All posts here are from sections of the books: "North Node Astrology; Rediscovering Your Life Direction and Soul Purpose" and "Lifting the Veil; Becoming Your Own Best Astrologer" and "Astrology for the Third Act of Life" and finally "Saturn Returns~The Private Papers of A Reluctant Astrologer" All available in paperback, Kindle and Audible on Amazon.com

To inquire about readings or for more articles on the North/South Nodes, go to: https://www.NorthNodeAstrology.com

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Gemini North Node

Gemini North Node, South Node Sagittarius

Gemini North Node, South Node Sagittarius


“Thou shall not tell too much Truth” was once said to a friend of mine with this Nodal combination. She was told this as a child and then it reappeared later in her life as a repeating dilemma. When she told her Truth, and lived her life by her Truth, she often got “slammed by the Universe”. What was wrong?


After some discussion, she was the one who retrieved the answer. In telling her story, her opinion, her “Truth” in the Sagittarian South Node manner, she spoke it reactively, without reflection, and the abruptness of it often hurt people. Sagittarius suffers at times from “foot in mouth” disease, but more seriously, she realized that by adding more tactfulness as well as by being more objective and “contained,” she could still live and speak her Truth, but in a way that didn’t injure herself or others. She realized that this reflection and containment allowed her to see how life was much more differentiated into many shades of gray, rather than the black and white of her first reactive perception.


This Nodal axis takes the raw experiences of life and puts them into a crucible that produces either wisdom or bitterness. By the reflective “cooking” of these Nodes, the raw anger and bitter injustices of life can be distilled, and transmuted into a compassionate wisdom.


Gemini needs new experiences. A good idea for North Node Gemini is in the motto: "Let's do something different!" Your Soul longs for new experiences and different perspectives, and you may not even know it. You may think you've seen and done it all before....but now it's time to do it differently. Earlier in this life, or in a former life, you earnestly pursued Truth and developed a powerful self-convincing story of how Reality is. However it wasn't the whole Truth; you got the view from the mountaintop perhaps, but not from the valley or the marketplace. You may have been a cloistered monk, nun, or an opinionated scholar in a former life, but it was lonely, and now it’s time to ride into the market-place and take a fresh look at things.


Indulging your curiosities and breaking up your routines are good things for you now. Go to the bookstore, the cafe, get on the internet, and find new stories to tell. In this life you are challenged to be non-judgmental, to widen your perspectives, and to really listen to another person's truth in order to cultivate empathy and open-minded thinking. Your perceptual bias is changing, so that you can see things from many different angles—not an easy thing to do! Your reality may feel shattered at times, and you may wonder where your self-confidence has gone. Certain aspects of your life need to de-construct so it can be re-constructed in a new way. . By allowing yourself to follow your dreams and gently releasing old concepts of how it all is, you begin to break new ground. Life is breaking you open to enlarge your heart and widen your perspective; for you are being trained to be the compassionate communicator. You can be the one with new stories to tell that are grounded in personal experience. You're not just the book-smart armchair philosopher any more--you've walked your talk.


It will continue to be important for you to find ways to slow down, and simply connect with others in a way in which you each share the paradoxes and mysteries of life as well as your own "truths." That truth you came into this life with is in the process of getting much bigger. And as you do this, you'll find that writing, teaching, selling, counseling, and communicating in all forms can bring you great success. With your South Node in philosophic Sagittarius you've got some spiritual gold in your past, and now the trick is to take your old wisdom and new found “Gemini street smarts” and unite them. The world needs to hear what you have to say, that is, as long as you're following a path with heart. Keep checking in with yourself that your objectivity hasn't run away with your Soul. In your desire to embrace change, be gentle towards those who lead more mundane lives and don't be too quick to judge. You have so much to give!


Soul Purpose: It’s important for you to immerse yourself in the fullness and chaos of life; indulging your curiosities, being a communicator, and daring to risk your security for a life of adventure, both inner and outer. In telling your Truth and your stories skillfully, with objectivity and reflection, you awaken others to great insight. Communication is a key, but communication is not limited to words alone; it is inherent in the arts, healing practices, and in the “act of loving” in relationships.

Shadow: Your default pattern of letting your enthusiasm override your empathic listening, combined with a philosophic “know it all” attitude, could blind you to life’s complexities and wonders. If you are addicted to certainty, you will deny truths or experiences that run counter to your expectations and belief. Allow room for dialog and relationships that challenge you to expand your concepts of “how it all is.”

