Alice O. Howell Book Endorsement

Thank you Alice for endorsing my new book! For those of you new to this site, it will be out in a few weeks and is called "North Node Astrology; Rediscovering Your Life Direction and Soul Purpose." Availabe on www.elizabethspring.com and here at this blog, and Amazon.com

Alice wrote: "This is a remarable original work by a gifted astrologer, one of the rising new generation who are continuing to further the proper use of astrology as a serious adjunct to psychology. Elizabeth's insights about the Nodes are epecially valuable in explaining family relationships which give clues to both the problems and the delights these can reveal. Truly a book to own and refer to often! Alice O. Howell, author of The Heavens Declare.

(And thank you Steven for this mandala spiral)

Prescription for Healing: Use Your North Node Sign and Ruling Planet!

The North Node is what our Soul aspires to, and is good compensatory medicine for whatever ails us. And yet, like a good vitamin, we need to remember to “take it!” Look at the sign of your North Node—i.e. is it in Libra? Ponder what Libra represents. Then look up what planet rules Libra, which is Venus, and give yourself a good dose of whatever Venusian things you can imagine—invite a few friends for dinner, paint your bedroom a beautiful rich color, buy flowers and bring into your life more beauty, love, and harmony and connection. Or...is your North Node in Gemini or Virgo? Then your ruling planet is Mercury. Prescription: Communicate! Follow your curiosities; and be a trickster at times. (Hermes, the mythological Mercury was a good trickster...)

Sometimes astrology can get very confusing with signs, houses, planets, and aspects, but when we “honor the gods”—these planetary archetypal energies, then we give them a chance to act magically and synchronistically. Astrologers look to the transits and progressions to see, in a sense, which archetypal voice within us needs attention at any given moment. But if you don't follow your transits regularly, just look at the largest and most penetrating pattern in the zodiac—the Nodes. The Nodes are like the arrow shooting through the astrolable in the photo above--they speak to us of our life direction and soul purpose. They point the way like a compass, and tell us what is good medicine for our Soul.

To take it a little farther, after you see the sign and ruling planet of your North Node, look at where it is in your chart. What house does it occupy? This tells you something about where in your life attention and energy needs to be paid. And then look at the South Node—its sign, its house, and planetary ruler. Follow the threads—especially when you see overlapping patterns. Even though the South Node holds more of the past, it also holds “the gold” in our past, and using the positive higher octaves of the sign and ruling planet is also good medicine that will often yield surprising good results. We are gifted by our past, karmically, and we sometimes forget that! We know in our bones how to use these South Node energies, so allow this into your life as well. But use South Node energies wisely.


The Nodes are an axis, bringing us direction and soulful purpose. They work as a team, and by accessing the highest expression of each we bring ourselves healing, and a sense of purpose into our lives. Try it! Let me know if it works for you……

Elizabeth Spring: Homesite: http://www.elizabethspring.com/ (The photo above is the cover of my new book on rediscovering your life direction and soul purpose which will be out in a few weeks! If you want me to send you an email to let you know when it's available both here and on Amazon.com , then drop me a personal email at: elizabethspring@aol.com and I'll put you on my "to remember list!"

North Node Chart

Yes, I’ve been away! After a two week visit to Ojai, California, I’m now back on-line and here for you on the blog again. I’ve had some feedback from people who are new to “blogs” that it’s not clear where the chart is located to find your North Node. It’s been “hiding” over in the right hand column, but now I’m listing it here, for an easy find, as “The Chart.” Remember that your South Node will always be in exactly the opposite sign, 180 degrees away—so if you have an Aries North Node, your South Node will be in Libra, and likewise with a Taurus North Node; Scorpio will be your South Node.



If you have your birth chart in hand and want to find your Nodes that way, just look for the little glyph that looks like “headphones” for your North Node, and for your South Node look for the glyph that looks like a top “open-ended horseshoe.”



The Nodes are also located in houses, and you’ll need to look at a copy of your birth chart for that. The houses are the areas of your life, or “where” the Nodal activity is happening. The signs describe what the Nodes are about for you.

