It’s a New Moon in Libra tomorrow morning at about 7:09 am EDT. Every New Moon is a conjunction of the luminaries, Moon and Sun. A conjunction is two or more objects in the same degree of the same sign. Every New Moon is also the start of a lunation, the period from one luminary conjunction to the next. The beginning of a lunation is for Moon what a new season is for Sun, forming the template of a paradigm that will be developed and carried through until the cycle is completed and another commences. It would not be surprising if new patterns were rapidly emerging in your own life about now. It would be entirely consistent with the sky if those themes were aptly described or readily explained as paradoxical.
A paradox is a contradiction that conceals, or reveals, a truth. We have that going on symbolically in Libra right now. Tomorrow’s New Moon will emphasize, amplify and be a part of it. Most obviously, the apparent contradiction is with the concept of balance.
In last Friday’s edition of Daily Astrology, Eric Francis characterized an important dimension of Libra as “the expression of beauty through balance.” That phrase succinctly captures the essence of the one and only cardinal air sign. Most fundamentally, Libra’s glyph is uniquely an inanimate object, a set of balance beam scales. Those scales are an ancient and practical tool with an aesthetic appeal, representing an ideal of indifference. The sheer number of visible objects in Libra right now would seem to belie that ideal.
In addition to the luminaries, the planets commonly accepted as visible to the unaided eye are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. These seven wandering lights are the traditional sign rulers and have been a part of human consciousness for uncounted thousands of years. They are the core of astrology. As of tomorrow, five of them will be concentrated into one twelfth of the zodiac, a thin slice of sky we call Libra. That is an intrinsically unbalanced arrangement called a stellium.
The broad definition of a stellium is three or more planets in one sign. An infrequent event, it is a wide and multiple conjunction that catches your eye like bold print. It is as though the constituents and their common placement are being emphasized. In any of the other eleven signs, a stellium’s energetic focus on a single point of reference would be straightforward in its aggregate, even if it were complex in its detail. To have such a pronounced imbalance located in a sign characterized by the opposite theme, however, is a symbolic contradiction — and it has precipitated rapidly.
It started when the Sun entered Libra on the equinox four days ago, joining Venus and Saturn. It ramped up when Mercury followed over the weekend. Tomorrow, the Moon makes five and by golly, that happened fast. Look around you and pick out what has radically changed in expression, identity or energy since last Thursday and you will have discerned the flow. Figure our what has opened up for you to act on and change yourself since late last week and you will see the potential.
Astrology begins with awareness. The collective emphasis of the recent equinox, tomorrow’s New Moon and the Libra stellium is that this is no time to resist or ignore change. To do so would place you in a position to see only disturbing contradiction and be confounded by it. The path to awareness is through discretion.
To employ the discretion our moment calls for is to avoid getting hung up on the contradictions and to focus instead on the truth in the paradox. Let the Libra stellium be your guide. Sort out the events that distinguish the present. Last week was probably intense and important for you. However, it is precisely what last week was not that should get your attention now. If you can consciously employ that simple filter, you will be well equipped to act appropriately.
Astrology takes form through action. Your action individually and ours collectively will write the story. When astrologers look back at our time to observe and correlate, they will note the symbolism and compare it to the reality. They will see that the luminaries re-started their own individual cycles more or less together in the same sign while the majority of classical planets assembled with exquisite timing to be a visible part of their new paradigm. The corresponding events are about to take place, on the other side of doors that are just now opening. The history of this moment will be defined by those of us prepared to see and go through them.
