WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN THE LUNAR NODES CHANGE SIGNS

     At 9.50 am on February 18, 2014, the lunar North Node will leave Scorpio and enter Libra, while the South Node will move from Taurus into Aries. Due to the role of Venus shifting from ruling the South Node to ruling the North Node, the ingress will significantly impact the public’s mood and priorities.

     To know where we’re going, we need to know where we have been. Since August 29, 2012, at 11.06 p.m, the North Node has been ruled by Pluto (and Mars), and the South Node by Venus.  During this period, the country has been under the extreme influence of far-right conservatives (Pluto in Capricorn). We have been at war, threatening more war, and the covert killing by drones is on the rise. Corporations are having a heyday--their influence over elected officials is unabashedly obvious. When looking at minimum wage, gun laws, social programs, it’s quite clear who elected officials represent. Recently, especially with Saturn in Scorpio in mutual reception with Pluto, political scandals have come to light, along with the astonishing revelation that what would appear to be corrupt practices by our politicians are legal and protected by law.

     With Venus as the ruler of the South Node during this time, the Federal Reserve has been printing money (quantitative easing) and cheap money has flooded the economy. This has been a great boon to the stock market, but not so helpful to the pocketbooks of everyday people who have seen their personal wealth decline. It has not been a good period for women – who are generally paid three-quarters of what men are paid to do the same job. Women have also seen restrictions and invasive intrusions in regards to their physical bodies and what is, and should be, their private, personal business.

      When the nodes change signs, and the North Node moves into Libra, there should be some restoration of balance, of diplomacy (trumping war), and the recognition that fairness affects relationships (whether it be same sex marriage or women seeking birth control), and that compromise, cooperation, and finding the middle ground is conducive to a positive outcome. After all, sugar attracts more bees than vinegar.

With the South Node in Aries, the dominating patriarchal influence should ebb, as should the continual drumbeat calling for war. There will be less emphasis on ‘me’ and more on ‘us.’ We are, after all, in this together.  

       The chart at the moment of the ingress provides more information about the upcoming twenty-one months when the nodes traverse Libra-Aries. Set for Washington D.C., Venus sits atop the chart at 19° Capricorn, and has dignity by triplicity. At the Midheaven and ruling the Ascendant and the intercepted 6^th house, the country’s and people’s resources, workers, and health issues, will be among Venus’ primary concerns. In the sign of Saturn, we can expect more women law-makers, and more lawmakers to take women’s issues seriously.

       Mars in Libra, ruling the South Node and conjunct the North Node, poses more of a problem. Mars is in detriment in Libra, though has some dignity by Terms. Typically, a planet in detriment has a tendency to act badly, and since Mars is the ruler of the South Node, the action will likely lead to loss, which will be outwardly expressed given Mar’s conjunction to the North Node. Mars in Libra can be a warrior in the name of peace. Associated with the South Node, it can pick battles it’s too weak to win. At least Mars is helped by the trines from retrograde Mercury and the Sun that is in the final minutes of Aquarius. Perhaps Mars can learn from previous mistakes and try something innovative and far-sighted that will be in the best interest of humanity. At least with Mars in Venus’ sign, he is constrained by her pragmatism: there’s no will or money for war; perhaps the time has come for diplomacy and lots of sugar.

       The moment of the ingress is marked with an emphasis on the aspect of the day, which is the square between Uranus and Pluto, currently activated by Jupiter in Cancer, and at the time of ingress, by the Moon—forming a tense grand cross. The Uranus-Pluto square can be viewed as the conflict between the populace and corporate power. It is increasingly apparent that laws (Jupiter) are undermining the will of the public. Add the Moon in Libra into the mix, and what the people want is a level playing field. This is thwarted by the squares, and domestic laws that protect and enable corporate power (Pluto).  The opposition of the Moon to Uranus suggests that the struggle to force meaningful change will be thwarted. Some have argued that we have no government for the people and that the country is being run by corporate representatives. Over the next twenty-one months we should see the awareness of this and the conflict it engenders playing out on the national stage.