The Transiting Lunar Nodes Enter Virgo-Pisces
By Tom Jacobs
Beginning June 21st, with the Sun at the Summer Solstice (entering the sign of Cancer), collectively we had a chance to catch up with our emotional realities after a solar month of light shining on Geminian concerns. At the same time, the transiting lunar nodes were at zero degrees of Aries-Libra, finishing up a year and a half of a Mars-Venus, cardinal focus in our emotional evolution. Many of us found ourselves suddenly aware of key pieces of emotional information that may have seemed the missing links we’d been searching for, or suddenly in possession of information we didn’t know we needed but that clearly changed something for good.
Not everyone will have had such drama and fireworks, but if you’re going to have it at all, having the sun at a soltice point square the transiting lunar nodes at zero degrees of cardinal signs would certainly qualify as a good time for it. This article doesn’t go into detail about the ingress of the Sun into Cancer, a topic about which you can certainly find material from other astrological writers if you’re interested, but covers the regress of the transiting lunar nodes into the signs Virgo-Pisces.
The transiting nodes seem not used as much in counseling contexts as in mudane work, and it’s my opinion that a lot of us simply haven’t been exposed to ways of working with them. Also in my opinion, the most dynamic approach to the transiting nodes is to be found from within Evolutionaty Astrology, which is rooted in the notion of long-term, on-going growth of the soul, but focused on the current, present-tense living person.
This article presents an interpretive methodology easily applied to counseling individuals I encountered and have been working with, in hopes that the word about the transiting nodes will get out and more astrologers will come to see the value in working with them. Also covered here are notes on the signs being transited, the regression from cardinal to mutable signs, and some thoughts on the upcoming transit of the South Node to the Plutos of the Pluto-in-Virgo generation including a treatment of the Pluto polarity point.
The transiting South Node stirs up emotions and pushes buttons while the transiting North Node can show a way to move energy/resolve stuff that’s been stirred up. Here’s a breakdown:
- We collectively experience the sign the South Node transits and then have our individual experience based on the natal house it’s transiting and any natal placements triggered.
- The house and sign the South Node is transiting is an apparent issue. The real issue is to be found in the natal configuration of the ruler of the transiting South Node.
- The sign and house of the transiting North Node and the natal configuration of the ruler offers information on how to move ahead with (= integrate) what’s been stirred up.
For a year and a half, the transiting South Node has been in Libra, and the transiting North Node in Aries. Generally speaking, what we’ve been learning centers on boundaries and definition of self. The Aries-Libra pole is about acting vs. reacting, initiating vs. responding – and at the most basic level, self vs. other.
The transiting South Node has for all of us been stirring up issues in relationship, and to some extent our values – for each of us, our natal Venus configuration has been the center of attention. And for the folks with Uranus and Pluto in Libra (1968-1975 and 1970-1984, respectively), issues related to fear and trauma in relationship have had a certain kind of light shed on them, possibly via the ripping or melting away of long-held assumptions about relationships, and I probably really mean to say the ripping or melting away of long-held patterns of projection and co-dependency in relationship. (More on the transiting South Node hitting natal Pluto below.)
The transiting North Node in Aries, then, has been dangling in front of all of our noses some new, probably-appetizing ideas. Some we might not have thought of before, or thought of in new ways. Everything that has been stirred up Venus-wise for you has an antidote, a solution, in new ways of doing Mars things:
- Had enough of co-dependent patterns? (Libra) Strike out on your own; ask for new kinds of relationships. (Aries)
- Tired of feeling walked all over? (Libra) Stand up for yourself and make a statement about who you are what you’re available for. (Aries)
- Had it with your frustration that no one does for you what you won’t do for yourself? (Libra) Take responsibility for what you need and then seek out, enter or re-enter relationship. (Aries)
None of this exciting-sounding Mars work comes without a bit of effort. And Mars work is about acting on instinct and taking steps that feel right. There’s no deliberation, no weighing, no mental work that can be done. Mars work is fire work, instincutal work, work in the moment, work that generates experience, so for those of us who find ourselves ever choosing our way with the utmost care (the Libra way, and possibly a blind spot with the transiting South Node there), this Mars work might be a touch uncomfortable. But the point of the opportunities the transiting lunar North Node (as the symbolism of our natal North Nodes) offers is about reaching beyond our comfort zones; risk that honors instinct is where the growth is to be found.