Offered In Service
SheBear –
Those Celt genes are very close to the surface indeed! Guiness goes down far too smoothly, hearing the pipes can get me weepy, and not to mention, a full head of very un-Kraut-like curly hair. My grandma, neé Mary Jean Frances Kennedy, had the hair and I’m quite thankful for that. With a name like that, it wasn’t like we were Catholic or anything either. 😉
shebear: it seems we are running rather parallel life experiences right now, and my heart is SO with you, my sister, strengthening and encouraging…us both. Did you read Alexander’s recent post about Pluto in Capricaorn forging a *new archetype*? I really have been studying and relating to and using archetypes–in meditation and in my writing, and am planning to use them as a basis for a newsletter I am putting together-but after reading your post and Alexander’s today in the light of my recent direction and understanding–Is it possible that we/I/you/anyone else who wants to join– actually are moving on from our forbear-archetype(s) that we most relate to. into the full blossoming of the energy they reperesented into what is to become of it as IT/WE develop and mature!?–I think you might be (hope you can) follow my train of thought. Taht occurred to me within the past month in a meditation/journey If so, you, and any other PW blogger who would like to know me a little better and concentrate on yhis more individualized topic: my email is jonalean@gmail.com, and I am Lea Neider on facebk. Best to us all in love, light, beauty and peace….blossoming out and seeding the univers like…little, insignificant but prolific dandelions of love
:>)
+_+
Brendan, I’m from the other side of Belfast, driving south. It’s a small village about an hour’s drive into County Down.
County Antrim, where your family hails from is stunning and I might just head up there to check out the Giant’s Causeway if I can, when I’m home.
That’s an interesting heritage you have, Irish and Kraut. I’d bet the irish genes make their presence felt, despite being only 1/4 of the makeup! 😉
……………….
Alpsmile: Sometimes I come on this site and I am spooked when I read that someone else is writing about the very same notion I am wrestling with. When I saw the words INTERDEPENDENCE = FREEDOM I sat up! I was pondering the exact same thing this afternoon. It is because I am in need of getting more help re. moving out of my apt. along with my move home and I am resisting asking for more help but at the same time realizing that in *the asking* for more help, I am setting myself to function from a more free dimension. Somehow that feels like the paradoxical situation Len was describing in yesterday’s post (thank you so much LEN for your comment last night btw. I was very chuffed!) That stellium in Libra is perhaps challenging us to re-think the idea of community, that we can learn how to be there for each other when the other is in need without it being labelled being dependent or co-dependent. I’m prepping myself to do some asking tomorrow for more assistance while allowing the cosmos to hold my problem and to await whatever offer it thinks best for the situation as solution.
Then…………..reading onto Burning River and your endearing comment. You are going through so much BR and with an expansive grace and vision. Again the spooky continues ‘cos I could have written some of what you wrote, that: “Things are starting to move again–but in an outwardly motionless way, as I hold the inward Stillpoint for focus at this moment. Actively balancing, not indecisive. Yes.” Oh yes, yes, *yes* to that notion — “actively balancing, not indecisive.” I could not agree with you more.
All the very best to you Burning as you navigate your current difficult waters. Know you are not alone. I send a big hug to you. I am in awe of your fortitude and generosity, both to your family *and* to your friends here at PW 😉
Green-Star-Gazer — Thank you for:
“This image is all about focusing on the Point of Balance, in other words, that still point where things are concentrated, focused, razor’s edge and Diamond-Mind-like. This “pointy” aspect echoes the Swords/Air element, and all things point to the feet, the ground and the ability to balance it all if one remains focused. I like this vision of Libra/Justice because it hold the idea of being the one who is actively balancing all the variables, rather than being unable to decide/take action.”
Two attorneys are certainly thinking I am indecisive, but that is not it. I have much to weigh and balance as I unravel this 44 year old legal-financial contract/marriage. Justice, compassionate justice, for myself especially, but also for him, is what I am aiming for and will find–because it is the right thing to find.
Until then, I must focus on each next step to be slowly taken toward my very clear goal. I am very active in this balancing act, yet to some it looks like I am indecisive/doing nothing.
Thank you again for this picture that is helping me to see what is really going on within me.
Saturn has been retrograding back and forth over my natal Libra 20 moon this past several months–what did Eric call it yesterday–feeling like my feet were stuck in my footprints–boy do I know what he meant by that.
Things are starting to move again–but in an outwardly motionless way, as I hold the inward Stillpoint for focus at this moment. Actively balancing, not indecisive. Yes.
+_+
Bows to everyone . . . here’s a paradox distilled from a “personal” tarot reading yesterday . . . INTERDEPENDENCE = FREEDOM. More bows and prayers for deep understanding and embodiment of this one . . .
Shebear – an idle and thus totally curious thought here, but where in NI are you from? The Irish portion of my family hailed from Antrim, and came to the US via Greenock in the late 1800’s. The other three quarters are all Krauts. 🙂
Happy and uplifting travels to you by the way!
