoga 14. Eclipses in nativities 15. Rahu & Ketu in female horoscopes 16. Rahu & Ketu in synastry 17. Karmic destiny 18. Famous people Comment: The Hindu conception of the nodes, as we've pointed out elsewhere, is superior to Western ideas. In Vedic astrology, the north node is known as Rahu, the south node as Ketu. This is the most difficult book on this page. While parts of this book will be clear to western astrologers, if you have no previous experience with Vedic astrology, it will be a baptism by fire, so to speak. Sagar, 169 pages.

	LUNAR NODES: NEW CONCEPTS - Bernice Prill Grebner, $14.95 Contents: Prologue Introduction Karma South node heritage Relationships South node through houses North node through the houses Comments Aspects to the nodes Why failure at the south node? Nodal dignities nd debilities Transits; Progressions Astronomical explanations of the nodes Nodal points in the charts of famous people (Carl Jung, the Duke of Windsor, Herbert Hoover, Manuel Garcia, Winston Churchill, Pope John 23, Bernard Baruch, Eva Braun) Synastry aspects Synastry interpretation Conclusion. Appendices: 1. Nodal theories 2. Current transiting nodes 3. Lunar nodal return 4. Additional thoughts on the nodes 5. Past lives or vocations taking little effort 6. Needs for release 7. Examples 8. Location of north & south nodes (ephemeris from 1875 to 2020) 9. Newer information about the nodes. Comment: The delineations in the charts of famous people are a brief paragraph each, but all have chartwheels & all are timed, though the sources are not given. AFA, 95 pages.

	THE MOON'S NODES: A Churning Process of the Soul - Agneta K. Borstein, $15.95 Contents: Acknowledgements Foreword Introduction Invocation Nuggets of wisdom Part 1: 1. Fundamental facts about the moon's nodes Part 2: 2. Wisdom of gods & goddesses of the moon's nodes 2. The myth of the moon's nodes Part 3: 4. Mars & the 1st house - Who are you? 5. Venus & the 2nd house - Your security 6. Mercury & the 3rd house - Listen to your voice! 7. Moon & the 4th house - Calling the moon 8. Sun & the 5th house - Invoking the sun 9. Mercury & the 6th house - Body is the temple of the soul 10. Venus 7 the 7th house - Love thyself 11. Pluto & the 8th house - Let go & let live! 12. Jupiter & the 9th house - The journey 13. Saturn & the 10th house - The initiation process 14. Uranus & the 11th house - Where are you going? 15. Neptune & the 12th house - Our reality 16. North & south nodes - The soul's desire for growth Part 4: 17. Chris, a case study Part 5: Appendix: A history of the moon's nodes Part 6: Affirmations & meditations Glossary Birth data information Bibliography Ephemeris of the moon's nodes & eclipses, 1900-2050. Comment: "Churning" is to liken the nodal process with that of cheese-making. The author explains it on pgs. 8 & 9: I offer this story of Churning for you to understand the Process of Life as a Process of Churning. That process may make your life "stink" at times, yet the same Process will require that you to develop [sic] your own sense of taste or true understanding of life's meaning. Only you will understand the heavenly rewards that your Churning Process will give you. The premise of the book is that a first house node is related to Mars, a second house node to Venus, a third house node to Mercury, etc. The reasoning is simple: The first house is ruled by Mars (pg. 64), so a discussion of Mars & an understanding of its various traits is essential to understanding a north node in the first house, as all first house north nodes are martial to some extent. So a north node in the 11t house is ruled by Uranus. We learn that before the discovery of Uranus in 1791, those who exhibited "Uranian" characteristics were routinely locked away in aslyums (pg. 158). My impression was the book is near gibberish, as is hinted by a close reading of the table of contents. The author has read widely, but nothing she has read impressed her as much as her own fancies, for better or worse. Crescentia Publications, 256 pages.

