Guide to Nodal Shift

Orupsia on Deviant Art

Moving from the Love of Power,

to the Power of Love

I want to spend a moment exploring the nodal shift from the Gemini/Sagittarius Axis to the Taurus/Scorpio Axis that happened on January 18th, at 1:49 PM. You may already be familiar with the energetics of this nodal shift because it so closely mirrors that which was active December 19th when Venus stationed retrograde Conjunct Pluto. As the planetary rulers of the Axis are both Venus and Pluto, the universe helped to prime us with a little taster then. Do you remember what was happening in your life on December 19th? Expect a deeper unfoldment of those themes. For me, I was deep in paralyzing fear around the theme of death. Which is very fitting indeed. 

However, with the nodes here, the intention is to transmute, alchemize and ultimately rise from the ashes of those fears, so that we are operating from higher rung on the spiral. In other words, the nodes serve our evolution.

We are moving from the Gemini-Sagittarius nodal axis, in which we were initiated into the art of discerning truth from illusion, and learning who the false teachers and authorities were. The Gemini Sag nodal axis allowed us to see exactly how we navigate life in the multiplicity, in which our attention and mental body were constantly being scattered. Causing massive amounts of confusion, distortion, and chaos in the collective.

Art by Karen Koski

We are now transitioning to Taurus North Node which is all about the Earth Mother, and the Sacred Feminine way of relating. Here we are being asked to reevaluate what we truly Value from the lens of the Feminine. And what it is to create a life that is really worth living? One that is dripping with pleasure and satiation. And reinvigorate our connection to the Earth, Nature, and it’s Cycles. We will transition from centering our intellect and mind, to centering the body, and heart. Love, lust, and what ignites our passion. Cultivating an inherent zest for life.

With Uranus in Taurus, we may see sudden shifts over the next 18 months in this arena. Likewise, Taurus rules money and our resources. And as such, these seismic quakes may be around our finances, or financial systems, and/or what constitutes value and currency. We will be asked to look at how we independently create our own stability and truly care for, and resource ourselves. And perhaps end our dependence on differing systems. Taurus helps us to birth new enterprises into physical form. So expect new innovation around food, money, art, beauty, and connection.

*Just viewing the two different archetypal representations, we being to feel the tension or full spectrum of this axis. One is overt consciousness, brimming with Spring like new life, and the other is the deep subconscious, brimming with shadowy underworld frequencies. The passing away of life. Together, they are life, death, and rebirth.

Scorpio is about right uses of power and life force energy/tantra. We have seen massive abuses of power illuminated over the past few years, and as such, secrets, and what has been previously concealed will be revealed. Scorpio accepts nothing less than the truth, and as a universal law, what is true can never stay hidden or suppressed. Scorpio is a sign of detoxification and purification. So expect rectification of these shadowy influences to sweep over the collective. Scorpio helps us clarify and weed out toxic elements of our own lives and come into our own self-generated empowerment and true sovereignty. Scorpio also rules blood, sex, and power. The three taboos. Interacting with these takes our psyche down to the Underworld. So expect to see some transformation in how we relate to once taboo subjects in both our personal lives, and in the collective. 

Quantum Shifts

In a general sense, the nodal axis points to humanity’s evolutionary intention at the time. In birth charts they reveal unique soul lessons that the native will undoubtedly be confronted with again and again in this lifetime. In a Mundane Chart, meaning the chart of the moment, the one that points to current events, the nodes point to the evolutionary challenge the universe is guiding us towards. However, like I always say, the medicine, and mystery school lessons, are always, always, present within the same chart. So let’s take a look at the prescription together, shall we?

The nodal axis always exists within signs that are directly opposite of one another. They are in what we call a “polarity”. The polarity is what holds the challenge and the medicine. For instance, I myself am a Scorpio, with my Midheaven conjunct my Sun, and both Uranus and Venus also in the same sign. In other words, I am what they call “a strong Scorpio”. To balance out this strong Scropionic energy, I can look across the chart to Taurus, in which I have two outer planetary bodies, Chiron, and Vesta, to bring in more softness, and focus on 3-D reality. In turn, Taurus themes can temper my obsession with the occult, death and rebirth, and otherworldly endeavors. It can help bring me back down to earth, and aid me refocusing on the beauty inherent in the world, not just the brokenness. It can help me reconnect to the Garden of Earthly Delights, when I’ve temporarily taken up residence too close to the edge, for too long. 

In traditional Astrology, we see the North Node as a point of accumulation. It is in the spirit of Jupiter. Expansive. What we are aiming for. In Vedic Astrology, the  focus is on the shadow side of this dynamic. Seeing it more as a point of endless, never satiated, hunger, and greed. If we look at both of these interpretations, we can find balance. 