North Node Chart:
[Beginning day and year through last day and year: = North Node Sign]
 June 7, 1913 - Dec. 3, 1914: Pisces
 Dec. 4, 1914 - May 31, 1916: Aquarius
 June 1, 1916 - Feb. 13, 1918: Capricorn
 Feb. 14, 1918 - Aug.15, 1919: Sagittarius

 Aug. 16, 1919 - Feb. 7, 1921: Scorpio
 Feb. 8, 1921 - Aug. 23, 1922: Libra
 Aug. 24, 1922 - Apr. 23, 1924: Virgo
 Apr. 24, 1924 - Oct. 26, 1925: Leo
 Oct. 27, 1925 - Apr.16, 1927: Cancer
 Apr.17, 1927 - Dec. 28, 1928: Gemini
 Dec. 29, 1928 - July 7, 1930: Taurus
 July 8, 1930 - Dec. 28, 1931: Aries
 Dec .29, 1931 - June 24, 1933: Pisces
 June 25, 1933 - Mar. 8, 1935: Aquarius
 Mar. 9, 1935 - Sept. 14, 1936: Capricorn
 Sept.15, 1936 - Mar. 3, 1938: Sagittarius
 Mar. 4, 1938 - Sept. 12, 1939: Scorpio
 Sept.13, 1939 - May 24, 1941: Libra
 May 25, 1941 - Nov. 21, 1942: Virgo
 Nov. 22, 1942 - May 11, 1944: Leo
 May 12, 1944 - Dec. 13, 1945: Cancer
 Dec. 14, 1945 - Aug. 2, 1947: Gemini
 Aug. 3, 1947 - Jan. 26, 1949: Taurus
 Jan. 27, 1949 - July 26, 1950: Aries
 July 27, 1950 - Mar. 28, 1952: Pisces
 Mar. 29, 1952 - Oct. 9, 1953: Aquarius
 Oct. 10, 1953 - Apr. 2, 1955: Capricorn
 Apr. 3, 1955 - Oct. 4, 1956: Sagittarius
 Oct. 5, 1956 - June 16, 1958: Scorpio
 June 17, 1958 - Dec.15, 1959: Libra
Dec. 16, 1959 - June 10, 1961: Virgo
 June 11, 1961 - Dec. 23, 1962: Leo
 Dec. 24, 1962 - Aug. 25, 1964: Cancer
 Aug. 26, 1964 - Feb. 19, 1966: Gemini
 Feb. 20, 1966 - Aug. 19, 1967: Taurus
 Aug. 20, 1967 - Apr.19, 1969: Aries
 Apr. 20, 1969 - Nov. 2, 1970: Pisces
 Nov. 3, 1970 - Apr. 27, 1972: Aquarius
 Apr. 28, 1972 - Oct. 27, 1973: Capricorn
 Oct. 28, 1973 - July 10, 1975: Sagittarius
 July 11, 1975 - Jan. 7, 1977: Scorpio
 Jan. 8, 1977 – July 5, 1978: Libra
 July 6, 1978 - Jan. 12, 1980: Virgo
 Jan.13, 1980 - Sept. 24, 1981: Leo
 Sept. 25, 1981 - Mar.16, 1983: Cancer
 Mar.17.1983 - Sept.11, 1984: Gemini
 Sept.12, 1984 - Apr. 6, 1986: Taurus
 Apr. 7, 1986 – Dec. 2, 1987: Aries
 Dec. 3, 1987 - May 22, 1989: Pisces
 May 23, 1989 - Nov. 8, 1990: Aquarius
 Nov.19, 1990 - Aug. 1, 1992: Capricorn
 Aug. 2, 1992 - Feb. 1, 1994: Sagittarius
 Feb .2, 1994 – Jul. 31, 1995: Scorpio
 Aug.1, 1995 - Jan. 25, 1997: Libra
 Jan. 26, 1997 - Oct. 20, 1998: Virgo
 Oct. 21, 1998 - Apr. 9, 2000: Leo
 Apr.10, 2000 - Oct. 12, 2001: Cancer
 Oct. 13, 2001 - Apr. 13, 2003: Gemini
 Apr. 14, 2003 - Dec. 25, 2004: Taurus
 Dec. 26, 2004 - June 21, 2006: Aries
June 22, 2006 - Dec.18, 2007: Pisces
Dec. 19, 2007 - Aug. 22, 2009: Aquarius

Transiting Planets Conjuncting the Nodes

The kaleidoscopic effect of a planetary transit over the Nodes could be thought of as a re-alignment with the evolutionary needs of the Soul. And, it’s good to keep remembering how the Nodes are a polarity—that when one Node is transited by a planet, it reverberates its polar opposite as well. A transiting planet over a Node is read the same way as any transiting planet is read, except that on the Nodal axis we are hitting a harmonic chord about “life direction and soul purpose.” It may be a subtle shift rather than one “event” in the world, but as we know, we’re not in control with how a transit will play out in our lives.


