North Node: What You Don't Want to Know About Yourself

The North Node:

What You Don’t Want

to Know About Yourself

Or maybe you disagree—you think you’d like to know everything about yourself—or maybe you think you already know everything there is to know. Perhaps you’re curious to see what others know about you and you don’t? We often think we want to know all about ourselves, but I don’t think most of us want to know what we’re lacking or don’t see, or what the Jungian psychologists call the “inferior function.” However if you’re looking to find the answer to the Greek axiom: “Know Thyself” then you might want to know what this North Node is all about—this shadow part of your psyche.

Simply put, the North Node is where our Soul is yearning to go towards in this life, and the South Node is where we are moving out of, or growing away from—it shows the qualities we would be best to leave behind. South Node qualities and habits are what we acted out either earlier in this life or in a former life if we believe that. It’s what we are familiar with; our world view and our habitual way of responding. And the lower, or reactive expression of this South Node surely carries with it “shadow” or unconscious material, but so does the unconsciousness of the North Node. However, if we would be open to exploring our personal “North Star” the North Node, we would find that it “smells” much better than the South Node, because the South is the area we’ve been mired in, in the past, and failed at to some extent. The North Node is fresh—it’s new territory. It’s a call to try something new.

However, as an astrologer and therapist, I find that most people simply don’t “hear” what their North Node is suggesting. It’s like a blind spot. They’re more likely to recognize their South Node because it’s their default pattern and represents both the gifts and liabilities they came into this life with. We know our gifts---and even most of our sins and failings, even if we don’t want to admit it. We know our South Node. But when confronted with the North Node sign and house and aspect patterns, there’s usually a silence in the conversation. The information is trying to settle in, but it feels unfamiliar, and almost---wrong. “No, that isn’t me,” I can almost hear my clients saying.

But it is. It’s the qualities, traits and areas of life that we are most unfamiliar with, and it’s the particular arenas of life we try to avoid. “ Must I really go there?” we ask. “Do I really need to be more that way?” they respond with a slight look of distaste. We have an innate antipathy to this region of life. Yet if we are to be truly whole and healthy, we would be wise to do as Carl Jung suggested: integrate the shadow---integrate the North Node and the whole Nodal story.

How does this fit in with the rest of the chart? Well, if you were to ask: Who am I?---and then describe yourself in terms of your Sun sign, in most cases—not all—you would be recognizable in the traits of your “sign.” But people are paradoxical and complex, and a description of your obvious personality traits alone does not define you.

How do you perceive the world? What’s your style? How were you seen as a child, and what’s your persona or mask? This is your rising sign, or ascendant. It’s also a hint of what you might look like—Virgo rising? You look younger than your age. Aries rising? Do you have something red in your appearance—a face mole or a red undercolor in your hair? Do you wear red a lot? The ascendant is about how we appear, and how we present ourselves.

The Moon gives us hints as to what makes you happy and sad. Do you love a challenge? Do you love to be a little feisty and dare to “feel the fear and do it anyway”? That could be an Aries Moon. Or would you describe yourself as being both introverted and extroverted? Are you happy cleaning out your closets one moment and then ready to dance by the light of the moon on the beach the next day? This could be a Cancer moon….especially if you were to tell me how much what your mother did and didn’t do for you while growing up affected you. So, the Moon represents our emotional nature.

Each sign describes another part of us. We are complex creatures, and the astrological chart tries to describe so many things--- how we respond to authority and discipline (Saturn), how we are rebellious or not (Uranus), how we feel about spirituality, getting high and boundaries (Neptune), where we are lucky and gifted (Jupiter), and even how we experience and handle life’s toughest moments (Pluto)
.
The chart is a fascinating yet inexact map of the territory of our lives. The wild card is that we have free will to play out the signs and aspects. We can bring consciousness and energy to them, or we can play on our strengths and go for an easy ride. We inherit a family karmic inheritance that predisposes us to certain ways of behaving that are not as easy to change as our hair color. And at every moment of our lives we have an assortment of different challenges and moods--- what astrologers call “transits and progressions.” A good astrologer can trace the pattern of particular challenges and opportunities and help you prepare for and accept the stage of life you’re in at the moment.

