Hummingbird Soul

How many of you know your North Node? Or do you even know what a North Node refers to? 

I am by no means an Astrologer. However, over the past several years, as I began my own transformational journey, I have become increasingly curious about the stars and how they impact so much of who we are and where we are going. 

It’s always interesting to me how often we take for granted the vastness of the Universe. We are such a small, tiny little dot in the greater scheme of things. So, it only makes sense that the space that holds us and the stars that surround us, might just impact our individual and collective experiences.

I am starting a new series to kick off the new year about understanding self. Transformation always begins with understanding who you are today. The more that we know about ourselves, the more we understand what drives us, how we show up in the world, and what changes we want to make. I have found that astrology has been a key ingredient for me personally as I have gained greater understanding of myself. 

Now, if you are skeptical of what you know of astrology, or this sounds a little too whoo-whoo to you, I would ask that you just hear me out. Keep an open mind and most importantly do some research on your own. 

I was skeptical too in the beginning. First of all, I was taught that astrology was like witch-craft and to steer clear of it as a Christian. Then, as I was growing up, my mother shared the incorrect sun sign with me as my birthdate is right on the cusp of two signs. I grew up unable to ever relate to any horoscope because what I was reading was actually for the previous sign. It wasn’t until I was in high school that I discovered that I was actually a Pisces sun not an Aquarius. 

But what’s even more interesting to me about astrology is not really the sun sign. That’s the obvious reading that in western culture media tends to gravitate towards, but I really became intrigued when a friend of mine started down the path of becoming an Astrologer and she shared a birth chart reading with me. This included not just my sun sign or Pisces horoscope but rather a detailed account of my personality traits and all the aspects that impact how I experience the world. 

The crazy thing is that it was mostly spot on! It explained all my nuances of character and some of the internal things that drive me. It was so interesting to see how the placement of the stars at the time of my birth could tell so much about who I am as a person. 

One of the aspects that a birth chart reading looks at is feature called ‘nodes’. There is a South Node and a North Node. To summarize this in the simplest terms possible, the South Node tells you where you’ve been and the North Node tells you where you are going. 

The South Node describes character traits that are already fully developed within a person. These are traits that come natural and are easy to fall back on. The caution with the South Node is to not over-develop these characteristics in this lifetime or it could encourage stagnation in your personal growth. 

In contrast, the North Node is about under-developed character traits and things that a person should focus on expanding. This could be thought of as your life lesson. These traits are usually a little more challenging and not as comfortable to gravitate towards.

But your North Node is really important when thinking about transformation. If your desire is to become a different version of yourself then we need to look at who you are in this moment.  If you are gravitating toward those familiar comfortable characteristics and behaviors it may be hindering you from taking the next steps towards your growth. If we can identify your North Node, we can learn what life lessons will be important as part of your development into your future self. 

There are some great resources online to get your own birth chart reading. I like Astrology Café personally but there are plenty of other free birth chart readings available with a simple Google search. 

I encourage you to get out there and start learning about yourself through the peripheral of the stars. Finding your True North is the key to unlocking a transformational journey of a lifetime.