The Planetary Nodes And Collective Evolution Mark Jones The Planetary Nodes And Collective Evolution Mark Jones The Planetary Nodes And Collective Evolution Mark Jones

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6. Praise for The Planetary Nodes and Collective
Evolution
“Many a student of astrology has been flummoxed by the nodes. Not
physical objects as the planets are, but geometrical planes in space,
the nodes require more of a grounding in astronomical context if we
hope to make sense of them. This Jones provides. His thorough,
organized presentation helps us see the nodes in all their three-
dimensionality, by artfully clarifying the orbital interrelationships from
which they get their meanings: not as still points in space, but as
dynamic points in time.
The Planetary Nodes and Collective Evolution updates the
seminal work of Dane Rudhyar, whose holistic perspective informs
every page. A profound and rigorous thinker, Jones is a worthy
successor to Rudhyar. I suspect that many who read it will feel, as I
did, not just informed, but inspired: struck anew by the mind-boggling
intricacy of the solar system, each part continuously interweaving
with every other part. Astrological inquiry of this nature reconnects
us with our spiritual intelligence.”
—Jessica Murray, author of At the Crossroads: An Astrologer Looks
at these Turbulent Times
“This book is a beautiful exploration of a topic that may be new to
many astrologers. Since the pioneering work of Dane Rudhyar, the
lunar nodes have become central to how modern astrologers
understand and interpret horoscopes. While Rudhyar left an
enormous volume of work, he also left many ideas that are ripe for
further development.
In his previous work Mark has offered deep and powerful insights
into the psycho-spiritual meaning of the lunar nodes. In this book
he’s developed Rudhyar’s initial insights about the importance of the
planetary nodes and has greatly expanded how we can look at them.
For Mark the planetary nodes are points of condensed meaning,
containing the essence of the entire planetary cycle. They serve as
entry points into the collective unconscious and reveal deep currents

7. of meaning in the mass mind. The idea presented here that perhaps
the planetary nodes reflect the evolution of the planetary archetypes
over time is an especially fascinating line of thought. There’s much to
ponder as the historical and example charts open new ways to look
at the planetary nodes. This work may well prove to be an inspiration
for more astrologers to further explore the planetary nodes and open
up new lines of thought.
Rudhyar was a major pioneer in working with world transits and if
he were alive, he would be very interested in Mark’s in-depth
research. The idea of being a seed person was very real to Rudhyar,
and seeing some of these seed ideas taking root in the work of
others would bring a smile to his face.”
—Chet Zdrowski, czastrology.com

8. Also by Mark Jones
Healing the Soul: Pluto, Uranus and the Lunar Nodes
The Soul Speaks: The Therapeutic Potential of Astrology

9. The Planetary Nodes and
Collective Evolution
BY MARK JONES
Boulder, CO

10. Published in 2020 by Raven Dreams Press
An imprint of Raven Dreams Productions, LLC
3980 Broadway # 103
Boulder, CO 80304
www.ravendreamspress.com
Copyright © 2020 by Mark Jones
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from Raven Dreams
Productions, LLC. Reviewers may quote brief passages.
ISBN 978-1-7326504-3-5
Cover art by Clare Phillips - clarephillips.com
Printed in the United States of America
LCCN 2020950276

11. TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION: PLANETARY NODES
Chapter 1
THE NATURE AND FUNCTION OF THE PLANETARY NODES
Chapter 2
AN EXPLORATION OF THE NATURE AND FUNCTION OF THE
PLANETARY NODES THROUGH WORLD EVENTS
Chapter 3
EXPLORING THE PLANETARY NODES THROUGH THE ORIGINS
OF DEPTH PSYCHOLOGY AND THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE
Chapter 4
PATTERNS OF THE PLANETARY NODES IN NATAL CHART
ANALYSIS
Chapter 5
CONCLUSION
BIBLIOGRAPHY

12. INTRODUCTION: PLANETARY NODES
IT IS WITH A MIXTURE of excitement and trepidation that I
undertake this work. I have found in my own development as an
astrologer and transformational mentor that commitment to a single
core approach to chart interpretation has allowed me to deepen my
understanding and more fluidly access a level of meaning that can
serve my clients and students. I have found that the temptation of
the mind meeting the sheer scale and complexity of the astrological
field can become like a magpie, chasing after every shiny new piece
of information.
If one was to take the mutable cross as symbolism of how we
learn, then this quality of intellectual curiosity could be likened to
Gemini. Just as the child learns language through curiosity, play and
mimicry of those around them, the extraverted Mercury function in
Gemini gathers new data and ideas that are confronted by the
challenge of discrimination through the square to Virgo in a process
to discern which of all these new ideas is useful. Discrimination is
always based on a series of implicit categories of meaning. Here
Jupiter and Sagittarius would represent the larger vision of meaning
that we have or are attracted to in life. This meta level of meaning,
our metaphysics or vision of purpose, is the foundation from which
we begin to discriminate.
The preceding sign to Sagittarius is Scorpio, ruled originally by
Mars and in modern rulership with Pluto. Here we see that
commitment and the orientation of the will is central as a foundation
to the intuitive framework of the world that we might construct in
Sagittarius. My ‘Pluto School’ has always focused on the principle
that commitment, whilst apparently a sacrifice of other possibilities
(Pisces), leads to depth. Just as a commitment to one close friend or
colleague, or one partner (in marriage or life partnership) creates the
apparent loss of all the other friends, colleagues or lovers one might
have had, it also opens the depth in service to the quality of the
person that is chosen, to whom one does commit. The single
greatest factor I found in my ability to enter into the horoscope, in a
way that was profound or useful for people, was through my

13. commitment to staying with the simplest structures of the chart and
allowing their meaning to unfold without racing on to identify other
factors: technical simplicity allied to interpretative depth.
Many people have studied astrology longer than I and yet still
struggle to approach a chart in a consistently rewarding fashion.
Often this is because of a struggle to comprehend the overwhelming
complexity of the horoscope; a problem compounded at times by the
sheer number of extra planetary bodies and abstract points that can
be added to the skeleton structure of the chart. I have spoken of how
confusing this can be for the student of the field, how it can help to
strip away extraneous material until the fundamental structures can
be understood first, before adding extra data sets. In my foundation
training program, based upon the method outlined in Healing the
Soul: Pluto, Uranus and the Lunar Nodes, I encourage students to
practice writing out a page or two of notes on a single significant
placement to develop a process of deep inquiry.
Yet here I am introducing a whole new subject to the field – with a
whole series of extra data points! It is not that I am the first to write or
teach about the planetary nodes, though there are few, and much of
the writing was offered to the community forty odd years ago. After
Theodore Landscheidt’s pioneering work in Europe in the 1960s to
which Dane Rudhyar was exposed, both Rudhyar and Zip Dobyns
wrote on the planetary nodes in the early 1970s. In fact, the text
which provided the starting point for much of the work, The Planetary
and Lunar Nodes (Humanistic Astrology Series no. 5), was published
by Rudhyar as a pamphlet in 1971. With some notable exceptions, I
am not sure that this work has been understood, responded to or
developed further. Having spent 18 years researching this material I
am convinced that it has a great deal to offer the wider astrological
community.
It is this conviction, born of considerable and sustained research
in both the charts of my clients and students as well as historically
significant individuals and events, that sees me risk introducing this
relatively unknown (and therefore “new”) subject. I am hoping that it
will add a layer of significance to the readers’ astrological
understanding rather than confuse it. My concern about burdening

14. the horoscope with yet more data has led me to develop a more
sceptical or shrewd analysis of the subject. I have also employed
people, initially at the ideas stage and again for lengthy historical
analysis, in order to help test the efficacy of my own claims: That the
planetary nodes are of vital importance in understanding how
collective significance constellates within the life of the individual or
event.
In the first line of the preface to his epic correlation of the arc of
history with the synodic cycles of the outer planets, Richard Tarnas
quotes Santayana: “scepticism is the chastity of the intellect.” 1 Karl
Popper, the master of scientific induction, extrapolates the virginal
essence of this sentiment with the idea there are only two types of
theory:
1. Theories that are known to be wrong, as they were tested
and adequately rejected.
2. Theories that have not yet been known to be wrong, not
falsified yet, but are exposed to be proved wrong. 2
In this view, everything is put forth to be tested and proven only
partially true or even wholly false. The scientific method then vis an
exchange of ideas, and the competitive interrogation of one’s peers
is what elevates propositions to ideas of momentary interest, or even
to civilisation altering fertility. Knowledge within a given field is then
akin to a tennis match, except with multiple opponents within the
same game. Whilst astrology is not a subject entirely within the
brackets of the scientific method it is a subject best served by
reasoned discourse and tested methods. This book seeks to serve
the fields of astrology and individual and collective knowledge – just
as it is also a serve; an invitation to start a game.
Just as in tennis this book aims to introduce a subject so
powerfully and cleanly that it is an “ace.” However the greatest
games of tennis are those when lengthy rallies occur between
participants, when a great server meets the gifted returner. This
subject, with rare and notable exceptions, is so new, and the subject
of individual and collective meaning throughout history so

15. extraordinarily complex and multivalent, that this book can hope, at
best, to serve as a decent introduction to an extraordinary subject.
It sounds obvious but within this volume I will be myself. That is to
say I will look at the world and analyse individual horoscopes and the
complexity of world events through my eyes. I have undertaken
considerable historical research and read widely in the humanities
and social sciences to learn about the way we process information,
our positions and biases, in order to see beyond my own filters so
that the potential of the subject might shine through any distortion on
my part. Clearly, I have failed: it is impossible to transcend oneself
completely in that sense. Certainly it is impossible to transcend one’s
core astrological approach, and I would not want to. However, I hope
to present this material in a fashion that transcends my methodology
and to have found enough of Popper’s second type of theory to add
a genuine claim to the subject matter of the planetary nodes as
being of real value and importance in our field.
Throughout the book I will look at charts my way, using my
preferred house system, Porphyry, and use of the modern planetary
rulers. There will be readers of this book who are genuinely
interested in my analysis on that level. There are potential readers of
this book who will also disagree with these technical choices on my
part. If that is you, you are welcome here too!
There are a number of critical structural decisions I have made
from the outset with this book to serve the ideal of presenting as
impartial an introduction as possible to this subject. This has taken
two main forms. The first is the technical decision to concentrate on
the planetary nodes of Jupiter outwards for the majority of the book.
This is for two primary reasons. One: it minimizes the impact of any
difference between geocentric and heliocentric nodal positions. The
heliocentric planetary nodes are fixed points, while the geocentric
planetary nodes move. The movement of the geocentric planetary
nodes of Jupiter outwards move significantly less than the planets
closer to the Sun. This enables me to build a thesis within the work
without alienating those readers who favour a different approach to
my own regarding the heliocentric versus geocentric positions. In my
work I mainly use the geocentric planetary nodes positions. Dane

16. Rudhyar, whose work inspired my research, was a fan of the
heliocentric nodes. So I’d like to honour both measurements and
whilst some of the advantages and disadvantages of both will be
explored separately herein, the majority of the thesis of this book is
more direct when the difference of positions between heliocentric
and geocentric is minimized in this way.
The second reason for the technical decision of focusing on the
planetary nodes of Jupiter outwards is to do with the primary thesis I
am presenting about the planetary nodes; that they refer to an
amplification of transpersonal or collective significance. This role as
harbingers of collective significance is more overt in the planetary
nodes of Jupiter outwards.
Returning to my earlier point, contemplating transpersonal or
collective significance requires clarity and a relatively impersonal
overview of world events and the contribution of individual figures.
The first main example section of this book focuses on the role of
the planetary nodes in significant world events. This is one of the
clearest fields I could find to explore a thesis that the planetary
nodes amplify or express patterns of collective significance. It is also
linked to my intention to explore this subject in a nonpartisan fashion.
The vagaries of historical interpretation aside, it is arguably easier
within the context of certain collective events to deal with their
complexity than it is to negotiate the complexity of the many and
varied different approaches to astrological understanding. For
example, the origin and unfoldment of the Second World War for
example, is a less contentious subject among historians than the
issue of sign rulership or house systems is in the field of astrology. In
this way I hope, through considerable research and illustrative
examples, to reveal the correlations of the planetary nodes in
historically significant collective event charts.
In one crucial way this book responds to a question posed by my
colleague, Keith Hackwood, who, at the start of our research asked,
“Are the planetary nodes a significant enough subject to be worthy of
serious study and investment?” His actual words were, “Does this
idea have escape velocity?” By the end of the first day of that

17. exhilarating week of research in 2009 we had our answer. This entire
book serves as my response.
The decision to focus on world events was not taken lightly. In my
first two books I have focused only on individual natal charts and
then primarily the charts of my clients. In Healing the Soul: Pluto,
Uranus and the Lunar Nodes, I clarified my method for natal chart
analysis which is to understand the outer planets as a contemplative
tool as to the nature of the transpersonal influence on the personal
journey which is expressed through the Nodes of the Moon. In that
book I gave two extended case studies from my work as a
psychotherapist. Initially I conceived of my work on the planetary
nodes, which was already fairly developed, as forming the last
chapter of my first book. My editor and I soon realised the folly of
that as the significance of this subject matter bloomed. In my mind I
was going to make my second book about the planetary nodes.
Instead, The Soul Speaks: the Therapeutic Potential of Astrology
emerged from my experience of being a psychotherapist and an
astrologer and my concern that within the astrological community
there was sometimes a lack of focus on the experience of the client.
Without that focus on the client, the potential of the natal chart
reading to transform a person’s life could actually be lost. The
transformational possibility of a natal chart reading was so precious
to me that I suspended the work on the planetary nodes to address
that. In that book, whilst I examined the lives of certain historical
personages, for example Freud, in particular his Uranus opposition
and its role in the creation of Psychoanalysis, I have never attempted
to write up such a plethora of event charts and historically significant
natal charts such as I’ve done here.
This has presented a number of challenges: the initial one
involving the sheer complexity of analysing such an amount of data
whilst maintaining a requisite degree of conscientiousness and
clarity. This is where the work of my second colleague, Patrick
Graham, has provided a profound contribution. When Keith and I did
our original research, Campion’s Book of World Horoscopes was our
core text alongside a list of our own clients – so that we could
combine significant world events with knowledge of individual

18. persons whose lives and challenges we knew intimately in order to
test our theories about the significance of these placements. This
was simply event and natal chart correlation via conjunctions to
planetary node positions. This early work allowed me to see clearly
the potentials and inspired me to go further.
Patrick has since undertaken extensive research on the evolution
of world events alongside systematic analysis of planetary nodal
correlations in certain subsets of the population. As part of this work
he has also created an ephemeris of the main planetary nodal
placements for those who do not have access to software detailing
their placements. In our initial research we used Solar Fire but then
added Sirius software, which allows a more comprehensive data
analysis. We also used Planetdance for its eloquent graphic
timelines. For those seeking further resources please visit
www.plutoschool.com for more information.
To approach the complexity of this work, I’ve relied on support
from my colleagues in addition to allowing adequate time to
contemplate and digest the information. It has taken almost twenty
years to bring this work to its current level. This may be a ‘serve,’ the
first shot of a rally, but it is a considered one and represents the
sustained efforts of a number of individuals.
How does one approach a subject as massive as the collective
history of humanity? One way to narrow the range of inquiry has
been to restrict the field primarily to modern, so-called “Western”
history; and more specifically to the 19th and 20th Centuries. Our
analysis does reach further back in time at certain points in order to
illustrate resonant historical echoes with our discoveries. Modern
history and Western culture have been chosen because this is the
era and culture in which I live and feel largely defined by. It is also
easier to find accurate dating of events during this period, allowing
for a more accurate chart analysis. For example, due to accurately
timed charts, we know the midheaven of both the Hiroshima and
Nagasaki event charts. That strength of correlation alone could
accomplish the primary purpose of this book; to illustrate the
planetary nodes as vital gateways to collective significance.

