What area of life holds the most success for you? Your lunar North Node placement in the houses reveals the answers.

Note from Tali & Ophira: We’ve been longtime raving fans of astrologer Jan Spiller, an incredible writer and teacher whose work on the lunar nodes and new moon astrology has inspired us for more than two decades. When our TV show Cosmic Love came out, we were tickled that it shared a title with one of Jan’s books. While Jan sadly passed away in 2016, we connected with her devoted team who are carrying on Jan’s legacy. Her editor, Stephanie Shea, is completing a sixth book that Jan didn’t get to finish, writing it from Jan’s notes. This post is based on that upcoming book—click here to learn more about it!

What is the North Node in astrology?

The North Node is a mathematical point in the sky formed by the moon’s orbit around the Earth intersecting with the Earth’s path around the Sun.

In astrology, the North Node represents an energy that will orient us towards success.

Why is the North Node important?

The meaning of the North Node in astrology has become more widely known ever since Jan Spiller wrote Astrology for the Soul in 1997. On the 25th Anniversary of Astrology for the Soul, I think Jan Spiller would be proud to see how many people have used her book for inspiration in their lives. While Jan Spiller didn’t pioneer the concept of the North Node, her best-selling book has helped millions of people to use knowledge about this powerful astrological point to change their lives.

The North Node contains an astrological energy that will lead us to our most purposeful, fulfilling lives.

The point opposite the North Node, called the South Node, contains energies we bring in from a past life. Some of the traits we bring in are gifts, and some of our South Node energy is expressed in unhealthy patterns that were overdone in a past lifetime. Astrology for the Soul focuses on the sign of the North and South Node for clues about tendencies to release and attributes to develop.

What does it mean if the North Node is in one of the 12 astrological houses?

That is precisely the topic of Jan’s final book she started before her passing in 2016. This book, titled, Awakening the Soul’s Purpose, will help people uncover another layer of information about their North Node.

The astrological houses are part of everyone’s birth chart and represent different areas of life.

By combining knowledge of the astrological sign our North Node is in with what house it’s in, we see what attributes to develop and what areas of life will bring us the greatest lessons. The life lessons we learn through our North Node house placement ultimately pay off in the form of a life that feels empowered, self-directed and on-path. 

Example: Aries North Node in the 7th house

The house placement of the North Node can determine how the zodiac sign of the North Node is expressed.

For example, let’s say someone has an Aries North Node, but it’s in their 7th house of partnership. This might seem contradictory at first since Aries rules independence and the 7th house emphasizes collaboration. But, this helps us fine tune where this person’s Aries energy should be focused for best results.

It’s likely that in a past life they based their identity on their partnership (Libra South Node in the first house).

In this lifetime, they will be learning how to partner with others and keep their sense of identity. This doesn’t mean being completely self-focused however; the key to their self-identity actually lies in supporting others.

How do I know what house my North Node is in?

First, it’s helpful to know how the layout of your chart works. The horizontal line in the middle represents the horizon. The houses look like slices of pie and proceed in counter-clockwise order starting on the left side, just under the horizon.

The North Node symbol looks much like a pair of headphones. In order to be sure about what house your North Node is in, you must know your exact time of birth. With time of birth, the rising sign can be determined, which then sets the start and end point for all of the houses.

But, there are other ways to reverse engineer your North Node house placement if you don’t know your time of birth.

Some astrologers perform a service called rectification, which matches events from your life to planetary movements to determine time of birth.

Another way to learn about your North Node and its house placement is to read the description for all of the house placements and see which one resonates the most with you.

The astro-techie folk among us know that astrologers use a variety of house systems. This is another thing to experiment with to see which system feels right to you. The most common systems in Western Astrology are the Placidus and Whole Sign systems. If you don’t know how to read the houses in your own chart, the best way to learn about the house placement of your North Node is to get a professional astrology reading.

A summary of the North Node through the houses

Below is a brief summary of how the energy works when the North Node is in each of the houses. These lists are a useful guide, but they just scratch the surface of the themes present. That’s why there is an entire book that will be dedicated to this topic!

