New Moon in Libra: Delicate Balance

New Moon in Libra
October 4, 8:35 pm EDT
October 5, 1:30 am GMD

Libra, ruled by Venus, bringer of balance, of harmony, of cooperation and diplomacy, oh, we need you now!

We find ourselves in the midst of transformational energy so intense the word "crisis" does not seem too strong:

This New Moon opposes revolutionary Uranus in impetuous Aries, and squares Pluto the alchemist in intransigent Capricorn.

Also squared by edgy Lililth, and widely squared by Jupiter, both in inflexible, needy Cancer.

Meanwhile, Venus in dark Scorpio and Mars in passionate Leo continue their square-off.

Which means there is a lot of take-no-prisoners energy around, insisting we change everything, completely, yesterday, and then change again. Relationships, especially, can feel hard-edge and downright unworkable at the moment.

So what do we reset at this New Moon? What new beginning do we hope for, what wishes do we make?

Libra, we're sometimes told, is wishy-washy, a people-pleaser, codependent. Surely we're not being asked to simply give in, give up, and follow along, are we?

No, we're not.

This Libra New Moon brings a very different energy––a path of brinksmanship, the ability (f needed) to tell someone to go to hell so he looks forward to the trip. Right now, that's the level of diplomacy we need, and Libra has it.

Sometimes, of course, we're mired in difficult inner dialogues. It's within ourselves where negotiation is needed, and a new balance needs to be found.

That's OK. Setting the intention to find a place of harmony and beauty within is perfect for this New Moon.

For those challenging outer world conversations... this is the New Moon to wish for understanding, new perspectives, creative problem solving, diplomatic skill, and balanced outcomes. If we don't need it in our own lives, we can send the energy toward our governments, whose skills in empathy, as well as cooperation, seem sadly lacking these days.

We're poised at a difficult time. Mercury has entered Scorpio, heading into his last and most shadowy retrograde. Another exact Uranus–Pluto square arrives in early November (previewed at this New Moon). Change is inevitable, not optional.

    Turning and turning in the widening gyre
    The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
    Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
    –– Yeats, The Second Coming

This Libra New Moon offers hope, which is more than Yeats does in his evocative poem. At this New Moon, we set our sights on a new center, a place where all voices are heard and, more, listened to. We make wishes for insight, for creativity on a grand scale, and for heart.
    

Waning Moon in Cancer: Comfort and Contempt

The Old Rectory, Westport, Ireland

Yesterday's Last Quarter Moon rode high in sunny skies all day for me, as I explored Achill Island in County Mayo. I couldn't help be aware of the turning corner, as we move closer to the New Moon in Libra.

Plenty of intense transits in the sky these days, and lots going on. Friends are reporting challenges, dark nights, fog and mist. Meanwhile, I am held in a halycon time of extra warmth, an unusual weather pattern for Ireland, days of sun, warm breezes, and white clouds, even as the bracken turns to cinnamon.

So I've been thinking about this idea that challenging transits come along to shake things up and force us out of our comfort zone. The Moon in Cancer, where she is today and was for yesterday's Last Quarter, loves her comforts and detests change. East or west, home's best, for her.

And that word "comfort" means strength, solace. Why on earth would we deliberately court weakness? Why upset ourselves?

Why, indeed?

I think it has to do with the old adage, familiarity breeds contempt. Now, that's not always true. Yet we do tend to take things for granted when they are familiar, comfortable.

If I have never before driven a car on the left side of the road, a car with the steering wheel and controls on the right, never used a GPS, never driven on narrow roads bordered by stone walls and 12-foot hedges––well, I can't just drive on autopilot to get from point A to point B, can I?

I guarantee, I cannot. I must, must pay attention to what's going on around me. At first, that attention is shot through with intense anxiety. Eventually, I find I can do it––and yet the sense of the new and unusual is still there. The world doesn't look the same. My relationship to it changes.

The word "shake" comes from the Old English, and meant then what it means now: rapid movement, agitation. But it also has roots in another word that means flight, flee, and depart. When we depart from familiar routines, our perceptions are shaken up. We see things differently.

I still think there's something wrong with the idea of getting 'outside our comfort zone' (and the Cancerian Moon would agree). The current fascination with adrenaline, for example: Danger as enlightenment ... a snare and a delusion, in my view. Just another way the sellers of "high" keep us hooked to consumption.

Instead, I'd like to advocate for a broadening of attention, a way to widening our field of vision and softening our gaze. "Attend" harks back, ultimately, to the word tendere, which means stretch ... to pay attention is to stretch toward something, to lean into it.

Yes, we're in a crucible of transformation. Yes, it is sometimes exquistely uncomfortable, even painful. Yes, the only way out is through.

And, and ...

farmhouse door, Co Mayo, Ireland

The world is filled with beauty and tenderness. Ordinary things––birds in a hedge, hot tea in a mug, turning a key in a lock––can open us to deep perceptions as surely as bungee jumping.

