MOON AND ITS NODES - points of confluence or separation?

Rohiniranjan (an article begun in 1993 and finished in 2004)

Conspicuous by its absence from the vedic astrological repertoire is the significance that is generally
attributed to the sun-sign in tropical astrology that is practised in many parts of the world. Why did
Aryans, allegedly the proponents of the vedic system of astrology, who were ardent sun-worshippers,
chose to stay away from a more extensive consideration of sun-signs is intriguing. They decided,
instead, to go with the moon! The moon-sign has almost the same status in Indian astrology as the sun-
sign has in western astrology, for instance. The Indian 'newspaper' horoscope is based on the moon-sign
and it is considered as a personal sign of great importance there as is the sun-sign in the west. The
ascending sign enjoys an even higher position of significance in vedic astrology, just as it does in serious
western astrology. The ascendant changes more frequently (hours) than the moon (days), on a giv en
day, there would be fewer individuals on any given day who would share the ascendant than the moon-
sign. It therefore makes sense that one's ascending sign be considered as more 'personal' and an
"individualistic" indicator of the tides of time.

The ascendant and moon-sign also play a significant part in the delineation of planetary combinations or
yogas. Transit influences are often primarily considered from the lunar horoscope (natal lunar sign as the
first house) for timing of events. The lunar chart is also utilized in "horoscope matching" (synastry). The
popularly used vimshottary dasha system is, of course, a system of lunar progression and is utilized for
timing by most vedic astrologers (there are other dasha systems of lower frequency of usage, many
based on the moon, some not {note added in 2004: this has changed in recent years as more and more
information becomes available on the rules of usage of conditional and other dashas}). Since it is the
major system of assignment of planetary periods that cover different parts of one's life, it makes sense to
use the lunar horoscope for ascertaining transit effects. The significance of moon is indirectly also
reflected by the fact that its nodes are given such importance in the astrological delineation. Rahu and
ketu, the north and south nodes of the moon, are mere mathematical points, but have an enormous
significance and make one wonder about the possible importance of other mathematical points and
nodes that exist as arabic parts or mid-points etc. in other systems. {note added in 2004: I grow less
convinced each day that the lunar horoscope or the matrimonial matching system (gana-kuta system)
alone is adequate for a serious astrological delineation}

Hindu mythology describes that at the beginning of creation, the 'divine' caucus and the 'demons'
decided to join hands and churn the "ocean of milk" (milky-way??). During that interesting exercise, they
came across many treasures, which they divided amongst themselves, more or less equitably. Then
emerged the jug of nectar that would bestow immortality! The gods started doing some serious thinking
since they did not want the evil elements to become immortal. It is interesting that in Hindu mythology,
gods are generally depicted as intelligent, scheming and manipulative, whereas the demons are usually
shown as intense, single-minded, somewhat stupid creatures (tamasa or qualities of darkness!). Anyway,
cashing in on the weakness in demons, Vishnu (one of the divine trinity that stands for the good things in
life and is responsible for nurturing and maintaining the creation; the other two being Brahma the creator
and Shiva the destroyer, decided to step in. One notable 'power' of Vishnu is His ability to change shape
and form at the drop of a hat! So He changed Himself into a beautiful enchantress (mohini murti, one
who entices, distracts, causes an illusion and hypnotizes!) for distracting the demons while the gods lined
up hastily to get their fill of the nectar. At that time the sun and the moon noticed that one of the demons
had sneaked into the divine queue (how devilishly godlike of him!) and they snitched on him. The demon
was beheaded, but having consumed the nectar already, his head and the body continued to live. The
head became known as Rahu while the rest of the body became ketu. since that day, these two have
continued to roam around the universe and try to eat (eclipse) the two snitches (sun and moon) who told
on them (him?).

Though they are primarily out to get the sun and moon, the nodes do not miss an opportunity to get the
rest of the planets as well, when they can, because all planets fall in either Sun’s camp or Moon’s. A
situation when all the planets (Sun to Saturn) are flanked between rahu and ketu is known as the Kala-
sarpa yoga (The deadly snake! Kala has many meanings including black, deadly and TIME). This
combination is said to bring about confinements, limitations and other troubles and is not a good thing to
have! It is one of the favourite boogy-men of jyotishis, right there with mangal dosha and sade sati of
saturn! Though vedic astrology does not take into consideration, the trans-saturnine planets, it might be
of interest to look at charts that have the nodes flanking the sev en classical bodies and compare those
with the ones which have all planets and luminaries flanked by the nodes. Interpretations vary,
depending on whether the planets are between rahu and ketu or whether they are between ketu and
rahu, but most accounts describe a difference in severity rather than a change in the quality of the evil
effects in the two arrangements. Like any other combination, if the individual with a kala-sarpa does not
experience the dasha of the nodes or planets in the stars of the nodes, the effect would not be felt
severely. {note added in 2004: In more recent times, academic jyotishis have begun to bravely challenge
and avoid giving a blanket statement of fear and some innovative work has emerged from several camps
due to a rethinking and better study of the lunar nodes. Kalsarpa yoga is not considered an unconditional
chamber of horrors anymore and there are many different flavours and intensities of its expression, far
beyond the scope of the current article}.

