posted April 25, 2015 01:32 AM            

As a karmic astrologer for the past 25 years, I've studied a little bit of everything; it's easy to become overwhelmed when undertaking the deep work of identifying and then resolving outstanding karma. With multiple systems to explore -- the Draconic, sidereal, and divisional charts and their variants like the D60, perhaps even the VERTEX Chart -- plus many methodologies -- Huber degrees, Arabic Parts, Prenatal Eclipses -- it's easy to become lost.

I've come to trust in the Skipped Step method as a reliable place to drop anchor and dive, lest we get swept away with the coming tide. There are several reasons it proves a smart initial plan of attack. For one, it's easily identified in the geocentric tropical, which is always the first chart to be cast, AKA 'the natal' or 'birth chart'; even in a mad dash, the novice astrologer can eyeball a point square the NODES within 5º.

But deciphering what it means is what quickly becomes the headache. So let's start with some basics; Skipped Steps 101, if you will. It's a much more complex and involved field of study than you may first think.

1. IDENTIFYING YOUR SKIPPED STEP

First off, have you got one? I prefer to think we can expand into asteroids, and possibly even calculated points. The principle remains the same, so if it's square the NODES, it's square the NODES -- whatever it is. I may be in the minority on this one, but I feel, over time, we'll come to see that it can go beyond planets.

2. IDENTIFYING THEIR SKIPPED STEP

Some don't also have their own skipped step, or, even further rare, one that also aspects the other's. However, one WILL have something conjunct the other's skipped step, as it's the baseline qualifier to HAVE a skipped step in synastry.

3. CHECK THE ORBS

And, as usual, keep 'em tight. If a planet, then karmic astrology regularly expands orbs beyond the standard. I wouldn't go back 6º at the absolute maximum, however. And, for asteroids, keep it to 4º, but go for 1º30, and remember the rule of stellia.

4. CHECK TO SEE IF IT'S A STELLIUM

Stellia have their own special exemptions and modified rules. If you have a skipped step within the allowable orb, then a point that's also within orb of the skipped step, but outside of being properly square the axis (it does occasionally happen) it becomes descriptive of the skipped step point. It need not directly square the axis itself; the fact that it's conjunct the skipped step is enough to include it in delineation.

5. CHECK FOR MULTIPLE SKIPPED STEPS

This happens, too, and Green has some excellent advice for going about resolving each by using a technique that identifies which does what -- but that's beyond the scope of this present thread. We can get to that later, however, as it becomes extremely useful going forward. But, for the purposes of our investigative primer, just keep track of your total tally, being sure not to neglect BOTH sides of the axis. These regions will be treated equally in significance as they are BOTH square the NODES.

Got it?

posted April 25, 2015 02:09 AM            

So let's begin by asking the obvious:

Why is a skipped step only counted when a conjunction is square one's NODES?'

That one tends to be overlooked in favour of delineating the determined skipped step. I'm going to attempt answering.

Think of the skipped step as a point which is stuck between two extremes; it's literally sandwiched between the NNODE and SNODE, caught along the path from the SNODE to the NNODE. It's almost as if it was moving along the trajectory, out of the past and forward into the future when something shut the gate leading to the NNODE. So it's best to think of it as 'immature' or 'unprepared'.

It's not learnt its lessons. It hasn't sufficiently acquired enough credits to graduate. It's 'being held back', with a few 'incompletes' on its college transcript.

Now. Think of that in terms of being square another's NODES, but missing the natal square -- the initial's skipped step. Your point is unable to satisfy the other's NNODE aspirations, while having cleared enough of the lessons of their SNODE to not really need to rehash that, either.

Hmmm. It would seem like it's not doing much -- neither hindering nor helping. It's just not doing anything, really.

What about if it's opposite an actual skipped step?

Now our point is activating the skipped step, but it's not seeking to resolve it as much as it's drawing attention to it and causing friction. It doesn't possess the same energy as the skipped step, so it's attacking it from the opposite vantage. That can be perceived as nagging, even foreign, to the NODES individual. There can be misunderstandings, confusion, and overall discord as the opposition battles it out across the NODES.

So, what's happening? Well, this is where it gets complicated. Bear with me.

