All About The Nodes - Lunar Not Lymph

Back in 1997, shortly after I started channeling, I started to expand my interests in all things spiritual, divinatory, new agey, crystally, healing, numerological, past life related, magical, you name it. If Healing Earth Resources, the metaphysical bookstore in Chicago I was hanging out in and where I would eventually start my “career” (you all know how much I hate this word) had it on their shelves or counter tops or display cases I was looking into it, reading about it, and having experiences with it.

I felt like it might be good to dive into astrology and for some reason, I chose a book all about the north nodes. Now, I did not know that this was what the book was about because I didn’t really look closely at the back cover. I was attracted to it because it sounded super spiritual to me as it had the word “soul” in the title. It was not a beginner astrology book. I tried to take it in and got frustrated at the time, like wtf even was a node? I put the book down and thought, “Astrology is not for me”.

Obviously, I changed my mind about this, however, my journey into embracing astrology, understanding the nuances of it, and weaving it into my work as a channel has been a long and evolving one, one that continues to unfold. I still perceive myself to be a layperson where astrology is concerned.

On July 17th or 12th, depending on who you read/listen to, the north and south nodes are changing signs.

*sound of tires screeching*

Let’s back up.

WTF are the nodes?

The south and south lunar nodes are mathematical points in relation to the orbits of the Earth and the Moon. Earth takes 365 days to orbit the Sun. This is what's known as the elliptical (because its shape is an ellipse, more oval-like than round). The Moon takes 27 to 28 days to orbit the Earth. About twice a month the Moon ends up crossing the elliptical, meaning crossing the path that we on Earth are taking around the Sun. These points are directly opposite one another and are called the lunar nodes or nodes, familiarly. These bimonthly crossings are not often exact, they are usually off by a few degrees. When they are exact, two periods of time a year, we get two and sometimes three eclipses over the course of 30-ish days; Sun, Moon, and Earth all lined up, the Moon sitting either on the north or south node, giving us either a lunar eclipse or a solar eclipse.

It took a while for me to integrate this information as the nodes are about math and movement and not physical bodies (well, other than the Sun, the Moon, and Earth), but the nodes themselves have no physicality to them. They are simply mathematical points. Math, blech.

So, for the longest time when someone or anyone would mention the nodes I would kind of just drift off. It was enough to learn the planets, signs, positions, and houses (don’t even get me started on the houses, I still have to really crack open this aspect of astrology, I guess this is next for me).

However, back in 2021, I started hearing we were headed into a nodal shift, (the lunar nodes change signs every eighteen and a half years or so and stay in position for about 18 months), and my ears perked up. When this happens, something seemingly out of the blue or something I had been ignoring suddenly grabs my attention in this way, I have learned to follow where my attention is directing me.

Officially, on January 19, 2022, the nodes shifted from the south node residing in Sagittarius and the north node residing in Gemini to the south node moving into Scorpio and the north node moving into Taurus. I say officially because on November 19, 2021, we had our first eclipse that included the north node in Taurus. We’d flip back into Sagittarius for the next eclipse a couple of weeks later, and then the nodal shift would come into full fruition on January 19, 2022.

In astrology, the position of the south node at birth is related to our past lives, what we’ve achieved, what we are already good at, and what we are still carrying with us that is in need of healing. The position of the north node at birth is the path ahead, what it is we desire to learn and grow into.

Wherever the nodes are at the moment will participate in determining and creating the collective experience. We are individuals operating within the container of the collective and are most powerful when we recognize ourselves as such. So although we each have our own nodal positions, we are just as impacted by the nodal positions wherever they are in the moment.

I think we can all agree that the position of the nodes in Scorpio and Taurus provided us with many moments of intensity as we explored the depth and reach of our shadows and then experienced them come to life in very real and grounded and sometimes startling and disastrous ways at times on planet Earth.

This week the nodes are officially shifting off of Scorpio and Taurus with the south node now residing in the sign of Libra and the north node residing in Aries. The potential for equitable justice being used to create forward movement and new systems is high.

I, for one, feel some relief for the collective and for myself as I have been in the midst of my third nodal return. My north node is in Taurus and my south is in Scorpio, meaning this is where the nodes were when I was born. Nodal returns occur once every eighteen and a half years or so and last for eighteen months, which again, is the overall path the nodes take (do they really take a path since they are not physical? See, challenging to interpret and integrate the idea of mathematical points and movement. There is a path, but it’s the path of the Earth and the Moon as we orbit the Sun).

My first nodal return saw me through the end of high school and well into the first year of college, becoming independent as an adult, planning a move from the suburbs to the city of Chicago, and embracing the diversity of this reality that I had little exposure to in the first 18 years of my life.

My second nodal return saw me leaving the metaphysical bookstores I had been working out of and going completely independent which necessitated and then created two physical moves, one out of the tiny, garden apartment I had occupied for six years in Chicago into a much larger three-bedroom apartment for Jon and myself and then our even bigger move from the density of Chicago’s urban environment to the outskirts of a town populated by only 2000 people in the hilly redwoods of Northern California.

I was kind of expecting a change in residence during this last nodal return of mine, but I think the pandemic and current economic reality put the kibosh on these potentials for the time being. However, with the forward-moving energy of the north node moving into Aries, I would not be surprised to find us moving over the next eighteen months. I guess we’ll have to check in then to see what happened.

My relief around leaving my Nodal Return is somewhat dampened by my imminent Saturn Return, but I am really just working on going with the flow where this one is concerned as opposed to trying to control every last detail of my life as I did during my first, 28-ish years ago. Again, I guess we’ll all need to check back in with me in two and a half years once it’s complete to see how I did.

So the upshot is, the nodes are changing signs out of the density of Taurus and the intensity of Scorpio to justice-seeking, balanced Libra and action-oriented, although fiery at times, Aries and will remain there through early January of 2025. This seems to be positive for collective humanity in light of Pluto moving into Aquarius, once it finally settles there.

The back-and-forth dance from Capricorn to Aquarius that Pluto is doing until November 19 of 2024 could (will certainly) create some bumps. Ah, I knew the date November 19th looked familiar to me, November 19, 2021 was the date of the first eclipse in Taurus. Also of note, the last nodal shift was on January 19, 2022. Another 19. When numbers repeat, I pay attention, sometimes it’s just a coincidence, but oftentimes there is meaning. Again, I guess we’ll have to tune back in to see how this all fits by the time we get to November 19, 2024.