!

The nodal axis of the planets and the Moon is the line of
intersection between the plane in which a planet accomplishes its
revolution around the Sun and the plane of the ecliptic (or zodiac) in
which the Earth performs its yearly motion also around the Sun. In the
case of the Moon's nodes, the revolution is not around the Sun, but
around the Earth.
At the north node the Moon passes from the hemicycle (half-cycle) of
south latitude (south of the plane of the ecliptic) to that of the north
latitude; and the opposite occurs at the south node. The entire nodal
cycle of the Moon is said to begin at the north node. The meanings
attributed to the north and south nodes — also to the two hemicycles
which these begin — are derived from the basic significance given in
our civilization since the dawn of history to any motion directed
toward the north. Northward motion is motion toward the spirit;
southward motion is motion from the spirit, which may mean either the
release of spirit toward earthly manifestation (spiritual Incarnation,
sacrifice, the fall of the seed to the ground) or a withdrawal away from
spiritual values or from a condition of integration (thus, decay,
disintegration, excavation of unassimilable elements and refuses).
Considering the north node of the Moon as a "point of intake" (in
ancient symbolism the Dragon's Head) and the south node as a "point
of release"; (the Dragon's Tail) — or in a more strictly biological and
functional sense, as "mouth" and "organs of evacuation", (also the
procreative organs) — the problem, however, is to define what it is that
is taken in and released.
There is a problem, because the answer to the question depends
whether a strictly geocentric or a strictly heliocentric approach is
taken. In dealing with ancient man's attempt — during the "vitalistic"
Ages — to find some kind of principle of order in the startling
phenomena of eclipses, I have taken the archaic geocentric approach
according to which the nodal axis represents the relationship between
the solar and the lunar polarities of Life. What happens at the nodes
when the Sun and the Moon form characteristic eclipse — alignments
in which there is an extraordinary unification of these two polarities.
Generally speaking, the north node, or Dragon's Head, is a point at
which the solar spirit is penetrating the lunar instrumentalities of Life.
The power absorbed is solar power; the Moon absorbs it. The Earth is
the field in which the two polarities of life operate at all times, either
for construction (anabolic action) or destruction (catabolic action).
From the modern, heliocentric, astronomical point of view the situation
is entirely different, at least on the surface. The plane of the ecliptic is
not the plane of the apparent early motion of the Sun as much as it
really is the plane of the Earth's orbit. The nodal axis of the Moon links
therefore the Moon-plane and the Earth-plane. Whatever energies are
being absorbed by human beings on the Earth are therefore lunar
energies; and the north node symbolizes the intake by earth-nature
and by man's earthly personality of the power of the Moon.
However, the meaning of the Moon, in the sun-centered modern
approach to the entire solar system, becomes also different from that
it had in the old "vitalistic" cosmologies and astrology. The Moon is now
the one satellite of the Earth; more significant still, the symbolical
sphere traced by the Moon in her motions around the Earth's globe is
like a womb or electro-magnetic field. It is the Mother-envelope and
the Mother is the symbol of protective agencies, and in general of the
faculty of adjustment or adaptation to the constant challenges of the
outer and inner environment.
This faculty, this power to meet the demands of embodied existence
and, in so doing, to gain experience and "food" of all types, is what
today the Moon represents. It is this power which earth-born
organisms absorb at the "point of intake," the north node. And so we
have the following description of the meaning of the Moon's nodes and
nodal hemicycles:
North Node: Point of intake. Earth-nature is open to and receives the
Moon's energies.

South node: Point of release. The results of the assimilation by the

living earth-organism (or personality) of the Moon's energies are
exteriorized, or (when negative)' are evacuated or repudiated.

Hemicycle beginning with north node: During this period, when

the Moon has north latitude, her power is absorbed, then (especially
around the point of maximum north latitude) assimilated by the
personality. New faculties or powers are built.

