After the partial lunar eclipse followed by the autumnal equinox, we close the eclipse season with an annular solar eclipse that will occur at the new moon in Libra, at 10°04′, on October 2 at 11:49 a.m. in California, 12:49 p.m. in Mexico City, or 8:49 p.m. in Central Europe. A solar eclipse is a powerful new moon, a set of potentialities that may be actualized in the short or medium terms, either a fortnight until the next full moon or six months until the next lunar eclipse.
Libra is the sign of relatedness just like Aries is the sign of individuality, but Libra is especially concerned with personal relatedness, everything around our interrelationships with others, from romantic to business relationships and even with non-anonymous or “known” enemies. In reality Libra optimistically seeks relationships because internally knows the value of relating. But Libra is new at relationships just as Aries was new at being an individual. In the case of Libra, the search for optimal relationships leads to a constant need to compare, as in evaluate or, better yet, value relationships. I have mentioned previously that such constant valuing is the reason for the symbol of the balance, which has nothing to do with law and justice, as claimed by many astrologers.
New Moon in Libra
October 2, 2024
18:49:08 hours GMT
As you can see in the chart, the new moon makes a close conjunction with Mercury (Libra 11°32′), ensuring that our emotions (Moon) and our Intellect will work in unison. Not only that, to be a solar eclipse, one of the nodes must be nearby, at less than 17°25′, and indeed the South Node is at Libra 6°16′, just 3°48′ away. The three planets strongly energize the South Node in Libra which symbolizes the past in our personal relationships. There is energy to digest (South Node) the lessons of past relationships and, more importantly, of past behaviors when being in a relationship. Once again, this is not confined to intimate or romantic relationships but includes those in which both parties act as individuals receiving value from the relationship.
If the stellium of Sun, Moon and Mercury is conjunct to the South Node, it must oppose the North Node of life opportunities to grow. We have talked several times about the North Node in Aries being related to what we called personal sovereignty. The opposition is not an action-oriented aspect but it will make us conscious of how we can extract wisdom from our past relationships to become more honest with ourselves and act accordingly. To make it more personal you need to see where the 10° of the Aries–Libra axis falls in your chart, the houses will provide fields of experience where the manner of relating is being questioned. Of course, if you have planets or angles in the 8°–14° range of Aries or Libra, you may have a stronger urge to act.
Square with Mars
Urge to act? So far, we have a three-planet stellium sitting pretty, perhaps digesting what we’ve learned from past relationships, assimilating the good and discarding the rest as refuse, becoming aware of opportunities to use the gained wisdom. But note the squares formed by the three planets with Mars at Cancer 15°47′, an aspect that calls for action. In the Cancer phase, Mars tends to activate the desire for security, becoming perhaps overprotective of anything that threatens it. The square with the new moon (and Mercury) may make us defensive, emotional, irritable, or it may empower us with new emotional and rational insights about the past in our relationships. Mars also forms another square with Chiron (Aries 21°45′) bringing healing energy to the mix and making sure we internalize our right to be who we honestly are. The healing energies are amplified by the same-degree sextile formed between Chiron and Jupiter at Gemini 21°16′.
Water Grand Trine
Besides exchanging constructive energy with the new-moon stellium and Chiron, Mars forms trines with Venus at Scorpio 11°47′ and Saturn at Pisces 14°14′, themselves also forming a trine for a Grand Trine in the water signs, shown as a green equilateral triangle in the chart. Grand Trines are configurations of great creative flow of energy between the three planets in signs that usually share the element, in this case Water, which is associated with feelings and emotions in traditional astrology. While the trine between Mars and Venus will be in orb for nearly two weeks, the Grand Trine won’t last long, nonetheless leaving an imprint in the new-moon “seed” of potentialities.
Taken personally, the Mars–Venus trine aligns our desires and our needs at the emotional level. Grand Trines need a spark for the energy to start flowing among the three planets. The square of Mars with the new-moon stellium provides such a spark, so we see how that square is key to use the energy of the new moon which, let’s not forget, is also a solar eclipse. As ruler of the eclipse, Venus in Scorpio will make sure we can look deeply into the relationships when assessing their value, piercing to its core values, whereas Mars in Cancer is able to look inward to assess our desires and act accordingly. So, the energies will be there for us to work on our value system and personal desires with respect to relationships. Saturn is retrograde in Pisces, allowing us to see how we have structured things, including our minds, whether the structures are still valid, or if it’s time to give up erecting walls. Keeping with the theme, and given its trine to Venus, we could get clarity on the structures of our relationships.
