The new moon at 02°49’ degrees in Libra on Sunday, September 25th at 4:54 p.m. CDT is a catalyst for conscious relating and a call to embody a new standard of love. We reflect on how we show up in relationships, express our needs and work to bring about inner harmony.
This new moon brings together the Sun, Moon, Venus, and Mercury Retrograde, all conjunct in this new moon chart. With Mercury and Venus aligned with the new moon, we begin a new 18-month cycle of insight, reflection and aligning to our values. This new moon marks a time to plant the seeds you wish to nurture and bring into fruition with the Libra full moon on March 25th, 2024.
“Your self-worth is determined by you. You don’t have to depend on someone to tell you who you are.”
Beyoncé Knowles
Libra as an Archetype
Libra is an air sign that represents partnership, intimacy, diplomacy and fairness. The essence of Libra is to attract, captivate, persuade, consider and balance. Relationships become our mirrors to teach us about our needs, preferences, values and level of esteem. For better or for worse, what you see in someone else is in you. As a path of development, Libra is on an archetypal journey to move beyond polarization and see the parts of themselves reflected through the filter of the other and understand that there is no me vs. you. There is me in you.
The first six zodiac signs focus on the development of the self. Libra represents an evolutionary shift in the zodiac as we now journey above the horizon line of the astrological chart to the 7th house of partnership and begin to explore our relationship to the other. The Libra archetype, therefore, resonates with interpersonal relationships, establishing equilibrium inside ourselves and with others, and pursuing something beyond the individual self.
Libra is interested in understanding patterns in people, society and group cooperation for the sake of justice. The Libra archetype is on a search for the ideal group or social pattern. Libra is skilled in the art of spiritual compromise, which is the capacity to succumb to all arbitrary matters while still reaching, influencing and inspiring a higher cause. Ruled by the planet Venus, Libra is associated with aesthetic beauty, art, charm and grace. Through listening, dialogue and considering the needs of others, they naturally hold space for different perspectives. Libra can accommodate and coordinate the ideas, needs and values of others with poise and fairness. They can offer their skills of mediation, negotiation and diplomacy to a group or society.
Libra embodies the archetype of the Lover. They naturally align with the ideals of sharing, giving and inclusion. Libras strive for peace-keeping and cooperation and can easily put themselves in others’ shoes. Their cardinal energy is focused on getting to know individuals by asking the appropriate questions and articulating what is essential to make the other person feel understood. Libra acts by concentrating on other individuals.
Libra is sometimes misunderstood as being inherently balanced or on a journey to arrive at a state in which they are in complete balance. Libra is essentially about exploring their inner world through relationships while always striving to create balance. This means they may flow to either end of the spectrum and create a variety of experiences to understand what the most need. Through contrast they learn more about their needs, when to express their truth or set a boundary. Balance is not an end destination but a life-long process of development.
The Shadow of Libra
The shadow side of Libra includes being insincere, people-pleasing, timid, indecisive and a victim. They may stay locked into a victim mentality as an identity and view life through a lens of seeing what is as fair or unfair instead of understanding life as experiences for their soul development. Libra may seek to create peace at any cost and comprise too much of themselves or never let you know where they really stand.
“Being non-confrontational and trying to avoid conflict at all costs actually leads to more conflicts in the long run. We avoid confrontation because we fear that it’s going to deplete us. But if we can become fearless about standing up for ourselves and do it in the kindest way possible, it will become easier, and we’ll feel a strong sense of self-love that comes from taking care of ourselves.”
Anita Moorjani
Another shadow form of the Libra archetype is codependency. Codependency is a learned style of relating that is undoubtedly shaped by earlier life experiences and primary family and social programming. The notion or conviction that love can only be given and accepted under certain circumstances lies at the core of this complex. We adapt to the conditions we were taught that allowed love, acceptance and approval to flow. Living by these adapted behaviors may disconnect us from our needs, boundaries and intuitive hunches. To align consciously with a healthier energy , we must shift how we react to interpersonal dynamics and consciously relate through the lens of interdependence.
As Libra is often weighing options and considering the pros and cons, they tend to level people up through comparison and contrast and can view people as more or less spiritually developed, beautiful, creative or intellectually gifted than they are.
There is a strong desire to deeply know another and be in an intimate connection but they can be repelled by that level of vulnerability it requires. Libra’s high ideals and standards can sometimes make it challenging to be present and available for all of the humanness and reality that intimacy can bring.
Learning How to Listen
An essential theme in this lunation is the art and practice of active listening. At the core of the Libra archetype is the psychology of listening, communication and connecting with the other. How do we take a genuine interest in the human being sitting across from us? Do we really listen to others? Do we know what it is that we really need? What is it that we feel called to express? Do we feel heard and appreciated?
The experience of listening offers a conscious exchange of sharing, support and connection. We learn more about who we are as we witness the needs and desires of others. We learn through comparing and contrasting what is authentic and true for us. We tune in to how that experience made us feel and learn about our genuine needs.