Hemicycle beginning with south node: As the Moon moves in

south latitude, earth-nature lets go of the results of the assimilation
process (whether these be "seed" or "manure"); however, after the
point of maximum south latitude is reached and the Moon moves again
northward, the organism or personality becomes repolarized in
expectation for a new period of intake.
Application to Natal Charts
Because the nodes are results of the interaction of two orbital planes
they must always be considered as the two ends of a line or axis. It is
the axis which counts, and also the entire process defined by the "cycle
of latitude" cut in two by this nodal line. North and south nodes have
meaning properly only within the sweep of the entire cyclic process —
just as the mouth and the rectum have meaning in terms of the entire
progress of food-assimilation, or metabolism.
Indeed, all cycles of latitudes represent processes of metabolism, the
assimilated products being the type of energy of which the planet
whose nodes are being considered is the (symbolical) source or outlet.
It must not be forgotten, however, that even in the most modern
approach to the solar system the planets still represent agencies which
differentiate the one basic energy radiated by the Sun. Lunar energy
is therefore still, at root, the Sun's energy, a reflected and "lunarized"
aspect of it. Planets are outlets of energies, rather than real sources.
There is only one source of energy: the Sun.
The Moon's nodal axis has been considered an "axis of fate;" and much
of personal fate indeed is a function of the personality's ability to adapt
itself to the demands of life and society in its environment. Any factor
in the total makeup of personality closely involved in the operations of
this process of lunar adaptation is singled out by this involvement,
which reacts thus upon the feelings, the moods, the psychic sense, the
mental ability to "sense" situations and people — all derived from the
basic lunar power of adjustment to the environment.
Thus, the manner in which the Moon's nodal axis is related in a birth-
chart to the planets, to the horizon and meridian, and to any other
natal factor or axis (the nodes of other planets, the Parts, etc.) is of
the greatest significance. First of all, the Moon's nodes axis divides the
natal chart into two hemispheres; and every natal factor acquires a
general meaning by its position on one side or another of this nodal
axis. The hemisphere which is located between the north node and the
south node in the usual order of zodiacal signs (Aries, Taurus,
Gemini, etc.) represents the zone of assimilation and anabolic, up-
building activity. The other hemisphere, from south node to north
node, is the zone of either positive or negative release — release of
seed-elements, or of unassimilated refuses.
We discussed recently in the pages of this magazine the U. S. chart
erected for July 4, 1776, 5:13 P. M. In this chart the Moon's north node
is on Leo 7 l/2°, the south node on Aquarius 7 1/2° — and the Moon on
Aquarius 27° 12'. Thus, the Moon has passed her south node and has
an increasing south latitude; she is at her phase of maximum release
or exteriorization. The typical American individual indeed releases and
exteriorizes the lunar ability to adjust to the challenges of his
environment, and this in an unusual manner; but this ability was
actually built in his ancestral European past, after some centuries of
concentration on intellectual analysis and on the ambition to master
earth-materials by stressing the ego's will to conquest.
The nodal axis passes (in the Sagittarius rising chart) through the
second and eighth houses — thus stressing the factor of resources and
management of resources. The second house refers to the resources of
the individual and the way he uses them; and it carries the south node
emphasis. The American individual is characterized by the way he
releases (and frequently wastes!) his resources. What he fails often to
see is that these resources and the positive lunar power of mastery
over circumstances are built in his national eighth house; that is,
as a result of partnership, commerce and commingling of efforts.
America was built through partnerships and the fruits thereof; the
individuals as such released her wealth, and often squandered it. Now
the Government and large-scale organizations do the same — perhaps
because the recently revealed Pluto is in the second U. S. natal house
and fairly near the Moon's south node.
In the north node hemisphere of the U. S. chart we find Neptune,
Saturn and Pluto; in the south node hemisphere, all other planets. This
may seem puzzling; but all it means, from the point of view I present
here, is that the American people are building, or can best build, new
powers of adaptation to the challenges of our modern world, through
the use of the Neptune, Saturn and Pluto functions — which can be
said succinctly to mean: through federation and faith in distant
horizons, through a strong framework of law and ego-power, through
large-scale management and integration of production. The U. S.
Uranus, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Sun, Mercury, are, on the other hand,
basically polarized in the direction of the exteriorization and release of
the lunar power which had been acquired in the ancestral past of
the American people.
In this sense, the south node refers to acquired tendencies, to innate
gifts, and to the instinctive, nearly automatic type of activity through
which these inherited tendencies, gifts, abilities are released quite
spontaneously. To bank too heavily upon these inherited powers, and
especially to take them for granted is very often to follow the way of
"self-undoing." It may also mean the spontaneous exercise of "genius."
In both cases, character often fails to develop, because of lack of real
"self-exertion" — self-exertion being one of the characteristic attributes
of the north node type of activity. Character is built at the north node;
innate talents, or genius, or charm is released at the south node.
In Queen Victoria's case, the "inner" planets (Mercury, Venus) and
the Sun and Moon are in the north node hemisphere; all "outer"
planets (from Mars to Pluto) in the south node hemisphere. She had to
build her own inner life and personality; but her ancestral position, her
outer life, and all the powers of her realm made of her a great
personage.
Most typical is the case of Mussolini; for in his birth-chart all planets
are in the south node hemisphere. In a sense, he was merely an
exteriorization of his ancestral, national past. He was entirely
dominated by his or his people's karma. His natal Sun-Mercury
conjunction was moreover in square to the nodal axis at the very apex
(or bottom) of this south node hemisphere — the point of maximum
south latitude of the Moon; the point of final self-emptying and
disintegration in chaos.
Lenin's birth-chart offers another interesting illustration, with
Saturn, rising in Sagittarius, the only planet in the north node
hemisphere. He built his power and character with Saturnian authority,
fanaticism and ruthlessness; but made himself the "Father" of one
third of the world's population in travail of a new social order —
whether for good or ill, is not the point here.
Planets at the Nodes
A planet in conjunction with one of the Moon's nodes affects profoundly
the capacity in an individual to take in and deliver lunar power — or we
might say, to "metabolize" (absorb, digest, assimilate and perhaps
repudiate in parts) his experience. The planet may either color the
quality of this assimilation process, or set a special field for its most
characteristic, destiny-establishing operations.
In Governor Warren's chart Pluto is only 8 minutes of arc away from
the Moon's north node in the fifth house. It sets a political and
administrative stage for his life-lessons in adaptability. In General
Marshall's chart, not only Mercury is one degree away from the Moon's
north node, stressing his intellectual approach and the correlative
power of mind necessary for an Army Chief of State, but he was
actually born the day of a partial solar eclipse (Sun and Moon conjunct,
some 13 degrees ahead of the north node). In the birth-chart of
Nikolai Svernik, official head of state (but of course not actual ruler!) in
Soviet Russia, we find Saturn conjunct a tenth house north node. A
tenth house conjunction of Neptune and north node represents the
musical emphasis in the life and personality of Arnold Schoenberg, the
iconoclastic composer — and of the American composer, also a great
pioneer, Charles Ives. The same conjunction (with Pluto one degree
away) in the chart of Gabriel Pascal, the eminent motion picture
director (associated with G. B. Shaw), led him to the Neptunian field of
the films.
The Sun's proximity to either one of the Moon's nodes, usually reveals
an eclipse before or after birth. H.P. Blavatsky was one instance, and
the configuration is over-emphasized in Karl Marx' chart, as he was
born during a solar eclipse, also at the north node. There, the two
basic expressions of a positive soli-lunar (or earth-moon-sun)
relationship, a "new moon" and the north node, are combined. The
power of integration along a line of destiny becomes a driving force in
the personal life; all else is subservient to it.
A solar eclipse at the south node, in an individual's chart, means
theoretically a forceful release of character and an over-insistent
projection of inherited gifts or powers. The great Persian Prophet,
Baha'u'llah, had his Sun rising conjunct the south node and the star
"North Scale." His Moon was 40 degrees ahead. There had been a total
solar eclipse at the south node, three days before his birth. The Bab,
his "Herald," was born also one day after a south node eclipse of the
Sun and at dawn.
I mentioned last year the general significance of the conjunction of the
natal Moon with one of her nodes, and the related emphasis upon the
"Mother Image," if not the actual mother, in the growth (or failure to
grow!) of the ego and personality. Dependence upon the mother (or a
substitute) is usual, in one form or another, with the natal Moon at the
north node. If at the south node, the trend is toward either a
repudiation of the mother and her influence, or the transformation of
the actual mother-relationship into a transcendent psychic Image
which becomes the channel for the stressful release of the psychic
energy (cf. Nietzche's case, his relation to Cosima Wagner, his
powerful Anima complex, etc. — and also the case of Richard Wagner
himself); or a powerful yearning for being an actual mother and
exercising maternal authority over physical or intellectual-spiritual
children.
In President Truman's chart, the north node is rising, with the Moon
below it and thus having already entered the realm of north latitude;
and it is a most powerful Moon, alone in the below-the-horizon
hemisphere. It was stirred by a south node solar eclipse at the time of
his popular personal success and re-election in the fall 1948. He had
known how to show, character and to identify himself personally with
the fate of his nation — a transcendent Mother-Image replacing his
most influential mother, who had passed away. The south node eclipse
released the energy of what he had built.
In Henry Wallace's case, the Moon's nodes axis coincides instead
with his natal meridian. With the north node at the fourth house cusp
his positive focus of adaptation is in the inner life, the home; the south
node focus releases the power, gained in the inner life, in the public,
political (Capricorn) sphere. In contrast, we have Mahatama Gandhi
with the north node at his natal Mid-Heaven. Politics was his line of
greatest personal exertion; the development of his inner life, the
harvest of an ancient past.
The Nodes in the Houses
The nodal axis may coincide also with the cusps of two opposite, and
complementary, houses of the natal chart. In these cases, the affairs
and types of experiences signified by these houses tend to become
productive of results upon which the destiny of the person rests. This
does not mean that everything in the fields of these houses is "fated"
and beyond the person's will or power of choice. It means that, there,
the forever lasting civil war between the past and the future, between
the compulsions (real or imagined) of yesterday and the decisions
which alone can build creative tomorrows, is finding its main
battlefield. There, decisions are made, or fail to be made; the results
are either a creative life, or a fateful sense of failure or guilt which
(unless courageously overcome) spells spiritual regression.
Even if the nodal axis does not fall on the exact location of house
cusps, its position in any pair of opposite houses gives a special type of
emphasis to these houses. Where the north node is — the house, the
sign of the zodiac — there progress through personal self-exertion
is most likely to be made. Where the south node is, there habits are
more likely to be formed, or followed; it is the "line of least resistance,"
but also of least exertion. It is easy to act in terms of the type of
activities signified by the south-node emphasized house or zodiacal
sign; but this very ease may mean a taken-for-granted attitude which
tends to defeat the deeper or higher (because most creative) purpose
of the Self, the God-within. It may also mean an impersonal or super-
personal release of power, or genius.
In both the cases of the "spiritual geniuses," the Persian Prophets
aforementioned, the south node is just above the Ascendant. The
individuality of such beings was super-personal, the power of an
ancient past released through personages of extraordinary power and
completely inborn wisdom and actual knowledge. In contrast we see a
John Barrymore, with the north node below the natal horizon in the
first house, seeking to build up his personality, to progress as an
individual, reaching occasionally high, but pulled back by a seventh
house south node — by habitual associates, by an intemperate
yearning for love, and by a deep sense of inner insecurity — again
centered at his seventh house where Jupiter and Pluto in Taurus square
a nearly exact conjunction of Sun and Venus at the chart's nadir.
In the chart of the great French poet, Victor Hugo, we see the north
node conjunct Mercury in the fifth house. He dramatized himself, as
well as became a great playwright — this was the field of his progress;
he was a hard worker. His enthusiasm for social ideals and reform
shows, on the other hand, in his eleventh house south node. He fought
for social causes, was exiled, dramatized his exile. He remains known
mostly as a great literary and theatrical genius; yet also as the poetic
voice of the French humanitarian movement and of 19th century
liberalism. Thus, the north node and south node, the fifth and eleventh
house meanings, are balanced and integrated in an unusually creative
life.
In the chart of the French socialist leader and statesman, Leon Blum,
we have the opposite setup, with the north node in the eleventh house,
the south node in the fifth house. Here personal progress, integration,
the field of intense and sustained efforts is the field of social ideals and
reform — the making of great dreams come true. The field of least
resistance and of greatest ease is the fifth house — that is, a way of
meeting life's challenge by personal self-projection, by self-
dramatization, by gambling freely with self and others.
Such nodal characterizations naturally must not stand alone. What
they indicate is both very deep and subtle; factors often unrevealed by
outer living and public behavior. To discover what is truly positive
spiritual progress in a man's life, and what is an easily successful
release of ancient abilities and inherited gifts, is often very difficult. To
know what is a great talent based on strong personal efforts, and what
is spontaneous genius flowing through the personality without
perhaps adding greatly to personality or character — this is even more
difficult. Yet to the psychologist, to the counselor and spiritual guide,
such a knowledge may prove essential. The study of the Moon's nodes
axis at birth will give them invaluable clues.

