The Cosmic Story: Autumn Equinox 2023

 

 

The Wheel of the Year: Mabon

Autumn Equinox 2023

Harvesting the Lessons of Love

The Wheel of the Year keeps turning. Here in the North we are entering the season of Autumn, when we have to let go, while in the South, you are entering the season of Spring, a time to grow.

 

Autumn Equinox is a celebration of the Harvest. What foods can we harvest to sustain us through the winter months? It is considered the second harvest of fruits and vegetables. The first is the wheat harvest at Lammas (August 1), the third harvest is at Samhain (November 1) and is the seeds and nuts harvest.

Psychologically, Autumn Equinox/Mabon is a reset – a time to balance the energies of the summer with the energies of Winter. Life to Death. It’s a time to center and ground ourselves. We are moving into the dark time of the year, a time to go within and nurture our inner lives. (I’ll be starting an online dream group for the Fall and Winter to help you understand what your soul has to say about your life.)

Autumn Equinox is also opposite the Spring Equinox, so it’s like Full Moon energy. We get to see the outcome of Spring’s energies. What have we harvested and learned since the Spring Equinox, which marks the astrological new year. How will that harvest nurture us over the winter? How can we take our harvest and plant it in our soul’s soil for next year?

With Mercury’s recent retrograde, I think it’s important to go back to the beginning – the Spring Equinox chart – to see if we’ve fulfilled its requirements. And so we can see what kind of growth we’ve worked on.

Spring Equinox 2023

At Spring Equinox, all the planets were in direct motion and, except for Pluto in Capricorn, occupied the early Spring signs from Pisces to Gemini. It was a chart of growth and new life. Saturn had just entered Pisces a few weeks before and Pluto entered Aquarius a few days after the Equinox. These were major energy shifts. You can see these energies at work in the world with the union strikes, the climate strikes and weather destruction, as well as in the last dying gasps of old patriarchal mindsets that are desperate to ‘go back’ to the old days of their power.

Saturn in Pisces asks us to dissolve our old boundaries, rules and expectations and give form to a new spiritual structure in our lives, one that embodies the needs of the Collective Unconscious – the World Soul which holds the pain, longing and hopes of humanity. Saturn has been retrograding back through early Pisces since mid-June, bringing rain, floods and emotional challenges to step up our efforts to combat climate change, as well as to release old emotional trauma (Scorpio South Node) so we can get on with life.

Saturn turns back to direct motion on November 4^th at 0* 30’ Pisces, back to the beginning to make sure we open our hearts and minds to the suffering of the world, offering us a chance to solidify that more spiritual foundation for moving forward. We are facing the death of our old world’s structures and we need to meet it with spiritual hope and insight, as well as love and compassion, so we can birth a better world.

Pluto went into Aquarius for about two months, offering us a view of the future – including raising moral issues around AI – before settling back into Capricorn and returning to America’s Pluto return degree to make sure we see the corruption of our political and corporate system (the military/industrial complex), which has created the climate crisis as well as a moral one, through lack of compassion and overt greed. This energy of societal evolution is confronting us with the need to decide: are we going to create that more perfect union that our founders envisioned, or will we devolve into petty tyranny and authoritarianism (which means patriarchy entrenching itself for another go around.)

Pluto turns direct on October 10^th – 11^th, and will return to Aquarius for most of 2024 on January 21^st – expect for a brief (3 month) retrograde back into Capricorn right before and during the American presidential election! Will we finally act as citizens who care about the world and freedom, or will we sit back and watch the ‘fathers’ continue their death games? The heavens are demanding that we take responsibility for our world.

At Spring Equinox, the Sun rose above the horizon and entered the tropical sign of Aries. The new Light born at Winter Solstice is finally growing strong enough to overcome winter’s darkness. A new beginning. A Re-birth. All religions celebrate this seasonal change. In fact, all religions seem to be based on the seasonal flow of the year. The Aries Sun is the primal fire of life and light itself, descending into 3D reality. Wherever Aries lies in your chart is where you feel most alive.

The Moon on Spring Equinox was in Pisces, which made it a balsamic Moon – the last phase before New Moon. Under the balsamic Moon phase, we have to finish up old business. I call it graduating from graduate school – we know what we need to do and now is the time to do it. It’s an energy of completion, of sensing your destiny, of feeling secure in what you know. It’s time to finish up old business.

Many of the planets were paired. The Moon was conjunct Neptune in Pisces, opening our hearts to compassion, to imagination, to faith, and squaring Mars in Gemini, opening us to other ways of learning. The Sun was conjunct Mercury and opposite Ceres, opening our minds to new insights, especially about food, nurturing and care of others. Chiron, Jupiter and Vesta combined to help us heal our insecurities about who we are. Venus was conjunct the Taurus North Node and Juno, inviting us into her Garden of Delight. Venus plays a big role in this year’s harvest.