Most of us would like to feel that we do have control over our transits, and we surely have some control by the choices we make and how much consciousness and intention we bring to them. We have control over our response to transits, but because so much of the psyche operates from a base of unconsciousness, there’s a mystery as to how and why things play themselves out the way they do. Perhaps that’s another reason why we need to be gentle with ourselves. What’s good for the ego, is not always good for the soul evolution.


So when a planet transits our Nodes this may be as Steven Forrest says, “the time when the karmic wave breaks.” For example, a transit of Jupiter to our Nodal axis may bring us into surprise contact with a mentor or supporter, and with a transit of Pluto we might find ourselves exploring “regression therapy.” Always, it’s not about good or bad, despite how it feels. Lunar feelings change so fast and are unreliable in judging the long term effect of what the evolutionary intent is—again we must be gentle with the “universe” as well as ourselves.


And we don’t always get what we want! Or what we think we want—but think of it—would you really want to get that lover you lost when you were sixteen? Now that you’re older you see how what you may have wanted at times in your past, would not be right for you now.


The bottom line? Acceptance, yes, and transmuting what you know into action: transmuting knowledge into wisdom. That’s the catch. That’s the Nodal transit. It amazes me how many times I “know something” but when the “karmic re-action” happens I’m often still shocked! But of course, this is the way it works! All our “digging around in the psyche” is really quite fruitful in helping us understand and accept things, but it takes time for the mind to descend into the heart, and for us to open to things as they are. “Go gently into the night…”
~elizabeth spring www.elizabethspring.com

Where Jungian Psychology and Astrology Meet: "Surrendering to the Gods"

Where Jungian Psychology and Astrology Meet: “Surrendering to the Gods”

I’m just finishing writing “North Node Astrology; Rediscovering Your Life Direction and Soul Purpose.” It’s been much more work than I originally thought, and so lately I’ve been wondering, why did I write this book? And then I remember—I love making connections—to people and ideas. And I crave the sense “of belonging to the world” and of making heartfelt and thoughtful connections with others--people who playfully and seriously like to entertain these ideas. Jungians and Astrologers. Bloggers and readers. You and Me. I like to bridge the gap.


I love to hear from readers, yet sometimes I’m too blood-shot in the eyes to respond. So many hours on the computer—but what would I rather do? I love to write my thoughts and hear yours…


I also fear that we sometimes are afraid to speak to each other; bloggers, for example, mostly respond with “Anonymous.” So much for the personal response! And, there’s a gap between the two worlds I hold so dear to my heart: the Jungians and Astrologers.

The Jungians often view popular predictive astrology with distain, yet quietly study astrology and talk about it with their friends or their astrologer. They tend not to write about it in their professional journals.

The Astrologers hear the reserve in their attitude, but often don’t know what the Jungians are really talking about! To those astrologers who focus on pragmatic approaches, the oohing and aahing of the Jungians and their general quacking over the “obvious” may make them seem like odd ducks. And to what use? These astrologers will help their clients, like coaches, find their jobs or careers, but forget that the word “vocation” has its roots in the ability “to listen” to our deep selves. How do we get to that place of deep listening to the Self?

The Astrologer can sit with someone once, for a couple of hours, and talk with them about “their map of the psyche” and how they can use it best. A Jungian will sit with someone, for hours over many years helping their client listen to the various inner voices in order to discover who they essentially are. They give time for the inner work and the “alchemical process” to truly evolve and they support the client in the process. A sense of safety and love develops. It’s powerful!