We're in the last quarter of the lunar cycle, when we choose what to let go of, and how to let it go. When we become acutely aware,  on this day when the Cancerian Moon conjunct Jupiter and trines Venus in Scorpio, of how much we love our familiar lives and how that's exactly the point.

So, plan for the extraordinary and do it ... take the trip you dreamed of, write the book, have the conversation ... and also know that if your life right now has no openings for anything other than the usual and familiar, you have everything you need to transform into the most beautiful phoenix anyway.

Love the familiar, look at it from a different angle, and all we need is there.
    

Exploring Venus: From the Full Moon to the New

The Birth of Venus - Odilon Redon

Full Moon in Pisces
September 19, 2013
7:13 am EDT / 12:13 pm GMD

Disseminating Moon in Taurus
September 22, 2013 11:08 pm EDT
September 23, 2013 4:08 am GMD

Last Quarter Moon in Cancer
September 26, 2013 11:55 pm EDT
September 27, 2013 4:55 am GMD

Balsamic Moon in Leo
October 1, 2013
1:46 am EDT / 6:46 am GMD

New Moon in Libra
September 30, 2013 8:34 pm EDT
October 1, 2013 1:34 am GMT

We're in the waning half of the Moon's cycle––appropriate, since we've also turned the corner into Autumn. The Fall Equinox has arrived, the waning part of the year.

We've moving toward the New Moon in Libra, one of the two signs ruled by Venus, who is sending us signals all during these next weeks that this is her time. Between now and the New Moon, we'll be drawn again and again into Venusian territory, invited to explore what Venus means to us.

So, what does Venus mean?

She is far, far more than the sex-obsessed aphrodite-ish figure modern media offers. Venus rules relating. Her arena includes all of our one-on-one relationships: family, friends, and business associates as well as romantic and intimate ones. Even enemies are included, as long as the relationship is one-on-one.

Venus rules how we relate to color, form, texture, sound ... our esthetic sense, what we find pleasing and beautiful.

She rules how we relate to the world at large, in terms of our values ... what we feel is fair, just and balanced.

Venus is also one of the "good luck" planets and so, related to our finances, our prosperity.

Any or all of these areas of life could be up for review now, with "up for review" including possibilities like deep realizations, healing of old unworkable patterns, and up-ending what's currently happening to facilitate realizations and healing.

At the Full Moon, Venus had recently moved into deep, intense, Shadow-y Scorpio. She was conjunct Saturn and the North Node, a trio that asked pointed questions like: Are my current relationships serving my life path? Have I been walking my talk? Am I doing what I came here to do, what I am meant to do?

Chiron flowed energy with these three at the Full Moon, offering healing energy and possibly bringing old wounds to the surface as part of the review process.

Just before dawn today, the Disseminating Moon arrived. That Taurus Moon opposed Venus, bringing up emotional issues, and pushing us to consider the surface of things and what is below the surface.

Do not discount the surface ... Venus rules Taurus, and holds the manifest world––what we can see, hear, taste, smell and touch––in great esteem. We need both inner and outer, manifest and hidden, light and shadow. Venus still trines Chiron, healing and wounding also ongoing.

And, Venus moves into a square with Mars, in passionate and expressive Leo.

The Venus–Mars square will be exact at the Last Quarter Moon, when the Cancer Moon also squares the Libra Sun. Finding the balance between masculine and feminine, yang and yin, spirit and soul, mind and body––all these polarities will feel edgy at this Moon.

With Neptune trining the Last Quarter Moon, intuition will need to be balanced with delusion, spirituality with deception. Whatever else happens, dreaming will be strong. Look to dreams for clues about where your psyche wants you to focus.

The Balsamic Moon will join Mars in Leo, squaring Venus, and trining Eris the goddess of discord. Meanwhile, the Sun moves into opposition with Uranus in Aries.

When we reach the Balsamic Moon, we're asked to let go of whatever no longer serves us, as we enter the dark time before the New Moon. Balsamic Moons generally tend to be nostalgic, quiet, a bit melancholy ...

Well, not this one! This Leo Balsamic Moon will be lighting a bonfire. Not content to drop old stuff into the compost bin, this Moon wants the phoenix to go up in flames.

So when you feel pulled into Shadow these next weeks, when you're asked to dredge up stuff you'd rather not deal with, when things get down and dirty––go with it. These are the days of miracles and wonders, when deep work can get done quickly (not painlessly, quickly).

Look at your birth chart. Where is your Venus by sign and house? This will tell you something about how Venus expresses herself in you. How is your Venus affected by current transits? This will tell you where in your life this current Venus time will show up most clearly.

At the Venus-ruled New Moon, we'll have the chance for a deep rebirth. We're in the harvest time, so dig your hands in, see what needs to come up, sort out what to keep from what to pitch, and get the bonfires ready!