Part One
The Lunar Nodes in Natal Astrology
What is called in astrology the lunar nodes are the two ends of
the line of intersection between the plane of the ecliptic (i.e., the plane
of the earth's yearly revolution around the Sun) and the plane of the
Moon's monthly revolution around the earth. The zodiacal signs and
degrees exist on the ecliptic plane, and the two points at which the
Moon's plane intersects the zodiac are indicated by the degrees (i.e.,
the longitude) of the Moon's nodes. These two points, being the ends
of a line, must obviously be in opposition to each other; thus, if the
North Lunar Node is at 10° Aries, the South Lunar Node has to be at
10° Libra. I mention this merely because an ephemeris mentions only
the zodiacal position of the North Lunar Node. This position actually is
a "mean position"; but as the nodes are not actual, concrete entities
but refer to the interaction of two cycles — the lunar month and the
solar year — the mean position of the nodes seems to be more
significant than their slightly different actual position.
The line of the lunar nodes, which I shall call the nodal axis, keeps
shifting along the zodiac. It makes a complete revolution in 18 to 19
years. Hence, if a person is born when the North Lunar Node was at
21° Pisces, some 18 and two-thirds years later, the North Lunar Node
will return to the same position. About nine years after birth, the North
Lunar Node reaches the position which the South Node had at birth.
The motion of the nodes refers to the factor of celestial latitude. At the
North Lunar Node, the Moon passes from the hemicycle of south
latitude (i.e., south of the plane of the ecliptic) to that of north
latitude; and the opposite occurs at the South Node. The entire nodal
cycle of the Moon is said to begin at the North Node. Because our
civilization and its traditions give a symbolic positive and spiritual
meaning to the northern hemisphere and the north pole, the North
Lunar Node is given an equally positive meaning, for it marks the
entrance of the Moon into the regions of northern latitude. At the
South Lunar Node, the Moon leaves these regions and begins to have a
southern latitude. The lunar nodes are, therefore, the points at which
the Moon has latitude 0 degrees. This can be checked in the ephemeris
by comparing the zodiacal position of the North Lunar Node and the
zodiacal position of the Moon on the day this Moon is shown to have
"latitude 0° North" (column marked "Lat").
I shall deal with the motion of the lunar nodes and the 19-year cycle it
produces in a Part Two of this article. What we must first clearly
understand is the meaning of the nodal axis in birth-charts and of the
symbolic division of a birth-chart into two halves by this axis. It is an
important subject, particularly at the level of a psychological
interpretation of the natal chart of an individual person.
The Meaning of the Nodes
As the Moon reaches its North Node and enters the area of north
latitude, it is as if it were opening itself to cosmic or spiritual influences
symbolically represented by the North Pole and, more specifically, the
pole star. Thus, the North Lunar Node represents the point of intake of
spiritual cosmic energies; and it was called the "Dragon's Head" — the
nodal axis being symbolized by a dragon. The South Lunar Node was
the "Dragon's Tail." From a more strictly biological and functional point
of view, the North Lunar Node refers to the mouth of an animal and
the South Lunar Node to the organs of evacuation, which means both
the anus and the procreative organs from which the seed goes forth.
The fact that the South Lunar Node refers not only to the point of
excretion of waste materials, but also to the release of seed materials
(fecundated or not) is still not understood by most astrologers today,
though I have stressed it for some thirty-two years. I recall how I
came to realize this fact when studying Richard Wagner's birth-
chart and finding the South Node in his tenth house. Surely, I felt, this
often-called "point of self-undoing" does not have a logical place in the
house referring to the professional life of this great genius whose
works have brought to him social immortality and influenced countless
millions of human beings. Then it suddenly came to me that if the
South Node truly represents a function of evacuation or release,
procreation at the biological level and artistic creation at the cultural
level constitute also a process of release of materials which the
organism seeks instinctively to eliminate.
French composer Saint-Saens used to say: "I compose just like an
apple tree produces apples." The true creative artist releases almost
automatically art products which his organism produces spontaneously
and of which he seeks to get rid. He acts in relation to his culture or to
a special group of people constituting his potential public as a male
fecundating a female. The biological or ideological sperm is evacuated;
and, if it is not, frustration and tension are usually the results — unless
the person is a yogi, who, according to a traditional process, is able to
"transmute" his seed into spiritual energy, in which case we can see at
work the symbolism of the great serpent who swallows his own tail.
This South Lunar Node interpretation agrees as well with what occurs
in the monthly cycle of women. The ovum is released every month at
the South Node of the female body, but it is not fecundated. It is waste
material, menstruation; and its frequent discomfort or cramps is a
South Node phenomenon, just as is the daily process of excretion.
The essential fact is that these South Node processes are automatic;
they should demand no effort if human beings lived natural and
healthful lives. But also they have no personal meaning unless the
organism — biologically or emotionally — is disturbed, tense, and
under psychological pressures. The great artist or philosopher, in times
of cultural harmony in a steady society, releases his mental-cultural
"seed" naturally into an expectant and receptive public with whom
communication is easy, smooth, and elating. He is the fecundator of his
race.
However, this fecundation, just because it is spontaneous and nearly
automatic, may make of him a "sacrifice" to humanity. He pours of
himself unceasingly into his community; and he has, therefore, very
little left for his own personal growth and spiritual
transformation. In that sense, this South Node activity is actually a
form of "self-undoing." Wagner remained until his death a rather
unregenerated personality. I have known, in my early youth, the great
French sculptor, August Rodin (I was for a brief period his secretary);
and he was indeed in daily contacts a cantankerous old man who
treated his son very badly. Many a genius is so enthralled by his
creative activity that it becomes truly a spiritually self-defeating
process — just as are all automatic processes and all activities and
capacities which one takes for granted. In another sense, the "Don
Juan" figure of the legend is a South Lunar Node polarized person.
Nevertheless, one has to be very careful not to give a necessarily
negative meaning to the South Lunar ode in a birth-chart, especially in
terms of events. It may refer in any case to a sort of "bondage" —
but it is often a very special type of bondage; it may mean the
fulfillment of a racial karma, a kind of sacrificial offering of self to
humanity. At this point of the birth-chart, the past compels; but the
outcome may be magnificent in terms of social or cultural results. If
one believes in reincarnation, one can say that a capacity developed
under stress through past incarnations now produces automatically
splendid results; and this may apply to a statesman or inventor, as well
as to a creative artist — in all cases, to what we call, often without
discrimination, "genius."
If genius implies a kind of automatism — however difficult the
conditions of the creative act may be if society is not receptive —
talent by contrast demands effort. So does good assimilation of food
require the effort of mastication. At the North Node — the symbolical
mouth — one ingests food, whether it be physical or ideological. To eat
