Life has many paradoxes, where things are not always what they seem. From our earliest years, we are taught to respect and honor strength and achievement. We are taught how to model ourselves after those who surpass expectations and give us a life of feats to emulate. This can push us on a path of strenuous striving for most of our life.
The astrological chart shows the strengths and areas in life where an individual can do well. Many squares to a Planet, it's Sign and House often indicate this. Angular planets near the First, Fourth, Seventh and Tenth Houses can also indicate strength. Planets in higher degrees, forming conjunctions, or in fixed signs can also be seen as signs of strength in a chart.
However, strength alone does not give an individual happiness, for if anything, its display tends to make others depend on it. As a result, those who show their strengths in any area of life, become vulnerable to others needing to depend on those strengths. They tend to attract parasites, leeches, and those who do not carry their share.
From the Tao Te Ching, we learn 'What is a good man? A teacher of a bad man."
The world has a way of leaning on those who strengthen it, until they actually weaken their own leaders. Think of any time you have given advice to a friend or done a favor for someone, or perhaps did their work for them. Somehow, without anybody meaning for this to happen, the other individual comes to depend on this behavior from you in the future. This can drain you of happiness, as it puts a very different definition on your relationship than you had originally intended.
Since the universe holds all answers to every question within it, there must be a way for us to find balance in our lives, so that our good-intentioned help to others never becomes an unendurable drain on our existence.
Since there is a tendency to show others our strengths, perhaps because we are too ashamed to show them our weaknesses, then it is these very weaknesses that can keep us from being consumed by external needs that are beyond our ability to deal with.
For those of us who have confronted our human qualities, we have learned that knowing when to stop exuding strength and pull back into ourselves turns out to be our only savior. As a result, look to the weak areas in your chart and pay heed to what they are saying, because as you do, you will find that a new respect for what you cannot do, takes precedence over your spilling out your entire being and then some to others who would only gladly feed on your strength.
Your South Node is a resting place, containing within it, all the familiar soul memories of past lives you have already lived. Knowing how to use this properly can help you to measure the balance between your strengths and weaknesses, so that you never jump out of your life to be more than what your weaknesses can handle.