When the nodes shifted signs to Virgo-Pisces, the apparent and real issues changed considerably. Not just in the obvious fact of a change of signs (and therefore rulers), but the change of signs from cardinal (Aries-Libra) to mutable (Virgo-Pisces). This change takes us from the urge to action to the necessity of flexibility. There’s a relaxing that hopefully goes with such a shift, if we’re open enough to listen to insights and opportunities presented by the moment. The standard progression of the signs in order around the zodiac is something we’re used to: The order the bodies in our solar system move is cardinal-fixed-mutable, all the way around the wheel. These flavors of energy take us from initiating things (cardinal) to stabilizing them in a full expression (fixed), to allowing things to change as they need to change, re-evaluating and, if needed, adding new information, feeling or awareness to the mix. As the nodes transit in retrograde motion, the switch from cardinal to mutable will naturally be felt with a little tension by most.
So, with this change of signs the focus leaves Venus assumptions/blind spots/issues being resolvable by a little risky Mars work, and centers on Mercury (the ruler of Virgo, the transiting South Node sign) assumptions/blind spots/issues resolvable by a little risky Neptune work (the ruler of Pisces, the transiting North Node sign).
A few notes on the Virgo-Pisces pole: This axis is essentially about work, service, healing and control. In these areas, Virgo takes the active stance and Pisces the passive stance. Each wants to contribute to something larger: Virgo on the micro scale and Pisces on the macro scale. Each is oriented toward perfection: Virgo takes things apart and does detail work in order to improve the whole from the micro level (fixing), and Pisces views the whole as it is and opens to accept that things are perfect the way they are (accepting).
The transiting South Node entering the sign of Virgo will then bring up our issues with control (where we feel we need to have it), our feelings of inadequacy (with an eye on what it would take to reach perfection, Virgo is acutely aware of what isn’t currently perfect), and where we tend to take responsibility for serving, working for and healing others (Virgo can see the paths to progress and healing and sometimes can’t let go). The bit of risky Neptune work we’ll be invited to do is then about releasing some of our need for control, and accepting that certain things are the way they are. This is absolutely not about throwing arms up in the air and the cessation of caring, but about the acceptance that some things are out of our control and are right up the alley of some other party that can take care of things (even or especially if this other party is to-you invisible and sometimes goes by names like God/Goddess, the Universe, the Shiny and Magnificent Whole of Everything, etc.). Virgo certainly can have humility as a strength, but an attitude of humility that leads us to do so much that we eventually think no one is capable or qualified to do anything becomes the opposite of humility.
Those of us with Pluto in Virgo natally (most of those born between 1956-1971) will be in one way or another invited to look at their deepest soul desires and fears, and if listening through what might turn out to be difficult to experience, they’ll be able to access clues about healing them. This is because as the transiting South Node pushes their Pluto buttons, the transiting North Node will be highlighting what is known as the Pluto polarity point, the point in the chart wheel exactly opposite natal Pluto, 180 degrees away. This is an idea from the work of Jeffrey Wolf Green. Essentially he’s saying that if you come in with natal Pluto in Virgo, you’ve got Pluto-in-Virgo soul desires (and I add Steven Forrest’s idea of soul wound and fears). Pluto in Virgo is the signature you’re carrying with you, but since Pluto typically operates on the unconscious level, generally you’re not seeing much about it. He says that in order to get perspective on that placement, you need to be active to understand the opposite; do something in the opposite direction in order to develop a understanding of where you are. Makes sense, right? If you’re stuck where you are, do something else until you’re not stuck. For the Pluto-in-Virgo person, the answers about how to move ahead with healing the Pluto soul wounds and manifesting the Pluto soul desires are to be found in an exploration of Pisces.
