New Moon in Libra

This is on the 1st October, 1:11 am GMT.

This is our first new moon with Jupiter in Libra - a sign he'll be moving through for the next year. And it just happens to be a new moon in Libra, conjunct Jupiter. So clearly, this is Jupiter in Libra's big inauguration party. The month ahead will bring the themes of this transit into focus.

Jupiter is about luck, expansion, opportunity. And Libra has to do with relationship, beauty, harmony; enacting and maintaining a balance between self and other. Also fairness and justice.

So with Jupiter in Libra, Libran themes are emphasised. Luck this year is on the side of manners, diplomacy, balance, fairness and peace-making. Working with others instead of shooting off on your own, being able to see all sides of a situation and to find compromise.

Libra is also about romance, and that's a big emphasis at this new moon: solid, lovely new beginnings in relationships. We are definitely not talking flings - this is a very deep and serious vibe. Big love!

I say this because the dispositor of the new moon is Libra's ruler, Venus... and Venus is currently in Scorpio, a sign of emotional extremes and psychological depth. So the new beginnings here are very intense and all-or-nothing - there is no room for wishy-washiness or frivolity. What cannot go the distance will fall away.

Venus also trines Neptune in Pisces and sextiles Pluto in Capricorn. This is dreamily romantic but also very solid and grounded and deep. It's a beautiful combination.

But there are hints of conflict implicit in the promise of this new moon. Pluto and Mars in Capricorn are squaring Jupiter and the sun and moon - and this is pretty fighty. A lot of potential for crappy power plays and hotheadedness here.

And keep in mind: we are dealing with cardinal signs, which are about initiating things. So it looks like a big conflict is at its inception here. I think it'll come to a head at the full moon on the 16th October, which looks violent and difficult.

So lovely as the new moon is, the month ahead is not going to be stress-free. Sometimes peace and harmony require conflict - and conflict appears to be what's coming. The danger at the full moon is of conflict escalating out-of-hand.

But I guess we'll burn that bridge when we get to it...

(see here)

It's fitting that Jupiter's inauguration party at this new moon in Libra should be so big and lovely, but also so full of the potential for violence. Jupiter's transit of Libra is going to be marked by the same themes, as he gets himself tangled up with the lingering Uranus-Pluto square later this year. There will be no more exact squares between Uranus (revolution) and Pluto (destruction), but these planets are still in aspect, and Jupiter's transit of Libra is going to magnify the potential for violence and destruction implicit in their interaction.

But with Jupiter in Libra, please remember peacemaking and diplomacy are favoured. There is really no such thing as going it alone - we all have to interact with others and try to respect divergent view-points. Civility is favoured, whether or not you agree with someone's ideology.

And the north node is still in Virgo, meaning the way forward is still about humility and quiet, patient, systematic work...and pragmatism. Grounding yourself in everyday reality instead of escapism, delusion and emotionally-driven fantasy.

Full Moon Eclipse in Pisces

This is tonight, Friday the 16th September at 8 pm GMT.

It's a penumbral (partial) lunar eclipse in the final sign of the zodiac: Pisces, which is concerned with the dissolution of form and of ego. Also sacrifice, faith, magic, art, drugs, delusion - whatever dissolves the boundaries between this world and the Otherworld, or between the self and the larger cosmos.

Full moons symbolise culminations or endings, and Pisces is the final sign of the zodiac. And eclipses are supercharged. So the symbolism here is definitely of an ending.

Potentially a painful one: a Pisces moon is sensitive, idealistic and emotionally porous, and for the eclipse she will be conjunct Chiron. Chiron signifies a wound that will not heal, but can become a source of knowledge. In Pisces, the wound can be to our faith in life; our sense of a transcendent, guiding purpose. Or to our ideals, illusions and romantic fantasies.

So basically we are looking at a very thin-skinned, vulnerable emotional tone. This is aggravated by a square to Mars in Sagittarius, which can be a bombastic, aggressive, impulsive influence – like someone who insists on pushing their agenda without any sense of tact or emotional subtlety.