The Houses

North Node in the First House: The House of the Self

Special talents, success and self-confidence when the focus is on:

• Themselves, their instinctive responses to life
• Acting on their impulses
• Independence, based on being true to and following themselves
• Self-discovery
• Leadership, through honest self-assertion
• Using reactions in the body to determine the best course of action
• Noticing the way they express themselves/speaking with an awareness of presentation

Difficulties (Loss & Challenges) when the Focus is on:

• Primary awareness on their partner’s moods
• Keeping their partner happy to experience their own happiness
• Seeking others’ input before making decisions
• Sacrificing self for the sake of “fairness” to another
• Arbitration as opposed to self-assertion
• Justifying themselves to retain a “nice person” image
• Trying to see themselves through the eyes of another

North Node in the Second House: The House of the Builder

Special talents, success and self-confidence when the focus is on:

• Enjoying sensual pleasures: good food, touch, massage
• Maintaining their own comfort zone
• Owning and building what they personally consider valuable
• Earning their own money through their own efforts
• Appreciating whatever abundance life has already brought them
• Receiving the energy of support that Mother Nature gives to them
• Getting in touch with their own needs, and taking action to satisfy their needs 

Difficulties (loss & challenges) when they focus on:

• Seeking validation from others
• Fulfilling other people’s physical needs in order to stabilize their own position
• Harshly judging others’ psychology and/or behavior
• The wrongdoing of others, and vengefulness
• Finding a soul mate to complete oneself as a top priority
• Feeling of entitlement: focusing on what others “owe” them
• Benefitting from or relying on other people’s generosity for their survival

North Node in the Third House: The House of the Communicator

Special talents, success and self-confidence when the focus is on:

• Sharing information relevant to others’ current concerns
• Open-minded exchanges with others for the purpose of mutual learning and teaching
• Gaining new information through reading, conversation, formal classes
• Writing to clarify their thoughts and share their experiences
• In all relationships, viewing the other person as their brother or sister
• Initiating conversations to better understand how others think and view life
• Following their curiosity

Difficulties (loss & challenges) when they focus on:

• Blind faith in life and other people, without checking out the facts
• Abstract truth, rather than factual information
• Sharing “truth” in a ponderous way
• Being direct and “truthful” at any price (without considering other people’s feelings)
• Spontaneous adventure, without logical planning
• Being “right” and self-righteousness
• Judging others’ behaviors

North Node in the Fourth House: The House of the Empathetic Nurturer

Special talents, success and self-confidence when the focus is on:

• The process, rather than the goal
• Following their gut instincts; being true to themselves
• The home, their home base
• Beginning new things and watching them grow successfully
• How they feel, rather than how they appear to others
• Being empathetic to themselves and others
• Connecting with their inner world 

Difficulties (loss & challenges) when they focus on:

• Creating a public image
• Gaining respect from others
• Following outer “protocol” rather than inner prompting
• Managing and controlling others
• Achieving professional goals at the expense of intimate relationships and personal fulfillment
• Being solely responsible for solving shared problems
• Censoring their feelings to remain “strong” for others

North Node in the Fifth House: The House of the Creative Player

Special talents, success and self-confidence when the focus is on:

• Following their sense of happiness by taking risks
• Using their will power
• In all relationships, bottom-line viewing others and self as “children”
• Seeing the game accurately and playing it to win
• Acting out the role that will create the results they want
• Giving love
• A romantic, playful approach to life

Difficulties (loss & challenges) when they focus on:

• Obsessively gaining more knowledge before taking creative action
• Seeing the bigger picture and then “going along” without personally initiating changes that will bring them happiness
• Fitting in with the group
• Being the person they feel others will love
• Postponing their hearts longings to fulfill the needs of others
• Yielding to the stronger wills of others
• Looking to others to make them happy

North Node in the Sixth House: The House of the Planner

Special talents, success and self-confidence when the focus is on:

• Checking in with others to see what their vision is
• Practical planning; setting things up externally to work
• Getting the job done on a tangible level
• Creating practical, measurable results
• Analyzing relationships AFTER getting input from others
• Actively participating to create positive outcomes
• Creating order

Difficulties (loss & challenges) when they focus on:

