The revelations and insights gained while the Sun shines in Libra can help us break free from fear-based and lopsided relationships that create pain, not love. We can have a major breakthrough in our co-dependent perception of partnerships and instead view partnerships as soul friendships dedicated to setting each other free from disempowering programming and the chains of the past. We can commune in the space of divine love when we awaken to our shared connection at the heart.
The Sun moves into Libra September 22
at the fall equinox 1:21 AM PDT (8:21 GMT). The Sun moves into Scorpio Oct 23 10:47 AM PDT 17: 47 GMT.
Ruled by Venus, Libra is associated with love. However, our definition of ‘love’ is too often personalized, dependent upon another person, and thus defined with undertones of co-dependence, i.e. what someone else can do for us to make us happy. Love is ultimately an inside job, an inner state of being that results from the development of our personal relationship with the Divine and with the stable and flowing polarities of our soul. We experience love when we are at peace with ourselves, when we allow the Divine to flow through us, and when we enjoy how our individual dance plays out in physical reality.
The Aries/Libra Polarity Pair
Each Full Moon offers us an opportunity to observe how polarities play out in our lives. Every month we get a chance to refine how we can use a different set of complementary energies to work out issues that can’t be solved from the viewpoint of a single archetype. The lessons and gifts of the Aries/Libra polarities highlight the dance between individuality and relationships.
Aries reminds us “It is all about me.” Libra reminds us “We are always in relationship.”
Aries realizes that only when we trust and follow our soul do we stop projecting our negative emotions and issues onto others. Self-love is required to find the place in our heart where we can love another. Libra realizes that soul synergy at the frequency of divine love is the only place where we can transcend conflict and experience harmony, joy, and peace in relationships.
The Libra Scales help us unravel individuality/relationship dilemmas. The two sides of the scales point out the obvious fact that there are always 2 players in any relationship. Both have to be taken into consideration to reach a balance point. The center of the scale is the stable balance point. It does not move even when the 2 sides (points of view, opinions, stories, needs, desires) change. If we take our cue from the stable center, we realize that we each need to be in our own center for balance to occur. Harmony is just not going to happen if one or both sides are wavering, needy, immature, and off balance. We always feel alone and separate until we find connection and oneness in our stable center (our heart).
Aries speaks for the individual sides, which are always in the process of transformation and thus never absolutely stable. The pivotal requirement is that we must be able to handle change and take care of ourselves as we learn and grow. We must take responsibility for our own internal reality and not threaten others by imposing our will and to trying to get them to take care of us and meet our needs. In other words, we monitor our own personal balance and avoid interfering with others. We are cognizant that control-submissive, tyrant-victim, and needy-caretaking don’t create balance or love.
Relationships are our laboratory where we notice how we react, interact, and feel. In our heart, we can find balance. In our head and limited ego, balance is always tenuous or non-existent. While the Sun is in Libra we are urged to notice who is speaking and how we are interacting in our relationships. We can identify what is in relationship. Are two wounded children fighting to be right and to get what they want? Or are two emotional adults trying to be honest and also doing their best to compassionately listen to and respect each other?
Aries Full Moon Lunar Eclipse – September 27-28
7:50 PM PDT, 2:50 GMT
The lunar eclipse magnifies the power of the Aries Full Moon. Because the Sun and Moon are in opposite sides of the zodiac, they illuminate both their higher and lower expressions. Our soul awareness can increase and our unconscious shadow can also be exposed. Full Moons intensify our emotions and challenge our ability to act rationally.
The impact of this eclipse is further increased because it happens close to the fall equinox, when the Earth’s magnetic field is shifting. This is the fourth of four total lunar eclipses in a row (a rare occurrence.) The lunar eclipse begins at 1:06 AM GMT and reaches the total point at 2:47 AM GMT. At 4:27 the Moon will have moved out the of the Earth’s shadow.
Juno and Vesta Dance for Aries and Libra
The asteroids Juno and Vesta highlight the themes of this full moon eclipse. Juno joins the Sun at 4 degrees Libra. Vesta (5 degrees) joins the Moon (4 degrees) in Libra.
