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Aries Point, Lunar Nodes, Ascendant, MC, Midheaven

T HE URANIAN INST IT UT E

Planetary and Ref erence Points in Midpoint Astrology with a special f ocus on the signif icance of the Lunar Nodes 2002 by L Blake Finley, M.A.

Updated 2004.May.26 INT RODUCT ION T he meanings of the personal and ref erential points have been clarif ied through work with Uranian Astrology, much because of the innate precision of Uranian techniques. In this article, we will elaborate on just what they mean, f or their def initions have of ten been obscured in traditional astrology. T his is probably due to the f act that when learning traditional astrology, there is a tendency to perpetuate and cling to old truisms that have been translated f rom language to language over the centuries, or are buried in cultural and social archetypes and collective mindsets of history that are f ar removed f rom today's realities. T hus, we need to take f resh look at the personal and ref erential points, f or they are the main points in an astrological chart, around which the planets revolve, either literally, or symbolically, and they theref ore provide us with signif icant points of ref erence in our interactions with the energies of the cosmos. We look to Uranian Astrology f or answers, as its f ounder, Alf red Witte, and his most likeminded students, including Ludwig Rudolph, and Ruth Brummund, exercised healthy skepticism combined with inventiveness in their astrology, and only perpetuated what they witnessed during actual chart work. T he great experimenter Witte was among the f irst to attempt to popularize use of the 0 Aries (Cardinal) Point in recent times; and he also worked regularly with the Lunar Nodes while many western astrologers ignored them or interpreted them to ref lect solely esoteric or karmic processes and f unctions. In recent times, Robert Hand should be credited f or the outstanding insights into several of these ref erence points he has provided in his text Horoscope Symbols. Personal study of the writings of the above-mentioned authors, and verif ication through over 25 years of practical work with natal charts of clients, f riends, and f amily, along with event and horary charts, brings me to summarize the meaning of the ref erential points in the f ollowing manner. In addition a special f ascination with the inner meaning of the Lunar Nodes has led me through a number of books and continual reappraisal of how the Lunar Nodes manif est in the lives of the people whose charts I have studied. It was Alf red Witte's comments on the Lunar Nodes that led me to f ind the various interpretations of them f all into place and perspective. Aries Point : T his is also of ten ref erred to as the Cardinal Point or the Vernal Point. In reality, in traditional 360 dial work, Witte ref erred to 0 Cancer; but as the 4th-harmonic 90 dial was popularized, where 0 Cancer = 0 Aries, the term "Aries Point" has been used. Its meaning: As the starting ref erence point f or the Tropical Z odiac, it symbolizes one of our root connections with the universe. No matter where or what time we were born, its value in the chart remains the same, relative to the Tropical Z odiac. It has of ten been interpreted as "out in the world",

