Today is Thursday, Sept. 22, 2011. The Moon starts the day in the cardinal sign Cancer, transitioning to Leo at 9:54 pm EDT. This transition could feel energizing, like a dose of courage and desire chased down with your favorite energy drink. This is also the last day before the Sun moves into Libra at the equinox, and planets about to change signs often come with significant tension. It will pay to be awake, alert and composed.
The fall equinox (also known as the Libra equinox; it heralds spring in the Southern Hemisphere) is a kind of celestial crossroads, and one of the more important ones. In my article on the ‘Honey Moon’ of June (this link takes you to premium subscriber content), I talked about how intersections like this are a big deal in astrology. They form a kind of crossroads, which have the potential for a lot more action than other, quieter stretches of the celestial highways.
Humans being the creatures of habit they are, often this action translates into some kind of conflict, which jolts us out of our ‘automatic pilot’ mode of consciousness. So, the function of this conflict is to wake us up and to help us learn. However, as spiritual texts like the Tao frequently point out, this is not the only way to learn. The awakened Sage can learn as much from contemplation as from conflict. From this point of view, it could be useful to contemplate the nature of the autumnal equinox.
Astronomically speaking, the autumnal equinox is the point where the path of the Sun crosses the equator going south, toward the tropic of Capricorn. Here, as at the vernal or spring equinox, the Sun’s crossings of the horizon as it is rising and setting become aligned again with the east/west compass points. This means that the days and nights are of equal length. This is reflected in the very word equinox, which comes from the Latin aequus (equal) and nox (night), denoting a time of equal length night and day — a time of balance. This idea of balance is reflected in the symbol for the sign Libra, the seventh sign of the tropical zodiac. Tropical probably arrives from Greek tropos — meaning to spin or turn. So, the entire tropical zodiac is a fixed geo-centric (Earth-centered) coordinate system based on the seasonal solar ‘turning points’.
As we cross this turning point, which is about equality and balance, we might wonder what exactly it is that we are supposed to be balancing. From an astrological and alchemical view, the psyche is made up of four elements: fire, earth, air and water. As Dennis Hauck, the author of the popular book on alchemy The Emerald Tablet: Alchemy for Personal Transformation, puts it: “On all levels of reality — physical, mental and spiritual — everything is made up of a unique combination of the four Elements, and everything in the Universe is striving for a complete and balanced expression of these elements.”
Stan Grof, the famous psychiatrist and teacher of Richard Tarnas, calls the force behind this striving for balance “the inner healer.” Since we are passing a turning point which is all about balance, it is safe to say your inner healer is being activated. How aware you are of this presence may determine whether you are lost in contemplation or conflict. Or it could depend on which pair of elements you are in the process of balancing.
Bringing this back to the astrology of the current week, it is interesting to note the peculiar mixing of elements the Great Alchemist in the Sky is showing us. This has been a week of quincunxes, which are alignments between signs five spaces apart on the zodiac wheel. The first we talked about was Sun in Virgo quincunx Neptune in Aquarius, a mixture of earth and air. Next we talked about Mars in Leo quincunx Chiron in Pisces, a mixture of fire and water. Today we have a quincunx between Venus in Libra and Jupiter in Taurus, which means we have come full circle back to the mixture of air and earth.
As my colleague Eric Meyers has pointed out in his latest book, Elements and Evolution, the mixtures of fire/water and air/earth have commonalities as useful to explore as the much more familiar comparisons of ‘compatible’ elements (fire/air and water/earth). Meyers describes these groupings as “charged” (fire/water) vs. “neutral” (air/earth). Another way of saying this might be forceful vs. detached, or perhaps even conflict vs. contemplation. In order to complete and balance the four elements within at this solar turning point, we may need to resolve some conflict as well as contemplate it afterwards.
In terms of the air/earth pairing we have with Venus and Jupiter, the message is about expanding our ideas of what love, togetherness or relationship look like on a practical level. That is, even if something does not look like it’s about relationship — maybe it just seems a matter of practicality — see if you can check it out from a higher vantage point. With a little perspective, it may indeed have the markings of relationship. Consult with your inner healer; as you find some understanding and balance in your relationship with yourself this equinox, you may be able to extend that acceptance and equanimity outward. And that, to be sure, is love on a practical level.
By Gary Caton with Amanda Painter
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Shebear–yes: melatonin, magnesium and an herbal combination with Valerian in it such as Nature’s Way’s–can’t remember the name off hand–something like Silent Night. I use them all when needed and they work for me. Sleep. Never quite enough these days. But restorative when it comes, Yes. Sweet Dreams All.
+_+
Thanks A Word, I shall do that. I’m not watching my magnesium intake these days like I usually do. I’ve noticed it does help facilitate a better sleep. Melatonin was recommended by someone else recently so I would like to give that a go. Cheers!
