North Node in Capricorn/South Node in Cancer -- This individual is learning how to achieve maturity. In past incarnations he had a tendency to look at life through rose-colored glasses, seeing only what he wanted to see with a definite conviction that everything else didn't exist. Now there is still much of the "baby" left in his Cancer South Node. He is so used to going through his prior life on crutches, wrestling with his dependencies while seeking bannisters to lean on, that his current life is the resultant shambles of escapist, childlike habits which keep impeding his growth. Truly, this is the perennial infant, desiring at all costs to maintain his role as the focus of parental attention. In areas of problem solving, he would rather have his parents do it. Everybody he meets and knows, be it friend, business associate or marriage partner, automatically becomes the symbolic parent to pick up the pieces of his misery, protecting him from being hit by the falling sky which he has created. He even creates his own self-inflicted illnesses if they bring with them the slightest hint of gaining love and affection. Constantly practicing at becoming an adult he seems never quite ready or willing to make the transition fully. Somehow he keeps feeling he needs much more practice first. All he does in this life is based upon his soul memory of sensitive past-life feelings which still are shattered by the slightest rejection. Many individuals with these Nodes are strongly wrapped up in the business of their country. They personalize government for to them it is still part, in a larger sense, of their own Cancerian family. Underneath all else there are unusually strong feelings of patriotism and loyalty. Many with these Nodes focus a good part of their strength and attention on younger people. They like to listen to the trials and tribulations of others, but not being quick problem solvers themselves, they have a tendency to hold everything inside them. As the weight of problems increases, like collecting layers, they seem to age in spite of themselves. The most difficult karmic problem of the Cancer South Node is learning how to let go. The individual brings with him into this life such strong inner fears of ever losing or forgetting anything that he keeps making extra special efforts to retain all he has ever gone through. As such he makes himself the "psychic garbage pail" of the past. Constantly he is thinking about his present in terms of what he should have done years ago - or "lives ago." He often can be seen sorting through old photographs hoping to create his future out of fragments of his past. At times he is extremely draining, using whatever is done for him as a springboard to ask for more. He tries other people's patience with all of his emotional problems, and long after the solutions are given to him he refuses to see logic through his cloud of emotion. He is not so much interested in finding out why something went wrong as he is seeking the lost feeling to be returned. Endings are especially difficult for him to deal with. The word "good-bye" has never been a part of his vocabulary for he has always tried to preserve all relationships as long as possible. His behavior in regard to objects is no different, since he tends to form permanent attachments to the nostalgic memories they carry with them.

The major karmic lesson in the Capricorn North Node is to identify with an ideal bigger than the personal life. The individual must ultimately come to stand for something, in spite of all his real or imagined personal difficulties. He must understand true responsibility. Many with these Nodes eventually become self-appointed hallmarks of tradition. They would rather die than have an outsider know any part of their personal life which contradicts the principle they have chosen to stand for. Through the North Node an image is established which others can look up to and model their lives after. At times personal difficulties deplete him of the strength to hold up this image, and yet hold it up he must, even if it means sacrificing his entire life. In most of his endeavors he is capable of becoming a methodical and cautious planner once he learns to overcome his past-life tendency to overact emotionally. In the charts of females, these Nodes represent an unusually strong search for a father figure. In males, there is a strong consciousness of the need to fulfill the father role. The most important thing about the Capricorn North Node is that it represents the point through which the individual will meet his karmic mission. For this reason alone, many with these Nodes tend to be reluctant to accept the full concept of adulthood. They would prefer to remain in an immature state for as long as possible for they sense a type of judgement awaiting them. Much like the condemned man desiring one stay of execution after another, they seek to hide behind others, constantly pushing themselves further and further to the back of the line so as to avoid meeting the effects of all they have created. This is the reason why many of them have great difficulty in accepting their own chronological age. While they admit to their age openly, they try not to live it. There is much past-life residue of immaturity. The soul has become fixated at one point in early growth. Now there is great difficulty passing that point. Still, it will be passed, if the individual is ultimately to stand for something. The zodiacal constellation of Capricorn is the gateway through which the soul must go upon leaving the physical body, and in this most occult of signs it will stand for inspection before the Judges at these Gates. While this may not be the last incarnation on earth, it will most definitely by house position receive karmic judgement in one area of the life. The individual with these Cancer-Capricorn Nodes will flounder half his life in helpless abandon and then one day resign himself to stand up to the saying, "tis a far, far better thing I do than I have ever done before."

The house position of the South Node indicates the area in which the karmic residue of immaturity seeps into the current life. The house position of the North Node shows the ways in which the individual can now enter responsible adulthood by aligning his life with the principles of honor, respect and tradition. As soon as he learns how to do this, he is destined for a life of splendid accomplishment.

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

North Node in the 10th House/South Node in the 4th House -- Here the individual finds that much of his time is needed for the demands of his family. Constantly he feels held down, as if he is being prevented from realizing his own individuality. The fact is that he comes into the current life with much karma owed to his family. In past incarnations he ignored the hands that fed him. Now he is locked into the lesson of becoming those feeding hands himself. In the current life he finds his mate and children just as highly unappreciative of all he tries to do for them. Still he will do more if he is ever to grow past his karma. At times the burdens become so heavy that he has to fight himself to keep from feeling an inner resentment. The female with these Nodes will have problems with at least one child which will demand most of her time, effort, energy and concern for she is to learn on the very deepest of levels the responsibilities of parenthood. To enforce the karma still deeper, the spouse is either not present or so lacking in character that this individual must ultimately become mother and father at the same time. Whether positive or negative, the emotions never leave the family. This individual constantly feels the need to break out and be free; yet his past-life memories of self-enforced chains never quite permit him to do this. Nearly all of his energy is spent on untangling the web of reations that he sees around him. In some instances, he experiences great conflict with other family members over real estate. He must learn not to let circumstances weigh him down with feelings of hopelessness, for the needs of his family are constantly compounding themselves, to the point that from time to time they become considerably more than he bargained for. Often, he is caught by surprise through the actions of those closest to him for although he can develop a strong outer worldliness, he still remains almost childishly naive when it comes to the emotions he feels about those close to him. Some with these Nodes have to go out to work, becoming the sole source of family support. Others are put into the position of becoming the family supervisor. Always this individual is caught between the conflict of the things he would like to do for himself and the things he knows he must do for his loved ones. Constantly faced with situations which tempt him to react childishly, he must learn how to mature. He must arise above family disharmony and do all he can to achieve a role of self-dignity. When the needs of his loved ones are understood, only then can he have the freedom to experience a career life of his own.

As he makes the switch to his tenth house North Node, he is ultimately forced into the position of assuming the dominant role. He must learn how to keep his life focused in a direction above and beyond all the scattering needs of his close family members. Paradoxically, he escapes from one family by creating another, until ultimately every person he meets and likes gets pulled closer to him in a type of pseudo-universal family. As the years build up the life starts to resemble the "old woman who lived in a shoe." His greatest happiness comes from being in a position to be able to offer shelter to others. In later years he joyously re-invites others to lean on him. His mission to move away from emotional immaturity and in the direction of responsibility tells him that each person he moves along the path represents another payment for his own ticket towards soul evolution.

The sign which contains the South Node shows the ways in which he allows immaturity on the part of others as well as himself to block his potentialities for achievement. The sign which contains the North Node indicates the ways in which he can develop maturity by pointing his life in a meaningful direction.

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