Nodal Shift - North Node in Pisces, South Node in Virgo
I'm back from the school holiday vortex just in time for the pivotal astrological event of January, the shifting of the North and South Nodes of the moon from the signs of Aries and Libra, where they have been since July 2023, to Pisces (North Node) and Virgo (South Node). The Nodes change signs on 11-12 January 2025, depending on your time zone, and will remain in Pisces and Virgo until 27 July 2026.
The Lunar Nodes are not visible in the sky, as they are hypothetical points that mark where the orbit of the Moon around the Earth intersects with the orbit of the Earth around the Sun (the Ecliptic). The North and South Nodes are situated 180 degrees apart on the zodiac wheel, so they travel in pairs of opposing signs.
In evolutionary astrology, the Nodes represent our karmic path, with the South Node being the energy we are already familiar with and the North Node being a new energy we are encouraged to explore. When discussing the nodes in transit this sometimes gets simplified as the South Node being ‘what we’re leaving behind’ over the next 18 months and the North Node being '‘what we’re moving towards.’ However every transit has the potential to activate the higher and lower vibrational qualities of a sign – and usually it is a both / and situation. We aren’t supposed to jettison everything associated with the South Node, because it also represents a place of mastery, where we can access the tools we already have in our toolkit. And the North Node isn’t unbridled good — it's also unfamiliar territory where we have the potential to become ungrounded if we completely forget the counterpoint the South Node sign provides. ☯️
The placement of the Nodes is also important because it shows where the majority of the bi-annual lunar and solar eclipses will be taking place for (roughly) the next 18 months. Eclipses are catalysts for change, both individually and collectively. When considered through the lens of our birth chart, then, the houses occupied by Pisces and Virgo are places where we will both be challenged and experience major growth opportunities through the coming eclipse cycle.
One thing I love to reinforce about astrology is that all planetary transits are both micro and macro. We feel them on a personal level through their interface with our birth chart, and also experience them collectively, as demonstrated both through tangible events and more intangibly through the shifts in the zeitgeist / collective consciousness / vibes etc.
Since July 2023, when the North Node was in Aries and the South Node in Libra, for example, individually we stetched to transcend old patterns of codependency (Libra South Node) in order to focus on our authentic desires, and took emboldened action to pursue those desires (Aries North Node).
Collectively, however, we were also faced with the breakdown of diplomacy (Libra), rise in global conflict (Aries), and, for some people, a difficulty in distinguishing what is people-pleasing and what is a healthy balancing of our individual needs and our family and community responsibilities.
As the Nodes are now shifting into Pisces and Virgo, different themes will come to the fore. The South Node in Virgo will call us to grapple with our pervasive need for control, and potentially make us learn the hard way that not everything can be micromanaged.
The North Node in Pisces encourages us to lean in to the notion that we are all interconnected, to deepen our spiritual practices and practice compassion, without getting swept away by misinformation or false narratives. To avoid this pitfall, it will be critical to embrace the Virgoan quality of discernment. Both Virgo and Pisces are strongly correlated with an ethic of service, and this transit will reinforce the balancing act between tending to the collective without losing track of our basic needs and tangible reality.
🎨Artwork is a close up from 'The Conversion of Holy Hubertus' by German painter Wilhelm Rauber.
