Today, January 19 2022, the Moon’s nodes change signs.

What are the Moon’s nodes? Well, in fact they are two opposing points, intersections of the apparent path of the Sun and that of the Moon. These points move slowly backwards through the signs of the zodiac and take around 18.6 months to go through a thirty degree sign.

What do the Moon’s nodes mean? Well, you could look at it as a meeting of yin and yang, the masculine and feminine energies. But in traditional astrology, the Moon’s nodes have ancient dragon associations, and are termed Caput Draconis in latin, which means ‘Dragon’s Head’ and Cauda Draconis, ‘Dragon’s Tail’.

Enter the Dragon

The north node was seen as benefic, largely good and often associated with Venus and Jupiter, the benefic planets; and the Dragon’s Tail, the south node was seen as malefic, or evil, and associated with Mars and Saturn.

In more modern psychological astrology, however, such a clear dichotomy has been sanitised somewhat. These days, the south node is said to show where we have come from, our past, what we must leave behind, and the north node points to where we are going, or should be doing.

So let’s look at this. Over the past 18 months or so, the south node has been in Sagittarius and the north node in Gemini. Both of these signs are associated with travel (Sag long distance, Gemini everyday travel), communication, getting about, as well as our minds and mental interests.

Leaving the Past

The south node in Sagittarius shows that in the past, collectively, we have been used to travelling and thinking quite freely, widely. It’s something that comes to us quite easily. Both of these abilities have been severely curtailed for nearly two years now by travel restrictions and the constant fear in the headlines.

The north node in Gemini has forced us to think more locally, to use things which are near at hand, about our neighbourhood, our community, our siblings, our family too. We have reined in our expectations and have found some comfort there, perhaps rather surprisingly.

Do it Yourself

So, with the nodes changing to Taurus and Scorpio today, what should we expect? The south node moving into Scorpio suggests that previously we have gained security through others who have invested for us, perhaps leaving us in the dark in regard to the details. This can be dangerous, naturally, for how do we know these ‘others’ have our best interests at heart? We may have trusted too much, accepted the secrecy surrounding certain people, institutions and situations. We need to move away from allowing others to take responsibility for our lives.

This is where the north node in Taurus comes in. We need to take responsibility for ourselves, assess our own values, look after our own money, property and security and put them on firm, manageable foundations. Over the next 18 months we must therefore emerge as more practical and responsible individuals who can build better lives for ourselves, regardless of what the outside world might expect of us. With determination, we can do it.

Copyright Francis 2022