The Nodal Polarities

The North Node and the South Node are always exactly opposite in a chart. This means that they are in opposite signs and opposite houses. If the South Node is in Gemini, the North Node is in the opposite sign - Sagittarius. If the North Node is in the 12th house, the South Node is in the opposite house - the 6th. I refer to this opposing relationship as a polarity. More specifically, it is an unbalanced polarity.

Forgetting about the Nodes for a moment, and just looking at the signs, we see that there are actually just six sign polarities - 6 sets of opposite signs, e.g. Aries-Libra, Taurus-Scorpio, etc. We can study the nature of these 6 sign polarities, learning how each sign in a polarity manifests characteristics that are opposite to and balance its paired sign. This can be a useful approach as you are learning the nature of the archetypes and their relationships.

When we return to the Nodes, we add a complication. The signs in a Nodal polarity do not balance one another. Saturn tends to send much more energy to the South Node than the North Node. The South is identified with while the North is alienated, and thus the South operates vigorously in consciousness while the North is relegated to the unconscious. Because the psyche as a whole, like any aspect of an organism, tries to maintain balance (homeostasis), Saturn must work against this overall tendency in order to maintain the imbalance. This generates stress. The South Node has to channel much more energy for longer periods of time than it is designed for. Its manifestation of its sign becomes unhealthy, extreme. Think of an overipe fruit.

Following are 12 pages that describe the Nodal polarities. If the sign of the South Node seems to be neurotic or unhealthy, that is because it usually is. The sign itself is not at fault, but rather the individual's attachment to one end of the polarity. As we let go of the attachment, the North Node gets more energy and balance returns. The South Node then begins to operate in a much more healthy manner.

Nodes Prev Next