The North and South Node as drivers of a core element of the lifetime’s journey can be helped and/or hindered by planets in hard aspect – conjunct or square.
Understanding the nature – and spectrum of meanings – for the planet involved as well as the sign and house placing of the Nodes gets complicated. But worth pursuing.
You don’t have to believe in reincarnation (which I don’t) but it is a useful way of explaining the ways in which the South Node in particular can operate. Planets on the South Node suggest past tendencies to be e.g. overly aggressive with Mars conjunct SN and thus on the receiving end this time round.
The Saturn conjunct the South Node – Howard Sasportas mentions an individual with this who was permeated by fear, everything was a challenge and overly difficult. She was dragged back into negative Saturn (for reincarnationers she was getting karmic payback for an overly Saturnine past life of being emotionally cold, critical etc). Now she needed to get away from her overdose of Saturn and whatever sign the South Node was in and reach away from it. Tracy Marks says planets on SN need to be reworked and brought into consciousness, reassessed and then let go. Not be owned by the South Node and in this case Saturn.
Sakoian & Acker who are hooked on the notion that the Nodes tune us in or not to social trends point out that Saturn conjunct the South Node while out of step with society and isolated, can do well in obscure areas.
North Node conjunct Saturn needs to work on the positive sides of Saturn – discipline, patience, caution and realism.
Planets in square can be more problematic since there is a more evident swing between the Nodes – too much of one and then too much of the other. Finding the balance is vital with this aspect.
Pluto conjunct the South Node indicates an individual who out of step with society and stands alone so it fosters self-reliance though they can be a victim of circumstances.
Pluto conjunct North Node can be opportunistic and get onto bandwagons though it can backfire – getting a tiger by the tail – with the result that affairs of life can get out of hand.
Neptune conjunct North Node – swept along by social trends, going with the crowd.
Neptune conjunct South Node – past life as alcoholic, pulled back into escapism, addiction, lack of discrimination/boundaries. Out of step with social trends, unpopular. Though individualistic. Watch out for deception.
Sun conjunct North Node – can be expansive, fit in with prevailing trends, though can be draining.
Sun conjunct South Node – not in a leadership/attention-demanding situation this time round so thwarted by others.
Moon conjunct North Node – in tune with social trends and well designed for any activity in contact with the general public, popular, good with women in general.
Moon conjunct South Node – out of step with social trends so forced to be self-reliant. Emotionally self-sufficient.
Mercury – words are your ally on North Node, can be an intellectual leader or swept along by popular ideas.
Mercury on South Node you’re too much up in your head and need to stop analyzing and talking, get into your feelings and be realistic. Ideas out of step with society. Can be an original thinker though not listened to.
Venus conjunct North Node – friendly with a leaning towards frivolity. Need to develop creativity. In harmony with social trends.
Venus conjunct South Node – isolated, bad timing in romance, can have spiritual benefit.
Mars conjunct North Node – pro-active where social trends are concerned though a tendency to get swept up in mass passions. Empowering.
Mars conjunct South Node – re-enacting old patterns of being assertive/angry. Needing to pull away from past grievances and ingrained habit patterns. Bad timing and then lash out in frustration. Loners.
Jupiter conjunct North Node – popular, in harmony with the mood in society, take too much for granted,
Jupiter conjunct South Node – tendency to go overboard. Bad timing. Values may clash with present trends. Problems in education and travel.
Squares – Jupiter square – overdo SN and then swing to overdo NN
Uranus conjunct North Node – allow self to be crazy, original, inventive. Attuned to changing times. Over enthusiastic.
Uranus conjunct South Node – upset by social changes, life disrupted by outer events.
Uranus square Nodes – tension in resolving the polarity.
North Node on Ascendant – have to develop faith in self and develop Ascendant sign way of appearing in the world.
South Node on the Descendant – attract people who encourage South Node regressive tendencies.
North Node in the 7th – need the experience of relationship. Even if difficult.
North Node in 1st – forced into independence at an early age, can’t get people to care for you.
A passing example from the alarming and bizarre tale of Ruby Franke, a ‘parenting’ influencer who has been arrested along with her business partner Jodi Hildebrandt on charges of aggravated child abuse after two of her malnourished kids were found starved with open wounds and wrapped in duct tape. Her YouTube channel had 2.2 million subscribers before it stopped in 2022.
She was born 18 January 1982 with a Capricorn Sun conjunct her South Node square a bleak, uncaring Saturn Pluto – which kind of says it all.
