Sun enters Libra; strong self, strong relationships
The Sun moves into Libra at 20.21 BST on September 22nd, marking the Autumn Equinox here in the northern hemisphere. The ingress into Libra is the halfway point of the zodiac cycle, which begins at northern hemisphere Spring Equinox when the Sun moves into Aries. With Libra, our attention and awareness move beyond the self development and growth of the first six signs and we begin to make connections with the people and energies around us - Libra is famously the sign of relationship. Ruled by Venus, the goddess of love, but of course, it’s not just about our romantic relationships. We are all in relationship with everything, all the time - with the people we love and the people we pass in the street, with the planets and animals around us, with the air we breathe and the earth we walk on. Libra season calls us to pay attention to all of these relationships, to be aware of the give and take between ourselves and the world around us. We might be especially aware of these dynamics around October the 8th and 9th when the Sun meets Mercury and Mercury meets Mars, all in Libra. Venus moves on into Sagittarius on October 7th, opening us up to new adventures and seeking freedom and lightness after the deep shifts of Scorpio.
With Mars still in Libra, in mutual reception with Venus in Scorpio (more on those connections in my last post), the Sun in Libra illuminates the importance of forming relationships as individuals, equal in our power and able to play to our strengths. Libra can be so concerned with the feelings of others that she changes herself to fit in, or vacillates without making a decision for fear of upsetting someone. But Libra is also idealistic, high principled and intolerant of injustice and with Mars in Libra as well as the Sun, we can pay attention to how our actions are upholding our principles. Collaboration and harmony are important and we might find that during this Libra season, getting out of our own way to act on behalf of others or in pursuit of an ideal is most effective. We might also be stepping out of our comfort zone, paying attention to any discomfort and what it can teach us.
Right now all of the outer planets from Jupiter onwards are retrograde and as we move through Libra season, some of them begin to turn direct - Pluto on October 6th, Saturn on October 11th and Jupiter on October 18th. We’ve also got a Mercury retrograde period during Libra season, with Mercury turning retrograde on September 27th and moving direct again from October 18th. So here is Mercury as psychopomp, travelling into the underworld and helping us to gather up the subtle new awareness brought by the retrograde phases of the slower planets. Mercury is the traveller between realms, able to move amongst the slower moving planets and help us find and understand their diverse truths.