Solar Eclipse in Libra

Eclipses render paradox into realization. There’s nothing like experiencing the life giving light of the Sun extinguished, dissolved into an otherworldly darkness in which day suddenly becomes night. A paradox insists on coming to terms with events and material beyond belief that go against expectation. The paradoxical nature of eclipses correspond with an unraveling of ties that have bound us to previous conceptions, a loosening of our fixation upon the way things have been. New storylines emerge from the fertile void while old narratives dissolve into the black.

The lunar nodes which demarcate eclipses have long been imagined as a great serpent or dragon, a living image that also points to the monstrous and paradoxical lurking within our deep psyche. Eclipse events may propel us in new directions, but in quieter moments call us to encounter the unrealized potency and suppressed desires held within the body. While we can do our best to steer the ship of our life through the storm season of eclipses, we also must surrender to the currents and find ways to navigate through the changing tides as what has been invisible becomes visible.

The Solar Eclipse in Libra is aligned with the Tail of the Dragon, the headless body, the lunar place of purification, release, and sacrificial fire. There is an emptying here of toxic residues that have accrued, as well as renewal of our connection to spirit and the daimonic guides who can help us realign with our essential self. By being brought down into the belly of the beast, into the depths of the underworld, we discover our true path of ascent into embodiment of inner treasure. Descent into the deepest depths of psyche and soul will be a necessity, as Pluto will be saturating the atmosphere of the eclipse due to stationing direct a few days prior on 10 October while also forming an intensifying square aspect with the eclipse. Depending upon circumstances, it’s an eclipse that could feel harsh and full of adversity, yet for those fortunate to be in manageable situations the working through of associated challenges can bring a tempering and honing of craft, skill, and purpose.

The buried material of Pluto includes soulful desires we tend to resist or deny until forced to face them, and so the eclipse will bring opportunities to gain greater awareness for inner issues we have been ignoring. Ever since the lunar nodes entered the signs of Aries and Libra in July, Pluto in Capricorn has been at the southern bending of the nodal dragon stirring up vast unconscious forces within personal and collective fields. Just like the dragon symbolized by the lunar nodes only becomes visible when consuming the light during an eclipse, so will the invisible mutations brewing within the cauldron of Pluto emerge into visibility in the weeks surrounding the Libra Eclipse. Due to the cardinal nature of Libra and Aries the sweep of associated eclipse events will be rapid, transforming expected storylines in an instant. The horror and indescribable terror unleashed in Palestine and Israel (the recent acceleration initiated as Pluto, Mars, and the Moon all came together in a clash with the lunar nodes) is an example of how quickly events corresponding with the eclipse vortex can completely change everything.

The bottom line of Pluto activations involve power. With the fathomless depth of Pluto volatilized by the eclipse, the hidden dynamics of titanic power struggles will become visible not only in global events but within the intimacy of personal interaction. The ability to gain awareness for the deep roots of issues surrounding empowerment and disempowerment will be amplified by Mercury and Chiron forming an opposing along the body of the serpentine nodes. I’ve long resonated with Melanie Reinhart’s description of Chiron being an exemplary tender, teacher, mentor, and healer of the impossibly vast underworld material governed by Pluto, while the link Chiron forms between the orbits of Saturn and Uranus further indicates Chiron’s special skillset for bridging our conscious awareness for material held in our deep unconscious and ancestry. Mercury in Libra on the side of the Tail of the Dragon will be transmitting the teaching of Chiron while moving quickly toward a square aspect with Pluto it will form in the week following the eclipse, at the same time that Mercury will be reanimated by its superior conjunction with the Sun. Listen for the messages underneath whatever tricks and critiques are delivered by Mercury, for it will be possible to tease out the hidden sources of surfacing dilemmas.

