The Nodes of the Moon
The Moon's Nodes are not physical entities, but points in space. As such their influence in a natal chart is much more subtle than the planetary influences, but the Moon's Nodes have much to teach us.
The Moon's Nodes are points in space representing the points where the moon's orbit around the earth crosses the ecliptic. The North Node is the point where the Moon's orbit rises above the Ecliptic, and the South Node is the point where the Moon's orbit falls below the Ecliptic. The North Node and the South Node are always exactly opposite each other in the chart.
The North Node is also called Caput Draconis, or Dragon's Head, whilst the South Node is also called Cauda Draconis, or Dragon's Tail.
Both nodes are extremely important in Indian astrology, where the North Node is seen to have a 'good' influence in the chart and the South Node is seen to have a 'bad, evil or malefic' influence. This interpretation is a little too cut and dried for my tastes, and I have not found this to be so in Western Astrology.
The Moon's North Node represents, in simple terms, what we need to learn, and how we need to learn it, in order to grow in this lifetime. The Moon's South Node represents what we have already learnt in previous lives. The challenge is to learn to use the past life knowledge (South Node) in such a way as to grow with and towards our new destiny (North Node). How to work off karma, if you like. Often, though, we are more comfortable with the familiar South Node and resist the challenge of moving on to the North Node - for this reason, the South Node is also likely to represent the way in which we tend to rest on our laurels or shy away from challenges.
The house position of the Nodes is just as important as the signs. The house position of the North Node represents the area of life in which we will have most to learn in this lifetime. The house position of the South Node indicates the area of life with which we probably feel most comfortable - not to say that all is rosy in that area, just that we feel a certain amount of closure in that life area and no longer struggle with it the way we did in a previous life. Again, the challenge is to use the security of one life area (South Node) in such a way as to be better able to meet the challenge of the more difficult life area (North Node).
The Moon's Nodes are therefore very important when looking at the karma or spirituality of a birth chart. They also have much to tell us in a synastry analysis: aspects from a badly aspected planet in chart X to the North Node in chart Y would indicate that X can do much to help Y better work out the energies of this troublesome planet. Aspects from a reasonably well aspected planet in chart X to the South Node in chart Y might tell us that this relationship is likely to lead to X finding that the relationship holds him back in some way associated with this planet, and keeps him from moving forwards in that area of his life.
