North Node in Leo/South Node in Aquarius - The Leo North Node symbolizes a struggle with the will. In this incarnation the individual is learning to develop strength within himself. Conditions force him to stand alone, very often with the absence of shoulders to lean on. He eventually learns that if his life is to be better it must be created by himself. But before he can build any such creations he must overcome his lackadaisical carefree attitude. He still continues a past-life tendency to spend too much time feeling sorry for himself at his lack of friends when he feels they are needed most. Somehow in moments of stress, others always seem to be absent. Long periods of loneliness, isolation and in many cases a good part of the time spent as a hermit are not uncommon. Ultimately, when the mind is made up, there is little that can sway this individual from his destiny. He must learn that his isolation is a self-imposed prerequisite for gathering strength. Very capable of strong leadership in this life, he must learn to overcome all doubts within the self. The continuance of his past-life desires for friendships actually weaken him, as they do little to build his individual confidence. He must learn how to become more goal-oriented rather than following his accustomed tendencies to dissipate his energies. The interesting thing is that while he continues to think he needs others to answer his questions, he rarely takes their advice. The friends that he does have will be from all walks of life. In a sense this increases his scope for they bring to him now the awareness that he earned in former incarnations. Once determination takes root, there is no stopping the path towards success for he does not like to settle for second best. Much thought is given to the future. In fact he is used to living there, until one day he makes the realization that “today is yesterday’s tomorrow” and that nothing will exist in the future that is not created now! He is not the easiest of people to understand, for he will do anything to retain and emphasize his own sense of individuality. In past incarnations he developed a detachment from the majority of the world, allowing him to feel free to go his own way. Now he takes pride in being unique and different, caring not as much for the traditions of society as for whatever rules he has set up for himself. His main difficulty in this life is a lack of control. Without discipline he can generate his power into useless projects, until he realizes that nobody will stand over him with a whip. Many with these Nodes live a rages to riches life, the big change coming after the tendency to overlook is turned into an ability to oversee! Their greatest amazement occurs when they discover prior-life talents in themselves that they never thought they had. Happiness is reached once principles are found to dedicate the life to. Furthermore, these principles must be unshakable so that the individual feels he is creating something solid. He will then identify his life in terms of the size of the principles he has attached himself to. Disturbed by the scattered activities of others, which remind him of his own past incarnations, he feels the strong need to see life moving along a directed course towards a specific goal. Still, he wants to retain his complete independence. As a result, he finds it difficult to tolerate others cramping his style. When they do, they will find him constantly testing limits. The Aquarius South Node brings with it past life roots strongly embedded in the principles of fairness and equality. In the current life, the individual is given the opportunity to be on his own so that unhampered by others he may express his intrinsic beliefs. His job now is to show people as flamboyantly or as powerfully as he may choose, the ways in which the world can overcome its burdens.

His greatest achievements occur after he has surrendered his personal will to the service of humanity. There is no question but that this is good leadership material so long as the ingrained past-life Aquarian sense of fairness is never violated. This individual is capable of making revolutionary changes in what was once established tradition. Hi is first, last and always amazed and fascinated by all the possibilities man can reach. At the same time, he is offended when he sees people pitying their self-imposed limitations, for well he knows the experience of pulling oneself up by one’s bootstraps. He aspires to stand tall and not be ridiculed for those beliefs which he has struggled so hard to express. While his capabilities for love run deep, the rest of him is not too far below the surface. The continuation of his past-life attractions to momentary fascinations keep throwing him off the track, making it difficult for him now to see the core of his true self clearly. And so, he must identify with his achievements as the only real barometer of his worth. Though he may at times strongly wish to be alone, he could never live without people, for he thrives on their admiration of his achievements. He believes in firm justice, and yet he is quick to pardon once people have admitted they are wrong. He is never one to strike when a person is down. The sense of fair play has become such a part of his soul that although he feels he should be more competitive, it makes him uncomfortable to be part of any competition which involves foul play. Things which couldn’t have bothered him in the past incarnations suddenly become important as he starts to dig into life rather than dissociate from it. Although it is his present life karma to apply his Uranian ingenuity through practical and traditional Leonian outlets, he still struggles to maintain his unique character. Some with this position spend their later years of their life alone. Others who are married still hold onto such a strong streak of independence that they tend to keep other family members on the periphery of their circle.