• Questioning self; self-doubt
• Trying to create outer reality through a process of inner fantasy
• Self-purification, rather than creating productive outer results
• Withdrawing
• Feeling sorry for themselves
• Waiting for omens to show them their path
• Assuming other people are just like them

North Node in the Seventh House: The House of the Partner/Team

Special talents, success and self-confidence when the focus is on:

• Listening to discover who the other person is
• Encouraging others to succeed
• Other-awareness
• Supporting the other person
• Arbitration
• Seeing what’s best for the team
• Giving others credit for their contributions

Difficulties (loss & challenges) when they focus on:

• Self (“What am I getting out of this?”)
• Self-consciousness (watching self on an ego level)
• Excessive body consciousness
• Following impulses without considering the effect upon others
• Excessive independence
• Resistance to feedback from others (My way is the only way)
• Taking individual credit for combined efforts

North Node in the Eighth House: The House of the Soul Mate

Special talents, success and self-confidence when the focus is on:

• Investigating to find out where the other person is “coming from” (what they need)
• Helping the other person to feel comfortable
• Initiating, giving out vital love energy, leading to mutual empowerment
• Tuning into others motives and needs, and then speaking to those values
• Unconditional love
• Sharing their feelings to create mutual understanding
• Feeding positive energy into situations as they spontaneously unfold

Difficulties (loss & challenges) when they focus on:

• Making money on their own
• Accumulating and keeping possessions
• Doing things “their way, the hard way”
• Their needs, without recognizing what others need to feel comfortable
• Wanting others to make them feel comfortable
• Selfish preoccupation with their own comfort needs
• Projecting their values onto others

North Node in the Ninth House: The House of the Seeker

Special talents, success and self-confidence when the focus is on:

• Pursuing spiritual truth
• Integrity and direct communication, regardless of whether or not others accept what they have to say
• Demonstrating their truth, rather than simply speaking it
• Trusting and following their intuition
• Following the path that leads to their own peace of mind
• Listening to and following their own guides and angels
• Following what they “feel” to be true, rather than what they “think”

Difficulties (loss & challenges) when they focus on:

• Spending too much time with people
• Trying to get others to see things their way
• Debate; trying to get others to agree with them
• Logical conclusions
• Gossip
• Other people’s opinions of them
• Other people’s ideas/advice

North Node in the Tenth House: The House of the Provider

Special talents, success and self-confidence when the focus is on:

• Reaching a goal
• Objectively managing situations
• Their professional aims
• “Taking charge” and successfully rising above personal challenges
• What will be beneficial for everyone involved
• Providing a safe space for themselves and others to reach a common goal
• Their strengths and past accomplishments

Difficulties (loss & challenges) when the focus is on:

• The emotional problems of others
• Their birth family
• Their own emotional reactions
• Wanting others to pay attention to them
• Their insecurities and fears
• “Mothering” others 
• Staying in their comfort zone

North Node in the Eleventh House: The House of the Humanitarian

Special talents, success and self-confidence when the focus is on:

• Working with like-minded peers to accomplish idealistic aims
• Being interested in others
• Expanding their perception to be aware of the auric field around the other person
• Keeping their vision on the “bigger picture” and watching how things are unfolding
• Graciously receiving love when it is offered
• Allowing others to give to them
• Using their talents to empower and benefit others

Difficulties (loss & challenges) when the focus is on:

• Getting their own way (without awareness of what others want)
• Game-playing, rather than honest disclosure of what’s going on
• Self-censorship for the purpose of “winning”
• One-upmanship
• Trying to force results
• Wanting approval from others
• Their projection of what they think others want from them

North Node in the Twelfth House: The House of the Visionary

Special talents, success and self-confidence when the focus is on:

• Meditation
• Self-examination
• Focusing on a peaceful surrendering of events to a higher power
• Spiritual atmospheres
• Intangible values
• Recognizing that a higher power is in control of the situation
• Trust in forces outside themselves

Difficulties (loss & challenges) when the focus is on:

• Work
• Making rigid plans
• Perfectionism with details
• Making coworkers “perfect” (or trying to change other people’s behavior)
• Over-focusing on tangible or material concerns
• Everything that is going “wrong”
• Performing all their perceived duties before they can relax