On the balance point — New Moon in Libra

First, the turning point

On Monday, Pluto, the planet that opens us to both our most intense creations as well as destructions, the planet that represents our own individual underworlds and inner worlds — as well as those of our collective society — will turn direct in Capricorn. It’s been the case since November of 2013 that Pluto has been hanging about in Capricorn between 10º and 13º, first direct, then retrograde, then direct again. Pluto will finally move out of this station in January of next year. There may be some challenging — if not excruciating — changes and challenges coming at you, especially if you have any cardinal signs — Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn — in your own chart between 10º and 13º.

Get balanced. Stay balanced. Find your balance point.

Just a few hours after Pluto turns direct on Monday, the Sun will enter Libra, and we will be in that place of balance, that place of equal darkness and light that comes twice a year — the Equinox. Accept the invitation to stand in the stillness of this moment in the balance point, and if you feel called to do so, spend some time journaling what comes up for you when you look at the questions in the giraffe image.

The Sun in Libra invites you to pause, reconsider, and recalibrate your own inner and outer balance. Look back at the wheel of the year. What did you start six months ago at the last Equinox? What are you harvesting (in the Northern hemisphere) or starting (in the Southern)? What do you need to clear, refine, change in order to start your journey into the next season in balance?

The Libra Dark Moon on Tuesday

This is the first New Moon in Autumn. It’s the first of the ancient New Years that have been celebrated for centuries (the others are Samhain, Yule, and of course our modern calendar New Year). The one connected to the September New Moon is Rosh Hashanah, which falls each year on the day after the New Moon after the Equinox.

A suggested Dark Moon ritual

On the 22nd (if you can, or the day before or after), after dark, set a bowl or a jar outside. Make it a bowl you love, and place some water in it. Place a clean crystal or stone that calls to you in the bowl, if you have one. You’re gonna drink this water, so if you want to keep it as clean as you can, put a cloth over the top of the bowl and secure it with a rubber band.

After the bowl has been charging outside for a day, and absorbing the Dark Moon energy, spend some time in sacred space looking at what you wrote in your journal in response to the questions in the image above. What are the key themes? Write whatever comes to you on a piece of paper and place that paper under the bowl. Let that bowl soak up the darkness for another day or two. On or before Friday the 26th, pour the water into a glass and drink it, bringing your intentions to your center. Ritually dispose of the paper. You can burn it, or tear it up and roll it into seeds and bury them.

What did the questions above bring up for you? What other themes come to you in this Equinox / New Moon week? I’d love to hear from you in the comments.