If I had to reduce the wisdom of Astrology into one word or symbol it would have to be the Yin-Yang. This ancient Taoist symbol perfectly illustrates in graphic form the most basic energies of the Astrological cycles. In fact, Dane Rudhyar came to the same basic conclusion implicit in this article: “The Zodiac which is used in our astrology has very little, if anything at all, to do with distant stars as entities in themselves… The essential thing about the Zodiac is not the hieroglyphs drawn on celestial maps…it is the human experience of change.” So, the fundamental symbol of Astrology is not the Signs of the Zodiac, or the Planets –it is the idea of CYCLES.

The three basic cycles of Astrology quite perfectly echo one another –day, month, and year being divisible into four quarters by naturally occurring empirical processes of light vs. dark. Dawn, being the triumph of light over darkness can be seen to correlate with the first quarter Moon and the Vernal Equinox. Noon, as the height of the waxing Light cycle correlates to Full Moon and Summer Solstice. Dusk, like third-quarter Moon and the Autumnal Equinox, represents the triumph of darkness over light. Finally Midnight, New Moon, and Winter Solstice all represent the peak of the waning dark cycle. In this way time becomes not linear, but more like a spiral (reflected in our very genes), where each cycle leads to another and also builds upon the former. If you doubt the simple profundity of this assertion, ask yourself what it is we do at Winter Solstice. To this day, we gather together with family/clan -symbolized in Astrology by the Nadir! This is why I find it easy to make the leap from the lunar cycle to any other cycle (such as day=year progressions). They are fundamentally the same cycle.

By this logic Rudhyar observed the opposition is analogous with the Full Moon. So Saturn opposite Neptune can be said to be the Full phase of their relationship, and a Culmination of sorts between the two Archetypes. Rudhyar asserted this culmination could be the foundation for even further development. As Rudhyar put it, “there is for man…a beginning in the darkness of (unconsciousness and) instinct, and there is a beginning in the full light of conscious intelligence.” In other words, the waning cycle can be a preparation for the future birth, at the conjunction, of the Vision gained under the illumination of the Full Moon or opposition.

Now that the Jupiter t-square –and the heliocentric perfection of Saturn/Neptune are behind us, many of us could have had a glimpse of the vision that the Universe is asking us to bring to form.

As the famous author Thomas Wolfe (w/ Saturn opp Neptune) put it:

"At that instant he saw, in one blaze of light, an image of unutterable conviction, the reason why the artist works and lives and has his being--the reward he seeks--the only reward he really cares about, without which there is nothing. It is to snare the spirits of mankind in nets of magic, to make his life prevail through his creation, to wreak the vision of his life, the rude and painful substance of his own experience, into the congruence of blazing and enchanted images that are themselves the core of life, the essential pattern whence all other things proceed, the kernel of eternity."

From: Of Time and the River

If this Vision has not yet reached consciousness, a careful analysis of the planets and houses affected should illuminate the seed idea.
My Triarchic Astrology is the perfect system to help draw out (educe -the root word of educate -means to draw out) this Vision. See my Triarchic Astrology and Professional Services pages for more info.

What then remains is for us to don our Saturnian work clothes and get down to the task of grounding a Neptunian glimpse of the future and thus Bring form to our Vision. Since this is a 36 year cycle, culminating with the conjunction at the Vernal Point in 2026, this process could well define the remaining entirety of our working lives, and thus it is crucial for us to take this trans-personal process very personally.

I know because I dropped out of school in 1989 -- at the Saturn/Neptune conjunction -- and began a series of Vision Quests which led me to study Tarot and eventually Astrology (See my story on the "about me" page).

What I’ve learned is that you have to find a way to get the rest of the chart on board with your Nodes. Unless or until you're doing your North Node you will not be spiritually happy or deep-down content. Even if life is crazy and hard, you know you are on the right path and just have to persevere. Which house & sign is your North Node? I believe the Nodes are about having a direct experience of GOD – or at least a connection to a higher power.

For instance, my North Node is conjunct Sun/Saturn in Aries in the second house. So I was drawn through my Vision quests to Astrology, and not just in a Saturnian or scientific way, but also around Humanistic values and leading-edge thinking. Robert Hand asserts that it is the responsibility of the Mundane Astrologer not simply to predict, but like the biblical prophets, to try to get the nation/people to change its behavior by pointing the way to better resolutions.

One of the most common elements between Eastern and Western religions is the role of the Prophet. While some, such as the anthropologist Daniel Quinn, have argued against the modern need for prophets, I feel that we as a species are more in need of direction now than ever. As Quinn elucidated, this is not because humans are innately flawed, but because our understanding of the truth is ever-evolving. On a similar note, Liz Greene points out the current shifting of paradigms worldviews. Greene suggests that humankind is experiencing a breakdown in the worldview of divinity being external -and a transition to a more internal experience of divinity.

The prophet is one who “has directly encountered God, of whose intentions he can then speak.” This is not necessarily a foretelling of the future, but can also be the teaching of a social message. The sociologist Max Weber distinguished two types of prophets: the emissary who conveys a message, generally of the future, and the exemplary who teaches social lessons from direct experience (history). I contend that it is possible to do both, though not always at the same time.

To make a long story short, what I am saying is that to get the rest of your chart aligned with your Nodes you need a Vision Quest -- an encounter with God -- which happens to be particularly available right now with Saturn opposite Neptune. A Vision Quest imbues ones life with the profound awareness of Cosmic Guidance.
 
I hope you can all experience that GOD is LOVE and TRUST in the Universe.

References:

Dane Rudhyar, The Pulse of Life: New Dynamics in Astrology. 1963. Llewellyn Publications: St. Paul Mn. Pg.21-22. 
 Dane Rudhyar, The Lunation Cycle: A Key to understanding of Personality. 1967. Llewellyn Publications: St. Paul Mn. Pg. 59. –italics mine.