19. When contemplating the preponderance of the planetary nodes
around the summer and winter solstices, Dane Rudhyar mused, “It is
difficult to be sure what such a bunching of planetary nodes
means…” 3
Rudhyar was not usually shy in sharing his ideas! The amount of
his written output and the conglomeration of pioneering ideas that it
contains is vast. Whilst some of his work is inconsistent (he was
frequently paid by the word, so that may have had an influence), on
the whole it is frequently luminous. Yet he struggled with many of the
implications of even his initial observations of the planetary nodes. It
is truly a complex and vast subject.
Whilst I offer a thesis of meaning in this work, that thesis is to
some crucial extent secondary to my intention to present this subject
as one worthy of more significant investigation by those in our
community open to it. To put in another way, I have many things to
say about the significance of these placements. Some of those may
interest you, some you may dispute. This is part of the match. That
there is significance at all is the nature of my serve. My thesis as to
the significance of the planetary nodes is near endlessly debatable.
What I hope to reveal in this book is that there is significance. The
extrapolation of further meaning from that significance may be
complex and require more exploration. But by the end of this book, I
hope the question of this significance has been answered beyond
dispute.
When approaching the planetary nodes of Jupiter outwards, we
are dealing with the larger transpersonal impulses that shape
individual and collective life. By transpersonal I mean “beyond the
personal” (literally trans, beyond). In the world of transpersonal
psychology, the connotation has frequently been the introduction of
an archetypal or spiritual level of meaning in human life. In more
direct language, transpersonal influence is anything that refers to the
systems of meaning beyond the individual: collective forces of
sociological, political and psychological investment and momentum
that influence the individual and collective bodies of humankind.
From this perspective I have needed to balance the nature of the

20. disciplined study of history whilst remaining true to my purpose, that
this study is directed solely toward the illustration of the significance
of the planetary nodes.
Having said that, I could have waited longer. Part of me would
have loved to have stayed with this process of study to a point of
even greater clarity and refinement. The danger of perfectionism is
obvious. Would that point ever be reached I wonder? However, if I
reflect on the reasoning for presenting this material now, there is
clarity of purpose. To return to Richard Tarnas from the preface of
Cosmos and Psyche:
“It is just this tension and interplay – between critical rigor and the
potential discovery of larger truths – that has always informed and
advanced the drama of our intellectual history. Yet in our own
time, at the start of a new millennium, that drama seems to have
reached a point of climactic urgency. We find ourselves at an
extraordinary threshold. One need not be graced with prophetic
insight to recognize that we are living in one of those rare ages,
like the end of classical antiquity or the beginning of the modern
era, that bring forth, through great stress and struggle, a genuinely
fundamental transformation in the underlying assumptions and
principles of the cultural worldview. Amidst the multitudes of
debates and controversies that fill the intellectual arena, our basic
understanding of reality is in contention: the role of the human
being in nature and the cosmos, the status of human knowledge,
the basis of moral values, the dilemmas of pluralism, relativism,
objectivity, the spiritual dimension of life, the direction and
meaning – if any – of history and evolution. The outcome of this
tremendous moment in our civilisation’s history is deeply
uncertain. Something is dying and something is being born. The
stakes are high, for the future of humanity and the future of the
Earth.” 4
As I write, Pluto transits exactly on its own south node. We might
observe that Pluto is sensitive to its own nodal axis as it was
discovered whilst transiting its own north node. The preponderance
of events analysed in this work around Pluto’s discovery chart and in

21. the build up to the Second World War make clear the correlation
between its transit to its own nodal axis and the power of certain
collective psychological and political energies. Furthermore, the start
of the new synodic cycle of Pluto and Saturn arriving with their
conjunction in 2020 occurred on the south nodes of both Pluto and
Saturn. And as this book goes into print, we are well aware that 2020
is a year for the history books.
The previous conjunction of Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn in 1518
saw both the official enactment of a policy of institutionalized slavery
as well as the official escalation of the events that would lead to the
fragmentation of the Catholic Church. In 1518, Charles the fifth, King
of Spain and the Holy Roman Emperor signed an edict that allowed
official mass deportation of African slaves, expanding an already
existing but sporadic practice to a larger scale, beginning with a
shipment of 4,000 following the signature. The Heidelberg Dispute
was the interrogation of Martin Luther on the nature of his 95 theses
that were pinned to the door of his academy and represented the
escalation of what could have been the solitary protest of a scholar
monk into official church processes. In effect, this underscored the
significance of Luther’s work and locked in the trajectory of events
that would undermine the most powerful organisation in Europe (the
Pope as head of the Catholic Church being the individual who
crowned the Holy Roman Emperor Charles the fifth).
The conjunction of Saturn-Pluto in early 2020 took place on the
south nodes of Saturn and Pluto. Months later they were joined by
Jupiter in Capricorn to form a triple conjunction. All three planets,
each of which has the south node in Capricorn, align on the south
nodes of Saturn and Pluto. Astrologers had been looking ahead to
the planetary configurations of 2020 for some time, some with great
consternation and even foreboding. The addition of a layer of
significance from the planetary nodes was registered by only a small
minority. Yet they add a degree of significance disproportionate to
the simplicity of their detection. This crucial period in our collective
history is reason enough for me to step forward with this work.
This book is structured into four main chapters:

22. Chapter 1 – The nature and function of the planetary nodes.
This chapter undertakes a close reading of Rudhyar’s 1971
pamphlet, The Planetary and Lunar Nodes. It explores
Rudhyar’s complex thinking on the planetary nodes as the
summation of the entire arc of motion of the planet as it
intersects the ecliptic. This includes his radical notion that as
representatives of the planet’s orbital motion the planetary
nodes are in some crucial way more significant than natal
planetary positions. From Rudhyar’s thinking I extrapolate a
working hypothesis that the planetary nodes represent an
embedded layer of archetypal significance that can produce
a dynamic impact on the horoscope. The planetary nodes
encapsulate transpersonal or collective significance which
then, through natal or event charts, condenses into a more
personal expression.
Chapter 2 – An exploration of world events in the context of
the planetary nodes. This chapter includes an extended
section on the most significant world conflicts as well a
particular focus on the timing of new technologies or ideas
that had a considerable impact on the Western world. As
part of this analysis we begin to separate the different types
of archetypal or collective influence represented by the
different nodes.
Chapter 3 – An investigation into the lives of significant
individuals to explore the impact of the planetary nodes.
There is a particular focus on the history of ideas as
presented through the origins and development of depth
psychology in the twentieth century and the history of
science. The examples demonstrate that the planetary
nodes symbolize the way individual ideas and actions
become energized by archetypal and collective significance.
Chapter 4 – We continue with an exploration of the patterns
of planetary node placements in the charts of writers and
astrologers and, using additional examples, we address
each planetary node axis and begin to build a picture of how
these placements might impact the natal chart.

23. We conclude with a cultural overview of the planetary nodes from
antiquity to the present day, leading up to the very significant events
of our current world picture in 2020 – of which a more profound
impact could not possibly be imagined without a historical inquiry into
the planetary nodes.
I sincerely hope that the evidence presented in this volume will
inspire others to take up further research on the planetary nodes.
1 Tarnas, Richard, Cosmos and Psyche, xiii.
2 Taleb, Fooled by Randomness, 126.
3 Rudhyar, The Planetary and Lunar Nodes, 14.
4 Tarnas, Cosmos and Psyche, xiii.

24. Chapter 1
THE NATURE AND FUNCTION OF
THE PLANETARY NODES
IN THE DECEMBER-JANUARY 2013/14 issue of The Mountain
Astrologer, I published an article introducing the idea of the planetary
nodes with examples of their operation in history. This chapter takes
the introductory parts of that work and expands them into an initial
thesis on the nature and function of these placements.
The fact that the Moon has nodes is commonly taken into account
by astrologers. What is not always known or understood is that all
the planets have nodes. The essence of astrology is found within the
ecliptic as the circle of the zodiac itself is arranged around it. As all
planetary bodies in our solar system revolve around the Sun, so the
ecliptic represents the plane of the apparent motion of the Earth’s
orbit around the Sun and extends indefinitely into space and beyond.

25. Figure 1: The plane of the ecliptic
It is important to emphasize that there is no thing found at the
north or south node of a planetary body; these are abstract points in
space given meaning through the intersection of the motion of a
planet as it crosses the ecliptic. When the planet rises above the
ecliptic, this creates the north node (ascending) and when the planet
falls below the ecliptic this intersection forms the south node
(descending). See figures 2 and 4 for a visual representation.

26. Because each planet’s orbital motion is always relative to the Sun
then the Sun is the only body in the solar system that does not have
a nodal axis.
Figure 2: Planetary nodes are abstract points where a planet crosses
the plane of the ecliptic.
There has been precious little written about the planetary nodes.
During the Pluto-Uranus conjunction of the mid/late nineteen sixties
and early seventies, Theodor Landscheidt initially presented a paper
(1965) and then a workshop (1971) on the nature of the planetary

27. nodes. In 1971, Dane Rudhyar published the pamphlet The
Planetary and Lunar Nodes (CSA Press, Lakemont, Georgia). In
1973, Dr. Zipporah Dobbins published The Node Book (TIA
publications, Los Angeles C.A.) which included her reflections on the
planetary nodes.
The great majority of the working approach to the planetary nodes
used in this book finds its origin in Rudhyar’s work. In the mid-2000s
I discovered his invaluable 1971 pamphlet, which led to the most
significant expansion of my work on these placements and has
informed my thinking ever since. This is not to say our thinking is
identical, but that his late work on planetary nodes became the
launchpad for my approach and is worth exploring. With this, I will
now present a more detailed analysis of Rudhyar’s mature thinking
and method on the planetary nodes.
THE DYNAMISM OF THE PLANETARY NODES
A central premise of Rudhyar is that of the dynamism of planetary
motion. The apparent point of the node in space is actually a still
point representation of dynamic motion in time. The planetary nodes
occur as an expression of both the overall motion of a planet as well
as the relationship that motion has with the Earth and Sun.
Rudhyar writes:
“The structure of the solar system results from the
interrelationships between not merely the places occupied by planets
at any time, but more basically from the interrelationships between
the orbits of the planets. Seen from the Sun, all planets describe
elliptical orbits. These orbits are well spaced around the Sun. They
constitute a series of more or less concentric rings… However, the
planes of these orbits do not coincide. All planets do not revolve
around the Sun in the same plane. All these orbital planes intersect.
The line formed by these intersections is called the line of the nodes,
or nodal axis.”1
For Rudhyar, the nodes are a cross section of the activity of
planetary motion with the activity of Earthly life. They are crossroads
or meeting points whose power of archetypal meaning becomes
unlocked when they come into the sphere of influence of the Earth.

28. The nature of planetary motion is such that it reveals the
interaction between planetary orbital motion and the story or journey
of the zodiac. The story of the twelve signs of the zodiac is a
fundamental tenet of astrology. Figure 3 illustrates the location of the
constellations in relation to our planet’s yearly cycle. This, Rudhyar
explains, is the journey of celestial longitude, progressing on through
the 360 degrees of the zodiac. The planetary nodes bring in the
dimension of celestial latitude wherein the different planes of orbital
motion of the different planets intersect the path of the “journey” of
the 12 signs of the zodiac within celestial longitude.

