Getting to Node You:  Astrology's Hidden Grip in Relationships By Noel Tyl When two people get together, two horoscopes meet. One person's needs and behavioral resources interact with another person's needs and behaviors. Specifically, one person's idealism, say (the conjunction of Mercury and Venus, or Mercury strongly focused in Pisces), may be beautifully trine the other person's Moon in Cancer, the reigning need for emotional and family security. That would be a 'comfortable' blend, a harmonious bond, through the trine aspect that links similar 'colors' of being (within the same element family). One person's Saturn - the awareness of strategy, control, and ambition - may oppose or square another person's Mars - energy and drive - suggesting a fight for leadership, a struggle for dominance; conservatism and caution in one person working to subdue spontaneity and volatility in the other. Who makes the decisions? Resolution of anything is difficult. When one person's Sun or Moon makes any aspect with the Sun or Moon in someone else's horoscope, it is a highly reliable indication of harmony. The two find it easy to be together. Marriage is an extreme development out of this basic harmony, of course, but togetherness must begin somewhere and Sun-Moon ties are very natural, easily taken for granted, and always strongly appreciated. Doing business with someone with whom you make such contact is always the best business deal you can make. Just as you would think, when your Mars and someone else's Venus, or your Venus and someone else's Mars whistle to each other through aspect relationships, the tune is not just 'Dixie', it's visceral awareness - if age and sociology support potential - and if Pluto is in the mix, the waters run deep and powerfully, and everything else can be put aside for the moment, or a lifetime! Uranus contacts are intense excitement at best and nervous agitation at worst, and the manifestation of the tie depends upon which planet, say, in your chart is getting the 'charge' from the other person's Uranus. It's like a 'jump start' from someone else's battery to yours. Neptune contacts are misty, cloudy, and perhaps even untrustworthy, so doing business with someone whose Neptune is on your Sun or Midheaven or Mercury presents a long list of cautions! Jupiter is an uplifting bond between horoscopes, a broad accent of enthusiasm one to another, for one another. When George Bush was heading down the home stretch to election late in 1988, he announced his choice for Vice President: James Danforth Quayle. The nation asked aloud, "Who is this guy Quayle? Where's he coming from?" Many would say that that question was never answered throughout the Bush presidency. Boyish-appearing Quayle was somehow not congruent with Bush's image of experience, poise, and know-how. The real question should not have been not 'Who's Quayle?' but 'What brings Quayle together with Bush'? That's the question astrology can answer very easily. Would you believe there are 8 different ties between Quayle's horoscope (born February 4, 1947, at 04:30 PM, CST in Indianapolis, IN) and Bush's (June 12, 1924, 11:38 AM, EDT in Milton, MA)? Bush's Moon in Libra is close trine with Quayle's Sun in Aquarius. This is a beautiful, comfortable, no-waves-at-all relationship between the cores of their horoscopes. They genuinely like each other. Bush's Neptune squares Quayle's Sun: Quayle will blindly follow with all of Bush's ideas, and Bush will overlook any shortcomings on Quayle's part. As the synastric profile builds, we begin to see that the relationship founded by Moon-Sun contact supports trade offs at less imposingly fundamental levels of life. That's the way it is getting together with someone else: we like someone fundamentally, and this good feeling colors all other measurements of compatibility and resource exchange. In this case, this was achieved by the nebulous, vague, and gossamer Neptune between them. Bush's Saturn opposed Quayle's Midheaven. This means that the President's ambition and achievement gave Quayle's entire career strong direction. Bush's Mars is square Quayle's Jupiter: a great bond of energy, enthusiasm, and a "we can stand it alone, partner" kind of specialness between them. Among the other ties between their horoscopes, there was a very, very telling one: the link between Bush's Lunar Nodal Axis at 26 Leo-Aquarius ('Getting to Node You', indeed!) trine Quayle's Midheaven and conjunct/opposed his Mercury - how he needs to think - AND Quayle's Nodal Axis (8 Gemini) squares Bush's Ascendant exactly, and both those measurements tie in with the United States' Ascendant at 7 Gemini! THIS is a powerful cluster of ties, for sure. Whenever there is a tight relationship, usually conjunction/opposition or square between one person's Lunar Nodal Axis and another person's planet, Ascendant, or Midheaven, there is a dimension to the relationship tie that goes very, very deep. The relationship can even be strange, as we will see in some other cases. The relationship can drain someone's