When we are looking for a sense of our future, we should look to the North Node, and particularly to the ruler of the North Node. In studying the energy that rules the North Node, we find an uncanny recurrence of planetary themes within those life events that are path-determining; in other words, the properties of the North Node’s ruler will always be present when one’s fate is taking a turn. Think about the energies of your North Node’s ruler, then think about three or four major turning points in your life. Most likely you will see a definite flavor of the ruling planet, and may even see a variety of energies that reflects facets of the planet’s character. Finding this thread in the past has a definite positive for the future, as it makes it easier to recognize an important or ‘fateful’ point while one is in the midst of it.

We have an excellent example of this principle in Karen Silkwood (19 February 1946, 9:50 PM, Longview TX USA). Ms. Silkwood was an employee of Kerr-McGee Corporation at their plutonium fuel processing facility when she noticed outright falsifications of processing and safety records. She notified corporate and union officials, and continued to gather evidence in spite of being twice deliberately contaminated during her shifts. Ms. Silkwood became a vocal critic of the corporation and the dangers to those living in the area due to Kerr-McGee’s shoddy practices, and many believe she lost her life because of this. On the way to meeting with a major union official and a New York Times reporter, Karen Silkwood was run off the road and killed in the ensuing crash. Autopsy revealed Quaaludes in her blood, an unlikely primer for a meeting of such consequence, and documents she was known to have been carrying with her that were damning for the coporation were never found.

Of note in Ms. Silkwood’s chart is the Gemini North Node, suggesting the importance of information/ communication in her destined direction. We see Pluto in the 10th, linking her reputation quite literally with Plutonium, as well as with issues of death, re-generation, decay, and waste, the latter being one of the issues of lax disposal involved in Ms. Silkwood’s investigation. She has a Pisces Sun at 00, suggesting both a ‘brand new’ phase of identity and a Soul intent attuned to the Collective good. Note also Chiron, Jupiter, and Juno rising, implying strong identification with healing society and Self via Self-empowerment and the initiative of the individual. Mercury, ruler of the North Node, is sited in Pisces in the 5th, with its ruler Neptune posited in the 12th, again connecting Ms. Silkwood to the Collective; it’s quite likely that she was driven by a strong sense of obligation to the Universal welfare, and that perhaps she was not entirely conscious of why she felt she must pursue justice for the common good.