(You can read my Spring Equinox newsletter for more information.)

So with those potentials, what was your harvest like this year? What issues were you hoping to clear up?

Politically, we are seeing that actions have consequences and repercussions, although with the childish goings on in the American Congress if seems some people didn’t get the memo. We are seeing people stand up to power to demand change (climate actions around the world, the union strikes, making the wealthy pay their fair share, the challenges to the abortion decision, etc). The old structures will inevitably fall, but how much will they bring down with them in their refusal to cooperate?

As I’ve said so many times, patriarchal thinking is afraid of death and so refuses re-birth. This is because it really doesn’t believe in the possibilities of new life after death. And so it continues to create death all over the world so it doesn’t have to die. And while Russia is responsible for starting the war in Ukraine and for the many horrors of the war, America and its allies are certainly just as game to continue the war instead of finding a peaceful resolution to it (while the military industrial complex is getting billions of our tax dollars to keep supplying the weapons).

As John Lennon said: Imagine. Give Peace a Chance.

On a more personal note, what has the light half of the year brought to your attention? With Venus retrograding in Leo all summer, and beginning a new Morning Star phase of her cycle, what wisdom have you learned to bring into this new cycle? As Venus left the Evening sky, she asked us to contemplate what Beauty, Love, Truth, Art, Peace and Wholeness bring to our relationships with each other and with the Earth as we move forward. (My new book, Aphrodite: Our Inner Venus speaks to these issues.)

Virgo New Moon, Aries Full Moon 2023

The Autumn Equinox season actually begins with the Virgo New Moon on Sept. 14-15 although the Sun doesn’t arrive at 0* Libra until September 23^rd. This Virgo New Moon will give birth to the Aries Full Moon on Sept 29. With this shift in the lunar cycle, one sign gives birth to the next Full Moon opposition, teaching us to move through different energies to weave together new insights.

The Sabian symbol of the New Moon at 22* Virgo is: A royal coat of arms enriched with precious stones. Dane Rudhyar says that this symbol indicates our spiritual ancestry – our soul’s history and gifts. Our ‘royal’ nature as embodied Spirits. When we embrace our spiritual essence, we take up this royal coat and take responsibility for our world. What gifts did you come into the world with? How are you sharing them?

The Virgo New Moon was trine Uranus in Taurus and Pluto in Capricorn – forming an earth grand trine – and opposite Neptune in Pisces. So what do you dream of creating? The earth grand trine gives us the possibility to manifest those dreams in 3D reality, as long as it’s a solid, practical, Virgo plan.

What part of the better world do you want to bring into being? Mercury got the message as it turned direct the day after the New Moon. The Virgin of Virgo has a sheaf of wheat in her arms – or perhaps a baby. The Mother and the Harvest. What have you harvested this year? Did you listen to your heart along with Venus as she retrograded in the sign of the heart – Leo? Venus, just out of her retrograde, is conjunct Juno/Hera, the goddess of partnership. What do you love and who can you partner with to achieve it?

This past season of Summer Solstice’s growth and Lammas’ first harvest was overseen by Venus’ retrograde in Leo and by the changing of the Lunar nodes from Taurus/Scorpio to Aries/Libra. Hopefully we’ve learned the Taurus/Scorpio lessons of letting go of old resentments and emotional trauma so we can ground in a new way to Be in the world, and then have the courage (Aries/Libra) to stand up for our values. With Taurus North Node’s ruler, Venus, retrograding and starting a new Morning Star phase, hopefully we’ve healed the past and can look forward to a more centered groundedness, opening to the wisdom of our bodies and our hearts. For too long, patriarchy discredited and demeaned the feminine gifts of intuition, imagination and emotional intelligence. Hopefully, with Venus starting her new Morning Star phase in Leo, we’ll take back those powers and gifts and weld them wisely and well.

With Venus beginning her new Morning Star phase in Leo, she will be a warrioress of the heart. Will you listen to your heart? Eris, the goddess of discord – going against the heart – is conjunct the Aries North Node of destiny. Will we finally have the courage to be ourselves instead of letting others define us (Libra South Node)? To listen to our heart and soul? To work for what we love? To become the embodied soul that we are? We are heading into the age of Aquarius. Have we learned the Piscean lesson of Love? We’ll need it to balance the fixed AIR, idealistic, technological energies of Aquarius.

There’s an unusual, extended month-long Venus-Jupiter square in the signs of Leo and Taurus. Venus just came out of her retrograde at 13* Leo on September 3^rd and Jupiter just turned retrograde at 16* Taurus on September 4^th. So they are moving slowly and moving toward each other in terms of degrees. If you have planets at 13-16 degrees of the fixed signs you will be most effected by these energies. These two planets of blessings are within 3 degrees of each other from August 18^th until September 20^th, being exactly square on September 16^th.

