Autumn Equinox 2015: Where’s the Balance?

September 23rd at 4:21 am EDT in Washington DC heralds the Autumn Equinox for 2015.  It’s quite an active chart with a variety of aspects to decipher.  I’ll do my best to describe the key configurations which may have an impact on your life.

Collectively we’re looking at the issue of balance and collectively we need to find ways to attempt to right a balance that is nearly past the tipping point.  Two of the most pressing issues right now are climate change and the groundswell of refugees attempting to escape from hell holes.  Both issues are human caused.  There’s plenty of blame written about both, but I prefer to focus on solutions.  One good newsletter that I subscribe to regarding climate change is The Daily Climate.  If you subscribe they give you a daily run-down of all pertinent climate related news and categorize it in a very helpful way with Top Stories, Solutions, Consequences, Causes, and Politics.  Check it out!  A fairly balanced news source that I enjoy for world and national events is Democracy Now with Amy Goodman.  We each must ferret out the sources on-line that speak to us, but it’s also helpful to pass on what you feel is enlightening news, so if you have good sources please share them with my readers.

Let’s now look at the important dynamics as shown in this Equinox chart which may impact each of us in the next three months:

Mercury Retrograde in Libra Creating a Cardinal T-Square

This third retrograde period for Mercury in 2015 began September 17 at 15+ Libra and ends October 9th at 0+Libra.  Please pay attention to these degrees in Cardinal signs in your own chart, especially in Libra or Aries.  This places a double emphasis on balance at the beginning of this period.  Libra is good at negotiating through diplomatic pathways and with this Cardinal T-square created by Mercury this presents another opportunity to settle disputes through the art of diplomacy rather than polarization and armed struggle.

On a personal level it will mean being extra careful with contracts.  It’s not really advisable to enter contracts during this time, but life does go on.  Just read the fine print and be ready for some re-dos possibly.  In personal relationships holding the line and not duking it out by increasing the ante of antagonisms is a good idea.  Try to put yourself in the other person’s shoes before intensifying any open conflict.  This also seems like an aspect of accidents just waiting to happen with Mercury opposite Uranus, square Pluto.  Take care in all of your movements to and fro.  Use some caution.  Mercury is mid-point Mars square Saturn as well. Noel Tyl states “Thoughts don’t know where to go; any alternative seems inappropriate; indecision; separating from issues.”  Ouch!  There must be many lessons to learn here in the modern-day rush towards ‘progress’/ie oblivion.  The message seems to be slow down and ponder what you’re about to jump into.

Perhaps with this Mercury in Libra it’s time to enjoy your one precious life and stop to smell the roses along the way.  That trine between Venus in Leo and Uranus in Aries is exact in this chart, thus moving away from a summer of attractions and enjoyments.

The Mutable T-Square

This T-Square involves Jupiter in Virgo square Saturn in Sagittarius square Neptune in Pisces opposite Jupiter in Virgo.  Here we see some of the dilemmas facing us with the humanitarian crises swelling in hot spots on the globe and how the responses are either to become more compassionate and embrace human suffering or to become more fearful and create more walls and boundaries ‘to keep those terrorists out’.  This Mutable dilemma is now centering around ideologies and beliefs.  It’s also a dilemma of logistics in how to solve the problems of integration within a populace when new people of different ethnicities and culture enter in. It will require some planning and factual assessment to see what is possible and what is not.

This is a good example of Jupiter in Virgo which may take a factual position or even a critical position in the face of what Neptune in Pisces may symbolize as a deluge of energies that have no boundaries.  Saturn in Sagittarius now sits in the middle of this polarity trying to gain some focus that philosophically may work.  It is a time which begs for paradigm shifts to occur as we recognize that we are all in this together rather than seeing ourselves as separate, isolated entities, states, or even countries.

There are many categories I am not covering in this blog.  One would be the economic status of the world.  I refer you to William Stickevers and his blog for really good discourses on this subject in particular.

With my two major examples, we are also seeing this play out with climate change as ice sheets melt, waters rise, and boundaries begin to disappear with even land masses that once held firm.  I can even see this in California with the massive fires we’re still enduring.  This conflagrations of energies spreading quickly in every direction is very, very difficult to contain by Jupiter in Virgo tactics or Saturn in Sagittarius hindsight and foresight.  Even the computer models used to act as guides (Virgo) don’t seem to work any longer.  California is a Virgo state with Sagittarius rising.  These major crises are now going to force this collective of peoples to go back to the drawing board and figure out new solutions in the face of long-term conditions which exacerbate these Neptunian fire storms.

Tiamat

You ask does Neptune in Pisces represent fire?  Trying to discern all possible symbolic meanings of any given planetary energy is a puzzle at times.  Certainly there is a devouring of all those forrests and trees, as well as the living creatures within them, not to mention the dwellings of humans and their structures.  This devouring aspect of Neptune is best depicted by the Mesopotamian myth of Tiamat, the primordial mother of all that exists.  Another thought is that Uranus in Aries is moving over California’s Saturn.  This, too, could be the shock-waves of change to anything California deems solid and permanent.

These are chaotic times but that Jupiter/Saturn square may prove helpful in terms of human ingenuity applied tenaciously to clarify the issues and solve the problems we are now facing under Neptune’s relentless tsunamis of global change.  It will require resolute convictions that have patience, endurance and trust in the goodness at heart in most people.  It will also require hard work and a willingness to do with less.

Again, the age-old issue of ego-centeredness vs. spiritual awareness seems to be intensely coming to the fore as we are all slowly realizing we have only this one planet to call home.  Where each of us fits in this dilemma is a personal issue I realize.  Mutable energies are like relay stations and need to keep the energy moving from one point to another.  We now have multiple ways of sharing and entering into discourse with each other which may prove helpful.  We also can think globally and act locally wherever we are.

The highest spiritual harmony between Jupiter and Neptune may involve experiencing mystical union, and applying kindness and compassion to all our relationships.  The danger and greatest discord of this combination lies in feeling oneself ‘the chosen one’ to the exclusion of others, or setting oneself up as a victim in life where someone else is always to blame for your troubles.

Jupiter trine Pluto in Earth Signs

Whenever we see dynamic tension, such as a T-square configuration, we look for ways out through the trines and sextile aspects to the planets within the conflicting aspects.  Jupiter trine Pluto presents one such doorway through to greater transformation.  This aspect is described by Hajo Banshaf & Anna Haebler in their book Key Words for Astrology as the Shaman meaning that strong convictions and confidence in powers that renew themselves can aid transformation.  They describe the misuse of this aspect as ‘The Demagogue’ where glorifying power and misusing it by ruling over others is exercised through propaganda and the ability to seduce.  This does smack of the powers of darkness vs. the powers of light intensifying on this planet of seeming duality.

Neptune in Pisces shows no soft aspects in this map, so it’s doubtful that the next three months will be easy ones where these enormous issues are concerned.  Yet Neptune trumps both Jupiter and Saturn in it’s strength to dissolve boundaries and move us ever closer to the goal of Oneness which many are experiencing as real.  True spiritual leaders will guide us towards that goal rather than fracturing us further into separateness.  Yet Oneness must embrace equality.

So back to Sun in Libra we go.  Libra seeks fairness and balance which includes equality.  That’s a dance that needs to continue which excludes the mind-set that I am better than you are.  This is what we need to remember when Day and Night are equal for one brief moment in time.  Where is the balance in your life?