***

Maya Angelou, much loved American sage, writer, artist and civil rights activist has a Gemini North Node in the 10th house of career and public life. She has been called "America's most visible black female autobiographer". Angelou is known for her series of six autobiographies, starting with I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings in 1969. She has been telling her story! Her volume of poetry, Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'Fore I Diiie (1971) was nominated for the Pulitizer Prize. As testimony to her success, Angelou recited her poem, "On the Pulse of Morning" at President Bill Clinton's inauguration.
Emerging from a violent and emotionally impoverished childhood, her South Node in Sagittarius in the 4th house expressed itself through harsh experiences of poverty and abuse, yet she was able to skillfully find a way to speak her truth with reflection and empathy through her writing and lecturing.



“I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings” represents Angelou's experience of racism and other forms of potential imprisonment: by drugs, marriage, or the economic system. This metaphor of the bird in the cage invokes the "supposed contradiction of the bird singing in the midst of its struggle". Maya communicates constantly (Gemini) the necessity for people to arise above conflict and despair, and to embrace life with renewed (Sagittarian) enthusiasm despite the circumstances.


Maya has used her Gemini survival skills and street smarts to rise above a childhood that could have imprisoned her—and as she says in one of her autobiographies: “Women who survive must be at once both tender and tough.” This combination of tender empathy, reflective thinking, and an intense desire to communicate expresses the essence of this Nodal axis.


Maya’s most common speaking engagements occur on college campuses, "where seating is sold out long before the actual event." When Angelou speaks, she sits on a stool and entertains the audience for approximately one hour, reciting poems by memory and following a flexible outline. Entertaining people, whether through poetry, music or acting, is a form of communication that reaches across boundaries and prejudice. Maya has been a public charismatic figure for most of her life, and is one of the world’s great wise women.
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All Nodal placements fall in a particular "house" or area of your chart. To understand your Nodes fully, you need to understand the house placement where your energy is best spent. Aspects, and sign rulerships, also effect the individual chart. To find out about readings oriented towards life direction and soul purpose, contact: http://www.elizabethspring.com/

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Taurus North Node


Taurus North Node~
Scorpio South Node

With your North Node in Taurus, your Soul craves peace and serenity in this life--as well as good music, a loyal lover, and picnics on the beach with good food and wine! Doesn't everybody? Yes, but not like you---you need these things to remind your Soul that life can be good and safe and beautiful.

Having suffered too much drama and trauma either earlier in this life, or in a previous one, you're suffering now from a slight despair of spirit—one could even say that this Nodal combination has a “forgotten emotional memory” of life at its most tragic. The cure for this soul sickness is to nurture your self with the things that make life worth living. Cultivating loyal friends, enjoying nature and the physical world, and creating a beautiful home that feels like a safe harbor are all good things for you to do.

By choosing to find the "sacred in the commonplace" you re-awaken your Soul to the Divine in all things. You're not being a materialist when you truly enjoy the beauty of a hand-made wooden spoon or pottery bowl, or take time away from your work and ambitions to watch the sun set with an old friend. By seeing into the true nature of things, you get a sense of what many of the mystics have seen--that God is here and now, and found in the ordinary/extraordinary things of this life.

What do you truly value? What do you stand for in life? Something in you needs to know yourself deeper and to prove yourself worthy. The old path or habits that need to be left behind involve too much immersion in other people's dramas...a helping hand is fine, but don't get embroiled in dramas that aren't yours. Power and control issues as well as your ability to manipulate situations need to be let go of. You've done too much of that in the past. The focus now needs to be on you, and finding what you value and what nurtures you.

This life is about finding that mystical sense of belonging to a Universe that is benevolent. No easy task! It's a profound spiritual calling to find spirit in matter, and to find yourself in "right relationship" with others.

On the Taurus-Scorpio path it’s important to ground yourself with a workable level of financial and emotional stability. If you can do that you're ready to retrieve the gold in the shadow--your Scorpio South Node. There's hidden wisdom and power there, for in your Scorpio past you deeply understood other people and had a keen intuitive-psychic nature. You might have been the detective, the shaman, the priest, or the power behind the throne---the one who could hone in on the emotional bottom line. Now if you can bring your new level of security and grounded faith in the goodness of life into your relationships with others and into your work, you can nourish others with your profound wisdom.