A 90* square aspect between planets brings tension and a challenge that fosters growth. What have we learned about our values, our self-worth, and our relationships to people, money, and aesthetics? While the fixed energies of Taurus and Leo can stay stuck, this long square can keep us working at it because what we learn will be worth it. Venus wants us to embody joy and connection in our lives – she helps us live in that magical world of ‘falling in love’ even when we’re not in love with a specific person. She invites us to fall in love with ourselves, with others, with nature. To learn to live in that state of grace. Take this season to live how you envision that sense of love.

 

The Aries Full Moon occurs on September 29^th.  This is the Harvest Moon, the closest Full Moon to the Autumn Equinox.  

 

With the Aries/Libra opposition, we encounter our relationship behaviors. While Libra helps us be more diplomatic, accommodating, gracious and balanced in dealing with others, Aries is more assertive, self-concerned and courageous about taking a stand. At this Full Moon, our sense of identity needs to be balanced by concern for the other. Our independence must also be concerned with our inter-dependence. The truth is we need our community to thrive and our relationships to help us reflect on ourselves. No man is an island. Our emotions and ideas need to be shared in an open and balanced way.

Pluto is still squaring the Nodes, with Mars in Libra conjunct the South Node, alerting us to stand in our power or else someone else will. Mercury in Virgo is opposite Neptune in Pisces, asking us to use our imaginations instead of falling into delusions. Venus and Mars are working together to help us bring the truth of our hearts into all our relationships.

Autumn Equinox, September 23, 2023

The Autumn Equinox occurs on September 22^nd - 23^rd, at 9:49 pm HST, 10:49pm ASK, and 11:49pm PDT on the 22^nd, and on the 23^rd at 12:49am MT, 1:49am CDT, 2:29am EDT and 5:29am GMT.

 

The Sabian symbol for the Sun at 0* Libra is: In a collection of perfect specimens of many biological forms, a butterfly displays the beauty of its wings, its body impaled by a fine dart. This refers to the archetypal forms, the seeds that we preserve from the fall harvest. The butterfly is a beautiful symbol for the soul. The dart is seen as ‘the dart of wisdom’ but it can also be seen as a ‘sacrifice’ of form to make it sacred. This is the purpose of Virgo’s energy – although I would rather say to make whole rather than to make perfect. Virgo’s goal is to integrate body, mind and spirit to bring into the collective realm (Libra). 

 

 

The Libra Sun moves below the Equator, taking us into the dark time of year. It is a sign of balance and harmony, a Venus-ruled sign that teaches us the courtesy of relationship, the beauty of the Arts, the balancing dance between Self and Other. It is conjunct the asteroid Pallas, the strategist. What are your strategies for this coming fall and winter? Who will you connect with? What will you learn? How will you meet the dark time of year?

The Equinox Moon is in Capricorn, in the first quarter phase, when we have to overcome obstacles. Capricorn is a cardinal earth sign, which wants to share the bounty of harvest with the collective. This season’s Capricorn Moon forms a grand trine with Mercury in Virgo, just beginning to pick up speed after its retrograde and Jupiter/Uranus in Taurus, expanding our horizons in surprising ways. Once again, this is a combination of energies that might bring in some interesting, original and quirky experiences and ideas.

The Sabian symbol for the Moon at 7* Capricorn is: A veiled prophet speaks, seized by the power of a god/dess. What revelation of divine will have you received in your meditations? How can you be a mouthpiece for revelation?

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With this image in mind, I’ll share my experience of the Goddess’ revelation while I was connecting to Hurricane Lee. If you feel so called, and have your own crystal cave, please join in. But make sure your body can handle the energies.

 

 

I received a meditation that directed me to channel the crystalline energies of Mother Earth up to the Sun and then bring those solar-filled crystal energies back down into the Earth in a sacred marriage of Heaven and Earth. For many years during my meditations, I go to a crystal cave. An oval cave, like the one Merlin disappeared into. The crystals let me channel their energies when I need them. It is a place of Beauty and of Light in the darkness of the underworld.

Did you know that crystals have one of the most stable forms on Earth as well as a steady vibration – never changing, unlike humans – and so they help give form and structure not only to minerals but also to bones, shells, soils – everything. This reality also makes them an apt symbol for the Archetypal Wisdom of the Collective Unconscious. Archetypes are basic structures. And so are crystals.

This meditation asked me to channel the crystalline structures of Mother Earth so they can directly receive the cleansing energies of current solar flares and then bring those new energies back down into the Earth to help stabilize it. It seems to be a way of cleansing and re-empowering the crystals which in turn can help stabilize and mediate the changes going on in Mother Earth. Perhaps if we ground in these new solar flairs (my friend Claudia tells me it’s plasma, the electrical component of our bodies) to the crystalline structures of earth, like cleansing our personal crystals, we can hold open the doors between the worlds during this equinox season to help them connect and re-charge.