According to Green, given the activity within our natal prior to birth, one of the NODES is intended to resolve our skipped step. It can honestly be either; sometimes, we must return to the past to better understand our future. Other times, we must boldly go in that final frontier, sallying forth towards the uncharted and new territory. That translates into: we must either use the NNODE or SNODE, depending, to resolve the skipped step's lessons.

Ahh, but which one?

Once it's been identified using the proper technique, the opposite NODE is then attached to anything lying across the axis. It's too early to know, but we can presume that this goes for anything in that opposite region. So, in the case where we have a point that's opposite another's skipped step, we're unconsciously utilising the energy of their opposite NODE to drive our own point forward.

It's a bit like being in a car with someone whilst parked in the driveway, and having them constantly asking why the shifter is in reverse rather than drive. There's a disconnect. You need them to be in drive, but they know full well it's going to send you both crashing into your garage. Tension arises from this fundamental misunderstanding. It can become very discordant over time, too.

In simplest terms, it's merely a mismatch. But does it have a karmic basis? Potentially.

Take the pattern I share with my twin ray. For awhile there, many things were mimicking a really unevolved, dysfunctional and stunted twin flame connexion. Let's take our 'mismatched' step into account here for clues as to perhaps why.

My ISIS is 0° square his NODES. Quite tight. However, he only has his 0° MARS-PSYCHE conjunction as a skipped step -- which my ISIS opposes at 1°.

My LEO ISIS regally conjunct REGULUS was constantly encouraging him to greater enlightenment which he clearly did not want, and only became distressing and separative over time. His Aquarian MARS-PSYCHE has an entirely different approach to what constitutes evolution, and, I'll wager, the divine feminine. Where I attempted to be warm, magnanimous, heartfelt and even a bit theatrical, he would only react with indifference, a studied distance, and logical analysis. Any time I tried to be romantic, he'd counter it with friendliness -- despite his avid pursuit of me prior in a romantic capacity.

ISIS, according to Martha Lang-Wescott, is also the 'principle of geographic undesirability'. Taking into account how Isis searched far and wide to reassemble Osiris, it can definitely have a 'putting it all back together' connotation, as well as being separate or at a distance. I suspect the greatest failing of our aborted relationship was the fact that we've always lived in separate states with no intention to relocate. In that vein, my ISIS is just a troubling reminder to what is already a psychological wound using intellectualisation as a defence, that we can never have the sort of physical relationship and active interaction we would both want. Eventually, that was too much for him to bear. Who knows how much was due to the distance -- and my ISIS unintentionally hammering away at his MARS-PSYCHE across his NODAL axis?

posted April 25, 2015 05:45 AM              

quote:

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Originally posted by Aubyanne:

What about if it's opposite an actual skipped step?

Now our point is activating the skipped step, but it's not seeking to resolve it as much as it's drawing attention to it and causing friction. It doesn't possess the same energy as the skipped step, so it's attacking it from the opposite vantage. That can be perceived as nagging, even foreign, to the NODES individual. There can be misunderstandings, confusion, and overall discord as the opposition battles it out across the NODES.

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I find myself agreeing and disagreeing (slightly, very slightly) at the same time.

Yes, I think that is right, but it does not end there.

Oppositions are alos ILLUMINATING aspects (like in the full moon), and in this instance they illuminate our skipped step. Now that is an insight we maybe never even WANTED to have, and we might fight it tooth and nails, but it does not change the fact it`s there (through the other person) and it forces us to acknowledge that skipped step (and possibly do something about it).

Maybe it is an undesired insight, but it is also in a developmental sense a necessary one.

However with the conjunctions it is more instinctive than operating through illumination (not sure how to phrase it better). We just react, hardly knowing the reason why. With the opposition we kind of see the train coming, but since we are on the same track, we can`t avoid it nevertheless.

I do think that is partly what happenes with Mr Sag and me.

Jupiter on 11°12 Pisces is my skipped step to my NN on 10°10 Sag (and SN on the other end naturally).

his Mars on 11°06 Virgo and Jupiter on 10°10 Virgo opposing my skipped step.

Of course since both Jupiters are involved that means that composite Jupiter had to be either in Sagittarius or in Gemini. In our case it ends up being on 10°41 Gemini in the 5th house, and hence ending up at the only spot in the zodiac where it could complete a Grand Cross, of course also including the synastric stellium around my NN-ASC (mostly centering around his IC-rulre and DESC-ruler Mercury, and I think some of hsi asteroids are nearby, KAALI and MUSA I believe.

posted April 25, 2015 05:45 AM              

quote:

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Originally posted by Aubyanne:

What about if it's opposite an actual skipped step?