29. Figure 3: The journey of celestial longitude
“Celestial longitude, from 0 to 360 degrees, is measured along the
ecliptic, which astrologers divide into twelve signs… But there is also
a factor called celestial latitude; and it is this factor which is basic
when one deals with the relationship between the orbital planes of
the planets and our own orbital plane, the ecliptic. Each planet’s
orbital plane and the ecliptic intersect: and the lines of the nodes
represent this intersection. There is a north node and a south node.
A planet is at its north node when it is at latitude 0 degrees and
moving north of the ecliptic; at its south node when it crosses the
ecliptic in latitude and going southward. There are two moments in
the cycle of celestial latitude of a planet when it reaches the extreme
positions north or south. For most planets these extremes of latitude
are very close to the ecliptic, thus not more than 8 degrees; but Pluto
can reach latitudes of nearly 18 degrees.” 2

30. Figure 4: Latitude and the formation of the planetary nodes.
Figure 4 illustrates the formation of the nodes as the planetary
motion carries the planet to zero degrees latitude moving northwards
(north node) and southwards (south node) of the ecliptic.
The significance of the nodes stems from their representation of
the interweaving of planetary motion into the story of the zodiac and
into the narrative of the evolution of the Earth. The nodes are much
more than the sum of their parts: these apparent still points are
actually the distilled essence of complex orbital motion. They

31. represent vast histories of orbital motion consolidated into the
moment they cross the plane of the Earth.
The planetary nodes are expressions of the evolving relationship
between the Earth as a collective and the archetypal significance of
the planetary body that intersects its path.
“This intersection and the nodes it produces symbolize the
fundamental relationship between a planet and the Earth considered
as two components in the solar system. The relationship has
significance in terms of this solar system as a vast cosmic field of
dynamic existence. When, therefore, we apply it to the chart of an
individual human being it should be evident that what this
relationship - and therefore the planetary north and south nodes -
mean in that chart should be referred to the most basic factors in that
individual person, i.e., factors that are inherent in the essential
destiny of the individual.” 3
This is the section from which I extrapolated a series of workshops
on the lunar nodes (with the planetary nodes as background context)
that I called the Destiny Line, based on the increasingly radical ideas
contained within this dense prose. The first idea is that of
relationship. Rudhyar sees the node just as one might contemplate
the idea of a node in the physics of sound (figure 5): wave patterns
interact with each other and certain points of intersection become
ever more complex interlocking points of meaning both within the
wave patterns and somehow transcending them. They are therefore
points of relational meaning and complexity. More information can be
found at these points than is normally contained within the wave
itself.

32. Figure 5: Standing wave pattern
It is in this context that Rudhyar begins to express the radicalism
of his vision of the planetary nodes, as he continues:
“They are factors which reach deeper than the natural bio-psychic
functions which planets normally represent in a birth-chart - just
because the planet as a moving small disc of light in the sky is
something that the personal consciousness can normally perceive
while the entire orbit of that planet is a cosmic fact which transcends
sense-perception.” 4
The notion of nodes as points of intersection in wave patterns can
help us see through to what Rudhyar is saying here as he uses a
visual metaphor to illustrate his powerful and contentious point. A

33. planet can be seen in the sky as a single dot of light. It is a linear
point of contact, a single event or single wave pattern of meaning.
Whereas the entire orbit of that planet is an expression of its entire
evolution.
Figure 6: The planetary nodes of Pluto as points of intersection in a
wave pattern.
The power of the planetary nodes to imply the orbital motion of a
planetary body is only discovered through the intersection of that
planet’s motion with the ecliptic (see figure 6). So through the nodes
we discover the history of a planetary archetype, a summary
moment if you like, created at the intersection of two planes of
motion which are evolving through time. In contrast, the longitudinal

34. position of a planet is taken as a one-off event moment detached
from its greater significance of orbital movement.
This is from where Rudhyar felt that the individual and collective
evolutionary significance of the nodes originates.
“An ellipse has two foci; whereas a circle has only one centre. All
planetary orbits have one common focus, where the Sun is located;
this is the great symbol of the life-force and of light. But the planetary
orbits have also what I have called their “individualizing focus.” This
is the symbol of the particular function and individual “quality of
being,” which the whole planetary orbit symbolizes.” 5
Rudhyar is far from alone in seeing the Sun as the central
organizing principle of the solar system, both as a scientific and
interpretive truth. The ecliptic is the story of the significance of the
Earth with regard to that central organizing principle. The power of
the planetary node is that it brings its own signature, the “quality of
being” that is found within the planet in addition to its entire orbital
motion brought to bear on the ecliptic.
As in the science of ballistics, the two points denote a parabola of
movement. Rudhyar reasons that as the two nodes of a planetary
body are revealed by the planet crossing the plane of the ecliptic
then the planetary nodes are condensed expressions of meaning
of the entire orbital motion of that planetary body. Similar to a
nodal point in a wave interference pattern representing the
condensed meaning of multiple waves, this distillation of planetary
motion contains histories and meanings of a planetary archetype and
thus represents the encoded meaning of the entire orbital motion of
that planetary body. So the nodes of Pluto represent a condensed
portrait of the arc of motion of Pluto as a planetary body, and are
therefore a summation of its entire evolutionary history. This is
astronomically the “cosmic fact which transcends sense perception.”
As the nodes are re-created at each crossing of the ecliptic, they
refer to the whole motion of the planet (its historic, present and future
motion) as well as the relationship of that entire arc of motion to the
nature of the relationship between the Earth and Sun.

35. This is the cosmic vision of meaning for the planetary nodes that
Rudhyar arrived at towards the end of his life. It takes a close
reading of his text to fully register his layered sense of meaning, but
he does explicitly state his view that the planetary nodes are actually
in some crucial way more significant than the placement of the
planet itself when he writes, “They are factors which reach deeper
than the natural bio-psychic functions which planets normally
represent in a birth-chart…”
This idea, that the often overlooked planetary nodes are in some
crucial fashion more significant in chart analysis than the natal
planetary placement, is so radical that it is tempting to dismiss it as
an exaggeration. The lunar and planetary nodes were central to
Rudhyar’s understanding of astrology. Towards the end of his career
he became increasingly concerned with the legacy of astrology; its
potential to carry a seed of a new psychological and spiritual impetus
that he felt was sorely lacking in contemporary society. The planetary
nodes, as embodying the potential meaning of entire orbs of
planetary momentum, seemed to him a clear avenue to express the
larger cosmic vision of meaning that astrology could offer. He felt
that this could be the gift of astrology to a civilisation that
increasingly failed to imagine itself as having a cosmic significance.
In my view, it is a clear and considered view of the mature
Rudhyar that the planetary nodes are, in some way, a more profound
source of interpretative power than the natal position of the planet
itself. The radicalism of this is self-evident. That astrology since the
1970s has barely explored this subject, nevermind extrapolate a
meaningful thesis as to the nature and function of the planetary
nodes, suggests to me that the profession in the larger sense has
not accepted their significance. Whether or not one agrees with the
degree of significance placed here by Rudhyar, it is my express
intention to make a serious case for the unquestionable nature of
their being significant. Hopefully this can then return a collaborative
process of investigation as to the nature of that significance.
Rudhyar is clear in his emphasis on their importance:
“In the case of planetary nodes, I repeat, what is at stake is the
fundamental relationship of a planet and of our Earth as two related

36. members of the solar system. More specifically, in terms of individual
birth-charts, it is the manner in which the essential quality of a planet
affects the very structure and the roots of our individuality as a
member of the human species.” 6
Rudhyar was confident, abstract and most pioneering when
dealing with the way that larger cosmic processes might be
translated into possible grounds for interpretive validity within the
horoscope. He repeats his own central premises over and over again
as if teasing out every possible meaning. I am focusing so closely on
this abstract path of reasoning on this subject as it forms the
foundation for the working hypothesis of meaning that I will use
throughout this book. Now I will summarize the critical points of
Rudhyar’s thought.
1. The nodes are two points of intersection of a planetary orbit
with the ecliptic. The planetary north node is formed as the
planet rises northwards above the ecliptic and the planetary
south node formed as they descend southwards below the
ecliptic.
2. The nodes therefore describe the parabola of motion of the
planetary body.
3. The entire arc of motion of a planetary body is
fundamentally different in significance than an individual
static planetary placement: “the very quality of being of a
planet is revealed by its orbit”.
4. The planetary nodes then convey an essence of the
planetary body. As crystals consolidate within appropriate
chemical conditions, so do the nodes consolidate time into
an essential quality of the planetary body from the implied
“entire momentum of that planet in action” that they
contain.
5. The planetary nodes are formed by the intersection of
planes of orbital motion (celestial latitude) with the apparent
motion of the Earth around the Sun, the ecliptic (celestial
longitude).

37. 6. The formation of the nodes at the intersection of a
planetary orbit and the ecliptic fixes at a point in space and
time a multi-dimensional meaning akin to the nodes in
wave interference patterns.
7. One of these meanings is that the summation of the
planet’s entire orbital momentum (carrying the “quality of
being” of the planetary body) is fundamentally relational. It
is only found when it is ‘discovered’ within the relationship
of the orbital plane of motion with the ecliptic.
8. So the planetary nodes are always relational. Even if, for
example, the entire orbital momentum of Neptune might
seem abstract, it is always found in relationship to the
Earth’s passage around the Sun.
9. The planetary nodes then represent the entire evolutionary
arc of meaning associated with each planetary body. This
meaning is discovered or revealed as that planetary body
impacts the nature of life on Earth.
HELIOCENTRIC VS GEOCENTRIC PLANETARY NODES
As Theodor Landscheidt noted in his Theory & Practice of
Geocentric Planetary Nodes, “the celestial positions of the
heliocentric nodes show a rather slow progress, between 15’ for
Uranus and 42’ for Pluto over fifty years.” The heliocentric positions
of the planetary nodes are shown in the table below. The geocentric
nodes are much more dynamic and are chosen for the topic of this
book primarily because of that and also because we must not forget
that Western Tropical astrology is based upon the geocentric
perspective.
Heliocentric Planetary Node Positions
Planet Node Sign Centuries
Polarities 1700 1800 1900 2000 2100
Jupiter Can/Cap 07’24 08’25 09’26 10’27 11’29
Saturn Can/Cap 21’01 21’54 22’47 23’39 24’32
Uranus Gem/Sag 12’27 12’57 13’29 14’00 14’31

38. Neptune Leo/Aqu 08’28 09’34 10’41 11’46 12’53
Pluto Can/Cap 16’16 17’36 18’57 20’18 21’38
The implications for the importance of geocentric planetary nodes
can be seen in historical contexts where, because of the movement
of the nodes in addition to the movement of a transiting planet,
repeated conjunctions occur over a much longer time span than a
one off conjunction to a relatively static position in space - a
heliocentric node. These geocentric conjunctions can be likened to a
series of sharp jabs punctuated with more powerful cross punches
compared to the one long lunge of the heliocentric conjunction. In
our more in-depth example in Chapter Two, where we track the
conditions giving rise to the American War of Independence, the
fluctuation of the nodes in relation to transiting Pluto, in and out of
aspect, paints a picture of the steady development of intensity. In
that example, we use a small orb of three degrees for each
conjunction but there is an argument for the use of larger orbs given
the nature of the extended time frame allotted by geocentric nodal
ranges.
Using our three-degree orb, we could also compare the economic
boom of the 1920s and the beginning of the Second World War.
Pluto transits over the heliocentric north node of Jupiter between
August 1918 and July 1924 clearly heralded a period of hope and
renewal after the devastation of World War and the following
Influenza Pandemic of 1918. And yet, using geocentric planetary
nodes, we can see the influence of Pluto extending as far back as
1914, the year that World War I commenced, and affecting events all
the way up to the 1933 inception of the Third Reich towards the end
of the nodal range of Jupiter at the appropriately symbolic
conjunction to the north node of Saturn. This time span therefore
includes: the optimism of the roaring twenties, the British Mandate
for Palestine, the start of the Chinese Civil War, the global
significance of the devastating Wall Street Crash (also involving the
NN of Pluto), the rise of the Nazi Party in post-WW1 Germany, the
1931 Chinese floods (generally considered the deadliest natural

39. disaster ever recorded), and the new Soviet policies that gave rise to
the horrific Ukraine Famine which claimed the lives of an estimated
ten million people in the matter of a few years, to name but a few.
The extended time frame of geocentric planetary nodal aspects
reveal the build up to what appears potentially as isolated events,
but what in reality, describes the consequences of political
strategies, social movements and other global occurrences and
connected events of collective significance, linked via a cascading
butterfly effect.
Conceptually speaking, heliocentric planetary nodes fit the
astrological paradigm of an event birth as a single occurrence
unrelated to a historical context and are valuable for the ease with
which we can quickly establish their relative positions in relation to
planetary aspects. Geocentric planetary nodes however, attempt to
address the cyclical nature of orbiting bodies as processes in time
thereby linking past, present and future.
THE PLANETARY NODES AND THE COLLECTIVE
UNCONSCIOUS
Whilst Rudhyar does not make this explicit connection, I believe that
much of the significance that he places on the idea of the entire orbit
of planetary motion as being more significant than the linear position
of the planet in the horoscope is linked to the capacity of orbital
motion to symbolize, and make coherent, larger trends in the
collective unconscious of humanity. I will explore that link in some
detail now as it provides a bridge to how I have developed Rudhyar’s
initial conception of the significance of the planetary nodes.
Rudhyar’s first major astrological text in 1936, The Astrology of
Personality, arose out of an extensive period of absorption in the
work of Carl Jung. In fact, if you believe Rudhyar, he read everything
that Jung had written up to that point in a single year in preparation
for his own book; a considerable task and a sign of the significance
Rudhyar placed on Jung, whose own reputation was far from fully
established at that time.
On his trip with Freud to New York in 1909, Jung had a dream
which signalled his investigation into the collective aspect of the

