Skipped Steps

Juno Square the Nodes

I know. I know. You are supposed to look at the entire chart, not just one single piece of the pie. I can’t help myself here. I was making a list of people in my life who have skipped steps. It turns out that my mother had Juno square her nodes. Just in case there may be an astrologer in the house, she had Juno in Scorpio in the second house square the South Node in Leo in the 11th House and the North Node in Aquarius in the 5th House.

In a nutshell, Juno is related to one’s capacity for a committed relationship. In Scorpio and the 2nd House, there is a desire for growth, material security, and sensuality through committed relationships. Although this desire may be strong, with skipped steps, it has not been fulfilled in prior lives.

If we wanted to know why this desire went unfulfilled, we could do a deep dive into her chart. Instead, I will share a passage from my notebook which seems to explain it quite well.

She never sleeps facing a wall as when she was a child she had recurrent nightmares about the house burning down. She would run and tell her father that the house was on fire and he always refused to do anything about it. She would return to her bedroom and try to save as much as she could by throwing her things out the window. Furniture, clothes, whatever would fit, out it went.

She had been a seamstress in London. On September 2, 1666, a fire broke out. It quickly grew out of control and much of the city burned down. This was known as The Great Fire of London. According to my mother, she died in this fire and one other in another life. She told me this with a straight face and very matter-of-factly. This coming from a woman who wasn’t too sure she believed in reincarnation.

The Great Fire of London, depicted by an unknown painter

Dreams, or distant memories, of her father not doing anything about it. Did her entire family perish in the fire? Is this why she was not able to satisfy her desires for a safe and secure, committed relationship? Not just once, but more than once. With skipped steps, both nodes were in play in the past. The 11th House correlating to group trauma. I am sure The Great Fire of London was a very traumatic experience for all who perished in the fire. Oh, I forgot to mention, her Moon is conjunct the South Node.

Juno Skipped Steps Example.

And what is a skipped step anyway? It’s complicated but in the simplest terms a planet (or asteroid) square the nodes represents an area of life in which one’s soul growth has been stunted in the past and now becomes a major focus in the present life.

This is the way it is supposed to work. First you take a look at Pluto by house, sign and aspects. In the case of our seamstress, Pluto is in Cancer in the tenth house square Uranus in Aries in the seventh house and quincunx Mars in Sagittarius in the third house. . Here Cancer is more or less a generational vibe. Members of this generation were mainly focused on home and family. In the tenth house, Pluto indicates that a new evolutionary cycle has begun and there is a desire to use ones talents and skills to further one’s career and take responsibility for one’s own actions and well-being. There is a desire to bring something of value forth into the world. With Mars in Sagittarius in the third house, communication plays an important part in this as do relationships with others as evidenced by Uranus in the seventh house. With a square and a quincunx, these things do not come easy.

Next we would normally look at the South Node and it’s ruler by house, sign and aspects. Traditionally, the South Node and it’s ruler are the past while the North Node and it’s ruler point the way forward. And oh yeah, I forgot, Pluto’s polarity point would represent one’s future needs and desires. But no need to get into that right now as we have a skipped steps situation.

When there is a “skipped step,” the planet (or asteroid in this case) becomes a major focus. This entity has played a major role in shaping the soul’s past life experiences and choices. In this case, the focus being on committed relationships that provide a sense of material security and sensual pleasure. This is also an area of growth that has been blocked or denied for whatever reason and needs to be addressed and resolved. Until resolved, the soul will flip-flop between expressing the North Node and South Node. This can take several lifetimes.

In the case of our seamstress, Pluto’s Polarity Point is in the 4th house. It seems there is a desire for less focus on one’s career and social role and more on home and family, as well as becoming emotionally self-reliant. This is not likely to happen anytime soon, as the skipped steps need to be resolved first.

More Skipped Steps:

A Tribute to Queen Elizabeth II: And her Chiron Skipped Steps

Sunshine and Shadows: Brian Wilson through the Lens of Evolutionary Astrology Saturn/Uranus skipped Steps

Taylor Caldwell's Literary Journey Through the Lens of Evolutionary Astrology