The New Moon in Libra arrives at a time when many places across the globe face extreme weather events, or ongoing violence and war, economic insecurities, or outright poverty.
Early October is, in the Northern hemisphere, often a time of abundance and celebration. Harvests are in, foods have been preserved, larders are well stocked.
Yet today’s world does seem to fit the older calendars. It’s not that past times in history were all wonderful. I’m not wearing rose-colored glasses about the past. It does seem, though, that today, crises and disasters have become global. It’s impossible not to see the connections.
The chart for this New Moon reflects both of these realities. The Sun and Moon, together in mid Libra, long for stability and harmony. Our lights of night and day are ready to work toward positive goals, yet also feel overwhelmed and discouraged at times. The world is asking too much.
Then we see another pattern we’ve seen before, in which Mars opposes Pluto and both sides of the opposition are squared by Venus and Mercury. This is a more contentious pattern. With all planets in fixed signs, there’s a feeling of entrenched positions and little to no chance of finding amicable solutions.
It’s as if we, feeling vulnerable, long for a cozy place of safety and security even as we look at the news, social media, or the world around us and see threats on all sides. What are we meant to do with all this?
First, we remember a New Moon is a new chapter. As this New Moon begins, the Moon is completely dark in the sky. No light. We have seeds to plant. We push them into the soil, where they too are in the dark, and wait to see what emerges.
We have goals, desires, preferences, and hopefully, some plans, but we don’t know exactly what to do, because we can’t see. Our best move during the days of the New Moon may be to find that secluded, secure place, even if it is only inside ourselves. We may need to recenter, rebalance, and rest.
Let’s unpack this chart a bit more.
The Sun and Moon are at 17º21’ Libra. This is the second decan, which Austin Coppock names Two Links in a Chain. The title speaks to Libra being a sign of balance. We could be at a conference table, deciding a plan of action with a team. We could be building relationships with allies, or even attempting to shift into new, better relationships with opponents.
The theme of this second decan is our desire for a good life while facing the challenges of what happens on the ground. Sometimes we need to break alliances to recreate them in better form, or leave old alliances behind to seek new ones that better fit our goals.
But we’re always dealing with others. This middle of Libra is not a place where we’re off on our own choosing a solo path. We’ve got to sort things out with other people. This is seldom easy. It gets more difficult as the stakes get higher.
The Sun and Moon are separating from an opposition to Saturn in mid Aries. Before we look at the Aries part, let’s remember Saturn is exalted in Libra. So, the Sun and Moon being in Libra are not horrified to be interacting with Saturn. To create what Libra loves to create: alliances, art, a good life, we need structure. Saturn is structure.
Saturn is not at his best in Aries, though. Saturn doesn’t like feeling pushed to act before all plans and preparations are in place. Aries tends to be pushy. So, Saturn here can get frustrated by feeling pressured to act before he’s ready.
The opposition of the Sun and Moon to Saturn carries a reminder. Don’t rush. Don’t push. Use the strong insight and skillful communication that are Libran strengths to make a plan first.
The Sun and Moon move into a sextile with Jupiter at the end of Leo. This Jupiter is a wonderful boost. When we’re feeling like life just isn’t working for us, contact with Jupiter in Leo is like meeting a confident, secure mentor who loves us and wants the best for us. The drawback to this Jupiter is the possibility of feeling overconfident, yet, in today’s world, I think reality might check any tendency to thinking things are going to be easy.
The Sun and Moon have met with Saturn, and move into a meeting with Jupiter, without making major connections to anything else in the chart.
In another part of the chart, the T-square with Mars opposite Pluto, both squared by Venus and Mercury shows us what we’re facing in the world right now. Here in the US, I don’t even want to list what’s happening in politics and society, current criminal behavior, and challenges in the economy and the weather, that illustrate what Mars–Pluto can look like.
It is true this Mars–Pluto opposition is weakening. Mars is pulling away. That could signify we won’t see new issues (although I wouldn’t bet on it). But even without anything new, the events and issues Mars–Pluto has already detonated will take a long time to sort out.
Venus and Mercury, squaring both sides, point to what we actually know, or think we know, as these two planets work to gather intel and insights, and figure out what to do. But this too will be a long process.
Note that this T-square is all in fixed signs. Mars in Leo. Pluto in Aquarius. Mercury and Venus in Scorpio. These are not fast-moving signs.
Venus being retrograde is also highly relevant. We have already embarked on our descent journey. How each of us feels depends on how closely this retrograde in early Scorpio and late Libra affects our birth chart.
When Venus retrogrades in Scorpio, the fixed Water sign that never forgets, and seldom forgives, our journeys become deep. Whether we’re accessing person material or working with world happenings, we’re getting an up-close view of how dark the dark can get.
Venus’ desire nature is very strong in the first decan of Scorpio, where she is now. We benefit from taking time for introspection, personal work, creativity aimed at uncovering whatever’s hiding in our psyches. Lots of time.
Mercury in the second decan of Scorpio is a real help. This is a Mercury ready to sit with deep, uncomfortable issues, ideas, and feelings. This Mercury thinks slowly, while still wanting to understand.
The Sun and Moon do make one more strong aspect I haven’t mentioned yet. They square Ceres, the dwarf planet named for the grain goddess we also know as Demeter. Ceres, right now, sits in the second decan of Cancer, which Austin Coppock named the Walled Garden.
A walled garden, redolent with the scent of late roses, and herbs ready for gathering, is exactly the kind of place this Libra Sun and Moon would love to find and hide in. Yet even as we find respite in whatever walled garden we can make for ourselves, this decan of Cancer also knows that safety requires protection, and protection is not always or everywhere available.
So somehow, at this New Moon, we’re meant to acknowledge our longings for peace, contentment, security, and safety, while simultaneously keeping an eye on what’s happening in the world around us.
This is the balance needed at this New Moon in Libra: How can we honor our own needs, while not losing sight of our larger responsibilities and mission in the world?
How we do that will look different for each one of us. As we enter this New Moon, in the dark, planting seeds, we can choose to plant what we need to feel secure, and also what we need to feel strong.
It might turn out that some of those things, will be the same. As Madeleine L’Engle wrote, “To be alive is to be vulnerable.” As Audre Lorde wrote,“…that visibility which makes us most vulnerable is that which also is the source of our greatest strength.”
Title adapted from an image by Ana Markovych on Unsplash
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