40. unconscious just as it signified a fundamental rift in the ever-growing
tension between the two colleagues:
“I am on the first floor of a house, furnished a bit like my study – a
sort of eighteenth century type. Now I must see what is downstairs.
Beautiful old staircase, and the ground floor is sixteenth century –
old, heavy, but beautiful furniture. I thought, “This is nice, I didn’t
know it was here – perhaps there is a cellar.” And there was. I went
down – bare walls, the plaster coming off, and behind were Roman
bricks; a stone flagged floor at the bottom. In one corner was a stone
with a ring in it. I lifted it and looked down, and below were
prehistoric remains – bones, skulls and old pottery.” 7
Freud, who had been struggling physically throughout the trip
(fainting spells and mild incontinence), was convinced that the
discovery of a skull at the lowest levels of the basement represented
Jung’s deep seated death wish toward Freud. Whilst this could
represent a crescendo of Freud’s egotism, Jung’s dream being all
about him, Freud was not without some justification. After all, Freud
was the big name draw for the trip and in fact, his lectures there
were some of the clearest testimony he ever gave on the nature of
Psychoanalysis. Jung was accompanying him, along with another
colleague, as very much number two.
Jung was extremely dynamic, with a very strong will, and was
bound to struggle to remain the second of any other person, even
one as powerful as Freud was. Even if Jung did harbour a desire to
grow beyond his old mentor, this would hardly be unreasonable and
it would seem an enormously reductive reading of the dream to be
an expression of that one simple wish fulfilment. Of course, that is
what Freud did with dreams, and his concept of the unconscious was
so narrowly brought back to the early sexual origins of our
behaviours that Jung had to break open to a greater vision of
meaning.
Jung saw the dream as representing the multiple layers of the
human psyche. As his dream-self journeyed through the house he
was descending through the different layers of the unconscious. In
the final layer of the cellar, with the ringed flagstone that he pulled

41. up, he was exposed to the prehistoric remains of the human psyche.
He was being shown that the unconscious, on its deepest possible
level, was a repository of all of the material of humanity from its
origins in pre-history right up until the present day. Jung’s natal
Venus is in Cancer conjunct the north node of Pluto. In the dream
symbolism of exploring his personal home he opened up to the
transpersonal riches of the collective experience and memory of
humanity.
Jung’s dream represented the germ of an insight that would
dominate much of the latter part of his work. Interestingly, as Jung
struggled with Freud’s singular take on his dream, Jung asked Freud
what dream he had had the previous night. Freud said something
like, “I could tell you but if I did it would undermine my authority,” thus
he refused to share. This was the final straw in their working alliance
and as each other’s co-counselors.
Next, as we examine a section of Jung’s exploration of this theme
of transpersonal memory, we encounter a thinker whose writing, like
that of Rudhyar, is highly abstract. It takes an effort to enter into his
line of thought. I have highlighted in bold the crucial take away for
our current purpose:
“For everything that will be happens on the basis of what has
been, and of what – consciously and unconsciously – still exists as a
memory –trace. In so far as no man is born totally new, but
continually repeats the stage of development last reached by the
species, he contains unconsciously, as an a priori datum, the entire
psychic structure developed both upwards and downwards by his
ancestors in the course of the ages. That is what gives the
unconscious its characteristic ‘historical’ aspect, but it is as the same
time the sine qua non for shaping the future. For this reason it is
often very difficult to decide whether an autonomous manifestation of
the unconscious should be interpreted as an effect (and therefore
historical) or as an aim (and therefore teleological and anticipatory).
The conscious mind thinks as a rule without regard to ancestral
preconditions and without taking into account the influence of this a
priori factor has on the shaping of the individual’s fate. Whereas we

42. think in periods of years, the unconscious thinks and lives in
terms of millennia.” 8
Jung sees the unconscious ultimately as akin to the geologists
exploring a rock face. James Hutton, the pioneering Scottish
geologist, saw in the cliff face the millennia of activity that was
recorded within it. On one trip his colleague John Playfair recorded
the impact of these initial forays into what would be called “deep
time”; “the mind seemed to grow giddy by looking so far into the
abyss of time.” 9 Just as Hutton began to explore the long-term
processes that shaped the strata of rock, Jung began to explore the
deep structures of condensed time within the unconscious. Jung
explored this from a multidimensional standpoint. So the collective
unconscious contains layers of biological information about the way
the psyche evolved from fear of predators and their influence on our
vision, and how we process information, just as the collective
unconscious might contain central cross-cultural narratives, such as
the origin myths of cultures or the idea of the hero.
Richard Tarnas quotes Jung as part of the title page for chapter 1
of Cosmos and Psyche: “Our psyche is set up in accord with the
structure of the universe, and what happens in the macrocosm
likewise happens in the infinitesimal and most subjective reaches of
the psyche.”
If the planetary nodes are gestures of the entire orbit of a planet’s
motion, then they refer to one of the far-reaching potentials of
astrological meaning. They summarize the history of the most distant
motion of a planet’s range and they do so through intersecting the
narrative of the Earth. To bring these most distant and abstract
layers of significance from “out there” to “in here,” an archetypal
approach is needed, and moreso, one that is also fluent through
time.
Possible ways of exploring this archetypal significance are offered
in the final sections of this introductory chapter. Given the
extraordinarily wide-ranging nature of the material, they are
necessarily only working models. They will also reflect and build
upon the nature of my astrological approach and vision.

43. For those who do not wish to engage with these archetypal or
imaginative lenses and who want to move straight to the “evidence”
as it were, of the planetary nodes in action, I would suggest reading
the case study of Alan Turing and then moving onto chapter 2.
The structural nature of my thesis, that the planetary nodes
represent points in which a transpersonal or collective level of
significance finds expression in the individual life or in world events,
transcends the discussion as to the ways of exploring that meaning.
That is born out time and time again by the evidence. The question
or creative inquiry arises then when we explore the meaning of that
collective significance or how it is revealed through astrology (the
many possible meanings of a planetary node in a given sign, in
relationship to a specific chart, etc.)
For those who would accompany me, there are a couple of
working principles to bear in mind. This is a summary of working
models of possible significance for the planetary nodes of Jupiter
outwards. The primary purpose of this book is to collect and explore
evidence for the significance of these long overlooked but profound
points.
The secondary purpose of the book is to provide an initial thesis of
the meaning of the planetary nodes. I hope that inevitable gaps or
flaws in these interpretive suggestions within such a new field of
inquiry will not detract or obscure the primary purpose of presenting
the overwhelming evidence as to their significance. With that
significance established perhaps more of our community will explore
these points and over time develop a consensus as to their meaning.
THE PLANETARY NODES AS SIGNIFIERS OF COLLECTIVE
SIGNIFICANCE
Physicist David Bohm, in Wholeness and the Implicate Order, saw
the entire explicate order of space and time - of the universe itself -
as being held within an implicate order of information embedded or
encoded within the explicate order of manifest information. The
explicate order of meaning was, for Bohm, everything that could be
observed within manifestation: the interlocking web of apparently
discrete and individual objects in space that make up our universe.

44. The implicate order, by contrast, was an invisible non-linear
dimension of information (meaning) that was the invisible
architecture of the known and observable world.
When Rudhyar says “…while the entire orbit of that planet is a
cosmic fact which transcends sense-perception,” he is applying the
word “cosmic” in a technical sense as he is contemplating the
potential significance being presented by an entire orbit of planetary
motion rather than a fixed point. This orbital motion is implied by the
nodes; i.e. they can be used alongside the ecliptic to calculate the
orbital motion of the planet. In this way, the planetary nodes carry an
implicate order of meaning. As abstract points in space the nodes
are also on the implicate level; they do not actually exist. They exist
only as an intersection, as a commentary on lines of relationship.
The relationship is crucial; it is the implied orbit as it was revealed
by crossing the plane of the Earth’s journey around the Sun - a
complex history of planetary motion as it was revealed in a particular
time in the Earth’s evolution. In this sense, the planetary nodes are
an implicate order of meaning (a condensed portrait of the planetary
archetype through time) as it was made apparent in the explicate
order; i.e. as it crossed the ecliptic.
The planetary nodes represent condensed time or embedded
history: a high level of implicate meaning within two simple points in
space. As a tool for contemplating the entire planetary orbit they
represent a lens for exploring how the planetary archetype
(Rudhyar’s “quality of being” of the planet) might evolve through
time. The idea is simple but far-reaching: Saturn may itself, as an
archetype, evolve through time. Certainly the expression of the
Saturn archetype in human history and culture evolves. The
planetary nodes may represent a way in which we can study and
explore this evolution.
One can, for example, contemplate the nature of the planetary
nodes by looking at how the nodal points themselves evolve over
time. The planetary nodes of the outer planets move slowly, but they
do move. So, in contemplating the nodes of Neptune, which are now
in Leo and Aquarius, we note that in 1 A.D they were in Cancer and
Capricorn. Actually, the nodes of Pluto and Saturn are now in the

45. same positions as the nodes of Neptune during the time of Christ, at
the origin of the Christian narrative that has so shaped civilisation for
the last two thousand years.
That the nodes of Saturn and Pluto are at the historic location of
Neptune’s nodes during the life and death of Christ speaks of rich
archetypal meaning. Are we looking at something that was originally
a genuine spiritual impulse (node of Neptune) that has become an
obsession (nodes of Pluto) or more an issue of authority (node of
Saturn) and power (nodes of Saturn and Pluto)? Are the collective
ideals (nodes of Neptune) that were powerful enough to shape the
last era now metamorphosing into social and political structures
(nodes of Saturn) and deep unconscious psychological factors
(nodes of Pluto) that have changed our relationship to the meaning
of the original impulse? Is this an esoteric commentary on the
process whereby a religion born of the meaning of sacrifice
(Neptune), with a downtrodden and enslaved people meeting in
secret, grows over time to become an infrastructure so vast that it
dominates the cultural and political life of the West for millennia
(Saturn, Pluto)?
Such questions are rich and provocative. The present volume will
explore the movements of the nodes over larger historical time
periods, especially when they change sign or intersect other
planetary nodes’ past positions (as in the example above). Yet
clearly this kind of analysis, whilst fascinating, is abstract by
definition. So I endeavour to explore as many options as possible,
not wishing to ignore the potential of a new field of inquiry, but with
the ultimate editorial focus on information that is the most practical
and efficacious in chart interpretation.
The essence of Rudhyar’s argument for the significance of the
planetary nodes can be reduced to two essential components that
together become more than the sum of its parts. The first is that the
two points crossing a known line (ecliptic) is enough to extrapolate
the entire arc of motion of the planet. The second is that the known
line which they intersect is the line on which the constellations occur.
So the nodal axis of a planet contains - as an implicate order - the
entire orbit of the planet. The nodal axis of a planet also reveals

46. where that motion intersects the point of central relationship between
the Earth to the Sun. For Rudhyar this symbolizes the power of the
node to speak about the evolution of a planetary archetype as it
manifests through time. Rudhyar saw the ecliptic as representing the
Earth’s evolutionary dance with the Sun; the node as a point on that
journey symbolizes the power of a planetary archetype to influence
or describe the Earth’s evolution.
Contemplating Rudhyar’s vision in conjunction with ideas
presented by Jeff Green in-person, in 1999, led me to a central
thesis that transpersonal or collective significance (the orbit of the
planet) is revealed in the individual life or collective event (the orbit
revealed through intersection with the ecliptic).
Many years of research with many hundreds of charts of
individuals and events have established and developed this thesis
that the planetary nodes of Jupiter outwards symbolize transpersonal
or collective significance within the life of the individual or event.
Chapter 2 will present this thesis supported through world events
and leading historical figures and in Chapter 3 through an analysis of
key individuals of the twentieth century involved in the development
of psychology as well as a small selection of individuals from the
history of science.
The planetary nodes are points in which a certain level of
abstraction, an archetypal presence or collective significance,
influence the personal life or the historical event. They represent the
point at which a higher order or more complex level of meaning
becomes historical, either in the life of the individual or through an
event in the world.
COLLAPSE OF THE WAVE FUNCTION
Keeping in mind that the tendency of humanities scholars to take the
ideas of science and rework them to suit their needs can be
problematic, let’s consider the idea of the collapse of the wave
function from the study of relativity in this context metaphorically. In a
series of famous experiments where a beam of light was split
through a series of apertures, light was found to have the mysterious
quality of being both a wave and a particle - what some have

47. christened the wavicle. In certain conditions light remained in its
wave state of fluid potential. In other conditions, through observation,
light became a particle and registered the particular response of a
discreet entity. This was called the “collapse of the wave function.”
Under certain conditions of observation, the non-linear potential of
the wave became a discreet linear form.
The planetary nodes represent points of information where larger
waves of archetypal or collective significance become
particular through an individual or event chart. This is the
symbolism of the orbital planetary motion (large thread of
significance) coming into being, or only being discovered, because it
has intersected the Earth’s orbital plane.
The planetary nodes, from this vantage point, become a network
for transpersonal or archetypal influences to enter the world through
specific forms. They reveal gates of meaning where the non-linear
field of information enters the linear domain to disturb, expand or
transform it.
THE CRUCIAL DISTINCTION BETWEEN COLLECTIVE
SIGNIFICANCE AND FAME OR NOTORIETY
In using the phrase “collective significance,” I am endeavouring to
capture a sense in which a theme of transpersonal or collective
meaning permeates the individual’s life. This is not an indication that
the individual themselves will rise to significance in the collective –
more that the issue or theme in their chart has a collective
significance, a subtle but crucial distinction.
The historical examples used throughout this book were chosen
carefully to provide a scattering of various examples of the potential
impact and significance of the planetary nodes of Jupiter outwards.
Historical examples have been selected because the significance of
the events and the individuals involved are known public figures. An
unfortunate side effect of using so many historically famous charts
as examples is that one could confuse the case I am making about
the kinds of meaning that the planetary nodes of Jupiter outwards
symbolize with the issue of fame or being well-known in and of itself.

