The lunar nodes enter a new portal of change: Passion and Comfort with Scorpio and Taurus
The lunar nodes mark the intersection of the apparent (from our perspective on Earth) paths of the Sun and the Moon, and symbolically this marks the crossroads of consciousness (Sun) and instinct (Moon). The ascending, or North Node, points the way to the future, and the descending, or South Node, describes the journey’s origin and the energies we are moving away from and which will sometimes hold us back.
Because of precession and the way the earth orbits relative to the Sun, these points we call the lunar nodes move backwards through the zodiac unlike planetary bodies which move through the natural progression of signs from Aries to Pisces. I like to think of this as part of the karmic aspect of the nodes – an opportunity to retrace our past steps to clean up any lingering unfinished business.
There is a great deal of debate in astrological circles whether to use the True Node, the actual position of the lunar nodes which wobble back and forth almost daily, or the Mean Node which averages the nodal position. In a natal chart I use the True Node because the actual position is, to me, important to the symbolism of its meaning in the chart. The True Node will enter Taurus (at 29 degrees) on January 30, 2022. The Mean Node (the averaged position) actually entered Taurus on January 10th. In any case, this is a major shift of focus for humans living on Planet Earth and changes the narrative a bit, as well as the style in which we encounter the experiences around us.
For the past eighteen months or so (since May 2020) the North Node has been in Gemini, with the South Node in Sagittarius. This is a polarity of communication and learning: Gemini is curious and open minded, and Sagittarius seeks higher wisdom and one truth. I think we can see a little bit of how this has played out over the past eighteen months. Now the nodes are shifting from mutable signs to fixed, with the North Node in Taurus and the South Node in Scorpio. This is a polarity of comfort (Taurus) vs power (Scorpio) – what are we holding onto (Scorpio South Node) that we must let go of in order to find a healthy and grounded balance (Taurus North Node).
Fixed signs which do not adapt well to change, and yet we are in a time of change. Fixed signs are empowered and foster stability, but in times of change the fixed signs must learn to use their power of endurance in order to facilitate transformation in the midst of evolution and that is what is called for over the next eighteen months before the North Node shifts back into Aries and the South Node into Libra. In April the Nodes will form a stressful square to Saturn in Aquarius which could give rise to power conflicts and accelerated global struggles which will be even more pronounced when Uranus becomes involved with the Nodes in August and sets off the Saturn/Uranus square (the conflict that we saw throughout 2021) once more.
In our personal lives we are being asked to learn to let go of the places in which we have become stuck (Scorpio South Node) and learn to find peace and comfort in the simple things of human existence (Taurus). As someone with planets along this axis (Venus Scorpio/Jupiter Taurus), this is a lesson I quite need and look forward to practicing more of!