Once again, anyone doing this meditation needs to take a few minutes to clear out your own body’s energy, so you are a channel for the energy. The energy of the crystals and the Sun will also clean things out but you don’t want to be overwhelmed by it. Don’t overdo.

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Back to the Equinox chart. Venus is moving forward in Leo, past her square with Jupiter in Taurus and approaching the square to Uranus, and conjunct Juno, the energy of partnership. What creative project are you willing to spend your time on this fall and winter? Who will you partner with? I’m going to take some voice lessons and relearn how to play the piano. Good Taurus/Leo projects.

Mars is in Libra, opposite Chiron, the Mentor as well as the Wounded Healer. Whatever side of Chiron’s energy you’re working with, Mars will take that and share it with others. If you know who you are and what you want, Chiron will mentor you to step out of your comfort zone. If you still carry an insecurity about who you are and what you want to do, Mars in Libra will gently open you to who you are when you interact with others. See your beauty and grace in the face of others and learn your worth.

The North Node in Aries is conjunct Eris, the warrioress of the Heart (along with Morning Star Venus in Leo) and square Pluto in Capricorn. We’re still dealing with power. If we go against our hearts, will we fall into the trap of thinking we are powerful, or will we learn the lesson of being a channel for power to flow through when needed.

So did you bring forth the harvest of the Spring Equinox? Can you move forward now, released from the past, especially the emotional past, so that you can open yourself to new insights, new dreams, new life? Many of my dream clients are experiencing deeper meditations and insights, stronger telepathy, more psychic ‘hits’ because their channels are clear. These gifts of feminine spirit are waiting in all of us to manifest. We just have to trust our ‘alternative’ sources of awareness. Clearing up past doubts and insecurities help us do that.

There’s going to be a Solar Eclipse on South Node in Libra on October 14^th and a Lunar Eclipse in Taurus/Scorpio on October 28^th. I think this is enough for now. I’ll write about the eclipses in the second part of this newsletter next week.

Onward we go round the spiral

Touching Darkness, touching Light

Twice each year we rest in balance

Make choices on this night.

Make choices on this night.

Happy Equinox!

Cathy

The Cosmic Story: Autumn Equinox 2022

 

The seasons are changing. The Wheel is turning.

Summer is slipping into Fall. The days are still warm and sunny but the evenings are turning cool. There’s dew on everything in the morning.

This summer had a different rhythm for me. I spent a month in moving mode, had visits from all four of my children, and actually went to the beach more in a little over a month than I’d been in the past 2 decades.

I now live between the River and the Ocean. I’m becoming a Water Baby again.

 

On all different level, I am in my water phase. Besides being enveloped in the arms of water, I am learning once again to ‘go with the flow’ of life. I am also in my Elder years, which are associated with the West and with the great elemental Water.

Water has many qualities that serve us in times of trouble. Change, flexibility, persistence, resilience, and swiftness. It can bring us luck, surprises and travel. Water is to Mother Earth as Blood is to our bodies. Both are in constant motion.

With each year, it’s easier to live a more authentic version of myself. Since COVID, it has been a relief to step out of the flow of cultural expectations, and just ground into watching the waters of life ebb and flow, choosing when to dip my toe in and when to keep my feet on firm ground.

This elder standpoint is available to everyone at this time of year. For the Wheel of the Year keeps turning and we are entering the autumn time (at least in the northern hemisphere/ those of you down South are emerging into the light and renewal). Like the last quarter Moon of the lunar cycle, Autumn is the season to gather in the harvest, that aspect of ourselves that has matured, and then let the rest drop to the ground. We let the plants decompose back into new soil and we gather the seeds to sow next year. 

 

 

This autumn time comes at the completion of this year’s purpose and energy. It is the harvest time, both literally and symbolically.  It is not only the foods we need that are being harvested, but also the psychological, spiritual, emotional and material energies we’ve worked with since last Winter Solstice 2021.

The big energies of that time were Venus going retrograde as she ended her Evening Star phase in Aries, soon to begin her Morning Star phase in Capricorn on January 8, 2022. These energies suggest that we explore wisely what our next step will be – the Evening Star phase brings out the wisdom of a sign and Aries’ wisdom is to let Spirit take the lead and allow your desire to direct your intentions. This Capricorn Morning Star phase, which seems to have been about taking responsibility for what you love and desire, will end when Venus starts her (first in over 200 year) Libra Evening Star phase on October 22, 2022.

This new phase occurs when Venus meets the Sun on its far side, hidden from Earth’s view. It is a sacred marriage that gives rise to a new type of feminine wisdom, one that builds on what we’ve learned before.

The Sabian symbol for the Sun and Venus conjunction at 29* Libra is: Humanity’s vast and enduring effort to reach for knowledge transferable from generation to generation. This is lived knowledge of life, not a textbook example. It’s important to listen to the knowledge that’s been passed down, the common sense knowledge of life rather than what we can pick up on YouTube or TikTok. It is a call for our conscious participation in this cosmic evolution.

