Insights for the Month of Libra
September / October 2020
A Mercury retrograde month: Alignment is possible.
September 22
Sun enters Libra: 9:31 AM EDT:
Libra has a lot of work to do this year. As the month unfolds the Sun in this sign will aggravate and challenge Saturn, Jupiter Pluto and Mars. Libra is where we define the rules of engagement. Libra invented them! Here we consider things such as what is fair and just. It has a lot to do with politics in the wider social sense as well as the up-close and personal sense. How do we talk to each other? Fight with each other? Do we engage as adversaries or advocates? Are we competitive or cooperative? These are big questions for the month of Libra. I think we’ll get a good look at how civilized we actually are as we watch the veneer of our social structures continue to crack and break in so many places. Pay attention on the days that the Sun makes aspects. We are in the process of leaving old and broken systems but we haven’t quite stepped into the new ones just yet. Consider the possibility that listening is a container for empathy. Libra is the sign of active listening.
September 23
Mercury square Saturn
Don’t bother rehearsing the brilliant conversation you’re going to have with whoever is taking up time in your mind at the moment. Real life will not conform to your imaginings. The more present we are to our actual circumstance the more valuable the discussion about them can be.
September 24
Mercury opposite Mars
The plot thickens and the dialogue heats up. It’s still true that the imagined or anticipated conversation going on in your mind will not resolve the issues. Heated debate does not become violent if we remember and act as though the other person is as human as we are.
September 27
Mercury enters Scorpio
While Mercury is here we do well to allow our feeling to communicate with and through us. Feelings are always true but they are often not real in the sense that they arise more out of the past than the present. Where Scorpio is concerned it is always beneficial to scrutinize our feelings before acting on them.
September 28
Venus trine Mars
A passionate moment amidst a sea of contention. If we could change the world most of us surely would. Possibly, the least we can do is to choose our actions which may seem like a small thing but does effect change. A good day to guide our passions with a love, big as the sky, including all beings under that sky. No exceptions.
September 29
Saturn stationery direct
Sun opposite Chiron
Mars square Saturn (last time was first day of Republican national convention. Aug. 23 – pronouncements… )
If there are culminating moments that one can see from observing the heavens, this might surely be one of them. In a year when so many cracks in so many of our social systems are letting the light of awareness of how much trouble we’re actually in come through, we feel the enormous task that lies ahead. It may seem impossible and daunting. The myth of freedom, even for the young ones, cannot be disconnected from the damage done and the responsibility which humans have for dealing with it, here and now. Overwhelming and discouraging as this may be at the moment, it is just a moment, a particular turn in the road. Necessary to be sure. The mother, giving birth cannot walk away from the process in the midst of the worst pain. The frustrations and fears of the moment remind us to make the good choice, not just for me but for the good of all.
October 1
Full Moon: 09 degrees Aries: 05:05 PM EDT
The ‘art’ of social distancing has changed our social realty. How we spend time and who we spend it with is not what it was a year ago. Look around, test the threads of connection. Open the door to healthy debate and discussion. Diplomacy begins at home.
October 2
Venus enters Virgo
The Goddess of Fierce Compassion appears on our stage of life. How does she appear to you? She is called by many names. However you perceive her, do not turn your back on her. She is us. Those of us who allow her power to flow through can make change where only recently it seemed impossible.
October 4
Pluto stationery, direct
Today Pluto, literally, appears to make a stand. Another reckoning with the cracks and the sense that we are falling apart. Or is this what coming together looks like? Mars will aspect Pluto on the 9th. These aspects are more an indication that we are in a season of deep transformation and the chaos that accompanies it, rather than a day here or there. The world is fraught with protest. Some are willing to die and some to kill. Some are caught in the struggle by chance, others by design. Some try to calm, others to inflame. All of us are effected, affected, involved, touched. Don’t kid yourself. There is no vantage point from which to observe. Pluto renovates from the ground up and from the inside out.
October 7
Mercury opposite Uranus
What we think of as our deepest secrets often reveal our shared humanity with those we would prefer not to have things in common with. The greatest danger by far is not knowing this. Mercury in Scorpio dredges up thoughts from the deep past and Uranus is meant to test them against how things are, not how they were. Denial is not a great option.
October 9
Mars square Pluto
What’s festering around your life these days? What needs cleaning up, cleaning out? Be it your basement or the remnants of past trauma or karma, tackling it by the light of day can help shape it into something you can handle. At night and from the shadows things often become distorted. Such is the stuff of our dreams (and nightmares).
October 10
Venus trine Uranus
The fierce and focused desire for change is not without its disruptions – but worthy nevertheless. It can be revolutionary to tackle what matters.
October 11
Sun square Jupiter
The overwhelming desire to point, blame and punish is best corralled when tempered with reason. The impulse for confrontation is strong and pervasive this week. There is always a third alternative.
October 12
Jupiter sextile Neptune
Venus sextile Mercury
If you’re looking for the Pearl of Great Price or even the ruby, the gem in the rubble, so to say, today is just that. Think of this day as a priceless gem, adrift in a shamble of broken dreams and aggressive behaviors. What will you do with it?
October 13
Sun opposite Mars
Mercury stationery retrograde
Yesterday’s gem does not eliminate today’s challenges. If we don’t question the way things are, we live in a dream of how things were or how they could be. Look what you can in the eye then take the measure of how you feel about it. It’s the dialogue, even the debate between passion and reason that keeps us on our toes.
October 15
Sun square Pluto
Fear is the mind killer
The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
Depending on our circumstances we seem to fear different things but when fear is the lowest common denominator we are in a kind of danger that affects us all in similar ways. We are susceptible and vulnerable to projection and aggression, against others as well as ourselves.
October 16
New Moon: 23 degrees of Aries 03:31 PM EDT
Knowing what you know about fear and projection, what kind of intention will allow you to engage with others to bring a more just and equitable world into being? Should you donate or protest? Should you volunteer or run for office? Should you pray? Could you write letters or maybe just listen more fully to those you encounter in the course of your day?
October 18
Sun square Saturn
Venus opposite Neptune
Frustrations and disappointments are a dime a dozen as individuals cope with harsh circumstance as well as inadequate leadership. For some that means turning our backs and withholding our energies. For others it’s a call to action, a time to get involved. Today is a good day to consider options from all available perspectives. Sooner or later, clouds part and the sun shines through.
October 19
Mars square Jupiter
Venus trine Jupiter
Mercury retrograde opposite Uranus
The planets of desire (Mars and Venus) are at it (again). Their struggle falls on the notion of righteousness. Mars wants to destroy the entire mess (the last time it squared Jupiter was the explosion in Beirut (remember that?) ) Venus wants to preserve the good, the essentials, and strengthen what remains. Nothing adds up. There is much in the chaos of these days we don’t yet see or understand. To feel deeply into our reactions before we turn them into actions could be the most useful strategy. If you don’t mind me repeating myself. (October 7th)
October 21
Venus trine Pluto
Wherever you are, whatever your conditions, these next few days may be time to build and strengthen the structures that hold you up. And so we prepare for Scorpio, the month when we are reminded that all things pass.
Julie