Libran Moon Eclipses Libran Mercury: Silent Compliments, Visual Expression

Moon has just eclipsed a retrograding Mercury in Libra, stretching us to be aware of our tensile strength, the point at which we don't want to be stretched anymore. That nice conversation we long for may have too much airy pressure on all sides. Looking for a way out of the tension, a pleasant press of an equalizing button would be nice, but this button just got temporarily eclipsed by the moon. Our need for emotional harmony may have just increased and there we were with tape over our mouths. The creative act can release built-up steam, move energy, keep us far from rage and bring us much closer to our own hearts.

New Moon in Libra: Elegance and Symmetry

Tomorrow morning the Moon will pass from Virgo to Libra. The last aspect the Moon makes before it leaves Virgo is a square to Pluto, suggesting we let go of control in our relationships. Do we wish to dominate? Are we passive aggressive and get pissed off when our partners initiate any kind of personal action? If we feel tension in our lives, what are we suppressing? If I am not perfect will my partner love me? Can I let my partner fry eggs without watching his every move? This square can be a last gasp of letting go of the fear of being ridiculed for "mistakes".

The new moon in Libra wants harmony, equality, fairness, elegance, symmetry and manners. It's a good idea to pummel the punching bag tonight in the dark of the moon. Get it out now so the politeness is real. We can strengthen tolerance for ourselves and those with whom we relate by reflecting on The Four Agreements from the book by don Miguel Ruiz :

1. Be Impeccable With Your Word
Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.
2. Don't Take Anything Personally
Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.
3. Don't Make Assumptions
Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.
4. Always Do Your Best
Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret

Tonight in the dark of the moon we can look into our own shadows and contemplate the agreements so that in the morning when the Moon is new in Libra, we let down the facade. While Moon stays in Libra until the end of September, we can make sure to schedule time to enjoy art, beauty love and manners with people important to us.

Ceres, Chiron and Feminine Wisdom

News headlines around the world have recently been covering a crisis around food safety in China: to date, 54,000 babies have been sickened with compromised dairy products.

As reported to the Associated Press, one mother of a sick baby said: "I fed my baby powdered milk because ads said it was more nutritious than breast milk. We trusted that the government would provide adequate tests to ensure food quality."

Tomorrow, the opposition of Ceres to Chiron will be exact. Ceres is the goddess of food and agriculture. In astrology, we look to Ceres around food and nurturing issues. If we read the Greek myth about Ceres, there is also a theme involving heartbreak and despair around a mother losing her daughter Persephone to the underworld. In this case the underworld is represented by a one-party political system and greedy business able to adjust regulations in a kind of fearful secrecy. It is unknown how long exactly, but some un-named dairy farmers have reported that it has been an open secret that milk has been "adulterated".

Ceres is currently in Leo directly opposing the North Node and Chiron in Aquarius. The nasty secret of the tainted milk is now out in the open, a scandalous and greedy public wound (Chiron) around nurturing (Ceres) for all to see (Aquarius).

PHOTO: KEN HAMMOND, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Saturn-Uranus Oppostion: Balancing Relationship

T'is the lovely season of Libra. Sun, Mercury, Mars and on Monday also the Moon will be in the sign of Libra. Venus, Libra's ruler, has taken a pretty dive into Scorpio. We are dancing in two's and feeling a bond and as we do Juno squares Uranus exact on Saturday. We may be talking to our friends and family about space (Uranus) in committed relationships (Juno).

I talked to a dear friend yesterday and the topic was being in love -- just loving everything about their lover and knowing that if they said "I love you", or "Will you be my boyfriend", that the whole energy of the relationship could possibly take a nose dive. My friend said as it is now, she can dream that one day they can have a committed, long distant relationship, but giving it a name now could disturb the natural flow, and she wasn't interested in risk that loss.