For any of us, the Pluto polarity point is an important point to explore. Getting through the layers of deep fears represented by the Pluto configuration is the only way to get to the core of the deep desires also represented by it. There’s a nugget of rich, delicious, shiny stuff in the middle of that constellation of fear. Pluto work tends to get a bad wrap, but as Steven Forrest points out, most of us don’t know what is the reward for doing Pluto work, namely the recovery of our core of energy.
The Pluto-in-Virgo people come in with the central soul desire to serve, to make things better, to orient the self within the parameters of service. The deep fears that come with that desire in a general sense can have to do with the reactions garnered for having done something about it in the karmic past. How the karmic wounds are healed will look different for each person, but generally will involve an acceptance of what can actually be done (to heal the Virgo sense of not being enough to get done what is seen could be done), and practical strategies for action plans to bring forth the kind of work they really want to do in their lives or in the world.
Those with Uranus conjunct Pluto (roughly, those born from 1962-1968) will have added to the Pluto desire a radical, forward-looking, revolutionary bent. As Uranus is the marker of sudden change, these people might carry with their wound memory of various sorts of trauma, making in some the road to getting through the fears to the point of being able to manifest the desires rockier. I don’t mean to say that each of these people is a revolutionary, but any Pluto-Uranus in Virgo person has the signature of the planet of originality joined with the planet of the deep wound. How this will manifest in any of them will vary (according to a host of factors including house placement, other aspects, environment, etc.), and those of them on the unexpressive side of the range will appear the most conservative and revolutionphobic people you’ve ever met. The point here is what is the intention of the soul, not what is the manifestation in the personality of the underlying desires of the soul.
I’m reminded to include a note that all Pluto work isn’t horrible, terrible, decimating or dark and scary. A lot of it can be, but the basic premise of it is to open to the parts of us that are under the surface, and be willing to see and own them. Of course some of what’s down there has been put down there because it’s horrible, terrible, decimating and dark and scary, but not all of it. And in the processes of growth, there are times when what’s under the surface calls out for attention, whether we consciously go there or are led there by seemingly unavoidable events. We can choose not to look, but becoming healthier means becoming more whole, which is simply about being more real about what we really are, our dark and scary sides included.
Astrologers who can speak the language of the stars to clients’ souls to teach them how to manage all of their energies do a critical service. I suppose for some clients the best advice does center on the timing of setting dates and making large purchases, or changing jobs, but people are feeling increasingly that they need more from life than a focus on time, purchases and jobs. The more of us who can work with material that makes up and informs the whole of a person, the better. The transiting nodes are a potent tool for helping people understand how they’re evolving and, let’s face it: We do evolve. We do change.
References
- http://www.ulrichbold.com/transiting_nodes.htm.
- Pluto: The Evolutionary Journey of the Soul, Jeffrey Wolf Green, Llewellyn Publications.
- The Book of Pluto, Steven Forrest, Astro Communications Services.
5 Responses to “The Transiting Lunar Nodes Enter Virgo-Pisces”
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June 18, 2006 By Tom Jacobs
July 10th, 2007 at 5:32 pm
regarding the Pluto and polarity point….You might also want to mention for e.g. that the exception is when the NN conj Pluto. then there is no polarity point, since the soul has been working on that direction for some time.
merci.
CNN
July 14th, 2007 at 4:41 pm
thanks for the comment, cnn. my take on the nodes, and any body conjunct the NN, differs from green’s. but in the interests of fairness to his perspective, thanks for adding this.
August 28th, 2007 at 1:26 am
Tom, thanks for this lucid and thorough discussion of the transiting nodes. This article has been helpful for me.
December 13th, 2007 at 1:41 pm
[...] Transiting Lunar Nodes Shift to Leo-AquariusBuilding on my very first blog post, on the transiting lunar nodes entering Virgo-Pisces, here are some thoughts on the imminent shift [...]
June 9th, 2008 at 9:04 am
I was wondering about the NN conjunct Pluto, and the whole Pluto Polarity Point Issue.
I have this natally, and was somewhat disappointed that it was not properly addressed in his book.
It seemed to almost negate his theory to me.
Until, that is, I read CNNolte’s comment.
I would love to hear more from you on this topic CNNolte!