resources, even possess someone; and here, there certainly is clear memory of how the 'Quayle issue' drained off much stature, energy, time, and verbiage from the Bush camp. The Lunar Nodal Axis The Lunar Nodal Axis is defined by two points where the Moon's path in orbit around the Earth intersects the plane of orbit of the Earth around the Sun. These points are symbolically a synthesis of the Sun's apparent motion and the Moon's actual motion, tying together Sun and Moon symbolism, accentuating relationship, leader and follower, male and female, light and reflection. These dichotomies are certainly the concepts that are extolled in successful relationships of any kind, verging on the poetical when love is involved. When the Nodal Axis in one person's horoscope is configured with a planet or angular point in another person's horoscope, the tie is very, very strong, especially in terms of the planet or personal point (Ascendant or Midheaven) configured. When the Sun or Moon is involved, there seems to be a core recognition, a sense of belonging to one another, if you will. Even under the worst of circumstances, the relationship bond is hard to break. When Mercury is involved, the relationship bond is powerfully focused in the mind, in the thinking process, in communication. This Mercurial dimension is the bond between Bush and Quayle. With Venus, romanticism; with Mars, aggression or defensiveness, and strong sexuality; with Jupiter, enthusiasm, understanding; with Saturn, control, manipulation; Uranus, intense, electrifying magnetism; with Neptune, deception, mistrust, or fantasy and aesthetics; with Pluto, empowerment. The Midheaven involvement links one person to the other in terms of career, even personal destiny; with the Ascendant, how one is presented to the world. When the Nodal Axis sets up such a bond between two people - or two nations, as we will see later - can we say that such a bond was bound to happen? That it may come close to being destined? I think so. Nodal contacts carry something primal and inscrutable with them. They are definitely astrology's hidden grip in relationships. Let's look at one of history's most famous improbable relationships: Adolph Hitler, born April 20, 1889 at 6:30 PM in Baruau, Austria and Eva Braun, born February 6, 1912 at perhaps 3:25 AM, MET in Munich, Germany. Hitler was Chancellor of Germany, Der Fuehrer (The Leader); Braun was an uneducated and, some say, a distant cousin of Hitler, 23 years his junior. They were tied together from remote levels of the social spectrum, in strange ways, and finally married the day before committing suicide together deep underground in a besieged Berlin bunker, (April 29, 1945). Eva Braun's Nodal Axis at 25 Aries-Libra was exactly conjunct Hitler's Mercury at 25 Aries, which was positioned in conjunction with his horizon axis, on the cusp of his 7th House, the house of relationships and marriage! My goodness, what a bond! Additionally, Braun's Sun in Aquarius was square Hitler's exact Venus-Mars conjunction in Taurus, and many psychohistorical analysts have ascribed deep sexual problems to Hitler, and here we see Braun's involvement with them. Hitler's Saturn, square to his Venus-Mars conjunction, opposed Braun's Sun: they seem tied in a sado-masochistic drama. Her Uranus - the electric shock - was square to Hitler's Sun, exactly. And even further, we can see Braun's Venus conjunct Hitler's Moon and Jupiter, a tie of beauty and appreciation; her Mars conjunct his Pluto, a tie to his power. This pair came together in ways and purposes we simply can not understand. The bond was overwhelmingly, inexorably confirmed by the nodal contact with Hitler's mind, his Mercury. Who captured whom, in this case? Did the nodal opening in Braun's psyche invite leadership from Hitler's mind? Astrology cannot say for sure, but very often it is in this direction, i.e., toward the nodal part of the relationship that the influence flows. Were they brought together purposefully though inscrutably from their extraneous orbits by the fateful crossings of some unknown psychological astronomy? I think we can be sure about that. Was their case exceptional? Here we can say no! Nodal contacts are fulfilled frequently; not necessarily blazingly on the pages of history or in suicide pacts halfway to some netherworld, but in everyday life, in relationships in public business and private bond, when obsession or inscrutability or essentialness marks the tie. A fascinating example of the touch of fate, if you will, is in the coming together of Sirhan Sirhan (March 19, 1944) and Robert Kennedy (November 20, 1925), on Kennedy's death day June 6, 1968. The assassin's Nodal Axis was at 5 Leo-Aquarius exactly square the candidate's strident and critical Mars in Scorpio! Here, however, it is hard to say that Kennedy's aggressive political nature (Mars) flowed into Sirhan's being (through the nodal opening, if you will), when it was Sirhan who pulled the trigger. But we could say that it was Kennedy's aggressive politics that did flow