Have you ever been redirected towards a particular path in life, despite numerous conscious attempts to direct yourself elsewhere? Have you ever wrestled with the question of whether or not we have free will or if our destiny is predetermined?

Each one of us has an origin, a past, future, and a trajectory. This is not to say that we do not have free will or that we are bound by fate to a destination so much as there are patterns and behaviors that we must develop and release in accordance with our experience in this lifetime. Some of these conditions may be generational or have carried over from past lives as well. We are free to make our own choices; there are simply parameters that we cannot ignore. Many nodal occurrences are outside of our control, like a flat tire on the way to a job interview or running into an old friend while vacationing purely by happenstance, who convinces you to move there. These events tilt the compass ever slightly to support our development.

What are the Nodes?

The Lunar nodes are the ecliptic points in the Moon’s path around the Earth that intersect with the Earth’s path around the Sun. When a New or Full Moon happens near these points, this is when eclipses occur. These two points are identified as the North Node and the South Node and are otherwise known as the Dragons Head and Dragons Tail. They are always 180 degrees apart in the sky and in direct opposition to each other from the vantage point of Earth, and consequently, since they are always opposed, the Zodiac signs that the Nodes are placed in are also opposed. For example, a Capricorn North Node native will always have the South Node in Cancer. Or a Gemini North Node will always have the South Node in Sagittarius, and so on.

The North Node reveals our direction, traits, and behaviors that we must learn to nurture and develop. The things we must assimilate and absorb to step into our highest and most authentic form of expression and being. Our internal compass, The North Node is consuming and becoming. Whereas the South Node unveils our origin and where we came from, figuratively and literally. Our roots, ancestry, or even past life information is divulged here. It shows our behaviors and mentalities that we need to let go of for the sake of our growth. The soul recognizes this as a “comfort zone” of sorts, because historically, these patterns and behaviors have always worked out for you and may even be how you stepped into some of your greatest achievements in the past. This can make letting go of such qualities and conditions particularly challenging or uncomfortable at times. But as we traverse the journey of life, we cannot hold onto the baggage of the past. The South Node is purging and releasing.

The Significance of Eclipses

The Moon is the closest and fastest moving celestial body from the perspective of Earth, making a full revolution in just 29 and a half days. This makes its movements fairly easy to keep track of in comparison to any other objects aside from The Sun, but it also makes New Moons and Full Moons a monthly routine phenomenon. The Sun is our consciousness, vitality, life force, and sense of self. Whereas the moon is our subconscious, instincts, emotions, and the shadow self. During New Moons, these two bodies mark the beginning of a new chapter and an opportunity for creation. As The Sun and Moon both represent the mother and father archetypes, this is a powerful and generally harmonious union. New Moons are typically a time for initiation, new projects, and planting seeds for the future. Full Moons, on the other hand, are the culmination of the cycle and a time for harvesting what was planted on the previous New Moon. The Moon reflects the Sun's light, and the subconscious is illuminated and becomes visible.

What makes an eclipse different from a regular lunation cycle is the way the energy is directed. Eclipses will always occur during New and Full Moons and during an eclipse, there is an obstruction in the path of the Sun's light, be it the Moon in a Solar Eclipse or the Earth in a Lunar Eclipse. This can cause the energy in the following lunar cycle to be more impactful and concentrated in its output, but also more unpredictable or erratic. Since eclipses occur in alignment with the Nodes, this makes these lunar cycles fatefully transformative by nature and felt deeply and very personally. However, due to the capricious energetic undercurrents, eclipses are not an optimal time for manifestation. The effects of eclipses do not usually manifest right away and take about 6 months to become fully actualized; however, this also can depend on other conditions.

As we approach eclipse season in August, understanding and awareness of this duality and how you are affected directly by these influences will assist you in being an active participant in actualizing your own life path.

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