My May forecast prompted questions about the nodes. The starting point is this sentence in the forecast:
“The nodes of the moon shift to the axis of the current eclipses, Leo/Aquarius, on the 10th, which also sees the Pluto-ruled Scorpio Full Moon.”
Q: I know *we* have nodes, but the moon does?
They are the same thing. When we speak of the nodes in a chart, we are referring to the nodes of the moon. So a person’s nodes are the moon’s nodes at the person’s time of birth.
The moon and all the planets have nodes. We generally pay attention only to those of the moon.
The word “nodes” refers to the points where the moon’s orbit crosses the ecliptic, or the path of the sun as viewed from the earth. The north node is the point where the moon moves from south to north to cross the ecliptic, and the south node is where the moon crosses from north to south.
The north node represents what we are moving toward, or our evolutionary impulses. It’s sometimes looked at as a path of destiny. The south node represents what we are moving from, and indicates behavior we resort to under stress. If you believe in past lives, the south node may give information into that.
The nodes always occupy opposite signs. They move backward through the zodiac, spending roughly 18 months in a pair of opposite signs, or on an axis. The nodes have a cycle of about 19 years. It takes that long for them to go through the zodiac and occupy the same north and south signs.
Q: And what does it mean to shift to the axis of the eclipses?
First, some background: Eclipses happen only when a new or full moon takes place near a node. In 2017, all the eclipses are on the Leo/Aquarius axis. That eclipse cycle started in February, but the nodes were still in the signs of the previous eclipses on the Virgo/Pisces axis, which were wrapping up.
In May 2017, the nodes are moving into Leo/Aquarius, which is the same axis as the current eclipses. At that point the nodal impulses are moving into the same cosmic imperative as the eclipses: revisiting the challenge of expressing our individual selves while coexisting in a group.
Q: And do you mean the eclipses from Feb and the ones to come in August?
Yes, with a qualifier. February had two eclipses: the lunar eclipse in Leo, which launched the current Leo/Aquarius cycle, and the solar eclipse in Virgo, which ended the Virgo/Pisces cycle. The eclipses to come in August are in Leo and Aquarius and relate only to February’s Leo lunar eclipse.