Another 'nodal' combination is the Chandala yoga which is formed when the nodes are conjoined with the
prime natural benefic Jupiter, essentially robbing Jupiter of its propensity to do good and to expand or to
enable the nativity to expand (in a good sense!). This combination, like any other, must not be taken too
literally. The strength, location and lordships of Jupiter have a major say in deciding the final outcome.
This 'qualifier' has not been emphasized enough in most vedic texts, old and new and can lead to major
discrepancies and even misinterpretations in a reading. There are also some exceptions (aren't there
always?) such as ketu being in the 12th house with Jupiter, particularly for aries, leo and Capricorn
ascendants when the combination is desirable for matters pertaining to spiritual progress.

Though they presumably originated from the same body, rahu and ketu appear to have developed
independently in different ways! Rahu is more of the nature of Saturn, intelligent in being cautious and
not hasty when strong, meticulous and rigorous, sneaky, manipulative, vicious and vindictive, with sharp
eyes and indolence befitting a fifteen pound feline! These qualities kind of tie-in nicely with the fact that
rahu is the head of the beheaded demon! Ketu on the other hand is more like mars, explosive, energetic,
aimlessly rushing about, bumping into things (poor headless thing!), interfering, fast, religious, fanatic
etc. Both nodes have a common propensity to place a veil over one's eyes, often seen during their
dashas or of planets that are in the nakshatras or asterisms of the lunar nodes. They are not called
shadowy or foggy planets for nothing. Nodes also tend to bring about very sudden turn of events and
can cause a very rapid rise to power, glory and fame followed by a matching fall, and vice versa.

Another peculiarity of the nodes is their "black-hole" effect! Any planet that is conjunct with the nodes
loses its qualities and energies almost completely. The "empty-shell" effect is particularly seen during the
dasha periods of the planet. The lack of energy, motivation and direction are unmistakable. This is often
seen in combust (conjunction with sun) planets to some extent. However, while the sun becomes a
spokesperson and takes care of things pertaining to the conjoined planet, the nodes do not show such
benevolence. Not only does the individual suffer during the dasha of the planet conjoined with the node,
but also during the dasha of the node. The nodes assume the character of or assume lordship over the
house they are located in. There have been specific signs that have been described in texts, giving the
lordships of the nodes over signs and signs they are strong or weak in, but many astrologers, including
myself, do not consider nodes to hav e own or any favourite (or otherwise) signs {note added in 2004: I
have in more recent times written an article on astrotreasures that survived time which is available at
www.indianest.com/astro site and goes in more specific details on this topic}!

During the dasha of the nodes some degree of helplessness and lack of control over people and events
can be noticed. Things happen suddenly, unexpectedly and in some individuals such a situation leads to
a sense of a "free-floating anxiety". In a few, the nervous energy practically "buzzes" and a certain
element of paranoia, a certain subtle to not so subtle "difference" in interpreting normal cues becomes
very visible. Sudden turns of events, failure of communications at several levels become marked in
these individuals. In some there is also the feeling of the element of "time" playing a major role. One
often feels as if there is a "connection" established with events and persons from another time
(particularly during mutual period of nodes)! Obviously, not everyone faces these effects to the same
degree, but for some it could be a cherished person or object lost for years, for others it might feel as if
events from a different lifetime are involved or being reactivated. Indeed, this brings up a very
interesting point of the nodes representing "karmic debts". Nodal positions give an interesting window
into the karmic ledger of an individual and must be thoroughly examined by astrologers interested in this
very interesting and unique area. Particularly so, in charts where the ascendant, ascendant lord and
moon are related to the nodes, by conjunction or asterismal/dispositor associations.

