Karmic Astrology

Basing the past life, karmic patterns on North and South Nodes in Astrology

By Gwynne Mayer

(Gwynne teaches ongoing astrology classes at UTLEC and you can pick up her flyer at any time, or call the store at 210-525-0693 for more information.)

The reality of 'reincarnation' as seen through different eyes needs to be addressed in this day and age. This belief is not an interference with Christianity, Judaism or any other religious views, it is only an explanation of another level of existence….the existence of the soul. Our souls come from a divine spark of light originating in the heavens, from that point on, we gravitate to the earth as personalities. The natal chart is a picture of the time of our birth, an incarnation, of the persona, as the soul comes into incarnation, to fulfill its purpose. When we die the earthly life, we return to our soul 'light' and in another space, metaphysics, we review the necessity to visit again and again. The nodes often give ideas as to what these revisitations are all about, as well as the Sun, Moon and the trans Saturnian planets as they are placed, especially in the fourth, eighth and twelfth houses. There are many indicators of 'manifestations of the soul', however we are going to cover the energies of the nodes, moon, sun and earth points to examine the personality and its destinations in this life.

Karmic Astrology is akin to the study of past lives, alchemical psychology, ancient methodology, etc. By studying the nodes in one's chart, we can see the leanings of that person and the qualities lived in other lives, or the personalities of those lives as the soul is eternal and remains a source of light throughout the ages. Karmic illnesses may occur when the issues are not addressed, so these avoidances will be seen within the body, especially in the South Node placements.

North Node --- Represents the life's purpose in this present existence and often has destiny associated with it. Therefore any planets or angles that are within a two degree orb of that node, natal, by transit or progression will indicate the purpose of this life and sets a benchmark for us as to whether or not we are meeting our destined purpose. These areas of destiny involve, but are not limited to, the career, relationships, health and passions in one's life.

South Node --- Represents the past life series and tells us some of the stories that the soul has encountered in the last thousand years or so, again the positioning of the south node to the other planets, natal, transit and progressed will tell this story as well. Again this involves the past lives and passions we have held throughout the history of man on earth.

North Node in Aries --- Aries is destined to be self-motivated in this life, to take care of oneself and see to one's own independence. This will be difficult to manifest in early years as the tendency is to think that one has to have a partner and be in some sort of committed partnership, only to find out later in life that being the owner and independent partner in any commitment is the goal. Powerful energies come through a node in Aries and often people view you as 'what you see is what you get', regarding your own openness. You are quick to anger and quick to forget, shrugging off the problems, errors of life in order to get to the initiation of new projects.

South Node in Libra --- The person has lived many past lives of submission and upsetting the partnership so this time partners are not working as well. There is a great deal of projection and anger around the interactions of partners, blame thrown in every direction, but all in all one has to see that whatever the blame, the person throwing the blame is the guilty partner. One can only see what lies within one's heart. Much has been done in past lives to see that one lives with 'peace at any cost'. Many courtesans have lived with this south node. The physical karma associated with this is often associated with sugar, diabetes, kidney problems and some endocrine problems. A great deal of projection goes on with this south node and most of it is the karma associated with one's own actions in past lives. What you see and criticize in a partner is usually what you were guilty of in the past.

North Node in Taurus - The destiny that lies ahead for Taurus north node is one of determination, perseverance, grounded ability to make money and take care of possessions. Early in the present life, one might be self indulgent and have tendencies toward jealousy, until he/she remembers that he/she does not own the partner. The positive side of this brings out the sensual, patient and loving self, so hopefully, that is where the destiny lies in this chart.

South Node in Scorpio --- One who has this has lived a life of the magician, the hypnotist, the powerful healer, using sexual means much of the time in order to gain power. This life, you will be finding one partner after another who cannot be trusted and who has some shady and secretive things going on in the background. This should be a clear picture of your own past life and now you will see how this feels to be the recipient of such behaviors. There may be some karma tied into the physical as to the genitals, hormone problems or impotence at times. The misuses of one's sexuality in the youthful stage may be coming back to haunt this individual.