Who better than to lead us on this new phase of life’s journey than Venus /Aphrodite, Queen of Heaven and Earth. May the Goddess of Peace, Beauty and Love shine her Wisdom on and within us.

 

Aphrodite Urania -- Queen of Heaven

The other big energy around Winter Solstice 2021 was the last full Saturn/Uranus square at 12* Aquarius/Taurus. What did you choose? The Old or the New? Can you read the energies of these times we’re living in? Uranus in Taurus can open us to Earth’s evolutionary genius. Will we collaborate with Mother Earth, re-igniting our connection to her bio-sphere, or will we continue to live as if there are no consequences? 

 

Now is the time to look at those consequences. The rise in electricity rates, as well as oil and gas, is the price we have to pay if we want to transform our society and how we use energy. We have to learn to cut back on our own, and higher costs are part of how we’ll do it.

It’s a time to ‘sacrifice’ some of our old ways if we really want to create a better world in this time of environmental crisis. Sacrifice means ‘to make sacred’. Will we choose to let go of inessentials while the world is transforming, giving our actions meaning? There are great and good things about ‘the old’ that we can keep, such as the adages, every little bit helps. And‘don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater’.  Keep what is precious and true.  Let go of the rest.  And be open to what comes.  That's the gift of Water -- to go with the flow.  Surrender to life and see what comes.

How has your life changed and your garden grown this year? Have you shed an old skin and found more freedom? Or have you retreated in fear of what is becoming?

Autumn Equinox/ Mabon: September 22, 2022

The two Equinoxes, Spring and Autumn, are times of Balance, the balance of light and dark. In Spring, the balance tips over into the light and outer life. In Autumn, the balance tips into the dark and going within. But on those two days, light and dark are equal. It is the time to ground yourself in that balance. Although many people are railing against that binary system, it is an integral part of the cosmos and of our world. Just because ‘we’ don’t like seeing the world as binary, doesn’t mean that the cosmos has to agree with us!

So Light and Dark. Day and Night. Masculine and Feminine. Yang and Yin. On the Equinoxes, these forces are brought into balance.

Onward we go round the Spiral

Touching darkness, touching light.

Twice each year we rest in balance,

Make choices on this night.

The Autumn/Spring Equinox occurs on Thursday, September 22, 2022 at 6:04pm PDT/ 9:04pmnjmmh EDT and on September 23, 2022 at 2:04am GMT.

 

 

The chart for Autumn Equinox occurs at the Leo Moon balsamic phase of the lunar cycle that began with the Virgo New Moon. With the upcoming Sun/Mercury conjunction just hours after the Equinox, we are midway through this Mercury retrograde cycle. Since both Virgo and Gemini are ‘Mercury ruled’, this was a month to clean up and clear up the Mind.

That Virgo New Moon made an intense square to Mars in Gemini, which might have made things more confusing, opening us to too many options. It was time to make some choices. Then the Virgo/Pisces Full Moon was conjunct Neptune, either deluding us further or opening us to our creative imagination to deepen our inner focus on what we truly desired.

The Autumn Equinox and upcoming Libra New Moon on September 25^th, are a time of letting go – the harvest is in, whether we realize it or not. Look at what you have around you. That’s what you get to play with this autumn.

 

 

The Autumn Equinox begins the sign of Libra, just as its opposite gateway, Spring Equinox begins with Aries. Just as Aries begins a drive toward our individual visions, Libra turns our focus to our collective responsibilities. While Virgo is the energy of integration of personality, Libra is the energy of taking that personality and bringing it into relationship with others. How will the balance hold?

The Equinox Sun is conjunct Mercury retrograde, initiating a new cycle of their dance. How are we communicating? The better we ‘know ourselves’/Virgo, the better we are at speaking our truth in a kind and courteous manner. And more importantly, we are centered enough so we can listen to what the other has to say.

The Sabian symbol for the Equinox Sun and Mercury is interesting and telling.

The Sabian symbol for the Sun and Mercury retrograde at 1* Libra is: In a collection of perfect specimens of many biological forms, a butterfly displays the beauty of its wings, its body impaled by a fine dart.

The objective viewpoint of this image brings to mind the archetypal realm, since all the specimens are ‘perfect’. We see the ‘seed’ forms of life. And the butterfly is the symbol of the soul and its transformation through time. This is the time when we see the Sacred in what we’ve harvested. With the Mind aligned with our conscious purpose (the Sun), I know we can bring in a rich harvest.

The Sun and Mercury are opposite Jupiter retrograde in Aries, giving us the courage and optimism to meet what comes, calling on our soul’s vision.

The Sabian symbol for Jupiter retrograde at 5* Aries is: A triangle with wings. This is symbolic of our desire to reach higher levels of consciousness, to see a new dimension of reality. So the vision is strong.