well, which means prolonged chewing, is a conscious, deliberate
activity. It requires a choice, a selective process. At the North Node, an
individual builds himself up. He does not give out; he takes in. But
what he takes in can poison him! He may be careless or greedy in his
choice of food. If he lives in our present-day society, he has a hard
struggle — if he wants to eat only healthful and unadulterated
foodstuffs — and this is true at the intellectual-cultural level as well as
that of body nourishment. This is the tragedy of our age.
The Moon's Latitude in a Birth-Chart
Lyndon Johnson has his North Node at 1°41' Cancer; his natal Moon
at 9°8' Virgo has a very high north latitude. His basic lunar emphasis
throughout his life is on the building of new faculties or power of
control over his environment. If one adds to this the massing of
Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Moon, and Mercury in his first house and his
"New Moon" type of personality, one can readily understand his
insistent and expansive ego, his over-eagerness to stress "greatness"
— first of all in himself — and, therefore, his extreme sensitiveness to
criticism. He seems to be at the start of a new cycle, building himself
up, while being raised to a pinnacle of power by a strong wave of
destiny.
In subtle contrast to Johnson's Moon situation, we find Charles de
Gaulle's natal Moon in near maximal southern latitude. The French
autocratic leader, however, is what he is in terms of the past — his
country's past, perhaps also his own (as a spiritual entity possibly
incarnated previously in a position of political power). He has not been
striving overeagerly to build up power. He has always taken for granted
his identification with France's greatness. He sees himself and acts as
fecundator and savior of his people. He may seem to have a fantastic
ego; but, in a real sense, it is a superpersonal ego — and he has two
or three times saved France from chaos.
Lenin also had a south latitude Moon, but Stalin and Khrushchev
had a north latitude Moon — and so have the majority of the national
leaders now living. Bismarck, founder of the German Empire, had a
south latitude Moon, but Hitler's natal Moon was in northern latitude.
The great Hindu mystic, Ramakrishna, and his equally great disciple,
Vivekananda, founder of the modern Vedanta Movement, were both
with the Moon in a southern latitude; so was Sri Aurobindo, a leader
in the cause of India's freedom — yogi, philosopher, poet — but
Gandhi had his Moon in northern latitude.
Such a lunar position is obviously only one indication out of many;
but it is interesting to see the predominance of natal Moons in northern
latitudes among national figures, which would seem to bring those who
do not have this position into a special class. I believe that the factor of
planetary latitude has been studied too little and might reveal a good
deal. A preponderance of planets in northern or southern latitude may
prove to be quite significant, but the indication would be one dealing
with subtle factors of psychology or even parapsychology.
The Nodal Axis in a Birth-Chart
The two houses of the birth-chart which the nodal axis links are
perhaps the most important factors to consider in a study of the
relationship of this axis to the whole chart; but here one must be
careful not to attribute to the South Node an always negative meaning.
In President Johnson's chart, the South Node is located at the second
degree of Capricorn, in his fifth house. Perhaps an extreme of self-
expression and risk taking is the President's "self-undoing"; it seems to
be his "line of least resistance." Yet with Uranus also in this fifth house,
it may be in this manner that his particular "genius" has to manifest.
He may have to make greater efforts in finding both his true friends
and his real ideals; yet he needs these in order to act constructively.
As in the case of the position of any astrological axis, one can never
separate the North Node from the South Node. What one deals with in
terms of house positions is the relationship between two areas of
experience.
To give consideration to only the North Node makes little sense. The
problem is how to integrate the meanings resulting from the positions
of two opposite points in opposite houses — and, of course, in opposite
signs also. Such a type of integration requires a kind of psychological
understanding which is most needed in life; and the intelligent study of
astrology can help in developing such an understanding.
Part Two
The Cycle of
the Lunar Nodes in Individual Charts
The zodiacal position of the Sun, the Moon, and the planets are
in astrology the factors upon which the main burden of interpretation
rests. They are considered as mere points having a precise celestial
longitude; that is, they are located on certain degrees of the zodiac.
They may make aspects to each other which are said to refer to more
or less specific events. But astrology deals also with other factors
which, while considered of less importance, nevertheless may be
revealing, in a more general and more psychological sense, if properly
understood and used. One of these factors is the nodal axis of the
Moon.
Very often, astrologers speak only of the North Node, whose zodiacal
position is listed in the ephemeris. But, as I have pointed out
repeatedly, to consider the North Node without paying attention to the
South Node makes little sense. The Moon's nodes are the two ends of
the line of intersection of the plane of the orbit of the Moon around the
earth and of the plane of the ecliptic, which is the plane on which the
Sun seems to move around the zodiac throughout the year — that is,
actually the orbit of the earth around the Sun. Two planes which do
not coincide and are not parallel must intersect. The line of intersection
of the solar and lunar planes is the Moon's nodes' axis — the Dragon's
Head and the Dragon's Tail of traditional astrology.
In Part One of this article, I discussed the meanings of the North and
South Nodes, pointing out that these meanings are complementary
and must always be considered together. If the North Node is in Leo,
the South Node must be in the opposite sign, Aquarius; if the North
Node is in the first house of a natal chart, the South Node must be in
the seventh house. What I am to discuss here is the fact that the
zodiacal longitudes of the Moon's nodes change every day. The nodal
axis has a retrograde motion — i.e., its zodiacal position is displaced
"backward," in the sense opposite to that of the Sun's and the Moon's
motion in the sky. Thus, the nodes move from Aries to Pisces, to
Aquarius, etc. They move at the rate of about three minutes of an arc
a day, and the nodal axis circles around the whole zodiac in about 18.6
years.
This cycle is very important for various reasons. It has a direct
connection with the eclipse cycles. Eclipses, solar and lunar, occur
when a New Moon or a Full Moon takes place in the vicinity of the
zodiacal degrees occupied by the North and the South Nodes. A cycle
of 19 years exists — the Metonic cycle — which refers to the return of
the New Moon to the same zodiacal degree. There is also a Saros
period, stressed by Chaldean astrologers, which refers to the
recurrence of an eclipse in relation to its actual visibility on the earth's
surface. This Saros period contains 223 lunar months and includes 70
eclipses: 41 solar and 29 lunar. Every 18 years 11-1/3 days, an eclipse
belonging to a particular Saros series occurs; it occurs 120° of
geographical longitude more to the west (because of the third of a day
— the third of the daily rotation of the earth). Thus, in three Saros
cycles (i.e., 54 years, one month, and one day), an eclipse recurs at
about the same geographical (but not zodiacal) longitude. If it is a
solar eclipse, its path across the surface of the earth will be found
several hundred miles farther north or south in geographical latitude.
Eclipses, however, are special cases in the study of the Moon's nodes;
and what we are concerned about just now is the regular and constant
cyclic motion of the nodal axis in 18.6 years.
The Nineteen-Year Cycle
The first point we should consider is the retrograde character of this