In addition, the dwarf planet Eris will be opposing the eclipse while conjoining the North Node of the Moon, a configuration resonant with the chaotic strife accelerating in world events. Removed from the cacophony of worldly crises, Chiron will be extending an invitation into his cave of primordial rock, his land rich with ancestral wisdom and wounding. It’s not like the wounds tended by Chiron ever go away, but there can be lessons found within the symptoms and realizations gained as we learn how to bear the burdens we carry. Whatever aspects of old wounds are possible to be released can find their way into the purgative fire brought by the Libra Solar Eclipse. Moreover, the next solar eclipse six months from now on 8 April 2024 will be exactly conjunct Chiron, giving a potent influence from Chiron to the storylines associated with the Aries and Libra eclipse axis in the next year.

Venus in her fall of Virgo is responsible for resourcing the eclipse, yet another indication that the eclipse will be more about descent than soaring to exalted heights. Paradoxically, although Venus is in her fall in terms of essential dignity, she is simultaneously approaching her maximum elongation as a bright Morning Star heralding dawn. Perhaps the brightness Venus will be bringing to the liminal time in between dreaming and waking each morning holds the key to how to work with the eclipse. There’s a sense of mystery that needs to be accepted whether pondering the meaning of dream images or the implications of mundane events. Be open to hidden meanings that take time to tease out and the kind of creativity that can only emerge from liminal periods of transition. The potency Venus in Virgo possesses for discernment and analysis can be helpful, but we will need to make time for rest, recovery, and simple pleasures so that we do not mentally exhaust ourselves trying to manage and figure out everything.

Venus in Virgo is separating from an opposition with Saturn retrograde in her exaltation of Pisces and applying to a flowing trine aspect with Jupiter retrograde in her earthy domicile of Taurus. Venus moving away from Saturn and toward Jupiter indicates that while we will be carrying the residue of recent trials and tests, the critical eye of Venus in Virgo can critique circumstances to sort through whatever is not working, remove distractions, and dig into what truly matters. Venus in Virgo is flexible, capable of combining practical focus with the willingness to adapt and change directions while navigating the chaos of eclipse season. However, Venus in Virgo can also become prone to anxiety due to the mentally active and melancholic nature of Virgo. It will be important to find ways of dissolving or working through any fears from the past that could restrain motivation for pursuing goals aligned with authentic desires. Look for ways to calm nerves and relax into the wisdom of bodily senses that Venus in Virgo can draw from for guidance. The grounded and tempered relational field of Venus in Virgo will be needed in the weeks ahead as we move in between two eclipses that are both under her rulership.

While Venus is the ruler of the Tail of the Dragon where the eclipse is taking place, Mars in Scorpio is resourcing the Head of the Dragon. In contrast to the tense opposition that Venus in Virgo formed with Saturn in Pisces, Mars will be passing through a flowing trine aspect with Saturn that can help with focusing our willpower. Mars at the beginning of Scorpio is the most powerful place for Mars within the entire zodiac in terms of essential dignity, as Mars is in his own domicile, bounds, triplicity, and decan. Mars in Scorpio is heroic, and all great heroes must endure initiation into the mysteries. Indeed, Mars in Scorpio is in his solar phase of initiation, having descended from being visible following sunset into his invisible phase of being too close to the Sun to be seen. As Mars in Scorpio traverses the underworld en route to his eventual renewal within the sacred heart of the Sun on 17 November, we can gain profound insight into our relationship with Mars that can reveal how we have been hindering our own empowerment as well as how we can revitalize our desire to go after what we want to create with our life. The Libra Solar Eclipse may bring adversity to face that will be intrinsic to the growth process we will undergo with Mars during the rest of the year.

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 Solar Eclipse is part of the saros 134 eclipse family that originated with a partial solar eclipse in the southern hemisphere on 22 June 1248; all of the eclipses in this family occur on the south or descending node of the Moon. Interestingly with regard to recent transits of Mars forming a square with Pluto on 8 October and Venus forming a square with Uranus on 29 September, both of these aspects were involved in the origin eclipse of this saros family. Bernadette Brady centered her analysis of this eclipse family on the square between Mars and Pluto, writing that the “immense power, anger, and force” of Mars and Pluto “is channeled into this family of eclipses” in ways that could suddenly clear obstacles for some people while bringing a rapidly developing crisis for others. Brady noted that this eclipse family is known for “everything moving at great speed,” an analysis that further fits well with the Libra Solar Eclipse being in a cardinal sign.

