Lunar Eclipse in Libra

“Men would not have known the name of justice if these things were not.”

Heraclitus, Fragment 23

Eclipses demarcate periods of accelerated change, even more so than normal when in the cardinal signs of Libra and Aries. Aries and Libra are both externally directed zodiacal signs that support changing directions quickly with a thrust of forward momentum, especially with the Sun and the North Node of the Moon occupying the fiery sign of the charging Ram. While the blazing fire of Aries stokes desire for the excitement of change and breaking free into new terrain of development, the windy intellect of Libra whirls with great speed, weighing options and calculating the dynamics at play in decision making. The Lunar Eclipse in Libra on 25 March 2024 heralds our official entrance into eclipse season, a month of fast moving events that will necessitate adapting to the currents of changing circumstances. As the next Solar Eclipse on 8 April will be total and will set radical change into motion, tending to the relational field of Libra will be of the utmost importance. Making space for personal practices that can help you find your center amidst the whirlwind will be key, so you may better attune to what needs to be shed and released from personal dynamics, desires, and priorities.

Amplifying the potential for sudden breaks with the past is the building intensity brewing in between Jupiter and Uranus in Taurus. Jupiter will be less than five degrees away from Uranus at the time of the Libra Lunar Eclipse, and then will be only two degrees away from Uranus when the Sun becomes totally eclipsed in darkness on 8 April. The good news is that Jupiter and Uranus are an ideal combination for liberating yourself from longstanding issues, patterns, and roles that have been restricting you from your full creative expression. Jupiter and Uranus joining together can kindle the inspiring fire needed to finally motivate you to take the risk to overturn old sources of security that have become stifling or limiting. The lightning strikes of Jupiter and Uranus bring creative insights that lead to great leaps of innovative growth, the kind of breakthrough idea that suddenly changes everything. At the same time that great disruption, disorder, and destruction is unleashed in world events during the coming eclipse season, we may also receive moments of genius and revelation in our personal work.

However, although Jupiter and Uranus combining can be enthralling in their propensity for invention and the thrill of acceleration, we will need to make sure that our own integrity and authenticity do not become eclipsed by being swept up in the excitement of larger movements. With the Moon on the side of the South Node of the Moon and the Sun aligned with the North Node of the Moon in Aries, there will be a general impetus for seeking new directions while letting go of past identities and the way that old memories can keep us stuck in patterns that have become restricting or inauthentic. Since the Tail of the Dragon will be holding the Scales of Libra, take the time needed for reflection upon the longterm ramifications of big decisions that will forever reshape your life rather than hastily rushing ahead too quickly. Fortunately, if there are old memories or fears of failure getting in the way of pursuing a more creatively fulfilling path forward, the emancipatory force of Jupiter and Uranus coming together can be exactly what is needed to release the limitations of the past in favor of exploring and expressing more of your creative potential.

Since this is the second in a sequence of eclipses in Libra, you will likely notice important transitions, endings, or new storylines connected with narratives that began developing after the Libra Solar Eclipse on 7 October 2023. Yet on a larger scale of time, you may also notice important developments in your life story that connect back to the last eclipse in the same eclipse family that took place on 14 March 2006. Eclipses come in families known as the saros cycle. The origin of their ancestry begins at either the south or north pole and then traces a serpentine path around our world every eighteen or so years, moving ahead eleven degrees of celestial longitude each time. The Libra Lunar Eclipse is part of the saros cycle 113 that have all taken place in alignment with the South Node of the Moon, with the last one occurring on 14 March 2006 at 24°14’ Virgo. The mother of this eclipse family was on 29 April 888 in Scorpio, a particularly powerful eclipse that had the Moon aligned with Uranus in Scorpio, the Sun aligned with Pluto and Mercury in Taurus, and Saturn in Leo forming a t-square with Pluto, Uranus, and the eclipse. As a result it appears this particular eclipse family is primed for shattering the status quo in ways that will amplify the disruptive, shocking, and revolutionary influence of Jupiter and Uranus.

The Moon will be eclipsed in the airy domicile of Venus, while the star of Aphrodite will be traversing through her exaltation of Pisces. Though Venus is exalted in essential dignity, she is in the middle of complicated transits that will amplify desire for change and making a break from the way things have been. Venus is in between the two most important astrological conjunctions of the next few years: the Jupiter and Uranus conjunction in Taurus that will happen on 20 April 2024 and the Saturn and Neptune conjunction in Aries that will happen on 20 February 2026. While Venus is separating from a conjunction with Saturn she formed on 21 March and applying toward a conjunction with Neptune she will complete on 3 April, Venus is more closely separating from a sextile with Jupiter she completed on 24 March and applying towards a conjunction with Uranus she will complete on 28 March. Moreover, Venus is disappearing from her visible morning star phase and entering her extended underworld journey of invisibility. As a result, both the South Node nature of the eclipse as well as the solar phase of Venus will emphasize the need to lay old desires to rest and release the past as we simultaneously feel a yearning to pursue a more creatively fulfilling direction. With Venus in her exaltation of Pisces, a major aspect of what needs to be released will be ways in which our desires have been shaped by the conditioning of what culture or other external influences have exalted as the ideal we need to be or possess in order to be considered successful.