North Node in Gemini --- This is a life time where you are destined to communicate and often be a writer, beginning with a journalistic approach and often developing into publishing and editing. You can become quite famous in the areas of television and radio, because of your ability to communicate. The Gemini North Node is often a great student in many areas and has difficulty deciding on which area will be the most important to advance into higher learning. This individual also likes to talk on the phone and has complete knowledge of all the latest gadgets for communication. Travel in short distances may be a strong trait, meaning travel within a distance of 1,000 miles may be part of one's vocation, selling, communicating or just transporting. This is a flexible and also multitalented position.

South Node in Sagittarius --- There were many past lives where this individual was in a highly intellectual position and was off putting to others due to the nature of the intelligence. You could have been a priest, philosopher, even a gypsy, talented in the arts. This time there may be problems in all of the above areas, in studies and in becoming more knowledgeable. You may have karma when it comes to getting your projects off the ground, due to your 'holier than thou' attitude in past lives. You may have served in regal conditions and know the ins and outs of royalty or the masters of court policy, including political maneuvering. The need to travel and see the world is important to you, but somehow there are always interferences and something stops you. You may have great difficulty with the lower body and especially in the legs as karma often settles in the body when the issues are not being addressed.

North Node in Cancer --- This individual is here to procreate and have family, home and hearth. This is a time to develop one's sense of family and loyalty. This is not to say that career is also left behind as career is equally important but someone with this placement will often do best having the office in the home. Confidentiality and sincerity are highly important to this individual and intimate sharing is only done with those who have the complete trust of the individual. Food is of great importance and nurturing, emotional needs are often met through food and nutrition. These folks make great cooks and often cook best in the home, even though there are some great culinary artists with this placement. The success of this individual's life is determined by how close the family unit is and the history and ancestry of the family are of equal importance.

South Node in Capricorn - The individual with this placement is often having difficulty managing career and family and maybe giving too much attention to one or another, causing some suffering to occur. Working hard and having a discipline are intentions that are well put, but often difficult to manifest to the finish line. The more one sets up a discipline to 'complete projects' the less it will show up in the dysfunctional body. Someone with this placement has some difficulty with teeth and bones and often has arthritis as a reminder of 'lack of movement' and 'unfinished projects'. It is important to look at this over time and after one ages, to get some sort of healthy discipline in place.

North Node in Leo --- An individual with this placement is often a great performer, whether it be on a personal stage in the home, or even in the public. There is a certain charismatic quality about the North Node Leo persona. This individual also has a strong grasp of his/her own authority and can manage people without too much difficulty. He/She will find him/herself in strong positions in society if all goes well. Living up to the potential of this strong placement is a challenge and there are many professions that excel in this placement such as: politicians, officials, managers, salespeople, judges and last, but not least athletes. The use of the whole body in competition is a strong trait of this North Node.

South Node in Aquarius --- The karma that comes with this placement is fraught with delusion about one's own importance. There may be many areas that one has over estimated the personal power and oversteps the bounds, especially in relationships. There may be a strong resistance to organizations and one can see this in the amount of stacks and disorganizations in one's own personal office area, whether it be at work or at home. These individuals feel they can organize in their mind and do not need outer organization, which may be true to some degree, however the chaos that persists into old age may cause this placement to get very depressed and have some psychological issues in that matter. These folks love psychology as long as they are the one's doing the psychologizing, but do not like to be in therapy and definitely do not want anyone knowing of their private faults.

North Node in Virgo --- These individuals have a knack for organization and routine and are often highly routinized in their lives, often being workaholics and addicted to the work ethic. Some will find themselves continually on a nutritional quest and trying to take care of health issues if they are not already doctors, nurses or nutritionists. The individuals with this placement have an uncanny ability to process everything with a realistic grasp of what is happening in the here and now. They are often hard on those around them because they don't miss anything that they deem is very important. The ability to focus on details is of great necessity to these individuals, but there is a drawback here as they might miss the overall point of view, or idea that is being sought.

