The New Moon in Libra Solar Annular Eclipse hits this morning at 11:49am PDT. This is quite a New Moon, taking place at 10-degrees of Libra. Black Moon Lilith and Mercury will Conjunct the Sun and the Moon, so we are clear with our intentions, but absolutely moving through a moment of shadow. There is a powerful Grand Water Trine brewing all this week that this New Moon will imprint on us for the whole lunar cycle involving Mars, Venus, and Saturn, so the Teacher is in the house. Big change is possible in this eclipse season, and while this is the final eclipse of the season, it is a New Moon, so we are staring a lunar cycle that is kicked off by an eclipse, making the entire next 28-1/2 days pretty intense. Let’s break it all down.
Libra is the sign of balance, harmony, love, relationships, and how we move about in the law of mirrored consciousness. As within, so without. In fact, it is interesting to me that Libra is the only sign in the zodiac that does not have an animal as its avatar. The scales of balance are a machine, much like the law of reflection that tells us the outside experience we are having is a direct reflection of the consciousness of the inner landscape. Other signs are more instinctive, reflecting drives and human qualities. With Libra, it’s almost mechanical, because this mirror consciousness is a law, a constant. This concept reminds me of my favorite prayer I ever heard; Seek first the kingdom within, and all else will be added unto you. Not some, but all. Life is an inside job, and Libra invented this.
We set intentions for new experiences in any New Moon, and of course an eclipse makes everything more intense, and things that occur during eclipse season are fated, and transformational. But this is a South Node eclipse, which means there is an emphasis on what we are moving away from, even if we are setting intentions for the future. One of the boons in this New Moon is that Mercury is Conjunct the Sun and the Moon, which puts our mind in perfect alignment with both our conscious intentions, and the desires of our unconscious mind. Mercury and the Sun just got together in the Superior Conjunction a few days ago, so we are in a great place our thinking and our awareness pointed in the same direction. If there is a theme to this eclipse, it asks the question, “what do I have to let go of in order to have a more beautiful experience of love and relationship in the future.”
No one is going to escape an important demand to look under the hood in this eclipse, as the Sun, Moon and Mercury are also exactly Conjunct Black Moon Lilith. BML is a shadow point, it reflects the material we attempt to repress, things that are steeped in shame, and the way we sometimes shrink back from our sexuality. Because this point is in Libra right now, we are in a process of examining the hidden shame and shadow challenges specifically in how we relate to others. We can set intentions for beautiful relationships, but we must be aware that we are both digging deep below the surface in a shadow work sort of way, and attempting to release old patterns of intimacy and connection that no longer serve.
In the background of this lunation is a Grand Water Trine being formed by Venus, Mars, and Saturn. Venus in Scorpio is in the sign of her detriment, and Mars is in his fall in Cancer. Both of these astro demarcations simply mean both planets are a bit debilitated: Venus because it’s too intense in Scorpio, and Mars is frustrated being contained by Cancer. Saturn in Pisces tells us that lessons these days come through unconscious processes, and this pattern in the New Moon means the entire lunar cycle will be impacted by deep emotions, frustrations around anger and action, and lessons around balancing masculine and feminine principles in our actions. Mars is also loosely Squaring this New Moon, so the propensity for holding anger in and then exploding is also possible as part of the mix. The feels – and remember anger is a feeling – are going to be epic, both in this New Moon, as well as the first half of the lunar cycle ahead.
All eclipse seasons usher in great transformation and fated changes. There is an ongoing Trine between the agent of slow change and fast change, Pluto and Uranus respectively. Pluto has recently dropped back into Capricorn for a few months helping us dismantle old structures, and Uranus in Taurus is ready to instantly change something that isn’t coming from love (Taurus is ruled by Venus). Both of these planets will change signs next year, as well as Neptune. All outer planets changing signs at the same time is humongous, and next year promises to be a truly wild ride. We are all being prepared for that now, but helping us clear our hearts of shadow, so we might bring more love to our lives, and to the collective.
There is a beautiful Sextile between Chiron and Jupiter that hits with this New Moon. Because of their various retrograde motions, they will keep this window open for the next two months. Jupiter brings our hopes and the possibility of abundance, and this positive and productive geometry helps us take advantage of all the healing we have been through the past months. Considering the presences of shadow courtesy of Black Moon Lilith, and Mars in a loose Square with this New Moon bringing some conflict and potential anger issues, this still is at the heart of it, the New Moon where we set intentions for our lives to reflect what our heart truly desires.
One of the most powerful ways to work with Libra energy, is to consider the world as your Beloved. When you live in this way, you express your own version of you as an expression of perfect love, and that all love is drawn to you. This New Moon asks us to accept the whole picture, what I like to refer to in my teaching as the top of the wheel, and the bottom of the wheel, both. At the top of the wheel is love, a perfect reflection of life lived with perfect companion ship, and an easy connection to peace, harmony, and balance. At the bottom of the wheel, we must also accept the shadow of whatever it is the keeps you from receiving the love you have to give. When you live with this kind of willingness to take the parts of you that repulse you out of the shadow and love them, then you’re cooking with gas.
