Following Your North Node: Transmuting Fear into Love
The strongest emotion I have encountered when it comes to following my life purpose is fear. Following your North Node isn’t meant to be an easy path and it represents the fear of the unknown. It’s something that we know would be good for us, but it feels new, uncomfortable and at times even impossible to achieve. On the other hand, our South Node is an area of life we know very well but where we can fall victim to the illusion of security. Usually, it’s something that holds us back and although it feels familiar, it’s likely that we don’t have good experiences here. It’s where if we’re being honest with ourselves, we know we could be doing better. Steven Forrest, a pioneer of Evolutionary Astrology who wrote the book Yesterday’s Sky, asserts that everything in our natal charts is karmic and that karma is habit and repetition of unresolved behaviors from past lives.
Our ‘Nodal Story’ is a big part of our past life karma and tells the tale of the purpose we set out to achieve in this life based on the mistakes of the past that our soul wishes to now learn from and resolve. An Astrologer takes the signs and houses your North and South Nodes occupy, the planetary rulers of those signs and their locations, and any aspects that are made to the nodes themselves and creates a possible story. This story does not need to be accurate to get a greater understanding of ourselves, we’re looking to identify behavioral patterns we’ve brought into this life that are no longer serving us. The intention is to follow the North Node to fulfill our purpose and at the same time better integrate our South Node and achieve a healthy balance between the two ends of the spectrum. Growth is a necessary part of life and the more we lean into opportunities to work with our fear the more fulfilled and happier we will be.
What’s a good way to work with our fear? One answer is to transmute it into love and to do this we need to identify the common ground between the two emotions. According to Russ Harris MD, author of The Happiness Trap, the three core values in love are connection, caring and contribution. Fear is present when something of consequence to us (connection) is on the line, we’re emotionally engaged (caring), and there’s a reason to exert effort (contribution). The values are the same on either side of love and fear and all that’s needed is to bring balance to the emotions. When we identify the fear and recognize that it has the same goals as love, we can offer it compassion and understanding. We can sit with the emotion and allow it to come to the surface to be felt and released.
Fear wants what love wants; they just go about it in different ways. Once we’ve taken the steps to work through it, the fear will feel greatly diminished in intensity and will make space for more love to balance it out. There will still be fear there, and that’s a good thing, because in healthy ways it motivates us and helps us act when it really matters. It’s only when the fear is irrational or out of balance that it makes trouble for us. If fear has been holding you back, book a Discovery Call to learn more about how you can work with this emotion to bring it into balance and courageously pursue what’s most important to you.