Now our point is activating the skipped step, but it's not seeking to resolve it as much as it's drawing attention to it and causing friction. It doesn't possess the same energy as the skipped step, so it's attacking it from the opposite vantage. That can be perceived as nagging, even foreign, to the NODES individual. There can be misunderstandings, confusion, and overall discord as the opposition battles it out across the NODES.

---

I find myself agreeing and disagreeing (slightly, very slightly) at the same time.

Yes, I think that is right, but it does not end there.

Oppositions are alos ILLUMINATING aspects (like in the full moon), and in this instance they illuminate our skipped step. Now that is an insight we maybe never even WANTED to have, and we might fight it tooth and nails, but it does not change the fact it`s there (through the other person) and it forces us to acknowledge that skipped step (and possibly do something about it).

Maybe it is an undesired insight, but it is also in a developmental sense a necessary one.

However with the conjunctions it is more instinctive than operating through illumination (not sure how to phrase it better). We just react, hardly knowing the reason why. With the opposition we kind of see the train coming, but since we are on the same track, we can`t avoid it nevertheless.

I do think that is partly what happenes with Mr Sag and me.

Jupiter on 11°12 Pisces is my skipped step to my NN on 10°10 Sag (and SN on the other end naturally).

his Mars on 11°06 Virgo and Jupiter on 10°10 Virgo opposing my skipped step.

Of course since both Jupiters are involved that means that composite Jupiter had to be either in Sagittarius or in Gemini. In our case it ends up being on 10°41 Gemini in the 5th house, and hence ending up at the only spot in the zodiac where it could complete a Grand Cross, of course also including the synastric stellium around my NN-ASC (mostly centering around his IC-rulre and DESC-ruler Mercury, and I think some of hsi asteroids are nearby, KAALI and MUSA I believe.

posted April 25, 2015 06:49 AM            

Nodes: 25.49 Aquarius (NN) & Leo (SN)
Karma: 28 Scorpio
Dejanira: 23.59 Scorpio
Nemesis: 25 Scorpio
and Sun: 21.33 Leo

Probably explains why I'm so drawn to people with planets in late Taurus, the other side (aside from being my 8th house, trine Venus and Juno). My dad's Sun does, for instance.

posted April 25, 2015 06:52 AM              

I have FELICIA on 0°00 ARies.
Couldn`t be MORE aligned with the AP.
What does it mean though?

I know FELICIA means "happy" and especially "happy times".

I have FELICITAS (happiness) only 24 minutes off my Venus, too.

posted April 25, 2015 03:35 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by ReeseC:
Hi hope I'm not intruding, but Auby can you tell me how to find skipped steps in a natal chart, and synastry. Just look for squares to nodes? What if you don't have any squares? Can you still find out what karma you need to settle?

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That's it, Reese. Not intruding at all. I hope I made my instructions in the first post clear. Hmmm. I guess I haven't. How would you suggest clarifying that?

If you have no squares to the NODES -- congratulations! You've no skipped steps at the planet level. There may be an asteroid that's doing so, but without a planet to support it, I'd keep the orb extremely tight -- 0º30 or less.

posted April 25, 2015 03:55 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Peluches:
Another great thread.

Auby, do composite placements square the nNODES count as skipped steps ?

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No. That's an entirely different animal.

posted April 25, 2015 04:06 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Ceridwen:
... I think that is right, but it does not end there.

Oppositions are also ILLUMINATING aspects (like in the full moon), and in this instance they illuminate our skipped step. Now that is an insight we maybe never even WANTED to have, and we might fight it tooth and nails, but it does not change the fact it's there (through the other person) and it forces us to acknowledge that skipped step (and possibly do something about it). Maybe it is an undesired insight, but it is also in a developmental sense a necessary one.

However with the conjunctions it is more instinctive than operating through illumination. We just react, hardly knowing the reason why. With the opposition we kind of see the train coming, but since we are on the same track, we can`t avoid it nevertheless.

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posted April 25, 2015 04:16 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by meissieri:
Alright. I've read this is rare, but I have it: Karma as a skipped step. Dejanira and Nemesis are conjunct and square the axis as well.