Both astrologers and Jungians honor the complexity of the Self, and the variety of our inner personalities—call it what you will: voices, archetypes, planets. Both know that we need to understand the “gold” and the “shadow” parts of ourselves. We need to understand the unique gold of Jupiter and the North Node, and the shadowy wounding of Pluto and the South Node. We need to bring responsibility into our lives—Saturn, and yet dare to take our freedom—Uranus.

Different words, same ideas. Dreams or divination? Both astrologers and Jungians would agree that we project ourselves out into life and yet swim in the deep wine-dark sea of the unconscious. There are reasons beneath reasons why we do what we do, and our outer choices and inner revelations echo each other. The outer pragmatic solutions of the coach or astrologer will reverberate with the inner “Jungian” nourishing and unfolding process of the Self, and it will reverberate with life in the outer world. Neither better—both needed.

Carl Jung was a trickster, a shaman, and a scholar as well as a spiritual man. His psychology came out of his life; he broke some rules, he kept to some. As John Perry, a Jungian scholar and friend of Jung once said: “There was always a little something magical about the way Jung’s mind worked. He said that he felt himself to be more shaman than psychiatrist.” And Jung studied and practiced astrology and alchemy. He was a bridge maker.


I do not aspire to be Jung. But I have “an inner Jung” within me that desires to make connections and bridge gaps. I want to keep encouraging all the ways we can “attend to our inner life”. We come into this life bringing woundedness and a sense of wonder and possibility. It’s a great thing if we can stay aware of both, and how they continue to play out in our lives. And so then we ask….can I accept my fate and live it out well? Can I work within the limits that I have, and yet stretch to be all I can be? Yes, I think yes….we can all do that. And make bridges… Elizabeth Spring http://www.elizabethspring.com/

Pluto and Polarity: the Yin-Yang Symbol

Pluto, Pain, and Polarities: the Yin/ Yang Symbol



Most of us die with unresolved issues. Most of us die with a few regrets and unanswered questions. We have held grief, and know of the illusions, betrayals, and expectations of ourselves and others that weren’t met. Most astrologers look to the planet Pluto to tell more of the Soul-story about this aspect of life, as Pluto carries the archetype of the deep wound. When we feel our emotional body to be heavy with grief, when we feel anger, abuse or fear the potential of power and power struggles, then we know Pluto.

The South Node holds the history of Pluto through many unresolved past lives. So much of what we carry within us unconsciously is buried here. The personal unconscious, as well as the family unconscious, carries an “imprint” from these lives, as well as from our early childhood. Here are the blockages, the complexes, the issues of betrayal and lack of trust; here are the psychological distortions some of us call evil.

Perhaps it is within the archetype of Saturn that we are truly invited us to do the work to find new endings to old stories, and to release and heal whatever is still undigested by the heart. Not an easy thing to do! The good news is that deep in our psyche is also a remembrance of inner truths, talents, and inclinations that only we can intuit. Some astrologers look to archetype of Jupiter for the story of this. Look to the sign and house position of Jupiter when you need to see more closely where you are graced.

But it is within the North and South Node that we hold the full duality of promise and pain. Just like the wound of Pluto, and grace and gift of Jupiter, each holds a part of the other within it. The symbol of the Yin/Yang with the circular dot in the center of each side, embodies the relationship of the Nodes what I call the “gold in the shadow.” The curving symbol of the yin/yang with the complementary dots in each side, suggest the interconnection between the two.

We understand the Yin/Yang symbol as reflecting the intricate balance and connection between these two polarities: the progressive/light/ positive qualities and regressive/dark/ negative qualities. The Yin/Yang symbol shows the potential for the highest and lowest expression in each choice we make, just as each Node speaks to both what is unresolved and undigested within us, as well as being the “medicine” that will bring us greatest relief. The North Node can be seen as where we are open to an “inflow” and where we nourish our Souls. However, there’s something unfamiliar about the North Node, and like tasting a new food, we often don’t know what to think about it. Do we really like it? Are we open to it? If we can take it in, it’s our best cure; it’s the vitamin that we’re deficient in. We feed ourselves here.

In contrast, the South Node, in its highest expression, is where we can feed the world; it’s our gift—it’s something we innately understand and can give to others. The power of Pluto past and present, resides here. The South Node, in its lower expression, is like the tail of the dragon—it’s where we release the bitter undigested parts—dare we say it’s “where we shit.” And, where we spread our un-healing pain into the world.