Lucky D – that was happening to me with Firefox version 7.0 (beta). From around Saturday until late yesterday when I manually refreshed the page it was unchanging as to the articles and comments both. Very strange. You weren’t alone!
Len – Wonderful writing and stargazing as always. My professional side is changing and becoming more challenging each week as new responsibilities appear at school. Lots to ponder, but also much to accomplish!
Thank you Len for this beautifully crafted and inspiring report. Along the lines you trace here I would like to add the image from the Thoth Tarot deck for Libra which can be found here > http://tarotcrowley.blogspot.com/2009/05/adjustment.html
This image is all about focusing on the Point of Balance, in other words, that still point where things are concentrated, focused, razor’s edge and Diamond-Mind-like. This “pointy” aspect echoes the Swords/Air element, and all things point to the feet, the ground and the ability to balance it all if one remains focused. I like this vision of Libra/Justice because it hold the idea of being the one who is actively balancing all the variables, rather than being unable to decide/take action.
The Stellium that is now activated feels like the point of the sword in this image, where everything is concentrated, held in proper accord by paying attention to the place of balance rather than getting caught up in the divergent issues.
It appears that we have another virtual “Stellium” of sorts (since we are now 3) within this group… along with Mystes and Starrynight3 I am also experiencing this Stellium/lightning rod along my 10th/4th axis and can report the following: A new roof was put on my house this past week and two contracts for new work also arrived in the past 3 days. Additionally I followed a lightning bolt flash of an intuition impulse and connected with a whole new market for my work that could be possibly be the missing key that I’ve been seeking for several years to help boost my career. I will say that when the intuition hit, it would have been really easy to ignore it, but knowing that this axis was so activated in my chart now, I chose to follow it up immediately and let’s just say “Doors opened”… and things just fell in place. Thank the Stars for showing us how to navigate these busy waters!
And thanks be to you for calling our attention to this very important moment in time.. a crowded ballroom in a glittering palace of Lights…with everyone discussing World Peace and the New Paradigm… this time, meaning business instead of just dreamy fantasies!
Not only did Palestine petition the UN for statehood at the Sun’s ingress, but the women of Saudi Arabia were given a huge (and some would say long-overdue) gift yesterday: a promising leap towards self-determination. Both of these events are HUGE. The world IS getting remade right before our eyes!!
mystes — it makes sense, and i think i managed to be both sides of the equation last week. haven’t quite sorted it all out, but there were clues to follow. by the time i got to the weekend, i just wanted to let the astrology dissipate and relax by my favorite pond. but there are still conversations to be had, as much as with myself as with another.
The stellium is lighting up my 10th opposite the 4th Uranus transit. That’s where I have Saturn and Neptune natally so quite a moment! A big turning point here as we just closed with buyers on our Alaska home (the sale records with the new moon tomorrow a.m.) and after over a year in limbo are moving on, woot!
shebear: Thank you for further broadening the Libra stellium to include Haumea. That is indeed a key factor given its long presence in the sign and its proximity to Saturn. Seems as though your awareness and intent are something for the rest of us to aspire to.
Anatoly: Thank you once again for your wisdom and support (as well as the direct link to you).
Amanda: Thanks again, not only for what you do but how you do it.
Annie: thank you for your kind words, it give me joy to know my service is useful to you.
Amanda… your comment made me lal (laughalittle). Yes – there is another discussion to be had from the viewpoint of the intransigent mass – which is no less “mine” than the driving heat.
If you have been on the receiving end of this, my condolences. I’ve been there with a dear friend (who is still dear to me), and her fury physically blasted me, sending shock waves through my face and neck for several days. It *did* move things within me that had been sitting in rictus; things that had nothing at all to do with the specific reason for her anger (which, in the end, had little to do with me). It wasn’t pleasant, but it was from a trusted source, so it became a blessing.
If you are the source, that’s a different energy entirely, and my only advice is to make sure that you understand that the ‘target’ is always within. In my case that takes a couple of days and some energetic housecleaning. But if I want it to actually work in the way that only anger can (burn baby burn) then I have to internalize the ‘recipient’ and clean up the aftermath.