Venus in the watery domicile of Jupiter emerging from the mutual reception of a harmonious sextile with Jupiter in the earthy domicile of Venus is the most beneficial underlying influence on the eclipse, and so the applying sextile between Venus and Uranus will help people in fortunate circumstances hit a stride of innovative development in the week following the eclipse. For others the relationship between Venus with Jupiter and Uranus will help in leaving an unhealthy situation or realizing an important course correction that needs to be made with developing plans. Venus connects us with our relational needs and the values that form our attractions and aesthetics, and so Venus activating Jupiter and Uranus is an ideal time to monitor ways in which you need to reprioritize the way you are balancing work with pleasure, make modifications with your style or creative expression, create more healthy routines and dietary choices, cut away excesses that drain energy, or enact any other changes needed to align more fully with your desires and values. As the Moon in the domicile of Venus sheds the shadows cast across her face, peel back the way your values have been conditioned to fit in with the dominant culture in order to connect more deeply with the authentic desires at the heart of your true values.

While the interplay between Venus with Jupiter in Uranus can lead to productive growth, the fact that Mars, Saturn, and Neptune will also be present in Pisces alongside Venus will complicate matters in ways that could be difficult. On the positive side, any creative breakthroughs correlating with Venus forming aspects with Jupiter and Uranus can be amplified by the imaginative influence of Venus forming a conjunction with Neptune on 3 April. Yet we will also need to make sure we do not lose our sense of direction due to the approaching fog of Neptune or become distracted from what needs to be done. Venus and Neptune coming together can be used for pleasurable escape from the difficulties of life, but with the pressure building between Mars and Saturn it is likely that we will also have serious work in need of completion that will require sharp focus and disciplined time management.

The tension of Mars and Saturn will be a much stronger influence during the upcoming Solar Eclipse in Aries, but the Libra Lunar Eclipse will bring realization regarding the personal issues that will be part of the Mars and Saturn storyline. Mars and Saturn coming together can help in forging new structures, achieving goals, and powering through heavy workloads, but the stories they shape require courage, resiliency, disciplined effort, and persevering tenacity in action. The mutable, watery and slippery environment of Pisces can make it more difficult to grind out work in the way that Mars and Saturn are accustomed to, so it will be necessary to apply extra focus, be open to flowing with circumstances, and be more inventive with approaches than normal in order to find the strategies that will be effective.

Mercury Retrograde in Aries

Mercury will reach its maximum elongation as an Evening Star on 24 March just before the lunar eclipse, beginning to slow down in speed until stationing retrograde on 1 April. The day after the eclipse on 26 March there will be an opposition between the Moon in Libra with Mercury in Aries that will create an opportunity to attune with the material that Mercury will draw attention toward during its upcoming retrograde passage in Aries. It’s not unusual for Mercury to be retrograde in the liminal period of eclipses, but it does make the transformation that can occur with Mercury retrograde in April unusually potent. It also means that the days around the beginning of April will be especially important for being mindful and paying close attention to dreams, omens, and synchronicities that will be delivering important messages concerning the material that needs to be worked out in April, as Mercury will be playing a key role in ushering us through the changes brought by the Total Solar Eclipse in Aries on 8 April.

After Mercury stations retrograde at 27°13’ Aries, the star of Hermes will embark upon a liminal journey of twenty-five days until stationing direct at 15°58’ Aries on 25 April. As we pass through an accelerated period of change stimulated by eclipses, Mercury will excavate material that we need to re-engage, returning our perception to issues we need to release, rework, or reintegrate. The usual putrefaction and purification we experience during passages of Mercury retrograde will be heightened due to the intensity of the Aries Solar Eclipse, yet this also means that the renewal and transformative potential of the period can also be amplified once we get to the other side of it. Mercury first crossed sixteen degrees of Aries on 18 March and will not move beyond 27°13’ Aries until 13 May, creating almost two months of mercurial focus in this range of your natal chart.

While it will be helpful to think about the house topics connected to the Aries section of your natal chart, it will be further helpful to think about the house topics connected with the other two fire signs as well. This is because the Mercury retrograde period in Aries is initiating us into a fire elemental year of Mercury spending most of its time being retrograde in the three fire signs, thereby spending the majority of 2024 in fire signs. Fire is the element rising to the summit of celestial heights, the element most strongly associated with Spirit and divine inspiration. Fire is all about enthusiasm and sparking action, yet also sharpens intuition and can be a great aid in clarifying dilemmas, making distinctions, and taking command with decision making. With the fire element emphasis from Mercury this year, we will be called to explore the sources that ignite our inner fire and investigate how well we are tending and sustaining our creative fire. Due to Mercury stationing retrograde in Aries in between the Libra Lunar Eclipse and the Aries Solar Eclipse, pay attention to what’s draining your energy or no longer brings your passion and spirit fully alive with inspiration. These may be the areas in need of releasing, composting, or clearing away in order to make room for new sources of divine inspiration that will emerge from the tumult of eclipse season.

