Libra Solar Eclipse – 14 October 2023

Rethink, re-group, prepare – the waterlily will bloom in Time.

.       On 14th October, the Moon eclipses the Sun completely, the eclipse shadow crossing most of the American continent. Considering that some eclipse shadows cross only the sea and a few islands, this one is pointing at a time of importance for America as a whole. In Libra, the New Moon is drawing attention to how we all relate to anyone and anything, how we respond to each other and our surroundings. So if you have any planet at 21 degrees of Libra, Capricorn, Aries or Cancer, that facet of your personality is likely to be challenged this month. We must wait to see what unfolds in fact.

Libra – how we relate one to another

.       The opposite sign to Libra is Aries. Aries is about being newly born in Earth, how to survive and find oneself and ones purpose. Libra is about who we meet in the process, and how we relate to something that is clearly not self, how to adapt to a person being different, even to having opinions we would hardly consider. And yet we are drawn to relate, and here they are. So it’s about finding a balance so that each of us has a hearing and neither is elevated above the other. There needs to be calmness and respect to find out who the other is, and also a measure of inner peace in order to not lose oneself in the process of trying to understand what the other presents.

.       Libra sets a steady platform where all can be said in fairness and calm; and from this place, the deeper issues in any volatile situation can be explored (Mars into Scorpio). Watching a good Libran chairperson at work is a master class in diplomatic firmness and kindness. There’s a desperate need for Libran diplomacy in the world; too often our governments, and we ourselves, respond to events by taking sides, escalating difference instead of finding common ground, judging behaviour without properly examining causes, which may be historical, or may be very present but unreported.

Libran shadow – under the surface

.       The eclipse shadow passing over inhabited land is perhaps drawing attention to the shadow side of human relational behaviour, where hidden motivations manipulate the more open visible expressions. Whereas diplomacy involves choosing carefully how to deliver truth to serve the good of all, hypocrisy can show exactly the same face but serving only personal profit. Distraction and blaming are often used deliberately to confuse and control others – in personal relating called ‘gaslighting’, where the weaker faction feels guilty, so the stronger more hidden faction controls behaviour and outcome. We each need to examine our own motives – A.H. Almaas pointed out that as long as we have an ego, we will need to inquire within to be sure of our real motivations.

Retreat, re-group, prepare

.       Another aspect of this time is reflected by Jupiter appearing to move backwards, as Earth overtakes him, from September till the end of December this year. So his expansive energy of growth tends to become sluggish, and activities that may have been well underway during July and August seem to have slowed down, or even become stuck. Maybe you were on the brink of letting something go, and it’s still with you! And it seems there’s no way the goal will ever be achieved! Not until the end of December will his expansive energy reignite that growthful feeling.

.       The point about this slowing is that we are being given a second chance to check if that was what we really meant, maybe the goal is not what we thought, perhaps we are not as prepared as we thought we were. This is a great opportunity to check if things are really what we imagined, and do the practical ground work that will stand us in good stead regardless of how the future unfolds.

.       Mirroring this slow-down, the triangle of guiding outer planets is not so involved this month as it has been, allowing humanity to reveal its most destructive areas, allowing us to see clearly how we have created our problems. By the New Moon, the truth has erupted (Mars square Pluto), while the Full Moon on 28 October suggests we pull back and sort ourselves out (Venus trine Uranus).

We are in the chrysalis for transformation

.       By the Full Moon, we will be grappling with whatever is beneath behaviours, behind our faces, within our beliefs (Moon/Jupiter in Taurus, facing Sun/Mercury/Mars in Scorpio). A finer sanity could be informing the research, while taking stock could bring us into relating to human need (Sun trine Saturn, Venus trine Uranus). Let us as humans, and humanity as a life-wave, choose to desire, and work for, each other’s well-being.

.       This whole month can be about giving up any surface pretence of harmony, so that deeper turbulence can be openly addressed. This is an essential step in finding a rooted balance, that enables harmony to arise through the layers to reveal true beauty. This is the process of the waterlily growth that relies on the mud at the bottom of the pond to produce the flower that shines with the sun – true relationship.

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Contemplation for this New Moon in Libra

Where are you at war with your self?
Why?
What do you gain from this?
What tethers you to your past?

And what do you really deeply want?
When did you last give to yourself?
And did you thank yourself at the time?
Give and receive is balance.
All is Love.

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