Autumn Equinox: Sun enters Libra
The Pisces Full Moon lit up the last weekend of the Summer with its dynamic interplay between water and ice. Our emotions and our mind. This Moon is in a close conjunction with Neptune, infusing impulses towards transcendence and spiritual realization. At the heart of Pisces is the yearning for connection with divinity. The center of our chest contains not just our human heart, but our spiritual heart. When we’re instructed to drop into the heart in meditation, this is where they intend for us to go. To the place in our system that is directly linked with our creator. Most of us need the practice of meditation, yoga, or some other kind of mental and physical discipline to access this place clearly and consistently. The spiritual heart contains an ocean of love where you can just float. Letting oneself soak up the blessing of this place is worth any effort to get there. It is to this place that the Pisces Full Moon, which culminates at 7:55 ET on Monday night, September 20, wants to take us.
Jupiter in Aquarius, in a perfect trine with Mercury in Libra on September 20, is ruling this lunation from a place of loving detachment. There’s an opportunity for our thinking to evolve in progressive directions with this transit. Jupiter and Mercury in air signs are interested in creating stories and developing philosophy that benefits all of humanity. Air signs are called humane because they care about people, and are represented by glyphs of humans. Aquarius as the water bearer that pours out wisdom to the earth below is informing the impulses of this Moon. Mars in Libra is moving into a trine with Saturn in Aquarius, which is goading us towards action. The softness of Pisces is inviting us to reside in love, but the analytical detachment of Aquarius wants you to consider what discipline is needed to bypass the noise of your mind and distraction of the body to access the love of spirit in the center.
The Sun enters Libra at the Autumn Equinox on Wednesday, September 22, and we enter into the lunar time of year. The Equinox is one of only two days when there is perfect equality between day and night. Dark and light stand in balance and we are encouraged to contemplate harmony. Libra is Venus’ cardinal air sign of justice and freedom. Symbolized by the Greek Goddess Themis, who held the scales, and represented order, fairness, and cultural customs. Libra cares about what is expected in social interactions and has a desire to make life beautiful. Myths of Themis make a connection with older earth Goddesses, including her mother, Gaia. This link remains with Venus’ presiding over both Libra and the fixed earth sign of Taurus. The legacy of Themis asks us to consider the relationship between how we treat the land and its resources and how we treat each other as people. Exploitation of one will lead to exploitation of all.
Venus is ruling the Equinox from a difficult position in Scorpio, with Mars, as its host, struggling in Libra. These two planets of the nocturnal sect preside over the change of seasons from the solar to lunar time of the year, and in 2021, the Sun moves into Libra and directly into a conjunction with Mars--ouch. There is a wound here that is getting picked. A pain that is being plucked. The Moon in Aries is forming a cardinal t-square with Mercury in Libra and Pluto in Capricorn, adds emphasis to this tension; ensuring we won’t only sense what’s out of balance, we will feel and know it too. The exaltation ruler of Libra, Saturn, is sending a trine to the Sun from Aquarius, which provides support, but not in an overly generous manner. There is something that needs to be rectified and Saturn wants to make sure we do it correctly.
The children of Themis and Zeus are Dike, the Goddess of Justice, Eirene, the Goddess of Peace, Eunoima, Goddess of law and order. Known as the Horae, the Hours or Seasons, they had a relationship to the partition of time and things coming to fruition in the proper moment. Similar to the concept of karma, the Horae sacred trinity reminds us that every action has an equal and opposite reaction and eventually we must account for the results of our behavior. Together these goddesses created “good order, justice, and peace” and were worshipped for maintaining the stability of civil society. The beneficial qualities of Themis and the Horae are not given. They must be maintained and cultivated through teaching respect, tolerance, and kindness to every new generation. The Trump administration, which was marked with misogynist and hateful behavior from the beginning of his campaign in 2015, has consistently attacked these values. We are a crossroads as a society, and it is not clear the direction our democracy will take. The Equinox is the perfect time to reaffirm your own commitment to the kind of world you want to live in. The small actions of an individual impact the greater whole. Focus on what you can do today by bringing whatever is out of balance into alignment in your own life.
Venus in Scorpio opposes Uranus in Taurus on September 23, adding some fire to this dynamic mix. Sparks fly when Venus meets up with freedom loving Uranus. This transit inspires us to break out of the mold with dating and romantic interests, pursuing people or situations we may not usually consider. Venus in Scorpio brought a goth vibe to the 2021 Met Gala, and the opposition with Uranus encourages all of us to experiment with aesthetics. Uranus as the queerest planet wants us to be unabashedly and authentically ourselves. Liberation from sexual and gender oppression and transformation of that which keeps us stuck in fear are Venus-Uranus. All perfectly exemplified with the new Lil Nas X album Montero.
Mars in Libra trines Saturn in Aquarius on September 25 and the Sun follows on September 29, giving us a not so gentle nudge towards all that balance you were meditating on at the Equinox. The last weekend of the month is a great time to get things done you’ve been delaying. Saturn brings up feelings of insecurity and makes us feel like poo for procrastinating. Show up for what’s daunting with a hefty dose of compassion for yourself. Mars wants to fight, but in Libra is afraid of hurting people’s feelings. This is a classic recipe for people-pleasing behavior that leads to resentments. Don't get caught up in the codependent trap. Instead, make a plan, do what you say you’re going to do, and let go of the rest. Including, what everyone else is thinking of feeling. You can’t actually know what that is, and, more importantly, it's none of your business. Even if folks try to hang things on you, their lives are not your problem to fix. Happiness is an inside job. The Mars-Sun trine with Saturn reminds us that nothing can replace the effort of hard work and discipline. Do your best and be proud of what you accomplish. Making a gratitude list at the end of every night can help give you perspective on your day. The patriarchy teaches us that fear is an indication of weakness, but its actually the measure of bravery. It's easy to do things that you’re not afraid of, but it's courageous to do things that scare you.
Mercury stations retrograde at 25 Libra in the early morning on September 27, in a square with Pluto in Capricorn. For the next three weeks, we will live in the shadow realm. A world between worlds. The Moon in Gemini is hosted by this underworld Mercury so we’re going to notice the difference immediately. Refinement is the name of the game with a retrograde through Libra. The themes of this passage have been active since Mercury entered its shadow on September 6, so consider what’s happened over the last three weeks. You will surely see a reconsideration of themes and recalibration of action over the next month. Mercury will conjoin Mars and the Sun at 16 Libra on October 9, and continue backwards till October 18 when it will station direct at 10 Libra. If you have planets or points at these degrees, you’ll be deeply immersed in this process, for better or for worse.
The month ends with Venus squaring Jupiter on September 30, offering a collaboration between the benefics. There can be two kinds of lessons with this type of transit. The first is not to try to force things to be better than they are, but the second is that things might be better than you realized. Both planets want to improve things wherever they go, so let yourself sprinkle a little magic around wherever you are. Jupiter’s nudge will give Venus a shove in the right direction as we move towards the Libra New Moon on October 6.
Stay well until then. Equinox blessings.