Lovers of The Lord of the Rings know that Sept. 22 is not just the birthday of the two protagonists of the many tales that make up the novel, but also the day that the story commences. This time of year for me always has the sensation of journeys begun and adventures embraced, blended with the feeling of being called to new places of introspection.
As in the time of Frodo and Bilbo, there is trouble in the world right now. While it’s possible to live behind a hedge, in a gated community or miles from the city, there’s a real calling to pay attention.
Not everyone who is called wakes up in moments such as this. Those who do face a distinct challenge, of balancing their awareness of the state of the world with the decision about what to do about it, and with the need to stay in contact with one’s inner being and immediate surroundings.
It’s a tall order. For most it seems easier, or more spiritually clear, to pull in and tune out; but the wake-up calls keep coming.
Equinox is a time of balance. I love the metaphor of equinox — that for a brief moment, night and day are of equal length all over the planet. Libra speaks of the balance between inner and outer awareness; of self-presence and presence for others; of devotion to your own creativity and growth and devotion to the people in your environment. Take a moment and feel that, if it’s real for you.
Even beginning immediately, we’re likely to see things, both personal and world events, heat up — even more than they already have. Currently there is a grand cross in the cardinal signs: Uranus in Aries, Jupiter in Cancer, Pluto in Capricorn and a new Pluto-like discovery called Typhon in Libra. The Sun is now moving through this pattern. Pretty soon the Sun begins making aspects to all those other planets on the cardinal cross, with the peak intensity being between Oct. 1 and 12.
The Sun is now opposite the individual/collective intersection called the Aries Point, on course to make a square to Pluto (that’s the Oct. 1 event) then a few days later, an opposition to Uranus. The astrology takes us on a deeply inward tack first, then boldly outward. At this stage, the deeper in you go, the better prepared you will be when you experience some kind of emergence, opportunity or manifestation.
As placid a sign as Libra is (or wants to be), the moment we are approaching is calling for boldness and a new mental approach to entirely new territory. The boldness may be the guts to confront life as you feel called, and the new mental approach seems to be about not getting drawn into the drama — but without sacrificing your consciousness.
Can you do it? Do you want to?
Hi P. Sophia,
Just heard from our organiser and I offer you his message to us after the equinox for your information. I loved how you gave us the sabian symbol for the astrology. This morning, I had a prang in my car! It was almost a non-event. No one hurt, no one got upset, it was just one of those things that happened, but it did make me think about how conscious I was at the time……felt good not to be drawn into the drama of it though 🙂
Have a beautiful day all Planet Wavers
Dear Fire-Keepers,
We had an Amazing Fire Grid of 553 locations lit up from 20th to 22nd Sept.Took me a while to add the remaining requests into the excel today. We had Mayan Elders doing ceremonies at Cahokia Mounds a Sacred Place in Chicago with Dan Creely. Domnique was in Bali doing the Fires at the Earths Energy Purification Node.Leilani doing her fires in Samoa in the Ring of Fires. Solara had an amazing group in Ibiza! We had many Agnihotra groups doing continuous Fires in India, to build the Fire Energy. Tapovan is one of the Sacred Fire places where the Sacred Fire has been kept alive continuously for 13yrs for Planetary Healing with the Intent of Shree Vasant Paranjape. Gratitude and Joy to have all this coming together at a very beautiful time.
Many Sacred Power points were covered. The results are to be seen and felt, We have collectively done our best. Now we should send our Prayers through this Fire-Grid! You may share your pictures of the ceremonies!
Thank you !!!
with Love,Light & Reiki,
Rakesh
—
“All things simple, are nearer to God”
I had such a great day of connection, momentum and spirit yesterday. two volunteers from Wastenaw county came down to my little rural hamlet to help in the last days of the petition drive. Last evening, I had a little mishap to my left hand which had to be wrapped like a mitten at our emergency room. So Jann, I now have the visual of the michigan “mitten” and your words ring so true. Our water is our source of life, we must protect it.
