Between the quest for the future and the tug of the past is the present moment. The future and the past, though they don’t quite exist except in memory or plans, can become so distracting that the present moment can become difficult to locate. It can be so difficult that vast spiritual traditions and training programs are created to help us ‘find the moment’ or ‘be in the present’.
This week, one of the standout events is that the Sun reaches a 90 degree angle to the axis of the lunar nodes. These are calculated points in space where the Moon’s path through the sky crosses the ecliptic — the apparent path of the Sun. When the Sun and Moon are both close to nodes (during a New Moon or Full Moon) there will be an eclipse. Eclipses are some of the most palpable turning points of the year. When the Sun is square those points, we’re halfway between the eclipses, and we have a distinctive turning point to work with.
The South Node is associated with the past (including past lifetimes, but more accessibly, the things in this lifetime we are comfortable with and tendencies we perhaps rely on or fall back on). The South Node contains the results of the past, which we’re living with today. The North Node is about the new territory into which we are pressing forward. The feeling of the North Node is a morph between the unknown, the irresistible and what we might want to avoid. It’s at once unfamiliar and perhaps a bit awkward but necessary. The nodes relate to the process of cause and effect, which are inextricably linked. Cause and effect are never separate. To some the nodes might feel like a trip wire; to others they are a gust of energy available to ride boldly.