Around the time of our 37th year we will encounter the second lunar node. The second lunar node occurs at 37 years, 2 months and 20 days and the third birthing process takes place. The main theme of the second lunar node has to do with unwinding oneself from larger social connections that hinder or cripple the pre-birth impulse. All our social connections with our close family, and close relatives, the workplace, the circle of friends and colleagues, the larger circle of relatives and neighbors are all newly experienced and evaluated. The social environment as it has existed up until now is put to the test. In addition to this perhaps more outer evaluation of our social environment we also turn to what has existed within our soul: it is questioned and newly evaluated.
Now the questions arise: Have I found my place socially? Within which human connections do I feel comfortable? Do I feel understood? Which people in my environment can I also count on in crisis situations? Who values me in my particular character? Where am I welcome with my special abilities? Where can I bring those abilities and be active?
If the answers to these questions listed above are not positive in the context of social associations, then new social connections are sought.
At this age, Goethe found his ministry and social life in Weimar so constricting and suffocating that he fled to Italy. Enlivened and rejuvenated by the impressions and experiences of his Italian travels, he wrote to Mrs. Von Stein on January 6, 1787: “Every day I peel off a new husk and hope to return as a human being.” This soul-spiritual rebirth endowed him with a comprehensive outlook on nature. While in Italy, he formulated his ideas on metamorphosis of plants, and animals and plant and animal archetypes. The special light and color experiences of the southern landscape he lived in at that time led to his theory of color.
During the time of our second lunar node we will likely go through a crisis that affects all our relationships including those with the people that are nearest to us, spouses or partners included. We might find that we have to re-commit to a relationship or change our entire outlook and expectations regarding those that are closest to us. This can be a very healthy development but could also result in often dramatic changes including separation from those we felt near. In any case we will likely experience a sort of frame-shifting that will result in looking at our social life in a new light and with a new attitude.
Now the questions arise: Have I found my place socially? Within which human connections do I feel comfortable? Do I feel understood? Which people in my environment can I also count on in crisis situations? Who values me in my particular character? Where am I welcome with my special abilities? Where can I bring those abilities and be active?
If the answers to these questions listed above are not positive in the context of social associations, then new social connections are sought.
At this age, Goethe found his ministry and social life in Weimar so constricting and suffocating that he fled to Italy. Enlivened and rejuvenated by the impressions and experiences of his Italian travels, he wrote to Mrs. Von Stein on January 6, 1787: “Every day I peel off a new husk and hope to return as a human being.” This soul-spiritual rebirth endowed him with a comprehensive outlook on nature. While in Italy, he formulated his ideas on metamorphosis of plants, and animals and plant and animal archetypes. The special light and color experiences of the southern landscape he lived in at that time led to his theory of color.
During the time of our second lunar node we will likely go through a crisis that affects all our relationships including those with the people that are nearest to us, spouses or partners included. We might find that we have to re-commit to a relationship or change our entire outlook and expectations regarding those that are closest to us. This can be a very healthy development but could also result in often dramatic changes including separation from those we felt near. In any case we will likely experience a sort of frame-shifting that will result in looking at our social life in a new light and with a new attitude.
Oftentimes, there are surprising changes in careers at this time. The dropout/alternative lifestyle movement can be attributed to the second lunar node. People quite successful in their careers and professions, often during ages 37 to 40, voluntarily end their careers and turn to alternatives. Their new jobs frequently have underlying social motives that afforded little outside recognition but are more satisfying to the inner person. They drop out to follow their hearts.
During this time, destiny now also demands conscious renunciation and sacrifice. Events of destiny, which happen to us at this time, should be seen as strong appeals to our independence and initiative and demand the unfolding of our heart forces.
As a 19-year-old experiencing the first lunar node we have perhaps left school with a sense of relief and lightheartedly left our parents’ home. It was, in a certain way, the natural flow of life. But the separations and tasks that we encounter and that come toward us during the time of the second lunar node become tests of the heart and demand courage and self-confidence.