motion. We know that all planets have periods during which they also
have retrograde motion. To understand what this means astrologically,
we have merely to realize that only the Sun and the Moon are always
"direct" in their motion in the zodiac. As the Sun and the Moon
symbolize the two polar aspects of the life force operating on our
globe, we should logically deduce that a retrograde motion is a motion
representing an activity in a direction opposite to that of the life
force.
Generally speaking, "life" is a forward movement intent upon
generating a future which not only maintains but also transforms a
present state of organic development so as to actualize further what
was potential at the beginning (the seed) of the organism. But there
are factors in man which can only develop in "counterpoint" to the
normal, instinctive, spontaneous flow of life energies. For instance, as
long as mind is the servant of the life force and of the will for survival
— as it is in the animal kingdom — it is instinctual and bound to
immediate biological needs. It displays no sign of objectivity, no
capacity for abstraction and reasoning.
To be objective to some fact and to gain the proper perspective
concerning it, one must move away from it and look at it, as it were,
from a distance. If Mercury represents basically the mind of man, it is,
therefore, when Mercury is retrograde that man's objective
discriminative and analytical mental powers begin to develop
adequately. A retrograde Mercury does not mean a slow or ineffectual
mentality, but a mind which is seeking to gain a new and detached
perspective on life events and instinctual drives.
In a somewhat similar manner, the Moon's nodes represent a type of
development in man's total personality (psychological as well as
physical) which brings to this personality a variety of things which the
natural-biological spontaneous and instinctual trends of life of
themselves would not produce. I stated in Part One of this article that
the North Node is the point of "intake" and the South Node that of
"release"; I also said that the nodal axis is often called the "axis of
Fate," that it "deals with the relationship in depth of the individual to
his environment." But such a relationship in depth has its roots in the
past.
We may think of this past as the ancestral genetic past of the
individual person or as the cultural and national tradition which has
formed his youth and his mentality. Or we may conceive this past as
the unconscious memory of "past incarnations," as the unfinished
business of previous existences. The main point is that the Moon's
nodal axis can be associated with the inrush (North Node) of factors
which have their roots in some kind of collective or individual past and
with the release (South Node) of what has resulted from the
assimilation or the non-assimilation (i.e., the waste products) of these
factors.
This process of intake and release is rhythmic and cyclic; it acts in the
background of the individualized ego consciousness. Thus, we can
speak of it as "Fate," in the sense that the ego-will has nothing to do
with it; it can only react to the upsurge (at the North Node) of fateful
(or, let us say, "karmic") developments. It can react in such a way as
to block the coming to the surface of consciousness of these
developments. If it does so, it is because of fear, insecurity, or of total
involvement in routine affairs and technical procedures.
In his recent book, Religions, Values, and Values, and Peak
Experiences, well-known psychologist Abraham Maslow points to the
fact that many people demonstrate a resistance against what he has
called "peak experiences" which tends to upset the status quo of the
personality. Indeed, what gives to an occurrence the character of "fate"
is often our refusal to accept it readily — to "take it in"; it turns
destructive, if not immediately, at least when the cycle reverses or
repeats itself. A "reversal" takes place when the North Node has moved
half a circle around the zodiac — i.e., when it comes to the position
occupied at first by the South Node. This takes around nine years, and
the 9-year cycle is well-known in numerology.
The 19-year cycle can also be extremely significant. The nineteenth,
thirty-eighth, fifty-seventh, and seventy-sixth years bring to many
individuals challenges of reorientation of their outlook on life and of
their responses to basic factors in their personality. The Moon's nodes'
cycle lasts 18.6 years and the Metonic cycle of New Moons' recurrence
at the same point of the zodiac lasts 19 years; thus, the close of the
nineteenth, thirty-eighth, etc., years is crucial in terms of the soli-lunar
factors — that is, of the basic direction of the flow of life energies.
In my own case, my nineteenth year saw the publication of my first
book and musical compositions and a meeting which resulted a while
later in my emigrating to America — also a remarkable restoration of
health seriously impaired in early adolescence. During my thirty-eighth
year, I also recovered from a temporary illness. A situation developed
which led just after I was thirty-eight (twice nineteen) to a move which
changed my life and because of which I met a person, aged 19, with
whom 9 1/2 years later I became engaged. Then also I began to write
for the first popular astrological magazine — a start which has affected
my life ever since. During my fifty-seventh year, it became necessary
for us to leave New York; this led to another crucial change in our life
just as I was 57 (and my wife ending her thirty-eighth year) — a
change which led to divorce two years later.
My seventy-sixth year is still in the future (1971-72) [Editor's note:
these years mark a time of great success and recognition for Rudhyar
and his work]; but nine years after my 57th birthday, I left for a
second and lengthy trip to Europe which brought most important
results personally as well as professionally. My book, Fire Out of the
Stone: A Reformulation of the Great Images of the Judeo-
Christian Tradition, which I had started after beginning my fifty-
seventh year, was published first in French, then in English nine years
later. I might add that 9 1/2 years after 19 means 28 1/2; and the
28th birthday is often most decisive. I spoke of it long ago as "the
second birth" or "birth in individuality" — the first birth being the
physical bodily birth. 28 is four times 7; and the 7-year cycle is basic in
the development of the biopsychic human organism. 7 times 9 equals
63, the age at which the 7-year and the 9-year cycles precisely
interact. What happens around the sixty-third birthday (usually a little
before, but also soon after) normally determines to a great extent
what the last part of the life will be — the quality of it, even if not the
actual events.
Transits of the Moon's
Nodal Axis Around the Birth-Chart
One can consider a birth-chart as being divided into two halves: the
North Node hemisphere, which begins with the zodiacal degree of the
North Node and extends following the retrograde direction of the
nodes; and the South Node hemisphere, extending from the South
Node to the North Node, counting backward in the zodiac.
Let us take as an example the interesting case of President Truman -
born May 8, 1884, with the 17th degree of Libra rising and the North
Node at 21°48' of Libra. In this case, the nodal axis and the birth
horizon nearly coincide which tends to show a life controlled by fate or
destiny — that is a life in which the present is directly a consequence
of the past or, again, a life controlled by karma. Let us not forget that
there is a racial-national karma as well as a personal one.
After Harry Truman's birth, the North Node moved "backward" along
the upper half of his natal chart — a half in which we find all planets
except the Moon. This Moon, however, rules the whole chart, as it is in
the first house and it rules the tenth house. Venus (ruler of rising
Libra) is in the lunar sign, Cancer. This made of Truman an opportunist
with a remarkable capacity for adaptation to public situations — and,
most likely, with a strong mother complex of one kind or another (and
there are many kinds).
At the end of August, 1893, Harry Truman was in his tenth year and