48. The planets of Jupiter and Saturn are effectively social or
collective in their nature; the outer planets with their extended cycles
refer to collective and transpersonal potentials. The planetary nodes
of these planets continue this theme of significance that lies beyond
the merely personal domain: they refer to issues and themes that
have collective or transpersonal significance. This is very different
from saying that in and of themselves they convey significance upon
the individual. It is even more different from referring to them as in
any way revealing fame or notoriety.
THE NODES OF JUPITER AS AN EXAMPLE
Let us take the example of Jupiter. As a planet, Jupiter can be
associated with the nature of our beliefs, our vision of meaning,
including religious as well as legal or educational forms. Alongside
that we could add the idea of the principle of expansion generally,
the big idea or the idea of faith or even fanaticism. Following this, the
planetary nodes of Jupiter would carry information about the entire
evolutionary history of belief, of religious or educational forms of
meaning.
The planetary nodes of Jupiter represent a condensed essence of
the quality of Jupiter, including how Jupiter has expressed that
essence of itself through time. They are like a transpersonal
homeopathy - the distilled essence of Jupiter as a pattern or shape
that has evolved as a meta-structure of all the expressions of Jupiter
throughout history.
Everyone has planetary nodes in their birth chart. The geocentric
planetary nodes of Jupiter fluctuate between late Sagittarius/Gemini
and Capricorn/Cancer for those born in the last century. Each of us
participates in a world where the archetypal quality correlating with
Jupiter exists and evolves through time. In that sense one could put
the planetary nodes of the outer planets into one’s natal chart and
contemplate their efficacy without regard to any natal aspects to
those placements. In effect this is what Green does with the nodes of
Pluto in his 2016 book Structure of the Soul. My approach has been
more involved in investigating the potential meaning in the lives of

49. those who do have significant contact with the planetary nodes in
their natal chart.
An aside worth mentioning here is a general technical
consideration regarding aspects and orbs in natal placements and
transits. Over the period of one week in 2009, I reached a zenith of
research on the impact of planetary nodes on the charts of
individuals and world events. Initially, I was focusing on natal planets
conjunct planetary nodes within an orb of 2 degrees. I have since
widened that orb of influence to 3 degrees. The primary reason for
this was due to my findings in the chart of Sigmund Freud, discussed
in more detail in chapter 3. I later expanded the technical terms of
my investigation of the impact of planetary nodes in the natal chart to
include all fourth harmonic aspects (conjunction, square and
opposition). However, I have never taken significant steps beyond
using primarily the conjunction aspect between a natal chart
placement and a planetary node.
We have not yet covered the positions of the planetary nodes and
the potential meaning they contain, or the evolution of those
planetary nodes through history. So we are still on a relatively simple
level of analysis. Yet this simple level is one that is already
interesting. An expansion of a case study that was originally included
in The Mountain Astrologer article should reveal how effective it can
be. Individuals then with a personal planet conjunct Jupiter’s nodes
might be expected to be responsive to a meta-level experience of
Jupiter, in a fashion that is in accord with the symbolism of the natal
planet involved.
The planetary nodes in conjunction with a natal placement reveal
the possibility that something in the individual’s life or actions could
be elevated onto the level of transpersonal significance - that the
planetary nodes might add something of collective meaning to the
individual level of expression. In this way, Rudhyar’s abstraction
gains traction as an observable phenomenon.
In the case of a natal planet conjunct Jupiter’s nodes, something
of the essence of Jupiter would intertwine itself in the individual life
through the nature of that personal planetary placement. This
contact could potentially expand the individual life expression into

50. something greater. This contact might correspond to the potential for
elevation of the personal life to a level of collective significance
above and beyond that which would be normally associated with the
natal position of Jupiter.
Given the complexity of determining what constitutes “greater
collective significance” than the natal placement of Jupiter it is
necessary to test this potential significance against several example
charts in different contexts. To that end, this book endeavours to
explore this working hypothesis in action in several fields of
expression.
To return to the example of Jupiter’s nodes, we would want to
explore the possibility that the activity of the individual life
symbolized by the planet in contact with the nodes of Jupiter might
expand into an issue of transpersonal or collective significance.
Maybe a powerful religious, legal or educational issue, challenge or
conflict has shaped the individual’s life in a way that expresses a
larger movement in the collective evolution. Maybe their faith or their
fanaticism shaped them on some larger level. Maybe their
relationship to a big idea changed them or the world.
With that, let’s consider our first example.
CASE STUDY OF ALAN TURING
Alan Turing was born on the 23rd of June 1912 at 2:15 am in
London, UK. His birth data is accorded an A Rodden rating of
accuracy.

51. This case study is an outcome of the original focus of my research
to follow conjunctions of natal planets to planetary nodes.
For the purposes of this case study I am going to focus on only
one placement - that of Turing’s Mercury at 8°00’ Cancer in close
conjunction to the planetary north node of Jupiter at 8°11’ Cancer. At
only 11 minutes of orb apart, this is a very close contact. Even if we
were to delineate very tight orbs to test these new positions, I don’t
think anyone would argue that this is a close conjunction.
Here we can repeat our working hypothesis: that planetary nodes
in conjunction with a natal planet reveal a possibility that something

52. in the individual’s life or actions could be elevated to the level of
transpersonal or collective significance. With this in mind, we are
looking to test two core principles with our chart examples. The first
principle is that the individual planet in contact with the planetary
node is somehow the recipient of the extra layer of information from
that node’s condensed meaning. In Turing’s chart, Mercury is
expanded by the node of Jupiter. The working hypothesis supports
this example, where we see the potential enlargement of the
personal horizons of the mind into an arena of collective significance.
Turing is described as “the most important figure in breaking
German ciphers during the Second World War, in particular the naval
signals vital in the battle of the Atlantic” by his biographer Hodges,
who also emphasized his work on the “conception…of the electronic
computer… and his founding of artificial intelligence.” 10
This is a truly outstanding example of personal self-expression
elevated into the level of collective significance. Turing’s seminal
work in Bletchley Park in the 1940s led to arguably the single
greatest contribution to the successful outcome of the Second World
War outside of Churchill, Stalin, Hitler or Roosevelt. His lifelong study
of puzzles and code-breaking, brought to a fever pitch of intensity by
the death of his young school-friend, was elevated to the level of
international significance by his contribution to breaking the enigma
code used by the Axis powers.
Without wishing to slander the Cancer archetype or its potential, in
and of itself Mercury in Cancer is rarely seen as a particularly
visionary placement. Now, there will be some studying this chart and
finding all the other factors in their approach to astrology that might
explain Turing’s chart in terms of his powerful mental life. This is, of
course, highly appropriate. There are many approaches to astrology,
and many valid ways of chart interpretation. My ideal with astrology
is technical clarity, and often simplicity, leading to accuracy and
depth in interpretation.
I present the idea that there could be no more simple, direct and
coherent symbolism of the personal mind breaking through to a
vision of potentially collective significance that that of Mercury

53. conjunct the north node of Jupiter. Turing’s life, as we will explore,
offers no greater example of one man’s mental life, his love of
puzzles and cyphers, being elevated to an arena of changing
millions of lives through breaking the codes used by the German
military in the final phases of the Second World War. Mercury
conjunct the north node of Jupiter: an individual mind, elevated by
circumstance and the needs of history to another level of meaning
and expression.
Turing did not work alone. He was following on from the
breakthroughs of a team of Polish mathematicians in the attempt to
crack the seemingly impossible enigma code machines that the
Nazi’s used to keep their military operations covert. Collaborators
like Gordon Welchman were also crucial to the success of the work.
Yet, as we will see, his whole life was wrapped up in the journey to
becoming the individual who could play that crucial role in tilting the
balance of power from the Axis to the Allied powers. In that role, it
could be argued, he answered the collective need of humanity -
literally the individual expression (Mercury) of a new/needed (north
node) faith (Jupiter) through a visionary idea (Jupiter’s nodes) in a
desperate time.
Whilst Germany had spent the 1930s gearing up its industrial war
machine, the United Kingdom, initially a lonely barricade against the
forces of National Socialism in Europe, had no such preparation so
the Atlantic was a critical avenue for supplies and reinforcements.
Few figures can make such a significant claim to have single-
handedly tilted the outcome of the war so fiercely towards the Allies.
I mentioned that there are two core principles for testing the
nature or function of the planetary nodes in the natal chart. The first,
to explore the conjunction of a personal planet to a planetary node
expressing in some fashion the way a collective idea, need or
process, transforms or elevates the personal process. The second,
once having established the first, is to explore the movement picture:
do transits to the personal planet that is conjunct a planetary node
occur at moments of significance in the individual’s life? Are those
moments of significance instrumental in the expression of the
planetary node’s impact on the natal planet?

54. I wish now to chart several events of significance in the life of Alan
Turing to explore thoroughly the nature and meaning of any contact
with Mercury to the north node of Jupiter at 8° Cancer.
On the 13 February 1930, Christopher Morcom, Turing’s best
friend at school, was taken ill and died from complications with a life-
long health condition that Alan did not know about. The two had not
been friends that long but they shared a love of science and the
stars. In his last letter to Turing, Morcom wrote of a satellite near
Jupiter (!) that he had witnessed on a clear night with his telescope
after commiserating with Turing for failing to get the scholarship that
he himself had.
Hodges quotes the letter of a school friend that “poor old Turing is
nearly knocked out by the shock,” and indeed Turing would continue
to be haunted by Christopher being “called away” for years to come.
11 In many ways this event was the trigger for a profound loss of
faith, and yet in the grief and loss he worked hard at the
mathematics of codes and ciphers as part of the prize set up in the
school in his dead friend’s name. After his loss he also, through
discipline, began to gain first-hand knowledge of the field in which he
would eventually become a world authority.
On the day that Christopher died, transiting Saturn was at 8°27’
Capricorn in Turing’s 8th house, in close opposition to his Mercury
conjunction with the north node of Jupiter. Saturn would not fully
move away from that point until the following year, marking the
young mathematician with his first grief and renewed discipline in his
chosen field.

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56. CHAPTER X.
MR. SILVERTHORN’S TREACHERY.
The little party generally lay down to sleep soon after eight. The
days were always fatiguing, and they were in the habit of rising
early.
The weather was warm, for it was toward the end of June, and
they did not even raise the tent, but lay down on the ground with a
blanket underneath and above them. Mrs. Cooper generally slept in
the wagon.
“We have an extra pair of blankets, Mr. Silverthorn,” said Mrs.
Cooper. “We cannot offer you a bed; you will fare as well as my
husband and the boys.”
“How kind you are!” murmured Dionysius. “To me this simple
provision will be a luxury. For a week I have slept on the bare
ground without a blanket.”
“You need not go to bed as early as the rest of us, unless you
like.”
“My dear lady, if you don’t object, I will retire into the woods for
an hour and indulge in religious meditation. I wish to express my
thanks to Providence for my happy encounter with your kind party.”
“There is no objection, I am sure, Mr. Silverthorn,” said Mrs.
Cooper. “What a good man he is!” she said to herself.
“That man makes me sick,” remarked Tom, aside to Grant.
“I think he is a humbug,” whispered Grant.
“I am sure he is.”
The little party stretched themselves on the ground, and Dionysius
Silverthorn walked pensively into the woods.
When he returned, Mr. and Mrs. Cooper and Tom were asleep.

57. The pair of blankets assigned to the stranger lay ready for use. He
did not immediately lie down, but thoughtfully surveyed the
sleepers.
“They seem fast asleep, but perhaps it will be better to wait
awhile,” he murmured thoughtfully to himself. “It will not do for me
to get caught. That young man, Tom, is very muscular, and the old
man is strong in spite of his years. I will lie down awhile.”
It was well for him that he decided thus, for Grant awoke—a thing
unusual for him—and, looking around, saw their visitor.
“Haven’t you gone to bed yet, Mr. Silverthorn?” he asked.
“No, my young friend; I have been into the woods, engaged in
meditation and thanksgiving, but now I feel weary and I think I shall
soon be lulled to rest. Do you often wake during the night?”
“No; it is unusual for me to wake at all.”
“That is well. Boys like you should sleep soundly. I would I were a
boy again! Good-night, my dear young friend.”
“Good-night!”
Grant was soon asleep. An hour later Mr. Silverthorn, who had
been lying quietly, lifted his head gently, and throwing off his
blanket, rose to his feet.
He walked up to where Grant lay asleep.
“I wonder whether the boy has any money in his pocket?” he
thought.
He went up softly to where Grant lay, and, kneeling down, quietly
detached the blanket, so that Grant would be uncovered. Then he
inserted his hand into his pocket, and drew out some silver change,
about two dollars in all.
He looked at it with disappointment.
“Is that all he has?” he muttered. “It won’t pay me for my
trouble.”
He was about to search his other pocket, but Grant stirred in his
sleep, and, fearing he would awake, Dionysius rose hastily.
“I would try the others,” he said, “but I don’t dare to. If they
should wake, they might murder me, particularly the young man.
Now I will lie down again, and get up about four o’clock. I must
have a little rest.”

58. Dionysius Silverthorn was one of those men who can rouse
themselves at any hour they fix upon. It didn’t vary much from four
o’clock in the morning when he rose and rubbed his eyes. It was
already growing light in the east, and there was promise of a fine
day.
“I feel quite refreshed,” he said, stretching himself. “It is time I
took my departure. Is there nothing else I can take?”
Some remains of the supper of the previous night had been left
near the wagon, including a box of crackers.
“I will pocket a few crackers,” said Dionysius, “and keep them for
lunch. I will take the liberty of breakfasting before I go. Shall I take
the blankets?” he said thoughtfully. “No, they would be in my way. I
wish I had a little more money—but it would be dangerous to seek
for it. I will, however, take the liberty of borrowing the horse, as he
will materially assist me in my journey.”
The horse had been tied to a tree. Mr. Silverthorn gently
unfastened the rope and led him away. He was nervously anxious
lest he should whinny or make some noise that would arouse the
little party. But the horse seemed unusually docile, and, though he
was probably sorry to be roused from sleep quite so early, allowed
himself to be led away without any manifestation of discontent.
An hour later Tom Cooper stretched himself and opened his eyes.
“Another fine day!” he said to himself. “Well, we must make the
most of it. It is high time we began to make preparations to start.
Hello, Grant!” he said, shaking the boy till he murmured drowsily,
“What is it, Tom?”
“Time to get up, Grant, my boy. We must be on our way by six.”
Grant jumped up, and, throwing off the blankets, began to fold
them up.
“Where’s Mr. Silverthorn?” he asked, turning his eyes in the
direction of the stranger’s bed.
“There’s his blankets!” said Tom. “Perhaps he has gone to the
woods to meditate,” he added, with a laugh. “I shan’t be sorry, for
one, if he doesn’t come back.”
“Nor I,” assented Grant.
“It’s my belief that he’s a rascal!”

