Learn about the North Node in the 8th house, and what this means in terms of your life’s purpose, karmic lessons, and spiritual growth.
What Does it Mean When Your North Node is in the 8th House?
In karmic astrology, the North Node of the moon, or Ascending Node, indicates our current soul mission, while the South Node, or Descending Node, symbolises lessons acquired from past life experiences.
This astrological placement is associated with the the work that needs to be done on oneself.
The North Node located in the eighth house in your natal chart is significant. It’s linked with some intense themes, including birth, death, and rebirth. It’s also closely tied to trauma and transformative experiences, and is sometimes known as the House of Transformation, the House of Regeneration, and even the House of Death.
This astrological placement is associated with the the work that needs to be done on oneself in order to honour spiritual values and achieve spiritual growth.
Note: Although the 8th house is the natural house of Scorpio, your North Node will not necessarily be in both the 8th house and the zodiac sign of Scorpio. To calculate your birth chart placements, use our North Node calculator.
What Themes Are Associated With North Node in the 8th House?
Some of the themes associated with your North Node being in the 8th house are mentioned above, but there are quite a few more. Here’s a more comprehensive list:
- Birth
- Rebirth
- Physical death
- Loss
- Traumatic experience
- Taboos
- Transformation
- Sexual desires
- Spiritual growth
- Healing
- The occult and psychic abilities
- Material possessions
- Joint resources
- Wealth and other people’s money
- Psychology
We’ll explore some of the significant themes in greater depth below.
8th House North Node Means 2nd House South Node
The nodes of the moon are always in opposite signs and opposite houses, therefore, when your North Node is located in the 8th house, it means that your South Node will be located in the second house.
Here’s a quick reference guide to the positions of the houses:
| If North Node is in: | South Node will be in: |
|---|---|
| 1st house | 7th house |
| 2nd house | 8th house |
| 3rd house | 9th house |
| 4th house | 10th house |
| 5th house | 11th house |
| 6th house | 12th house |
| 7th house | 1st house |
| 8th house | 2nd house |
| 9th house | 3rd house |
| 10th house | 4th house |
| 11th house | 5th house |
| 12th house | 6th house |
A 2nd house South Node is strongly related to the material comfort associated with material resources.
Since the South Node represents past lives, there’s an indication that you may have previously lost everything or gone without, and this manifests as a preoccupation with material possessions.
In order to achieve personal growth, it’s necessary to face up to your karmic lessons.
The 8th house is said to be the reverse of its opposite 2nd house. This means crucial life lessons can be taken from your South Node placement, and expressed through your North Node. In other words, life issues from your past are to be overcome in your present and future life path.
This process takes us out of our comfort zone, because it’s natural to cling to the familiar. However, in order to achieve personal growth, it’s necessary to face up to these karmic lessons.
Life Lessons For Those With These Lunar Placements
The position of the lunar nodes gives rise to specific personality traits and lessons to be learned in this life.
There’s some crossover between the North and South node characteristics, with those common traits illustrating where work and growth is required for deep transformation.
Let’s take a look at some important life lessons for this astrological placement…
Karmic Projections
To achieve spiritual growth, we should pay attention and strive to address these issues in ourselves.
If you notice that you tend to attract the same kinds of people, displaying similar traits, this is often due to karmic projection. Especially in cases where these people are challenging to deal with or evoke strong emotions in us, they can be a clue to who or what we have been in our past lives.
When we become aware of repeating themes of challenges with people in our lives, we should pay attention and strive to address these issues in ourselves to achieve spiritual growth.
Sharing
One area which tends to show up for those with an 8th house North Node is linked to sharing and the value of true partnership.
Sharing refers not only to material things, but also of the self. One such aspect manifests as difficulty in asking for help, as you are familiar with being independent and self-sufficient.
You can have a hard time revealing your vulnerable side.
Learning to step outside of your approach of comfort by making your needs known is just one way you can begin to experience development and growth.
Within romantic relationships you can have a hard time revealing your vulnerable side enough to build a close connection of deep understanding and intrinsic value.
Of course, the human soul craves strong bonds, and it’s important to work to overcome this in order to establish an intimate relationship on a much deeper level.
Transience vs Ownership
Preoccupation with material property and financial assets and a strong need to hold them close is a central theme of the North Node located in the 8th house, manifesting as possessiveness.
You should make efforts to focus less on false material values.
This soul urge to possess material property stems from strong desire in your past lives to have a stable material world, and a current fear of loss and insecurity. It’s important for you to relax this mentality by recognising that ownership is transient, and possessions are only ever ours temporarily.
You should make efforts to focus less on false material values, learn to let go of secure material assets, and instead place greater emphasis on deeper values.
Personal Growth
Possibly the most important theme for this placement is that of growth and transformation.
You’ll attain rewarding growth by confronting fears head-on.
In Astrology, the life path for those with their North Node in the 8th house is ultimately to learn karmic lessons from their past lives and release that which no longer serves them.
You can have a difficult time facing up to your insecurities, but by confronting fears head-on and embracing your spiritual values, you’ll attain rewarding personal growth.
Spirituality
Each of the above life lessons can be brought together as different aspects of spirituality, which plays a significant role in the lives of 8th house people.
You also enjoy learning about the world through the lens of psychology.
You have a fascination with the spiritual world, often exhibiting powerful intuition as well as psychic abilities or a sixth sense. However, much though esoteric hidden things and this mysterious side of life intrigues you, you also enjoy learning about the world through the lens of psychology.
You’re happiest when embracing your soul’s need for growth and healing through therapy, spiritual practices, transcendental experiences, and living your personal values.
Most Important Karmic Lesson For North Node in the 8th House
This issue will come up again and again until you’re able to embrace your soul mission.
The theme than underpins this placement is a conflict between materialism and spirituality.
This issue will come up again and again until you’re able to embrace your soul mission and move forward in your true life purpose.
What Does the Science Say?
Both traditional and modern astrology are hugely popular, however, there’s no evidence to suggest that it holds real validity.
So why do so many people buy into it? Most likely the Barnum Effect1 is at play.
The phenomenon describes the strong inclination of people to give weight to descriptions about themselves, such as character assessments.
Linked but separate to the Barnum Effect, another device employed is to use deliberately vague detail, which could easily be applied to a large number of people, and subsequently interpreted as being unique to the individual.
Sources
1. Barnum Effect, Britannica