Diva Carla, yes my garden is my grounding place. i love the opportunity to be able to share space with the many layers of life everytime I set foot on the mulch pathways. It is my beloved food forest adventureland.I wish I could send a csa basket of fresh bio-dynamically grown produce to all of the people at Planet Waves and all of the commenters who share so much with insight and validation to this journey.
Sina: Thank you for sharing your experience, and for sending out the love in the sacred fire ceremony. How incredible to be able to participate in such celebration! I wish my equinox was this ‘calm’. : ) If you have any additional information I would love to hear about it for next year.
Sending peace and love back to you.
“Not everyone who is called wakes up in moments such as this. Those who do face a distinct challenge, of balancing their awareness of the state of the world with the decision about what to do about it, and with the need to stay in contact with one’s inner being and immediate surroundings.”
“The Sun is now opposite the individual/collective intersection called the Aries Point”. This intersection, and grand Cross in the cardinal signs, brings to mind the Sabian Symbol Degree will touch on our last quarter Moon on Friday, 27th. I want to comment because my MC is placed on this same Degree.
4-5 Degrees Cancer: At A Railroad Crossing, An Automobile is Wrecked By A Train
“The car is symbolic of being ‘in the driving seat’. The train represents the collective – the wider social forces that are at work. The train isn’t able to deviate from the track but the car can stop, turn around and manoeuvre in a different direction.”
And isn’t this just the point of this strong influence touching the bigger picture astrologically as we ride out the ongoing Pluto Uranus Square?
Going against the collective towards change. Yet not to quickly get out of the way, as to not get hit, but to stand up take a different route to be an example.
It is not easy for any of us who are awake in this moment or to be a leader at the front of this aspect? It takes courage to have the vision, the awareness in this life that we are here to create change. To be aware of this and listen to a call to maneuver, and especially in the light that the end of this new territory is still undefined. This takes us through a frontier that is building great faith and trust.
Yet the alternative to live in a world where the collective is currently heading -headlong down a path unable to diviate is quite literally being stuck on the tracks. This is a much less comfortable path to contemplate and continue follow in my view.
Eric thanks so much for your honest call to us for reflection and for leading us along on our path as you do.
I love equinox – it just feels like the calm between the exciting dramatic bits of life, the time to rebalance and regroup before launching into the next chapter. When Len wrote about everyone on the planet experiencing equal day and equal night, it really hit home how connected we are at this time – experiencing a changing of season together, everyone on the planet.
A chance email led me to spend time over the three days of equinox performing a sacred fire ceremony at home in Samoa, right on the Ring of Fire, in the South Pacific Ocean along with Japan, Indonesia, most of Canada/both Americas/Mexico’s west coast, activating a grid of over 350 of these sacred fires all around the planet, sending out peace and love to all. I can honestly say, I felt every heart that was connecting to the grid, all of us in service of the planet, all of us doing the work “deeply inward”, to send “boldly outward” into the world.
It was magic! And as with all fire, much transmutation and healing of the past, (last Pisces full moon). This beautiful piece just reflects the place of calm and balance I feel now, so ready to take on the next challenge that presents itself.
May you all find the gift of balance and peace equinox gives to each and every one of us, twice a year.
Om Shanti,
Sina
Thank you Eric for this piece…yes I am being “called to new places of introspection”
A spontaneous regression at my dentists about eighteen months ago left me reeling. My mother holding me, her new born baby, in her arms was so very unhappy that she contemplated killing us both. I absorbed this intention and carried the fear that I would not survive, and it remained locked deep in my unconscious for decades. Not surprising that more layers of this are emerging around my birthday tomorrow.
The sense of self presence definitely needs some more healing.
(us) Librans are well known for overdoing the presence for others, draining out our own energy in the process.
Intense times.
Sure, but as a natural introvert I need plenty of time to prepare and decompress in a peaceful green room if I’m gonna be bold.
