Reflections On Destiny, Self Discovery And The Power Of The Nodes

Node Thyself

Between the years of 2007 and 2009, my life dramatically changed. It started with Saturn's transit of my 9th House and included stops at natal Uranus and Pluto along the way. It played out in textbook astrology according to my life. I was working for a company whose business was "digital aggregation," which was a fancy way of saying "middle-man-distribution." We licensed music catalogs for long term distribution through ITunes. The model looked good on paper; give the artist/label upfront money and they surrender their digital rights for the term of the agreement. Halfway through, theoretically, the advance given to them would have been recouped and the company would have 2-4 years of unimpeded, net profit. It was based on Chris Anderson's "Long Tail" theory on monetizing content for profit 2-4 years, downstream. That theory worked so well, Anderson is now deep into drones and is trying to be the Google of dronedom. So much for the long tail. But it worked well enough back then to spawn an IPO and get a spot on Wall Street.

I was experiencing some really challenging physical symptoms in my life at the time, meanwhile my spouse was going through her own healing crisis. It was a choppy time, but as a new father, I did what I could for my family. I worked from home four-days-a-week and on Friday would travel 105 miles, one way, to hit the office. My salary was six figures.

The owner was also a Virgo and we had a lot in common; music, sports, the 70s, etc.. But he was dealing with his own issues and demons. One late night, while hanging out with a famous and now disgraced wrestler in Miami, someone smashed a bottle across his face as he walked out of a nightclub. While he luckily retained his eyesight, it's not the greatest look when your CEO shows up like he was getting his ass kicked at Fight Club the night before.

I was tapping my old contacts, one of which included your basic definition of "scum" as defined by the music industry. Now the music business has always been seen as the lowest form of bacteria in the parasitic world of media. Film and TV people always looked down their nose at the hustlers and jivers of the record industry and during my days in the business I met plenty, but this dread-headed-joker was the epitome of a sewer rat with a cell phone in search of a hit.

I knew that he was shady, but at that time, when the company was actually on Wall Street, publicly traded deals needed to get done. As I got further and further into the negotiations with him, I could tell that he wasn't right, that something was up. He was vague about details and rights of ownership to tracks. My gut said to cut and run, especially once he missed a few deadlines. But I got pressured to sign the label due to the Wall Street deal and sign it. I closed the deal.

Mephistopheles cackled because as soon as I did and that advance money was sent, he started to wiggle out of that contract like a snake in a cage. So in essence, it became a significant issue for me as I was asked to reign the criminal in, who had no intent to honor his agreement, 5,000 miles away. Saturn was putting the hammer down on my natal Uranus in Leo in the 9th House. We're talking law, contracts, overseas locales, all the sexy signs and signifiers of the 9th House perspective. Saturn brings constraint and pressure. Uranus wants to blow shit up. As a transit/conjunction it's one of the least comfortable, right up there with the Saturn/Mars conjunction. But Uranus was the seed of the new and Saturn would eventually give it form. Uranus rules astrology and Saturn is professional in nature. My future as a professional astrologer was embedded in this crisis, but I just couldn't see it yet. It would take another transit of Saturn over my Pluto at my MC, which correlated with the death of my father and the end of my marriage for me to finally occupy the True Node conjunct my MC on the 10th House side of things. Here is where we get into the complexity of the Nodes.

DRAGON'S HEAD/DRAGON'S TAIL

As I launched myself into a career as a full time astrologer with a very public blog, my marriage was ending and I had to move out of my house both literally and figuratively as my South Node or the "Dragon's Tail" is located in my 4th House natally in Pisces. The South Node is considered the weak or vulnerable area of the chart. In fact some astrologers will even go so far as to tell you to get as far away from the South Node as possible and while this may be true, it's not always feasible, so some integration of the two nodes needs to take place (more about that later). As life's circumstances launched me into this very public place (10th House), I had to leave my family behind. This was the activation of my North Node/True Node in Virgo in the house of public standing and acclaim.

For a number of years I was associated with the music business and had a more than a few friends who were also musicians (Neptune/Venus/Moon/Mercury 11th House) and I had been trying to blend my skills; writing, sales and promotion with theirs; performing and recording and while I experienced some success, it was always a bit muted and not as much as I would have liked it to be. I had always felt like I was the wing man to their creative process. But when I created this blog, radio, readings and eventually made it over to Gaiam TV, I felt as though I was finally living in the flow of my existence, doing the work and dharma I came here to do and it was all about finally aligning my self with my North/True Node, the true north of the life and chart.

So many people tend to run from their destiny instead of embracing it and flowing with it. If they could simply see and understand their nature and potential as exemplified by the North/True Node and move towards it, the Universe aka Prime Creator will move with them. This is the magic and the mystery of the Nodal approach to astrology, which I wholeheartedly ascribe to and spend a good deal of time with clients on, digging into their nodes as they reveal the inherent purpose, meaning and challenge of the chart. Even now, as I adjust to my new locale via the relocated chart in Austin, where my North/True Node is in the First House, I am still decoding, understanding and integrating these essential aspects.

As a result of having the NN/TN conjunct my MC, it's my duty to share their power and meaning with the world.

This Saturday, at 11AM, CDT. I'm doing a webinar, where I'll be breaking down the importance of the Nodes, especially as they relate to the upcoming Nodal shift from Libra/Aries to Virgo/Pisces. I will illustrate the connection between the North and South Nodes and why they must be integrated. I'll go through the North/TN for each house and sign, plus some of the variables and complexities associated with them. If you are stuck and you want to get closer to your purpose in this lifetime, then this webinar can offer potentially life changing insight. and start the process. I look forward to seeing you this Saturday.