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.
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!
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To gain the most from the Moon’s Nodes series, please do read Part 2 , Part 3 , Part 4 , and Part 5
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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
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