North Node in Libra/South Node in Aries - This Nodal position requires much learning about self-sacrifice and the needs of other people. All the lifetimes of work spent on building self-confidence and esteem must now be transferred to others. The Libra North Node keeps the individual from adding to his sense of self-identity any further. He must guard against strong ego influencing his current life actions. His long standing me-first attitude now brings him sharp and painful experiences as he is learning the lessons of cooperation. He must slow down and make sure that all he works for is meaningful, in his marriage and close partnerships as well as all his relations with others. He has to learn to take the sharp edges out of his life and start to balance. While the center road seems less attractive to him, it is still the only path he can have towards happiness. Ultimately he must learn the very subtle lesson that his strong pioneering individualism isn't actually meant for himself at all, but rather to equip him better so that he can provide other with a more harmonious life. Many individuals with these Nodes have a tendency to be contrary. The experience of listening to other people is a new one which they find objectionable when they feel it hampers their forward motion. In past incarnations, progress was all important, and getting there first was part of the highly competitive Arien drive. This carries over into a definite closed-mindedness which the Libra North Node will ultimately open, showing to the individual the other side of the coin which he had never before thought was important enough to recognize. Selfishness and vanity of all sorts must be curbed unless the individual wishes to find himself alone. Usually he feels himself being driven towards something, yet he doesn't understand what or why. Through the Libra North Node he is now to reconsider his goals and objectives so that his Arien energy is put to some useful purpose. He changes his mind often and allegiance to a single cause is not one of his finer attributes. Past incarnations have made him accustomed to a constant impatient restlessness that still has a tendency to keep him on the move. He knows that he is to give rather than to receive in the current life, yet he finds it difficult to cope with such karma with his full heart. The Martian quality of the South Node impatiently pushes him in new directions. Upon arrival at each destination, however, he finds the gossamer cloud of Libra in the middle of the seesaw, and is surprised to see that the goal was not the goal at all, nor was the destination the end of the journey. Puzzled and confused, he sits in the middle, trying to evaluate the circumstances which he hopes will point the way towards his next successful drive. And yet each goal, each ambition, each sprint of running and striving brings him to Libra -- the half-way point! Finally, out of sheer exhaustion he makes the amazing realization that the second half of the journey involves other people. He has to learn the karmic lesson that he is not alone. Until he learns to share, something always comes up to put the brakes on his efforts. Eventually he is brought to the realization that winning or losing the game is much less important than the fairness with which it is played.

Many individuals with these Nodes are highly opinionated as a result of selfish or bigoted past-life attitudes. Now it is time for the shoe to be worn on the other foot. Much of the current life's events are painful blows to the ego. The individual has to guard against becoming embittered as he sees many of his own wants and desires being taken away from him and given to others. At first his natural tendency is to be jealous. He wants to fight back for all those things he feels he has lost; yet the more he fights the more he loses. Eventually, drained of much of his inner resources, he must surrender his selfish ego and accept living in a world built on sharing. Until he overcomes his South Node, his biggest frustration is the witnessing of other people receiving all that he himself has wished for. He doesn't quite yet understand how this works, and is puzzled at why all the things he has ever wanted are coming to people around him and yet not to himself. He hardly realizes that all his desires, wants and wishes are actually designed for others. He is mentally energizing the wishes of people around him so that he can ultimately be an instrument for their fulfillment. In actuality he is earning himself a new place in the world by living through the karma of selflessness. Still, the insistent urges of the South Node keep pulling him backward, often making him feel that this is a lesson he would rather not yet learn. He must try to resist past-life tendencies to make waves for he is now capable of witnessing disharmonies between people without taking sides. Often he is thrown into the position of referee, whereby in helping others to become more objective, he in fact helps himself. The more he can get others to cooperate, the more he can learn to do it himself. Underneath all the hustle and bustle, this individual is learning to see the consequences of his actions before taking them. In effect, he must learn to look before he leaps! For many with this Nodal position, there is a deep-seated anger coming out of the past-life memories of frustrations which block the self-expression. In this life, there is usually a very pleasing physical appearance, which is part of the karmic lesson in vanity that the aries South Node is here to overcome. Any narcissistic residue also causes difficulty in marriage as this is the battleground where the war between love of another and needs of the self must be fought. The balance between Aries/Mars and Libra/Venus is a difficult one to achieve. The Aries South Node constantly seeks to assert its needs, while the Libra North Node seeks nothing for itself but to love others, regardless of their demands. This individual can feel love for others best only after his own needs are fulfilled. Until the desires of past incarnations are left behind, the incessant pulling of his subconscious demands continues to be so strong that he has a tendency to drain energy from other people, actually putting them to sleep. In effect he is a walking anaesthetic, constantly wondering why people avoid talking with him for more than a few minutes. He would like to talk for hours, if only to continue the focus of attention on himself. But in his private moments, he is deeply saddened by a sense of loneliness and the knowledge that his relationships with others are so far short of what he would like them to be. There is nothing subtle about this Nodal polarity. Happiness comes only after he is forced to re-evaluate his desires and truly discovers that they involve other people. The ego-self must be abandoned and with it a heightened sensitivity to the needs of others acquired. The Libra North Node is one of the most difficult to achieve because the Aries self-love looms as such a large hurdle to overcome. Still the individual must overcome if there is to be a new cycle for him, and he will find the key to this new cycle as he begins to reflect back upon himself through the eyes of others.

