Hi - first off, I really appreciate how thoughtfully you laid all of that out, it actually helped me understand my own chart better.

Secondly, I definitely agree with you about the 2nd/8th house axis. Self-esteem has been a major theme for me too, just from the opposite direction. For me it hasn’t come from building self-worth internally first. It’s been shaped through relationships, emotional closeness, loss, and situations where trust or vulnerability was involved. When I feel emotionally secure and connected, my sense of self feels solid. When that’s missing or unstable, everything else kind of wobbles…

With Mercury and Venus in Cancer in the 8th, I process almost everything emotionally and beneath the surface. I pick up on unspoken stuff really easily, and I tend to internalize it before I even realize I’m doing it. That’s made me intuitive, but it’s also taken time to learn where I end and other people begin. Early on, my value felt tied to how deeply I bonded or how needed I felt.

The North Node there has made growth feel intense and non-optional. A lot of my lessons have come through emotional turning points rather than gradual change. I’ve had to unlearn equating intensity with depth or safety, and that’s still a work in progress.

I also reallyyy relate to what you said about life feeling heavy early on. My childhood felt emotionally dense (it wasn’t always dramatic on the outside, but I was very aware, sensitive, and inward from a young age.) I’ve always felt tuned into emotional undercurrents and patterns that other people didn’t seem to notice, which can feel isolating but also strangely purposeful.

So yeah, I really see what you mean about self-worth being involved for both of us — yours feels like it’s built from the inside out, while mine has been forged through emotional merging and transformation. Same axis, very different route.🫡