Lunar nodes
The lunar nodes are the two points where the Moon’s orbit crosses the ecliptic, the plane of the Sun’s apparent path. The north node marks where the Moon climbs above that plane, the south node where it dips below. They are not bodies but geometric points, and they drift backward through the zodiac over roughly 18.6 years. Astrology reads their axis as a line of growth, between the familiar and the calling.
Why they govern eclipses
An eclipse can only happen when a new or full moon falls near a node: that is where, and only where, the Sun, Earth and Moon truly line up. When you hear about an eclipse season, it means the Sun is traveling around one of these two points. The ancients called them the head and the tail of the dragon, the creature that swallowed the lights of the sky.
What the north-south axis tells you
In astrology, the south node points to familiar ground, well-worn reflexes, sometimes a comfort that holds you back. The north node points to the direction that asks for courage, the one where you grow. Demetra George reads this axis as a thread of growth stretched across the whole chart. Take it as a mirror, never a verdict: it names a direction, and you are the one who walks it.
Sources
- , Astrology and the Authentic Self (2008)
- , The Eagle and the Lark (1992)