"out among the public", "among the general public", and one that I also f ind most appropriate is "public settings". It has also been described as "the geographic locality on the Earth", the meaning of which probably needs f urther clarif ication. T he f act that the point is relatively f ixed and unchanging in any given chart indicates its objective and impersonal nature. Midpoints and clusters linked to it describe how we relate, in an impersonal manner, to the world around us, in a public or objective sense. One might say it's our "window to the universe", and it might seem that such a point would be so impersonal as to be insignif icant -- but it is not. You will f ind it, whether in the natal chart, directed positions, horaries, or in f act in any type of chart, to indicate situations where we have broad, open public contact at some level, and is an indicator of how the world as a whole perceives us, as it describes the energies through which we experience and interact out in open public settings (whether people -correlating with the Moon -- are immediately present or not). Midheaven: T his is a point above us, overhead, and correlates symbolically with what we reach upward f or. If you were to ask a person what their special talents are, they would likely describe talents that correlate with the astrological conf igurations involving their MC, f or it is what each of us idealizes our selves to be. T hus it is of ten a key component describing our vocation, as an extension of what we strive to be as individuals as we "reach f or the stars", and with f ew exceptions, we manif est these talents in a way that others usually recognize us f or them. Ascendant: While the Cardinal (Aries) Point is likened to "our window to the universe", the Ascendant is a more personalized point, geared to our birthplace and based on the minute we were born, and is more like "the lens we view the world through" or "our personal window to the world", and indicates how we interact more subjectively with our immediate environment, with people as well as other organisms and inanimate objects. T hus, it is of ten described as correlating with the persona, or surf ace manif estations of the personality (other astrological f actors describing various f actors of the inner nature) and the types of environmental situations we gravitate towards. Sun: A variety of interpretations of the Sun's core meaning have been proposed. Some say it's the ego, others say it's the self . In Uranian Astrology, the Sun could be thought of as one of several aspects of the self (which is also largely represented by the MC). T he Sun proves to be the physical body and the vital energies that we f unction with on the physical plane, and its conf igurations say much about our personal, vital purpose, which we may identif y with our egos. And it also is an indicator of the types of physically manif est situations we tend to gravitate toward. T hink of the Sun as being the bright star at the center of our solar system, which guides us as it lights our days; and it sends us vitalizing rays of energy that lend us the vitality to live lif e to its potential. As individuals, we are in f act, at a deeper level, stewards and vehicles of this energy, not its origin. Problems arise when we f orget this. Hamburg School astrologers have verif ied that the Sun relates to the f ather and male archetypes in one's lif e... f or each of us, it is in some ways our f ather's genetic heritage as integrated into (or projected by) our personalities. Moon : Here is the big ref lector of the Sun's rays which light our paths in the night, and hovers around us as we sleep, f eeding us and the plants and animals in our environment with transmitted vital Sun rays. T he Moon generates no light of its own, like our giant Sun does; but it does relay the vital energies to us, while tempering them with its own relatively f luctuating qualities. In the traditions of recent centuries, the Sun correlates with male energies and the Moon with f emale. However, we see that both energies can manif est equally in any individual. T he solar component of personality is vital and generative, while the lunar component is receptive, adaptive, and nurturing. A balanced and well-adjusted personality might well include elements of both. Hamburg School astrologers have verif ied that the Sun relates to the mother and f emale archetypes in one's lif e... f or each of us, it is in some ways our mother's genetic heritage as integrated into (or projected by) our personalities. Lunar Node : Here is perhaps one of the most misunderstood non-planetary points (along with the Aries Point). It has stayed with western astrologers largely through its important role in Hindu Astrology, and interpretations of it are of ten colored with the language and perspective of ancient Hindu traditions. Here, however, my intent is to describe the Lunar Nodes as they manif est in today's world and more universal paradigms. Let's look to what the Lunar Nodes actually are, and that will help us clarif y what they actually mean f or us when we look at a chart in the here and now. T he Hamburg School and Cosmobiological traditions have been to correlate them with bonds, relationships, or connections. A problem here is that these terms overlap with matters also signif ied by the Ascendant

