You’ve heard of Moon signs, but do you know about North and South Nodes in astrology? The North and South Nodes are significant in astrological study, as they reveal important details about your soul’s journey towards spiritual fulfillment.
Nodes are points where the Moon’s orbit intersects with the ecliptic, otherwise known as the Sun’s path. The North node correlates with the northern ecliptic hemisphere, whereas the South node is located in the southern. Astrologers study the North and South Nodes because they reveal important hints about someone’s past life and karma.
What are North and South Nodes in Astrology?
Symbolically, the South Node indicates where you’ve been; it represents the habits, attitudes, and perspectives you feel most comfortable with. The zodiac sign that it’s located in reflects how you expressed yourself in a previous life. It also indicates natural gifts that you can easily channel in this life.
The North Node, however, reveals what you need to do in order to move forward. Its zodiac placement gives you clues about what qualities and circumstances you need to embrace and accept. While it may seem scary to step outside your bubble of security, it’s the only way to evolve. This is the biggest lesson of the North Node.
Calculating Your North and South Node
Most birth chart generators feature the North Node, also known as the True Node, but not always the South. This is because the North and South Nodes reflect oppositions in astrology. For example, if your North Node is in Aries, then your South Node will be in Libra. Aries and Libra are complementary opposites on the zodiac wheel.
Since the North and South Nodes rest on the axis of sister signs, studying these points requires a balanced perspective of them. Even though your South Node mirrors a past you need to push beyond, it’s still an important point of reference. The North Node doesn’t hold all the answers either; it’s simply an embodiment of our potential.
Whether or not you believe in past lives, every human undergoes periods of transformation that bring them closer to their truest self. Everyone has comfort zones they need to expand beyond. The North and South Nodes gives us insight into this process.
Embracing Your Destiny Means Letting Go
While everyone has a unique path towards embracing their karmic destiny, analyzing the zodiac signs of your North and South Nodes will give you a better understanding of what you’re working with. You can look at the basic qualities of each sign to get a general sense of your inherent talents and what you struggle with.
For example, if your North Node is in Capricorn/South Node is in Cancer, you have powerful connections with your family, friends, and lovers. But you veer on the brink of total emotional dependency. You love the comfort of your private life, but your North Node in Capricorn beckons you to move towards the public sphere of career and achievement.
While simplified, this analysis relied on opposing each sign’s strengths and weaknesses. Cancers are known for their tenderness, emotional volatility, and close proximity to the home, whereas Capricorns are associated with the value of work, independence, and an obsession with status.
There is a balance that must be maintained, but not a status quo. Humans live a spiritual life and we are not supposed to remain stagnant. When we do, the Universe makes it harder to align with our South Node values. If one ignores the wheels of destiny, what was once easy suddenly becomes difficult.
The Cosmic Timing of North and South Nodes
This harsh reality is most evident as one grows older, as the North and South Nodes lessons are hyper-aware of the limited time people have on Earth. It’s common that the majority of people focus on the South Node throughout their twenties and into their early thirties.
This is primarily due to the orbital cycle of the North and South Nodes, which take approximately 18 years to return to the sign someone was born with. Therefore, everyone experiences North and South Node returns when they’re around 18, 37, 56, and 74.
These ages can represent major turning points, but the work of transformation lies within the small steps. Working with the North and South Nodes in astrology requires a commitment to embracing the unknown in order to challenge the status quo.