into Sirhan's awareness, obsessingly, before the assassination; indeed, the politics conditioned and framed Kennedy as target for Sirhan's anger with the world. Another example is the tremendous bond chronicled between actor Spencer Tracy (April 5, 1900) and Katherine Hepburn (November 8, 1909), an unrequited love that became historic in its fervor, importance, endurance, and frustration: would you believe that Tracy's Jupiter at 10 Sagittarius was conjunct Hepburn's Nodal Axis at 8 Gemini-Sagittarius. This is the same bond (Jupiter-Node) that Benito Mussolini (July 29, 1883) had with Hitler, bringing him together with the German leader in whole-hearted admiration and endorsement, in political and philosophical emulation! Dean Martin's (June 17, 1917) Nodal Axis at 11 Capricorn-Cancer was not only square Jerry Lewis's Mercury (March 16, 1926) but also conjunct his Pluto as well at 12 Cancer! This was a powerful bond indeed, and the square aspect (90 degrees) added tension to the bond for sure. Richard Rodgers (June 28, 1902), the Broadway musical composer, had his Lunar Nodal Axis at 1 Scorpio tightly conjunct (receiving) lyricist Oscar Hammerstein's Saturn at 0 Scorpio (July 12, 1895). This tells us for sure that, in their collaboration, the words came first before the music ! Additionally, Hammerstein's Nodal Axis at 15 Pisces-Virgo was square to Rodger's Mars at 14 Gemini! Again, quite a creatively tense and powerful bond - with one nodal contact balancing the other, i.e., Saturn and Mars - that helped this team create the historic musicals: Oklahoma, Carousel, South Pacific, and The King and I. A lovely example is seen between Princess Grace (November 12, 1929) and Prince Rainier of Monaco (October 31, 1923). This was the fairy-tale love bond, wasn't it: European prince and Philadelphia beauty off in their private kingdom? This was love felt and espied across a crowded room, this was 'getting to node you' in classic romantic fashion: Princess Grace had her Nodal Axis in 11 Taurus-Scorpio 34 precisely conjunct Prince Rainier's Venus and Jupiter [BOTH] at 11 Taurus 34 and 11 Scorpio 02, respectively! Additionally, her Jupiter at 14 Gemini was square his Nodal Axis at 16 Virgo-Pisces! John F. Kennedy (May 29, 1917) had his Nodal Axis at 12 Capricorn-Cancer and Jackie (July 28, 1929) had her Uranus at 11 Aries, square his axis. THAT's electricity, magnetism, and the bond that kept the two together through so much philandering. Bill Clinton (August 19, 1946) has his Sun at 26 Leo, mighty proud and powerful, and Hillary (October 26, 1947) has her Nodal Axis at 24 Taurus-Scorpio, tightly square his Sun. That's his hook up to the synthesis of her strengths as well as the bond of tolerance for her in the midst of the stress from all his mis-adventures. We could surmise that his charismatic way to success 'fronts' for her deepest professional dreams for herself! Interestingly, Clinton's Nodal Axis is conjunct Saddam Hussein's Nodal Axis. We don't know what that means in astrology - when there is the conjoining of Nodal Axes - but it is something to watch. We can appreciate that one person's network of nodal contacts will also be involved with the other person's nodal contacts because of the conjunction of the axes. The Effect Between Nations Besides the fact that the central three letters of Jerusalem are 'USA', there is another bond, a hidden astrological grip, between Israel's destiny and the United States' place in the sun, its fulfillment of its Cancer-Aquarian birthright as humanitarian caretaker to the world: Israel's Nodal Axis at 13 Taurus-Scorpio is square to the United States Midheaven, a most exultantly sensitive point at 13 Aquarius. There is tension there (the square), and the United States must take a lot of flak about its relationship with Israel - its veritable sponsorship of Israel - but as our Aquarian Moon and Midheaven say, that's who we are as a nation. There are dramatic planetary points of synastry as well, but this nodal bond is the tone-setter of the relationship, which, of course, is played out in international politics every day, as Israel's concerns are so extremely close to our nation's international activities. Then we can note that Israel's node is square Iraq's Mars (recall Sirhan Sirhan and Robert Kennedy), an aspect of coming together fatefully antagonizingly, belligerently, aggressively, with Iraq initiating the onslaughts. And then further, would you believe that Kuwait's node is at 29 Leo, precisely conjunct Iraq's Sun! The two nations are blood enemies, with Iraq claiming Kuwait as its 'province', a part of Iraq (a part of its Sun) not recognizing Kuwait's sovereignty. Israel and Egypt were certainly blood enemies for a long, long time. Their ties of hate are clouded in the pre-historical saga of Abraham and the dilemma of which 'first born son' was favored of God - Israel, namesake-son of Isaac (Jacob renamed), grandson of Abraham, or Ishmael, also Abraham's son, key to Arab lineage [see Genesis 32:28; 16:12; 12:7; 26:3; 28:13]. Their