Extreme emotional sensitivity vs. tactless aggression - someone is likely to get hurt here.

--But there is also the potential to transcend your sense of injury by focusing on the larger picture, having faith in the grand design, serving others. Some kind of sacrifice might be called for - of ego, maybe.

The moon opposes the sun and retrograde Mercury in matter-of-fact Virgo, and Mars squares them. The Virgo stuff, especially with Mercury retrograde, is about caution, humility, getting your facts straight, thinking and rethinking before you open your mouth. A focus on the small, mundane, practical details; also a need to serve others.

With the north node in Virgo (and tied into this eclipse) - this is the way through. I've been harping on about this for months, but it bears repeating: do not let a mood of hopelessness or despair get the better of you. Keep attending to the small, practical stuff. One foot in front of the other, one mundane task after another – keep your mind on the little daily tasks at hand and don't look too far ahead, because the road ahead is unclear at present.

We had the final pass of the Saturn-Neptune square on the 10th September, and it's still very tight – so basically the future is all up in the air. Worrying about it and allowing yourself to get depressed is counterproductive. So is indulging the longing to escape your present circumstances – and that includes drowning your sorrows or succumbing to your addictions. You have to keep dealing with what's in front of you in a systematic, practical, organized manner, because there is really no other way out. “The best way out is always through” - per Frost.

The poem that quote is taken from illustrates the mood of this full moon pretty well...it's about a woman going crazy (moon in Pisces) under the weight of her domestic duties (Virgo), and telling a traveler (Mars in Sagittarius) her story.

The poem is ambivalent as to her fate – but this sky is not so ambivalent. Virgo is definitely the way through, so keep doing what has to be done. Despite broken illusions, hopelessness, dreams of escape, despairing moods and the sense of the ultimate futility of existence – just keep doing your Virgo.

It is likely that the issues we are dealing with under this full moon have to do with relationships. Jupiter (as of the 9th September) is in Libra, sign of marriage and close partnership. And Venus in Libra has been tangled up with Pluto and Uranus – gods of transformation and shock - this past week, sparking off big, abrupt shifts in relationships. Venus squared Pluto on the 11th September and she opposes Uranus, planet of revolution and disruption, for this eclipse...the exact opposition is on the 18th September.

With Venus opposite Uranus, the relational shifts we're looking at may be abrupt endings – but this can also be about radically transforming the way you relate, giving people the space they need to be themselves, detaching from drama and shitty old power dynamics, examining and transforming your patterns and your unconscious control issues re. relationships...

So it doesn't have to be about endings! But if you are facing the end of something, please keep in mind that every ending is also a new beginning. Mars is beneficially aspecting Uranus, and this is about freedom, personal authenticity and new vistas opening up. As Jupiter (travel, luck, expansion) is now in Libra, these new vistas are likely to be about relationships.

(Urgh, sorry. SO cheesy. But it fits.)

I think things will be easing up and feeling more dynamic in the weeks ahead. We will be past the intensity of eclipse season. Then our nerve-frazzling Mercury retrograde ends on the 22nd September, a few hours before the autumn equinox.

At the equinox, the sun moves into Libra – and this year the sun will be conjunct Jupiter in Libra. This is a big, happy, creative influence, especially re. relationships. Maybe a little over the top, but exuberant and hopeful!

The next day, Venus changes signs – from Libra to all-or-nothing Scorpio. Venus in Scorpio has her issues (drama, power games, obsession, jealousy, betrayal), but in this case she's well-aspected. So I would read this as being about great intensity and depth in relationships: true love. To the death.

Then Pluto resumes direct motion on the 25th September, in beneficial aspect to Mercury and the north node in Virgo – practical restructuring is underway! Earth-shifting life changes become workable.

We have a new moon in Libra the 1st October – the sun, moon, Jupiter will be conjunct in the sign of relationship, marriage, harmony, balance and justice. This opens a new chapter where Libra matters are concerned – or a whole new book altogether. I think it looks like a really solid new start.

It's all pretty exciting. So if you feel low at this full moon, don't fret, and try not to act out. Have faith. It's just a mood; better days are ahead.