The path of the Libra Solar Eclipse will enter the western shores of the USA in Oregon, descend across Nevada, southwest Colorado, New Mexico and through Texas en route to then passing over parts of Mexico, Central America, and South America. Six months from now the next Solar Eclipse in Aries on 8 April 2024 will also pass over portions of the USA, once again moving through Texas on a path that will also include Arkansas, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, upstate New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. With Pluto in Capricorn having recently stationed direct at the same degree of Capricorn where Pluto was on 4 July 1776 when the Declaration of Independence was signed, the Libra and Aries eclipse series will have enormous implications for the USA. While the Pluto return of the USA has already coincided with exposure of the nation’s shadow and extremely polarized power dynamics, we can expect this to only intensify during the time ahead.

Libra 3 Decan

The Solar Eclipse is in the third decan of Libra associated with the Four of Swords card illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith. The image contains oppositional qualities brought into balance, appearing to be a sarcophagus depicting a knight in prayer under a stained glass window of “PAX.” Johannes Fiebig and Evelin Burger in their book on the tarot noted symbols in the image that contrast “inner and outer issues, the abstract world and daily life, perfect ideals and limited reality.” Within the balance of these dualities, we can sense how the figure’s positioning is like a re-balancing of our body and mind, the sword below the figure a tool to cut away the false in order to reveal our essential and genuine presence that can emerge. In 36 Secrets, T Susan Chang wrote that when drawing the Four of Swords, “consider it a complex invitation (a) to take a break from the toiling and spinning imposed on us by the external world, and (b) to explore the rich landscape of the inner world . . . the Four of Swords may call for meditation, active imagination, divination work, or sleep. Or it might simply be a general call to recreate and rest for awhile, so you can restore your natural equilibrium.”

Austin Coppock ascribed the image of “A Gyroscope” to the third decan of Libra in 36 Faces. Drawing upon the significance of it being the face of Jupiter, Coppock equated the third face of Libra with “equilibrating movement through a chaotic universe” while facing that “justice must reconcile itself to an injust world, and peace to a world riven with conflict.” Further revealing the extremes in need of balancing within this Libran face, Coppock noted that older images associated with the third decan of Libra in text such as the Picatrix and Three Books of Occult Philosophy featured images of “furious indulgence” and “extremes of revelry” such as “violence, gluttony, deviant sexuality, and boisterous joy.” If we can find balance within the wild forces moving through this decan, Coppock suggested it “allows one to see through the eye of the storm” to learn that “equipoise may be maintained in any circumstance- shelter in any storm.”

The Hellenistic text the 36 Airs linked Nemesis to the third face of Libra. Daughter of Night and an ever watchful shapeshifter whose name in Greek means to distribute or deal out, Nemesis restores balance through bringing indignation and retribution against those who are arrogantly acting out of balance with hubris. Though Nemesis in contemporary times often takes on the connotation of an enemy or villain, her divine purpose is to distribute deserved fortune, correct transgressions, and cultivate stability within community and society. Her presence with the eclipse emphasizes the need to rebalance whatever has become out of proportion in our life. In fact, we may encounter people or situations that appear at first to be the feared form of Nemesis, only to later realize that they are serving her divine purpose of restoring right proportion. May the black void of the Annular Solar Eclipse and its luminous ring of light bring awareness of the false and inauthentic that needs to be shed, the rebalancing of priorities and attention that needs to take place, and the neglected aspects of our inner multiplicity that need to be claimed and embodied.

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References

Athanassakis, A. & Wolkow, B. (2013). The Orphic Hymns. John Hopkins University Press.

Brady, Bernadette. (1998). Predictive Astrology: The Eagle and the Lark. Weiser Books.

Burger, Evelin & Fiebig, Johannes. (2013). The Ultimate Guide to the Rider Waite Tarot. Llewellyn Publications.

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.