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 9th House/South Node in the 3rd Hosue -- This individual is forever pulling himself out of the webs of entanglement. Every relationship he enters becomes so complicated that he has to use all his energies to free himself. In past incarnations he developed a great need for people, and herein lies his weak spot for as much as he now thinks he would like to be alone he feels an almost compelling need to reach for others. He listens to problems and like to be in the position of giving advice. Often frustrated by the multitude of problems dumped in his lap, he secretly thinks that if he had more education he would be better equipped to cope with all the questions that befall him. He keeps trying to be as diplomatic as possible and is constantly enmeshed in the after-thoughts of the words he has spoken to others. Always conscious of the interpretation his words may be given, he nurtures an inner fear of being misunderstood. As a result he keeps going back to yesterday's conversation to re-explain all that he meant. He must understand the essence of truth without having to feel compelled to make the truth smaller by trying to communicate it verbally to others. One of his greatest problems is dealing with the karmic residue of an insatiable curiosity, which although served him well in former incarnations now keeps leading him deeper into the webs of details. His greatest crises occur each time he is forced to make decisions for rather than relying on his intuition or his higher mind, he keeps seeking more facts and details in the hope that when he has all the information the decision making process will be easier. Constantly striving to achieve neutrality he becomes a paradox to himself. In prior lives he fell into the habit of identifying with catchy phrases, cute sayings and euphemisms to the point that he has now become a walking cliché. Liking to read and explore a wonderland of knowledge that he sees around him, his life is a constant thirst for more understanding. He is convinced that this is the one path in life that has no end. Whatever he becomes keenly interested in he can make into a lifelong study, particularly if the South Node is in a fixed sign. He likes to feel worldly. As a result he'll do things that others wouldn't just for the sake of experiencing new understanding. His current life is involved with so many people that hurt feelings are bound to fly, not because of any malicious intent but rather through the inability to keep up with everyone in whose life he has become involved. At the very deepest levels he has many inner doubts about himself which become amplified when he speaks with others, for if it were possible he would try to be all things to all people. As a result of past life habits, he spends too much time in "lower mind." He goes through more movement than he has to, and if this is not expressed physically, then he does it in thought. At times his merry-go-round of possibilities is so great that he thoroughly drains himself by thinking about what he should do. As a result he does nothing. He will experience fears that he is sexually impotent. Once he starts questioning along this track his enormous thirst for understanding can lead him into a promiscuous behavior pattern until he is reassured that all is well and he is perfectly normal. On his deepest level he is not a sexual animal but in fact so mentally inclined that he has fears of being shut out from the nitty-gritty of life because of his mental inclinations. Like the young child afraid his peers will accuse him of being a bookworm, he will dare himself to prove that he can be accepted in a physically-oriented world. Nevertheless, his greatest subconscious need to one day to become a walking encyclopedia so that he will never be caught short, lacking the right piece of information at the right moment.

His biggest growth comes when he learns how to make the karmic transition from lower to higher mind. As he drops his past-life attachment to trivia, his eyes begin to open wide to the enormous horizons before him. The less he talks to others the more faith he starts to develop. He must learn how constantly to broaden his interests so that his scope of knowledge is not limited by the demands of his immediate circle of relationships. He does well when we learns how to step back so that he can see the forest from the trees. When he does this he also learns how to let things slide off his back, which gives him a new sense of peace that somehow always eluded his reach. Traveling helps to broaden his perspective, and he meets his greatest successes far from his place of birth. For some the life will be influenced greatly by a foreigner. Through the ninth house North Node, enormous spiritual growth is possible once the individual has learned how to pull away from all his prior-life doubts and questions. He must take his mind out of a finite world and focus on an infinite consciousness. He will lose friends by doing this for there are few who will fully understand his sudden aloofness. But those who stay with him he will learn the difference between a friend and an acquaintance. As he grows he begins to focus on ideas rather than the words through which the ideas are expressed. He sees how others limit themselves by language and tries to speak to their ideas rather than to their words.

The sign which contains the South Node indicates the ways in which the soul memory of past incarnations is still too embedded in lower mind activities. The sign which contains the North Node shows the ways in which the individual can now free himself through the broadening influence of the higher mind.

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