In the last blog, we made the excursion to the North and South Node in astrology.
This doctrine is closely interwoven with the Hindu / Buddhist philosophy of Karma and Dharma. The Gautama Buddha speaks (in short) in his teaching and vision about: cause and effect in life through these two doctrines.
It is not so strange that these two doctrines return in astrology. After all, Vedic astrology is one of the oldest forms of transferred astrology. The Vedic system was/is under great influence of Hinduism / Buddhism, in which both doctrines take an important place in everyday life. The Vedic translations to the Middle East correspond in timeline of: “(…) the house of wisdom (Bayt al-Hikma) in Baghdad, founded in the 8th century by Caliph Caliph al-Mansur (712-775), where Greek, Persian and Indian texts were translated, and new works were composed. (…)” (Source: Primary directions, Astrology’s Old Master Techniques, Martin Gangsten, 2009, page 16).
To keep the foundation simple, here is the vision of Gautama Buddha (ca. 450 BC to ca. 370 BC) on Karma and Dharma, respectively the South and North Node in astrology.
The Gautama Buddha says the following about these two doctrines:
Karma (Cauda Draconis)
“I am the owner of my deeds, The heir of my deeds, Born by my deeds, related to my deeds. And live supported by my deeds. Of every deed I do, Good or bad, I am the heir. Thus, a monk (read: human) should reflect again and again.”
Dharma (Caput Draconis)
“The Dharma I have obtained is profound, difficult to see and difficult to understand, peaceful and sublime, unattainable by logic alone, subtle, and experienced by the wise.”
In short, the South Node in the horoscope keeps us in the repeated cycles of life, and apparently the North Node leads to transformation and liberation from a vicious circle of action and life.
If we continue to do things as we have already learned according to the Cauda Draconis (South Node); then we are left with a vicious circle in this life and its end. Our actions, positive or negative through repetition and/or intention, make us remain in our life with old actions and inheritances. In other words, we do not grow as people. On the other hand if we do things as is expected of us in the Caput Draconis, and only perform actions with the pure intention of good, and in the interest of transforming ourselves (North Node) and thereby live in peace in the world with the other people around us, then we free ourselves from the vicious circle of karma (Cauda Draconis) that we experience, and insight and wisdom will be ours and sooner or later and we will be able to look back on our life as a better student.
Who we were, are, and the skills we already possess always guide us first. It is as if the unconscious takes us under protection and says; “this is the way to deal with the practical matters in life Karma (Cauda Draconis); and our ego gets to work.”
Often we have an aversion to what we could/should do differently and/or better, and learn new skills (read: transform our self/ego) that goes with it Dharma (Caput Draconis).
As we get older, wiser and more aware and life has confronted us with our actions and the consequences of them in a repetitive positive and negative sense for our self/ego, it can happen that we say to ourselves: “if I had known that, then..”. This is, in our opinion: the instant Karma moment (South node), and the individual insight and the call to Dharma (North node). So this is according to us the necessary bit of maturation that is needed to walk the line of Parzival, to learn new skills, and to do good intentional deeds, and to transform. We sometimes hear people say after that moment: “(…) I (ego) have taken a completely different path in my life; and I (ego transformed) am very happy with it! (…)”.
Do you remember the previous blog post North and South lunar nodes in which Parzival had to repair all previous deeds that caused karma (south-node) in the first part of his life, before he could represent the holy grail as his dharma(north-node)? Only in the second part of his life was that the case, and had he learned what he had to learn by; transforming himself in the proces of living and learning.
Incidentally, Sagittarius and Gemini keep the South Node (Cauda Draconis) and North Node (Caput Draconis) in Western astrology as “exaltation” in the table of essential dignities. Both signs are naturual significators of long and short studies and travels.
Without astrology it is, as Gautama Buddha said, “hard to see and hard to understand” what our direction in this life should be for the North Node / Caput Draconis and its associated actions and transformations.
Repetition of actions of good/bad intention is stagnation, change of actions in the right direction with good intention is transformation. Not only as an individual person, but also as part of humanity.
Do you dare to take on your North Node lessons and fail many times like Parzival to ultimately succeed as a wiser person in your life?