Soul Purpose: serenity and stability, regaining a sense of the sacred in the ordinary, a sense of having earned and gained by one’s own efforts, honoring good traditions and preserving what is valuable for future generations.

Shadow: Looking to another for definition, self-confidence, or too much support. Taking things that aren’t yours. Collapsing into a felt sense of emotional pain from previous lives, and adapting an overly serious, gloomy attitude. Going to quickly into studying the occult and transpersonal realities, and thereby taking a spiritual bypass on your emotional life.

***Oscar Wilde, Irish playwright, poet, novelist, and great wit had his North Node in Taurus in the ninth house. A man who celebrated his homosexuality in Victorian England, he paid the price of his passion and suffered a dramatic downfall—he was imprisoned for it and died at the age of forty-six. Wilde certainly shows the polarity of the Nodes in his life and art, and although the Venus ruled Taurus North Node would seek serenity, he profited in the world through using his dramatic Scorpio nature. The nodes, on the 3rd/9th house axis, relate to communication in all its forms, and his North Node in the Ninth house reflected his enthusiasm, his liberal open-mindedness, plus his enjoyment of startling people and breaking up the normality of life—all Jupiter/Sagittarius/9th house qualities. Wilde was also known for his humor and philosophic spirit—again, a 9th house trait. Although one might hope for a better balance with this polarity, and therefore a longer life for Wilde, he nevertheless might not have achieved his greatness without his life of extremes.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Installing Love



Installing Love
Tech Support: Yes, ... how can I help you?
Customer: Well, after much consideration, I've decided to install Love. Can you guide me through the process?
Te ch Support: Yes. I can help you. Are you ready to proceed?Customer: Well, I'm not very technical, but I think I'm ready. What do I do first?
Tech Support: The first step is to open your Heart. Have you located your Heart?
Customer: Yes, but there are several other programs running now. Is it okay to install while they are running?
Tech Support: What programs are running?
Customer: Let's see, I have Past Hu rt, Low Self-Esteem, Grudge and Resentment running right now.
Tech Support: No problem, Love will gradually erase Past Hurt from your current operating system. It may remain in your permanent memory but it will no longer disrupt other programs. Love will eventually override Low Self-Esteem with a module of its own called High Self-Esteem. However, you have to completely turn off Grudge and Resentment. Those programs prevent Love from being properly installed. Can you turn those off?
Customer: I don't know how to turn them off. Can you tell me how?
Tech Support: With pleasure. Go to your start menu and invoke Forgiveness. Do this as many times as necessary until Grudge and Resentment have been completely erased.
Customer: Okay, done! Love has started installing itself. Is that normal?
Tech Support: Yes, but remember that you have only the base program. You need to begin connecting to other Hearts in order to get the upgrades. Customer: Oops! I have an error message already. It says, "Error - Program not run on external components." What should I do?
Tech Support: Don't worry. It means that the Love program is set up to run on Internal Hearts, but has not yet been run on your Heart. In non-technical terms, it simply means you have to Love yourself before you can Love others.
Customer: So, what should I do?
Tech Support: Click on the following files: Forgive-Self; Realize Your Worth; and Acknowledge your Limitations.
Customer: Okay, done.
Tech Support: No w, copy them to the "My Heart" directory. The system will overwrite any conflicting files and begin patching faulty programming. Also, you need to delete Verbose Self-Criticism from all directories and empty your Recycle Bin to make sure it is completely gone and never comes back.
Customer: Got it. Hey! My heart is filling up with new files. Smile is playing on my monitor and Peace and Contentment are copying themselves all over My Heart. Is this normal?
Tech Support: Sometimes. For others it takes awhile, but eventually everything gets it at the proper time. So Love is installed and running. One more thing before we hang up. Love is Freeware. Be sure to give it and its various modules to everyone you meet. They will in turn share it with others and return some cool modules back to you.
Customer: Thank you, God. ;

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Circling aound the Ancient Tower...


Thanks MM, from "Wanting to Be Here" for this beautiful photograph she took in Bath, England. Reminds me of this poem by Rilke:
“I live my life in growing orbits
which move out over the things of the world.
Perhaps I can never achieve the last,
But that will be my attempt.
I am circling around God,
around the ancient tower,
And I have been circling for a thousand years,
And I still don’t know if I am a falcon,
or a storm, or a great song.”
~elizabeth