Does that make any sense?
Hey Anatoly, I have to refresh to get updates as well, though I am on Firefox. Haven’t tried it on Safari (“I’m a Mac”).
When I click on a new topic, it pulls up the last (cached) view I had of that topic, doesn’t refresh or update anything unless I hit the ‘refresh’ button. This is very new behavior on PW.
M
Hello luckydriver,
Anatoly here. I use Google Chrome on PC/Mac and now using it to respond on your comment. As I can see it is work perfect (for me and several other people i can catch at the moment). Guys lets stop to discuss tech. questions here, you are welcome to write me about yr tech. notes/concerns/request – anatoly at planetwaves.net – and together we resolve yr local issues.
Thank you!
Anatoly
Not to get all feisty or anything, but I think Anatoly is incorrect on this one. I have done all the things he suggested, and still no updates appear on Chrome. I even asked a friend to check the site on her machine with Chrome, and it’s the same thing. I’m not picky, I can use Explorer, but with Chrome I never had to refresh to get the updates. I have found in the past that some websites are just Google Chrome incompatible, but I don’t understand why that would happen all of a sudden here.
luckdriver: i use firefox & have always had to refresh the page to see new comments.
as for chrome, here is Anatoly’s reply:
“Cure: close/restart browser, clean cache, check for viruses etc”
good luck!
(weird — my last comment now has a tag that it is “awaiting moderation.” really?? after all these years? weird.)
Thank you Len – that bought me some peace (I am struggling at present to say the least!)
Not to run away with the thread but I use Mozilla Firefox and when I type in http://www.planetwaves.net I get the ‘Fall Schedule’, then have to click top l.h. on Daily to get to here. I have to refresh the page to get to the stuff I just *know* is here! 🙂
“Remember: volcanoes only *look* angry. Their job is to move intransigent masses.”
now *there’s* something to ponder after last week. this little taurus/cancer always finds it bizarrely challenging to flow with the lava, instead grabbing a hold of the crater’s edge to keep looking back in…
The symbolic contradiction of Libra, the sign about balance, being on the verge of housing a stellium *imbalance* is indeed food for thought, Len. I’m also getting goosebumps because I just found out a few days ago that the placement of the sun and moon for tomorrow’s new moon alignment is exactly conjunct my north node, with mercury conjunct my natal mars and venus and saturn conjunct and straddling my midheaven. That info. is kind of giving me dharmic goosebumps upon goosebumps! To top that all off, Haumea, the Hawaiian goddess of fertility and childbirth, is conjunct a significant degree in Libra that is very tied in with my upcoming journey to my homeland. Reading up a bit on what Haumea signifies, I have decided that I will adopt her spirit for this quest and make her my muse. According to the site “Midlands School of Astrology”, someone wrote that: Haumea, “as a female creational energy she does signify the re-emergence of the belief in the Creatress and as such, she may well also represent women’s issues and maybe even those of minority groups, such as homosexual men. Haumea has a real resistance to being owned by men or masculine energy, as we can see from the story of the discovery of the planet, when neither man could claim her.”
Haumea’s energy is resonating with me. I’m determined to speak up now about how women and minority groups in my upbringing in Northern Ireland were poorly treated and the effect that had on my place in my family and my culture. I want to reclaim my rightful place in a family that has tended to place me way off their radar so they don’t have to be distracted by what I have to say or challenged by what I think they should do. That intimidating dynamic no longer frightens me and I think it’s about time they said hello to the new more courageous but also, and this is important, more *loving* me. That’s why tomorrow’s new moon feels like a heavenly blessing. I intend standing in tomorrow’s early morning light in awesome wonderment and soak it in. BTW tomorrow’s sunrise here in Toronto, occurs one minute after the new moon conjunction.
I sense that you are right, Len, that doors are opening up to the other side and the invitation to walk through is beyond inviting. It will be good to turn and begin walking in that direction, to the love door! I can just see us all clambering to get through as it draws open.
……………………………………..
I have just checked the posting again and noticed the other comments added and they are all so *very* fine, thanks everyone, but with regards to Haumea, I really like what you had to say Mystes, because it seems to tie in with her “volcanic” spirit: “Remember: volcanoes only *look* angry. Their job is to move intransigent masses.”
