Lunar News: New Moon Solar Eclipse in Libra
A professor peering over his glasses at his students
New Moon Solar Eclipse at 10° Libra on October 2nd at 12:48 PM MST
Sabian Symbol: A professor peering over his glasses at his students
Have you ever experienced glory in your lifetime? Have you created for yourself glorious opportunities? Every moment that unfolds before you is charged with the possibility of doing something extraordinary. Most people will never have glory rain down on them, most will never even feel motivated to go after it—this is okay. It’s not meant for everyone, it’s not really enjoyable because there is always a fall that follows something glorious, and most people do not have the resiliency to endure this painful aftershock. For some of us, we have the luxurious burden of tasting true Glory a couple, maybe even a few, times in our lifetimes. And for the rest of us, we have the exquisite drama of the celestial bodies to look to as reflections of the breadth of experience. Before societies had celebrities to watch, they had the planets, the “wanderers” as they were called in Hellenistic cultures. If you want to watch authentic Glory unfold, keep an eye on the Mercury Cazimi and Solar Eclipse this week. And remember, as above, so below, of course, it would certainly behoove us to be vigilant of what majestic moments befall us in our own lives.
When Mercury makes contact with the Sun, he is known as being “combust,” or in a “cazimi.” These moments are ones of heightened glory for Mercury as it is a moment of purification and initiation for his cycle. In the days leading up to and after the conjunction (astronomically speaking, as long as Mercury is 15° behind or ahead of the Sun) this is a particularly difficult place to be in for the planet. The metaphor I use all the time is it’s like driving into the sunset with a sun glare on the windshield. This feels mildly uncomfortable at first with the Sun’s rays beating down on you directly, then, just before you reach the gentle reprieve of the shadow, the glare reaches its inflection point and you are temporarily blinded, operating on faith that for that split second your body will maintain control of the vehicle even though you can’t see anything. And then you have clarity again, after you’re out from under the sunshine.
On September 30th, two days before the Solar Eclipse and in the knick of time, Mercury experiences this discomfort, temporary blindness, and then finally, clarity again. The Sun is imbuing Mercury with a certain wisdom, almost like insider information. After this power surge, Mercury is ready to proclaim truth and fact. I expect there to be shocking news making the headlines this week, with secrets revealed or long-held speculations to be confirmed. In the mundane, a combust Mercury never disappoints. In our personal lives we are called on to communicate with extra confidence and verve. We might be put in a position where we are tapped for information or opinions or counsel. Hold strong in your convictions because your voice is fortified by this cazimi.
This week’s Solar Eclipse is astrologically significant not only because it’s an eclipse, but because it’s the final eclipse on the Aries/Libra axis for the next 9 years. The New Moon takes place in the first decan of Libra conjunct the South Node. It is a strange moment full of tension because New Moons are starting points, times of doors opening, and moments to initiate a new cycle; the South Node, however, signifies shedding, moulting, throwing away. South Node Solar Eclipses are bittersweet in a specific type of way because, while beginning something new always feels exciting and thrilling, the new thing comes at the cost of the old thing. Most of the time I’d say that when we are on our journey, we love to experience the beginnings because they are celebratory and filled with anticipation and opportunity to form a whole new part of your life and self. At the Start, we are not really thinking about what we are giving up as we close a previous chapter. Consider something as simple as the lunar cycle itself: the Full Moons are moments of closure—they act as containers for reflection and acknowledgement of what is leaving our lives at the time. Then, we get two weeks to decompress from that before the New Moon ushers into a new era of our lives. When the South Node is present to a New Moon, however, what we have to let go of is highlighted while we are embracing something new. We understand intimately what we are sacrificing in exchange for something else, some other experience, relationship, attitude, etc. It requires us to be unflinchingly brave and have enormous amounts of faith in the face of such a sacrificial offering. There may be some of you who are so used to sacrificing, practicing delayed gratification, or simply having lots of patience that this won’t feel like such a big deal. Or, depending on individual natal charts, this syzygy might not be affecting any personal natal or progressed planets and the fated changes brought on might feel like tempered adjustments. However this eclipse might affect us, it is a most important occasion to reflect on the value we bring to our interpersonal relationships and how that’s reciprocated back to us; what we feel we need to shed in order to step into a more advanced version of ourselves; and how to move in fairness, balance, and harmony with all things.
Together the Moon and Sun, locked in their embrace at Ketu, are applying a square to Mars, which will increase feelings of hostility and moments of overreaction motivated by hypersensitivity. The Moon will perfect the square to Mars in Cancer much sooner than the Sun will (around midnight, October 3rd) and we’ll feel an immediate emotional tension arise. Again, because this eclipse has a melancholic nature to it, we might be so spiritually drained to the point where we are antsy and irritable at anyone who looks our way. Take extra care to nourish yourself and boost up your self-confidence at this time. The Sun won’t make his exact square to Mars for a few more days (October 14th), but we’ll start to feel the swell of needless aggression early. Mars and the Sun both are debilitated in their respective signs (Cancer and Libra), so weapons will be blunted—these, of course, often do the most damage and/or maximum pain. If, happily, no conflicts arise during this week long window, don’t get too arrogant. An excessive amount of confidence will cause you to take stupid risks which could result in accidents or injuries. Because Mars is involved with this eclipse so intensely, it’s just a good idea to take things slow and think before you act. Avoid impulsive behavior.