So when you have an astrological reading done, the astrologer will tend to describe you in terms of all the different facets or signs, and then look at what is happening to you in the present moment by looking at the patterns of transits and progressions. However, there is always the big picture. And the big picture is the Nodes: the North Node representing what our Soul longs for in this life, and those qualities we would be wise to integrate into ourselves, no matter how foreign they may feel. And then directly opposite it is the South Node, representing the gifts and liabilities we’ve come into this life with--- and especially what we haven’t handled skillfully. The South Node represents what we’re bringing in to this life with, like our gender and race, but it speaks in terms of our family and soul karmic inheritance. It’s useful to know. However, we can only look so long at what we didn’t get right. The North Node is a fresh breath of divine wind: why not breathe it in---try it out? You might be very pleased indeed. © Elizabeth Spring www.elizabethspring.com

South Node Seventh House House

South Node Seventh House (Libra), North Node First House (Aries)

The house description of the Nodes always tells us in what area of our life things are happening, and where attention is needed to be paid. In this aspect, with the South Node in the Libra ruled house of partnerships, marriage, and one-to-one relationships, we see that the default pattern which the Soul wants to leave behind involves being in close relationships in an unhealthy way. It often points to too much enmeshment or co-dependency with another or any kind of unequal relationship which is not a win-win situation.

The North Node in the First House, which has its normal ruler Aries, reflects a soul desire to independence and individuation—to taking care of our own needs and desires first, and putting emphasis on surviving and fighting for what we believe in. The first house is about the individual rather than the group, family or couple, so the individual needs to comes first, before a healthy relationship with others can be achieved.

Yet this Libra/Aries polarity from the seventh to the first house is ultimately about the balance between you and another person, between I and Thou, between Mars and Venus being in co-operative relationship with each other. Even though the Nodes always show an imbalance, they also show a fascinating inter-relationship—and this time it’s between the male and female parts of our nature. And here, it’s saying that the assertive, male, independent qualities are calling to be further developed, and yet there is gold in the wisdom of the receptive, interdependent female side of ourselves. That is the “gold in the shadow” or the gold of understanding that we came into this life with---so now, we need to use that assertive, goal-making part of ourselves to become all we can be, and not to let the process of relationships through us off balance. Sometimes easier said than done! But there is nothing healthier than a good balance of these two Nodal energies.

For more information or to inquire about a reading using the Nodes as well as your transits and progressions for the coming year: http://www.elizabethspring.com/

Pluto's Night

Last night, as I lay in the dark
trying to sleep
I listened to the June winds ripping
around the house, pushing against the bedroom windows
as if they were looking for entrance.
I listened to them
Not thinking of the fierce beauty
of these warm winds;
But instead hearing in them
the voiceless pain of the world
Whipping around the house
Reminding me
Of all the cruel and indifferent ways
we humans have
of inflicting pain.

It was if I could hear the voices
of all those long dead,
and the cries of those in pain, alone.
And through the cracks
they came in at me, rushing—
those winds I so skillfully
shield myself from.

And then, as if to protect myself
I placed my hand upon my head,
and stroked my brow
Envisioning a holy light—
soothing myself from
the harsh winds of despair.
Till I fell asleep
and began to sense
an unwelcome presence
next to me, behind my curved back
something not wishing me well, hovering there…

And then from deep within
some cavernous well of sleep
where I could drown
or be pulled back under—
I felt a choice arising—
A powerful plea for life
Up swelling from some place
of unknown reserve…
And up came a scream—
Blowing away the apparition and
the evil intents, loveless pain,
and careless indifference
of the world.

And then I rested,
Peaceful in the strength of
That holy gust—
so strong and wild;
that breath of life—
that woke me up
while the night winds blew.

E. Spring June, 2008

South Node 6th House (Virgo), North Node 12th House (Pisces)

South Node 6th House (Virgo), North Node 12th House (Pisces)

The karmic pull of the South Node in the 6th house, will be one of the past life pulling towards a focus on the mind rather than the heart. The default tendency here will be about thinking rather than feeling, working rather than playing, honoring logic more than intuition. The evolutionary pull towards the 12th house, which is ruled by Pisces, will be to balance and correct that tendency with a more imaginative and universal type of thinking in which the goal is to create more compassion in our lives by loving ourselves and others more. No easy task!

This placement is not an easy one because the 12th house is the area that rules the unconscious; the deep psyche, and is not easily accessible. We approach 12th house activities with our hearts, with the arts, with feelings, and obliquely through dreams and divination. Issues around trust and faith develop, along with a tendency to over-analyze things in an effort to “get it.” However ‘getting it” for this placement is often just a softening and an acceptance of the process of living and loving.

