After years of reading charts: This is how you find your purpose
Most people tie their Sun sign to their identity. IMO this is where the stereotypical astrology girlie phrase comes from: 'I'm a Leo, so I'm dramatic, and I need to be passionate about all I do.' Level 2 is finding out about the North Node. The NN means your soul's true purpose. Why look further, right? But babbbyyyyyyy there is so much more to discover.
To me it's like coffee. When you put ground beans (your NN) in a coffee machine (dissect it through your birth chart), you get a cup of coffee. But will it taste good? Or do you need to customize the grind and figure out how much water to add for the perfect cup?
Imagine you are a barista.
Your North Node is the bag of beans. Foreign origin, unfamiliar roast, the direction you're meant to grow toward.
(North Node in Aries: developing your own signature blend instead of copying everyone else. North Node in Sagittarius: travelling to where the beans come from and discovering completely different ways of making coffee.)
Your South Node is the order you could make with your eyes closed. Same beans, same grind, every single time. Your boring cup of Joe.
(South Node in Taurus: you keep ordering the iced americano even though it's freezing outside. South Node in Pisces: making the coffee entirely by feel, no structure needed.)
Haven't opened the bag yet? Check who supplied it. Your North Node's ruling planet is the supplier behind the beans, and its house tells you where that growth gets worked out.
(Ruler in the 10th: through your public role and reputation. Ruler in the 4th: through home, family, roots. Ruler in the 11th: through your community or network.)
Your 9th house is the coffee shop three countries over, or barista school. Roasts you haven't tried, techniques you didn't know, insights you bring home.
(9th house in Scorpio: one roaster experience completely changes how you see the world. 9th house in Aquarius: you discover a completely unconventional approach.)
Your 8th house is the ingredient you don't discover alone. Someone else's experience or resources become part of your recipe, which means sharing, trusting, sometimes letting them change your process entirely.
(8th house in Taurus: merging resources without losing your stability. 8th house in Scorpio: letting someone in completely changes how you make coffee.)
Your MC/10th house is the cup you hand to a customer. What you're known for, what people specifically order.
(Taurus MC: quality and reliability. Leo MC: a signature, unmistakably yours. Aquarius MC: doing things differently.)
Your Sun is the taste you're chasing for yourself, independent of who's buying.
(Sun in Libra: every flavour balanced. Sun in Pisces: coffee that makes people feel something.)
Jupiter is what happens when you stop making one cup at a time. Bigger batches, new suppliers, your own shop. "What lets this operation grow?"
(Jupiter in Taurus: through quality and material investment. Jupiter in Gemini: through networking, writing, teaching.)
Saturn is the years dialling in the grind before the shot stops pulling sour. "What do I need to master before this sustains itself?"
(Saturn in Virgo: obsessively refining the craft. Saturn in Aquarius: making your unusual ideas actually work.)
Your Part of Fortune is the order where you stop overthinking and go, "yeah, that's it."
(Part of Fortune in Leo: pride and self-expression. Part of Fortune in Sagittarius: discovering something that widens your world.)
Aspects are the mid-recipe adjustments: finer grind, hotter water, thirty extra seconds on the brew.
(Sun square Saturn: knowing what you want the coffee to taste like, but doubting you're good enough to make it. Jupiter square Saturn: wanting three shops tomorrow while checking the budget. North Node conjunct MC: the barista you're becoming is the barista the world eventually knows.)
For me it's:
I start as the barista who already knows how to make the coffee alone. My South Node in Aries in the 3rd is fast, independent, direct. I work alone in a small shop, talking to myself out loud, making jokes.
My North Node in Libra in the 9th says the next level is leaving my own shop, travelling further, and letting other people's coffee and experience actually change my skills. My North Node's ruler, Venus, sits in Aries in the 3rd too, so I keep the directness. I'm just learning to use it in relationship with someone else instead of only from my own side of the counter.
My 8th house in Leo is empty, but Leo still colours what happens when I share the coffee. I want to collaborate without disappearing into someone else's recipe. It's ruled by my Sun in Pisces in the 2nd, which brings it back to my own value: can I let someone else influence the recipe without losing what makes my coffee mine?
Sun conjunct Mars and Saturn in Pisces in the 2nd make my coffee deeply personal, a little fantasy-like even. Scorpio MC adds depth, the kind that makes someone pause after the first sip. What I'm chasing for myself happens to translate into what people want to buy from me (Sun trine MC).
Mars drives me to actually make it. Saturn keeps me refining and taking it seriously, even scared people won't like my transformational coffee. It becomes tangible and sustainable. I grow by taking myself seriously and staying consistent (Jupiter in Capricorn in the 1st, also boooring).
Part of Fortune in Leo in the 7th is the last piece. I don't get "this is it" alone in my mini coffeeshop. I get it when the cup crosses the counter and people at the bar taste it and go wow. Maybe even pop-ups abroad (is this me doing a pop-up on the worldwide web?????)
I hope this helps you navigate the purpose part of your BC. If you want to find out what kind of barista you are in this coffeeshop we call life, details are in my pinned post <3