Jodi, 15 June 1960 – has his pushily confident Jupiter Pluto conjunct his South Node.
Money, money, money.
Both of them probably have their Chiron square their Moon.
Jac: Much appreciate your post….thank you. You sound like a very caring parent–how blessed your daughter is to have you in her life. I’m certain that she’ll eventually understand the huge role you and her daughters have played in her evolution. It often takes time to come to that realization….and the journey can be fraught with remorse. But that particular nodal axis ultimately brings parents/family into sharp focus, serving as a reminder of what really matters….after all too many years chasing dreams in the outside world. That axis is there for a reason. Re Pluto, I’ve had that bad boy digging deep in my 12th house since 2008. Brutal! Talk about owning up to the past! I can’t imagine my life without astrology–it has helped me so much. Wishing you the best.
Marjorie, or any of you knowledgable astrology folk (my astrological knowledge is SOOOO limited.)
How does the Midheaven work? I’m seeing from these posts that the North Node seems related to personal development. The midheaven – is that one’s development in regards to public growth/accomplishment?
My Libra north node is un-aspected for what it’s worth.
Vedic astrology is really into the nodes.
They also have a 120-year Mahadasha cycle that everyone goes through, but your entry point into the cycle depends on the longitude of the moon at your birth. When you are in a mahadasha, the house that planet is in, is emphasised.
In Margaret Thatcher’s vedic chart, Rahu (the north node) is in her 10th house.
She entered her Rahu mahadasha on 20th Sept 1972, which turbo-charged her 10th house. Became Tory leader in 1975, Prime Minister in 1979, and got re-elected twice.
She finally exited her Rahu mahadasha on 20th Sept 1990 and entered her Jupiter mahadasha. Her 10th house lost it’s boost and in her vedic chart, Jupiter was in her third house of peers and colleagues. She resigned on 28th Nov 1990.
Kamala Harris has Rahu in the first house of her vedic chart, conjunct the ascendant.
She entered her Rahu mahadasha on 22nd July 2012, just after she got elected as California’s attorney general in Nov 2011.
She’ll be in the Rahu mahadasha till July 2030. Wouldn’t be surprised if she becomes President.
Candy, dashas are so interesting, aren”t they? … have looked into mine. My Ketu dasha was a wild ride! 2008-2015, such timing, lol.
Have also looked at Komilla Sutton’s book about the nodes from a Vedic perspective and found it quite helpful to my understanding of them.
What about the moon conjunct south/north nodes? (apologies Marjorie if you were getting to that).
I have my north node 6 degrees from my ascendant – I’m guessing that’s just too far to make it conjunct?
One other question – I hope this is the right place to ask it – about birth times. I was born by elective caesarian in the UK, and I have a card from the hospital with my birth time written on it, which I have always assumed was correct. But occasionally I wonder whether the hospital might have rounded the time up or down. Does anyone know if that is likely? Neither of my parents can remember the time.
That said, this could be my perfectionist 6th house south node talking…but a few minutes difference would affect that potential north node/ascendant conjunction.
I have SN in the 10th, NN in fourth. I believe that’s known as the “parental axis.” Suffice to say that I took for granted all the love and support given by my parents. I was fixated on work/career, gaining recognition/praise in the outer world. Nothing else mattered. I neglected my parents–even as they grew older. They were not a priority. Being a quadruple Aries (sun, moon, mars, mercury), it was all about ME, ME, ME. It didn’t help that I was an only child–yes, I was spoiled/indulged. Now, after a lot of growing up, inner work and hard lessons learned (tinged with great regret), I’ve come to realize how pivotal and transformative my parents were in my evolutionary journey. I have a new-found appreciation for all things family–things I overlooked before. Definitely not the person I used to be. Thank God. Who needs a shrink when you have astrology?
Just read your post Julie, and loved that you had the courage (well, you are an Aries) to look at your life so honestly and openly, and do the work necessary for your own evolution. My daughter has this same nodal axis and placement, and to add more complication to this has Sun and Mercury in 10th. I feel sad for her daughters who are often left alone, as she goes to one course or another to enhance her career. She has no interest in astrology, so I hope she figures things out for herself. I have Sun and Venus in 10th and was unwittingly much admired in my career, until Pluto entered my 10th and wiped that out. I wasn’t emotionally invested fortunately- I did love doing a good job, and feeling that I had earned my pay, and miss the money most. My daughter will have Pluto through 10th in several years, and feel that will be harder for her than was for me.