the nodes had reversed their positions, the North Node being where
the South Node was at birth. Late in December, 1902, and again late in
July, 1921, the North Node returned to its natal place. We shall
consider only the last-mentioned return, for it is then, at the age of 37,
that Truman's political life really began. He became a county judge in
1922 with the help of the Pendergast political machine which ran
Kansas City and the county; in 1926, he was elected "presiding judge."
In the 1932 elections (when F. D. Roosevelt rose to national power),
Truman tried in vain to become governor of Missouri. The transiting
North Node was in the natal South Node hemisphere, the South Node
passing through the natal North Node hemisphere and over Uranus
(late April, 1932). In 1934, at the request of Pendergast, Truman ran
for the U.S. Senate and was elected as the transiting South Node
moved through his natal tenth house and was about to reach his natal
Jupiter. He was "releasing" in his new public function the capacities he
had built through the years of his judicial career, close to a political
machine. He worked hard, followed consistently the New Deal line, and
stood firm when the Pendergast machine was investigated and broken
up. He was reelected in 1940; he was then in his fifty-seventh year.
The North Node had returned to its natal place in mid-March, 1940.
This new nodal cycle was to be the crucial one.
Then came the organization of a Senate special committee for the
investigation of the national defense program. As its chairman, Harry
Truman obtained national fame and prestige; and in the summer of
1944, he was picked by the Democratic Party as its candidate for vice
president. In view of Roosevelt's health condition, this fourth term of
his presented the probability of Truman's becoming president of the
United States. This happened all too soon (April 12, 1945), less than
three months after the new administration was sworn in. The North
Node was on that day at 13°23' Cancer, very close to Truman's
midheaven (18°41' Cancer) and to the midpoint of the arc between his
natal Venus and Jupiter (16°02' Cancer).
He was re-elected in 1948, in spite many predictions he would not be.
Interestingly enough, the South Node was then on Truman's dominant
natal Moon. There had been a solar eclipse exactly on his natal Sun on
the preceding May 9; and another, near his natal Moon, came on
November 1 — which shows that solar eclipses can mean an
intensification of the natal planet they touch, for Truman's Moon rules
his tenth house and his public status. The contact between the
transiting South Node and this Moon released what had been built up
while the North Node was moving through the North Node hemisphere
of the chart, dynamizing most of the chart's planets — the last
contacts being with the natal Neptune and Sun (January-February,
1948).
Interestingly enough, the North Node had moved over Truman's natal
Moon in July-August, 1939 — at the time of the Russo-German treaty
which set the stage for Hitler's invasion of Poland, the beginning of
World War II. Actually, even if indirectly, it was World War II which
brought Truman to the presidency and gave him the awesome
responsibility of ordering the use of the atom bomb over Japan.
The Nodal Transits in Houses
Much can be made in most cases of the transit of the nodal axis
through two opposite houses. The indications thus obtained do not
supersede the basic significance of the natal house positions of the
nodes, but they introduce a temporary focusing of deeply rooted forces
within one's unconscious forces referring somehow to his culture's or
his past — in the specific area of human experiences represented by
the houses.
In President F D. Roosevelt's birth-chart, the North Node is in the
third house at 5°41' Sagittarius; thus, the nodal axis is close to the
natal meridian. This is another instance of a destiny-controlled life, but
one in which the emphasized factor is that of the use of power —
power built in at the nadir (private life and personal integration) and
released at the zenith (public life and professional integration).
FDR's father died when he was nearly 19 — an event which
presumably began a new phase of his life — as the death of a parent in
youth very often does. He married Eleanor on March 17, 1905, when
his North Node had just crossed his 11 1/2 Virgo ascendant; and he
was admitted to the bar when his North Node passed through his natal
eleventh house — a house related to the lawyer in Mundane Astrology.
When he reached the New York Senate, the North Node was passing
through his ninth house — the house of expansion. When World War I
started, it was in his sixth house; he then became Navy
Undersecretary. The South Node moved over his Uranus and his
ascendant during the preceding winter, perhaps referring to
developments in his personal life.
The nodal axis was linking his second and eighth houses in August,
1921, when he was a stricken with polio. It certainly forced him to tap
his innate resources (second house) and to release them in a long
process of self-regeneration (eighth house). He returned to politics in
1928 as the North Node passed through his natal tenth house; and
when he was elected governor of New York, the North Node was on the
second degree of Gemini and about to cross his four heavy planets in
Taurus (Pluto, Jupiter, Neptune, and Saturn). He was elected president
in November, 1932, when the North Node was at 14° Pisces — the
nodal axis being, thus, nearly identical to his birth horizon. The South
Node reached his natal Uranus close to the time of his nomination at
the Democratic Convention, releasing as it were the transforming
potential of this revolutionary planet.
During early 1942 — nine and a half years later — the North Node
came to the President's natal ascendant — during the darkest days of
the war in the Pacific against Japan, but also when the idea of the
United Nations was being born.
In Part One of this article, mention has been made of contacts between
the transiting nodes and the natal planets. These can often be shown
to bring out into the spotlight the types of activities represented by the
planets. A North Node transit should bring to the individual relatively
new challenges. Powers which belong to humanity at large or
potentialities inherent in his personal nature but as yet unactualized
are then asking for recognition and use. The South Node transit may
bring a more spontaneous and effective release of these powers but
also may confront the individual with their negative aspects or with the
outcome of their use.
The effect of a transit of the nodal axis is especially noticeable, I
believe, when it occurs on a natal planetary opposition, for then the
two (or more) planets in opposition are touched. For instance, Charles
de Gaulle, president of France, had at birth an opposition of Mercury to
the great Neptune-Pluto conjunction which was to be completed a year
or so after his birth — November 22, 1890. Last fall (1965), the nodes
stirred this opposition, the North Node touching the Neptune-Pluto
conjunction in early Gemini. This manifested as a loss of prestige in the
December elections, even though he was finally re-elected, largely
because his opponent aroused no popular confidence. But it should be
noted also that the nodes had returned to their natal places in May,
1965, for he is now 75. Perhaps a new phase of his life has begun
which will witness a change of consciousness — either in this body or
out of it.
When Lyndon Johnson became president, the South Node was conjunct
his natal Uranus — just as was the case when FDR was nominated for
the presidency in 1932. But this Uranus was at birth in opposition to
Neptune and Venus; and these two planets were transited by the North
Node in August and late September of 1963. Thus, in some mysterious
way, the process which raised him to the presidency may have begun a
few months before — perhaps after Kennedy lost his baby son. In
October, 1966, the nodal axis will reach the place of our President's
natal meridian; and this would occur before, in July, if his midheaven is
22° Taurus. It should challenge his capacity to lead and effect his
prestige.
*