Nodes: 25.49 Aquarius (NN) & Leo (SN)
Karma: 28 Scorpio
Dejanira: 23.59 Scorpio
Nemesis: 25 Scorpio
and Sun: 21.33 Leo

Probably explains why I'm so drawn to people with planets in late Taurus, the other side (aside from being my 8th house, trine Venus and Juno). My dad's Sun does, for instance.

How did you find whether you have to use your NN or SN to solve the skipped steps again? I think I got it explained once and got to the Scorpio end.

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Whew! That's a bundle, Mei. Do you have any planets opposing them? The SUN being conjunct your SNODE (the classic sign of 'returned to complete what one failed to do') does provide some clear weight to it, even though the KARMA-NEMESIS-DEJANIRA is not a true skipped step in and of itself -- at this time.

Here's my reasoning.

In any standard natal, one can eyeball a planet square the NODES. However, we are likely to ALL have skipped steps purely on the asteroid level. Why? Sheer number of named asteroids, (nearly 9,500!) guarantees that SOMETHING will be within 5º of a square to the NODES. That means the likelihood of false positives is greatly increased. No good.

But when we're assured that these asteroids show greater depth to the planet (or, maybe planetoid or 5 major asteroids -- maybe) which represents the skipped step, we can confidently use them in our exploration.

Elsewise, I'm a bit hesitant to consider a pure asteroid stellium a skipped step. Again, I MIGHT if they're within 0º30 of orb, but this is just me being a renegade.

posted April 25, 2015 05:10 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Aubyanne:
That's it, Reese. Not intruding at all. I hope I made my instructions in the first post clear. Hmmm. I guess I haven't. How would you suggest clarifying that?

If you have no squares to the NODES -- congratulations! You've no skipped steps at the planet level. There may be an asteroid that's doing so, but without a planet to support it, I'd keep the orb extremely tight -- 0º30 or less.

As to determining outstanding karma without the skipped step? Meditate upon the SNODE and its meanings to get a better understanding of your alternate lifelines and 'previous experiences'. You may not have any major outstanding karma -- and that's a good thing.

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Thanks Auby. I just wanted to make sure I understood everything. I guess I was confused about skipped steps in synastry? For example: I was reading another thread were someone said that their Saturn completes another persons skipped step. Perhaps I'm over-analyzing this

posted April 25, 2015 05:18 PM              

Pisces:
Jupiter 1°02
Ceres 0°33
Isthar 1°49

Virgo:
ast. Lilith 3°33
Rudra 1°56

his synastric links to that:

his Groom conjunct my Jupiter 0°45
his Groom conjunct my Ceres 0°48
his Groom conjunct my Ishtar 2°04

his Eros conjunct my Jupiter 2°52
his Eros conjunct my Ceres 1°17
his Eros conjunct my Ishtar 0°01)
(9° THE RACE BEGINS: A JOCKEY SPURS HIS HORSE TO GREAT SPEED.)

his "Ceri" conjucnt my Jupiter 2°03
his "Ceri" conjunct my Ceres 0°28
(10° THE AVIATOR SAILS ACROSS THE SKY, MASTER OF HIGH REALMS.)
his Ceri conjunct my Isthar 0°48

huis Mars conjunct my Rudra 2°51
his Jupiter conjunct my rudra 1°56
his AStarte conjunct my Lilith 2°01
his Astarte conjunct my Rudra 0°25
(9° A MODERN EXPRESSIONISTIC ARTIST PAINTS A STRANGE CANVAS.)

his Amor conjunct my Lilith 2.25
his Amor conjunct my Rudra 0°47
his Mr Sag conjunct my Rudra 2°12

his perspective
----------------
well he has no real skipped step, however some asteroids are almost skipped steps, not sure if that means something

Boda 0°38
Ireland 2°47

and his Kaali very very widely (4°25) - but she is also conjunct my NN at a bit more than 3 degree, sort of bridging his nodal axis and mine, which are about 8-9 degree off being a square to each other. Not close enough to be all that significant, but interesting to me.