59. “Whether he is or not, I don’t like him.”
“You forget, Grant, that you are the image of his lost boy,” said
Tom, with a laugh.
“I hope not. I shouldn’t like to look like any one belonging to him.
Do you believe his story about the Indians attacking his party?”
“It may be true, though I think the man is capable of lying. Well, I
must wake up father.”
The blacksmith was soon roused.
“A fine day!” he said cheerily. “We are in luck. Where is the
horse?” he asked abruptly, the next instant.
Startled by the question, Tom and Grant turned their eyes in the
direction of the tree to which old Dobbin had been tethered.
“Sure enough, where is he?” ejaculated Tom.
“Wasn’t he securely tied?”
“Yes,” answered Grant. “I tied him myself. He couldn’t have got
away without hands.”
“I tell you what, Grant,” said Tom Cooper suddenly, “that
scoundrel’s stolen him!”
“What scoundrel? Whom do you mean?” demanded the father.
“That tramp—Silverthorn.”
“Why, he’s gone, too!”
“Yes, and has stolen Dobbin to help him on his way. I’d like to get
hold of the rascal!” And stern resolution glittered in the eyes of the
young man.
“But I don’t understand it.”
“It’s easy enough to understand. The man’s a humbug. All his
story was made up to impose upon us.”
“Then you don’t believe his party was attacked by Indians?”
“No, I don’t; but if I catch him he’ll think he has been attacked by
Indians.”
“It will be a serious loss to us, Tom,” said the blacksmith, with a
troubled face.
“We’ll get him back if we can, father. I wonder if the fellow has
stolen anything else.”
Grant thrust his hand into his pocket and made a discovery.
“I’ve lost about two dollars in silver,” he said.

60. “It may have slipped out of your pocket during the night.”
Grant examined the ground on which he had been lying, and
shook the blankets; but not one of the missing silver coins was
found.
“No,” he said. “The silver must have been taken from my pocket.
No; I had some bills in my right-hand pocket. I was lying on my right
side, so he could not get at it without the risk of waking me up.
Have you lost anything, Tom?”
Tom had been examining his pockets.
“No,” he said grimly. “The fellow didn’t dare to tackle me, I reckon.
If I had caught him at it I would have strangled him. Father, how is
it with you?”
“I am all right, Tom.”
“Then he didn’t get much outside of the horse. But that’s a serious
enough loss. Poor Dobbin!”
“If I only knew which way he went,” said Tom slowly.
But this was not clear. There was nothing to do but to get ready
for the day’s march, and set out. The loss of Dobbin made it
necessary that all should walk except Mrs. Cooper, who sat in the
wagon.
They had been about three hours on the way when a tramping
sound was heard, and Dobbin came running up to the party,
whinnying with joy.
“There’s nothing amiss with him,” said Tom joyfully. “I wonder how
he got away from the man that stole him. Are you glad to get back,
old fellow?”
There could be no doubt on that point, for the horse seemed
content and happy.
“Where’s old Silverthorn, I wonder?” said Tom.
The question was soon to be answered.

61. CHAPTER XI.
AN INDIAN ENCOUNTER.
The country through which the Cooper party were now travelling
was partially wooded. Soon, however, they would reach the long and
barren stretch of country—the great salt plain—which was the dread
of all overland parties. Then there would be no woods till they
approached the borders of the Golden State.
About the middle of the afternoon, while the oxen were plodding
along at the rate of barely two miles an hour, they received a
surprise.
Tom Cooper, whose eyes were the sharpest, called out suddenly:
“Look there!”
Grant looked, but had to approach nearer before he could realize
the situation. Then he saw a white man tied to a slender tree, while
half a dozen Indians were dancing round him, uttering a series of
guttural cries, which appeared to fill the captive with intense dread.
It was too far to distinguish the features of the prisoner, but when
they came nearer Tom cried out, “Dang me, if it aint Silverthorn!”
It was indeed Dionysius Silverthorn, and his plight was certainly a
serious one.
“What shall we do?” asked Grant.
“We must rescue him,” answered Tom. “He’s a mean rascal, and
he’s repaid our hospitality by robbing us; but we can’t let him be
killed by those redskins.”
“I’m with you!” said Grant.
By this time the Indians had caught sight of the approaching
party. They ceased dancing and appeared to be conferring together.
When Silverthorn saw that some of his own color were at hand he

62. uttered a loud cry, and would have stretched out his hands if they
had not been fettered.
“Help me! help me!” he cried. “Save me from these fiends!”
The Indians—six in number—seeing that there were but three in
the approaching party, took courage and decided to maintain their
ground. They uttered, a yell and fired a volley of arrows, one of
which whizzed by Grant’s ear.
Tom Cooper gritted his teeth.
“We’ll teach them a lesson,” he said.
He raised his rifle, and, aiming at the foremost Indian, fired
deliberately. The redskin fell, pierced to the heart.
This appeared to strike his companions with dismay. They seemed
panic-stricken, as well they might be, for the bows and arrows with
which they were armed were no match for the rifles of the little
party opposed to them. One of them raised his arm and uttered a
few words; these were of course unintelligible to Grant and his
companions, but their sense became apparent when he pointed to
the dead Indian, and, with one of his companions, lifted him from
the ground and began to beat a retreat.
“They won’t trouble us any more, Grant,” said Tom. “They are
going away. But we had better keep on the watch, for they are a
crafty race, and may meditate some treachery.”
When they were beyond bowshot, Tom led the way to the spot
where Mr. Silverthorn was eagerly awaiting deliverance from his
uncomfortable position.
“Well,” said Tom, taking a position where he had a good view of
the captive, “what have you got to say for yourself?”
“Oh, please release me, Mr. Tom!” said Dionysius, in a pleading
tone.
“Why should I? What claim have you on me?”
“The claim of humanity. You’ve no idea what I have suffered in the
last hour.”
“First, I want you to explain why you stole my horse.”
“You’ve got him back,” said Silverthorn, who could see old Dobbin
browsing beside the wagon.
“Yes; but no thanks to you.”

63. “Indeed, I only meant to borrow him for a while.”
“And you borrowed Grant’s money in the same way, I suppose.”
“Put yourself in my place, Mr. Tom. I was penniless and destitute.
How could I make my way alone through this wilderness?”
“So you robbed your benefactors! I take no stock in your story
that you only meant to borrow the horse. Now own up, make a
clean breast of it, and it will be the better for you.”
“I meant some time to pay you for him; indeed I did. I knew that
if I got to the mines I would soon be in a position to pay all my
debts, and I should have regarded that as a debt of honor.”
“The less you say about honor the better, it strikes me, Mr.
Silverthorn.”
“Please release me! I have been in this unhappy confinement for
more than an hour.”
Tom approached the tree and, drawing out a formidable looking
jack-knife, sundered the cords that bound the captive, and he
stepped forth, stretching himself with a sigh of relief.
“Permit me to express my thanks, my friend and benefactor!” he
cried, sinking on his knees and grasping Tom’s hand, which he
pressed to his lips.
Tom pulled it away with a look of disgust.
“I have no confidence in you,” he said. “I know how you treat your
friends and benefactors.”
“I have indeed done wrong,” said Dionysius. “I am a weak, fallible
man, but I never will wrong you again.”
“I don’t think you will, for I shall not give you a chance. Now tell
me the truth about the horse. How did he escape from you?”
“I got off his back a moment, and he immediately turned and
galloped away.”
“You pursued him, of course?”
“A little way,” answered Mr. Silverthorn, coughing apologetically;
“but I soon gave it up. I said to myself, ‘He will seek his owner, and I
shall be saved from committing a sin.’“
Tom Cooper laughed.
“You were resigned because you had to be,” he said. “Now, about
Grant’s money! Have you got it?”

64. “No; the Indians robbed me of it.”
“When did you meet the Indians?”
“It may have been two hours ago. I have no watch, and can only
estimate the time.”
“Did they attack you?”
“They ran up and seized me. I stood still, for I knew that if I ran
they would pierce me with an arrow.”
“Well?”
“When they caught me they searched my pockets and took the
silver. Then I was glad that I had taken no more.”
“That is, you would rather Grant would keep his money than have
the Indians get it.”
“Yes, Mr. Tom,” answered Silverthorn meekly. “It went to my heart
to rob the boy, for he looked so much like my lost son. Forgive these
tears!” and he drew out the red silk handkerchief, which the Indians
had evidently not thought it worth while to take, and wiped his eyes.
“That man disgusts me, Grant,” said Tom. “He seems to have quite
an affection for you.”
“It is all on his side,” returned Grant. “I don’t believe he ever had
a boy.”
“Well, perhaps not. He seems a natural born liar. But it’s time we
were pushing on. We have a long distance still before us.”
The wagon was put in motion, and the little procession started.
Mr. Cooper drove the oxen, Mrs. Cooper sat inside the wagon, Tom
led the horse, and Grant walked alongside. Sometimes Tom took his
turn in driving the oxen, and sometimes Grant led the horse.
Dionysius Silverthorn started also, walking beside Grant.
Tom turned upon him.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“I will walk along with you, if you will let me, Mr. Tom.”
“I think you’ve got more cheek than any man I know. After the
trick you played upon us, you expect us to tolerate your presence.”
“Please let me accompany you, Mr. Tom. I might meet the Indians
again.”
“Then go in a different direction. You cannot go with us.”

65. Mr. Silverthorn produced his red handkerchief, and rubbed his eyes
again.
“It is a hard, cold world!” he said. “I am a very unfortunate man.”
“Perhaps you are; but I don’t think you deserve to be very
fortunate. Just make up your mind that you are not going to travel
with us. Had you behaved honorably, and not repaid kindness by
theft, we would have allowed you to remain with us for a time; but
now it is impossible.”
“I shall starve, and be found a wretched corpse by the wayside,”
moaned Dionysius.
“Let him have some provisions, Tom,” said Mrs. Cooper, who was
naturally compassionate. She had given up the idea that he was a
truly good man, but she was not willing that he should be left quite
unprovided for.
“I will do that,” said Tom.
He made up a small parcel of provisions, and handed them to
Dionysius Silverthorn, who sat down on a stump, while the little
caravan pushed on.
“That’s the strangest sort of man I ever encountered,” said Tom. “I
wonder whether we’ll ever see him again.”

66. CHAPTER XII.
IN DIRE DISTRESS.
Some days later the party reached the great salt plains dreaded by
all overland travellers. The sight of the vast, white prairies, utterly
destitute of vegetation, with no plant or shrub visible, and no
evidence that any had ever existed, was depressing enough.
“If we should get out of provisions or water here, Heaven help
us!” said Tom apprehensively.
“How far will we have to go before we reach the borders of the
plain?” asked Grant.
“I don’t know, but I have heard that it is very extensive.”
“How are we off for provisions?”
“That is what makes me anxious. Our supply is quite scanty.”
“And there is no chance to replenish it here?”
Tom shook his head.
“Don’t tell mother,” he said. “It would make her worry. It will be
time for her to learn it if worse comes to worst.”
On the sixth day they were startled by a sight calculated to
increase their fears.
It was a stranded wagon, with three gaunt, emaciated bodies
stretched near it, all of them quite dead. There were two men and a
woman.
“They must have died of hunger, or thirst, or both,” whispered
Tom.
“What can have happened to them?” asked Mrs. Cooper
compassionately.
“Perhaps they were weak, and unable to go farther,” said Tom
evasively.

67. “It seems terrible that they should be exposed to the elements.
Suppose some wild beasts should come and mangle their bodies.”
“Wild beasts are too sensible to be found in this region,” said Tom.
“Why?” asked his mother.
“Because,” answered Tom, hesitating, “the country is so barren
and unattractive.”
“You seem to think wild animals appreciate fine scenery, like
human beings.”
“Well, yes, in a measure,” and Tom nodded significantly at Grant,
as if to caution him against saying anything that would reveal to his
mother his real meaning.
A Horrible Discovery.—Death from Starvation.
“Tom,” said his father, “don’t you think we had better bury these
unfortunate persons?”
“Yes, father. I will help you do it.”
“And I,” added Grant.

68. “First, however, let us see if we can find any letters or documents
disclosing their identity. We ought to let their friends know what has
become of them.”
In the pocket of one of the men Tom found letters showing that it
was a party from Taunton, in Massachusetts. One of the men had a
silver watch, and upon another was found a small sum of money.
“I will take charge of the watch and money,” said Mr. Cooper, “and
when we reach any point where it is possible, I will send them on to
their friends in Taunton, for that appears to have been their home.”
“What about the wagon, father?”
“We must leave it. We have all we can do in transporting our
own.”
A grave was dug, and the three bodies were deposited therein.
Tom looked sober, for he couldn’t help asking himself, “Suppose this
should be our fate!”
He quietly examined the wagon to see if he could find any
provisions, but there was not a scrap, or crust to be found.
“It was as I thought,” he whispered to Grant. “The poor wretches
died of starvation.”
A week later the same problem confronted them.
“Grant,” said Tom, “I have been examining our food supply, and
find that we have only enough to last us two days.”
Grant looked startled.
“And then?” he asked.
“I don’t know. Unless we get a fresh supply we must die, like
those poor people whom we buried a week since.”
“Shall you tell your mother?”
“I must. She is entitled to know, for she is in danger like
ourselves.”
Mrs. Cooper turned pale, but seemed calm and composed when
told of the state of affairs.
“We must make our provisions last as long as possible,” she said.
“But how?”
“We must be placed on allowance.”
“Half rations?”