South Node in Pisces --- There will be a tendency to martyr oneself to some degree depending on which action is undertaken at any given moment. The boundaries and setting of limits is important to adopt for these individuals or they will be worn out most of the time due to their rigorous life styles. Sleep becomes very important in order to build and repair the immune system. This cannot be overemphasized because the autoimmune diseases such as fibromyalgia and minor allergies will demand rest and boundary setting. This individual will also finding him/herself trying to save each individual they meet rather than focusing on how to 'save oneself'. This is a slippery slope at best, so please pay attention to what is before your own eyes and keep to yourself, especially when it comes to rest and relaxation. Do not overstress.

North Node in Libra --- This placement finds us in the land if relationships and idealism, very intellectually ideal. This person might be able to live the dream of 'equality in relationships', if he/she understands the nature of balance and paradox within a relationship. Marriage and commitment are very important to this placement, but also the idea of romance and beauty figure into this so much so that when those elements are not present, the person finds a way of distancing through provocative arguments debate or whatever creates distance. Sometimes the person is so well healed in his/her intellect that it is impossible to argue the points with him/her, so we let them win. Often these folks find great satisfaction in the area of mediation, as law.

South Node in Aries --- The South Node tells of past lives as warriors and independent thinkers, not inclined to give over to relationships, so the reluctance to be independent is great, but the unconscious need to be independent is also great. Oftentimes we find this person subjecting themselves to abusive relationships, both physically and emotionally, and then blaming the partner for the condition, when, in fact, the individual has had a role in the abuse. Many of the South Node Aries' natives have headaches and endocrine problems due to their own resistances. There may be accidents that occur where the head injuries, being ruled by Mars, are prevalent. If this is the case then the karmic patterns are being set up in the area of independence versus dependence, and one must look closely as to how to balance this paradox yers, diplomats, judges or marriage counselors.

North Node in Scorpio--- The Scorpio understands the passionate, secretive, powerful, penetrating, intense, determined, purposeful, keenly perceptive, deep, complex, analytical, inquisitive, resourceful, ambitious, magnetic, hypnotic, creative and mysterious. They are often saddled with the need to penetrate to the core of any existence, even the smallest of problems. The dynamic of a north node in this position often brings one to the ultimate kundalini experience and will give the native some very conditional experiences in his/her sexuality. Watching the nature of the sexual organs as far as health is concerned is a dynamic as well, this is often including hormone involvement, to some extent.

South Node in Taurus- The South Node in Taurus brings up such things from past lives as jealousy and possessiveness, due to the fact that one over valued all things possible, including possessions in the forms of monies of ancient times. This person also sought relationships as possessions and was often obsessively possessive to the extent of ruining someone's life because of over valuing one's own life. This can set ups situations that are impossible to get out of in the form of marriages and unsettled divorces, so one must go into the past life of this person in order to get to the core and meaning of the karma. There might also be talents that are unexpressed because those talents, such as art and design, were misused in past lives as well. Problems with the lungs and esophageal area might be rampant when this person is out of sorts as the body is the great revealer of karma when it is not met in the mind.

North Node in Sagittarius --- Sagittarius is the gypsy of the zodiac and often the healer of the minds of others, but more the philosopher of one's own soul. Higher spiritual awareness is often seen in this node as well as one who understands the full presences of transcendence. There is a sort of Zen approach to life with this karmic master and learning never stops in the lifetime. Traveling to foreign soils is a desire and condition that permeates the soul of this Sagittarius north node. The Sagittarius north node has these qualities: freedom-loving, extrovert, straightforward, benevolent, philosophic, idealistic, sincere, intellectual, knowledgeable, philosophical, broad-minded, truth-seeking and telling, just, fun-loving, athletic, adventurous, expansive, and optimistic. The bodily condition shows strong legs, and dancing legs, at that! The thighs and the liver of this individual have strength bar none, unless there is alcoholic conditions shown in other parts of the natal chart.

South Node Gemini - The Gemini south node might have a tendency to muddle up communications with past lives as jesters, comics advisors to the kings and queens, and yet, the gossip quality of this south node is great and the misuse of communication has come back to haunt him/her. There are often karmic nervous conditions that haunt this person and some of those conditions may keep the person from communicating properly, i.e. stuttering, speech defects etc. There might also be tremors in the hands and the person is unable to utilize the hands which are part of the speech connection. Since this sign also rules siblings there are karmic connections with siblings that must be resolved in this lifetime. This will be very noticeable to the native and the person will be somewhat perplexed if resolution is not sought out in this condition.