Juno is named for the Roman Goddess of Marriage and symbolizes the quest for authentic partnership. In mythology, wife Juno struggles for equality with her demanding egocentric husband Jupiter. The North Node at 1 degree Libra indicates that the quest for equality in relationships is on the front burner for healing in our personal relationships and in the collective consciousness.
Libra teaches us that harmony happens only when the masculine/stable and feminine/flowing energies synergize in their higher expressions. A detailed discussion of the functional and dysfunctional expression of the stable and flowing polarities is set out in my first book on this topic The Inner Art of Love.
Vesta is the Goddess of the sacred flame. Joining the Moon in Aries, we are reminded of the basic Aries theme — the basis of all relationships is our relationship with ourselves. Vesta represents the self-focus required to acquire self-determination and wholeness. Vesta defines our dedication to our personal path and the clarity of purpose necessary to commit to our own purification, which makes it possible to evolve from ego to soul consciousness. *(1) Vesta ultimately represents the awakening of the Kundalini, the sacred flame within that awakens us to our divine essence.
October 6 – the Sun in Libra squares Pluto in Capricorn both 13 degrees.
Adding depth and urgency to the on-going theme of healing and empowering relationships, Pluto reminds us that we are at choice, and if we want change in our lives we have to be willing and able to change at our core. Pluto goes deep to sort through the fantasy to find reality.
October 12-13 – Libra New Moon
5:05 PM PDT, 00:05 GMT at 19 degrees.
Every 29.5 days the Sun and the Moon rendezvous in the same sign of the zodiac. The Libra New Moon inaugurates a new cycle in relationships. The North Node, Mercury, and asteroid June are also in Libra. Together they spotlight both the issues we face and the opportunities available in our partnerships.
To upgrade our relationships, we have to be transparent, first with ourselves and then with others. If we pay attention, we can see that cosmic transparency is built into relationships. Others, our life challenges, and the world are mirrors that reflect back to us what we need to look at in ourselves. Abusive relationships reflect self-abuse, i.e. we do not value and stand up for ourselves. The looking glass of life helps us become more conscious of what we believe, what we project, what we are attracting, and thus how we are creating our lives.
At the Libra New Moon, Uranus at 18 degrees Aries opposes the Sun and Moon (exact October 11) causing us to wake up to the reality that we are in fact the creators of our relationships. Uranus wake up calls can precipitate radical changes in our lives.
Through the end of November, Uranus opposing Juno prods us to terminate unworkable relationships or transform them into empowering ones. Mercury and the North Node in Libra remind us to listen and speak from our hearts. Poor communication is the number one reason that couples break up. Hone your heart to heart communication skills to save and deepen your relationships.
Venus in Virgo squaring Saturn in Sagittarius asks us to assess the underlying beliefs and values that define our relationships and redefine them where necessary to attract, build, and maintain personal freedom and interpersonal empathy, compassion, creativity, and liberation. It is tricky to set ourselves free in relationships, but as we do so our hearts open, our souls shine, and we connect in the heart space where we can transcend separateness and experience oneness.
Paradigm Shift in Relationships
In sum, the planetary alignments this month support us in defining partnership as a journey between equals who commit to spiritual growth together. Experiences in our lives remind us that without a soul identity structure to guide us from within, we can fall prey to codependent entanglements and abuse. Be available for reality shifts and insights regarding innovative ‘partnership’ paths. Mutual empowerment is the goal of the paradigm shift in relationships that create with consciousness and generate higher love.
To more optimally participate in the dance between individuality and unity and separate and together, we are urged to appreciate, instead of judge, ourselves and each other. We are all doing the best we can. With the power of love, our hearts can heal.
References
Austin, Stephanie, Aries Lunar Eclipse
— September 27-8, The Mountain Astrologer, August/September 2015, p. 105.
Austin, Stephanie, Libra New Moon — October , The Mountain Astrologer, October/November 2015.
1. For a detailed discussion on Ego to Soul Consciousness see Introduction to Kundalini Yoga Vol 2 – Inner Awareness and Self-Initiation
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