*for the True Nodes
On January 19th, there will be a shift in our collective narrative. The North Node will move into Taurus, and the South Node will move into Scorpio. Before we get into what this means, let’s address some basics. The North Node and South Node (nodes) are not celestial bodies—they are mathematical points in the sky. In modern astrology, these points are linked to fate, karmic lessons, and ultimate fulfillment of a soul’s desire. The nodes are always exactly opposite one another. The sign of the South Node represents archetypes that have been mastered. The sign of the North Node represents archetypes that need to be embodied and that are tied in with our life’s purpose. It is an axis of growth. Our natal charts can show us our personal nodal story, the static arc of development we incarnated into. But the transiting nodes, which change signs every 1.5 years, show us the chapter of development we are in, the areas and topics of life that are due for deeper exploration. This work is done collectively, our outer reality becoming a macrocosm of what we grapple with personally. The nodes can underscore the specific themes that confront a society, weaving into our collective development the productive and unproductive potential of a sign’s energy. The signs of the nodes are the signs of the times.
Think of the transiting North Node as what gains and the transiting South Node as what drains. Generally, the sign of the North Node tells us which themes can increase or get amplified. The sign of the South Node tells us which themes can decrease or need to be detached from. The sign of the North Node can provide an antidote to the distortions of the sign of the South Node, representing what we collectively need to balance and reach for. This can show up in literal and symbolic ways. For example, when the South Node was traveling through the sign of Sagittarius over the last year or so we saw a decrease in our ability to travel and a major hit to airlines because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The symbolic drain of the South Node in Sagittarius also showed up in the global spread of COVID-19 itself, limiting our freedom and sense of expansion. We were shown the distorted and scattered manifestation of ideology, policy and conspiracy, and the politicization of a global health crisis. And it was draining. The natural counterbalance is Gemini, where the North Node was during the same period. Gemini calms Sagittarius’s leaps of faith with fact, clear communication, and openness to new information. Gemini is adaptable, less prone to rigidity in thought, softening the dogmatic and moralistic potential of Sagittarius. This is the sign that wants to understand the assignment. Gemini also represents our immediate surroundings, our zip codes—and I think we all became intimately familiar with our neighborhoods, our towns, and our cities over the last year. Symbolically, we may have even become more familiar with our own thoughts and habits, with prolonged alone time at home prompting deeper self-reflection. And certainly, we all realized the importance of communication and socialization during a time when those things were threatened. Gemini stays in touch. Because the nodes were in mutable signs, a lot was simply in flux, the only constant being the continuous stream of change. Our flexibility was tested over the last 1.5 years, with the North Node in Gemini inviting us to remain nimble even amongst growing pressure. Even though Gemini-Sagittarius themes are evergreen in the human condition, especially so when we have placements in either sign, the nodes made them louder as of late.
What next? When the North Node enters Taurus, our collective awareness will shift towards what stabilizes, what soothes, what’s secure—and what just makes sense. We may find ourselves adjusting and anchoring to our new normal, finding moments of peace amid a world that is anything but peaceful. This can feel like welcome relief after a frenetic couple of years. Taurus is simple—reminding us of when to eat, when to cry, when to rest, when to take a deep breath, when to move your body and how, coloring our lives with a predictability and presence that can mimic ultimate serenity. Taurus also moves towards what and who it likes and moves away from what and who it does not like, or what does not work. Over time this attunement to what the body needs, what the spirit needs, builds a life that is sustainable, providing a foundation upon which all else flourishes. Remember that the Moon finds its exaltation in Taurus, a sign that steadies emotions and makes one calm, practical and resolute in temperament. So even beyond physical needs, Taurus instincts can enter in as an internal silencing, a rejection of the needless over-complication of our lives. We can show up to the world, be of the world, but not let the world overwhelm us. Taurus cuts through the noise by remaining practical and in the present moment, simple yet elegant solutions to our complex lives. Over the next year and a half, we will be confronted with matters, personal and impersonal, that will show us where we need to simplify, where we need to rest, where our ceaseless working, striving, and psychoanalyzing has become untenable. Taurus also deals with money and with value, so we will likely continue to see massive shifts in the way that we work and in the way that we value workers, Taurus taking these ideas and making them firm or actionable in some way. The Great Resignation of 2021 will likely bleed well into 2022, with workers across the nation leaving jobs where they are undervalued, underpaid, and uncared for. The forming of unions, the fight for a living wage, growing income inequality in the wake of the pandemic, cryptocurrencies, the treatment of the environment and the basics needed for survival—these are all topics that may reach a fever pitch as the North Node moves through Taurus (and especially when it conjoins Uranus). To get more specific, your natal chart can show you the exact area of life where this simplification will be occurring, the areas of life where you can find profound value by slowing down and tuning in.
If the North Node provides the antidote, then naturally we find what we are healing in the South Node, which will be in the sign of Scorpio. Scorpio is anything but simple. Scorpio is a sign that goes there, a sign that makes friends with conflict and complexity by choosing to walk a path in life littered with barbwire and booby traps. Of course, this creates exquisite emotional sensitivity, discipline, and an all or nothing ruthlessness that makes warriors of men. Yet, when the South Node is in this sign, we can count on there being some dysfunction with these traits, things that need to be purged. It can show up as a maladaptive way of approaching life armor first, hurting others because we are hurt, or simply a protracted sense of woundedness or shame that keeps us stuck, unable to fully embody ourselves, our lives… our bodies even. It can also show up as that chronic psychoanalysis I spoke about above, making us savvy about our pain, yet never free of it. With the South Node in Scorpio, skeletons will find their way out of the closet and there will be a collective need to face them, to soften what is calloused and to make peace with our human indignities. You cannot be haunted by a ghost that you choose to face. Some may not want to go there. Scorpio is a sign that encapsulates the shadow of the human condition, our human condition, and looking upon what is dredged up can take guts. In response, we can find defensiveness, denial, and reactionary responses born out of unresolved pain or even trauma. Some may choose to stay stuck, unable to reach the surface of their own tangled stories, to breathe, to find shore again. Oh, and that shore? It is Taurus, fixed-Earth, land upon which you can rest and build again. This is land that remedies the tortured work of Scorpio with enduring calm, patience, and the awareness that not everything needs to be matted over and ensnarled. That not everything requires suspicion, and that not everyone is a suspect. We are being given a window of astrological time that will compel this healing, creating synchronicities in our lives, in the culture, in the world, that show us where the work needs to be done.
“You work on your stuff or your stuff works on you.”
To end, Venus rules Taurus, and Mars rules Scorpio. From this, we can sum up that this nodal shift will move us away from the chronic intensity, scarcity, and strife of battle-ready Mars…and move us into the warmer embrace of Venus, welcomed by calm, comforts, love, and acceptance. Like all opposing signs, Taurus and Scorpio inform one another. There is no emotional intelligence and strength without conflict, without getting spurned or cut by the barbwires of life. Yet, we cannot constantly be embroiled in these dramas. Warriors need rest. Taurus enters in as that rest, as restoration, the period of peace that comes after war, allowing us to settle into, heal and understand our battle wounds. This reflection allow us to connect with that really matters and what gives foundation to our lives. As you tend to Scorpio’s shadow work, remember to rest in Taurus’s shade—breezy, calm, and unbothered. May we all learn to claim what brings us ease, and may we find that to be enough.