Anabibazon

Definition

Anabibazon is the Greek-derived term for the North Node of the Moon — the point on the ecliptic where the Moon's orbit crosses from south to north as it ascends toward the northern celestial hemisphere. The corresponding Latin term in the medieval reception is Caput Draconis ('Head of the Dragon'); the Arabic is raʾs (with raʾs al-jawzahr in the Persian-mediated form), and the Sanskrit is Rāhu.

In Tradition

Across Hellenistic, Arabic-Persian, and medieval Latin tradition Anabibazon (the ascending lunar node) is read as a sensitive ecliptic point with benefic-amplifying tendency, opposite the descending node (Katabibazon / Cauda Draconis / dhanab / Ketu). Abu Ma'shar classifies its elemental nature as airy hot-wet, sharing qualities with Jupiter; Bonatti and Ibn Ezra treat it as naturally Jupiter-and-Venus by signification, amplifying the character of whatever planet it conjoins.

In Practice

Astrologers locate Anabibazon at its current ecliptic longitude — the True or Mean Node, depending on convention — and watch its sign placement, house placement, and conjunctions. Bonatti reports the canonical Arabic-Latin exaltation degree at 3° Gemini. The amplifier reading governs delineation: Anabibazon conjoining a benefic strengthens the benefic's significations, while conjoining a malefic intensifies the malefic's harm — the node takes on the colour of its companion. In eclipse computation, a luminary within roughly twelve to eighteen degrees of Anabibazon (or its descending counterpart) marks an eclipse condition, which the medieval tradition imaged as the dragon devouring the Sun or Moon. Modern Western practice retains the doctrine under the name 'North Node.'

Historical Origin

The Greek term ἀναβιβάζων ('ascending one') is preserved in the Hellenistic tradition and carried into Arabic astronomy via the Sanskrit-Pahlavi transmission chain (Sanskrit rāhu → Pahlavi jawzahr-sar → Arabic raʾs al-jawzahr → medieval Latin caput draconis). Abu Ma'shar's *Great Introduction* Part III §§1.7b-1.8 (9th c.) classifies the node within his elemental qualities scheme; Bonatti's *Liber Astronomiae* (13th c.) preserves the Latin Caput Draconis alongside the Greek anabibazon and gives the node its formal definition.

Etymology

Origin: Greek. Meaning: From ἀναβιβάζων (anabibazōn), 'the one causing to ascend' or 'ascender' — the lunar orbit's ascending crossing of the ecliptic..

Further Reading

• Abu Ma'shar, Great Introduction to Astrology
• Guido Bonatti, Liber Astronomiae
• Al-Biruni, Kitāb al-Tafhīm