The North Node enters Virgo on November 12th, crossing paths with Mars exiting Virgo and entering Libra that same day. The South Node joins Retrograde Vesta in Pisces, deepening the emotional introspection that has lately caused so many to feel alienated, cut-off, and confined to their own worlds and imaginings.

Until May 9th of 2017, the focus will be on taking care of business, getting things squared away, finishing what has already started, and clearing the messes that have been made. The True Nodes are approaching their exit of the Aries/Libra axis, temporarily releasing us from the concentrated themes of war and peace, hate and love, give and take, unity and separation. After a bloody war, somebody has to clean up the dead bodies. That’s where Virgo comes in…

Since the North Node entered Libra on February 14th of 2014, relationships both great and small, collective and personal have collapsed, turned inside out, and undergone major reconstructions and revisions. In general, many already married or seriously involved couples divorced, companies crumbled and financial deals went sour. Many of these relationships were based on falsehoods or superficiality and their structures have not stood the tests of time.

Aries’ ruling planet Mars was Retrograde in Libra in the early phase of the North Node in Libra’s transit in 2014. The South Node, also known as the Dragon’s Tail with its Martian emphasis made combative tendencies very difficult to overcome. The South Node conjunct Uranus in Aries heightened the backlash of passive-aggressiveness on a massive scale.

Libra is concerned with justice and equality while Aries wants freedom to act on its own terms. During the North Node’s transit through Libra gay marriage rights shifted dynamically, the reality of widespread brutalities by police officers were brought to the eyes of the public, and the Canadian extramarital affair dating website Ashley Madison was hacked and faced with a class-action lawsuit, exposing the infidelity of thousands of customers.

Simple Living Saves Lives

With the South Node in Pisces transiting Chiron early 2016, there exists a challenge to heal very old wounds in the self and collective psyche, whether these wounds stem simply from times past, childhood, or miasmic levels. Transiting Neptune later in 2016, long-standing addictions surface, and how they are handled will vary according to each person and situation. Some will experience breakthrough and others will fall deeper into their rabbit hole.

With this nodal influence martyrdom must come to an end and confidence in one’s inner divinity and guiding light reclaimed. Along with Saturn’s transit through Sagittarius we are ready to break free from the shackles of illusion and delusion and to recover a true sense selfhood that has been lost, largely to governmental and religious abuse. The harder life gets, the more we tend to seek out distractions, tranquilizers, and anything to numb us down from the pain. The many ways that we have been persecuted – in this and past lifetimes is to be reckoned with and finally released. Out of the Piscean whirlpool of confusion we are struggling to rise.

Throughout this transit it will become paramount to take the initiative in solving problems and healing ourselves instead of hoping that someone else will come along and fix them and us. It doesn’t mean that there won’t be a proper time and place to ask for help, but that the change comes from within, and external actions to match inner knowing are required for desired results. While Pisces has a lofty dream, it is often the task of Virgo to actualize that dream on the physical plane.

The North Node’s conjunction to Jupiter for a bulk of this transit gives a boost of energy and much-needed optimism to all of our endeavors. The main downside to this pairing is that it could make us more busy than we’d like to be. However, there is so much to do, so little “time” that Jupiter in the picture is a blessing to help us become more effective in our work. It may be very helpful to begin writing a list of goals and intentions for this period and to keep a log of key experiences.