contact astrologically says it all: the Egyptian Republic's node (June 18, 1953) at 5 Aquarius 51 is conjunct/opposed Israel's Moon at 4 Leo! It is as if they come from the same family but can not get it together. In the Egyptian kingdom horoscope founded on its independence from Britain (February 28, 1922), the earlier horoscope for Egypt, we see the Egyptian Neptune square the Israeli State's node at 13 Taurus, which came into being in 1948, i.e., mistrust, deception, strange animosity. The Confederate States of America came into being on February 4, 1861 in Montgomery, Alabama (a delegate assembly from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina). The six states had declared independence from the USA. While five more were to come: Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina, this convention on February 4 marked the formal beginning of the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States of America. Would you believe that the Confederate Pluto - the planet of empowerment, disruption, explosion, metamorphosis - at 7 Taurus was exactly square the United States of America node at 7 Leo?! This fateful, divisive, power-struggle bond placed brother against brother in our country's bloodiest conflict. Another interesting national split is in the astrology between North and South Vietnam. The Vietnam states - the North a Democratic Republic and the South pro-French - were both created by the Geneva Accord on July 21 in 1954 (at 2:45 AM GMT). This would give the same chart to each state, except for one-degree difference at the Ascendant for the distance between the two capitals, Hanoi and Saigon. But the French held on to South Vietnam, and true independence did not come to the South until 5:00 AM GMT on October 26 1955 in Saigon. This horoscope for South Vietnam has Mercury at 14 Libra, exactly square to the Nodal Axis of North Vietnam in the Geneva Accord horoscope. With this evidence, it is clear that each state is of the same beginning but of unalterably different philosophical pursuit. Finally, the United States node at 7 Leo was exactly conjunct the former USSR Neptune (mistrust); is conjunct El Salvador's Moon (support) and Nicaragua's Mars (aggression, conflict); the Philippine's Mercury (meeting of the minds; a U.S. territory); the Pluto of Syria and the Pluto of Lebanon (power struggle); and the Cuban Mars (aggression, conflict). The United States controlled the first Nuclear Reaction on December 2, 1942 at 3:25 PM, CWT in Chicago. In this horoscope for the beginning of the Atomic Age, Pluto, the symbol of atomic power, was at 7 Leo, exactly conjunct the United States' Nodal Axis! Who Relates to Your Node? One of the questions most asked in social gatherings is designed to seek out one's birthday. Why do people do this, even people without any astrological knowledge at all? Even people who debunk astrology ask! Everyone knows that birthdates are important dates to remember and celebrate. We ingratiate ourselves with others by giving recognition to birthdays. If there is one song every person knows, it is not the national anthem; it's Happy Birthday! I think we feel we get closer to someone by remarking on one's birthday. NOT knowing astrology, we exhibit some primal awareness that the day one was born was special, and therefore the person is given special attention in the moment of conversation, is allowed to talk about him or herself freely, can tell stories, i.e., shares personal data. This brings people closer together. Knowing astrology, of course, even just the simple fact that the birthday is a reference to where the Sun is on the day of birth, makes the conversation ever so much more meaningful and entertaining. The primal significance of the question takes on sophisticated ramifications and potential. In our personal life and business affairs, we seek kindred spirits, people who will feel like 'family' and cooperate with us. Every one of us, sometime in life, has searched for the 'soul mate', the significant other who is presumably destined to be our fulfillment, as night is fulfilled by day (an interesting reference to the symbolic significance of the nodes, dealing with the Moon and Sun!). Every one of us has had strong personal ties to people with whom we are not involved romantically, but with whom we deal professionally, successfully - or, indeed, not successfully, but compulsively. We hear stories all the time of people in relationships of many different kinds who stay in those relationships against all odds, under all kinds of stress, for no apparent reason. In these cases, very, very often the Nodal Axis contact between the horoscopes involved is at work. It is astrology's hidden grip within relationships. One of the most welcome nodal contacts is usually between your Nodal Axis and someone else's Sun, and you can determine this so easily, without computers and extensive calculations. Let's use our head: First of all, you need to know your node position (or anyone else's) right out of the Ephemeris; no corrections are