Neptune and Company
Venus, you may notice, forms a tight sesquiquadrate with Neptune at Pisces 28°12′ helping us gain consciousness about altruistic issues in our relationships since Neptune is the higher octave of Venus, focused on universal love and compassion. Of course, any aspect with Neptune means to include the Minor Grand Trine it forms with Uranus (Taurus 26°52′) and Pluto (Capricorn 29°40′), the latter already slowing down on its way to being stationary on October 12. Of course, the Minor Grand Trine and the Grand Trine are also connected by the Saturn–Pluto semi-square, which marks the Crescent phase in their relationship cycle that began on January 12, 2020, pretty much with the pandemic.
Sabian Symbols
The new-moon stellium in Libra forms quincunxes with Saturn, directly energizing the aforementioned introspection about structures, and sesquiquadrates with Uranus, bringing an intuitive element of novelty to the relationships analysis. Within the stellium, the Sabian symbol for the Sun–Moon conjunction at Libra 11° has the image: “A professor peering over his glasses at his students”, keynoted as: Problems attending the transmission of knowledge in a special cultural setup. Rudhyar points out that to be a professor one often reads many books, making reading-glasses a requirement to recall the acquired knowledge for teaching. The act of peering over those glasses symbolizes rising above his knowledge and see the students as the individuals they are. Its keyword is: Instruction.
Mercury is slightly ahead of Sun and Moon, at Libra 12°, having the image: “Miners are surfacing from a deep coal mine”, expanded as the need to carry on at ever deeper levels the quest for knowledge which keeps burning the fires of the collective minds of a society. The symbol points out the need to dedicate our minds to the purpose of extracting knowledge but also the perils of spiritual asphyxiation due to excessive reasoning. These symbols are the first two of a set (11°–15°) at the individual-mental level and refer to lives involving work for the sake of the collectivity, even risking the physical health of their eyes and lungs, respectively. Writes Rudhyar: “The professor digs in the intellectual past of mankind to find what may warm up the mental processes of his students; the coal miner brings to the surface the ancient remains of what once was living substance.” Its keyword is: Extraction.
Mercury ahead of Sun indicates a less impulsive, more deliberate type of interaction with the environment and with our mind. At first glance, the chart shows a powerful flow of energy from the stellium to Mars, which ignites the Grand Trine that Mars forms with Venus and Saturn, all flowing at the life-rhythm of the nodal axis while the Minor Grand Trine, Jupiter and Chiron provide a background chorus. The Sabian symbols give us clues to the nature of such powerful energy, they talk about individual effort for the good of the community, calling for altruism at every level.
A Word About Pluto
October 12, 2024
00:43:00 hours GMT
The enclosed chart shows the moment when Pluto is exactly stationary at Capricorn 29°39′. Three days later, on October 15, it will be considered as moving direct (10% of its average speed) from the same degree and minute. As a matter of fact, Pluto has been in the anaretic degree of Capricorn ever since it reentered the sign for the last time on September 3, having reentered slowly, almost deliberately. Thus it will have spent its entire final stay, until November 19, in that degree. Notice how Jupiter at Gemini 21°20′ will be stationary retrograde on October 12 and the sextile it forms with Chiron at Aries 21°20′ will be exact to the minute, all this greatly expanding its healing power.
You may recall the Sabian symbol for Capricorn 30°: “A secret meeting of men responsible for executive decisions in world affairs”, expanded as the power to assume responsibility for crucial choices arrived at after mature discussions with those who share this power. The time between September 3 and October 12, while Pluto is retrograde in this degree, is a time to reflect on the balance between executive power and social responsibility, gaining consciousness of what needs to be done before the final month of its short stay, when Pluto will move direct and be a time for action and no longer reflection. Don’t be surprised if there are big news about world events around the middle of October, especially in the USA. I will say more about this in the next article about the October 17 full moon.
Wrapping Up…
The Libra lunation will always revolve around our personal relationships but this one begins more single-minded than ever. Mercury is in a tight conjunction to the new moon so the mind is firmly committed for an objective analysis of our relationships. Venus, the new-moon ruler, is in Scorpio and forms a Grand Trine with Mars and Saturn, ensuring that our desires and current structures are taken into consideration. And let’s not forget that it will start with an annular solar eclipse next to the South Node in Libra, our relationships’ past.
After a lot of inner work in September, we will gear for action in October, particularly in the second half when Pluto moves direct just prior to the full moon in Aries. Also, the Tsuchinshan-ATLAS comet will become visible on October 12, just as Pluto makes a full stop in the skies. Comets are links to the outermost parts of our solar system where they commune with the stars so they become “messengers of the gods”. I find it ominous that a comet will arrive when Pluto will move directon Capricorn.
Looking ahead, Saturn will begin to move direct on November 19, the day Pluto reenters Aquarius. The external chaos will return for a while but with a clear new purpose. As always, drop in your own breath and calm your mind when the volume gets too loud.
Don’t forget to declare an intention before the eclipse.
Always Love. 🌹🙏💖
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