The polarities and paradoxes of the Nodes are not truly opposite—in fact, because every astrological opposition carries within it the seed of its opposite, like the yin-yang symbol, each side holds a piece of the other contained in it. So it’s not all about just reaching for the highest expression of the North Node and struggling against the lower expression of the South Node—what is truly expressed in this symbol is the very human, imperfect movement between the two—a give and take: a dance. When we are able to hold the balance, what “shows up” within us is an energetic re-engagement with life, an inspiration, and a growing re-enchantment with the process of our life. Ah…here is where we extend ourselves past our comfort zones—when we reach into that place where we can love more and truly give of ourselves. The surprise is that in the giving we are able to receive more, and because of the receiving, we are able to give more. (c) elizabeth spring www.elizabethspring.com

Planets conjunct the Nodes

What about planets aspecting the Nodes by conjunction, trine or opposition? Attempting to understand the basics of the Nodal story is an act of imagination, and it lends itself to error if taken too literally. We are looking for emotional truth here, not literal facts. So when we look at what are the rulers and the aspects to the Nodes I think any extrapolations need to be “seconded” by the rest of the chart.

It’s key to remind yourself too that when you are looking at planets aspecting the South Node you are looking into your prior life nature. Planets that are closely conjunct the South Node are like a planet conjunct the Sun, except we are talking about in a prior life. This planet is a good description of how you were in a former life, if you chose to believe in reincarnation. The bizarre thing here is that past life aspects and situations tend to repeat themselves in this life until we bring consciousness to these patterns, and accept or reject parts of them. That’s why we can often interchange “past life” with “early childhood and young adult life.”

A planet conjunct the North Node is that North Node Medicine I’ve talked about before—there’s something about what this planet embodies that you need to bring into your life more. It operates in as a compensatory function, and it is this way because the theory postulates that you were in opposition to this planetary energy in a former life. It opposed you as a person, or a “the brick wall of reality” that you couldn’t get around. Now you can use it.

For example if you have Venus in Cancer conjuncting your North Node, you’ll know that something about the nurturing nature of love in relationship is good for you now, and is what you didn’t quite get right in a former life or earlier in this one. Then, you check on which house it’s in to tell another piece of the story.

In looking at the planets aspecting the Nodes, this is where you don’t need a cookbook answer. Just treat it for what the planet and aspect means—ie if a planet is conjuncting, or opposing, or making a trine to your Nodes, think of it “classically” the same way as you would a planet doing that to your Sun. It simply is amplifying and describing more of what that Node is about—except that because we are looking at Nodal information, the important point is the aspects to the South Node hint of your past life patterns. You probably lived that planet out quite thoroughly in a former life.

A planet tightly aspecting your South Node describes you in a former life, and like looking through a piece of stained glass, it also colors your current life today. Read it for what it is! Moon conjunct the South Node? Put the puzzle together: Moon: mother, mothering, feelings, reactivity. What sign is it in? You have Moon in Sagittarius? Is Sag concerned with the balance of freedom and issues of communication? Is it expansive and over-bearing at times in its enthusiasm? Is this Moon/South Node in the house of close committed friendships and marriage, or is it in the house of career? Where then might you be acting out these South Node tendencies?

This kind of Nodal expansiveness in a reading stretches the imagination to play out a few variations on a theme—why not? You never know what you might find. (c) Elizabeth Spring www.elizabethspring.com

*** Because I'm finishing writing my book on the Nodes this month (!) I'm not having time to respond to comments personally. However, I do appreciate them, and when possible I respond to them in the next posted article.

Near Death Experience; Retrieving the Gold in the Shadow of the South Node

The Near Death Experience, and Retrieving the “gold in the shadow” of the South Node

We retrieve the “gold in the shadow” of the South Node, of our past, when we’ve done the work of the North Node. Here’s the theory: we grow up repeating the patterns of the South Node, and we use the “vehicle” of the astrological Sun to create an ego with which to live in the world—until the time of our first Saturn return at approximately the age of twenty nine. Somewhere in that “awakening Saturnian time” we truly begin reaching for those qualities embedded in the North Node, and in so doing, compensate for the excesses and woundedness of our past. We begin to come home to our Self.


