“], “filter”: { “nextExceptions”: “img, blockquote, div”, “nextContainsExceptions”: “img, blockquote, a.btn, ao-button”} }”>

One of the most significant astrological shifts occurring this year is about to change the direction of our individual and collective evolution over the next 18 months.

On July 17, 2023, the Lunar Nodes will move from the Taurus-Scorpio axis, where they have been since January 2022, to the Aries-Libra axis, where they will remain until January 2025. It invites us to cultivate new and different attitudes toward authenticity, courage, action, desire, and self-awareness.

What are lunar nodes?

In astrology, we look to the lunar nodes to understand our purpose, soul development, destiny and evolution. Like fate itself, the lunar nodes are not material objects. Rather, they are two mathematical points in space delineated by the place where the Moon’s orbit crosses the apparent path of the Sun, or the ecliptic.

The North Node represents the direction in which we individually and collectively develop. It is in the opposite zodiac sign to the South Node, which represents what we release. Our individual destiny depends on the position of the lunar nodes at the time of our birth, and our collective destiny is determined by the movements and cycles of the lunar nodes at the current moment.

The signs that rule the lunar nodes are the same signs that rule the eclipses that occur during these 18 months. These astrological events open fateful opportunities and invitations related to destiny.

What the North Node in Aries and the South Node in Libra 2023 mean for your sign

The nodes work with signs opposite to each other, meaning that movement in one direction is a natural movement from the opposite direction. In addition, each zodiac sign contains a primary or lower expression and an evolved or higher expression.

As the north node shifts into Aries and we are invited to explore the higher expressions and potential of this fire sign, we naturally move away from the lower, or more primal expressions of Libra found in the south node.

Aries is the first sign of the zodiac, born of the all-encompassing consciousness of All That Is. It is our introduction to the separate Self, the individual Self, the “I”. This is a fire zodiac sign fueled by inspiration, passion, desire and direction. Aries is here to initiate, ignite, create and forge a new path. She needs the freedom, independence, and empowerment to go where she’s directed, create where she’s inspired, and act on her innate knowing.

As an archetype, Aries exists in each of us. When the North Node moves into and passes through this sign, we are invited to reach into our reserves of courage. Courage to be completely and independently of oneself. Courage to stand up for your desires and take action on your vision. The courage to say yes to yourself, even if it means saying no to others.

Libra sits on the other side of the axis in the south node. If Aries is the Self, then Libra is the Other. This is partnership, cooperation, and a different perspective. Libras harmonize their environment through intuitive attunement, always acutely aware of what others need at any given moment to arrive at a state of peace, harmony and justice.

While Libras are capable of harboring the wonderful medicines of diplomacy, grace and elegance, our journey into the realm of the South Node highlights the potentially harmful aspects of the air sign. These are the aspects that we, as a collective, are ready to heal and develop. These include the need to be so harmonious with others that we leave the needs of self behind. Also, the need for peace and harmony is so great that we fall into unhealthy complacency, passivity, and look away from that which is not peaceful but still requires our attention

The next 18 months are an exploration of where and how we long for others to the point of losing self, where and how we adapt to the environment to the point of losing self, and where and how we compromise on desires and way who call our name so that others may shine.

During this time, fears and beliefs about what we are not capable of as an individual self come to the surface for us to heal. Also, aspects of ourselves that we may have put aside or ignored come back to the fore and remind us of what matters and what we deserve.

This time offers healing from fears about what others think of us, and where and how we allow others’ perceptions to rule us, control us, and hinder us. He asks us to bring love to those parts of ourselves that we have given up in the name of another, so that we can revive those parts of ourselves and come to the fullness of our individual selves.

Your invitation

Astrology constantly asks us to change through the daily movements of the Moon, the seasonal changes of the Sun, or the planetary bodies that change once in many years. In this way he imitates life. We need to continue to meet new opportunities, invitations and challenges, reflected in the way the Earth changes its seasons, as our bodies change, age and decay. All we know is change, subtle or overt, quiet or loud, internal or tangible. Our existence is the existence of change.

There is a freedom that comes with declaring yourself, your path, your passions and your needs, and that is the invitation of the North Node in Aries. Direct more of your life to yourself, your desires and your satisfaction.

Over the next 18 months, we focus on ourselves, healing the beliefs, wounds, patterns, and external noise that tries to tell us that this focus is selfish. Each of us has our own path. Each of us has our own passions. Each of us has our own needs. Each of us has our own world that lives inside us and dreams that call us to them. This chapter is a reminder that your path, passions, needs, dreams, and all that you are are worth your time, attention, energy, and focus.

When you pursue the fire of passion that burns inside you and no one else, that fire begins to grow. It fuels you. It motivates you. It inspires you. It guides you. And it pushes you forward. It burns so brightly and beautifully that we can’t resist moving forward with it. And it burns so brightly that you can’t sit still. You have to move towards the dreams that are for you. And you have to do it for yourself.

The shifting of the lunar nodes can be understood esoterically as a force inviting us to our destiny and purpose, or it can be seen as the inevitable and obvious movement, change and growth of life over time. Either way, they represent a new theme, a new focus of consciousness, and a new direction of development that we are exploring whether we realize it or not.

Learn more about how astrology affects your life, including astrological events, moon cycles, your Sun and Moon and rising signs, how journaling can help you connect with current influences, and more with Jordan Marie at Girl and her Moon .

About our contributor

Jordan Marie is the founder of Girl and Her Moon, a platform and community that explores the soul through the lens of astrology, tarot, and energy healing. She is an author, intuitive astrologer, energy and soul guide, and host of Girl and Her Moon, The Podcast. She inspires herself every day to be a mirror for you to see all that you really are, you in all your infinite capacity, in full expansion, in infinite possibility and love.