One occasionally comes across references to certain houses in a horoscope being of more 'karmic'
significance than others, however, if we think about the issues a bit, it would appear that practically any
house could have karmic ties or repercussions. The wealth in the second house, the courage in the third
house, the mother and happiness in the fourth etc., all could be what they are in the current life due to
karmic influences. However, two houses, the fifth and ninth are sometimes referred to as the summary
houses for karma, the ninth showing the karma that is ready to be cashed and the fifth showing the
karmic actions that can be or must be handled now to avoid the piper later

The fifth (from the ascendant and the moon) then is the house that must be studied for designing an
efficient karmic game plan, the planets therein and the lord of fifth and its dispositors and associates
could tell a lot about this matter. Since nodes have a tendency to bring in karmic influences into play
(other planets do too, but nodes mobilize things unexpectedly and so the impact can be tremendous!). If
nodes are associated with the fifth house or the fifth lord or dispositor of the fifth lord, then situations
would arise in the life of the individual when s/he would be forced to take actions and make decisions
almost on the spur of a moment, that would hav e future implications and repercussions! The periods,
when this sort of situation could occur, would be of the nodes or related planets and could help in
indicating the time when such an eventuality might arise. As they say, to be forewarned is to be
prepared. My own humble philosophy is that in the here and now, we are exposed to opportunities that
are a mixed bag of events, some of which are predestined while others are amenable to free-will. This
might make some very uneasy, but if we think of an action decided by free-will today (do I buy stocks in
this garage-based company that sells computers named like fruit?) as leading to a predestined event
tomorrow (Do I go to Nice or Florence this summer? God bless Woz!). Okay! Okay!! So it was not a
great example. You get the picture!! {note added in 2004: particularly today in 2004 when Apple and
Steve Wozniak have literally passed through the ‘Gates’, so to speak!}

© SEPTEMBER 1993, Rohiniranjan, Crystal Pages

And some more thoughts 10 years later ...

The 'problem' with jyotish and indeed all forms of astrology has been this. It appears logical.
Fifth house is related to matters pertaining to children. The general algorithm goes like this: if the
fifth lord is in trouble, it would reflect/indicate that the nativity's children would show a tendency
for trouble. This is a simple logical link as all would admit. Now, obviously, if we test this in
many charts, it would appear that in a few individuals possessing such a chart, there would not be
any trouble pertaining to children. The rule fails, then? But, there might be other indicators that
support the fallen lord of fifth. There might be other factors in saptamamsha chart (pertaining to
fifth house) that could result in the effect in rashi not being seen (expected does not match the
observed). These are all layers of rules that form the logical matrix in jyotish. If we look at one
or few factors, then sometime or another, our judgment based on the few factors is bound to fail.
The exact weighting of the factors and rules etc. is not well described in texts and is often
conflicting. This causes much heartburn to the logical scientist or businessman and they begin to
wonder what is going on. This is a problem that will continue to plague each modern jyotishi.

Then we come to another level of uncertainty -- the primary axioms of astrology. How was the
rulership assigned? Why Aries by mars and Pisces by Jupiter? What about the new-fangled
reassigned rulerships?? Now, we may say that the rulership was based on the solar system.
Lights in jyotish are very important and so starting with moon and sun in the kendra (sort of), we
get the distribution of rulership based on orbits.

Sign Aq Pi Ar Ta Ge Cn Le Vi Li Sc Sa Ca
# 11 12 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10
Ruler Sa Ju Ma Ve Me Mo Su Me Ve Ma Ju Sa

Remember that ‘su’ (Sun) is really the projected earth and so Moon the satellite of earth being
next to the sign ruled by Sun (earth) in the assignment of rulership would make sense, but then we
switch to the astronomical orbitals (around the astronomical Sun), but we also see the distribution
starting with aquarius and not the traditionally accepted beginning of the zodiac from aries. That
makes one wonder if there is a missing gap in the information.
But is this really the reason for the assignment of signs? Who really knows? And why the
beginning of the nakshatras from ashwini? An alternate system has been given for the ‘nadis’
starting from Krittika the first star ruled by the Sun. More questions...

For that matter, why are the vimshottary dashas distributed in the order of the stars (which is the
chicken and which the egg)? There are patterns figured out by modern astrologers for the solar
and lunar sets or balanced periods between those assigned to inner and outer planets in the
vimshottary scheme, with each node being assigned to each group, but then we run into other
dashas that use both or one or none of the nodes. What is going on, enquiring minds want to
know!