When we’ve done this long enough to sustain a workable life—that is, when we’ve worked to use both the positive qualities of each Node so that we create a balance in our lives—it is then that we are ready to begin the process of retrieving the “gold in the shadow” of the South Node. It is then that we can safely approach what the Jungians call the shadow and extract something that is not simply a default pattern.


If we think of the Nodes as being like the yin/yang symbol, we could visualize the gold to be the circular dot that is embedded within the space of each opposite. This astrological gold is a gift of grace that is available for all of us—and in my experience it tends to come around the time of the Uranus Opposition: somewhere between the ages of 38 and 41. It is at this point that the psyche intensely feels the anxiety and necessity for change—it must retrieve what it has not lived out to this time. And in so doing, people change. It is now that one sees people at this age doing all those things they’ve put off—moving cross country, divorcing, marrying, having a baby, leaving their job, finding their true vocation. They are now on a new journey.


The exciting thing about this is that we can now “take” and handle the goodness in our family karmic inheritance, and reap the rewards of latent talents. We can also take something from a past life experience that we’ve “earned” but perhaps not used skillfully in the past.

When I think of this, I remember the Near Death Experience I had around the age of twenty-one. After experiencing some of the classic luminosity of it, I also received a message—a message received through “automatic writing” saying that I would be wise to ground myself in the world in a very tangible way, and not come back to explore these “other worlds” until I had my feet firmly planted in this reality.

I took the message to heart, and became a potter for the first part of my life, married a Virgo, and had a child. It wasn’t until my forties that I returned to school to get my graduate degree in counseling and became a full time astrological counselor and writer. My North Node is in Taurus in the second house; my South Node in Scorpio in the eighth. I see this movement from South Node to North Node and back to the gold in the South Node with clients. The Nodes feel, not only like a directional pointer, but also like a tool of the psyche/Soul to create balance, and I believe we move between the two in ways that are both mysterious and yet somewhat calculable.
Elizabeth Spring © www.elizabethspring.com art: kerstin zettmar

North Node Medicine-- Jungian "Compensation"

North Node Medicine is about making conscious what is unconscious, and using that to heal yourself. Carl Jung wrote that the psyche has a natural balancing mechanism that "compensates" for itself unconsciously. However this compensation can often feel quite uncomfortable--showing up as an aching back, insomnia and difficulties in relationships. What is out of balance wants to get back in balance--but first let's look at what North Node Medicine is all about.

At the first reading of your North Node Sign you may be nodding your head in agreement, and then thinking: Well, isn’t that true for everyone? Yes, if something is deeply true, then it is true for everyone. However, each sign has a particular truth that rings truer for it than for the others. All the North Node “Medicines” have a “particularity” to that sign and house position, and a potency that is activated by that particular polar dynamic. The prescription, like a vitamin, might be good for anyone to take, but it’s really only necessary and highly effective if you have the symptoms and the chemistry particular to your own Nodal nature.

Here’s an example: Let’s compare 2 sign/house placements: the sign of Leo which naturally rules the 5th house, and Pisces which rules the 12th house.

I think of Leo and the 5th house as “the house that Joseph Campbell built.” Why? Because he popularized the phrase: Follow your own bliss. This is good medicine for those who have their North Nodes in Leo or the 5th house because it’s all about joyous self-expression, and all the life, goodness and creativity that comes when we become as little children again and just play. North Node Leos, with their South Node past in Aquarius, have had childhoods or past lifetimes when they were separated from this particular kind of creative, loose, joyful play—they could have been exiled, persecuted, a genius, a role-model (one who had to be a good example!) or one who didn’t quite fit in for some reason—they could have been ill or restrained in some way, or they may have placed duty above personal expression and joy. They come into this life having forgotten what playing and self-expression can do! Whether it be through love relationships, children, artwork, or just having a good time, there’s a need for this Soul to come into the group, take the lead, and simply follow their own bliss.

