The North and South Nodes of the Moon shift signs about every 18 months. On January 18, 2022, the North Node will depart Gemini and enter Taurus, and the South Node will depart Sagittarius and enter Scorpio.

What’s the significance of the North and South Node? Well, every six months or so, they’re where eclipses occur, and with South Node eclipses specifically, we welcome powerful portals for release work.

North Node = Rahu, head of the snake, hunger
South Node = Ketu, tail of the snake, release

“Rahu” and “Ketu” are the Sanskrit words for the Nodes of the Moon. When eclipses align with the North Node, we welcome fresh starts attributed to any number of people, places, and things entering our life. There’s an insatiable hunger that begs for more in whatever area of life they fall.

South Node eclipses, on the other hand, offer opportunities for release, often occurring suddenly during this time and feeling like a matter of fate. What we’ve been doing in this area of life for a number of years seems to lose its potency. There’s an urgency to let go.

With this upcoming Nodal shift, we’re being invited to release outdated attachments related to the house Scorpio rules in our birth chart. By learning to release, we’re reborn with more room to chase the foundations that the Taurus house of our chart desires to build.

There really is no new without releasing the old, and eclipses are a perfect representation of that cyclical process of becoming.

Imagine if you just decided you would never take out the trash. What would become of your home? It would take different amounts of time for all of us, but inevitably, your world would become a chaotic mess. This external representation is the same internally. If we hold on to resentment, anger, and old emotional wounds…they prevent new growth from forming and eventually overtake us. We’re unable to see anything but rot! South Node eclipses offer a special time to focus on the extremely important process of release, internally and externally.

Scorpio release work is often intangible, though it’s inherently connected with 3D reality through it’s opposite earth sign, Taurus. In 2022, the more you’re able to transmute the pain that has been stored in your emotional body (Scorpio), the more you will manifest changes in your physical world (Taurus).

2022 ECLIPSE DATES

Partial Solar Eclipse Apr 30, 2022, at 10° Taurus – New Moon
Total Lunar Eclipse May 16, 2022, at 25° Scorpio – Full Moon
Partial Solar Eclipse Oct 25, 2022, at 2° Scorpio – New Moon
Total Lunar Eclipse November 8, 2022, at 16° Taurus – Full Moon

Recommended Rituals for Your Rising Sign

Release through yoga, acupuncture, and other spiritually aligned practices will serve all signs in 2022. As will connecting with the emotional body in whatever way serves you best.

For the Scorpio eclipses of 2022 specifically though, it’s nice to focus on what house Scorpio rules in your astrological birth chart. Scorpio is traditionally ruled by Mars, and in modern astrology, ruled by Pluto. Both of these planets in your birth chart will also offer some clues about how you might release next year.

Mars and Pluto, the modern and traditional rulers of Scorpio, activate the Sacral Chakra, which is said to be blocked by fear. Scorpio is known for being fearsome…but that same energy can turn negative when it isn’t channeled. These eclipses will highlight power imbalances, and ask you to release anything where you’ve allowed unhealthy fear to hold you back.

Please note that these suggested ritual themes relate specifically to the May and October 2022 Scorpio Eclipses.

Aries Rising

8th house activation – Release through sex, solo or with partner(s) is a powerful ritual, specifically during the May and October eclipses. How can you make sex more special? More SAFE? More emotionally vulnerable? Don’t be afraid to go there.

Taurus Rising

7th house activation – Partnerships, business agreements, and unhealthy projections are ready to be transformed. Take a close look at your intimate partnerships especially, and ritualize the act of releasing power imbalances within them.

Gemini Rising

6th house activation – The “daily grind” doesn’t have to be so hard. Your health and 9-5 life are ready for a new direction. Notice where your health suffers because of obsessive attachments. It’s time to ritualize your daily well-being.

Cancer Rising

5th house activation – Your creative and erotic life is undergoing a purge. You might no longer enjoy activities that once tantalized you. Crying is a ritual. Bathing is a ritual. So is burning what no longer lights you up.

Leo Rising

4th house activation – What does family mean to you? It could mean something very different come 2023. Let go of the roots that have rotted. Mourn the ancestry you’re not proud of, and align with those that elevate your deepest truth.

Virgo Rising

3rd house activation – It’s time to speak from your heart, and release the stories it no longer serves. Some tough conversations might happen within friendships, and possibly siblings. Let them transform you.

Libra Rising

2nd house activation – Money is deeply powerful to you, more than most other signs. But what is your fascination with it? Ritualize your spending. Notice how the items you once thought you needed are no longer required.

Scorpio Rising

1st house activation – 2022 will be a potent year for you as an individual. The very ways you have defined yourself are being transmuted. Make a ritual of your partnerships. What would happen if you gave trust freely, rather than demanding it be earned?

Sagittarius Rising

12th house activation – Your secret realm is ready for a makeover. How have you experienced escapism in the past? It will no longer transport you the way it once did. Make a habit of finding transcendent moments in daily life.

Capricorn Rising

11th house activation – The organizations you once decided were superior might experience a fall from grace. Practice taking your power back from group associations that no longer share your ideals.

Aquarius Rising

10th house activation – Trying to hyper control the way the world sees you can get a bit boring. It’s time for a shakeup! What if you practiced the same determination at home? Indulge in rest.

Pisces Rising

9th house activation – Far flung travels don’t have the allure they once did. Maybe you would rather frame special getaway photos and escape from your own home instead. What can your immediate surroundings teach you?

The release that happens around the Scorpio eclipses in 2022 will be about facing down fears, once and for all, so that we can collectively move forward.

Featured image by Cece Di Paolo

Author:

Erin River Sunday