The Sun enters Libra Monday September 23rd at 12:50am PDT. This is the Fall Equinox in the Northern hemisphere and Spring in the Southern hemisphere. Whether you are welcoming in greater light or greater dark, on this day we will globally be in a state of balance between the two. Both Fall and Spring are vata season, the seasons of change, of officially being in a new season that is right between two extremes. And so that we don’t get taken away in the winds of change, groundedness is called for, as is finding the relationships and allies (being people, plants, philosophies) that support grounded change.
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In the Northern Hemisphere we are inviting in a deeper call to the shadow, to the parts of us unseen, and we can do this through our relationships with other people. Libra is Yang Cardinal Air, and is the outer expression of Venus, how we harmonize with others. We often think of Libra as the scales perfectly in balance, when in reality it is often more like a back and forth dance of navigating life and learning about what balance means in all the varied situations we find ourselves in. Like riding a bike, we stay balanced while in motion, or in other words, while making decisions every day. We don’t often get to just stop everything completely and weigh out all the pros and cons.
The number one thing I hear from people working with Libra challenges is that decision making can be impossible! This makes sense and is common for many, especially when you are truly endeavoring to honor and meet the needs of those you are in relationship with, as well as your own. What happens when the needs are in conflict? Or even more likely, what happens when we simply don’t communicate our needs? Even deeper of a question, what about when we are completely unaware of our needs and therefore have no real idea of how to communicate them to those we love?
The important thing to know about needs is that they have to be met. When we are talking about relating with others, much of the time it really is a conversation around our needs, wants, desires, and how to manifest them in some way. As we reflected internally on what it means to be authentic within ourselves throughout Virgo season, now in Libra season we get the opportunity to practice the balancing act of harmonizing our path and journey of authenticity in alignment with the needs of our relationships.
When it comes to making decisions, the most important thing is alignment within yourself, and then if others are involved, being able to communicate that to them. This is the practice of Libra season, and don’t be afraid, because we are all doing this together.
The specifics of this Equinox:
The Sun is opposite Chiron Rx in Aries, highlighting the need for integrating our internal and externally manifesting oppositions. Since retrograde planets always ask us to redefine the function of that planet by integrating more of the opposite sign, this definitely pulls in more of the Libra need to find harmony with others. This may require learning skills like active listening, which is simply listening to people and what they are saying and repeating it back to them to ensure you understand, and asking questions that allow the other person to feel heard and understood.
It is a valid need to be seen and understood by others, even though we so often feel misunderstood. We really only get to see a limited amount of what is going on in another person’s universe, so the more we can master asking questions the more we can show our interest in really getting to know others. This is also a practice that we can use with ourselves, especially in aspect work or parts work.
We can learn to ask different parts of ourselves different questions that demonstrate that we are honoring and listening to the needs of those parts of ourselves. This is really a core tenet of what could be called shadow work, or integration work. The more we understand our own shadow, or that which simply isn’t consciously known to us, or a fragment of ourselves that is buried deeply in our subconscious, the less we will project those misunderstood parts of ourselves onto others.
As we know, one of Libra’s keywords is projection. We know we are projecting onto someone when we either intensely love or hate something about them or what they’re doing. The parts that we love in others are the same parts that we love in ourselves, and the parts we vehemently oppose in others are often linked in some way to an aspect of ourselves that has been rejected. The key to healing is integration, and the key to integration is learning how to communicate with ourselves and others, which is a prime Libra season goal.
We also have Venus and Mercury conjunct in Libra on the day of the Equinox, alluding to the importance of having conversations about our needs and point of attraction. We can attract to us people that we can connect with that are mutually supportive to us understanding ourselves better. We can find many reciprocated feelings and mirrored expressions of what we are putting out in the world. We can get to know ourselves better by witnessing our reflections.
A great practice we can do to connect more intimately with Libra is to meditate with the energy of our needs. We can go into ourselves either on our own or with a partner and ask ourselves the questions that we need to know around our needs. We can ask the Sun in Libra what it want us to know or see. We can ask the Moon always to help us feel what we need to have reflected to our awareness.
This will be an especially poignant practice at the New Moon in Libra time which will be September 28th. The Moon is how we see ourselves, and in Libra this emphasizes seeing ourselves through the eyes of the other, or observing our own light of consciousness through the reflection. During the New Moon time, this is more so looking at what you feel needs to be reflected within you, and perhaps the various parts of you that are seeking harmonization.