Let’s compare that with the “House that Carl Jung built”—the 12th house and Pisces. If you have a North Node in Pisces or in the 12th house, you are being summoned to explore the world of the “collective” and the unconscious. But how can consciousness enter into unconsciousness? It certainly cannot do it directly, but we can enter that world through dreams, divination, active imagination, and by noticing moments of synchronicity between what we’re feeling on the inside and what’s happening on the outside. This is Jungian territory. We are called here to go beyond traditional boundaries into the Neptunian worlds where the mind and the heart join, and where mysticism and psychology meet.

This is not for everyone. But if your North Node is in Pisces or located in the 12th house, then there is something for you to gain in exploring these worlds. There is healing medicine for you deep in your psyche, and you have been given “cosmic permission” to seek Oneness with this world. This is an area where we are not duty-bound, not having to be “right”, and not having to march to anyone else’s drummer. You are simply and quite mysteriously being called to become aware and conscious! Some might say you are called to be enlightened. Some might say you are called to peak into the” in-between lands” where fate, destiny and character all conspire to make a life.

In ancient times, the 12th house was sometimes called the house of suffering, or the “call to the monastery.” Today we could say that having an astrological 12th house emphasis calls you to serve the collective spiritually or psychologically; and that not being conscious of that world might cause you suffering.

So, North Node medicine is about many things, including the psychological law of compensation. It’s a way of describing the particular “vitamin” or anti-biotic that is just right for you in this life now. It’s the particular area to which you need to bring some compensatory behavior, for example, too much righteousness? The medicine would be a little naughtiness. Too much seriousness? A little humor is called for.

Because the Nodes are a polarity, it’s important to remember that polarization calls for balance and integration. The compensating medicine always calls you to become more whole, not good. We need the highest expression of both Nodes, but we need the North a little bit more because of its compensating effects.

The Vedic Indian tradition describes it by saying that we feed ourselves through our North Node and we can feed others through our South Node. Westerners, such as Carl Jung, talked about it in terms of compensation, and said that compensation was the truest natural law in the psyche! Meaning that all nature seeks balance, and that if we don’t do it consciously, the unconscious will do it for us. Neurosis, and distorted or repressed behaviors, will tend to leak out of us if when we are not maintaining a natural balance within. So…the right medicine at the right time is what we are seeking!

elizabeth spring (c) www.elizabethspring.com

A Question of Priorities: How Do I "Read" the North and South Nodes?

A Question of Priorities: How do I “read” the North and South Nodes? Pulling It All Together Astrologically…

When you care enough to go deeper into understanding the North and South Nodes in your birth chart, it can get very confusing indeed! With so many things to consider, it’s hard to know what is important and what isn’t. There’s not much written about how to tweak and modify a good reading of the Nodes. As we all know, a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing, but we all have to start at the basic understanding of the signs and houses, and work up from there. So synthesizing the various elements and “pulling it all together” by prioritizing is a crucial part of the process.


The first step is to read about the SIGN of your North and South Node, and then to read about the section of the chart, the HOUSE, that they each fall in. This tells you a lot, and is enough for many people. It’s also worth remembering that the Nodes are always directly opposite each other on a polar axis that is 180 degrees apart.


If however, you want to delve deeper and begin to unravel the details in order to more fully understand your past life karmic inheritance, or “parable,” you need to go farther. The next step to consider is what PLANET rules your South Node? What PLANET rules your North Node? And where is that planet located in your birth chart and what is it doing in terms of aspects and houses? Following this trail begins an intuitive journey….


Besides looking at the Ruling PLANETS of the Nodes, it is significant if you have a planet conjuncting the Nodes, that is, within about 8 degrees of either Node in your birth chart. If you have a planet conjuncting the South Node, then this planet describes something about who you were either in a former life or earlier in this life. For example: Do you have Mars next to your South Node? This Mars conjuncting the South Node brings an Aries survivor, pioneering, warrior, and entrepreneurial nature to who you once were. Any planet conjuncting a Node modifies the description of it.


Now if a planet is conjuncting the North Node instead of the South, then it describes two things---one is that it’s good North Node Medicine for you to integrate and embody these qualities into your life now, and, it also suggests that in the past you were UP AGAINST someone or something that opposed you in a way described by that planet. You came up against a brick wall of reality that you had trouble getting around—and it had the quality of that planet. It may indeed have been a person, and in the case of Mars, it would have a lot to do with “showing up and having courage.”