Likewise in traditional Astrology, we see the south node as a point of purging and purification. Much like spiritual asceticism. It is thought to be in the Spirit of Saturn. In Vedic Astrology, the south node is our past life Karma, associated with Ketu. The tail of the dragon. It is only a place of digestion, having little drive or ambition. In evolutionary Astrology it is seen as the point of Incarnation. A place of mastery. That holds all of the gifts we came into the world with. 

Image from Art Station

With the North Node in Taurus, and the South Node in Scorpio, my feeling is that as a collective we are being asked to shift our focus from the doom and destruction narrative of the last two years, and look at ways we can begin to revivify our life giving pursuits. Bring more beauty into existence, spend more of our energy on creative and pleasure generating activities. Whenever we create and distribute beauty, we bring more justness and rightness into the world. As beauty and justice are inextricably linked. We cannot know one without the other. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that the pathway to justice IS beauty. 

If the axis is interpreted as Taurus = Life, whereas Scorpio = Death (which is oversimplified) we can see the universe asking us to tend to the Garden of Life and Beauty, rather than only being fixated on underworld themes of fear, and high adrenaline contraction that leads to metaphorical death. 

This doesn’t mean that we are moving away from Scorpionic themes. No, if anything, we may face an intensification of nigredo, and/or toxicity in the collective. But remember, it is coming up to be alchemized and transmuted as part of our collective curriculum that helps the evolutionary arch progress. 

If you’ve given any energy or lip service to the idea of how we move humanity forward, if you plan to be a leader in this paradigm shifting era, the themes of life, death, and resurrection will be on your syllabus, and demand not only rigorous study, but total embodiment of the whole process. You must know how to die, and how to resurrect yourself, and be able to be an example of the cycle of regeneration for others. There are so many luminaries I know who have already willingly surrendered the vessel of their body, in an effort to transmute the lies and distortions that are governing our world. It is this lesson of Surrender that provides the prima materia of Scorpionic work. 

Curriculum Vitae

Let’s look at the Mystery School Lessons of Both Taurus and Scorpio on their own, now that we’ve done some synergistic work. 

Taurus- Life and Beauty- The Temple of Fertility - Garden of Eden

• Brings Spirit into form to enjoy and savor.

• Sacred pleasure as a form of art.

• Explores aliveness and pleasure in the body as an end in itself.

• Goes into the moment and extends it as long as possible.

• Explores the mystery of beauty.

• Governs all reception.

Taurus' evolutionary intention; is to become a healthy receiver. To explore your relationship to reception. Which is free from a codependent dynamic of always having to give in return. Instead have gratitude for what you have received. Learn to savor and luxuriate in each experience. Intimacy as an art, not a goal. Facilitates the ascent of Spirit into Matter. Helps us to seed new life and new experiences that make earthly life worth living. Pleasure in all forms without societal or conditioned guilt. 

Keywords-  beauty, ecstatic, savor, sensory perception, feeling navigator, embodied, connoisseur, connection with 3-D realm, reception as a form of art, tantric life.

Scorpio- Death and Rebirth Themes, Temple of Shakti, Tantric experience of living/thriving in the Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart.

• The generators of PURE life-force energy because they see the world as it really is rather than with illusion. 

• Hold the mysteries of the Underworld, and can navigate this terrain with precision.

• Not just resurrection, but the mysteries of metamorphosis.

• A strong individuated self. 

• Find aliveness in living up to the edge, find passion and vitality in threshold spaces. 

• Capacity for the most intensity in the Zodiac.

• Master at transforming shadow into light

• Tantric expert, and various forms of Shamanism

• Can feel and focus all energy towards self renewal.

Keywords, Life-force, tantra, penetration, shadow and light, mysteries of the dark, edgewalker, thriving in the unknown, deepest intensity, potency, power, life-force generator through edgy experiences, strong connection to desire, body as a tool of alchemy. 

Scorpio’s evolutionary intention: learning to recognize and feel your deepest truth, beyond the ego, then to come into right relationship with your desires, your potency, and your power. Balance pushing the boundaries as a way to generate life-force, with that which is self-destructive, ego enhancing behavior. Descent of spirit into matter. Ability to turn people on by raising energy; activating and enlivening life force in others, being a catalyst, and a channel. Scorpio Training is the willingness to surrender all attachments, to identity, ego, ideals, perceptions beliefs about themselves and the world, so they can do the bigger work they came here to do. It’s from this place of surrender, that Scorpio can genuinely respond to the flow of life-force energy that is theirs to wield in the world. 

