In a person’s chart, the South Node is the primary indicator of past life karma. It indicates what skills a person is bringing into this life but also how they screwed things up in their past lives, be those actual past lives or simply useful metaphoric narratives for the early parts of this life. When the South Node is in Aries, the person has spent many lifetimes as a Warrior. They’re naturally good at all things Aries: kicking ass, breaking free, and fighting back. They’re also prone to falling prey to Aries’ dark side: recklessness, rage, being ruled by inflamed passions and refusing to ever back down. These are also ways they’re most likely to self-destruct in this life should they stay stuck in their South Node. Their karmic mission is to embrace their North Node in Libra, the sign of romance, relationships, and relating to “the other”.
Films are an excellent tool to understand one’s Nodal Axis. Just run a chart for the film the way you would for yourself or another person. The villain and/or crisis will line up with the film’s South Node while the resolution and/or hero will line up with the North Node.
If you want to understand the Aries South Node/Libra North Node axis there is probably no better film to watch than Star Trek: First Contact. Released (born) on 11/22/1996, the film’s South Node is at 6 degrees Aries. (Chart) The film picks up six years after an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation in which Captain Picard was kidnapped, assimilated, and severely traumatized by the Borg, a species of space faring techno-fascists. In First Contact, he chases the Borg back in time 300 years to get his revenge, the exact thing somebody with their South Node in Aries is supposed to be getting away from:
With the film’s South Node in Aries (war) and South Node ruler Mars in Virgo (slavery/shame), the first objective of Captain Picard’s karmic mission is to release his need to go to war against those who enslaved, shamed, and traumatized him. He can’t do that, however, without assistance from “the other” (Libra). In this case “the other” is Lilly, a woman from earth’s past who confronts Picard on how selfishly destructive (Aries) his actions are. Libra loves to get dressed up and go out partner dancing so maybe it’s fitting that the rage-fueled incident Lilly refers to in the above scene takes place inside a high class night club earlier in the film:
The film has Saturn (repression) conjunct the South Node, indicative of particularly heavy burdens being brought over from past incarnations. According to astrologer Celeste Teal, “This is potentially the hardest past life influence from which to escape. It is easy for these individuals to become stuck in the past . . .” (Source) The first 20 seconds of the film’s trailer will give you a sense for just how difficult Saturn/South Node experiences can be to escape from.
Saturn is associated with leadership capabilities and getting down to brass tack reality so there is some upside to this placement. In First Contact, for instance, Captain Picard displays plenty of realism (Saturn) in regards to fighting (Aries) the Borg, his foes from a symbolic past life (South Node).
People with their South Node (past lives) in Aries (courage, confrontation) are often fixated on defeating their adversaries, who are usually more powerful than themselves. No matter how noble and just their cause(s) may be, Aries South Node people will fail to win their battles until they learn to cooperate with others. In First Contact Captain Picard’s fixation on defeating the Borg is certainly a noble one, comparable to taking on an entity that is one part Monsanto, one part Microsoft, and one part the National Security Agency. Yet he is unable to prevail until he takes Lilly’s advice to release his fixation on winning. Once he does the humans of the past are able to launch the first warp capable vessel which gets the attention of the Vulcans, their nearest neighbors. The Vulcans then come to visit the humans in a fabulous cinematic example of Libra’s desire to make contact with “the other”:
In Star Trek lore the meeting of the humans and Vulcans depicted above ushers in 200 plus years of peace and partnership, the ultimate objective of Libra.
A film’s chart not only describes the plot of the film but also the production process and casting decisions. Part of what made Star Trek: First Contact great was the performance of actress Alfred Woodard, a black woman, who was cast as an equally powerful counterbalance to Patrick Stewart, a white man.
This is no coincidence. At its highest expression Libra is the sign that understands not only the need for balance between aggression and reconciliation but also balance between the genders and races.
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Copyright Matthew David Savinar, 2013
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