Another friend told me she decided she never has enough time to miss her husband, he leaves the house at 8 and comes back at 6. "How could I miss him?" She said he complains that she is on the computer too much. he thinks she uses the computer (Uranus) to escape (Pisces) the relationship (Juno). She probably does. Another friend, born in 1980 and coming up on his Saturn return, told me, that the heart of the matter is, he wishes they were at a place in their reltionship, that they were building something together, and that is more of a Saturn issue. In his relationship, he has chosen a Uranian behaving partner to play out his Saturn Return.

This weekend, Juno is receiving pressure from the Saturn-Uranus opposition. Juno is in Sagittarius at 20°, Uranus is in Pisces at 20° and Saturn is at 15° Virgo. The opposition is not exact, but it is cooking.

As we do have a stellium in Libra, and Venus is the ruler, it is an interesting time, especially considering the Saturn-Uranus opposition, to remember where Venus came from.

According to mythology, Saturn castrated his father, Uranus, because he had a habit of eating his children for fear they would take his power. Uranus testicles fell into the sea, they foamed and from the depths of the sea emerged Venus.

During the New Moon in Libra on Monday we can weigh our relationships on the libran scales of partnership. Remember the state of bliss with which babies can come into the world and how their consciousness is love. We can look toward the highest energies of Saturn (exalted in Libra) and Uranus (exalted in Scorpio) as tuning planets if we feel a longing for balance. Chances are, with the North Node and Chiron in Aquarius may be nudging us toward some untraditional Uranian ways which may ultimately be our path toward greatest stability if we can breath into Saturn and let go of our fears.

Venus in Scorpio and the Unknown

Venus enters Scorpio tonight at 10:58 pm in Hamburg. Four hours later, Mercury stations retrograde at 22° Libra and holds a trine to Neptune which is ours for the asking all week. The Moon wanes to the yearly New Moon in Libra on September 29, which is Monday next week.

I sometimes think of Scorpio as waiting to play its hand until a win is guaranteed. This can put some pressure on Venus who likes to attract and have things easy. Poetry and art (Mercury trine Neptune) can be our doors to the upcoming New Moon at 5° Libra. A longing for intimacy can make a conversation seem like a jumping off a cliff, extreme and dramatic like Scorpio. But we can remember it's just a conversation, and most likely, there is no cliff.

This photograph of the cliff comes from Nathalie at The Sydney Daily Snap.

Equinox and Balance

The big deal about Equinoxes and Solstices is they are the Sun's Quarterly, Semi-Annual and Annual reports. Some investors clamor for financial and marketing reports, the same way some astrologers dash for quarterly Sun positions to get information about trends. This week the Sun "publishes" its 3rd Quarter Report at the moment when Sun enters Libra, on Monday, September 22, just before noon on Wall Street.







In 2008, what particularly fuses the notion of Equinoxes and Quarterlies is Pluto's ingress over a cardinal angle, the ingress into Capricorn. This year's Quarterly Sun positions are all either square, opposition or conjunct Pluto, and Pluto has already eaten Capricornian pomegranate seeds two quarters ago.

With a quarterly report created during the Libra season one may ask, what is fair? Is this just? An image for Libra is the scales and at this moment there is the number $700 Billion balancing the scales. This is the number which is roughly the cost of the Iraq war so far AND happens to be the same number the Bush administration wants from the U.S. Treasury to save Wall Street. Is this fair?

Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House says, "We must insulate Main Street from Wall Street and keep people in their homes." Ms. Pelosi is an Aries and she is talking about insulating or protecting Cancer (Main Street) from Capricorn. In astrology this could correspond to protecting the country from its official agencies, or protecting the Mother from the Father.

At this September's equinox, all of the Aires points are ablaze, with the sun now lighting up Libra. To project this overlay onto our own life map, lets hold on to our hats and look back to Fall 2007 when Mars was retrograde in Cancer. We may have had pressing emotional projects that went on hold or felt in a state of suspension. At the march 2008 Equinox, we got a glimpse into where the project was heading. Remember back to March 2008, to the seeds we were planting while Pluto was in Capricorn.

Now at this equinox, the message is to work in partnership, not alone. At this equinox, Moon is at 5° Cancer, which is the degree where Mars was at the at the March, or Vernal Equinox, when Sun passed over the Aries point. What domestic seeds were planted which we can nurture now?