The house position of the South Node indicates the area where past-life needs for originality and freedom are still seeking expression. The house position of the North Node shows the area through which all the chart energy can be focused into a new shining creation of substantial size and worth, a gift of generosity to the world. Truly these are the Nodes of the “inventor.”

from: Schulman, Martin, Karmic Astrology - Volume 1, 1975, Samuel Weiser, Inc., New York

North Node in the 12th House/South Node in the 6th House -- Here the individual undergoes a crisis in consciousness. Whether he is actually aware of it or not, much of his life is spent in deep thought. He finds the physical world exhausting. From time to time he has to deal with illnesses which take him out of the competitive arena, strongly afflicting his abilities to work. When he is working he finds conditions intolerable. He feels rather underpaid or at the very least unappreciated for all he has to offer. He becomes so wrapped up in the circumstances surrounding whatever he is doing that he allows his attitudes towards his job to permeate all areas of his life. He has much prior-life memories of order and organization, yet everywhere he goes he sees chaos. In past incarnations he was a perfectionist, critical of the world around him. Now the imperfections he sees weaken him to the point that he feels unable to cope. The world is perceived as not quite giving him all that it could. Some with these Nodes tend to dwell in self-pity, while others nourish an embittered resentment. There are feelings of jealousy directed towards other people’s well-being, which they perceive as being less earned than their own. Usually there is an inflated sense of ego at the source of the problem. The self as developed in past incarnations is now seen as a perfected ideal, stationed above the rest of humanity. In his own private thoughts this individual will rarely admit that he has a tendency to look down upon others. Yet, secretly he sees everyone as less perfect than himself. He would sooner go unemployed than work at a job which he feels is beneath him. It is certain, however, that circumstances will force him to do such work even though it is against his every principle. Having tendencies to internalize his anger at feeling put down he creates one very real illness after another, until ultimately he reaches a point that he feels justified in blaming his work conditions for his poor state of health. Carrying a past incarnation feeling that society has shut him out, he sees himself as a neglected child deprived of the central core of richness in life which is there for others but somehow not for himself. He spends too much energy trying to impress others and not enough in developing a fullness within himself. More than anything else he must learn to look inside, where he will find the answers to all of his problems. Many with these Nodes watch life pass them by, spending too much of their time and energy wrapped up in petty thoughts. There is a strong residue of past-life nervousness in the sixth house South Node wherein this individual literally eats away at himself by trying to digest into his system of order every tiny detail that comes to his attention. He must learn how to discriminate between what is important in terms of his life’s values and what are just transitory upsets which will pass in due time. Through his constant questioning he creates for himself a sexual problem, rooting itself deeply in fears of failure. And so unable is he to face his fears that he will compound the problem by developing a pattern of abnormal sexual response designed to mask his feelings of inadequacy. Though he tries not to, he keeps seeing himself as a helpless pebble on a beach of thousands. In prior lives he managed to control his universe. Now the world seems larger than he would like and he does all he can to prevent himself from feeling too small by comparison. His growth starts the moment he begins to see himself not only as a part of a greater whole but containing within himself the essence of the entire universe. He must break his past incarnation tendency to put the world in little boxes and search for the seed of all within himself. Here he will find the abundant richness he has been so desperately seeking. Periods of forced isolation help to bring him to a higher consciousness through which he ultimately learns that things can be different without one necessarily being better or worse than the other. By going deep into himself he will realize that all of life’s conditions depend entirely on how much he can relinquish his hold on trying to overturn the world and rechannel his energies towards overturning himself. He does well by immersing himself in the works of a large institution where he can develop a group-consciousness, focusing on the collective good of the whole rather than dwelling in the collected residue of his past-life bitterness. He will be tested many times in the areas which help him to develop compassion, until he ultimately sees that judging others actually prevents his own happiness.

His past-life karma is erased when he learns how to flow rather than allow his life to keep interrupting itself by petty distractions. He must attune himself to the essence of the universe rather than attempt to sort everything into neat little compartments. The compartments are like a house of cards, and only after they topple does he start to realize that his purpose in life is very far from what he originally thought. He can then learn how to loosen up and bathe in the beauty of all God’s creation, rather than seeing only a part of God and calling the part he sees All. As soon as he can greet change willingly, bending while the winds of circumstance flow through his being, he is on the path. Eventually he will leave the world where people manipulate each other and walk through the doorway to a higher harmony. In preparation, he must transcend the subconscious past-life memories of physical problems that still weigh him down and start to climb the cosmic ladder which leads to the realization of his soul. He must learn how to appreciate the wonder of all he sees without enmeshing himself in the details of why or how. His life will represent the ending of an idea much as the works of Dante symbolized the end of a period in literature. When he accepts this, his life’s work can be a great culmination of all that has come before him. Although his work may bring him behind the scenes there is a good possibility that it can come to public attention. He must also learn that the physical state of his health is totally dependent upon the purity and stability of his inner mind. Truly this is the Nodal position of mind over matter, and the life will be a karmic transition from the world of matter into the consciousness of infinite light.

The sign which contains the South Node indicates the ways in which former incarnations brought the individual to preoccupy himself with physical matter. The sign which contains the North Node shows how he can now transform his soul into the pure essence of Divine Mind.

from: Schulman, Martin, Karmic Astrology - Volume 1, 1975, Samuel Weiser, Inc., New York