Libra 1 Decan

The Moon will be eclipsed in the first decan of Libra, associated with the Two of Swords arcanum illustrated above by Pamela Colman Smith. The first decan of Libra is the face of the Moon, and so the meaning of this justice-oriented decan will be temporarily cloaked in shadow. Fitting for the Moon’s face becoming veiled by shadow, the image of the Two of Swords contains a blindfolded woman sitting in front of an oceanic expanse while crossing two swords at heart level. As the blindfold and ocean suggest contact with the instinctual inner realm and unconscious, the Two of Swords has a meaning of mediating between opposing forces to find equipoise, resolving conflicts within a protected space of exploring internal balance. T. Susan Chang in 36 Secrets stated that the blindfolded woman reveals how the “Swords have do to do with what can and can’t be known,” and that the covered eyes in the image “represent minds that only partly grasp their situation” yet want to know more. Chang links the Two of Swords with setting aside preconceptions, giving opposing points of view “equal airing,” utilizing practices that help “clear your mind, and listen for silence.” Indeed, clearing one’s mind and listening for silence is wise advice for the Libra Lunar Eclipse.

Austin Coppock in 36 Faces referenced Smith’s illustration by ascribing the image of “A Blind Fold and a Sword” to the first face of Libra, describing it as a place which awakens awareness to injustice and disequilibrium within both societal and personal levels of interaction. Coppock wrote of the significance of the Two of Swords holding symbols that “allude to the arousal of an as yet unconscious force” such as the nocturnal and oceanic setting making it a landscape “beneath the threshold of waking consciousness.” Coppock emphasized the essence of this decan being about relationship and “the balance between two entities” in all forms within the social order, stating it “shines a light on these dynamics, bringing what is troublesome to the light of conscious recognition.” Coppock declared that the first decan of Libra not only illuminates dynamics of “fairness and reciprocity” based upon “core principles of ethical interaction with other beings,” but also can incite assertive attempts to address injustice or imbalances.

In Three Books of Occult Philosophy, Henrich Cornelius Agrippa described an image he also associated with issues of justice and injustice: “In the first face of Libra rises the form of an angry man, who has in his hand a shepherd’s pipe, also the form of a man reading a book; and the operation of these is for the justice and help of the poor and weak against the evil and powerful.” Similarly, another image of justice is found in the Picatrix for the first decan of Libra: “A man holding an arrow in his right hand and the picture of an upside down bird in his left hand. It is a face of legitimacy, justice, fairness, protection of the weak and needy from tyrants and people in powerful positions.” These images and meanings are in oppositional relationship with the domineering ambition found in the first decan of Aries from which the Sun will cast shadows upon the eclipsed Moon in Libra. While one of the images holds the weapon of an arrow that can be used for defense and protection, the other image from Agrippa features two different ways to motivate movements of justice: a musical instrument that can arouse the inspirational passion of direct action and a book that can supply the knowledge and philosophy needed for guidance. Yet the shadows cast across this decan also bring up the importance of applying critical thinking to the content of what you read and the way the songs of the times may influence how you react. In any case, these images of justice oriented movements in opposition to the tyrannical are exactly what we would expect to emerge from the vortex of eclipses with the conjunction of Jupiter and Uranus forming at the same time in the month ahead.

The first decan of Libra being focused on justice is further shown by the Hellenistic text The 36 Airs of the Zodiac ascribing the Erinyes (also known as the Furies) to the first face of Libra. The Erinyes are chthonic goddesses who serve natural law and punish transgressors who commit criminal acts, especially known for taking vengeance against those who break their oaths and murder family members. Born from the blood of the primordial sky god Ouranos after he was castrated by his cunning son Kronos, even the birth of the Erinyes is embedded in violent vengeance and vendetta. Thus the howls of rage over injustice will motivate movements and actions that emerge from the shadows of the eclipsed Moon. It’s likely that previously hidden evidence revealing inequities of injustice will shift into visible awareness in the aftermath of the lunar eclipse, and it’s possible that oath breakers and transgressors who have been out of balance will face a karmic reckoning and the sword of Justice. In our personal lives we may need to come to terms with issues of injustice, whether we are on one side or the other, or it may be more about having to manage the awakening of unconscious material that overthrows the order that had been imposed by our conscious perception. As shadows pass over the face of the Moon, may you find the inner stillness and centering needed for deep listening, so you may begin restoring and rebalancing whatever has come out of balance.

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References

Chang, T. Susan. (2021). 36 Secrets: A Decanic Journey through the Minor Arcana of the Tarot. Anima Mundi Press.

Coppock, Austin. (2014). 36 Faces: The History, Astrology and Magic of the Decans. Three Hands Press.