69. “Yes. That will give us some additional time. We must make our
two days’ supply last over four days, and who knows what may
happen in four days?”
“That is a sensible suggestion, mother, but let it only extend to
Grant, father and myself. I don’t want you to be stinted.”
“What do you think of me, Tom? Do you suppose I would consent
to fare better than my husband and son, and this boy, who seems
like one of us? No, Tom, you should judge your mother better.”
“You have shut me up, mother. I can’t say anything in answer to
that.”
“I will show you that a woman has as much fortitude as a man.
Besides, I do not have to work as hard as you. I can bear the
deprivation better.”
The days following were days of intense anxiety. Every morning,
when they set out on their daily march, there was a prayer in the
heart of each that something would happen before the sun set that
would relieve them from the haunting fear of famine.
But in all these days they met no one, and overtook no one. The
sun rose hot and fiery, making the great alkali plain seem still more
arid and cheerless. So far as they could see, they were the only
people in the world; for, look as they might, they could see no other
evidence of human habitation. But in the distance it was a relief to
perceive some low rising hills, and by night time they reached an
oasis, and, what cheered their hearts, a small stream of water, for
they were very nearly out, and had felt the need of economizing.
Now the oxen, and the horse, as well as themselves, were allowed
to drink ad libitum. The animals drank with evident gratification, and
looked sensibly cheered and relieved.
“Now, if we could only find some food, I should be perfectly
happy,” said Grant.
Only a few crackers were left, but these, dipped in the water,
became palatable. But the serious question arose: “What would they
do when these were gone?” It was a question that none of them
could answer.
“I have often wondered, Grant,” said Tom, “what it was like to
want food. I begin to understand it now. I remember one day a poor

70. tramp came to our door, who said he had not tasted food for forty-
eight hours. I looked at him with curiosity. I could not understand
how this could happen to any one. All my life I had never known
what it was to want food. I even doubted his word; but when
mother invited him into the kitchen and set a plate of meat and
bread before the poor fellow, the eagerness with which the famished
wretch ate satisfied me that he had told the truth. Now, Grant, I will
make a confession.”
“What is it, Tom? Have you murdered any one?” asked Grant, with
forced hilarity.
“Not that I remember. My confession is of a different nature. For
four days—during the whole time that I have been on half rations—I
have felt a perpetual craving for food.”
“And I too, Tom.”
“And now I feel weak and exhausted. It has been an effort to drag
myself along to-day. The fact is, machinery can’t be kept in working
trim without fuel.”
“I realize that, too, Tom.”
“I presume father and mother have felt the same way, but I
haven’t dared to ask them. They say ‘misery loves company,’ but
when the companions in misery are your own father and mother, it
doesn’t apply. Though I have to suffer myself, I wish they were
spared the same privations that have undermined my strength.”
It will be seen that Tom was better educated than the majority of
young men born and brought up in the country. He had attended an
academy in a neighboring town for a year, and had for a season
taught the district school at Crestville. Grant found him pleasant and
instructive company.
That night, when they went to bed, they were utterly without
food. What were to be their experiences on the morrow they could
not foresee, but there was plenty of room for grave apprehension.
“Grant, if we can get no food, I have decided what we must do,”
said Tom, as they lay down to rest at a short distance from each
other.
“What is it, Tom? Have you thought of anything?”

71. “Yes; I suppose you know that horseflesh, though not to be
compared with beef, is still palatable?”
“Yes.”
“It is our last resource. Poor old Dobbin must die!” and the young
man sighed.
At that moment the old horse whinnied.
“It seems as if he knew what we were talking about,” said Tom.
“That will last us some time,” remarked Grant, with renewed hope.
“Yes; I suppose the poor old fellow won’t be very tender, but it is
the only way he can serve us now. We can cook up quite a supply
while the meat is fresh, and take it with us. It will give us a new
lease of life, and something may happen before that supply is
exhausted.”
Tom consulted his father and mother, who, though at first startled,
decided that it was the only thing to be done.
And so poor Dobbin’s fate seemed to be sealed!

72. CHAPTER XIII.
THE SOLITARY CABIN.
When they rose the next morning, all looked serious. Each felt
that the crisis had come. All eyes were turned upon poor old Dobbin,
who, unconscious of his danger, was browsing near the camp.
“Grant,” said Tom suddenly, “let us give Dobbin a small lease of
life.”
“Will it do any good, Tom?”
“I don’t know; but this is what I propose: let us each take a rifle
and go in different directions. We may find a deer or antelope to
serve as a substitute for Dobbin, or something else may turn up.”
“Very well, Tom.”
So the two started out.
Chance directed Grant’s steps into a sheltered valley. Coarse grass
covered the ground, which seemed luxurious when compared with
the white alkali plains over which they had been travelling.
Grant kept on his way, taking pains not to lose his bearings, for he
did not care to stray from the party, and it was quite possible to get
lost. There was no evidence of human habitation. So far as
appearances went, this oasis might have come fresh from the
creative hand, and never fallen under the eye of man. But
appearances are deceptive.
Turning a sharp corner, Grant was amazed to find before him a
veritable log cabin. It was small, only about twelve feet square, and
had evidently at some time been inhabited.
Curious to learn more of this solitary dwelling, Grant entered
through the open door. Again he was surprised to find it comfortably
furnished. On the rough floor was a Turkish rug. In one corner stood

73. a bedstead, covered with bedding. There were two chairs and a
settee. In fact, it was better furnished than Robinson Crusoe’s
dwelling in his solitary island.
Grant entered and sat down on a chair.
“What does it all mean, I wonder?” he asked himself. “Does
anybody live here, or when did the last tenant give up possession?
Was it because he could not pay his rent?” and he laughed at the
idea.
As Grant leaned back in his chair and asked himself these
questions, his quick ear caught the sound of some one approaching.
He looked up, and directly the doorway was darkened by the
entrance of a tall man, who in turn gazed at Grant in surprise.
“Ah!” he said, after a brief pause, “I was not expecting a visitor
this morning. How long have you been here?”
“Not five minutes. Do you live here?”
“For the present. You, I take it, are crossing the plains?”
“Yes.”
“Not alone, surely?”
“No; my party are perhaps a mile away.”
“Then you are on an exploring expedition?”
“Yes, sir,” answered Grant gravely; “on a very serious exploring
expedition.”
“How is that?”
“We are all out of food. There isn’t a crumb left, and starvation
stares us in the face.”
“Ha! Did you expect to find food anywhere about here? Was this
your object?”
“I don’t know. It was a desperate step to take. I have a rifle with
me. I thought it possible I might come across a deer that would tide
us over for a few days.”
“How large is your party?”
“There are only four of us.”
“All males?”
“Except one. Mr. and Mrs. Cooper, and their son Tom, a young
man, and myself constitute the party.”
“Whence did you come?”

74. “From Iowa.”
“I venture to say you have found what you did not expect.”
“Yes; I never dreamed of finding a man or a human habitation in
this out-of-the-way spot.”
“And yet the time may come within twenty-five years when there
may be a village in this very spot.”
“I wish it were here now,” sighed Grant. “And if there was one, I
wish there might be a restaurant or a baker’s shop handy.”
“I can’t promise you that, but what is more important, I can
supply you with provisions.”
As he spoke, he walked to one corner of the dwelling and opened
a door, which had not thus far attracted Grant’s attention. There was
revealed a small closet. Inside was a cask, which, as Grant could
see, was full of crackers, another contained flour, and on a shelf was
a large piece of deer meat, which had been cooked, and appealed
powerfully to Grant’s appetite, which for four days had been
growing, and now was clamoring to be satisfied.
Grant sighed, and over his face came a look of longing.
“Shut the door, quick,” he said, “or I may be tempted to take what
does not belong to me.”
“My dear boy,” said the stranger, and over his rugged features
came a smile that lighted them up wonderfully; “it is yours. Help
yourself.”
Grant took a cracker and ate it quickly. Then he took a knife that
lay beside the meat and cut off a slice, which he likewise disposed
of. Then he remembered himself.
“I am selfish,” he said. “I am satisfying my appetite, while my poor
friends are suffering from hunger.”
“Bring them with you. They shall breakfast with me. Or stay. I will
go with you and invite them myself.”
Grant left the cabin with his new friend. As he walked by his side
he surveyed him with curiosity and interest. He was a tall man—six
feet two, at the least, and he walked with a long stride, which he
moderated when he found Grant had trouble to keep up with him.
He was dressed in a gray mixed suit, and on his head he wore a soft

75. hat. Despite his appearance and surroundings, Grant was led to
think that he had passed a part of his life at least in a city.
“I see a question in your face,” said the unknown. “You wonder
how it happens that I am living alone in this wilderness. Is it not
so?”
“Yes, sir; I could not help wondering.”
“I have been here but a month. I am one of an overland party
that passed here four weeks since. In wandering about I found this
cabin, and I asked myself how it would seem to live here alone—
practically out of the world. I always liked to try experiments, and
notified the party of my intention. Indeed, I did not care to remain
with them, for they were not at all congenial. They thought me
crazy; but I insisted, and remained here with a sufficient supply of
provisions to last me three months.”
“And how have you enjoyed yourself, sir?”
“Well, I can’t say I have enjoyed myself; but I have had plenty of
time to meditate. There have been disappointments in my life,” he
added gravely, “that have embittered my existence and led to a life
of solitude.”
“Do you expect to remain the entire three months?” asked Grant.
“If I had been asked that question this morning I should have
unhesitatingly answered in the affirmative. Now—I don’t know why it
is—perhaps it is the unexpected sight of a fellow being—I begin to
think that I should enjoy returning to human companionship. You
cannot understand, till you have been wholly alone for a month, how
pleasant it seems to exchange speech with another.”
This remark gave Grant a hint.
“Why not join our party?” he said. “There are but four of us. You
would make the fifth. We are going to the mines, if we ever get
through this wilderness.”
“Tell me something of your companions.”
“Mr. Cooper is a blacksmith. He has lived all his life in Iowa, and is
a good man. His wife is with him, and his son Tom, who is a fine,
manly young fellow of twenty-one or two.”
“Very well. Now I have been introduced to them, tell me about
yourself. Are they relatives of yours?”

76. “No, they are not related to me.”
“But you have relatives, have you not?”
“I have a mother.”
“I see, and you wish to make money for her. Is she solely
dependent on you?”
“No; she is married again. I have a step-father.”
“Whom you do not like?”
“What makes you think so?”
“I read it in your face.”
“No, I don’t like Mr. Tarbox. He is a mean, penurious farmer, a
good deal older than mother. She married him for a home, but she
made a mistake. She is merely a house-keeper without wages. She
would be better off by herself, with me to work for her.”
“Has she any money at all?”
“About two hundred dollars. Mr. Tarbox has tried to get possession
of it, but without success.”
“You look well dressed.”
“I bought and paid for the suit myself. I saved a railroad train from
destruction, and the passengers made up a collection of over a
hundred and fifty dollars for me. I bought this suit, and with the
balance of the money I am paying for my trip to California.”
By this time they had come in sight of the camp. Tom had already
returned, evidently without luck, and was only waiting for Grant to
appear to sacrifice poor old Dobbin on the altar of hunger.

77. CHAPTER XIV.
THE NEW ACQUAINTANCE.
When Grant appeared with the stranger, Tom and his father looked
amazed. Where could he have picked up an acquaintance in this
wilderness was their thought.
“Tom,” said Grant quickly, “you needn’t kill Dobbin.”
“Are you ready to take his place?” asked Tom. “Food we must
have.”
“My friends,” interposed the stranger, “I come with your young
companion to invite you to breakfast at my cabin. Perhaps etiquette
requires that I should tell you who I am. Permit me to introduce
myself as Giles Crosmont, an Englishman by birth and a citizen of
the world.”
“I’m Tom Cooper,” responded Tom briefly; “and there are my
father and mother. As for your invitation, we’ll accept it thankfully.
Do you keep a hotel hereabout?”
“Well, not exactly,” smiled Crosmont; “but I have a cabin a short
distance away, and am able to offer you some refreshment. Let me
suggest that you follow me at once. Grant and I will lead the way.”
“So you succeeded better than I, Grant?” remarked Tom.
“Yes; I found Mr. Crosmont’s cabin, and was wondering if it were
occupied, when he entered and made me welcome.”
“Have you lived here long, Mr. Crosmont?” asked Tom curiously.
“Four weeks only.”
“Alone?”
“Yes; I told Grant that it was a whim of mine to try the experiment
of living in utter solitude.”
“How do you like it, as far as you’ve got?”

78. Giles Crosmont laughed. He was amused by the frank curiosity of
his young acquaintance.
“I’ve got as far as I care to go in this particular direction. After
breakfast I may have a proposal to make to you.”
They reached the cabin, and Crosmont hospitably produced his
stock of provisions, to which his visitors did ample justice.
“Now for my proposal,” said Crosmont. “I should like to join your
party.”
“You are welcome, sir; but, as Grant has probably told you, we are
all out of provisions.”
“I will turn over to you the balance of mine, and I have more
concealed in the woods, at a little distance.”
“Good!” said Tom, in a tone of satisfaction. “We will buy them of
you.”
“No, you won’t. I freely contribute them as my share of the
common expense. I can help you in another way also. I am a good
shot, and I hope to add a deer or an antelope to your stock at
frequent intervals.”
“We shall be glad to have you join us,” said Mrs. Cooper
hospitably. “Our meeting with you is quite providential.”
Giles Crosmont took off his hat and bowed respectfully to Mrs.
Cooper. It was evident that he was a gentleman by birth and
training.
“It was what I was waiting for,” he said; “an invitation from the
lady. I am afraid I must ask you to help convey the provisions to the
camp.”
“Grant and I will undertake that,” said Tom, with alacrity.
“And I will help you,” added the blacksmith. “We are in luck to find
food on such an easy condition.”
In half an hour the providential supply was stowed in the wagon,
and the party, augmented to five, started on its way.
Generally Tom and Grant had walked together, but the stranger
showed such a preference for Grant’s society that Tom fell back and
joined his father, leaving his friend and their new acquaintance to
journey together.

