The North and South Nodes are destiny points. They’re not planets, and you can’t see them in the sky – but their influence can be felt in your life on a profound level.
Your birth chart is a snapshot of the sky at the exact moment you were born. In it, every planet sits in a specific sign and house (a house is just an area of life – like career, relationships, or home). Together, these placements shape your personality, your emotions, and the roadmap for your life lessons. Every part of the chart matters.
The North Node is where you’re headed. It represents your highest point of personal expression – more or less, who you came here to become.
Sitting directly opposite the North Node is the South Node. This represents what you’re leaving behind.
The nodes change signs roughly every 18 months. They shifted into Aquarius and Leo on July 26, 2026, and will stay there until March 26, 2028.
Planetary movements (called transits) affect us both collectively and personally. We’ll naturally feel some transits more strongly than others, depending on our own birth chart.
North Node in Aquarius
North Node in Aquarius is asking all of us torise into a higher perspective. Aquarius is symbolized by the water bearer – a mythical figure pouring life and truth down to humanity. It’s the sign of technology, innovation, and doing things differently. Most importantly, Aquarius is about caring for the collective – for everyone – instead of moving through the world in a purely self-centered way.
North Node in Aquarius marks a time when we’ll start making decisions through the lens of “is this best for everyone?” – which, given everything going on in the news right now, can feel hard to believe.
South Node in Leo
On the opposite end of this transit is the South Node in Leo. Leo is the sign of the lion – it wants us to be brave, bold, and courageous, and to move from the heart. When the South Node sits in a sign, it challenges us to let go of whatever’s been keeping us from showing up as our best selves. Have you been living in a way that dims your own shine?
Leo is ruled by the sun, and it wants you to be seen – are you letting yourself be seen? If you tend to run overly confident, this transit may challenge those patterns. The invitation is to be confident without being cocky, brave without being reckless, and to shine without dimming anyone else’s light.
When the nodes hit your rising sign
When the North or South Node moves through your rising sign in particular (your rising sign is the sign that was coming up on the horizon the moment you were born – it shapes how you show up in the world), it can be a time of super-charged change. Remember, the North Node wants you to become your highest self, and sometimes that means big changes and letting go of things that no longer fit.
When the North Node was in my own rising sign a few years ago, that year and a half brought a breakup, my dog’s cancer diagnosis and passing, a move to a new state, and eventually losing my job. Now, a few years past all of that, I’m living in Europe, working for myself, and I feel more aligned than I ever have. It wasn’t fun to go through that nodal transit, but it helped me truly level up – which is what the nodes are asking of us.
I’ve read clients’ charts who’ve had new jobs, new partners, and new homes show up during these transits. The North Node really does want to support your growth, and it does that according to your unique birth chart – because your birth chart is a full map of who you’re here to become over your lifetime.
Eclipse season is here
In August, we enter eclipse season. This happens about twice a year, when two or three eclipses land close together and speed up change, pushing us toward where we need to go. (The stars are always looking for ways to support us, even when it doesn’t feel like it.)
Eclipses affect everyone differently depending on their birth chart – some will feel quiet for you, while others land with a BANG. Fated beginnings and endings tend to happen around eclipses, but don’t worry: they’re always working in service of your highest good. Sometimes an eclipse brings in a fated partner; other times it helps you see an old issue in a new light. The changes can be external, but just as often they’re internal – helping you grow into who you’re meant to become.
There are two types of eclipses: solar and lunar. A solar eclipse happens on a new moon, when the moon passes between the sun and the earth – it’s tied to new beginnings, fresh starts, and things being set in motion. A lunar eclipse happens on a full moon, when the earth passes between the sun and the moon – it’s tied to endings, culminations, and things coming to light or wrapping up. This eclipse season, we get one of each.
Eclipse #1: August 12, solar eclipse in Leo
Our first eclipse lands on August 12 in Leo. Eclipses always align with the North and South Nodes, so they give us a big opportunity to really live out the lessons the nodes are teaching us. This eclipse will land in a different house (life area) for each of us, depending on our birth chart – but the theme is the same for everyone: being brave, standing in your truth and power, and feeling proud of who you are without tipping into ego. Leo loves to be seen and to be social, so this whole week is a great time to get outside and spend time with friends and partners.
Eclipse #2: August 28, lunar eclipse in Pisces
On August 28, we have our second and final eclipse of the season – a lunar eclipse in Pisces. Pisces is the last sign of the zodiac, so eclipses here can feel like a culmination – which fits, since lunar eclipses are already about endings and wrapping up. It’s a water sign, highly intuitive and emotional, so this eclipse may bring heightened emotions and intuition. It invites us to feel our feelings, even the ones we’d rather avoid.
Want to know how this shows up in your own chart?
Everything above is a collective forecast – but the nodes and these eclipses will land in different houses and hit different placements depending on your unique birth chart. If you want to know exactly how this nodal shift and eclipse season are impacting you directly, I invite you to book a reading with me.
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Lauren Kester is a coach, astrologer, and people person. She’s an Aries Sun, Scorpio rising, and Pisces Moon. Her passion is helping women to come home to their own power and divinity in order to create a life they are truly excited about. She lives in Paris and loves slow mornings, croissants with butter and jam, and is currently training for her first Marathon.