For many years I had a Moon’s Nodes obsession: perhaps not unconnected with the North Node exactly conjunct my Midheaven at 29 degrees Taurus, square a Twelfth House Sun/Moon conjunction……I read somewhere in my very early years of studying astrology that the South Node conjunct a Scorpio IC indicated having been burned as a witch in a previous life. This piece of conjecture gave my MC/IC axis a kind of dark, scary glamour.
Scorpio…dark, scary, glamorous…
However, I burned out that obsession during 1997-8 whilst completing the third and final year of my Diploma in Psychological Astrology at the Centre for Psychological Astrology in London, where I had the good fortune to study withDr Liz Greene and the late, great mundane astrologer, Charles Harvey. How did I do this? By writing a 50,000 word research study called “The Moon’s Nodes in Action”. After that, I’d had enough of the Moon’s Nodes.
A big part of my obsession that year concerned the links I found between the horoscopes of Mary Shelley, author of ‘Frankenstein’, and that of Dolly the Sheep, the first cloned mammal, created in their research laboratory by Dr Ian Wilmut and his team in the Roslyn Institute in Edinburgh, Scotland and announced to the world in February 1997.
I take strange pride in being probably the first person to have written a detailed synastry between a dead human and a live sheep! Never a class went by for that whole year without Dolly and Mary Shelley being mentioned. By the end of the year, and the completion of the research study, my students had taken either to giving me presents of pens, etc, with pictures of sheep on them, or to crossing the street when they saw me approaching! ( I exaggerate, but only slightly….)
In this series of posts, I am confining myself to presenting conclusions based on my original research study, which can be downloaded free from this blog should anyone wish to read it in full.
I am thus assuming at least a beginner’s familiarity with the astronomical and symbolic significance of the Moon’s Nodal axis, and its 18.6 year retrograde cycle through the Zodiac with the accompanying twice-yearly eclipse seasons.
For readers who need to be brought up to speed regarding the basics, check outWikipedia on The Lunar Nodes for the astronomy, and Cafe Astrology for a typical explanation of the Nodes’ symbolic meanings.
Before setting out my conclusions, it might be useful in context-setting to offer a brief description of the content of the 50,000 word research study upon which these findings are based:
1) Preface, in which I outlined my personal reasons for becoming fascinated by the Nodal axis and bringing it increasingly into my teaching. 2) Introduction, in which I set out my reasons for embarking on the research. 3) Chapter One:Astronomy and Symbolism of the Nodes. 4) Chapter Two: Case Study One: Mary Shelley, ‘Frankenstein’ and a sheep called Dolly. 5) Chapter Three: Case Study Two: ‘Marc’ (age 51) : a life through the Nodal Lens. 6) Chapter Four: Case Study Three: Four “Nodal Moments” – key turning points analysed in the lives of two men and two women, two famous (Princess Diana and astronaut John Glenn) and two unknown, Anna (age 44) and Andrew (age 34). 7) Conclusions. Finally…. Bibliography, References and Notes, Charts used and their provenance.
My main research questions were these: How significant is the Nodal axis? Are astrologers missing something really important by not delineating it in their readings, both natally and in terms of its transiting cycle? Does it say something specific? Or does it act as a reinforcer for information about a person’s life pattern which can be derived from other chart factors?
To Be Continued!
******
To gain the most from the Moon’s Nodes series, please do read Part 2 , Part 3 , Part 4 , and Part 5
******
You are most welcome to download the full research study from which my conclusions are taken: it was FREE for several years, but I am now charging a small fee of $7. The simplest way to get it is to send the money to my PayPal account: contact.anne.w@gmail.com
PayPal will notify me and I will send you the e book within 24 hours.
Thanks!
Zodiac
600 words copyright Anne Whitaker 2016
Licensed under Creative Commons – for conditions see Home Page of Writing from the Twelfth House
*************
Astrology: Questions and Answers 
via Facebook:
6.10.16:
from Monica Regan:
Fascinating! I have found Judith Hill’s book on the nodes to be excellent, though I wouldn’t mind some other good references if you have any. As someone with N Node conjunct Mars and Jupiter in Virgo, it’s a big topic of interest. I don’t give the nodes significant weight in my astrological interpretations unless they are conjunct planets and/or Asc/Desc and MC/IC axis. I’m intrigued by the Frankenstein/Dolly case study though 🙂
LikeLike
Thanks for sharing your chart details and for contributing, Monica. If you follow the series through, you’ll see what I discovered through my research seems to be of primary importance in interpreting charts. And you can read the whole Mary Shelley/Frank case study which is the final post. Or – you can just download the whole study!
