This Mighty Equinox: Libra 2011

Dear Friend and Reader:

I’ve spent the past week brewing in, and working with, the Libra equinox chart. The Sun ingresses the seventh sign at 5:05 am EDT, right during a Moon-Mars conjunction that you’ll actually be able to see if the sky is clear where you are. Venus is in Libra, about to make a conjunction to Saturn. Across the Aries-Libra axis there is a big drama unfolding involving the themes of commitment in relationships, personal autonomy, and why we can no longer ‘find ourselves’ in others. As the next few weeks unfold I will have more to say about that.

I’ve based tomorrow’s subscriber edition of Planet Waves on that equinox chart — an article called “In Search of Justice,” as well as the 12-sign weekly horoscope. This is about the fifth time I’ve really read that chart carefully, as I work through the many Planet Waves projects that you read or listen to (various reports, the annual edition, monthly horoscopes, weekly horoscopes and other projects). Like most great charts, it looks new every time I come back to it.

In case it’s not obvious from the energy that’s in the air, from the imminent sense of movement, there is a lot vibrating in the planets. Partly this is about the change of season and partly it’s about the specific energy of Libra, one of my favorite signs of them all. I don’t have any planets in Libra, but I love this energy. It’s got a few different dimensions. One is that it’s the expression of beauty through balance. I think it’s the most artful energy, in that way of combining aesthetics with mathematics. There are some fantastic Libra rock stars. I jokingly call Libra the human blow torch. It’s cool and well contained much of the time — then you turn it up and it can put out a focused flame that can cut through metal.

We are now squarely into a phase of history when the change of season activates the backbone of the solar system — the Uranus-Pluto square. So I do mean squarely. This aspect has been developing since 1965-66 (for real), which was the Uranus-Pluto conjunction. The stretch of time between then and now is the official duration of the ‘long, strange trip’ that Jerry Garcia used to sing about: an era when we went off the map, experienced an explosion of involvement, social consciousness, creativity and leaps forward in technology that we are still, in truth, cruising along on. Plenty has gone wrong, plenty has gone weird, but as The Eagles so cleverly put it, you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.

So here we are, on the eve of the first square after the conjunction. By eve, I mean the square is exact for the first time in June, which month is the epicenter of 2012. Uranus and Pluto are now early in their signs, Aries and Capricorn respectively. Those are cardinal signs and when the Sun changes seasons, it enters a cardinal sign, in effect lighting up the Uranus-Pluto square. What is normally a potent moment under any circumstances — the change of seasons — is amplified greatly by the presents (I meant presence) of these two animated, high-voltage planets.

I’ve described their basic process before (in the greatest detail in an article called How to Cross an Ocean, How to Light a Fire). I’ll go over it again. Uranus is the awakener, the revolutionary, the inventor — and it’s in the sign Aries, the self. Pluto is the evolover, the transformer, the destroyer, and it’s in the sign Capricorn, structure, the past, the ground of being. There are two processes happening: Self is awakening and self-inventing, and the Ground of Being is shifting and transforming. Society itself is changing, in ways far deeper than we might imagine. Gradually, the Awakening Self is catching up to those changes and in 2012 the two meet directly for the first time.

But before then we get moments of transparency; we get moments where the power of that aspect shines through — and we are in one of them right now. The Sun is about to touch off a series of planets: Uranus, then Chiron, then Pluto, then Jupiter, then Saturn. But mostly, right now, it’s about to light up the Uranus-Pluto square. This won’t last long, really. The Sun moves fast. The energy will peak between Friday (today) and the following Wednesday, and it will be strong for about another week — then it starts to fade, till the next time the season changes, in late December.

So get the sensation while it while it’s hot. Give yourself some freedom from the nonstop drone of paranoia and responsibility and dare to experiment, explore and try someone new. Maybe even try to be someone new. You may think that the people around you won’t stand for it — you might want to test that theory out.

Planet Waves will be back later in the morning with our ‘teaser’ edition, which we post to remind you that we’re actually a subscriber magazine disguised as a blog. You know that, right? Friday, however, you’ll be able to send for the edition free of charge. We’re doing this to share our awesome revolutionary missive, and to give you a taste of what you get if you sign up.

I’ll catch you then.

Lovingly,