In the Gospel of St. John, we find the story of the lame man at Bethesda. He has been crippled for 38 years and has no one who will carry him to the water. Jesus asks him, “Will you get well?” And the invitation he extends to the sick man is irritating: “So, take up your bed and walk.” That is exactly what the cripple cannot do. But the cripple has understood what Christ meant. It is the power of inner adaptability, his soul-force, that overcomes outside adversity as it is presented to us here with the picture of a lame body. We can no longer allow ourselves to be carried by our fellow human beings. We must ourselves become those who carry others. We can understand the second lunar node as the following: Search for your own place of soul, search for our soul home.
By developing our soul-forces, our heart-forces, we can strive to make ourselves spiritually at home in our own social environment.
Please turn to the following exercise in relation to the second lunar node which we encounter at age 37 or 38 (37 years, 2 months and 20 days after birth).
1. Determine your second lunar node regarding your own biography. Which year, month and day did you arrive at 37 years, 2 months and 20 days by finding this date in time. Add 37 years, 2 months and 20 days to your date of birth. For example, say you are born on May 1, 1952, your second moon node (age 37 or 38, or 37 years, 2 months and 20 days) will be July 21, 1989.
2. Describe your life at that time. What were the outer circumstances of your life? Where were you? What events do you remember that relate to this time in your life? Please devote extra time and thought to the question of who were the people you were closely connected and who were the new people you found connecting with at this time in your life? What were the ideas and ideals that you felt drawn to during this phase in your biography?
3. Create a drawing or painting that expresses the mood and perhaps depicts an important event of that time, or expresses symbolically important aspects of that time especially regarding and focusing on your social environment, your family, close friends and so on.
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During this time, destiny now also demands conscious renunciation and sacrifice. Events of destiny, which happen to us at this time, should be seen as strong appeals to our independence and initiative and demand the unfolding of our heart forces.
As a 19-year-old experiencing the first lunar node we have perhaps left school with a sense of relief and lightheartedly left our parents’ home. It was, in a certain way, the natural flow of life. But the separations and tasks that we encounter and that come toward us during the time of the second lunar node become tests of the heart and demand courage and self-confidence.
In the Gospel of St. John, we find the story of the lame man at Bethesda. He has been crippled for 38 years and has no one who will carry him to the water. Jesus asks him, “Will you get well?” And the invitation he extends to the sick man is irritating: “So, take up your bed and walk.” That is exactly what the cripple cannot do. But the cripple has understood what Christ meant. It is the power of inner adaptability, his soul-force, that overcomes outside adversity as it is presented to us here with the picture of a lame body. We can no longer allow ourselves to be carried by our fellow human beings. We must ourselves become those who carry others. We can understand the second lunar node as the following: Search for your own place of soul, search for our soul home.
By developing our soul-forces, our heart-forces, we can strive to make ourselves spiritually at home in our own social environment.
Please turn to the following exercise in relation to the second lunar node which we encounter at age 37 or 38 (37 years, 2 months and 20 days after birth).
1. Determine your second lunar node regarding your own biography. Which year, month and day did you arrive at 37 years, 2 months and 20 days by finding this date in time. Add 37 years, 2 months and 20 days to your date of birth. For example, say you are born on May 1, 1952, your second moon node (age 37 or 38, or 37 years, 2 months and 20 days) will be July 21, 1989.
2. Describe your life at that time. What were the outer circumstances of your life? Where were you? What events do you remember that relate to this time in your life? Please devote extra time and thought to the question of who were the people you were closely connected and who were the new people you found connecting with at this time in your life? What were the ideas and ideals that you felt drawn to during this phase in your biography?
3. Create a drawing or painting that expresses the mood and perhaps depicts an important event of that time, or expresses symbolically important aspects of that time especially regarding and focusing on your social environment, your family, close friends and so on.
More ...