The importance of the lunar nodes in jyotish, I think, comes from their being the resultants of two
most significant motions very central in the scheme of things – that of the earth-sun and of the
moon, the two astrological 'lights'. Where the two orbits intersect, a node is created at each
crossing. The nodes are the symbolic representations of the two indicators coming together at
one of the nodes and separating from each other at the other node. If you visualize the two
circular paths as coming from outside and merging and moving in at one node (N) and emerging
from inside and separating (S) as they move outwardly then it does make some sense. Rahu may
symbolize materialism moving towards spirituality yet not quite leaving the grip on where it came
from. Ketu on the other hand is bringing the inner world to the outer through the separation and
detachment. Rahu, therefore depicts the state where boundaries will be placed and one reminded
of what is truly worth, hence it is of the nature of Saturn, while, ketu representing the pure energy
that lies within moving into a realm that is more 'massive' and gross, hence the symbolic similarity
with mars. It takes more energy to bring the energy out of the atom (ketu) than the implosion
generally imposed through karma and destiny that makes one go inside (rahu). The promise of
ketu, therefore, will take effort on the part of the individual, rahu will make it happen for you.
The negative side of this is that resisting rahu and not pulling one’s weight during ketu's influence
might not be the best strategy to follow. There is a time to flow with nature and other times to
utilize one's free-will that human beings were given to exercise. Often, people seem to almost
naturally seem to do the opposite (i.e., resist and not flow with rahu and trying to not show the
initiative during ketu’s periods, wrong strategies in both situations).

Anyways, even if we get to the bottom of the primary axioms and spin our wheels till they become
red-hot, we would not have achieved much other than personal satisfaction of having figured
something out. But it is not necessary because astrology has many such cul-de-sacs and potholes
into which one can get stuck and remain stuck. Perhaps there is a higher level of wisdom that
comes gradually and things begin to make sense. I have heard accounts where long-term
divinators and jyotishis in particular (logical beings that they are!) reach a level where knowledge
flows in even without seeking and sifting the information. The horoscope, the mental gymnastics,
the math and transit, the dasha matrix and other seventy two and a half things we do in jyotish are
really all information, fed into the computer between the ears or perhaps even that is only an I/O
interface with the computer being ‘elsewhere’. The information then gets processed and
knowledge comes forth, in clear or dirty flow, in trickles or torrents.

Dissecting this astro-delineative process is frustrating because much of it exists below one's full
awareness. Whether the jyotishi is aware of it or not, acknowledges it or not is another matter.
Often people really believe that what they sift through during a reading is all logical and on being
asked to explain, they pick out this or that yoga or factor (information) which they are
prominently aware of (like remembering vividly the dream you woke up from which might have
been one in a chain of many that night) and try to correlate this with the reading (knowledge) but
the gap between the information used to derive the knowledge does not describe how the hiatus
between incoming information and outgoing knowledge was wholly bridged.

I have stopped worrying about it, because it does not help or hinder the process though in some it
would hinder and definitely would take up time and energy. Being a sensitive process, this
Information to Knowledge conversion, is vulnerable to Heisenbergian changes while it is being
observed and that further affects the output. Again, different persons would react to a different
degree to being observed. Anyway, overall, it frustrates endlessly the logical, critical student of
jyotish and sometimes they move away from pursuing it, out of desperation. Some do return,
eventually.

The problems or some of the problems in the cognitive acceptance of astrology lie in the claims
that astrologers feel pressured into making; claims of astrology being scientific, or of being a
science. If we view astrology as a descriptor of human experience and destiny, a language that
uses astrological symbols as alphabet and the chart being a descriptive passage in which the same
fact is written in many different ways (we call these yogas, rules, the syntax of this language), then
it becomes easier to conceive of astrology as a descriptive construct and not so much a rigid or
relatively more rigid set of rules which are immovable and concrete. The same story can be told,
the same experience described in more ways than one. If this were not so, how would one explain
that -- using different parameters, different sets or subsets of rules and even different values of
ayanamshas which essentially change the position of some if not all of the letters and words in an
astrological paragraph -- how do different astrologers still manage to perform and perform well.
This is a difficult and to some with a black and white view, a very disturbing concept and reality.
But it is true if we view and review facts and experiences around us dispassionately and without
prejudgment and games of prejudice. The difference between tropical and sidereal then becomes
simply a longer stretch of the concept, and with the different rules and focus on different
significators (aspects vs actual positions for instance, midpoints -- another relative as opposed to
zodiac based specific factor) tropical astrology becomes akin to a different language but
describing the same experience, just as two different human languages would and do.

The point of this write-up is not to stir controversy but just a general voicing of my viewpoint. If
it helps someone, makes it a bit clear for someone, that would be great. If it raises questions and
curiosity, then that is not bad either.

© 2003, Rohiniranjan, Crystal Pages