The house position of the South Node indicates the area where insatiable desires of past incarnations are still demanding priority. The house position of the North Node shows how fulfillment can be reached through self-sacrifice, cooperation and the expression of unselfish love to others.

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

North Node in the 7th House/South Node in the 1st House -- Here the individual has many lessons to learn in the areas of partnerships, marriage and cooperation with others. In past incarnations he had to account only to himself for all his thoughts and actions. Now, in the current life, his soul remembers all the individualism and independence he enjoyed. While he may pretend to be a good listener for the sake of society's acceptance, he rarely takes advice given to him. Instead he spends most of his energy developing whatever abilities he has, while constantly seeking approval for the efforts he has made. Although he will be the last to admit it openly, he never quite notices others as much as himself. He has great apprehensions about being outdone, and will go far out of his way to secure for himself a position where his dominion will not be challenged. If the rest of the horoscope shows strength, then this is truly the individual who wishes to be "King of the Mountain." Although his experiences in this incarnation teach him to sacrifice for others, he never truly sacrifices himself for he has spent lifetimes building to a point where he has now become an independent spirit. He can relate to others so long as they don't shackle or bind his sense of freedom. If he feels someone close to him is inhibiting his self-expression, he will do all he can to extricate himself from the relationship. Thus, the marriage state is not one that comes easy for him. Individuals with these Nodes are either single, divorced, or at least separated in consciousness from their spouse. They find it difficult to believe that the continuance of their own past-life selfishness is creating all the problems for which they are now blaming others. They must learn how to give with a whole heart, rather than symbolically throwing a bone here and there just to keep the pack quiet. This individual is usually so out of harmony with himself as being part of a greater universe that he is prone to develop a chronic impairment or impediment either physical or emotional, which he ultimately uses for sympathy. The last thing he is willing to accept is a sense of failure, for he constantly feels the need to prove his own self-sufficiency. Sometimes he is seen by others as a battler, well guarded against any threats to his ego. Since he truly doesn't like to be dependent on others, his loyalties are questionable. Underneath it all his past incarnations have taught him to be faithful to himself, and therein his allegiance ends. For those who wish to join him he will be their patron, but rarely will he go out of his way to join them. He is a "loner," conscious of his own unique individuality, and proud of the ways in which he knows he can retain it. His karma is to learn consideration for others, for in his desire to be the center of attention, he projects himself as more important than he usually is, thereby shutting out the very love he claims he is being denied. Still, he desires to control others, and in this ability to control he bases his security. He is capable of great achievements, but he rarely reaches the levels of his capabilities because he is so wrapped up on self that he fails to see the cosmic scope of his personal ideas. He must learn to view the reflections of his thoughts and actions and to realize that there are always two sides to a coin.

Eventually he comes to understand that while both sides of an issue may be totally different, neither is better or worse than the other. His major growth occurs when he can detach from himself and impersonally laugh at all the ego-centered ideas that ruled him in the past. He must ultimately come to the point at which he is willing to take all the power, strength and confidence that his prior incarnations have built and give it away to others who need it more. He must do this wholeheartedly without a sense of martyrdom for if his giving becomes ego-involved in any way then he remains on his lonely island. But if his generosity is truly dedicated without pride in giving, then he has an infinite blessing to offer as he inspires confidence and strength in others. He can give others the will to live where there was none. He can make others aware of their own self-worth. But all the while he is not to ask for anything in return, for if he learns to focus his energies on helping others, then he will be amazed to find how God keeps providing all his own needs. In this Nodal position, there is a guaranteed built-in unhappiness every time he focuses his energies on himself. If married, he will have much to learn from his second child, as well as his relationships with nieces and nephews. He is destined to devote his life to others. Actually he has been preparing for many lifetimes to meet now the person or persons who need him the most. In some cases the spouse is an escapist who must be given the strength and confidence to face reality. Whether married or single, this individual eventually comes to learn that his life is a mission, dedicated to another soul or in fact many souls needing more than he does. His karmic lessons are in developing kindness and an understanding nature. As soon as he does this, he is rewarded a thousand to one for all he gives.

The sign which contains the South Node shows the ways in which too much residue of past-life concern for the self can hamper progress. The sign which contains the North Node shows the ways in which the individual can reach fulfillment through sacrificing the self for others.

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