There are two strong T-squares at this Equinox.

The first, fixed, T-square is the approaching (but never touching) Uranus/NN in Taurus square Saturn in Aquarius both aspecting the Leo Moon. With Uranus and Saturn both retrograde, an inner re-structuring of our beliefs and behaviors, as well as our physicality, is possible. The balsamic Leo Moon is open to the wisdom we’ve learned so far, and it can lend us the self-confidence we need to break down and break through any inner blocks.

The second T-square is in mutable signs, suggesting we can make use of these energies in the outer world. With Venus in Virgo opposing Neptune retrograde in Pisces, we might feel the need to be of service to the world. Like the Vestal Virgins of Rome, or the 9 Priestesses guarding Brigid’s sacred fires in Ireland, we might be called to guard and defend what makes life worthwhile, rather than wallow in a deluded sense of evil permeating the world. Yes, there is darkness in the world, but the Light always wins out in the end.

This Venus-Neptune opposition is squared by Mars in Gemini. We can let Mars get us into arguments over ideas, or Mars can help us navigate the issues that are dear to our hearts. There was a Mars/Venus square last week that challenged us to decide what we’re doing. We might have to wait until after Mercury goes direct on October 2 to finally see those decisions through.

Retrograde Neptune sextiling Pluto in Capricorn make a quick YOD with the Leo Moon on Equinox. With the Moon at the tip of the YOD, we might catch a glimpse of what Spirit is calling us to do, there and gone before we get the whole picture, but if we stay open to our dreams and imaginings, perhaps the vision will settle into our bones.

Wheel of the Year: Mabon

 

 

 

The Wheel of the Year is comprised of the two Solstices and two Equinoxes, as well as the four cross-quarter holidays that fall between the Equinoxes and Solstices. 

The Autumn Equinox is called Harvest Home, Mabon or the Feast of the Ingathering by modern Pagans, and it is a ritual of thanksgiving for the fruits of the earth and a recognition of the need to share them to secure the blessings of the Goddess and the Gods during the coming winter months. It is the second of three harvests, the first wheat harvest at Lammas (August 1), this second fruit harvest and the third harvest of nuts and berries at Samhain(November 1).

At Autumn Equinox we have to let go of the Light and allow the Dark in again. Now is the time to begin to turn inward and once again dream.  It is our dreams now that will bear fruit next year.  If you want your soul's take on what dreams will fulfill you, start to pay attention to your dreams. 

May your harvest be plentiful – and shared!

Blessed Be,

Cathy

The Wild Geese

Horseback on Sunday morning,
harvest over, we taste persimmon
and wild grape, sharp sweet
of summer's end. In time's maze
over the fall fields, we name names
that went west from here, names
that rest on graves. We open
a persimmon seed to find the tree
that stands in promise,
pale, in the seed's marrow.
Geese appear high over us,
pass, and the sky closes. Abandon,
as in love or sleep, holds
them to their way, clear,
in the ancient faith: what we need
is here. And we pray, not
for new earth or heaven, but to be
quiet in heart, and in eye
clear. What we need is here.

~ Wendell Berry ~

(Collected Poems 1957-1982)

The Cosmic Storyteller: Mercury retrograde Dances with the Outer Planets

 

The Cosmic Storyteller:

Mercury retrogrades as Outer Planets Go Direct

  Autumn Equinox: Balance & Release

Fall arrived here in Wickford in a mix of cloudy and sunny weather, but today the clear sky, hot sun and cool breezes made for a perfect September day in Rhode Island. We are blessed to live here at the ocean’s edge. We stand on the borderlands between earth and ocean, between known and unknown. 

That's also true for this time we live in.  We are all living on the borderlands, looking into a mysterious and unknown future.  In reality, life is always uncertain like that, but we Americans have gotten complacent about our well-being, quietly accepting a world on the brink of disaster, instead of embracing much needed change.  Change is the only constant of life.  The world is evolving, whether we want it to or not.  Unfortunately, it's really de-volving.  Earth's biosphere is unhealthy.  It's unraveling each time a species goes extinct from human pollution and over-population.  I just read that 23 more species went extinct this week.

What kind of crisis will wake us up?  I know that if we are brave enough, and strong enough, and wise enough, to consciously evolve with the times, we could create a different kind of world.   

The questions I always ask when discussing modern society is, "What culture poisons its own people and food?"  "What kind of people are we to care so little for our children's well-being that we're not willing to sacrifice our comforts for a better life for them?" 

These are just some questions we could ask ourselves for this important Mercury retrograde period.       

  Ma'at's Scales

The Sun moves into Libra, the sign of the Scales, at the Autumn Equinox. A day when the light and the dark are balanced. It only happens two times a year – at the two Equinoxes, Spring and Autumn. It brings the light/dark back into balance for a moment before it heads back toward imbalance.