North Node Capricorn - The Capricorn native is strong in purpose and challenges the very core of existence with perseverence and fortitude, in order to reach one's goals and aspirations. Problems that exist in this life are overcome by sheer power of will. The qualities that exists in this sign are: prudent, responsible, realistic, formal, patient, methodical, disciplined, traditional, cautious, conventional, hard-working, persevering, self-reliant, ambitious, businesslike, career-oriented, authoritative, conscientious, and competent so you can see the success of this sign is important if all things are going well. The bones and teeth are areas that suffer when things are not going well so you will know if you are reaching your destiny at any given time, by the conditions of your bones and teeth. Arthritis would be a signature that would warn about being to rigid and inflexible.

South Node Cancer --- This is a karmic condition of the familial sort, as one's own family will be the pattern for meeting one's mistakes and lack of attachments. You will find yourself in a family that is made up of all sorts of karmic connections, some of them being quite antagonistic as in past lives you were incapable of being loyal to family, may even have abandoned them to some extent. This lifetime there might be karma associated with the 'mother' figure in both your life and the life of your children. Finding peace in a family situation is often an area sought but not found and you might feel an abandonment of sorts in this condition. The way you would know that is from stomach and breasts problems that would show up if the karma is not being met. Finding a sense of self without the need and attachment to family is very important here.

North Node in Aquarius --- This is a placement that is far reaching as far as thinking 'out of the box' and learning to adapt to highly unusual situations. One's destiny is to see the other worlds and philosophies as guidelines for living; often technological engineering is an advanced understanding of this native. The qualities of this placement if one reaches one's destinies are the following: unconventional, detached, intellectual, objective, individualistic, inventive, tolerant, unique, rebellious, sophisticated, future-oriented, friendship-oriented, humanitarian, cause-oriented, believes in groups and society, and progressive. This native can become quite the inventor and understands beyond the scope of most individuals in whichever endeavor is taken on. The ankles and circulatory system are highly suspect here and learning to keep water flowing through this air sign is significant to keeping the balance of water in the body.

South Node in Leo --- The karma is around attention, acting and eccentric behaviors that occurred because one was constantly on stage in a previous lifetime, never being sincere and connected to other individuals in a way that was of value to a relationship. There might be huge struggles with relationships in this lifetime, so much so that the person becomes quite obsessed with his/her own will and controls others with a mesmerizing power. The connection to the heart and spine are the karma here, in the body, and must be noticed when the will power has taken over to the extent that one abandons one's own vulnerabilities. This Leo south node is a heavy karmic pattern if one is not open to past lives and reincarnation, as the heart goes where the mind goes and that is often into other universes, remaining aloof to those around him/her.

North Node Pisces --- This is a strong nature of vision and possibilities. This person has spiritual strength that others admire and wish they had, often finding that this native is the priest or high priest in any religious or spiritual endeavor. There are also artists in this group with Pisces north node, where music of the spheres is always heard with the inner ear. An understanding of martyrdom and connection to the broader scope of humanity are often noticed by this native. The other qualities of this person with this placement are: compassionate, empathetic, imaginative, sensitive, mystical, spiritual, dreamy, passive, easy-going, idealistic, visionary, inspirational, accepting, undiscriminating, charitable, believes in soul growth, self-sacrificing and artistic. You can see the expansive nature of this individual and the need to serve others in a way that meets the needs of all humanity. The area of the feet and immune system are the areas of vulnerability when the needs of this sign are not being met.

South Node Virgo---- One has tremendous karma associated with self criticism, martyrdom and trying to take on others to heal without healing oneself. They can be fussy, nervous, pedantic, petty, and over-critical, to the extent of distancing self from others. Who would want to be around someone who has been so hyper vigilant in seeing faults and finding critical areas of concern? This sign really went through the eye of the needle in karmic past lives so must look at the overall connection to life in this lifetime in order to get over this strong attachment to perfection. The areas of the digestive system and intestines will let the native know if things are not happening the way they should and destinies are not being met by the north node placement.