his Boda conjunct my Mars 3.10
his Boda conjunct my Ireland 3.03
his Boda conjunct my Amor 0°08
(3° TWO SEDATE MEN, SMOKING PIPES IN COMFORT, PLAY CHESS.) lol
his Boda conjunct my Liebe (German for "love") 1.52
his Boda opposite my Ambrosia 0.35

his Ireland ocnjunct my Mars 1.21
his Ireland ocnjunct my Ireland 1.14
his Ireland conjunct my Amor 1.21

his Kaali conjunct my Mars 1.37
his Kaali conjunct my Ireland 2.58
his Kaali conjunct my ASC 0.16
his Kaali conjunct my Neptune 3.10
his Kaali conjunct my NN 3.23

also his Kaali opposite my Varuna 0.39
his Kaali opposite my Fama 0.04

posted April 25, 2015 06:00 PM            

1. What if you don't have a skipped step?

This reminds me a bit of the 'unaspected ALGOL' post I saw awhile back. The poster was concerned because they figured an unaspected ALGOL was the worst -- not realising that an unaspected ALGOL was actually the most desirable thing! In short, if you don't have any planet square the NODES -- don't worry! Unless you FEEL that there's outstanding karma for you to resolve, this whole investigation won't do much for you outside of provide some knowledge you didn't have before. In short, there are several ways to evaluate the potential for karma, with the sidereal chart being something all can research -- regardless of whether or not they have a skipped step flagging them down to do so.

2. I only have asteroids square the NODES.

If a skipped step planet is akin to being a pilot entering restricted airspace, then a 'skipped step' asteroid is entering protected airspace. All sorts of regulations exist for allowing one to fly into restricted airspace -- all of it diplomatic and political. Protected airspace still contains a bit of red tape, but you don't need previous signed paperwork and prior agreements in order to fly over it.

In other words, one REQUIRES you to undergo certain 'steps' prior to allowance or entrance. The other means you might encounter some issues getting where you're headed, but you can still wing it with adequate awareness.

3. My planet only squares their NODES, without them having a skipped step. Does this count?

I figured we'll cover this one again, in case the initial rigmarole was unclear. The synastric skipped step is ONLY when another's planet or point is conjunct (and, potentially, opposite) their skipped step. We can have a planet or point square another's NODES, but it can only act as a skipped step if THEY possess a skipped step of their own, which it is conjunct.

4. What if we both have skipped steps, but they're not conjunct each other's points?

This is FAR more common than the alternative -- sharing a skipped step -- which is more likely to happen with those also sharing a NODAL axis, and being born within 6 months of one another. IF we have a skipped step, and THEY have a point which is conjunct it -- forming a synastric skipped step -- and they have their own separate skipped step, we may or may not have anything conjunct it. But if we do, it provides further clues for unravelling the mutual outstanding karma.

I should also mention that skipped steps are NOT as common as you'd think. They're an indication that something went wrong enough to create major outstanding karma that must be resolved in order to access the NNODE. It's a clear indication of previous involvement / involvement in an alternate lifeline where karma has been incurred and must be cleared.

The presence of asteroids in close orb to squaring the NODAL axis may be an indicator that this is an area which is becoming problematic for you, and could manifest (or be manifesting) as a skipped step in another lifeline. Here, exploring it is optional rather than mandatory, as you can still acquire the NNODE's lessons without resolution and clearing the karma. When a planet's involved, you cannot.

Instead, I find that the asteroids along the axis can be VERY illuminating when they're describing a previously established skipped step.

Now, for those of you that DO have skipped step, the next big question is perhaps the greatest:

posted April 25, 2015 06:46 PM            

The theory goes that the NODE which last conjoined the skipped step planet (or SSP) is its 'solution' NODE, as it still carries with it the energy of the NODE which passed it.

The easiest way to eyeball the 'solution' NODE for a SSP is to shift the axis anticlockwise; either the NNODE or SNODE will align with the SSP. That's its solution NODE.

posted April 25, 2015 08:13 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Aubyanne:
No. That's an entirely different animal.

IF it's ALSO conjunct a presently identified skipped step, it MAY further describe that skipped step, bringing greater weight to how or why the relationship (composite) impacts the one possessing the skipped step.

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posted April 25, 2015 08:15 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Aubyanne:
What are the orbs, Loffra? I'm guessing your MOON is about ... 5º square your NODES?

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posted April 25, 2015 09:30 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Peluches:
I think house cusps and/or the larger asteroids work as skipped-steps too ... Thoughts ?

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