Astrological scavenger hunt

Mercury's basically stopped in the sky and there's nothing planetary and fascinating to discuss at the moment or for the week (have no fear, it'll get more interesting shortly), so instead I'm gonna give you something fun to try.

I use the lunar nodes in everything. I love the lunar nodes. You could do astrology with just the lunar nodes and begin to live a happier, easier life (and stop banging your head against walls), because the more you observe people whose full charts you have, the more their south node* (the automatic and detrimental behaviors they do without thinking) will begin to scream at you when you realize how frequently your nearest and dearest do them. I think that your issues/hangups/challenges are like 45% nodes, 45% Pluto, and 10% other chart features. If I could issue everyone an index card that had their south node hangup printed on one side and the behaviors they could do to move away from the south node behavior on the other side, the world would be a happier, better place.

People who are your exact age will have more or less the same south node hangups as you, and you'll be able to see them by generation, as the nodes switch signs every year and a half. This is one reason I'd be interested in being a teacher (though I shouldn't be allowed near children: they will learn many interesting words and receive suggestions on how to wage psychological warfare on their nearest and dearest—I love a prank): you'd have a class year that would be all one south node sign, then the next year a class that's a mix, then a class year that's all one sign, and I think it would be cool to note the trends that will vary from year to year. Believe it or not, your south node programming is louder the younger you are. I am a Capricorn south node (😬), and one of my first nicknames from my parents was "the general" because I had the infantile habit of barking orders at people. From my crib! School-wise, I was in a mixed-class year, so most people born after me have Sagittarius south nodes, so for socializing you got to pick: do you want to party with people with control issues or know-it-alls? (Do you want to hang out with people who are full of anxiety or full of lectures?) I gravitated toward the Scorpio south nodes two classes down because they were intense but would give you the warts-and-all truth about what others were *really* up to behind the scenes, as opposed to the Capricorns, who kept up appearances, and the Sagittarians, who bullshitted. So rather than the half-truths of the people my own age, the Scorpio south nodes would tell me everything that was wrong in minute detail, and then continue on to discuss all of everyone else's drama, with no sign of stopping.

So, some fun for you for learning purposes:

• Find a person who is a nodal reversal of you. Meaning: they were born 9.5 years before or after you, or some multiple of that, so their south node is on your north node and vice versa. Note what they are good at and you are bad at, and the reverse. Nodal reversals tend to be easy to talk to, because you both sense that the other person has important information, and each is interested in the other person's perspective because they are literal opposites.

• Find a person whose sun is on your north node, or whose north node is on your sun. Another fun one, because you'll just like spending time around them, since someone is lighting up someone else's energetic potential. If you're the north node person, what behaviors does the sun person do that you find foreign but interesting? If you're the sun person, how does the north node person make you feel? These tend to be positive and encouraging relationships, so if you know someone whose energy fits this description, but you're not super-close, maybe make the investment? (If you want to cheat for sun on the north node: figure out what days of the year the sun is in range of your north node and go on a hunt for relevant birthdays).

I was going to make you a longer list, but I guarantee you that you have met at least one person who meets one of the above criteria, and often, they are close to you because you have an easy rapport with them. Again, I'm a person who likes efficiency, so I have observed how the people in my life who fit these descriptions think, act, and make me feel, and noted that information. With a Capricorn south node, I have a Cancer north node, so: find some Cancers. Where are they? In their homes, fussing over things, with their moms. Planning their next meals. Giving people driving directions that are based mainly off instinct ("turn here!" as you're passing the highway exit). They're a cuddly people, though, which is the opposite of Capricorn, who prefers a firm handshake. So one of my lessons has been to learn to care about alternative ways of accomplishment that might be more fulfilling (and less straightforward), and attempt to be less reserved and distant (if ever there was a work in progress, it's this).

There's your mission. Go forth and explore.

*In charts the south node is shaped like a U, and the north node is the reverse and looks like a horseshoe. They will always be 180° apart.