Dear friends,
Eclipse season is about to arrive and the successes keep coming. This week’s New Moon in Libra is also an annular solar eclipse, indicating emotional awakenings and awareness, especially around partnerships, collaborations, marriages, and other face-to-face relationships. The Sun and Moon will meet at 10 degrees 3 minutes of Libra on Wednesday, October 2, 2024 at 2:49 pm ET, beginning new 30-day, two-and-a-half-year cycles in the Libra house of your birth chart.
One of the most interesting (and charming) features of the New Moon eclipse chart is a large, ancient Mystical Rectangle in Earth and Water, stretching across the heavens, with Saturn in Pisces, Mars in Cancer, Vesta in Virgo, and Ceres in Capricorn out of bounds in its corners. The Mystical Rectangles show us the talents that we must use in this life. When they occur in Fire and Air, they suggest a time to visualize and set goals. When they are in the Earth and Water, like this one, they direct us to practical and immediate action.
Two of the four corners of the Rectangle (Mars and Saturn) are traditionally considered “malefic” planets, as they govern the striving, cold or “dark” aspects of our experience: work, conflict, limits, action, discipline, control. But don’t twist it. Carl Jung was right: we actually NEED our dark side, which can offer us protection and true fulfillment.
By accepting ourselves unconditionally, by integrating the shadow more and more consciously into our sense of identity (as the energy of this week’s Eclipse invites us to do!), we become stronger, more effective and more respectful of ourselves, and less likely to blame or condemn other people. Jung wrote: “The best political, social, and spiritual work we can do is to remove the projection of our own shadow onto others.” This is a difficult time on planet Earth, but each of us can do our part to make it better.
Ceres, the asteroid of the Mother Earth Goddess, occupies the fourth corner of the Mystical Rectangle. He’s been off-limits in Capricorn for some time now, and his interaction with malefics actually accelerates his creative power. Put down those roots now, so when harvest time comes there will be plenty of produce in your garden to feed yourself, your loved ones, and your community.
Saturn and Mars are also speaking to the Goddess of Love in the New Moon Eclipse chart, forming a Grand Trine in Water. As ruler of the Sun and Moon in Libra (as well as Mercury, Juno and the South Node in Libra and Uranus in Taurus), Venus is a particularly powerful ally right now. And, being in Scorpio, she is also fierce and committed to the shadow. Venus in Scorpio seeks peace and emotional clarity by unlocking secrets: turning over stones or looking at microscopes, noticing the life flowing around her and through her.
Was there some kind of big revelation in YOUR life about two weeks ago, on the Pisces Full Moon? Now is the time to examine and integrate that experience. When in doubt, call Venus! She wants you to feel the sense of trust and security that is really at the center of your specific desires.
Generally, astrologers tell people not to make big life decisions during eclipses, because there is a built-in element of unpredictability. Whatever situation you are dealing with right now, you know that there are many, MANY elements outside of your control, and to that we must surrender.
Furthermore, this closes the story of the March and April eclipses. The story that began then wants to end now!
However, what we can always do is apply awareness, and eclipses help with that too, because they bring things to light! Observe what you notice, see what you see, and embrace the fullness of your human nature.
And finally, if you want to know more about this week’s eclipse and how it lands in your natal chart, I invite you to consult my Libra New Moon Manifestation Circle Webinar (recorded Tuesday, October 1 at 7:00 pm ET).
Big hugs,
Ann