necessary since the node moves so slowly (backwards about 3', 1/20th of a degree per day). The 'South Node' is directly opposite, the exact same number but in the opposite Sign, and is not listed. As we have seen, the North and South Nodes create the axis across the apparent path of the Sun where the Moon crosses in its orbit around the Earth. For our discussion here, there is no difference to be made between north and south. Note the node position (degree axis) listed in the Ephemeris or shown in the horoscope. If the node position is listed as 5 Capricorn, that's your node position, but it includes 5 Cancer as well, the exact same position in Capricorn's opposite Sign. Your Nodal Axis is 5 Capricorn-Cancer. You know the Signs with their opposites are Aries-Libra, Taurus-Scorpio, Gemini-Sagittarius, Cancer-Capricorn, Leo-Aquarius, and Virgo-Pisces. When you know your natal node position, you can do a simple mental calculation to find out the birthday someone must have to put their Sun on your node, setting up the makings of an extraordinary bond: we can generalize that the Sun travels about one degree every day, i.e., on January 1, the Sun is at 10 Capricorn and on January 2 it is at 11 Capricorn, on the 3rd at 12 Capricorn, etc. Or on June 1, the Sun is at 10 Gemini, on June 11th, 21 Gemini, on the 12th, 22 Gemini, etc. After thirty degrees are used up, of course, the Sun enters the next successive Sign in the zodiac, and we know that the sign-changes take place around the 21st of every month. For example: on May 1, the Sun is at 10 or 11 Taurus, and on the 20th it is at 29 Taurus. On the 21st, it enters Gemini, i.e., 0 Gemini; on the 22nd it is in 1 Gemini; and then, on June 1st, 9 days later after the 22nd, 10 days after the sign change, the Sun comes to 10 Gemini. In short, we know that on the first of every month the Sun will always be at 10-11 degrees of its Sign for the months January through June, and on the first of every month for the months July through December, the Sun will always be at 8-9 degrees of its Sign. "When's your birthday?" "August 7th!" On August 1, the Sun will have been at 8 or 9 Leo. August 7 then equates to 15-16 Leo (8-9 for the 1st of August plus 7). If your Lunar Nodal Axis is marked by the position 15 or 16 Leo (or 5-16 Aquarius, the opposite sign), there's a match: that person's Sun, born on August 7 is conjunct your Nodal Axis and, all things considered, you might want to plan a trip to Hawaii together, quickly! And you can go further mentally, easily: you know that each of the three modes in astrology (Cardinal, Fixed, and Mutable) has four signs comprised of opposition-axes square (90 degrees) to each other. For example: The Fixed family has in it the signs Leo and its opposite Aquarius, Taurus and its opposite Scorpio. If you're dealing with a birthdate of August 7, the above example, with the Sun at 15-16 Leo, you know immediately that the birthdays of February 6 (Aquarius), and April 6 (Taurus), and November 7 (Scorpio) will all be involved with 'noding you'! You will have a strong nodal relationship with the people born on those days or, indeed, one day either side of the calculated date! And even further: a quick look at the Ephemeris reveals the positions of all his or her planets and shows instantly which planets relate tightly to your Nodal Axis! This is powerful information for business and personal relationships. Let me use my own Nodal Axis as a closing illustration: my node is at 23 Sagittarius (born December 31, 1936). Carl Llewellyn Weschcke, President and Publisher of Llewellyn Publications, and I have known each other for 22 years. Llewellyn has published all 20 of my books, some 10 anthologies in the New Age series which I edited, and the acclaimed and well remembered Astrology Now magazine which I founded and edited for many years in the 1970s that's probably almost 2.5 million words of mine published by Llewellyn. Llewellyn has been the foundation of my entire career in astrology. Carl Weschcke has often, privately and publicly, referred to our bond in a previous life, that I was 'his brother'. In short, Carl and I are very close to each other professionally; we respect and admire each other considerably. Carl Weshcke's Midheaven, the high, sharply focused, career, professional point in his horoscope is 23 Sagittarius. My node is precisely conjunct his Midheaven axis, a tremendous bond, a grand relationship graciously created by time. Noel Tyl [pronounced no-el' til] is one of the foremost astrologers in the world. His thirty textbooks have led the teaching of astrologers for two generations. Tyl is a graduate of Harvard University in Social Relations (Psychology, Sociology, and Anthropology). He lectures constantly throughout 16 countries and maintains a client list of individuals and corporations throughout the world. In May, 1998, Tyl was honored at the United Astrology Congress, the world convention for astrology, as the recipient of the Regulus Award for establishing and maintaining professional image in the field.