True balance is found above the fulcrum.
Libra balances apparent opposites, holding both respectfully
. Both the New and Full Moon charts this month show a joining of very different elements of Earth and Air, Fire and Water. Earth is the material world we are dealing with, while Air is the thought world of our projected hope and fear. Fire is our passionate life force and Water our psychic field and shared emotions. Libra balances these fields as harmoniously as possible. Venus is its ruling energy, so love and relatedness enable everything to work together, but against an argument between holding fast to principles and letting go of trying to control any of it. Letting go is actually the appropriate action, relaxing the grip and trusting evolution, because in this we have no choice.
. The sign of Libra is opposite Aries. Aries is the first burst of individual awareness out of the ocean of possibilities, which this month brings the focus onto how to retain our personal selves while relating to the world we live in and the people we know (Jupiter in Aries opposite Sun/Moon in Libra). We may get to experience how the growth of autonomy can be curtailed by our relationship needs and, as social animals, this is a major learning point.
Relationships are the mirrors where we see ourselves
. The guiding energy is love: we relate by choice with those we love, and our love for others will have the same quality as the love we have for ourselves. If we are ‘trying to be our best’ in relationship to another, we are really judging our authentic selves as unacceptable. And we will be equally judging the other through their behaviour, although we may not be aware of it. We discover our judgements mirrored in other people when they fall short of them. The other person will be behaving in a way we try not to, and assumed they wouldn’t. The only way to clear our loving of this error is to step back and recognise what we are really telling ourselves is ‘If I am not acceptable, I must work at being better than I really am in order to please, and then I will be loved.’ This example shows our need for self-acceptance in relating authentically. Acceptance is not the same as approval: acceptance is loving, approval is judging. Similarly self-respect is accepting, and not the same as self-esteem which needs approval. Being authentic assumes we have the courage, and are prepared, to stand alone – only then will we be true to ourselves in all situations.
. So relationships are likely to be our focus for checking our inner life in those mirrors, and up-dating. Love is the key this month (Venus rules Libra, and is together with Mercury in Virgo). We are likely to be trawling through recent events as the arena for this inquiry. Mercury represents our conscious thinking, so what tends to be going on in our heads. As Mercury is with Venus in this month’s chart, our thoughts are likely to be about loving relationships.
. With this emphasis on Virgo, I find myself tempted to go into detail, and play with astrology a bit here. The timing of Mercury retrograding gives some dates which might aid personal inquiry, but please ignore the next paragraph if this idea is not useful or interesting to you.
Playing with the timing of Mercury retrograde
. Maybe you were making changes in your relationships during late August, and at first everything was apparently going well. But if something seems to have ‘gone wrong’, it could be that expressing emotional reactions shocked the happy-go-lucky atmosphere, and may have led to confusion and misunderstandings (21 August Mars began to energise Gemini squaring the Leo Sun, and Mercury opposed Neptune from 24 Virgo). For much of September, you may be going over things, re-considering, and hopefully learning more about how you relate (Mercury retrograde at 9 Libra from 9 September until 2 October). Around 2 October, we maybe see what that August mistake actually was, and early October we have the opportunity to make the changes that really are necessary (Mercury will have reached 24 Virgo again opposite Neptune, trining Pluto, and then moves forward). All should be sorted by 17 October, as we realise the importance of accepting and loving everyone including ourselves, and we can move forward in our lives again (Mercury reaches 9 Libra again, and moves beyond it, as Venus conjuncts the Sun). I wish you a heart opening to true loving.
Re-grouping with what is now
. From the Full Moon on 9 October, understanding dawns about the changes we need to make, both innerly in our attitudes, and also outwardly in our life-style. We have a choice to make those changes and move forward in life, or grip onto our ‘rights’, our indignation, force others to conform, and be shrunken by life’s inexorable surge (Mercury trine Pluto). But alongside our mental confusion, our hearts are called to open to the love and beauty in every moment as the way to heal every individual, no matter what the circumstances we are called to accept. Whatever one may think or feel, it is our inner authority gives us the power to choose to fight or to comply with necessity. It is blind obedience to outer authority that denies our spiritual power, and we become egoic victims and shrink in our inner estimation.
. This struggle we feel between the status quo and the need to accept changes of life-style continues all month, although the apparent stability of the past is becoming more obviously fictional all the time. The month may start with energetic support of past structures, but there is a speedy shift towards new ways, and opening debate as to what we actually want in the future rather than what we are afraid to lose. None of us is in control of evolution, however powerful someone may appear. We do not know how we are to get ‘there’ from ‘here’. But we can let light, love and joy in each other move us along humanity’s path of change. We may not know when things will lighten in the world, but we can shine light in our own lives and our immediate relationships. It is the give and take, the essential harmony among people, all helping each other, that will make necessary changes palatable (Sun/Venus opposite Moon/Chiron reconciled by Saturn in Aquarius – struggling with Uranus in Taurus on the North Node).
. The best of Libra and Virgo working together is that they are both principles of service to well-being for all. Our thoughts and words this month can be about how to put helpful ideas into practise, not shying away fro transforming if necessary, ready to throw out what doesn’t work, preparing the space for whatever life has in store for us. Humanity has a huge shift to live, so thank goodness we are given time for the manifestation to unroll!
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Contemplation for this New Moon in Libra
Do not shrink from the inner work.
Trawl through the deep lake of your hurts,
listen to the voices of your inner suffering
and love them all.
What are they saying, how do they feel?
They have done no wrong, they have tried
with all the understanding of that time,
not as much as you have now.
They all deserve to live
or they would not have been born,
those within
and those out in the world.
Let being itself be your heart’s home
pure, clear, fresh each moment
full of joy
and love for everyone.
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