LikeLike
via Facebook:
8.10.16:
from: Monica Regan
Thank you, I’ll definitely read it! From what I gathered in J Hill’s book the nodes are significant, although the Vedic interpretation is somewhat different to the western one. What is absolutely fascinating in her book, is a collection of charts showing how the node conjunctions manifest, for example, Mercury conjunct south node on Desc in Gemini: missing finger, twin makes spirit visit; or Mercury conjunct south node in 3rd house in Capricorn: born with only one hand; or Jupiter conjunct north node in 9th house in Libra: lucky in travel, wins vacation.
I found these examples very interesting to say the least, so anything to add to my understanding is great and so thank you for sharing. I may just download the whole study 🙂
LikeLike
Why don’t you do that, Monica, and let me know what you think of my research in due course…
LikeLike
via Facebook:
6.10.16:
from: Wilma Gibson:
North Node is compared to Jupiter…moving forward, our destinies…South Node is compared to Saturn…limitations and where we are held back.
LikeLike
Thanks, Wilma. Yes, it is useful to have a brief rule of thumb to which to refer. My favourite, which I quoted in my article on Mary Shelley and Frankenstein in the Mountain Astrologer this summer, comes from astrologer Michael Lutin. Using battling an alcohol problem as a context, he describes the South Node as the bottle, and the North Node as the meeting ( of Alcoholics Anonymous) . I liked that!
LikeLike
via Facebook:
6.10.16:
from Mary Morris:
I have NN conjunct Vertex by 1′ and Moon conj. Vertex on the other side by 6′ in Libra H6.
LikeLike
Thanks for sharing, Mary. I don’t work with the Vertex, although I should, since what little investigation I have done suggests its considerable significance. I hope you will enjoy following the series!
LikeLike
via Facebook:
6.10.16:
from Angel Wharram :
I Can’t wait to read more… I also have a fascination with the nodes💗💗💗
LikeLike
Thanks, Angel. I hope to provide at least some enlightenment !
LikeLike
via Facebook:
6.10.16:
from Adriana Boullosa:
I have a Pisces Moon/NN conjunction.
LikeLike
Thanks, Adriana. I hope that reading about my research helps you to understand that sensitive, empathic combination some more.
LikeLike
via Facebook:
7.10.16:
from Stephen Ambrosich:
Thank you for sharing your work.
LikeLike
Stephen, you are most welcome!
LikeLike
Having my south node in cancer in the house of capricorn (10) and north node in capricorn in the 4th house of cancer is very confusing. Most articles I read and a book I read does not mention the importance of this analysis. Any suggestions?
Michaela
LikeLike
Hi Michaela
Yes,this is indeed a conundrum… Not surprised that people avoid it! But I think we have to take a guideline from the Nodes positions first of all. So SNode in Cancer in 10th suggests to me that the route of easier option, so to speak, is following a professional and vocational life centred in caring or nurturing practices of some kind – all the way from social work to running a restaurant or selling real estate – without you in person or your horoscope to look at, I have no idea how the archetype might manifest in concrete terms!The NNode in Cap in the 4th suggests that you have to push yourself to create stable, nurturing, safe structures on the domestic front, and that that is likely to be rather more challenging. I don’t usually comment at all on anyone’s horoscope outwith a chart reading and without a horoscope in front of me…so this may not be at all useful.
LikeLike
I thank you for your knowledgeable response to my question. I did forget to mention the book I was referring to — Nodes by Martin Schulman. I also attended a lecture on Nodes by an astrologer who said that South Node in Cancer is the toughest of all south Nodes.
Sincerely, Michaela Toronto
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pingback: Major and Minor chords: The Moon’s Nodes Part Two | Astrology: Questions and Answers
Pingback: The Nodes and the Sacred : The Moon’s Nodes Part 4 | Astrology: Questions and Answers
Pingback: The Moon’s Nodes: should we bother? The Moon’s Nodes Part 5 | Astrology: Questions and Answers