	THE NODE BOOK (includes planetary & asteroid node tables) - Zipporah Pottenger Dobyns, $11.00 Contents: 1. Philosophizing 2. General principles 3. Planetary nodes Asteroids 4. Nodes of the moon 5. Summing up Directions for use Meaning of symbols Heliocentric positions of planetary nodes Table of years from 1950 Node tables for the planets Node tables for Ceres, Pallas, Juno and Vesta Supplement: House/planet/sign combinations and their key phrases Chart of aspects and minor aspects. Comment: The idea of conflating houses & signs has been around for some time, but much of the modern misunderstanding of these two, the current belief that houses = signs, signs = houses, can be laid at the feet of this one woman & her famous "letters". I cannot tell you the harm this has caused. Unique to this book, rudimentary delineations of the nodes of the various planets. These nodes are virtually stationary, but because the Earth moves relative to them, they appear to shift position, relative to our vantage point, as we orbit the sun. By definition, these nodes are the places where a planet's orbit around the sun intersects our own orbit around the sun, as we have no other means to judge the solar equator. Pluto's north node, for example, ranges from 18 to 21 degrees of Cancer, depending on where the Earth is in relation to that point at Plutonian distance. Delineations of lunar nodes & houses are a notch better than average. Tables in the back give the exact planetary nodes, for each degree of the natal sun position (ie, for every day of the year, if you convert), for 1950. And though the planetary nodes hardly move at all, there are tables to calculate the precise position for any day of any year for dates ranging from far before 1900, to far beyond 2000. North planetary nodes are given, as well as south planetary nodes, as with Mercury, Venus & Mars, these are more nearly square or trine (Mars) to each other, than opposed (why this is I have no idea). These tables, and a desire for further research, are the reasons to get this book. TIA (Truth in Action: pg. 8) Publications, 126 pages.

	LUNAR NODES: Keys to emotions & life experiences - Diane Ronngren, $14.99 Contents: Introduction 1. Symbols of destiny 2. Node basics 3. Lunar nodes, signs & houses 4. Keys to emotions 5. Moon / node aspects 6. The emotional energy field 7. Synthesis & synergy, aspects in action 8. Transiting lunar nodes (aka "astrological PacMan") 9. Keys to life experience Appendicies: Dynamic lunar nodes graphic wheel Lunar node ephemeris (true node, monthly), 1940-2040 Bibliography Acknowledgements Author's notes Comment: In addition to the usual chapters defining what nodes are & delineating them by sign & house, the author explains how to interpret nodes as emotional factors: First, delineate the natal moon's sign & house. Delineate the south node as if it were a secondary moon, then delineate the north node as if it were the "real" natal moon. The section on Moon/Node aspects is unique (as far as I remember) & includes the major aspects, as well as semisextile/inconjunct (30/150) and semisquare/sesquiquadrate (45/135). The chapter entitled, The Emotional Energy Field gives rules for aspects to nodes (including 30, 45, 135 & 150). Interpretations are given in the next chapter, Synthesis & synergy. The chapter on transiting nodes includes houses as well as planets. Ronngren says she uses mean as well as true nodes, depending on how the individual chart reacts. In chapter 8, Transiting Lunar Nodes, she likens the transiting nodes to "PacMan", set to swallow & gobble up hundreds of emotional experiences on its 18.5 year voyage around the zodiac. (Brownie points for a good image!) She writes: When a transiting Lunar Node (North or South) hits your personal significators, know that a "meal" is about to take place. Get ready to identify the issues represented by the planets in your chart. All manner of experiences are about to be "gobbled up" & become valuable additions to your life as a result of your planetary interaction with this transiting PacMan! (pg. 176) Ronngren's delineations of nodes transiting through the houses are better than Clara Darr's. Ronngren scores again as she writes her house delineations in reverse order, starting in the 12th house & going backwards to the first. This is to remind us that the nodes transit in retrograde, something all too easy to forget. Her notes on the nodal cycle (We can expect to see examples of important life-changing events occur at the time the transiting Lunar Nodes travel to complete their full cycle in the Zodiac. [pg. 200]) brings up several interesting observations: My mother celebrated her first node return with my birth, her first born. She was not quite finished giving birth to the last of us (9 in all) when the demi-return arrived nine years later, but it is most likely true that childbearing years coincide with the second node cycle, ages 19 to 38. The second observation is that none of the authors of these many books have observed this. From this I draw the conclusion that, a. Men aren't paying attention, and, b. The women who write these books are busy with ideas & careers & not families. A third observation would be to compare a child's node to its mother's planetary placements. A fourth observation, built on the last, is to note planetary placements & the total number of a woman's pregnancies. An interesting book. Her astrological bibliography in the back is excellent, something I rarely get to say. ETC Publishing, 236 pages.

See also Reincarnation and Karma

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