That’s what Autumn Equinox embodies – the need to re-balance after the exuberance of Summer’s light and heat (our Southern brethren will be emerging from the dark and cold and embracing new life and heat.). Since we are part of Earth’s biosphere, we too are heading into the cold and dark time of year, a time to withdraw into ourselves and dream of next year’s life. This Equinox is the time to take stock of our lives – asking “what have we learned and where are we headed?”

The Jewish Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, is celebrated around Autumn Equinox. It is a day to look within and see who you’ve been and what you've done for the past year. To look at your shadow and bring it into the light. It is a time to see, acknowledge and then let go of what no longer serves your life. Because, this night also determines what the next year will bring. As you acknowledge and know your gifts and faults, you have to forgive yourself, make amends when needed and pledge to remember and change. And grow!

This is a night of choice for pagans as well. We sing at the Equinoxes:

Onward we go round the Spiral,

Touching Darkness, touching Light.

Twice each turn we rest in balance.

Make choices on this night.

Make choices on this night.

This is a time to make adjustments within ourselves. It is an adjustment that needs to be made each year as summer passes into fall, in either hemisphere. In our pagan rituals, we ask, “What have you harvested this year? What are you releasing this year? Have you gathered your seeds for the future?”

The wheel of life turns ever onward.

To everything (turn, turn, turn).

There is a season (turn, turn, turn).

And a time for every purpose under Heaven.

(Pete Seeger)

In this time of cultural breakdown and change, the best thing we can do is to return to our roots – to the rhythms of Mother Earth. When there’s trauma, we get whacked out of rhythm with ourselves. So we need to reestablish that rhythmic re-patterning that the seasons, dancing, music and drumming give us. Once we re-establish our own rhythm, we can bring more balance and harmony to those around us. 

Mother Earth’s seasons ground us and can lead us back to center. (Uranus in Taurus is connecting us electrically to Mother Earth.) Every day She helps us understand the different tempos of Life, and grounds us in ‘reality’ at the same time as She takes us into a different reality – the reality of her living Earth.

In Chinese medicine, this is the season of the lungs, skin and intestines, those organs that help us release toxins, and those things that no longer serve us. Just as the trees lose their leaves in the Fall, so do we release what no longer nourishes us, allowing us to make room for new life.

We don’t have to let fear keep us from this next part of our journey into the Dark. For the seeds we hold in the dark will be the ones that blossom next year. Make choices on this night!

"Fear holds you still when you need to move,

and moves you when you need to be still.

Fear makes you silent when you need to be loud,

and loud when you need silence.

Fear closes your throat when you need to breathe.

Fear weakens your hand and blinds your eyes.

FEAR is a danger. Know your fear. Face your fear. Practice."

Elizabeth Vaughan, Warsworn

Maybe you’re wondering what this has to do with Mercury retrograde. Well, we’re here. Mercury is the Messenger god, the one who can travel through all realms of life. If Mercury represents the Mind, then it tells us the Mind can travel all over the cosmos and into the underworld. It doesn’t just stay in 3D reality.

 

Mercury retrogrades are all about purifying our perceptions. We do this by shifting our attention and energy within. If we let our minds race ahead of our hearts, we run into trouble. Mercury goes retrograde so often because it orbits so close to the Sun. From Earth’s point of view, it looks like it goes backwards at these times. Symbolically, we need to take heed. Our society has us rushing around with too much on our plates. Our consciousness can only hold so much before it needs to backtrack and rethink, release, reorganize, redo, and/or remember things. 

The Sabian symbol for Mercury going retrograde at 26* Libra is:  An Eagle and a large white Dove change into each other.   What happens when Love is our will and our will is to do the work of Love?

 

Hermeticism states: As Above, So Below. As Within, So Without. The within and without are the same. If we live in outer turmoil, look for the inner turmoil and tame it. Mercury/Hermes is the Mind and our mind focuses our energy. Where we put our attention matters. Do you see why it’s so important to use this time to tame the mind and let it re-discover silence? When the Mind is silent, the heart can be heard. And then we know what to do.  Then the Eagle will turn into the Dove.

This year, all three Mercury retrogrades are in AIR signs – the signs of communication, learning, connection, teaching, ideas, relationships and inspiration. It means we need to re-think how we live. In Aquarius, Mercury connected us to envisioning our future with our group mind. In Gemini, Mercury helped us re-examine old beliefs so we could open our minds to new ideas. In Libra, Mercury will ask us to incorporate new ideas about justice, balance and fairness between people, in private relationships and in society.

While Mercury moves back through Libra from September 26^th - 27^th to October 18^th, it will square Pluto in Capricorn twice: once on October 1^st before Pluto goes direct on October 6^th and again on November 2^nd when Pluto is direct. This indicates a deep course correction for some of us. Pluto deepens the Mind (Mercury) – whether with deep thoughts or by taking us deep within our own souls, since Mercury is the only god who can travel between realms. Either way, Pluto is definitely a call to the Underworld.