Natives of the Axis

This means that those with their North Node in Taurus, and South Node in Scorpio are having their Nodal return. Or in other words if you are 19, 37, 56, or 74, it is likely that you were born with the nodes in these signs. Anytime the transiting Nodes conjunct (pass over) your natal Nodes, it's significant. Whether it is a nodal return which happens about every 19 years, or every 8.5 years for a nodal opposition. They are often turning points in your own evolution. So expect that you may experience sudden shifts in your personal timeline, or the narratives you feel attached too. It’s a time to uplevel, and liberate yourself from the constructs of 3-D reality. To rewrite your personal story. To heal karmic wounds. And merge with the deeper, more true thing you came here to achieve.

Scorpio South Node: If you are having a nodal return this year, you are someone who has known a depth, and intensity, to life’s underworld themes. Large scale familial betrayal’s, early, deep seated fears around survival, and the lack of control. Far more then the rest of humanity. It may feel on some level as though you’ve been cursed.  And while I don’t have specific beliefs around curses, I do believe these dark experiences leave a mark on the soul.  One possible response to the unbidden brushes with the dark is to numb them away, however, our South Node in Scorpio Natives do not do that. Instead, they are here, transmuting shadow for the rest of humanity. What a heavy sounding karmic burden. Or is it? For the evolved, or advanced Scorpio South Node, they carry the mantle of this evolutionary challenge with agility of a fox.  These natives, frequently serious, and not described as the life of the party, have taken on this great work as the very thing their life-force coalesces around. Discarding the lighter, more playful side of life as unessential. They hold hard won wisdom. These warriors of soul and psyche. Their deep mystery holds an almost sexual pull. Far from the damsel in distress, these are our trend setting Lilith’s. The shadow side here is an almost depressive, psychic, wear and tear. It is an attachment to themes of darkness, and heaviness that constitutes the biggest obstacle for these natives. “The gravitational pull of his or her unresolved karmic wounds pulls the person into ever deeper waters–even when the higher path is a simple, pleasant stroll along the beach” -Steven Forrest. 

And so, we remember that the medicine is present in the axis. And for the South Node in Scorpio, we look across the Zodiac to Taurus to find balance. The work of the North Node always goes against the natural grain of the native. It is challenging, but brings us into greater states of wholeness. So we view it as a necessary function of being a fully integrated individual. 

For the Taurus North Node individual, they have come into the world to find comfort and connection. Because of the very erratic intensity of their past lives. Taurus North Nodes individuals need to come into the embodied understanding that savoring is the gateway to abundance. And disillusionment is a pathway to soul. They have to be able to lose their maps and navigational tools to find the comfort they crave. Because comfort isn’t found in our attachments, or anything external. Rather it is found in the depths of our own soul. It is found in the ability to love life just as it is.

One of Taurus core Mystery School lessons is around cultivating the ability to receive. And for Taurus North Node people this act of surrendering, and opening wide enough to truly receive without the distortions inherent in cycles of codependency is difficult. There is frequently a feeling that the only way to receive is if it is reciprocal. Which actually negates true receptivity. And then there is the distortion of time. As if there is no time to savor that which we receive. These individuals benefit from practices that incorporate “being”, rather than “doing”. Which involves them moving from a more linear masculine approach, one in which they want to dominate life, to a more receptive, non linear, position. That involves dropping deep into our root chakra, rather then living from the will oriented solar plexus.

On the flip side of learning to receive is focusing too much on earthly delights, believing we are entiltled to MORE than we are, slothliness, and gluttony can all be part of the path of a strong “Taurus Native’s” chart. So watch for a tendency to overindulge as way to escape reality.

On a more mundane level, Taurus North Node individuals benefit from living outside of urban centers, or at the very least, getting out of town every once in a while and submerging themselves in a natural environment. If not, they run the risk of becoming recluses in their own homes. Animals have a lot to teach them, and often become sensational companions for those who find human company, or the energy of the constant presence of other people, overwhelms their energy field. In relationships, Scorpio South Nodes can be very intense and controlling, nitpicking their partner’s faults to death. (although they’d never let you see that) Their challenge is to first accept that relationships are beneficial and often make life easier if the partnership is aligned. And, to accept that people are human, and have faults. That a relationship need not be perfect to be good. The other challenge for Taurus North Nodes is around unwinding. Finding the blend of seriousness and playfulness that makes life worth showing up for. While sex, and physical turn on are not likely an issue with these natives, savoring the experience love making brings a greater sense of pleasure, passion, and that coveted comfort into their lives.

All in all, we are at the beginning of yet another major evolutionary shift. One that if met with the light of consciousness promises to bring about life-giving changes to both our personal lives and to the collective. I spent most of the last two months in a dance with Covid in one form or another, so I am welcoming in the shift of moving towards more savoring, more LIVING, more birthing, and shedding and purging what has held me back. I’m so glad you’ll be along for the ride with me.