I recently learned a new way of approaching the birth chart. The method is rooted in evolutionary astrology and entails entering the chart through the portal of emotional and psychological patterns (the Pluto placement), and soul memories (Uranus), then applying this to the actual circumstances of the past lives (the South Node of the Moon). Armed with that information, we then analyse the chart, and the life, through the lens of these unconscious patterns and past life circumstances in the hope of enlightening the client and kickstarting a transformation.

In the process of studying this new (to me) method, I applied it to my own chart. What I found literally blew my mind, a phrase that would bring a small smile to the face of the course’s creator Mark Jones. I discovered that my entire chart is a trauma signature. Put simply, this means that every planet in my chart is caught up in past life (or inherited) trauma patterns.

And while that gave me pause, it also excited me. Finally I had a reason why I repeated fear-based patterns that had no basis in the actual events of my current life. Finally I understood the dynamics of several workplaces where I’d been bullied and ultimately left for the sake of my own sanity.  And most importantly I had a path forward, and the ultimate tool (astrology) to set me on my own path of soul-aligned transformation.

The Overwhelm

Once the initial excitement of this discovery wore off, I set about applying my new chart delineation skills to my own trauma patterns. But despite my wealth of knowledge and experience, I quickly became overwhelmed. None of my chart placements looked the same to me anymore. The ways that my planetary archetypes worked, all so deeply embedded and familiar, no longer felt safe. It was like something inside me had cracked open and too much light was coming through at once, blinding me. So I walked away. I needed time to breathe. And think.

When I came back to my chart, I took the sage advice of Mr Jones himself, and began with a plain astrological wheel, with only the Pluto placement drawn in. I then contemplated this one placement. I was prepared to sit there for as long as I needed to glean as much information as I could from this indicator of accumulated emotional and psychological conditioning.

But then something happened. I’ve been studying astrology for 35 years and I’ve read hundreds, probably thousands, of charts in my 28 years as a professional. And I couldn’t tell you how many astrology books and articles I’ve read in that time. So as I stared at that singular placement I could feel my mind working overtime like an old-fashioned filing cabinet, flicking through every possible interpretation of this planet in this sign and this house, trying to discern the most appropriate potential past life patterns.

And then I realised my error.

One of the patterns of a Pluto in Virgo is a compulsion to over-analyse. There is also a desire to discriminate in order to purify and transform but I instinctively knew that continually riffling through the filing cabinet in my mind wouldn’t produce the results I was looking for. After all, you can’t solve a problem with the same thinking that created it.

Enter the Pluto Polarity Point

One of the foundations of this chart delineation method is the use of the Pluto polarity point. This is quite literally the point in the chart directly opposite the Pluto placement. It operates like a North Node to Pluto’s South Node-like functions. So when you are caught up in Pluto’s compulsions, or more negative patterns, the remedy is to look across the chart to the exact opposite point. This point functions in the same way that the North Node of the Moon acts as medicine for when you’ve become too embedded in the more familiar South Node patterns.

My Pluto polarity point is in Pisces in the 3^rd house. Pisces tells me that I wasn’t going to solve this problem with logic. So I closed my eyes, took three deep breaths, and allowed a string of images showing me the truth of my Pluto placement to rise in my mind.

And rise they did. It was like watching a multitude of scenarios play on a movie screen in my mind, with each scenario representing some aspect of the Pluto in Virgo in the 9^th placement.

I then repeated this practice with every trauma placement in my chart and those results were literally what blew my mind. So many past life scenes arose and made so much sense to me in the context of what I have struggled with in this life.

The Power of the Pluto Polarity Point

In the same way the North Node of the Moon shows the direction of growth for the soul in this lifetime, the Pluto polarity point shows the antidote to any negative conditioning contained within the emotional and psychological pattern storehouse as indicated by the Pluto placement in your chart. In my case, I knew that purification and transformation was my ultimate Pluto goal, but if I hadn’t shifted my perspective to the polarity point in Pisces, I’d still be trying to solve my Pluto problem with the same thinking that created it. I’d still be riffling through that filing cabinet in my mind, no closer to a solution.

Awareness starts with knowledge of the past. In this approach to chart delineation, the past is represented by Pluto, Uranus, the South Node, its rulers and planets aspecting it. Once you know where you are coming from, and what patterns you are unconsciously repeating in this life, you can deconstruct them, making the passage to the North Node that much smoother.

At least that’s the standard teaching, and often the standard approach.

The danger with adhering tightly to this notion, is that it implies that you can’t head for the North Node without first exposing and correcting the errors of the past as indicated by the South Node.

As a result of this course (Transformational Astrology Foundation Course) I now view both my North and South Nodes differently. And the primary difference in my viewpoint was triggered by my experience with the Pluto polarity point.