In the mundane, this malefic square will inflame geopolitical conflicts. Around this time last year, just before the South Node Solar Eclipse in Libra, serious violence broke out in Israel. We can expect similar patterns to play out from now and over the next few weeks with the god of war involved in this year’s eclipse.
Another notable flavor to this lunation is the Grand Water Trine happening between Mars in Cancer, Venus in Scorpio, and Saturn Rx in Pisces. Again, this makes for a chilling forecast in the mundane with all three of these planets somehow weakened either by dignity (Mars and Venus are both fallen and exiled) or by condition (Saturn is retrograde). Trines are considered favorable aspects, however the definition of a trine is an aspect that lowers barriers for easier and faster flow. Trines tend to bring good things to us at a faster rate, but the aspect is actually quite neutral and the bad can flow just as easily as the good. With this aspect taking place along the water sign triad, I expect this difficult energy to disrupt our relationships because of inner turmoil. Be careful to monitor excessive thoughts of low self esteem or lowered value of self—it is this kind of destructive thinking that often harms our relationships with others more than interpersonal conflict itself. How you relate to yourself determines how you relate to others. It is hard to ignore the correlations between this malevolent Grand Water Trine and the current power struggles happening along the United States’ eastern coast, both with lack of emergency aid to areas affected by Hurricane Helene and the longshoremen’s union strike. As Venus progresses over the next several days to perfect her trines to Saturn and Mars, we’ll be able to assess the damages more clearly.
On a final note for this eclipse forecast, I’d like to point out that during each of the eclipses happening in Libra the planet Venus—the ruling planet of these eclipses—has been aspecting Saturn: in an opposition on October 14, 2023; a conjunction on March 25, 2024; a trine on October 2, 2024. Each of these lunations have been heavily marked by the cold power of Saturn by virtue of his communication with Venus. Saturn’s influence during these pivotal moments reminds us that the eruption of conflict is never random or somehow shallow. What underlies conflict and warfare is a deep history of oppressive wrongdoing and violence which cannot be explained glibly in a few social media posts or media propaganda, nor should it be exploited as political talking points during an election season. We are somberly reminded that justice demands for itself prudent speech and objective and impartial observation.
What is set in motion now will impact us for the next several months. In January 2025 the lunar nodes will move out of the Aries/Libra axis and we might begin to see temporary resolutions, or hit major inflection points. Later on in the Spring during the Full Moon in Libra we’ll reach some kind of end to this chapter.
October 6th: Mercury in Libra square Mars in Cancer
Tensions rise and verbal fights will break out in the days leading up to and the day of this transit. We are going to tend toward absolutist, black and white, or all or nothing thinking today, which makes the arguments feel like the stakes are higher than they actually are. Remind yourself not to take anything personally and remember to not take any bait that others might be leaving out for you. Defensiveness is also something to be wary of. Natural hot-heads will need to stay inside and just keep to themselves on this day. Accidents while driving or walking are likely to occur, so look both ways before crossing the street.
October 8th: Mercury in Libra trine Jupiter in Gemini
This is a great day for studying, starting a new research project, or even starting a new hobby and beginning to learn about something new. Your attitude might improve significantly and positive thinking will overwhelm you—a great relief coming on the heels of the contentious Mercury/Mars square. This day is great for leveraging the power you have within you to create a better reality for yourself simply through thinking good thoughts. Your mind will feel expansive and focused, and this might even be a good day to think through dilemmas or issues you haven’t been able to solve. Also, a bullish day for markets.
October 9th: Jupiter stations retrograde
Jupiter, who is already in a not-so-great condition in Gemini, will station retrograde at 21° and will be Rx until February 4, 2025. Jupiter’s retrogrades are not too impactful on us since it is technically an outer planet, so we won’t feel the effects the same way we feel a Mercury retrograde. It does, however, worsen Jupiter’s ability to do his job, so we will likely be spending the next four months in a haze of lowered self-esteem and existential crises, as well as suffering from some financial losses. We will likely be inspired to re-think our general life principles and moralities during this season.
October 13th: Mercury ingress into Scorpio
The energy shifts pretty significantly as Mercury changes signs and takes on the brooding qualities of Scorpio. Mercury generally does not do very well in water signs because water is murky and full of the unknown and Mercury prefers to be able to gather all the facts together and assess them meticulously. During the next three weeks our feelings will get lost in translation and if you feel misunderstood, especially by your beloveds, it’s probably because there are truths about yourself that you are obscuring from them and even from yourself. Raw vulnerability is an effective tool during this transit.
October 14th: Venus in Scorpio opposing Uranus in Taurus
Relationships will be tested today, but whatever conflicts or tensions arise won’t do too much permanent damage, especially if you remain open to hearing people out and creative problem solving. Uranus is always asking us to be flexible in our worldviews and when in direct communication with Venus like this, we are being called to forge new paths of connection to all of the people who are close to us. This is a worst case scenario forecast, however, and for most of us this opposition will have us seeking out unconventional forms of creativity and fun to get us out of the doldrums.