What Are the Lunar Nodes (North Node and South Node) in Astrology?

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The North Node and South Node — sometimes called by their Sanskrit-derived names, Rahu and Ketu, in Vedic astrology — are two points exactly opposite each other in the sky. Neither is a planet or a physical body.

What they actually are

The Moon's orbit is tilted relative to the Sun's apparent yearly path (the ecliptic). The North Node is the point where the Moon's orbit crosses that path heading northward; the South Node is the exact opposite point, where it crosses heading southward. Because they're always 180 degrees apart by definition, knowing one automatically tells you the other.

This is genuinely ancient, not a later addition

Vettius Valens describes this point directly, calling it Ἀναβιβάζων ("the ascending point") and its opposite Καταβιβάζων ("the descending point") — and he doesn't just name it, he works a full calculation example (Anthologiae I.16): starting from a fixed reference and moving forward through the zodiac sign by sign, landing on a specific degree, with the opposite node stated as being exactly across from it. That's a real, worked 2,000-year-old example of the same calculation modern ephemeris software still performs, just with different tools.

Why they move backward through the zodiac

Unlike the planets, which mostly move forward (with occasional retrograde loops), the lunar nodes drift steadily backward through the zodiac — completing a full reverse circuit in about 18.6 years. This is a real orbital mechanics effect (the "precession" of the Moon's orbital plane), not a special exception invented for astrology.

What they're read to mean

In the classical framing and in later traditions, the North Node area is associated with growth and forward movement, and the South Node with what's familiar or left behind — though how heavily this pairing is emphasized differs considerably between the Hellenistic tradition (where it's a comparatively minor point) and Vedic astrology (where Rahu and Ketu are treated as major factors on par with the planets).

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