and Venus, and Cupido, as well. So we might seek to clarif y the Lunar Nodes' meaning to distinguish them f rom those other chart f actors which yield similar, but not identical, inf ormation. T he Node of any planet is where it crosses the path of the Sun around the Earth. In this case, since were are ref erring to the Nodes of the Moon, we are dealing with something that combines the energies of the Aries Point, the Sun, and the Moon all together. Why is the Aries Point considered here? Because it is the starting point in a ref erence paradigm, i.e. a "circle" called the Ecliptic, which is in ef f ect the apparent path of the Sun as it appears to circle around our planet Earth, f rom a geocentric perspective. My f irst exposure to convincing interpretations of the Lunar Nodes was through the writings of Frances Sakoian and Louis Acker. T hey presented the Lunar Nodes as our personal manner of relating to public trends and the Z eitgeist, or "Spirit of the Times". Well-conf igured Nodes, i.e. those that allowed f or f luid and readily constructive expression in the chart, of ten indicated popularity and an ability to easily capitalize on public trends and "go with the f low", while Nodes with stressf ul conf igurations indicated personal problems in relating f luidly with the general public... "swimming against the current" or "being out of sync". I f ound such interpretations to be accurate in most every case, and to be rather signif icant f or many people. However, when I came upon Hamburg School and Uranian literature, the emphasis in Node interpretations was more on the personal side, and I initially thought to myself , 'how could this be?" Further study, in an attempt to answer this question, led me to realize that as an extension of the Moon (relying on the Moon as their main point of ref erence), the Lunar Nodes have both a personal and a public side, just as the Moon does. For, just as the Moon indicates the public itself ... the people of the public (compared to the inanimate and f ixed location where one f inds oneself when "out among the public", in the open, symbolized by the Aries/Cardinal Point) ... the Lunar Node describes the interaction between the Moon (the people of the public and our emotional response to them.), the Sun (our vital energies), and Aries Point (the general setting, and our place in the world/universe). Considering these three f actors together, they semantically dovetail quite nicely to verif y what Sakoian and Acker asserted. T he Moon also signif ies our personal connection to the public, in a personal and subjective sense, i.e. how we perceive and receive our environment... how we sense, f eel, and respond to what we experience. T he Moon indicates much about our emotional nature and how we f unction as respondents to the energies of both the inanimate environs and other people in our proximity, in a very personal way. Combine this with the Sun, which signif ies the vital energies of all beings as relayers of the Sun's energies, and we see how each one of us, as members of the public, f unctions like a little Moon. And how does this f it with relationships, bonds, and connections? T hink of the interaction between the Sun and the Moon.... one emits light with vibrant energy, while the other receives, ref lects, and rechannels this energy to nurture our Earth and to nurture each other. A main theme here is "complementation" and the give-and-take of energies in interactions. We begin to have a sense of how the Lunar Nodes f unction in personal relationships.... there is a vitality and also personal sensitivity not indicated with the Ascendant. Here, the various f actors involved synthesize well to correlate with the def inition Hamburg School astrologers have of ten ascribed to the Lunar Nodes. We might experience the Lunar Nodes externally through complementary relationships with others (where one individual is more assertive, the other more receptive) or through an internal balance where individuals project themselves with a balance of assertiveness and receptivity (thus promoting ease of social relating and popular acceptance). Here is how Alf red Witte described the Lunar Nodes in 1924, where he commented on how the (approximately) 19-year orbital ("metonic") cycle of the Lunar Nodes correlates symbolically as the square root of the 361-day orbital cycle of the Sun in a remarkable mathematical relationship that seems more than just coincidental: "T he Lunar Nodes are signif icant in that the nodes are the intersecting point of the Moon's orbit (symbolic of the wif e) with the Earth's orbit (symbolic of the husband) and theref ore correlate with the masculine-f eminine blending. In addition, the unif ication of the etheric (Moon) with coarser material substances (Sun) are inf luenced by the Lunar Nodes." (Witte, p 193) T his insight indeed correlates with the Lunar Nodes as an indicator of both intimate partnerships (where Solar and Lunar energies are blended), as well as the integration and coordination within the individual of vital energies, self -awareness, and conf idence (Sun) with receptiveness to needs of others (Moon) required to truly and ef f ectively relate in broader social contexts, conf irming the insights of Sakoian and Acker, and validating some of the more traditional and esoteric assumptions about the nature of the Lunar Nodes. T he Lunar Nodes might then well be interpreted as "complementary relationships" or "complementation in interaction". I would like to thank Ruth Brummund, in particular, f or her insights into the ref erence points, which help me ref lect on previously crystallized assumptions, clarif y and transf orm my understanding, and write this article f or your perusal. -- San Francisco, 2002.Mar.24

If you have not already done so, you may want to read Ruth Brummund's set of articles on the Ascendant and how it functions in the astrological chart, by clicking here. T he most effective way to explore Uranian techniques is through use of the 'Special Uranian' program by Aureas Software of Paris. (Click here for further information.) BIBLIOGRAPHY Brummund. 1994. Uranische Techniken Hamburger Astrologen : Hamburg: Ruth Brummund Eigenverlag. Hand, R. 1981. Horoscope Symbols: Rockport MA USA: Para Research. Sakoian, F. & Acker, L. 1973. T he Astrologer's Handbook : New York NY USA: Harper & Row. Sakoian, F. & Acker, L. 1977. Predictive Astrology : New York NY USA: Harper & Row. Witte, A. 1975. Der Mensch--eine Empfangsstation kosmischer Suggestionen ("Man: A Receiving Station of Cosmic Inf luences"; an anthology of articles written by Witte and associates in the 1920s and 1930s): Hamburg: Ludwig Rudolph/Witte-Verlag. T HE URANIAN BEACON T M: INT ELLIGENT AST ROLOGY FOR T HE 21ST CENT URY English Options