I know the website is maintained but I don’t think it’s updated any more. I have not done a project with them since I was living on Vashon Island — that was about 12 years ago. Finding my stuff appear on the site on day was a thrill, and working with them opened a door for me and gave me a real audience. I’ve written many Planet Waves pieces have been taking a similar approach and voice. I remain friends with David Steinberg, who has moved on from being one of the best sexuality writers to a fantastic photographer.
Eye opening as usual! Eric, how long has it been
Since you were part of Sexuality.org,has it
Been at least 16 years? Are you still involved? Strange that I no sooner got a computer hooked into my house, when I came across that web site and found you. Some things are meant to be. The mummers dance on…
Patricia
Cousin Eric, Pisces brother, thank you for this offering, like a shiny red apple, perfectly ripe, crisp, and juicy.
This passage speaks to me:
The astrology takes us on a deeply inward tack first, then boldly outward. At this stage, the deeper in you go, the better prepared you will be when you experience some kind of emergence, opportunity or manifestation.
As a Pisces, with Neptune my only natal Libra planet, I am at home in the deeply inward. I have made a decision for the boldly outward, and am happy to know that the deeply inward is necessary. Also tickled that Newtons’ 3rd law is an apt metaphor for something as quantum as energy.
Karena, let me add my encouragement to you. I hope you are gathering a group and circle of support around you on the ground in Michigan. Aren’t gardens a blessings! Grounding is a key to balance.
I sought the PW oracle yesterday, and that’s what it brought me: stay grounded.
Thank you, Eric, for your succinct description of the autumnal time of year: “This time of year for me always has the sensation of journeys begun and adventures embraced, blended with the feeling of being called to new places of introspection.” As a child and teenager, this time of year felt more like “fall” to me – I didn’t like returning to parochial grade school, and my mother died in early October.
Then came college and graduate school, and I am always reminded of glorious autumn days in Michigan, with the less intense Sun making the red and yellow leaves on the trees glow. Cooler days and nights come, and after a frost, usually that last reward of an Indian Summer. It truly was a special time of journey and adventure – leaving home, going off to learn, to grow, to begin the quest to find one’s self, and be more aware of the rest of the planet. It was the time of the Uranus-Pluto conjunction in Virgo. I (and my planets) have progressed from seeing only darkness in the fall, to appreciating the autumn harvest of things learned, to call and reflect upon during the introspective time of winter.
But it is now, and time to heed the wake-up call, to truly find that “balance of inner and outer awareness; of self-presence and presence for others; of devotion to your own creativity and growth and devotion to the people in your environment.” Oh, yes, it is time to really feel that, to truly find that balance I have been so desperately seeking for several years as I grind past the teeth of transiting Uranus, Pluto, Jupiter and others that are meshing in squares and oppositions to my natal Uranus, Pluto, Neptune, Jupiter, Saturn, Venus et al. All these social and generational planets and points are gears to get the starship moving forward, and boldly go where no one has gone before –new territory, new thinking, new feeling (no more numbness).
Best words for the journey: “don’t get sucked into the drama” and “keep your consciousness”. Again, thank you.
Jann Kinz
Karena, Thank you for taking action against fracking, especially in Michigan, which is very much the center of the Great Lakes. I have never understood how we in Michigan allow rampant stupidity and greed to jeopardize the resources, especially water, of the Great Lakes. It would be great if more people would see the Michigan mitten as a hand extended and raised in the “stop” gesture. You have my gratitude for your boldness and spirit.
JannKinz
Yes. Thank you Eric. This reaches right into my experience as I spend my days circulating a petition to place a ban on fracking in Michigan. Lots of people want to swirl me into drama. It’s a daily exercise in acting with boldness while keeping balance. A few hours spent in the garden yesterday revived my spirit and opened up a space in me that can meet the challenges presented by the “drill baby drill” crowd and not be knocked off center.
Yes. Thank you for this Eric. Am feeling really challenged right now. as if both heart and mind are under huge pressure, beng tightly squeezed; this helps a lot.
As deeply moving, evocative, and breath-taking as the daily (and nightly) procession of lights across an open sky. Witnessed with awe, humbly read, and received with heartfelt thanks. In all the world, there is nobody like you, Eric.