Sun in Libra - 2008
by Phil Reckard
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Sun in Libra, September 22 - October 22, 2008 (all times EDT)
Here we go again - yet another Mercury retrograde alert. The global economic markets are in a tailspin and now this? Yup - stay strong and cope - our guides can't deal with us when we're cowering under our beds in fear.
The usual warnings go out - the devil is always in the details so don't sign any contracts or purchase electronic gizmos, let's drive as if all of our lives depended on it and especially persevere to communicate clearly and constructively with loved ones. Invest only in the here and now.
While Mercury is "officially" retrograde from September 24 to October 15, our sense of personal and global equilibrium will be tested at the Equinox of September 22 (as if it hasn't been already) and for weeks after Mercury turns direct again - out of it's retrograde shadow "clear" through to Halloween/Samhain (Oct 31).
This one concludes the three retrograde Mercury cycles of 2008, all of which have been entirely within the Air signs of Aquarius (Jan/Feb), Gemini (May/June) and now the Cardinal Air sign Libra. Air signs are all about our intellects, creativity, communication, transportation and perhaps most importantly, fully utilizing our imaginations. We freely give this essential birthright away when we're living in fear so it is imperative that we tune-out those people and interests who are trying their best to manipulate our fear mechanisms for their own gain.
As always, the upcoming New and Full Moons provide the clues for how best to proceed into the uncertain future, and once again it's all about fearlessness as the Devil's Play card of the tarot is turned over. The Trickster can either be a great teacher or the Minister of Misinformation, an unlikely guru or a snake oil salesman. Success in dealing with the Trickster depends on how unafraid we are of getting to the bottom of the truth, and this is where the here and now can be especially invaluable.
To paraphrase Shakespeare, all of life is a (devil's) play and we're merely players in it. It's the birthright of our free-wills to either make it a comedy or a tragedy - we get to decide.
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Full forecast.
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Sun in Libra, September 22 - October 22, 2008 (all times EDT)
First, some leftovers from last month. As stated in the "Sun in Virgo" forecast, the Full Moon of September 15 was a preview - a coming attraction if you will - of the next three years involving the upcoming Saturn/Uranus (Prometheus) oppositions. The headlines have been screaming that we're in the middle of the worst global economic crisis since 1929 - the beginning of the Great Depression. This wake-up call has clearly been about the way we do business but not merely in financial terms alone. The same-old same-old simply doesn't work any longer - it's time to invent a more sustainable future. Did I just hear a collective "duh"?
This economic crisis has been looming for years, if not decades, but it has come to critical mass in the middle of the Mercury/Venus/Mars combustion in Libra, seeing all three inner planets within five degrees of each other for the longest stretch of time (17 days from 9/3 to 9/20) in at least the last one hundred and eight years. Many of our basic polarities (Venus/Mars) have been exposed to find out where our imbalances (Libra) are, and in the case of world economies, glaring examples have arisen between rich and poor, the haves and the have-nots, and apparently even "right" from wrong.
While we'd all like to be in the "have" column of life, a side benefit of the recently concluded Saturn/Neptune oppositions from 2006 - 2007 should have been about learning how to live with less, conserving what we already seem to own, and finding the common ground between the ever-splintering extremes. We're all basically screwed if we didn't learn anything from the past few years but it's never too late to learn a few new things about our karmic responsibilities.
The Devil's Play card for this month will have a lot to say about the blame game for who is responsible for this mess but it must be said that the root cause of this economic crisis has been unbridled greed on all sides. Greed is one of the seven deadly sins for a reason.
Putting all that aside, the Devil's Play card trumps all others at the New Moon of September 29. The Sabian* image for seven degrees Libra sees "A woman feeding chickens and protecting them from the hawks." The question here is which side of this triangular equation do we most identify with - the woman, the chickens or the hawks? The chickens fear the hawks for their lives while the woman and the hawks fear going hungry. But is the woman feeding the chickens for their eggs or for their drumsticks? The chickens would seem to have some trust issues. Regardless, being "chicken" about living our lives is certainly no way to face the future.
The woman as guardian offers a wider range of questions as to who or what can protect us from predators, whether they be economic, social, political or interpersonally rapacious individuals. Or, we can turn those questions on their heads and become our own best protectors - the key would be to live our lives without fear.
Astrologically, the woman in this image would be Earth Mother Ceres who is highly challenged this month opposed both spiritual Neptune and Wounded Healer Chiron, inconjunct Uranus and square Venus for large portions of October. Expect some mother/daughter type squabbles (Venus square Ceres) and the potentials for disruptions in our food chain. (Of interest in this regard is an upcoming debate in the US' FDA with big business wanting to produce genetically engineered farm animals as food for the general public - with no warning labels. Yuck!)
Fortunately, we can all take our lead from Venus - the Goddess of peace, harmony and the ever-important need for Libran balance - as She separates from Mars and leads the parade into Scorpio (9/23) where "the veil" only promises to get thinner. This is where it is so critical that we utilize our imaginations to not fear the boundaries of the veil where our higher selves are trying to communicate with us. This is also where the Trickster (the Devil's Play card of the tarot) so often works its magic in our lives. In a lot of ways it's never been more critical that we have our BS detectors on "max" - again, it's all about leaving our fears at the door. (The Devil's Play card and the Trickster should not at all be confused with Satan, but that's a subject for another time.)
The Full Moon of October 14 provides a very helpful way of working through these uncertain times, but it also offers a basic example of what the law of karma itself is all about. The Sabian image for the Sun at 22° Libra shows "A child giving birds a drink at a fountain - the concern of simple souls for the welfare and happiness of less-evolved beings who thirst for life renewal." This simple picture speaks volumes about our karmic responsibilities to help the less fortunate and offer whatever "life renewal" we can. This sense of sharing - the "haves" giving the have-nots sustenance - only generates beneficial karma, also known as paying it forward.
The Moon, full of Herself at 22° Aries shows us the potential karmic reward of good works and deeds; "The gate to the garden of all fulfilled desires - abundance made possible by human togetherness and cooperation." While this might seem to fly in the face of the Buddhist "desire is the root of all misery" paradigm, it's only the gate we're seeing here - the actual garden lies beyond. "Human togetherness and cooperation" tells us that we're all in this thing called life together, and if we ever hope to fulfill any desire our karmic responsibilities need to include everyone. In other words, no one wins unless we all win.
The Sun moves into Scorpio (10/22) just twelve days before the astrological event of the year, the first of five exact oppositions between Saturn and Uranus. These exact oppositions will conclude in 2010 and will have a major bearing on whatever awaits us in 2012. This global energetic represents the restrictive nature of the same old ways of doing things (Saturn) versus Uranus' alter-ego as Prometheus, the Titan who stole fire from the Gods and gave it to humanity when our ancestors were still living in caves. This should remind us of Einstein's famous definition of insanity, "Doing the same thing over and over again, hoping for a different outcome."
Anyone up for stealing some fire?
(* The Sabian symbols are from Dane Rudhyar's "An Astrological Mandala," 1972)
Phil can be reached at globalpsychics.com
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