79. “So you are going to California to dig for gold, Grant?” said
Crosmont, as he moderated his pace to adapt himself to Grant’s
shorter steps.
“Yes, sir,” answered Grant enthusiastically. “I wish I were there
now.”
“Suppose now that you should be fortunate, and secure, say, ten
thousand dollars; you would be happy?”
“Oh, yes.”
“To a boy like you, the possession of money seems sure to bring
happiness.”
“In my case, yes. Remember, Mr. Crosmont, I have a mother to
care for. I should like to take her from Mr. Tarbox’s house, where she
is a slave, and give her a nice home of her own. That wouldn’t take
more than two thousand dollars, and with the balance I could go
into business.”
“Yes, you have your mother to live for,” said Crosmont; and he
dropped into a thoughtful mood.
“Will you go to the mines also?” asked Grant, less from curiosity
than in order to break the silence.
“No—yes; I will go with you for a time; but the mines have no
attraction for me.”
“Don’t you care for gold?”
“I have enough already.”
Then, seeing that Grant’s curiosity was excited, he added: “I don’t
mind telling you, Grant, that I am a rich man, rich beyond my wants,
and I have no temptation to increase my wealth.”
Grant regarded his companion with the respect that a boy of his
age is apt to feel for a rich man—so rich that he doesn’t care to
increase his wealth.
“I wonder how it would seem to be rich,” he said thoughtfully.
“Perhaps you will have a chance to experience the feeling some
time.”
“I hope so.”
“You are young, strong, self-reliant. In your favored country this
will help you to become rich. But after you have acquired wealth, I
doubt if you will find it makes you as happy as you expect.”

80. “But,” said Grant, “if I am rich I can help others. That will make
me happy.”
“True!” returned the other, as if it were a new idea. “This ought to
have occurred to me before. I will remember it.”
“Were you always rich, sir?”
“Yes. I was born to wealth. My father was a wealthy gentleman
living in Devonshire, England. From my earliest years I was
accustomed to all that wealth could buy. I never knew what poverty
meant.”
“I should think you would wish to live in England.”
“If I lived there it would be alone.”
“Then you have no family!”
Giles Crosmont was silent, and a pained expression showed itself
on his face.
“Excuse me if I have shown too much curiosity,” said Grant
apologetically.
“There is no need to apologize, yet your question called up painful
memories. I had a son—I don’t know if he is still alive—who must
now be twenty-five years old. He disappointed me. I sent him to
college, and he plunged into extravagance. I paid his debts twice.
The last time, in my anger, I declined to do so. He forged a check on
me for a large sum, paid his debts with part of the proceeds, and
then disappeared.”
“How long ago was that?” inquired Grant, in a sympathetic tone.
“Four years. For a year I remained at my home, hoping to hear
something from him, but no tidings came. Then I began to travel,
and am still travelling. Sometime I may meet him, and if I do——”
“You will forgive him?”
“I will try to reclaim him.”
“I wish my father were living.”
“You have your mother.”
“Yes, I wish I could see her at this moment.”
“I think you are a good boy. I wish my boy had been like you.”
“Thank you, Mr. Crosmont. I will try to deserve your compliment.”
“Grant and the Englishman are getting pretty thick,” said Tom to
his mother.

81. “Yes, Tom. He seems to have taken a fancy to the boy.”
“No wonder. Grant is a good fellow. I wonder if this Mr. Crosmont
is rich?” For Grant had respected the confidence of his new
acquaintance and had not communicated what he had learned to his
companions.
“I hope he is. Then he might do something for Grant, and the boy
deserves it.”
“He’ll never get much from old Tarbox, I’ll be bound.”
Day by day they drew nearer to the land of gold. The stock of
provisions held out wonderfully, for Mr. Crosmont made good his
promise, and more than one deer and antelope fell before his
unerring aim, and eked out the supply. At length, after some weeks,
they crossed the mountains and looked upon the promised land.
From this point on there were settlements, and there was no fear of
starvation.

82. CHAPTER XV.
ARRIVAL AT SACRAMENTO.
At length the little party reached Sacramento. This was already a
place of some importance, as it was in the neighborhood of the
mining region, and it was here that mining parties obtained their
outfits and came at intervals to bring their gold dust and secure
supplies. Situated, as it was, on the Sacramento River, with
communication with San Francisco by water, it was, besides, the
starting-point of numberless lines of stages bound for the different
mines. For a town of its size the activity seemed almost incredible.
The party went to a hotel, where, for very indifferent
accommodations, they were charged five dollars a day. To the
blacksmith, accustomed to village prices, this seemed exorbitant.
“We needn’t engage board till night,“ suggested Tom. “We’ll take
our meals at a restaurant till then.”
They were all hungry, and this suggestion seemed a good one.
Looking about, Tom found a small, one-story building, on the front
of which was this sign:
METROPOLITAN HOTEL AND RESTAURANT.
“What do you ask for breakfast?” inquired Tom, entering.
“A dollar a head!”
“A dollar!” repeated Mrs. Cooper, in dismay.
“Tom,” said Mr. Cooper, “I haven’t had a civilized meal or sat down
at a table for months. No matter what it costs, I’m going to have
breakfast now.”
“All right, father! I guess I can do my share of eating.”

83. Grant listened with dismay to the announcement of prices. Of all
the money he had brought with him he had but ten dollars left. How
long would it last?
“Grant, are you going to join us?” asked Tom.
“I don’t know as I can afford it,” answered Grant anxiously.
“We can’t any of us afford it,” returned Mr. Cooper. “Sit down, boy,
and we’ll borrow trouble afterward.”
“Now,” said Mr. Cooper, as he rose from the table, “I’ll take a turn
round the town and see what information I can gain. I’ll turn in the
wagon into the yard alongside. Mrs. Cooper, will you keep your eye
on it while the rest of us go on a tour of inspection? I don’t think the
oxen will be likely to run away,” he added jocosely.
“All right, father.”
Mr. Cooper, Tom, and Grant set out in different directions.
Grant started on his walk feeling sober, if not depressed. Here he
was, two thousand miles from his old home, with only nine dollars in
his pocket, and the prices for living extortionate. How was he to get
to the mines? Before he could get ready to leave Sacramento his
money would be exhausted. Since he left home, four months before,
Grant hadn’t felt so perplexed and disturbed.
He had walked only five minutes, when he found himself in front
of the Sacramento Hotel, the largest in the place.
Half a dozen stages were in the street outside, each drawn by four
horses, and each bearing the name of some mining camp to which it
proposed to carry passengers. The drivers were calling lustily for
recruits. This was what Grant heard—“All aboard for Hangtown! Only
four seats left! Who’s going to Gold Gulch? Now’s your chance! Get
you through in six hours. Start in fifteen minutes for Frost’s Bar!
Richest diggings, within fifty miles!”
“I wonder what they charge,” thought Grant. “I’ll ask.” He went up
to the stage bound for Weaver Creek, and inquired the fare.
“Carry you through for ten dollars,” was the reply. “Jump aboard.
We’ll start in half an hour.”
“No,” answered Grant slowly. “I shan’t be ready by that time.
Besides, I have only nine dollars.”

84. “I’ll take you to Frost’s Bar for that,” said the driver of the Frost’s
Bar stage.
“I suppose you will,” interposed the Weaver Creek driver with a
sneer. “Your regular charge is only seven dollars. You want to cheat
the boy out of two dollars.”
This led to an altercation between the rival drivers, in which some
blows were exchanged, but neither was hurt. Before they had
finished Grant had passed on. He knew that, with his limited capital,
he could not afford to go to either place and arrive at the mines
without a penny.

85. CHAPTER XVI.
GRANT GETS A JOB.
An hour later Grant was surprised to come across Tom sawing and
splitting wood in front of a restaurant.
“What are you doing, Tom?” he asked, in surprise.
“Earning some money,” answered Tom complacently.
“How much will you get for the job?” asked Grant.
“Three dollars and my dinner. It won’t take me more than three
hours to finish up the job. What do you think of that?”
“I’d like a job like it. I’m getting alarmed at the high prices here in
Sacramento. I don’t know what I am going to do.”
“How much have you got left?”
“Only nine dollars, and it will cost me that to get to the nearest
mines.”
“That’s bad!” said Tom, looking perplexed. “Perhaps father’ll lend
you some.”
Grant shook his head.
“I don’t want to borrow of him,” he said. “He will have all he can
do to look out for himself and your mother.”
“I don’t know but he will.”
“I guess I’ll get along somehow,” said Grant, with assumed
cheerfulness.
“If I can help you, Grant, I will; but it isn’t like being out on the
plains. It didn’t cost so much there for living.”
At this point a stout man came to the door of the restaurant. It
was the proprietor.
“How are you getting on with the wood?” he asked Tom.
“Pretty well.”

86. “Whenever you want your dinner you can stop short and come in.”
“Thank you. I took a late breakfast, and will finish the job first.”
“Who is the boy—your brother?”
“No; it’s a friend of mine.”
“Do you want a job?” asked the proprietor, turning to Grant.
“Yes, if it’s anything I can do.”
“One of my waiters has left me and gone to the mines. The rascal
left without notice, and I am short-handed. Did you ever wait in a
restaurant?”
“No, sir.”
“Never mind, you’ll soon learn. Will you take the job?”
“How much do you pay?”
“Three dollars a day and board.”
“I’ll take it,” said Grant promptly.
“Come right in, then.”
Grant followed his new employer into the Eldorado restaurant, and
received instructions. It may seem easy enough to wait on guests at
an eating-house, but, like everything else, an apprenticeship is
needful. Here, however, it was easier than in a New York or Chicago
restaurant, as the bill of fare was limited, and neither the memory
nor the hands were taxed as severely as would have been the case
elsewhere. Grant was supplied with an apron, and began work at
once. When Tom got through his job, and came in for dinner it was
Grant who waited upon him.
Tom smiled.
“It seems queer to have you waiting upon me, Grant,” he said.
“How do you like it as far as you’ve got?”
“There’s other things I would like better, Tom, but I think I’m lucky
to get this.”
“Yes; yours is a more permanent job than mine. I’m through.”
“Just tell your father and mother where I am,” said Grant. “I hear
I’m to sleep in the restaurant.”
“That’ll save the expense of a bed. How long do you think you’ll
keep at it, Grant?”
“A month, perhaps, if I suit well enough. By that time I’ll have
money enough to go to the mines.”

87. “Then you haven’t given that up?”
“No; I came out to California to dig gold, and I shan’t be satisfied
till I get at it.”
When meal hours were over that afternoon Grant started out for a
stroll through the town. As he was passing the Morning Star saloon a
rough, bearded fellow, already under the influence of liquor, seized
him by the arm.
“Come in, boy, and have a drink,” he said.
Grant shrank from him with a repugnance he could not conceal.
“No, thank you!” he answered. “I don’t drink.”
“But you’ve got to drink,” hiccoughed his new acquaintance.
In reply Grant tried to tear himself away, but he could not release
the strong grip the man had on his coat-sleeve.
“Come along, boy; it’s no use. Do you want to insult me?”
“No, I don’t,” said Grant; “but I never drink.”
“Are you a temperance sneak?” was the next question. “Don’t
make no difference. When Bill Turner wants you to drink, you must
drink—or fight. Want to fight?”
“No.”
“Then come in.”
Against his will Grant was dragged into the saloon, where half a
dozen fellows were leaning against the bar.

88. CHAPTER XVII.
AN UNPLEASANT ADVENTURE.
“Couple of whiskeys—straight—for me and the kid,” ordered
Grant’s companion, as he came to a standstill in front of the bar.
“None for me!” said Grant quickly.
But, all the same, two glasses were set out, and the bottle placed
beside them.
“Pour it out!” said the miner to the barkeeper. “I’m afraid the boy
will get away.”
The barkeeper, with a smile, followed directions, and the two
glasses were filled.
The miner tossed his off at a single gulp, but Grant left his
standing.
“Why don’t you drink, boy?” demanded his companion, with an
oath.
“I told you I wouldn’t,” said Grant angrily.
“We’ll see if you won’t,” said the miner, and, seizing the glass, he
attempted to pour it down Grant’s throat, but his arm was unsteady
from the potations he had already indulged in, and the whiskey was
spilled, partly on the floor, and partly on the boy’s clothes. Grant
seized this opportunity to dash out of the saloon, with the miner
after him. Fortunately for him, Bill Turner, as he called himself,
tripped and fell, lying prostrate for a moment, an interval which
Grant improved to so good purpose that, by the time the miner was
again on his feet, he was well out of harm’s way.
“I thought the drinking habit was bad enough at home,” thought
Grant; “but no one ever tried to make me drink before.”
And now we will go back and see how it fared with Mr. Cooper.

89. Some quarter of a mile from the Metropolitan Hotel and
Restaurant his attention was drawn to a blacksmith’s shop. That was
his own line of business, and he felt a curiosity to interview his
California brother-workman.
Entering, he saw a stout, black-bearded man in the act of shoeing
a horse.
“Good-morning, friend,” he said.
“Good-morning, stranger.”
“I thought I’d take a look in, as you are in my line of business.”
“Is that so?” asked the blacksmith, looking up with interest. “How
long since you arrived?”
“Just got in this morning.”
“Going to stay in Sacramento?”
“I am ready for anything that will bring money. I suppose I shall
go to the mines.”
“Humph! Why not buy me out, and carry on your old business in
Sacramento?”
“Do you want to sell?” asked Jerry Cooper, surprised.
“Yes; I want a little change. I might go to the mines myself.”
“Can’t you make money blacksmithing?” asked Cooper cautiously.
“Yes; that isn’t my reason. I haven’t seen anything of the country
yet. I bought out this shop as soon as I reached Sacramento, and
I’ve been at work steady. I want a change.”
“How well does it pay you?”
“I get big prices. A dollar for a single shoe, and I have all I can do.
Why, how much money do you think I have made since I took the
shop, a year since?”
“I can’t tell.”
“I’ve laid up three thousand dollars, besides paying all expenses.”
“You don’t say so!” exclaimed the blacksmith, impressed.
“Yes; I shan’t make as much money at the mines probably, but it’ll
be a change, and not so hard work.”
“Then you want to sell out?”
“Yes.”
“What will you take?”
“A thousand dollars. That buys the shop, too. It’s dirt cheap.”

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