In Hindu astrology, the Moon's Nodes are fully personified as characters in the celestial drama. The story of the Eclipse Dragon is an ancient and powerful one in the mythology of India, and forms the basis for astrological interpretation of the Nodes. Rahu, the North Node, is the head of the dragon, ferocious and stormy and sometimes fabulously talented. Ketu is the dragon's tail, dreamlike and sometimes treacherous, but capable of transcendent vision and true spiritual compassion. Just as certain planets may form controlling factors in an individual's horoscope in Western astrology, so may the Nodes form the dominant factor in a Hindu chart. Some people even have "nodal personalities"!

This lecture is an introduction to the lore and meaning of the Moon's Nodes in Hindu astrology.


The Saturday workshop invites you to bring your own chart and see how they are working for you. Those who do not have a Jyotish chart are welcome to e-mail me before the beginning of September. For those who still don't have a chart by Friday night and decide to come to the workshop, I can give you keystroke-by-keystroke instructions as to how to run a simple Vedic chart on Solar Fire.