THE PLANETS AND THE NODES

Dane Rudhyar
In concluding this condensed study of the nodes I
should say a few words concerning the significance of
finding a planet close to one of the Moon's nodes; but
I should mention the fact that the position of these
nodes given in ephemerides is a "mean" position - just
as the position of the Sun actually is. The reason why
these mean positions seem valid is that astrology
deals basically with cycles of motion rather than
with celestial bodies as material masses. In this
sense astrology is definitely a study of abstract
factors, and this is why in my book The Astrology of
Personality (1936) I spoke of it as "the algebra of
life." Of course, it could be, and it has been
considered differently and we have seen that claims
have been made to its being, and having been since
its assumed beginning(?) in Egypt and/or Chaldea, an
"empirical science" concerned with exact events and
precise celestial positions. If this claim is accepted,
then many things in current astrological use have
certainly to be given up, and one of these is all "mean
positions" and much that relates to the Houses of a
chart. Also the positions in latitude of the planets
should be considered, especially in relation to the
natal horizon, for a planet below the horizon in terms
of its zodiacal longitude may already have risen above
this horizon because of its latitude. (1)
Nevertheless what is probably the most important
thing in astrology is the way one approaches it and
how the use of its language of symbols may broaden
the mind and establish a new consciousness of one's
individual relationship to the universe. As one seeks
to relate the basic functions represented by the
planets to factors which divide the birth-chart and
thus the whole universe in two-dimensional
projection - such as horizon, meridian, nodal axes,
and even the axes constituted by the. equinoxes and
the solstices - one may learn, in the attempt, to
interpret everything in terms of polarity and
complementary factors.
 