The Lesson of My Pluto Polarity Point

I have always had a very active imagination. While others struggle to visualise, I can easily see things in my mind’s eye. And I can do it anytime. It’s almost as though I have a perpetually refreshing internal movie screen inside my mind. I’ve always explained this away by a combination of Pisces on the 3^rd house ruled by Neptune squaring my Mercury. There’s a double dose of Mercury/Pisces energy right there. A natural blurring of the boundaries of the mind.

But now I see things a little differently. Knowing that my Pluto polarity point is in Pisces in the 3^rd house adds a deeply nuanced layer to my understanding of my imagination, and my mind. Viewing the Pluto polarity point as a de facto North Node, I now see it as a crucial energy point for my soul where it seeks to understand the concept of truth, improve my intuitive perception and being open to new concepts and other’s opinions (all 3^rd house activities). Standing in opposition to a Pluto in Virgo in the 9^th house it reminds me that surrender, letting go and dissolving rigid and dogmatic ways of seeking and analysing Truth (Virgo, 9^th house) is the way forward for me. I essentially need to surrender the need to be right, the need to always have the answer, and the need to know the outcome of every possible move. I have to surrender and trust, not over-analyse and become entrenched in dogma.

And this in turn has revolutionised the way I see the South Node, and more importantly, how I view my soul’s evolution point: the North Node.

The Power of the Moon’s Nodal Axis

Many astrologers, and students of this great art, treat the Moon’s Nodes as two separate points that have little or nothing to do with each other. This is an error. The Moon’s nodal axis is just that–an axis. The nature of the concept alone tells us that the North Node cannot, and does not, exist independently of the South Node, and vice versa. They constantly move together, in perfect opposition, providing a cornucopia of soul information as they go.

And many astrologers (me included until recently) make the error of interpreting the South Node as where you come from and the North Node as what you aspire to head towards in linear time. 

Let me give you an analogy. We are born as babies and age into adults, growing and changing along the way, striving to individuate and mature. Many astrologers treat the Moon’s Nodes as a similar journey. You start your life clueless at the South Node, following early instincts to return to what is safe and comfortable. It is then only as life “happens” to us that we attempt to grow and evolve into the energy of our North Node.

The reality could not be further from the truth.

The Moon’s Nodes are the soul’s presence in your birth chart. As such, they do not operate on a linear, Saturnian timeline. The soul operates outside of time as we know it here on earth. Instead it operates on Kairos time, also known as God’s time, or time out of time. Kairos time is a state of perpetual now, where every possibility exists in every moment.

Mark Jones explains this beautifully when he likens our soul’s consciousness to a river which contains every experience of the soul’s existence, past, present and future. From the shoreline, which is our perspective in this life, we can jump into the river at any point. By doing so we can experience any circumstances of either Node, the ruling planets and any aspecting planets at any point in time, because any point in the river is every point on the soul’s journey.

I know this is getting bit existential, but it’s an important distinction if you intend to do any serious soul work with the Nodes in your chart. As a container, the South Node does tell of past experiences. And, as a container, the North Node indicates the evolutionary growth point of the soul. But in the same way that, in any moment in time, you are a conglomerate of every energy in your chart, your soul also contains within it all the experiences of both the Nodes. When viewed from this perspective there is no linear growth, there is no past that needs to be left behind (as many astrologers read the South Node). There is only the soul’s past and the soul’s growth edge forever wheeling around on its axis around our chart.

Combining the Pluto Polarity Point With the Moon’s North Node

The Pluto polarity point adds an extra dimension to the soul’s evolutionary journey. By feeding in information about how to correct the soul’s accumulated past emotional and psychological patterns, it acts as an additional focal point for soul growth in this life. If there is a planet there, this planet can be treated like a planet conjunct the North Node–a helper on the path to soul growth. You can even look to the ruler of Pluto’s opposite sign as a further indicator to assist with the circumstances and personality traits that will be helpful in decoding Pluto’s past life message.

The Wonder of Transformational Astrology

Delineating my chart from the transformational perspective has cleared out multiple lifetimes of accumulated (and inherited) trauma and for that reason alone the course fee was worth what I paid ten times over. But the true enlightenment for me came through the understanding, and incorporation, of the Pluto polarity point, and the impact that has had on my experience of my own nodal axis, and my view of my client’s nodal placements. The Pluto polarity point, as one single degree in my chart, where no other planet or point resides, held the key that opened the door to me understanding not just my chart, but my life and the power of astrology, and in particular the true power of the nodal axis like never before.

And, amazingly, it was working all along without me even having to go looking for it. This has opened my eyes to the truth that the North Node is doing the exact same thing. It’s functioning in me, and my chart at this very moment without any conscious input from me. When you go looking for the truth of your North Node you’ll likely find the same thing. This doesn’t mean that you’ve nothing left to learn in this life or no further directions in which to grow. Nor does it mean that you’ve learned all the lessons you need to. It simply means that the North Node is operating whether you see it or not, just like every other point in your chart.

So lean into your North Node and your Pluto polarity point. Review your life and see where they are already operating. If they’re working well for you without you even realising, imagine what you can do now that you are able to consciously harness their power.