Every relationship has its own unique role in our lives. Some people we meet for a few minutes in an exchange as we go about our day. Others play a much more intimate and significant role in our soul’s journey. Through each relationship and experience with “the other” we learn the ways in which we are available for giving and receiving. Some of these ways are conscious choices made from our experiences in relationships. While others are more unconscious strategies that we adapted from roles in our early primary relationships and family dynamics. This lunation invites us to look at our relationship to giving and receiving. For example, where are we reacting from an unconscious place of needing to be needed, instead of present as a witness? When we can bring awareness into the present moment we listen with our minds and hearts to the person in front of us while inwardly listening to divine guidance on how we respond. We can listen to a higher consciousness and open to the higher octave of love channeling through us that informs how we give, in what way and to whom. Sometimes our greatest gift may be in being a sacred witness and trusting in the wisdom of the soul in front of us to figure out their next steps. Sometimes our highest act of giving may be to say no as we are supporting another to trust their own wisdom. We are tasked to get real about our cultural conditioning that still influences us so that we can honor and live from our authentic needs. We shed layers of programming that say we have to give when it feels like an obligation or that cause us to feel pressured to say yes when we know that we don’t have the time. We liberate our energy to become available to where unconditional love wants to guide us.
Understanding Our Expectations
Each relationship dynamic we are in is unique, and through our growth and development in relationships, we learn how to establish the right kind of expectations and boundaries for that dynamic. Unclear expectations and unhealed wounds can often create challenges in relationship dynamics. We can project onto our partner the need for them to show up for us in a specific way or fulfill a specific social role in our lives. We can suffer when we make assumptions about our roles and commitments without knowing where the other is at and without clearly defining our expectations. We can sometimes be so focused on the other that we abandon our own needs. This lunation is an important time to reflect and express our needs. This is a superb time for renegotiating agreements in relationships. We may have initiated our relationship from unconscious patterns and assumptions that don’t serve our growth and evolution.
“From a spiritual perspective every relationship we develop, from the most casual to the most intimate, serves the purpose of helping us to become more conscious.”
Caroline Myss
This lunation invites us to hold a new standard for love and asks us to rise up to become the new model of conscious relating. How can we transcend beyond conditioned expectations to be present for the authentic love that is emerging? What would it look like to take back our projections? What would it look like to take full responsibility for what we create? Who would we need to become to embody the model of conscious partnership we seek? How would our connections and level of intimacy change if we really valued ourselves? What would it look like to clearly identify our needs and express them?
Cosmic Weather
We have been in the process of introspection with six planets, one minor planet and two asteroids (Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Chiron, Vesta and Juno) currently in retrograde. We may feel stuck, like things aren’t working the way they normally do. They are not meant to. If you feel like you’re going nowhere, it’s because you are meant to stay put. This is a purposeful time to reflect and reconnect. Rest as much as possible and/or spend as much time as feasible in nature. Allow everything to flow and trust the unfolding journey of life and the soul’s wisdom that guides us.
Four planets are all aligned together forming a Stellium in this new moon chart, but only two of them, the Sun and the Moon, are in Libra. The other two, Venus (the ruler of Libra) and a retrograde Mercury (the ruler of Virgo), are in the signs of Virgo, which is extremely close to the Libra new moon energies. A Stellium typically indicates that the planets involved influence each other and the archetypal energies merge.
With Mars in the sign of Gemini, our energy is quick to react and can be easily frustrated if things aren’t moving as fast as we think they should. This combination can cause us to be a bit harsh with our words. It is important to be aware so we can choose how we respond to life and what is the best use of our energy.
Jupiter in the sign of Aries is opposite the new moon in Libra. Jupiter magnifies, exaggerates and amplifies anything it touches, and in this new moon chart it activates the Aries / Libra Axis. Aries is the archetype of heroic action, the advocate, the self and the warrior. Aries is on an archetypal quest to individuate and be free to express themselves as an individual. We balance our own individual needs with our relationships. Both of these parts of our world need attention and permission to evolve. We may need to advocate for our needs and take the time for clear communication with those we love the most. Jupiter will highlight what isn’t working and show us relationships which may have run their course. To work with this energy consciously we must understand that ultimately self love must be the foundation on which all relationships are built.
This lunation is especially potent as it occurs at the midpoint of Mercury Retrograde. Read more about Mercury Retrograde and the Jupiter / Mercury opposition here.
The Invitation
This new moon encourages us to invite more equilibrium into our inner and outer worlds. We are asked to grow beyond the ways we give and take and open to be a channel of divine love. Through owning our patterns and choices in relationships, we deepen in intimacy and expand our capacity to love. This is an important time of reflection and incredible insight. When we create space to listen deeply within, we open to a new perspective of our soul’s journey and honor those who are in our lives as they show us who we are and wake us up to a new part of ourselves. We practice identifying and communicating our needs, listening without judgment and trusting our hearts to guide our next steps.