Libra - balance in movement

Libra represents that opening in us where we see the beauty and harmony in our surroundings, and in this life as human beings. ‘There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so’ (Shakespeare): it is the nature of spirit’s manifestation on any level to be harmonious with the whole. We tend not to see this because we’re looking at the physical level on its own.

On this physical level, we as individuals are in relationship with everything that seems to be not us, so harmony, or the lack of it, tends to show up in our experience of relating (Libra is ruled by Venus). Our efforts to create harmony may stem from many drives, including basic survival needs, a desire to control what is around us, or a desire to bring ease to others through imposing justice as we see it, or just a longing to express our love. We tend to see harmony only when things are balanced, a static state, the status quo maintained - don’t rock the boat! On the physical level, the Libran side of us can deny the necessity for change, and resist change when it comes, so openness to a broader connectedness and meaning can soften much anxiety.

Life is movement. Typically harmony is a state we notice in passing. The scales of life continually move towards balance - the heart continues to beat, and the body keeps breathing - so balance is something we need to find continually.

We all swim in the emotional sea - the collective unconscious

The New Moon chart this month suggests that we may be looking at the problem of how much care and concern to give to others versus our own need for care and autonomy (Sun/Moon opposite Uranus in Aries). It’s as though much of our previous wounds and wounding behaviour are coming back to be sorted out, and the bit we may be having to learn is that we are all inextricably merged emotionally (T-square with the Pluto pattern, and Saturn trine Chiron).

We cannot blame someone else for anything, because we all have our roots in the total extent of the human experience: that is, we all know what it is to feel rage, hate, malice, even if only for a mili-second. What we are able to feel can be triggered and, if not expressed, then projected. Who is to say they are not involved in the swirl of emotions that we walk through every moment of our lives? In the realisation of connection with all that is, something has to fall away, and that is our identity as a child, which we no longer are. And something must disperse - the identity we have made into a straight-jacket which now conceals the wonder of what we truly are.

Focus on speech - honesty and care

If we were to consider the sea of human emotion all the time, we would find it hard to make decisions. We would find it hard to move in a clear way because there would be so many considerations, connotations, possibilities, we could lose the sense of ourselves as individuals - which we also are.

But this month, focussing on the whole of it is the correct thing to do, it’s a great opportunity to discover the underlying truths that we may have been missing (Mercury in Scorpio trine Neptune/Chiron in Pisces). This is our time for checking out just how much we’ve been assuming we’re more separate than we are, and where that assumption has made us unfeeling, insensitive, to the real needs of others, and less than compassionate to our own ‘childish’ reactions. We may have meant well, but the Libran side of us can assume that others want the same as ourselves, or can misunderstand what looks like an argument, not seeing that this could be people reaching agreement with each other, or just making connection.

The best way to deal with what rises (while Saturn is on North Node in Scorpio) is to take it slow and steady, to stay focussed on what is being said, and whether one has understood what was meant; to mean what you say as you try to express your truth; and to be mindful that you may be feeling the other person’s feelings as well as your own, and even the general emotional climate of the day (Mercury passes Saturn/North Node just after this New Moon, again at the end October, and finally late November - being retrograde from October 21 to November 10).

Venus moves into Sagittarius on 7 October, so the weightiness of all this focus may well lighten, and become a companionable exploration of the truth for its own sake.

Full Moon - workable solutions

From the Full Moon on 19 October, that dilemma of me versus the other that may have been so awkward in the first half of the month, becomes lighter (Sun and Moon no longer at odds with Pluto). Emotional gentleness becomes a higher priority, especially perhaps in family situations (Mercury trines Jupiter in Cancer). It will be a good time for working intuitively towards solutions, and putting them sensitively into practice (Mars into Virgo opposite Neptune). Also, we will feel right about any corrections we make to our health regimes, and it will be easier to follow through.