The Beautiful Beyond
In attempting to come up with an overarching metaphor for this month, many metaphors came to mind. I couldn't decide which metaphor felt like THE idea that encompasses the month.
But therein lies the metaphor.
We've moved beyond the realm of one metaphor. We need to broaden our scope. Here are a few metaphors for you to weave together, but feel free to add in your own:
Look beyond binaries, beyond pro's and con's, beyond right and wrong, beyond good and bad.
The only way out is through.
The truth lies beyond the edges of the story you're telling.
Turn towards the beautiful. Think beautiful thoughts. Perform beautiful deeds. Build beauty.
Your guiding animal for this month is the seagull, a creature of versatility. Seagulls move gracefully in the air, on land, and in the water. They have a wide ranging diet, and have many different sounds and calls. The life of a seagull is not either/or. It is yes/and.
Use yes/and to ultimately find your way to but-really-what-it-all-comes-down-to-is...
Sun in Libra: 9/22/17 - 10/22/17
When the sun transits through the sign of the scales, it's time to bring our lives back into balance. Balance is at best a moving target, and often merely an ideal. We don't attain balance, and then check "get in balance" off our list. It's an ongoing process of maintenance. Balance is also an entirely different animal for each individual. Before we can get in balance, we first need to answer questions of priority:
What matters most to you?
What is beautiful to you?
Are you giving those things enough time and attention?
Are you giving too much time and attention to things you don't care as much about?
If you find this blog beautiful, you can express Libra's win/win mentality by sharing this post with your friends - Facebook - Pinterest - Twitter - thank you! :)
Herb for the Libra month:
SCHISANDRA BERRY pulls your energy inwards if you're overextending yourself for others, or thinking too much about the various sides of an issue. Schisandra also helps to bring forth one's inner beauty, and is a great support to the adrenals and the liver. If you've been feeling stressed, impatient and run-down, simmer the dry herb (1 Tbsp herb per cup water) for 20 minutes to make tea. To access the energetic qualities of the herb, take the tincture in drop doses (2 drops 2x/day).
Autumn Equinox: 9/22/17 at 1:01 PM PDT
The chart for Autumn 2017 has a hard-working tone to it. We're being asked to put in a great amount of effort, but before you roll up your sleeves and dig in, return to the questions of priority (see above). Otherwise, you might just attend to every little this and that that comes your way, and lose sight of the big picture. If you have your priorities straight, you can then put your time and energy into what you really care about, and end up with some pleasing and solid results by the time winter rolls around.
There are a couple ways this season can manifest for you, depending on your innate tendencies and proclivities:
If you find yourself mired in indecision and/or ambivalence, you've tied yourself up in binary thinking. Turn towards the beautiful, and remember the seagull: yes/and leads to clarity (Also, Scleranthus flower essence or single drop doses of Pipsissewa tincture can help with indecision).
If you find yourself charging ahead and caught up in a story of victim/perpetrator, good/evil, right/wrong, you've tied yourself up in binary thinking. The truth lies beyond the edges of the story you're telling.
Pluto stations direct: 9/28/17 at 12:35 PM PDT
Sometimes the stations of outer planets have a subtle effect, but this is not one of those times. You might even feel this one viscerally. Take note of any significant events or encounters between 9/26 - 9/30 to get a sense of what ways you're ready to step more fully into the wholeness of yourself.
We've been mining our depths during Pluto's retrograde (4/20/17 - 9/28/17), looking for buried treasure. It's now time to start the process of putting what you've dug up to work in the world. Hopefully, you'll put it to work for the greatest good of all because whatever you found is giving you access to more power.
With Pluto in Capricorn, consider the many sources of power people have in society - material resources (financial & otherwise), social resources (friends, family, influence, followers), gender, race, size, vitality, age, position, intelligence, beauty, sexuality, creativity, spiritual strength. Most of these things are either invisible, hidden, or their effects are invisible, hidden. This is Pluto's territory - the stuff that's hard to see, and even when you see it, it can be hard to look at it.
What power do you have access to?
How can you step more fully into that power in a way that benefits all (including you)?
How can you step more fully into that power in a non-harming way?
Power Hygeine:
With Pluto in Capricorn, be wary of power struggles. The most common mistake we make with our conception of power is that it must be something one person has over another person. Power is best used for the greatest good of all. And even when your intentions are good, remember to ask permission before you exert your power on behalf of another.
Note how these issues are coming up not just on the personal level, but in your communities, in countries and governments, and in the world at large. Pluto rules things like nuclear power, and influences our experience of racism, misogyny, homophobia, etc. Capricorn represents authority structures, including governments. Micro and macro, above and below. That's astrology's way.
