The Serpents of Heracles: the Lunar Nodes in Astrology
The natal chart is a karmic ledger book.
That was my introduction to natal astrology. My first teacher was an evolutionary astrologer and believed that each planet told a story of her clients’ past, present, and future, contained in a singular moment. She conducted her practice out of a tiny Upper East Side apartment, hosting students and clients beneath framed photographs of Aztec ruins and celestial events, most of which she’d taken herself. I’m still not certain whether I believe her cosmology but I couldn’t deny the sense of peace and understanding it brought.
One evening after a lesson, I walked back to the train with another student. We’d spent the last few hours combing through her chart, airing out all of the intimate energetic secrets it held. In a past life, our teacher told her, she’d been a feudal lord. His people had starved while he hoarded the fruits of their labor and though his territory amassed a vast wealth, his people lived in destitution. It was a horror story, an ugliness hidden deep within her soul despite the cheerful beauty of her current incarnation. But far from being horrified, she beamed as we walked home — she worked as an accountant for a non-profit because she couldn’t reconcile the idea of making money for herself without contributing back to the community around her. With this revelation of…
