North Node calculator
The lunar nodes are the two points where the Moon's orbit crosses the ecliptic, always exactly opposite each other, and eclipses happen when a lunation falls near them.
Your birth details
They are mathematical points rather than bodies, which is why nothing is orbiting there and why they move backwards through the zodiac at a steady rate, completing a circuit in about 18.6 years.
The classical use is eclipse prediction, and that is genuinely old: the nodes are in the Greek, Persian and Indian material because they tell you when the lights will be interrupted. Our calculator gives the axis, the houses it falls across, and the South Node opposite.
The reading of the North Node as a direction to grow toward and the South Node as what is already familiar is a modern addition, developed in the twentieth century. We label it as one rather than presenting it as tradition, which is what our glossary does too.
Frequently asked
What is my North Node?
It is one end of the axis where the Moon's orbit crosses the Sun's apparent path. Enter your birth details above and the calculator finds its sign, degree and house from your own chart, along with the South Node exactly opposite.
What is the difference between the true and mean node?
The true node is the actual crossing point and wobbles slightly; the mean node is its smoothed average. They sit about a degree and a half apart, which matters only near a sign boundary. This calculator uses the true node and says so with the result.
Are the lunar nodes classical or modern?
The nodes themselves are classical and were used mainly to predict eclipses. Reading the North Node as a life direction is a twentieth-century addition, and we mark that layer as modern rather than as tradition.