Thus one can give a broad meaning to the fact that
all, or all but one, planets are above or below the
horizon, or east or west of the charts' meridian line -
or also on one or the other side of the Moon's nodes.
The nodal axis of the Moon establishes two half-
circles, one which in some way has a north-node
character, because it begins with this node; the other,
a south node ambiance. The point is, however, what
portion of the chart is it that "follows" the north
node?
 
In the past I have accepted the statement that the
north node hemisphere was constituted by the 180
degrees of the zodiac after the north node, following
the natural order of the zodiac. If the north node is at
say, Scorpio 6°, then the north node section of the
zodiac would be between Scorpio 6° and Taurus 6°
where the south node would be found. However, it has
occurred to me recently that this was not logical, for
the nodes' motion is retrograde! Everything in
which the Moon's nodes are an active and basic factor
should therefore be interpreted in the direction of the
nodes' motion.
 
As a result the example I gave in The Astrology of
Personality (page 405 and 409, hardbound edition)
should be interpreted in a reverse manner. Mussolini
had all his planets above the horizon and, as the
north node nearly coincided with the Scorpio 11°40'
Ascendant, in the north node hemisphere, counting
clockwise or in retrograde fashion.
 
The half-circle below the horizon is said to be that to
which the Ascendant gives its meaning, because after
birth the Ascendant will move through this below-the-
horizon half of the natal chart. In Mussolini's chart in
which all planets are found above the horizon Scorpio-
Taurus they are said to refer to the life of relationship,
because the Descendant pervades with its meaning
the 180 degrees of the zodiac from Taurus to Scorpio
in the order of the signs, i.e., counterclockwise; the
Descendant begins this zodiacal half because it is
moving into it. But as the Moon's nodes axis is nearly
identical with the horizon and the north node is just
above the Ascendant, this North node after Mussolini's
birth moved clockwise away from Scorpio into Libra,
then Virgo, etc. All the planets are therefore in the
north node's, and not in the south node's hemicycle,
as I had stated. (2)
 
I also said in The Astrology of Personality that the
north node's hemisphere "refers to the power of
developing new spiritual faculties" while the south
node's hemisphere "refers to the working of past
tendencies," but the term "spiritual faculty" is rather
confusing, even if it befits the type of approach
characterizing Jung's psychology and his
"individuation process." In this early book of mine
(written in 1934-35) I followed much of the so-called
esoteric tradition, more do than I do now; for I feel
that the present time requires a more "cosmic" and
less archaic type of symbolism. This is why I am
developing in this essay the concept of orbital
astrology. What the Moon's nodes tell us is not so
much something about the relationship of the Sun
and the Moon - with special attention placed on
eclipses - but how the essential nature of the Moon
symbol affects Earth-beings. The basic factor is the
 Moon itself, not as a "Light" as much as a satellite of
the Earth.
 
The Moon's north node is the gate of "intake" of this
basic lunar nature. In the north node's hemisphere
the Moon's power is absorbed and (hopefully)
assimilated. Planets placed in that hemisphere tend to
be used a great deal in connection with the process of
development of a greater or new capacity for
adjustment to existence. They may be made to serve
this process. Thus in Mussolini's chart all planets are
enlisted for the development of the individual capacity
to deal with immediate problems, opportunities or
emergencies. On the other hand, the organic
functions represented by planets in the hemisphere
which begins (in a retrograde sense) with the south
node may be called upon to give a certain coloring to
the release of whatever is automatically required for
the fulfillment of a specific destiny, or the working out
of karma.
 
However, unless all or nearly all the planets are
located in one of the nodal hemispheres, it
seems unnecessary to give much attention to
this factor. What is usually more important are
situations in which a planet, or a group of
planets, is located very close to one of the
Moon's nodes and also to the nodes of the larger
planets, beginning with Jupiter. Such a situation
indicates that the planet affects in some manner
the absorption or release of the Moon's, or of
some other planet's force.

 
I mentioned already the cases in which the Moon
itself is located at its own nodes. This is by far
the most important situation, psychologically
speaking. When the Sun is close to the Moon's
nodes a strong effect can be expected; and this
most often means a birth near an eclipse. In the
case of the Persian Prophet, Baha'u'llah, the Sun
at the Ascendant is two degrees further than the
Moon's south node in longitude, and also on the
heliocentric position of Mars' south node which is
moreover the longitude of the star North Scale.
As Mars is retrograde and completely isolated
and forming a T-square with Neptune and Pluto,
a powerful release of power is in evidence, the
key to which may be the star Regulus exactly on
the Mid Heaven, H. P. Blavatsky, initiator of the
Theosophical Movement, and Karl Marx, inspirer
of the Communist Movement were born with the
Sun near the Moon's north node, Marx (it seems)
during a solar eclipse.

In Chief Justice Earl Warren, under whose

chairmanship the U .S. Supreme Court made
crucial decisons, Pluto was exactly on the Moon's
north node in his fifth House. This perhaps
indicates the depth to which he sought to meet
absolutely basic social issues. General Marshall
who was Army Chief of Staff in World War II had
Mercury one degree away from his Moon's north
node, stressing his capacity for planning and
organization, and he was born the day of a
partial solar eclipse. J. Pierpont Morgan had also
Mercury in conjunction to his ninth House north
node, with the Sun close by. The pioneering
composers, Schoenberg and Charles Ives had
birth-charts with Neptune (often related to
music) at their north nodes.

A planet at its north node is powerful, perhaps in

an insidious or compulsive manner. The function
it represents is focused upon the consciousness
of the individual person as sunlight through a
lens. With the planet at its south node its
function may become wasted or negatively
applied, though in some cases an intense release
of energy may be experienced at some crucial
moments of the person's life.

1) A now departed French astrologer, Neroman, who

founded the College Astrologique de France, devised a very
beautiful gadget "le Cosmographe" thanks to which one
can see at once where a planet stands in latitude when
close to the horizon. Unfortunately his remarkable work
seems not to have been kept alive.
 
2) Mussolini's chart has been reproduced in the preceding
essay, First Steps in the Study of Birth Charts, as an
example of the Cluster Pattern.