The Adjustment of the Nodes

Onto the nodes:

With the nodes we encounter a fundamentally different energy and archetype than that of Saturn. Where Saturn is steady and slow, the nodes tend to be unpredictable, erratic, obsessed and extreme. They have been more of this lately due to their very recent transit from the Aries-Libra axis into the Pisces-Virgo axis.

The nodes are always in opposite signs. Practically speaking this is due to the way in which they are calculated—as points in space related to the relationship between the sun, moon and earth’s alignment: the same points which cause eclipses. These points are where the Moon’s ecliptic intersects with the Sun’s ecliptic.

Mythologically speaking, the nodes are in opposite signs because they are the head and tail of a serpent called Vasuki who was split in two by Vishnu.

In the story of the Churning of the Cosmic Ocean, Vasuki was wrapped around a portion of Mt. Meru which was placed on the back of Kurma devata—the Vishnu incarnation of Saturn in the form of a turtle—and used as a churning rod from which to churn the Cosmic Ocean in order to extract (like butter) the nectar of immortality or Amrita. The Devas/Gods held Vasuki’s tail, while the Asuras/Demons held his head and everyone together churned through a number of unexpected events until the Lord of Ayurveda—Dhanvantari— arose from the depths of the water holding a pot of Amrita, which Vasuki quickly plotted to steal from the Gods. It was this plot for theft of the nectar that caused Vishnu to throw his discuss at Vasuki and cut him into two parts which became Rahu (the head) and Ketu (the body), but not before a drop of Amrita hit Vasuki’s tongue and made him imortal.

The outcome of this act, and the configuration of these two figures in the sky, is that Rahu—as a head without a body—is always insatiable. He truly cannot be satisfied. He carries a desire that holds no potential of satisfaction, because he has no body which would register such a sensation. And Ketu—as a body without a head—is somewhat aimless, prone to mistakes and extreme behavior because he does not have the discernment that a proper head would afford, nor eyes to see what direction he’s moving in.

These are the general energies held by the nodes, which fundamentally represent extremes of the mind that can push and pull us in ways that are unsettling and destabilizing. They are the root of complicated psychological states like schizophrenia, paranoia, addiction and intense anxiety, which tend to show up when they are negatively associated with the Moon.

The shifting of the nodes creates an unsteadiness in the collective psychology, since these lunar nodes primarily influence the mind/moon. Their movement is a recalibration of the polarities which they represent, which defines an axis of extremes. Essentially this means that the axis by which we are collectively and karmically ‘tied down’ by our own attachments and aversions just set up shop in a new location. This will have a collective effect based on the Kalapurusha or the zodiac read from Aries, as well as a personal effect based on its new placement in your personal chart.

As I’ve said before, the last 1.5 years actually polarized people and relationships because it was in the Aries/Libra axis which centers on ‘self’ and ‘other.’ It became harder to find common ground during this time, and there was more reactivity in human interactions. There can be other astrological factors in reactivity and discord, but this transit set the stage for an underlying edginess to relationships overall.

The tension now shifts into Virgo and Pisces, the signs representing organization/building/attention to detail and loss/letting go, respectively. The fixation (Rahu) will be on letting go, while the surrender (Ketu) will relate to accumulation. Here we have a situation wherein the nodes are essentially debilitated, with the planet of obsession and attachment Rahu being very uncomfortable in the sign of release, and the natural planet of moksha/liberation Ketu not really knowing how to handle the worldly sign of Virgo, where acquisition and organization are natural.

There are costs and benefits to every transit, and I will unpack all of this as we get deeper into the transit, but the main concern now is that the nodes are still sensitive until they get established in their new homes around the end of November. This is particularly true for Rahu, who has waded into some difficult territory in one of the three gandantas or ‘spiritual knots’ of the zodiac.

Normal symptoms of such a transit can include: a complete reconfiguration of priorities, a sense that much of what you believed to be true or important may in fact not be, a disturbance of sleep, a generalized tension that you can’t tie to anything specific, and heightened levels of anxiety. Especially if these symptoms began around the time of Rahu’s move into Pisces on 10/31, you can be relatively certain they are related to this transit. If they have not cleared by the time Rahu is out of gandanta, then it may be an issue of Rahu in Pisces in general and may benefit from remedial measures (mantra, donation, etc).

It is normal to be confused right now. It is actually a very fertile time for re-evaluation of priorities and specifically the direction your current actions are taking you. Pisces is the sign of the feet: the part of the body which ultimately take you in a certain direction.