When they shift gates, they start at the 6th line and gradually work their way towards the 1st line. Although they are sometimes in forward motion, their movement is in the opposite direction to the planets in your Design. They are also the only ‘planets’ that have a backwards trajectory, as if they are always in retrograde. Iconic astrologer Dane Rudhyar describes the North Node as the point of intake of spiritual and cosmic energies.Īs the moon reaches it’s north node and enters the area of the 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. They reveal the relationship between your personal lunar and solar cycles (your inner and outer, receptive and active, feminine and masculine, linear and cyclical polarities). The position of the Nodes is formed by the Moon’s orbit around the Earth intersecting with the Earth’s path around the Sun. Like the Sun and Earth, the Nodes are always exactly opposite each other, in the same way as the Sun and Earth in your design. They are what is called in astrology a ‘calculated point’, and the point they are calculated from is your Moon. Unlike the rest of the planets in your Human Design chart, the Nodes don’t actually exist.
These two sets of activations – the Sun/Earth axis and the Nodal axis – form a team that help you find yourself and your purpose. While the imprint of your Sun and Earth activations is hugely important, your Nodes have a very particular part to play in your emerging differentiation as a unique individual. You might also know that the Nodes form part of the Variables, Determination and Environment. Your energy shifts from the South Node to the North Node.
If you’ve learnt some Human Design, you’ve probably been taught that the Nodes represent a shift at your Uranus Opposition – around age 40 to 42.