North Node
The North Node is the point where the Moon's orbit crosses the ecliptic heading north; with the South Node it forms the axis on which eclipses occur. In karmic astrology it marks the direction of growth: qualities to develop and unfamiliar territory the life is called toward. Its sign shows the quality to learn; its house, the arena where the learning happens.
growth, mission, future
Overview
Where the Moon's path crosses the Sun's, ascending.
The North Node is the crossing where the Moon's orbit cuts the ecliptic heading north — one of the two gates where eclipses are born. Astrology reads it as a direction: the unfamiliar territory a life is called to grow into.
Mythology
In Vedic myth the nodes are one being cut in two: the asura Svarbhanu, who slipped among the gods to drink the nectar of immortality and was beheaded by Vishnu the instant it touched his lips. The head lived on as Rahu, the tail as Ketu, and their hunger explains the eclipses: Rahu forever swallows the Sun and Moon, which escape through his severed throat. Medieval Europe knew the same axis as the dragon's head, Caput Draconis — the devouring, appetitive end of the eclipse dragon.
Interpretation
The North Node is the point where the Moon's orbit crosses the ecliptic moving northward; with the South Node it forms a single axis, always in opposite signs. In karmic astrology it represents the direction of growth: qualities to develop, experiences to seek, the unfamiliar territory the soul is called toward in this lifetime. Nothing here comes naturally at first — the Node points away from habit — but pursuits aligned with it tend to feel unexpectedly meaningful. Its sign describes the quality to be learned; its house, the arena where the learning happens.
North Node in the signs
North Node in the houses
North Node in aspect with
The return