A Nodal Narrative, Part I
Relationships are always intriguing. We learn about ourselves through other people, which can be enjoyable or painful or a whole range of emotions. Today I will share with you a narrative which may be helpful your in understanding more about yourself and about astrology.
This will cover the nodes of the Moon (North and South Node) and some information about characteristics of Leo and Aquarius and some lessons in synastry (couple's astrology).
This narrative involves an Aquarius Sun man and his girlfriend. He has a Leo North Node one degree inside her 1st house (individual, self, initiative, ego) conjunct her Ascendant, and conversely that puts his Aquarius South Node 1 degree inside her 7th house (marriage, partnership, open enemies, others) and conjunct her Descendant. He also has an Aquarius Sun and Venus inside her 7th house; however we will focus on the nodes of the Moon in this situation. His Gemini Moon is also conjunct her Gemini North Node. His Gemini Moon is also conjunct my Gemini North Node. I will look at that aspect at a later date. For now, he is the nodal person in this narrative.
The Nodal Narrative: The relationship has both romantic/sexual overtones and friendship elements to it. When they met under Sun in Leo, she felt a WHAM and knew this man would be someone significant and with whom she would likely have a relationship or significant memory of, all her life. His presence felt very much like “destiny”.
Their relationship immediately began with what became a significant common interest and that was a particular group in which she was involved as a leader and to which she invited him to participate as a leader. Over several months, at first unbeknown to her, he took the position of passively going along with members of the group in criticizing her, and some points he was secretly participating in gossiping about her, undermining her leadership. (She realized he was doing it shortly after he began doing it, although he denied it; later he voluntarily admitted it to her, as though finally fully realizing what he had done and how it made things worse, and he apologized to her for it). The criticism centered on her confident, individualualistic personality and ability to take initiative. Her Leo Ascendant and 1st house come through very strongly. She is not arrogant; simply individual, and she has the emotional maturity confidence that comes from life experience. She also had been impervious to the criticism and ventured into other pursuits when she realized members of the group were not only being critical but had no alternative solutions that would bring the criticism to a halt. In short, they simply were getting off on being critical and making complaints. When she moved onto new, yet related pursuits, this man with the Aquarius South Node (which you remember, is inside her 7th house of partnership, marriage and open enemies) tried to pull HER into line with the group of criticizers and force her to feel that their approval was important, by telling her “Someone asked, ‘Who authorized her?’ and I was wondering myself what you are up to”. At that point she realized how stuck he was in needing group approval (his Aquarius South Node) and she responded with two things:
First, she told him she did not need anyone’s authorization nor did she need to submit her activities and life activities to him or a group so that they could be aware of what she was doing and approve of it.
Second, she asked him why he was so afraid to stand by her, defend her and move away from such a gossipy, jealous, complaining group of people. She told him she thought he was much too wound up in needing other’s approval in his life. He admitted she was correct and said he is trying to change that within himself. He also agreed she did not owe him any information as to what she was doing with her daily schedule and life in general.
For now, let’s first look generally at the nodes of the Moon and what they represent, then specifically at the Leo/Aquarius nodes of the other person in this situation. In the future I will revisit this situation with the woman as the nodal person, using her Gemini North Node and Sagittarius South Node in the narrative.
The North Node: The sign and house of the North Node represents circumstances and activities that usually feel unfamiliar. It is the shadow side of the South Node sign, and it is the key to getting your dreams fulfilled. This is why the North node reveals an area of tremendous growth potential in your life. In short, you are drawn to personal growth and change in this lifetime by the North Node, and pulled back in time to past-life energy by the South Node. The North Node brings you opportunities to connect with others who can lead you out of your own particular South Node bad habits and repetitive behavior. Here is where you can find new ways of being, potential friends and allies, undeveloped talents, and soulfully awakening experiences. You will undoubtedly attract people who help fulfill or represent your North Node potential -- just this man has attracted me into his life. Be aware that you might project your dreams (especially your South Node dreams) upon them, thus failing to live up to your own potential and falling back into your negative South Node habits. You can avoid this pitfall by recognizing and realizing the potential within yourself!
The South Node: The sign and house of the South Node represents habit patterns from childhood or from past lives. This is where and how you have a tendency to totally overdo things. In a synastry chart (or relationship) this is an area where you may project these habits onto your partner and-or inject them into your relationship. These are comfortable patterns, but they often get in the way of you having the kinds of connections you want with other people. Your South Node indicates an area of longing, but also of massive talent and gifts. The trick is channeling those gifts properly. There is a longing there, a craving that is very strong. The nature of this longing is shown by the sign of the South Node. For example, in Aquarius, the craving is for approval from the group
The North Node in Leo represents the spiritual call for you to strike out in your own individual and creative path without fear. You need to make a conscious effort to deal with individual others in a more personal, involved, and loving manner, rather than falling back on reason and intellect which detaches us from our feelings. You are being called to acknowledge the uniqueness of individuals and to be willing to stand by those individuals rather than go along with the group. This placement means you must learn to take personal risks, which requires a certain amount of self-confidence, will help us to achieve inner balance and happiness. Growth in this lifetime for you means you must stop rationalizing your feelings in your head and start acting from your heart. Leo is an extremely creative sign, and to try to “blend in” with the group as an Aquarius South Node prefers cuts off a very real part of you that longs for expression. You will undoubtedly attract people with strong Leo placements (Ascendant, Sun, Moon) who are in your life to help fulfill or represent your North Node potential. Be aware that you might project your dreams (especially your Aquarius South Node dreams) upon them, thus failing to live up to your own potential and falling back into your negative South Node habits. You are starving yourself and preventing fulfillment of your dreams by giving up your individuality to the group. You can kill a relationship with your partner, mate or friend if you project this energy onto them by not supporting their daring and dreams of individual achievements. You find your true sense of belonging when you affirm your individuality or another's individuality, or take the risk of standing out from the crowd. When you do this you attract the right group of friends to you for your spiritual growth.
The South Node in Aquarius represents a strong urge to belong in a group. Your old pattern is to make your way by “fitting in,” letting go of your ego to promote a cause, and letting the energy of a group carry you. You try and find this sense of belonging by remaining a spectator in life rather than a participant. This position suggests you have a tendency to a) rely on others who may let you down, b) come across as impersonal or distant in your dealings with others, c) to be fearful of being the center of attention and standing out as an individual, to fear taking risks, and to fall back on peers and community at the expense of your own individuality. With this position, we need to avoid falling into the easy trap of worrying about what others think about you. You worry about having everyone speak well of you and you want to be everyone’s friend. You can easily alienate individuals when you over-emphasize equality to the point that you will not acknowledge an individuals' uniqueness. In the process you can lose a valuable relationship. You can too easily lose touch with your own heart by rationalizing your feelings, and become overly involved with the group or other people's problems at the expense of your inner needs for attention or at the expense of a relationship with a person who has a stronger individual sense of self and/or self-esteem. An example would be going along with the crowd in excluding or labeling as “bad” the confident individual who chooses to be or do something different from the group.
Finally, think about this -- The North Node is the head containing the mouth through which things pass to the South Node where you find the hungry stomach. You can fulfill the longing of the South Node through the passage of healthy energizing actions through the North Node. If you feed through “empty calories” of weak behaviors and old familiar patterns, the South Node is never fulfilled and it regurgitates (vomits!) or gives painful emotional and spiritual heartburn/acid reflux and you are still hungry in your soul.
