Hello!
I just came across this topic searching the net and wanted to share recent discoveries about nodes in my life!
I wanted to say that my first Nodal return was HUGELY significant. The very brief time in which it was exact, I had a large life culmination and then met a man who profoundly impacted and altered my destiny. The return was exact, to the minute, the day we met. What is also profound about this relationship is that our composite pluto has aspects to almost every other planet in the composite chart, and this heavily aspected composite pluto is also, to the minute, exactly conjunct my natal south node. I only recently made these discoveries and it has been a PROFOUND release for me.
The relationship was incredibly karmic and my life was totally altered by it. This is somebody who I was able to describe years before I met him and when we were together it felt like he had just fallen out of the sky to be the most perfect boyfriend alive. Sadly, after a while it was very painful for both of us as we both experienced dramatic life changes while we were in contact. We had unbelievable power struggles and all that other stuff associated with pluto... The most telling thing, to me, was that some things played out in our relationship that were very obviously a part of my karma -- dealing with death and addictions, so on. We finally cut ties about a year ago, but I can safely say that this relationship not only altered the course of my life, it also brought to the surface my deepest fears/insecurities and has helped me process and purge these things. Another element of this relationship that was significant to me is that our composite north node is exactly conjunct my chiron. Basically, I deduced that this person came into my life to repeat a karmic scene from a past life and basically force a rebirth and healing process. And then finding out that the day we first connected was literally the day of my nodal return is just crazy... Since that was the point I felt my destiny really changed. He taught me so much about life, I don't even know where to begin... and years later I am in a place in my life that I would have never expected but fully know is the direct result of lessons I learned through this relationship and the surrounding experiences during that time of my life.
This was an incredibly deep relationship... In terms of nodes it was more dramatic for me than for him which is fairly obvious by how the relationship ultimately effected our lives (I have been very stimulated by it and it's very much effected my life direction/understanding of the world/how i relate to others/how i relate to myself/ so on -- he has found certain things from the relationship which have changed his life but has not reflected similar kinds of changes in his path). During the time we were connected, I moved away and had five years I consider my "dark night of the soul" ... I was very depressed, extremely overworked, lots of very traumatic events. I had very few friends and even though our relationship was very tumultuous, we carried each other through a time that was very difficult for both of us. I was forced in this period to reevaluate everything about my life: What was important to me, my relationships, my career, my lifestyle, what I needed to survive... There were a lot of other transits going on that have effected all this obviously, but the ultimate effect of this node-bound relationship seemed to be a) to put me on my true path through a series of trials that showed me my "chosen" path (up til that point) was not the correct one, so a career shift ... b) to purge me of many of my south node compulsions/fears/tendencies so that I develop the tools to pursue my true path... to recognize the steps involved and to be less fearful about them (i'm likely to end up a 'pioneer' in a sense, since i work best for myself and have a varied set of interests, and this is SO not comfortable for me -- i'd rather be a conformist but i simply CAN'T) and c) to provide all of this on the deepest levels -- deep recognition, deep wounds, deep healing, deep transformation so that I can raise my consciousness and compassionately teach/lead others in a way that is genuine, which has always been very important to me. This provides a very necessary backing for my work. Definitely, I feel like this relationship was probably the one which will in many ways define the work I do for the next major cycle of my life... It basically operated as a catalyst -- bringing south node stuff directly to my north node so that I can move toward my north node with more alacrity. I think my Saturn Return/NN-SN conjunction will be a very significant stepping stone (Saturn is a huge point of contention in my chart) but I got a head start on those bitchez!
Anyway, just wanted to share my experience
This discovery has reassured me that everything happens for a reason and that I am following the path that I am meant to in this life. I know that sounds crazy, but the nodes were like the key that unlocked this whole relationship which I have been struggling with for almost 7 years.
(Random side note: The day we met was also a time when my progressed sun and moon were exactly conjunct in the 7th house. Another symbol of a significant cycle starting. All in all, this node karma was some serious times.)