Shebear, try Melatonin for sleeping. And be sure you’re getting enough Magnesium. xo
Aw Amanda, I feel your stress. Ugh. I hope you find relief very soon. My week has also been very challenging and I found I had to get back to the basics, good nutrition, some exercise and a good night’s sleep. And i don’t mind adding that when the pressure is packing in I will resort to taking a sleeping tablet to ensure that I get the right amount of sleep to recharge my batteries. A good night’s sleep is essential for me and can turn around my mood in a big way. I don’t beat myself up for taking a sleeping tablet either. Insomnia runs in my family and I’m not nice to live with if I don’t get restorative sleep while going through stressful times.
Big cyberhug for ya.
and isn’t it just so coincidental that Hobbits too are creatures of Habit?
Hobbit.
Habbit.
Rabbit….JR was, after all, a linguist. heh-heh.
Thanks, Gary -Amanda. Personal Goal: to tap into the/my depths. much obliged for your assistance.
i am just fucking sick of this tension. it’s been a shitty week & i am not seeing any clear answers about action i can take to resolve it that does not have guilt-ridden consequences or is not perhaps immature or misguided.
ugh.
sorry — had to vent a little.
Congratulations, Carrie!
And thank you to Gary and Amanda. Lately, I have been consciously working NOT to operate from my emotional default mode when it comes to relationships, including the one with myself. I’m learning more than I ever expected to and it’s a joy.
Congrats Carrie, I did something similar once upon a time near Yule (and my wife is born in December :-). It lends an xtra significance and stability to the partnership knowing that person came in answer to such a calling…
yes, as I explain on my website, http://www.dreamastrologer.com/professional-services/
all the 8 points on the Wheel of the Year are places where the kind of personal magic you performed are possible…and not only that, but the other “planets” (besides the Sun) have bifurcations, phase points or “crossroads” where the same kind of thing is possible (such as at New Moon or the conjunction of any planet with the Sun, for starters)
this is a big part of my practice, where i encourage people to do just what you have described here. Well Done!
well,
my library is practically overflowing,
contemplation indeed.
in Girl Scouts I learned that water puts out fire
and fire makes water boil.
\balance. balance./
yah.
I’m going out to get a vantage on the stars, is where I’m going. !at this hour!
Love to All Beings
peace.
Gary and Amanda: Thank you for the guidance we could all use right now.
Carrie: Happy Mabon-anniversary. Thank you for sharing your inspiring story.
Mabon is for me a very special time. Way back in 1986, I was single again, lonely, and fed up with accepting second best. So I took a small notebook out a day or so before Mabon and wrote detailed descriptions of what kind of person I wanted in my life as a mate. I wrote four pages (front to back, actually 8 pages) of clear descriptions such as “they have to like children and animals and old people.” Or “They must be someone who thinks out of the box and who has compassion.” The list was all about the personality, character, integrity, honesty, decency, openness, non-judgmental, pro-gay, not religious, gentle, willing-to-make-a-relationship-work kind of person I wanted. I didn’t list sexual faithfulness but I did list sexual and emotional honesty.
Mabon night, I got naked in my room, lit a small oil brazier and some incense, cast the circle and sealed it. I wrote each phrase from that notebook on small pieces of post-it notes and punched a hole in each after folding it up. Then to Constance Denby’s Sunborne, I braided a yellow and purple and green braid and threaded all those phrases on it as I spoke each phrase aloud. I tied it around my neck and then breathed deeply and made love to myself while visualizing the person I wanted. Then I carefully burned the necklace and sent the smoke out the window, saying “Come to me, mate of my life.” I saved the ashes. I opened the circle and grounded the energy, drank some wine and then went to bed. The next day I took the ashes to a nearby stream and cast them into the water saying “Come to me, mate of my life, lover of my soul, friend and partner, adventurer and co-creator, so that we may create a life together.”
A day later, David walked back into my life (I had briefly met him on the fourth of July). We began talking and we went out for coffee that evening and stayed up until 2 AM. He felt so safe to be with, so amazing. I divulged things I never told anyone else because I thought we would only be friends. He did the same. Yet as we spent more time together, the friendship grew into love and eventually I moved in with him. One day I took out that notebook and read those pages again. I was astonished to find that David fit EVERY PAGE. I felt a shiver of amazement come over me; I had not expected that ritual to work so fast or so well.
Some months later, he proposed and I accepted. Almost a year after Mabon, we were married in the woods near a small lake; outside under the blue sky. This past September 6th, we celebrated 24 years of marriage and this November we will celebrate 25 years of living together.
Mabon is a very sacred and special time for us both.