During the Full Moon which will be in Aries October 13th, this will be more involved directly with other people and finding the balance between your Self and others.
Circling back to the day of the Equinox, it’s also important to note where the Moon is and what phase of their cycle we will be feeling into. She will be at 15˚ Cancer, conjunct the North Node, and therefore in the last-quarter phasal relationship with the Sun. Cancer and Libra are natural squares by sign, as are Libra and Capricorn, so it is important to acknowledge the nodal axis this season as it will be directly triggering to the Libra planets.
Essentially, the Libra planets will be in a t-square involving the nodal axis, inviting us to consider the path of integration we have been working on this whole past year.
To understand this t-square more, let’s look at the link between Libra and Cancer/Capricorn. They are all cardinal signs, pulling us into greater embodiment and connection with our identity. They are also signs that call us to do something new, or begin a new path of self in some way. They are calls to action, and when embodied in their highest forms can emphasize leadership and aligned initiative. When they are working through healing, they can often show us any issues we have with expressing ourselves authentically or in an aligned and balanced way. The energy of a t-square calls in the overcoming of frustration, and the apex planet (the ones being squared) are what can help solve the issue of the planets in opposition.
Looking at Libra, or the Sun, Venus and Mercury in Libra as our apex planets variably throughout the month, this can bring up what we project onto others, perhaps as rejected parts of ourselves.
Now think about Capricorn here, who can hold guilt and shame, and also fear of somehow not living up to the expectations that are set either by the individual, or the partner, or the system at large. Pluto, Saturn and South Node make up this half of the opposition.
And Cancer, who can out of fear put up walls to keep itself safe, but can isolate instead of reaching out for connection. The Moon is also in Cancer on the ingress of Libra season, so this definitely adds a greater emotional awareness of what parts of ourselves we are working on integrating.
So, looking at this trifecta of potential healing, we are looking at re-owning the parts of ourselves that we have rejected and that have turned into parts that are ashamed to show up or exist in a healthy and loving way in our lives. It’s often that these parts have been shamed into a corner or into the basement of our subconscious, and are then only able to get out when shame or fear is triggered.
What we are projecting onto others is related to what we have rejected about ourselves, and we have the opportunity this Libra season to consciously work through this re-integration process. We will be shown by the people around us what exactly we are projecting and rejecting, so that we can in turn love those parts and get to know their highest expression instead of rejecting and shaming them.
An exercise from Teal Swan on releasing shame suggests making a list of all the things that we either don’t like about ourselves or that we feel we’ve failed at in some way. While that can be a rather triggering task, don’t worry, it doesn’t end there. We then go into each of those character traits or failures and connect with the part of ourselves that is being represented. We ask as much as we can to get to know that part of ourselves better, like when it became rejected, what are its needs, what can we do to support that part to feel safe and loved, and so on. We also make sure to find out what is the highest expression of that part of ourselves.
When we bring all of this subconscious information to the light of our consciousness, we have no choice but to integrate it. Imagine all that you could do in your life with the power and leadership of an angry part you have rejected, for example. This is just the tip of the iceberg, and the longer you spend time with these kinds of practices, also known as parts-work, the more acquainted you can become with the truth and wholeness of who you are. This self-knowledge brings greater balance to all relationships, so really, the responsibility for this process of integration and relationship healing starts with us. (You can find more information about Teal Swan’s Self-Love Course here).
We have cosmic support for this process, as we always have Higher-Self support throughout life. Neptune transiting in Pisces reminds us of using empathy and compassion to heal our relationship with those parts of ourselves, and therefore with others as well. Neptune is the higher octave of Venus, who reminds us of Divine Love, or Cosmic Love, which is inherent in Timeless Truth, and is always 100% accepting and loving of us, no matter how hard our ego has fought to reject any part.
Something that has helped me to embody empathy and compassion for all beings comes from Matt Kahn, who reminds us to see all beings as somebody else’s hero, friend, child or soul mate. And we can apply this the parts of ourselves as well, having compassion for the parts that were rejected, and find a new way to embody them through the eyes of love. (You can find more about Matt Kahn here).
With that, I wish you harmony in your integration process this Libra season. Until next time, bowing to you on your journey!
Love Nura