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.
A planet aspecting the lunar nodes comes into special focus. In a natal chart, it’s the thing we have to address in order to get the nodes working. Where we have the nodes working we have progress in our lives, and that planet square the nodes becomes the thing that either stands in the way of progress or is the thing we have to address in order to make progress. The Sun square the nodes describes a turning point, which orients us between the past and what we’re used to, and the other point is about the future we are heading into. The way to handle that turning point is to be here now. Just like when you come to a bend in the road you have slow down and pay extra attention, with the Sun square the nodes it’s necessary to make careful choices.
When that planet is the Sun, that might look like taking a real step toward expressing yourself or your purpose; making a decision; making a commitment; or some experience that lends itself to the feeling of maturing and growing up.
It’s possible to use these events to plan, but it also helps to notice what happens and recognize the ways those events and developments contribute to a turning point. This turning point relates to the events surrounding the eclipses we experienced beginning late last November and the next set that will begin in late May. So check in with what you had happening in late autumn as well as what you have planned for [Northern Hemisphere] mid-spring. The eclipses coming up are concentrated amidst much other astrology, including a Venus transit of the Sun. Events this week will help orient us and guide us toward whatever is developing in the not-so-distant future.
Venus in Aries is approaching an opposition to Saturn in Libra. That’s exact next weekend, but the approach is something that will manifest even before the aspect is exact. It looks like a point of decision, or a dilemma. Venus is associated with Pisces, so that draws the Sun’s current sign into the aspect’s energy. The question is relational. Venus in Aries can be an uncomfortable place for the goddess of love, since it brings out a tendency toward self-absorption; Saturn in Libra has been pushing us to restructure and rebalance our interpersonal relationships, and since it has been retrograde, our inner experience of them. This looks like a question of balancing the need for individuality with the need for mutual benefit. The two don’t have to conflict — but they will if the situation — whatever situation this describes — is allowed to progress in an unconscious way.
Venus is also associated with Saturn’s current sign, Libra. So Venus is a kind of proxy for many questions this week. Venus-Saturn can seem to be a limit, but that might include a practical limit. One question the sky seems to be describing is: do you need to be forced by circumstances to make a decision, or can you decide on your own? That question should be inscribed on every astrology chart for all eternity, but it makes a fine meditation this week. So does the idea of be here now, and notice how every decision you make has the power to resolve or complicate some element of the past; and to delay or embrace some aspect of the future.
Thank you, Len! And thanks to everyone else, too. Turns out tomorrow the plumber is coming to scope out the pipes and they may even have to go under the wall (and into the floor with a jackhammer) to get at the pipe if it is broken. WOW. Very, Very glad I am not the owner (though he has made $55K and more in clear profit in the five years we have been renting so maybe it isn’t too hard on him). This house was built in 1968 so the walls now have large cracks in them, some drywall is pulling away at one corner and two inner walls are raised up enough that I can slide a butter knife all the way under the baseboards. The settling is going to end up costing eventually.
If only we could figure out where that darn leak is under the kitchen sink!
As noted in Len’s domain, my natal chart has Scorpio Sun square North Node. Transiting Sun has been sitting on my North Node for days. At least Chiron is parked there as well.
Car needs an oil change that I promised myself I would get done last week. Plumber needs to be called to turn the water back on in my office building which has been turned off since I had a $450.00 quarterly water bill last year for an unoccupied building. Time to find out where the water leak is – most likely two toilets with old innards now fully encrusted with lime from the local water.
Nice to know I’m going to be in the watery Piscean flow of it all, and apparently in the good company of much of the PW Clan.
JannKinz
Carrie – Fighting a clogged septic line here, and yes, it’s as bad it smells (this has been building for weeks, getting worse and worse). Water issues, no shit…truly bad pun intended. And the meter for the well is wonky: the bill for the power for the well went up by a factor of 5X, and the house bill stayed the same. Hmmm.
P.S. I’ll be sure to write if I head your way! It would be great fun to meet up, live and in person.
It’s been fascinating for me to watch everyone’s oil/water issues (my car is the oil problem). My friend’s parents had to replace their water heater yesterday as summer water line construction has led to the dirt entering their system and clogging the entire thing. The most interesting thing was the goldfish in my house. For a month or more before Neptune entered Pisces it was swimming upside down – we thought it was dying. As soon as the planet came home the fish flipped right side up and is looking happy and healthy. Go figure.
aword and carrie: Thank you for being on top of the ambient theme and bringing it to our attention. Please accept my compassion for the problems you have encountered.
Thank you Planet Waves Daily Astrology. Once again our efforts serendipitously complement each other. Thank you for the reminder to be present in the moment. Thank also for the outstanding personification of Venus as proxy – that is truly a great interpretation, huge. Finally, the last three sentences of today’s Daily Astrology blog are an authentic inspiration.
Carrie — I hadn’t even thought about that! Immediately upon Neptune ingressing Pisces, my car had oil related issues. Next, the pilot light wouldn’t ignite the oven, causing my apartment to fill with gas. Only hours after that repair, the kitchen sink backed up! Ah, the joys of Neptune! I feel inclined to begin a ritual of homage to the water god/dess/s !! 😉
Thanks for the info. Ever since Neptune went into Pisces, water-involved things have been happening around here. Our toilet wouldn’t flush and it back flowed into the bath tub. The rooter guy got it unplugged but it happened again the next day. I bet a pipe is broken under the house. There’s a leak under the kitchen sink that no matter what we try, we cannot figure out where it is coming from. The dishwasher was not cleaning the dishes so we had to take part of it apart and clean it. Talk about liquid issues. I am just thankful that we are renting else these would have cost us way too much money to fix.
I am finally getting better from that nasty bronchitis thing that everyone else has; I got an antibiotic and the difference is amazing. I can breathe again and the cough has stopped taking over.
That’s my report from 7000 feet up. Back to your regularly scheduled day.
Whoever says astrology isn’t valid,
is making an ignorant assumption.
I Love you.
“or some experience that lends itself to the feeling of maturing and growing up”. Yup, these are really tough growing pains. And makes me realize once again how so many of us spend our lives trying to get to or stay in that place where we feel ‘comfortable’ – which is such an illusion…(“oooh aaah – illusion”).
Yes. I just can’t thank you enough for this. You’ve given me the advice and tools to help me stay aware (or rather:to regain awareness) and get me through it all. Thank you, PW angels! xxx
Absorbing this article is such a wonderful way to begin my week! It’s 10pm-ish here on the west coast and glad I caught this before dream-time tonight. I’ll set myself for contemplation of the questions and thoughts you present during sleep.
Sweet! and Sweet Dreams!
Awesome. Loved this. Thanks PW team.