A “node” is "the point at which lines or pathways intersect or branch; a central or connecting point." The moon has two nodes on a theoretical line in the sky called the ecliptic. There is a north node and a south node. Part 2 of our Node discussion offers an origin story of these nodes and you are not going to want to miss it because it’s told from the Hindu pantheon of Vedic astrology (Jyotish) and it explains this all BRILLIANTLY and delightfully.
So in the science of Astronomy, there is an imaginary line on the sky that marks the annual path of the sun. It is the projection of Earth’s orbit onto the celestial sphere. If you picture a beam shining from earth straight through the sun, and then everyone takes a trip for an earth year, it would be the circle drawn by that line on the other side of the sun. It is an essential part of any stargazer’s vocabulary because without its essential theory we wouldn’t be able to easily explain celestial events.
In studies of Astrology, the lunar nodes are the crossing points at which the orbit of the Moon around the earth crosses the ecliptic. Remember, the path of the moon is on a bit of a tilt, so as it’s moving on the path of its orbit, on the FAR side of the earth it’s said to be in it’s ascent, the ascending node, the "north" node, and coming back 'round it's coming to it's "south" node or the descending node.
The general Astrological theory behind the significance of the Nodes of the Moon suggests that we all have some underdeveloped and overdeveloped aspects in our character. The Nodes of the Moon point us to these specific qualities: the South Node, when the moon is lazily on it's descent, suggests our overdeveloped character traits, our lazy, fall-back positions, the knee-jerk reactions we have, our often mostly unattractive go-to postures, those personality mannerisms which very may well undermine our lives, they certainly do our development, if we hold on to these traits just because we're lazy, just because we need to feel security, and, in often in reality, just because we can't let go or won't get off our ass to better ourselves. The North Node suggests the qualities that we need to develop in order to find inner balance, to reach our potential, to better ourselves and thus, the world. The Nodes of the Moon can also suggest personal karmic imbalance. If we over-emphasize and fall back on the qualities of our South Node, for instance, at the expense of developing our North Node, we may have a difficult time feeling personally successful to say nothing of having any feelings of general accomplishment. Whether or not we consciously work on these lessons, events in our lives are likely to force us to confront them at one time or another, so why don’t we take scheduled inventories to clean ourselves up throughout the year, hmm?
In Hinduism we believe in One God, that's all. That one God, however, has lots of attributes and so each one is given its own representative personage for illustrative purposes. The mythology is terrific and there are tons of different stories about single incidents which occur, like this one. So ...
There are different levels of deities, some seeking goodness and blessings, some seeking power and domination, some good, some bad, they get jealous, the have battles, they have supernatural powers and weapons, they cheat, they play tricks on one another, they're sneaky, and wonderful and horrible. Sometimes the evil ones will trick the good ones and gain boons and special blessings that can't be taken back because they were won fair and square.
So, right off the bat in the pantheon we've got the TRIMURTI, or the TRIUMVIRATE, the three attributes of God which are responsible for the Creation of the Universe (Brahma), the upkeep of the Universe (Vishnu), and the natural endings of cycles, like autumn (Shiva) ...
Once upon a time, Vishnu decided to have a party ! And he invited each of the Deities who represented the Seven (shuddup) planets to come to the party so that they could church up the Ocean of Milk to make it release Amrita, the nectar of immortality. (again, shuddup.) It took a millennium. Lots of stuff was released during the churning, there were battles and wars, but those are stories for some snowy night by the fire. Most of the tales say that Dhanvantari, the god of medicine, decided that The Churning Was Done and had produced the Amrita, but the demons snatched it ! and refused to give it back.
So Vishnu appeared in his only feminine incarnation, as the enchantress Mohini, the most beautiful female form in the universe then or ever, and tricked everyone in the heavens, the deities seeking power and the dieities seeking goodness and blessings, to sit down in rows and Mohini would distribute the Elixir of Immortality to each and every person individually. Rahuketu, a Rakshasha (a man-eating demon), who is in appearance a great and mighty dragon or snake, disguised himself as a deity in order that HE might become immortal, and he snuck in and sat down and received some of the Nectar of Eternal Life.
The Sun ! and the Moon ! saw this ! and they screamed at Mohini ! to stop ! but by that time Rahuketu was already immortal. Vishnu was LIVID ! and pulled out his sword and chopped the demon in half ! Wuhl, the demon is immortal ! so his head became known as Rahu and his tail became known as Ketu. When they saw how angry they had made Vishnu (again and still, shuddup), they did penance for many years and were eventually given status as "planets". They are the powerful force that operates in our lives to control the karmic influences and situations as they sit on the intersection of the moon's transit across the ecliptic.
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