Libra New Moon – 16 October 2020

Life is indeed hopeless if we will not change what we can,
and we can choose to live from the spiritual view in any moment.

_________________________________________________________
(If you are not comfortable with astrological jargon,
please ignore the bracketed italics below.)

We are not lost, just tired

.       Managing to keep one’s personal spirits up in the face of continuing deprivation may result in depression. Perhaps we need to know how suffering feels before we act effectively to help others. Grief and anger can feel so impotent, useless. Those who are personally determined to be positive, and maybe also those who give up, might be able to maintain a lighter response to crushing conditions they cannot affect. But this effort can drain life energy, leaving a darkness that sees no end to suffering, missing the way out.

.       There is only one way to hold the heart safe from misery and despair, and that is to allow the flow of spiritual connection through one’s being. Life is indeed hopeless if we will not change what we can, but we can turn to spirit in any moment. We each need to find a way that keeps the love of spirit in our sights. For the body: we can eat healthily, honour the vitality that is life in form, appreciate the movement of arms and shoulders, the expanding ability of ribcage, the smiling muscles of cheeks and around eyes. For the emotions: it helps to smile often, letting the body be upright and open in posture, and returning the thoughts constantly to what is beautiful in what we see and hear. For the mind: we can discover where a dark attitude keeps anchoring the thought process, tethering awareness to the dark side of life; and having noticed, smiling at the habit, we can in that moment replace it with present awareness of immediate being.

Libra chooses action when the way is clear

.       Everything is right – it is as it needs to be in order to unfold correctly. We are not required to change ourselves into something ‘better’. This does not mean we should ‘give up’ on self-development. Being human gives us the responsibility to live and breathe and move as we are in the world. But that responsibility includes acknowledging that we are truly spirit, operating through embodied personality. We need to listen inwardly and move according to the inner directive and not the outer. Nor are we to ignore the outer directives, but to respond to them from within, and we also need to be aware of the source of those inner directives, whether that be personality or inner spiritual guidance.

Astrologically speaking . . . 3 major oppositions

.       There is a clear contrast this month between the personal perspective with its reactive
response, and the broader more inclusive or spiritual perspective and the guided response. We are naturally bound to have a personal view, and it’s important to be aware of our personal reactions and take them into consideration, as well as avoiding causing unnecessary pain and distress others (Mars in Aries opposite Sun/Moon in Libra).

.       These days we are trawling through our deepest issues, many of them from early childhood, even past lives (Mercury retrograde in Scorpio opposite Uranus retrograde in Taurus): issues of loss, separation and abandonment; what must we let go? what is true freedom? Where other people are concerned (Venus in Virgo opposite Neptune): how can we best serve them? what is the ‘right’ way? can we know these things? how do we choose when it’s all so confusing?

Bless whatever the future may bring . . .

.       The Full Moon falls on the Evening before All Hallows, 31 October, always a time to be vigilant about our motives, because of our susceptibility to psychic forces, both inner and outer. It is as though darkness dances in us first, waves of desire, passion and emotion causing us to ponder the madness of the human race as we watch mob behaviour. This is followed by ‘the dawn’, that shaft of light penetrating our darkest moments, initiating an inward return to spiritual reality.

.       From 3 November it should be easier to focus outwardly (Mercury direct) but not till 10 November will we really be able to focus properly on issues that have been seething underneath the dramas (Mercury into Scorpio again). Then we may discuss the practical restraints on human behaviour, discovering what’s useful, what works, and what is superfluous or destructive.

.       During that last week before the next New Moon, there is a ripple of changing energy (Venus opposite Mars 9th , Mercury into Scorpio 10th , Jupiter over Pluto for the last time on 12th , Mars direct 14th , Scorpio New Moon 15th ). Whatever the events may be, the energy builds into a crescendo of emotional power and intent. It’s another opportunity to stand firm in our deepest convictions, while relaxing into the love that connects all being. The next Sun/Moon cycle will reflect the process of finishing off, or completing, much that has been physically troubling (Saturn/Jupiter through end of Capricorn). Let’s hold light thoughts and open hearts, for each other and freely unfolding life.

The turning point

.       The backdrop to all this is the circumstances we are each individually contending with (Jupiter/Pluto/Saturn converging again in Capricorn). It’s as though the craziness in the world ‘out there’ is holding our faces into our inner worlds – and it doesn’t make any difference what you judge as ‘crazy’ or what your opinions are. What matters is how you relate to it from inside yourself. We always have the choice to consider the wider perspective that spiritual awareness gives. As a Buddhist monk was heard to say: “Go IN!”

.       The only (and best) way to ‘go in’ is accept that we don’t know the answers from the personal perspective, so the personality needs to surrender to the spirit, which each one of us can only do inside. The moment of our choosing to listen to spirit inside is the turning point we are all waiting for. No one else can tell you. So meditate however you do that. Pray for guidance in each moment. Be open and responsive moment by moment, aware of situations and your reactions to them, and then choose to follow your inner guidance as you go along. It’s the hardest thing to do – and it’s the path to realising your real true Self.

.       Remembering we are spirit is not easy as we struggle to adjust on the practical level, which is why it serves us to create and follow rituals of exercise and a form of meditation. These need to be daily, because our sense of time is so variable, while the sun reliably rises every day. They can also be simple and easy, because we need to be kind to ourselves. I enjoy lighting a candle in the evening. The living flame is a visual reminder that darkness disappears from even a tiny source of light. We create darkness for ourselves when we attribute more power to outer conditions than we acknowledge within our own hearts. I know that spirit is, and the candle flame reminds me that I can make contact with spirit in a second. When I blow the flame out, I imagine light radiating out into the world of form, revealing the connectedness of all life. And so it is.

_________________________________________________________

Contemplation for this New Moon in Libra

When you go inside, it is not lonely
because your heart is never alone.
It is not lonely because you expand and expand
and include everything that seemed outside before.

In the expansion is the light and the joy,
and all that seemed dark fades like mist in the morning.
Stay with your dear small self while you become greater
and your edges also dissolve in the Light