Also on 9/28 is my Somatic Astrology class, focusing on Libran themes of balance, grace, listening, and symbiosis.
Full Moon in Aries: 10/5/17 at 11:40 AM PDT
This full moon occurs in the axis of self and other, assertion and compromise, force and grace. How's your balance in the realm of those opposites?
I hope you're still ruminating on those Plutonian riddles of right use of power because Pluto is a major player in this full moon chart. Let's add another layer of Pluto's influence: As lord of the underworld, Pluto also rules processes of death and rebirth. So here's another way to work with this full moon:
What death and rebirth process are you experiencing in your identity?
How does that affect your relationships?
What death and rebirth process are you experiencing in your relationships and community?
How does that affect you and your identity?
Herbs for the Aries full moon:
Let's continue to boost those adrenals with another round of herbal "coffee," this time with an Aries/Libra flair, and a little nod to the lungs, ruled by Mercury, who's also a key player in this full moon chart:
Simmer in 1 quart water for 10-20 minutes:
1 Tbsp burdock root
2 Tbsp roasted dandelion root
4 reishi slices (or add 1 Tbsp reishi powder after simmering)
1/4 tsp cardamom
Strain, and enjoy with friends. Add alternative mylk and/or maple syrup if you like it rich.
Jupiter in Scorpio: 10/10/17 - 11/8/18
Jupiter spends about a year in each sign, which gives us an annual paradigm shift in the realms of belief, opportunity, expansion and our sense of the future. Jupiter's transit through Libra (9/9/16 - 10/10/17) is coming to a close, signifying we're wrapping up our year of social leaps (including expanding our role in society), expanding our relationships and experience of community, and growing our interest in justice and beauty.
At 6:20a PDT on 10/10, Jupiter enters Scorpio (10/10/17 - 11/8/18). The volume on the "deep and intense" nob is about to be turned up. And you thought it was already loud, didn't you? Now's when this theme kicks in big time: The only way out is through.
Remember our friend, Pluto, who we were exploring above? Pluto rules Scorpio, imparting those same themes of power, digging, death and rebirth to the sign of the scorpion. But the story of Scorpio does not end with the scorpion.
Scorpio is also associated with the eagle, especially in its expression of renewal and piercing vision. The eagle is your guide for Jupiter's year in Scorpio. Develop your vision so that it pierces through the confusions and concatenations of daily life and its dramas. My method: Remember that life is finite. You, me, everyone you know, the Earth, and even the sun will one day cease to exist, at least in our current forms. This is not a morbid thought. It is a reminder of the preciousness of what is, and it clarifies exactly who and what is precious to you. In this year of Jupiter in Scorpio, put your energy, faith and conviction into what's precious.
New Moon in Libra: 10/19/17 at 12:12 PM PDT
Turn towards the beautiful at this new moon. This sounds poetic, but it's meant to be remedial. It takes conscious evolutionary effort to make Pluto things (power, destruction that leads to creation) beautiful. As much as I would like that to be the norm for our species, humanity has a long way to go in mastering our expression of Pluto. So you might be dealing with some ugliness in your various relationships and/or in the world at large.
The good news is that each individual who exemplifies the beauty of Plutonian processes helps our species inch towards those more beautiful expressions of power, destruction, creation. So keep up your good work.
At this Libra new moon, we can use beauty as a balancing point. Create beauty. Drink in beauty. Nourish yourself with beauty. Let beauty inspire you. Let your mind be filled with beautiful thoughts. When troubles creep into your awareness, tell them they've had their time and you'll get back to them later, but you're now devoting some attention to beauty. At least for this day.
Libra Lunation Daily Practice: 10/19/17 - 11/18/17
Notice at least ten beautiful things each day. Write them down, or just track them in your mind. At the end of each day, review them just before bed.
Herbs for the Libra new moon:
Rose petals. Fresh rose petals. Take a bath with rose petals. If you don't have a bath, put a rose petal compress on your kidneys, or sprinkle fresh rose petals on your pillow and bed before turning in for the night, or drink rose petal tea with honey. Nothing so helps us imbibe beauty (and loving protection, should you need it) as this incredible, luscious flower. Take it in with all your senses.
Next month...
We'll settle into mid-autumn, and start to shift our senses more deeply from the outer world to the inner world. We'll get a boost from the benefic planets, and feel some torque as we hit the mid-point between the eclipse seasons. Until then, feel free to schedule an astrology consultation or healing session, or drop me a line. Here's wishing you a month of beauty, balance and clarity. Thanks for reading, Rae