Sixth house activities have to do with focusing, discipline, and learning skills to be of use in the world. We mentor others, and are mentored in the 6th, and we are taught skillful ways to live in our bodies and in the world. A South Node placement here wants to move beyond the strict attention to the skills and particulars of a situation and move into the feeling and spirit of the overall picture. This is a Nodal movement away from the particular and detailed attention that the 6th house requires, to the spiritual, meaning-making, and only partially “conscious” quality of the 12th house.

We move in our lives towards finding and redefining our life direction and soul purpose by following our North Node inclinations. With a North Node in the 12th house we are wise to look beneath the surfaces of life to the subtle energetic realms and the realms of the heart as expressed in music, art, poetry and painting.

We can also use this placement very well by being of service to others—especially those who are confined or limited in any way. When life is limited, we are then more open to other realms of experience and meaning-making and we look outside the lines and boundaries of our more mundane lives. This is the high road for North Node 12th house folks---a fascinating journey into the worlds where not everything is obvious or as it appears to be. It’s a world where limitations can be a profound gift. In the 12th house, what is unconscious is begging for conscious understanding and acceptance. Jungian psychology and counseling benefits those with this placement. © Elizabeth Spring http://www.elizabethspring.com/

South Node Fifth House (Leo), North Node Eleventh House (Aquarius)

With the South Node in the Fifth House, the default pattern or the past life pattern of the Soul is concentrated on its own self-expression, risk-taking, and whatever brings it joy---including just plain fun. Nothing wrong with that, except that the Soul now desires to move from the excesses and bad judgment of the past, and toward the North Node in the Eleventh House. This is the area of life that calls us to work with and to connect with other people in finding our true path in order to fulfill our hopes and dreams. We are not a solo agent anymore; we are meant to interact with others in those things that are most important to us. Personal risk taking now gives way to considering what is of greatest good to the whole….and consensus decision-making.

Ask yourself: who is in my community, my “tribe,” my network? Who or what do I care about and how can I connect more with them? The computer is an excellent 11th house tool, so finding one’s tribe and networking with kindred spirits is made easier through using the web. We know longer have the excuse of isolation due to physical restrictions, both geographically and personal. We can find our 11th house soul-friends, and choose to join forces with them to play, to work, and to deeply connect.

A fifth house South Node is related to the sign Leo, and when we read a South Node we read the negative aspect of whatever sign it rules. So here, we can see too much self-preoccupation, narcissism, and great creativity--but the energy is flowing backwards and inward to the self rather than outward to benefit humanity. In the fifth house we find all the children or fruit of our self-expression, and ideally an open and generous heart. However, we are reminded here with this South Node that we need to expand all the forms and “children of our creativity” to encompass a greater world.

The North and South Node represent an axis, and when we have this axis we have both the high and low expressions in each, and we are capable of accessing both. So, although we know that the selfish 5th house patterns need to be released, we also know that there is great gold in this shadow placement as well. The fifth house holds great generosity of spirit and the willingness to risk overflowing this great creative generosity onto others. So as we reach for the more objective group expression of this generosity, in the eleventh house/Aquarian North Node, we also hold onto the wonderful playfulness and fertility of the fifth house South Node. As Jung always said---“Remember there’s gold in the shadow.” Tap into both sides of this nodal placement, and give your gifts to the world.

Elizabeth Spring http://www.elizabethspring.com/

South Node Fourth House (Cancer) North Node Tenth House (Capricorn)

South Node Fourth House (Cancer)

North Node Tenth House (Capricorn)

In this placement the Soul is moving from

a process-oriented emotional enmeshment in the family and group to a goal-oriented position of

being out in the world. The South Node here

can succumb to moodiness and a dependence on

on others when in its default pattern. Because

the South Node represents where we've come from earlier in this life and perhaps in our former life

it hints at the unfinished business left over and

the qualities and habits we should leave behind.

Moving towards our North Node in the Tenth House, and/or Capricorn, means we are called to follow a grounded plan of conscious action and discipline to achieve our goals. No longer will we be bound by our emotions or co-dependent relationships, but rather we are headed out of the deep Cancerian waters of our family of origin and into creating a place and name for ourself in the world.

People with this placement are often more loved than they realize. It's important for them to make it a point to find ways to to lightly and creatively express themselves, as well as making time to keep company with good friends. They may find themselves given the opportunity to succeed in the world in surprising ways. ~elizabeth For more information on the Nodes : www.elizabethspring.com