Saturday, November 07, 2009

The North Node

I’ve been toying with the idea that the North Node becomes more visible as we get older. The (North) Node, you could say, describes what we are here to become for karmic reasons, it describes the deeper issues that will sort, that will become empowered, if we become that Node. Because these things are deep, they are hard to see; in fact our life may apparently have had little to do with the Node, until after 40 years we look back and see how it all adds up.

So I dragged a few names out of my famous people list to see what turned up. Elizabeth II of England has Angular Node in Cancer, conjunct Pluto and trine to Saturn-MC. That is a powerful placement, and shows how seriously (Saturn) she takes her vocation (MC) that was given to her (trine) by her people (Cancer) who are the source of her power (Pluto). As she has got older, so has she become the matriarch (Cancer) of her country.

President Kennedy did not live long, so his ‘later life’ is his reputation since his death. His Node is in Capricorn, opposite Pluto. He is remembered as a great president (Capricorn, a sign of leadership and authority), and this is partly because of his early death (Pluto).

Rupert Murdoch has Node in Aries, conjunct Uranus and square to Saturn and Pluto. A very powerful placement. He has maintained his ability to fight and to initiate (Aries) into his old age, and continues to be a mould-breaker (Uranus-Node, which Obama also has.) It’s not necessarily very pretty having Saturn and Pluto in square to the Node, and you don’t feel there is much that Murdoch would not do in pursuit of power and wealth.

An odd one: the Batman story seems to keep going, with yet another re-invention in the last few years. I wondered if he has Node in Scorpio (re-invention continuing into old age), and sure enough he has. The chart I use is that for the first publication on 1st May 1939. Note that Batman does not have superpowers, unlike the Incredible Hulk etc. This is reflected in the astrology, where the superheroes tend to have Jupiter-Chiron aspects: superpowers (Jupiter) created by a wound (Chiron e.g. the Hulk’s exposure to radiation, Superman losing his family and home planet as a baby.)

Bob Geldof has the Sun conjunct Neptune of a musician and the Sun conjunct Saturn of someone who is determined to achieve; but as he has got older, so has his compassionate Node in Pisces become more prominent, through Band Aid etc.

Margaret Thatcher has Node in Leo. She was a singular leader, unable to adapt as time went on (fixed Leo) and adopting regal airs (Leo). She is loved by many (Node trine Venus) yet also did a lot of damage on a human level (Node square Chiron).

Prince Charles has Node in Taurus, conjunct the Moon and in a Grand Trine with Saturn and Jupiter. So here we have issues of wealth, which on the one hand Charles is comfortable with and which gives him security (Moon in Taurus), but which he has also grappled with (Node), using his wealth to create sustainable, healthy projects, such as his organic farm and the village of Poundbury in Dorset. This is the aspect of Taurus as Values: what value do I place on money, what do I consider important about money?

The answer that is perhaps predominant in our culture is that money is a value in itself, and the more you have of it, the more ‘value’ you have. The Taurus-Scorpio Nodal axis is interesting in this respect. There is often some kind of struggle around money and material values with this placement. While Taurus Node asks us to look at what value we place on money, Scorpio Node asks us to understand the power of money.

Getting that power right is what it is all about. With money we can have power over others. It can also have power over us, when its lack makes us feel disempowered, or when its presence makes us feel substantial and powerful. Money is a power, and that cannot be wished away, but its real power is as a resource to make things happen. We can do things, meaningful things, with money that we could not otherwise do.

So money in itself is not evil, and being wealthy does not make you bad, despite what Jesus said about camels and eyes of needles. (Who’d want to go to the Christian heaven anyway?) Like anything, it is about why you want it. It is an energy, and it can be used in healthy and unhealthy ways. Getting this one right is the lesson for many Scorpio Nodes, in the context of the general Scorpio inquiry into the nature of power.

Like Batman, however, Scorpio Nodes (such as myself!) also need to continue to re-invent themselves into old age.


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7 comments:

Jenny Brown said...

This is an area where looking at famous people's charts might mislead you.

When I examined north nodes in aged people in my own circle I was surprised at the extent to which they did NOT manifest them but instead clung to the expression of the familiar South Node energies even as they approached their 90s.

Steven Forrest's "Yesterday's Sky" is a brilliant look at the way the nodes work. He makes the point that there is nothing to compel the move from the patterns of the past--the SN--to the new and unexplored modes of expression symbolized by the NN.

Famous people are famous often because they are dynamic individuals, so they might be more likely to live in ways that push evolutionary growth. The average person isn't.

Kenna J said...

It seems to me that what motivates the move from SN to NN is to be found in the SN itself.

Libra NN gets tired of being alone (Aries).

Scorpio NN finds that she values (Taurus) relationships.

Sagittarius NN sees that, logically (Gemini), trying to make people like her will never work.

Capricorn NN gets enough history (Cancer) behind her that she craves to move forward and succeed.

Aquarius NN sees that attention (Leo) doesn't, in fact, make her happy.

Pisces NN realizes that trying to control the details (Virgo) just makes her more anxious.

You get the idea. But I agree with Forrest in that these people would never evolve unless they were actively trying to.

I don't know what part of a chart shows that a person is consciously interested in evolving. Would it be the presence of squares?

Kenna J said...

And asking, "Who'd want to go to the Christian heaven anyway?" is hilarious and brilliant. Right on, Dharmaruci. Glad you're still blogging.

bb said...

Kenna's snapshots analysis of the SN/NN connection really knocked me out. Fits perfectly in so many examples. The square connection pushing one's drive to evolve also rings a bell for me.

Anonymous said...

Right in my case...Moon cnj NN Aq, dominating, demanding mother whose influence I managed to escape for many years. Now I'm in my fifties and she is alone and very needy, with me being the sole surviving family member. Lots of karma going on, I guess...

Anonymous said...

Okay so this is strange: have been seeing Batman for the past few weeks (symbolic) and was wondering why. You say he doesn't have superhuman powers. So... what does Batman represent? NN in scorpio, I can understand that one, I share it -- but beyond the commonality, what could seeing Batman possibly portend??

Danothebaldyheid said...

This is really interesting, I'd always wondered what the Nodes were really about. I'm a bit of an odd one - North Node in Capricorn opposed Saturn and square Sun conjunct Pluto in Libra. What do these portend? I've always had a desperate fear of, yet desire to build and work for something. A burning ambition, I always said was too big to bother following because I could never match it. So, instead, I've run away from it. Now, however, I've just got a good job, and I'm slightly concerned I might not be able to cope with all the power games that go on up there. Och, well. We'll find out!