North Node in Cancer/South Node in Capricorn - Here the soul enters the current life with much inner pride. The individual finds it difficult to understand why others do not show him the strong respect he has been accustomed to in past incarnations. As a result, prestige and the pursuit of dignity continue to be the motivators of all actions. Some with these Nodes will even marry to achieve the social status of the subconscious Capricorn memory. In past incarnations this soul worked hard for recognition. Without losing self-respect, he would have been the original ham, going far out of his way to attract attention. At times this would even mean imposing undue punishment upon himself if he knew others were observing. Now he would like the world to know how burdened he has been so that others can see him as a martyr. He continues to make his work harder than it actually is, never seeming quite able to finish meeting his current life responsibilities and obligations. Since he is always living in the past, he has a habit of bringing the consciousness of all his past burdens with him into the present. This makes his present life much heavier than it need be. The one thing he has not learned to tolerate is failure in himself. He is well practiced at actually making himself physically or emotionally ill in order to avoid coping with situations in which he expects to feel inadequate. He sees the world through an attitude of self-righteousness, whereby the actions of others are rarely condoned but often condemned. He keeps this to himself, however, for it would damage his sense of personal esteem should others know that he has been fitting them into his secretly devised caste system. In prior lives he was highly opinionated and strongly resistant to taking advice that would affect him personally. Now he still believes that one's personal life is strictly a private matter. Consequently around all things which relate directly to himself, be builds the "Wall of China." It would be futile for anyone to try to break in for at the slightest personal criticism, he starts adding more bricks to the wall. Lifetimes of materialism make him an opportunist, placing himself wherever there is something to be gained. At the same time he is "penny wise and pound foolish," for he is known to be stingy in the midst of emotional bursts of extravagance. When he sees advantage, he will turn cold and calculating so that no weakness within himself will prevent the attainment of a goal he has set his sights on. He will turn weakness in others to his own advantage. Wherever there are loopholes in the law, he can find ways to squeeze through. So intent is he on managing all he sees around him that his entire current life becomes a personal crusade to prove his worthy capabilities. In past incarnations, he soul learned the art of accomplishment. In order to do this, there was little regard developed for others.

Now through the Cancer North Node, he must learn how to give nourishment as well as receive it. Many with these Nodes experience strong family burdens so that they may come to know the emotional needs of others. Sexually, the soul is learning how to take on the feminine role in this life. The karmic transition is from coldness to warmth -- from age to youth. Many with these Nodes appear to grow younger as each year in their life passes. Rigid Capricorn attitudes are dropped one by one. The individual finds new security in relating his emotions more more honestly. In this life he must learn how to apologize sincerely when he is wrong, as well as not to seek advantage over others when he is right. Eventually he will see that all of his depressions, fears and worries are no more than part of s self-created martyr complex which bears little relation to current life circumstances. He must slowly learn how to divorce himself from an insatiable need to manage everything around him. In this life he will go through a chain of experiences which will slowly open up his Cancerian sensitivities. Eventually, he will start to value nature more than money, emotion more than power, and new growth rather than the collecting of dead wood! When the changes start to occur, he will be brought out of the cold winter into the bright sunlight of early summer. But he must develop a totally new emotional response pattern if he is to adjust to the new direction in which his soul is destined to go. His highest achievement in this life is nourishing others. To reach this, he must do much work on himself, until he becomes a natural cornucopia of spiritual food to those who are hungry. The more he is able to fill people, the more happiness he will feel himself. He should see that God also favors those who stand and wait, and that His highest blessing is especially reserved for those who seek nothing for themselves but to be available as His constant servant. In past lives this soul was able to benefit greatly by receiving. Now he is here to give.

The house which contains the South Node shows the area in life which the bowl of abundance is overfull. The house which contains the North Node symbolizes the empty bowls of others waiting for food.

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

North Node in the 2nd House - South Node in the 8th House -- The individual with these nodes spends a good amount of his current-life energies on the darker side of life. From past incarnations he has secrets which he now spends most of his time guarding carefully. His greatest difficulty is in attempting to lead a life which is beyond reproach for his lower self is powerfully strong. He desires light, but with every step he takes toward it the aching of his guilt-ridden subconscious blocks the road. He has had much prior-life experience behind closed doors, where the eyes of open society failed to look. He is even accustomed to creating deceitful circumstances where there were none before. Actually, he is testing the limits of other people’s values, and while many may know him closely, none will know him well. Inside, he is highly nervous for fear of others unlocking his secret doors; for well he knows that he is undermining nearly everything he touches. Yet he has the self-assuredness to believe that all will go well no matter where his sometimes immoral adventures continue to head him. Because this individual has not yet established his own sense of values, he tries desperately to study the values of others. In so doing, he inadvertently pushes others off their track and therefore can be a threat to all that others hold near and dear. In former incarnations he destroyed much of his own value systems, so now he finds it difficult to understand why others cherish the things they do. He doesn’t have his own stake in this life, so with nothing to lose he feels free to claim-jump the stakes of others. Usually, this is accomplished in such subtle fashion that it is extremely difficult to recognize. There is a strong past-life residue of sexual misuse. He has learned to think of his sexuality as his strength, using it as foothold to gain possession of others. In the female, this is the story of Delilah or Mata Hari, whose unusual sexual powers lured the strongest of men from their appointed missions. In the male, much of the life energy is dissipated on sexual thoughts. He doesn’t use it for power in the same sense as the female, but it is for him the reassurance that all is going well with his ego. The interesting thing is that sex is never the end but always the means. In the give and take barter system, sexual allure or responsiveness becomes the payment in exchange for another’s values. Individuals with these Nodes become jealous easily. Constantly they wish to trade places with whoever seems to have a greener backyard, and all too often they feel that sex is a fair price to pay for all the honors they may eventually receive. From past incarnations, this individual feels shunned by society. Now, on the outskirts of acceptance, he is like a little lost child in the winter snow, peeking into the window of a brightly lit cabin with the hope that somebody will come and let him in out of the night. He is less than discriminating, for he desires such an immediate release from his current pain that it hardly matters to him whether he is jumping from the frying pan into the fire. He turns wherever solace is available for his loyalties have not yet reached the state of evolution that they may be considered totally trustworthy. In his current-life childhood, he experiences fear of death, almost as if death itself would be the logical punishment for all his misdeeds in past incarnations. He keeps feeling that he has to fight for the things he needs, for he has no sense of having yet earned them. When he falls short of reaching the brighter side of life, he secretly blames others for his misfortunes. In a few rare cases this individual must overcome past life criminal tendencies or residue of witchcraft.

Only through a proper assessment of his second house North Node can he establish the substance that will lead to a new rebirth. Here the memory of past lives has to be brought to the surface and then eliminated completely in this eight house of death before the soul can progress into a new set of values. The individual must learn to develop and build that which is sincerely meaningful to him, understanding clearly that that which is dishonorably obtained is highly difficult to preserve. He cannot expect to grow through other people’s efforts for if he wishes to cross the bridge, he must pay the toll out of his own pocket. As soon as he grows to this realization, the lighted cabin door swings open for him; not through the goodness of others, but because he has earned it!

The sign which contains the South Node indicates the ways in which former incarnations have brought the individual to be preoccupied with the business of others. The sign which contains the North Node shows the ways in which he can now build a substantially new and meaningful life for himself by establishing his own value system..

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