I’m going to employ that piece of advice and incorporate it into my thinking and strategizing re. my trip home and I thank you very much!
A big thanks also to magnificent Len for hitting another one outta da park!
Thanks Amanda and Len –
I noticed one more thing even while I have been using Internet Explorer – the comments won’t update unless I go to click my “refresh” button up near the menu bar. That holds true for both the comments posted directly with an article as well as with the comment scroll on the right hand side of the website.
luckydriver — checking on that. someone else emailed eric today asking if he was ok, since she hadn’t seen the site update in 36 hours — which of course was not the case. but she hadn’t mentioned google Chrome. thank you for the extra info — i have passed it on to Anatoly.
mystes: Thank you for your kind words and for deepening my consciousness with your parallax view.
be: Thank you for broadening the stellium perspective by bringing Juno into play and incorporating a chance for peace with the equinox and the amazing MC for the chart of the UN speech.
luckydriver: i have sent an e-mail to Amanda in case she missed your comment. Thank you for the heads up.
I’m not sure where to post this, so I’ll post it here (sorry!). Normally, I use Google Chrome to surf the internet. The Planet Waves website appears to have stopped updating in Chrome as of yesterday morning sometime. It just occurred to me to try to open the site with Internet Explorer, and everything looks fine and updated here with that browser. I don’t know why that would occur, but I’m just mentioning it in case something has changed with the website.
And would you believe Juno the Queen of Partnering is in Libra too! Truly a message in this stellium, as well as a paradox, don’t you think? The fact that Sun-Moon-Mercury make a T-square with Uranus and Pluto further implies that we are all in it together and my instincts tell me. . no make that my HEART tells me that we are being prepared for a giant, quantum leap to a new level of consciousness and understanding.
I first got this feeling on Friday when the President of Palestine presented his case for being accepted into statehood by the UN, about 7 hours after the Equinox. The chart has many aspects that make me think it could be possible, but one in particular is all I will note here. The midheaven of the chart for that speech by Abbas on Sept. 23, 2011, is 17+ Virgo (nadir at 17+ Pisces) and a reader at Starlight News pointed out that 17+ Virgo was the degree where Pluto and Uranus were first conjunct in 1965. The Moon’s nodes this past Friday were 17+ Sagittarius (north) and 17+ Gemini (south) making the MH and nadir square and ‘in the bendings” of the nodes.
So I’m thinking, feeling, sensing and intuiting that if Israel and Palestine can make that leap then by golly, so can the rest of us. It is a Libra balancing ‘act’ ( Leo Mars sextile Sun-Moon) and, hold your breath. . . we are all making a giant leap to the next Evolution plateau. More info on that chart at http://starlightnews.com/wordpress/2011/09/starting-great-enterprises/#comment-52350 and beyond.
See you in the great beyond Len!
be
Hey Len, beautiful take on this stellium, not too much, not too little… in the parlance of the Goldilocks, “just right.”
“A paradox is a contradiction that conceals, or reveals, a truth.”
Reveal vs. conceal: Others might find it of use to look to the House in which their Libra abides *and* the opposing house to find out where the paradox may be operating. I have a 7th H. Sun, so everything operates paradoxically in my chart (woot). Libra is my natal 10th and my solar 4th House. So the stellium is being expressed in both my homezone and professional/reputation sectors. One side is intramuros/indoors, the other is the agora/public space. You may recall that I have recently blended the two rather (~ahem~) enthusiastically.
(My unflattering remarks last week about the X and sitch with my son weren’t a random outburst. I placed the event –very domestic, very abusive– squarely in the agora to claim it, deal with it, engage it — as opposed to simply sweeping it under the ‘one bad day’ rug. And I have to say, it is working — the subduction zones are pulling new territory into view. Remember: volcanoes only *look* angry. Their job is to move intransigent masses.)
As important as it is, there is more going on in my 10th/4th complement than that dilemma. And a new respect for the anchoring energy of Saturn (my dad was a Cap, so this is *huge* for me) is a major player. All in good time, as its ingress into Scorpio next year is my second Saturn return. We’d better be friends by then… or at least well-versed in the strengths and stupidities inherent in the transit. This feels like a TOC.