Thankfully, Venus, the ruler of Libra, is in Scorpio, the sign of Pluto’s Underworld, so if we do the work now, she will be there to help us. Help us connect with our deepest wounds, our deepest sorrows and our deepest desires.

 

 

Mercury went retrograde on September 26^th - 27^th at 26* Libra opposite the dwarf planet Eris in Aries. Eris reminds Mercury that we must listen to our hearts if we don’t want discord in our lives. She reminds the Mind that it can stand up for the heart’s wisdom.

Next, Mercury will trine Jupiter in Aquarius on October 3^rd and again on October 31st – November 1^st, after Jupiter turns direct on October 17^th – 18^th. Mercury and Jupiter energies make a powerful combination, for Jupiter opens the Mind to encompass Spirit, community and possibilities. Jupiter moving forward again can open us to outer abundance, good fortune and growth, and can also help us find meaning in our lives. So on Mercury’s third trine to Jupiter on Samhain/ Halloween, you might try to use your Mind to open yourself to your ancestor spirits. Remember, Mercury can travel to the Underworld. They are there to help and heal us if we let them. At least spend some time honoring them.

Finally Mercury doesn’t get back to exactly trine Saturn at 7* Aquarius but it’s close enough at 11* Libra when it turns direct. This aspect will give your mind strength, focus and discipline. Keep what works and let go of what doesn’t.

Pluto in Capricorn going direct will be heading to next year’s Pluto return in America’s 4^th of July birth chart. We are due for a revolution. We can make it be a peaceful revolution of ideas and expansive freedoms if we each stand up for peace, justice and fairness. If we learn to listen to those we don’t agree with, instead of getting snippy about it. Listen and learn.

Individually, Pluto going direct will show us how much of the old patriarchal order we’ve let go of in our lives. The rules live within us. Break the old rules and make new ones.

Jupiter and Saturn in Aquarius can now continue what they began with the new cycle of Jupiter and Saturn in Aquarius that started December 21, 2020. The future belongs to new ideas and new possibilities. We cannot go back to some fake idyllic time -=- although hearing kids out playing in the neighborhood on warm summer nights would be delightful.

Individually, Jupiter and Saturn’s new cycle in Aquarius indicates that the wave of the future is community oriented. Whether we call ourselves tribes or families, like-minded and like-hearted people will build community together. Coming to a town near you soon!

Finally, Mercury retrograde will form inconjuncts to Neptune in Pisces on October 5^th and to Uranus in Taurus on October 11^th – 12^th. With the inconjunct to Neptune, watch out for communication confusion or misunderstandings with others. With Uranus, since both Taurus and Libra are ruled by Venus, the needed adjustment between these two planets might just be to slow down and ground in all the wonderful ideas you’re having. Uranus stimulates the Mind to cosmic proportions, so once again, ground and center before you rush into anything too wild.

With all the interaction with the outer planets, this Mercury retrograde has a lot to teach us about connecting to these big energies. Try to go slow so you can integrate the lessons. This is about showing us how we’re connecting to the collective Mind. Do you have something to share? Now’s the time to do it.

This important Mercury retrograde can be a time for you to expand your vision of your life.  Why are you here if not to take a stand on what is happening in our world.   There is so much work to be done.  Perhaps Mercury will help you find how you can engage in the world.

The New Moon in Libra occurs on October 6^th at 14* Libra, just hours before Pluto turns direct at 25* Capricorn. Mars and Mercury are close to this New Moon, so we might feel like we have to do something, speak out about something or mediate something. It will also inconjunct Uranus in Taurus, so watch out for sudden surprises that you’ll have to make adjustments for.

Find out where Libra is in your chart and you’ll know what areas of life will be effected by the Mercury retrograde. In my chart, it’s all happening in my 5^th house of play, children, creativity and fun. I’m re-writing an old screenplay into a book and it is fun and creative. What are you doing?

Whatever is happening in your world, don’t forget you can always go out into Nature and let Mother Earth ground and center you. The future is not fixed! Let your Mind rest in silence and find your truth.

Happy Equinox,

Cathy

 

 

Fall Song

Another year gone, leaving everywhere
its rich spiced residues: vines, leaves,

the uneaten fruits crumbling damply
in the shadows, unmattering back

from the particular island
of this summer, this NOW, that now is nowhere

except underfoot, moldering
in that black subterranean castle

of unobservable mysteries -- roots and sealed seeds
and the wanderings of water. This

I try to remember when time's measure
painfully chafes, for instance when autumn

flares out at the last, boisterous and like us longing
to stay -- how everything lives, shifting

from one bright vision to another, forever
in these momentary pastures.

~ Mary Oliver ~

(American Primitive)