Thank you for these pieces on the nodes, Marjorie. They are needed. I find the nodes interesting and have read a lot about them over the years, although a lot of the writing previously out there wasn’t very good or somewhat woolly. In the past I had two problems with the concept:
1. They are often presented in an overly dichotomous way may be especially prone to confirmation bias and cognitive dissonance. For example, if the north node is not presenting in your life or you don’t feel it – you are not putting the work in etc. If you don’t recognise your south node, you are just not self aware enough yet etc. Ditto the all the mentions of karma etc
2. It seems to put in imbalance in the gendered nature of some of the signs. Telling a woman that she needs to follow a Libra or Cancer north node and be less Aries/Capricorn is obviously problematic and is perhaps an example of how things used to be written for different times, where it was considered less of a problem.
I am glad you seem to be like me in considering a more balanced approach rather than the “NN good/SN bad” approach of the past. The science nerd in my sees it mirrored in nature as a neuron – The SN reaching threshold and firing potential to the opposite axon terminals (NN).
Sorry typos, typing quickly on the move.
I agree, Tara. And like the neurons idea! Since the Nodes are based on the paths of both Sun and Moon, imagined as the head and tail of the celestial dragon, then at some level they must work together in various ways, and not always be opponents? Yin and Yang? I can’t go into the subject of Draconic astrology, since I’m still working on understanding it. However, that gives a whole other layer of meaning to the Nodes, and our path through life. So far, in my experiments, the Draconic charts appear to be very fascinating and enlightening.
Possibly we can also look at the Nodal Returns for timing. At some points in life there can be chances to do things differently, which may not have been viable options earlier on. Expressing the North Node more fully may be one of those things that sometimes has to wait for the right moment.
Is it important to work on North Node aspects . I have North Node conjuct Neptune and Natal moon which means I have them opposite my South Node which is conjunct my MC Do I need to deal with dreams and emotions properly this time round…assuming we are talking about reincarnation which I am doubtful about anyway You can see I am confused .. Neptune on IC!!!!
Hi Marjorie,
Thanks for your articles on astrology always a great resource for us astrology enthusiasts. If one has their Sun conjunct Saturn and north node opposite south node conjunct Pluto. How can they make the most of these aspects to their advantage as they’ve been bullied in the past. Aldo how does it work if the sun is conjunct south node and moon conjunct north node.
Hi Marjorie
Thanks so much for this continuation. We appreciate it.
Would the orb for Sun conjunct NN still be 10 degs?
My Progressed NN is moving to conjunct my Natal Venus. Is that going to be good?
Curious about natal NN conjunct Mars too.
No probably five would be better
Can’t wait for tomorrow about the nodes , so interesting
I have North Node conjunct Pluto in Leo in my 1st trine my Aries Midheaven, and sextile to my Moon, Uranus and Mars all in Gemini in my 11th. I used these energies in my work in community creative therapeutic projects to help transform people’s lives, and transformed myself in the process.
What about unaspected nodes pls? I have them North node libra and sn aries.not connecting to anything else in the chart.
What does it mean to have Mars conjunct Pluto conjunct South Node in Scorpio in the 8th house?
Scorpionic energy/behaviour pulling you backwards. The lower vibration kind?
I wonder what does it mean for those who have this aspect. I never really found a satisfying explanation. Marjorie always give the worst descriptions for these two planets conjunct the South Node, together with the worst description of all the nodes for the Taurus North Node. You cannot really find much positive about it, it seems. But I believe the positive exists.
That is a challenging collection since the Taurus/Scorpio nodal axis is possibly the most difficult of any of the six – and sitting across the 8th/2nd houses doubles the strength of that. Which is not to stay it can’t be developed fruitfully with determination. A Taurus North Node needs to reach out towards the earth/nature/stability and in the 2nd to be independent financially. But the tendency with Mars Pluto in the 8th plus South Node will be to exert a pull back into ingrained and negative family traits.
Breaking the chains of intergenerational tangles is no easy matter but where there’s a will and willingness to let go the past and all it entails financially and emotionally will be a step in the right direction.
Hi Marjorie, would you mind also briefly touching on Black Moon Lilith in Part 2 of your thoughts on the Nodes? I have a square to my nodes so just wondering what this means, especially with regard to the relationship to social trends. Tks.
Great post. Thank you. I have North Node in Virgo, with Saturn in the 6th house (supporting that node).
Mercury conjunct North node…words r indeed ally