The last part of the Nodal story that is fascinating to look at revolves around the aspects to the Nodes. The aspects describe something more about the story or plot of your “past life parable.” A square to the Nodes is a possible skipped step, as Steven Forrest describes it, and describes the unfinished business or skipped/ resisted/denied thing that we need to do (or be!) in order to reach our North Node potential.


This is what Evolutionary Astrology does—it’s not a simple process, and in a post like this, there isn’t room for more examples. Perhaps in my next post I will flesh this out more—and please forgive me if I’ve missed answering some of your questions. If I can’t do it personally, I’ll try to at least address them on this blog. Elizabeth Spring © www.elizabethspring.com

"Attending to the Soul"

Who doesn’t ask themselves occasionally: “Who am I beneath this story of my life?” Or, like in the myth of the Holy Grail, we may ask ourselves: “Who is it that I truly Serve?” The gods of family, finance, freedom and romance are still there, but may not need our attending to as much in the second half of life. Who is this Self that still holds a glimmer of numinosity, like a vague memory of a half-forgotten dream?

Rediscovering life direction and soul purpose may become stronger at mid-life, as many of us begin spending more time questioning what it means to “attend to the Soul.” In Greek, the word “psychotherapy” actually means attending to the Soul. In mid-journey in our life, we are perhaps more hungry for Spirit and thirsty for meaning than ever before. Our egos may be stronger now, our children grown, our career secure, non-existent, or retired from, but still the Self remains and asks questions of us.


Who are we now? The Self, rather than the ego, wants to be attended to, and yes, psychotherapy might be a way to nurture this--as might many other possibilities. In essence, it seems as if our Soul has an increased yearning to be met by another “consciousness” in a space of freedom and possibility…and in this space to see itself more clearly.


We may have many names for this “Self” I’m speaking of. Some may think of it as Atman/Brahman; the connection between the God within and the God Out There. Others may see this Self as simply the unique individual they have grown into becoming. But some of us may still be pulled by diversions and distractions and ailments that pull us away from this part of who we are. And as Christians, Jews and Muslims know, it may take some new effort “to not put any other gods before Me.”


My sense is that the call to reconnect with a guiding vision, or deep wellspring, grows more subtly intense as we age. We want to rediscover our life direction and soul purpose. Many of us look to find ways to live a deeper life more connected to Source, and reject easy answers and old solutions to this quest. Astrology and depth psychology, yoga and meditation may intrigue us. We may want to travel down and in now, rather than wide and far. Our imagination is re-ignited to new possibilities where we don’t have to go farther than our living rooms…or the library or the internet. We take up a playing the harp or reading Rumi or decide to learn Reiki. This desire to re-discover, re-connect, and replenish this wellspring always seems to rise again….how do you do it?

Want to share your ideas or comments??? Elizabeth Spring http://www.elizabethspring.com/ elizabethspring@aol.com

And how do I understand what houses my Nodes are in?

The Houses






To understand the houses, or "sections" of the birthchart, you’ll need to have your birth chart in hand, and look at which one of the 12 sections of the chart your Nodes fall in—remembering that the North Node looks like a set of head-phones, and the South Node looks like its reversed image: a horseshoe. If you don’t have your chart, there are numerous sites on the internet which will show you your chart, for free, in minutes.

If however, you don’t have your birth time—which many people don’t have—the house information won’t be accurate, because it’s based on the time of your birth.

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. We are advised to move towards the area of life ruled by the house of the North Node, and away from the limitations of the house that holds the South Node.


However, remember that it is a polar axis we’re describing, and the opposing houses always have elements in common with each other. If you use the high expression of the South Node house, almost as a natural talent, you are doing well. And when you reach for the high expression of the North Node house, you are stretching beyond your comfort zone to maximize all you can be.


It is good to remember with both the sign and house description of the South Node, that there is an emotional memory here—unconscious, but similar to a dream that we can’t quite remember—the South reminds us of what we didn’t get right earlier in this life or in a former life. So be gentle with yourself in this area of life ruled by the South Node, as this is where you’ve experienced wounding before. Whether we did it, or it was done to us, the “emotional hangover” may feel somewhat similar. Elizabeth Spring www.elizabethspring.com