At this equinox, Mercury is nearly perfectly stationary and it is conjunct Mars. What have we been holding ourselves back from saying. What have we withheld for the last seasons? In Mercury's stillness, it could be time to come forth, declare who we are what we have been hiding or protecting about ourselves in relationship. With this vacuum available and some courage from Mars, Just Say It. Mercury in Libra makes for an ideal breeding ground for fairness and justice. What we want to watch for is the kind of passive rage Libra can hold inside at the price of ugliness. We can picture our partners are primed for harmony, this may loosen our silence assuring a polite unraveling of what we have held inside.

As we look forward to the southern solstice coming up in December, Moon will be in Libra, while Sun conjuncts Pluto at 0° Capricorn. My impression is our partnerships will become more important than they already are. Those of us who are used to going it alone, best toss vulnerability to the wind. Fair and Equal relationships will strengthen us at a time when the world financial stage is in a state of free fall.

As we move toward the southern solstice, when Sun conjuncts Pluto the safest tact is for us to wipe our egos on the welcome mat before coming home. What we have is each other no more and no less.

Wishing Things Were Different

Hi Deirdre,
I would be interested in what you have to say about my chart regarding children. I have three children already and would like another. This is confusing to me. For your insight I would be grateful.
Thank You,
Hope W. from England

....................................................................................................

Dear Hope,
I am happy for you that you have three children — your chart certainly reveals that you are a stable and wise mother. Your 5th house is Cancer which is ruled by the Moon. Your Moon is in Taurus, very steady, and conjunct Ceres, giving you a natural sense of the feminine authority. Your Moon is positively aspected to your Sun in Pisces and Vesta in Capricorn. In fact, you may be so used to your world humming away to Life's practicalities, it is as if you say to your self —I am doing everything right, why is this wish not coming true?

The issue I see, is that currently now and the recent past, has been a difficult time period for you. Saturn has been opposing your Pisces planets giving you the feeling that unnecessary road blocks have appeared which never used to be there. Maybe, perhaps, your partner is not around as often as you think you would like.

I cannot help but to mention that you have the chart of a very independent woman. North Node in Aquarius on ascendant and Uranus in the 7th house. This suggests that you look to unconventional solutions within partnership issues. For example, admiring the space between you and your partner with awe and love may strengthen the bond and deepen the communication in all of your partnerships. Although you are a sensitive Pisces, more and more your life may be asking you to detach and see particular problems from a distant perspective. This, I think, will be the key to your emotional happiness and intellectual satisfaction.

All the best for you and your family
Deirdre

Quarter Moon in Sagittarius

The waxxing quarter moon in Sagittarius can give us a huge boost, especially when Jupiter is stationing direct. One image I get is that last incredible wallop Michael Phelps packed when he was doing butterfly at the Olympics. He was in second place and suddenly, in an impossible time frame, he rose from the water, lunged forward and won. 

That's how this week could feel but the lunges can go either way so aim carefully and safely. Starting this weekend, as Moon is in Sagittarius, we can put our fingers on a goal we have in sight. Aim for big, far, extensive and exaggerated, factoring in overzealousness. With Jupiter, stationary and going forward on Sunday,  we can remember to measure all 9th house activities like immersing our minds in philosophy, taking long trips, involving ourselves in outdoor sporting events, publishing blogs websites and newspapers, ruffling the mix of multi-cultural lifestyles, being involved in big lawcases as well as religion from the spiritual to political from the organized to the non-organized.

This week the planets in Libra will square Jupiter one by one. Try not to be too happy or too sad. Try not to approach life too drunk or too sober. If you want to get skinny don't even look at the dessert cart. If you are afraid your picture might end op in the paper — it will — and it will be big. Before we buy the entire life work of Goethe, we can start with this quote for the week, "Beware of dissipating your powers; strive constantly to concentrate them. Genius thinks it can do whatever it sees others doing, but is sure to repent of every ill-judged outlay."