 A Duck and her Brood, by Chris Young
Libra's Moon:
The Libra Solar Festival Part 2
Libra Blue Moon 2010
Malvin Artley concludes his examination of the esoteric side of the Libra Solar Festival, 2010. Malvin looks at the relationships and karmic links, and the truth of renunciation, as well as the symbolism of the degrees.
In general, the greatest struggle any Libran type undergoes is the choice between human love and divine love. The degree to which a Libran will demonstrate the higher order of the sign will be seen in their capacity to put the needs of others before their own desires, and that often means they will have to choose between a personal relation and some wider work, between human intimacy and service to a greater cause, the bliss of physical intimacy and ultimate, unchanging bliss. Hmmm.... bliss forever-more or a few blissful weeks or years with a few people and then the pain of separation.... How does one choose? Only through service and spiritual practice is the ultimate realized. Lovers come and go... and appear again and go again... and touch us again and go again, cycling around life after life until we finally get the message. And what is that message, the one that the Libran type (or anyone else, for that matter) ultimately has to recognize and then convey to the world? Well, when we come together with people, especially in an intimate setting, we create karma with them for good or ill—we set up the causes that will bring us together with them again in some future life or lives. The nature of our interactions with people definitely determines the nature of our future lifetimes with those same souls. Of course, this is all a bit oversimplified, but the basic truth of the matter is there. People reincarnate in groups. We do not work out karma with people we have not met before. We can create karma with someone who is unknown to us or they with us, but to be drawn together for purpose means necessarily there has to have been some connection between people before, in some past life.
Our relationships in this life set up our karma for future lives. It is our choices within those relationships that determine the type of life/lives we will have in the future. Our motivation and behavior in this life determines the course of the lives to come. Saturn governs karma astrologically and it is choice that determines karma. So, let us be clear: do we wish to keep coming back here again and again, doing the same things over and over, going through all the same joys and pain, having to spend all that time in pursuits that get us largely nowhere in a spiritual sense and spend all that time chasing temporal pursuits that more often than not do not turn out as we plan or even like? Is that the sort of thing we really strive for? It is said that if we kept a log, out of roughly 60 years of life if we applied ourselves, we would only have a few years in life, if that much, devoted to spiritual pursuits—if we really applied ourselves. The rest is said to be largely meaningless spiritually. Does all that activity really help us or anyone else for that matter? If the answer to the preceding questions is a resounding NO!, then we will have begun to understand the lesson of Libra.
The Truth of Renunciation
The mark of spiritual success for any Libran type is a pronounced inner registration of some sense of renunciation for the cares of this world. The term 'renunciation' has a negative meaning for most people. It is deemed to denote suffering and sacrifice of human love and pleasure. Well, as I recently read in an email, “Pleasure is not reward. Suffering is not punishment.” And that is true. True renunciation is not to totally eschew the pleasures of this world, nor of forfeiting human love. Rather, it is the realization that the cares of this world, joyful and painful, only keep us bound here and are thus not desirable at all in the end. The truth of renunciation is an emergence from the mind that sees this world as something to be desired, for good or ill, as an end in itself. Ironically, renunciation sets us on the path in the end to the realization of ultimate bliss, and with it, the burning desire to place all others in that same state of bliss. Now, that is true love, divine love. What we want for ourselves, we want for all others, and that cannot be found in worldly matters to any lasting degree.
Does all the preceding mean that we give up our relationships with people? No, but it does change the way we view those relations. In fact, we cannot truly avoid our relations because we have certain 'debts' to pay, certain tasks to do, certain things to learn together. However, we can ensure that we don't make the same mistakes again and again and that we have much more purposeful relations with those people in this and in future lives. While it is true that we reincarnate together because of our karmic links, it is equally true that we can walk the spiritual path and have these higher realizations together as well, if the other parties are like-minded and amenable. And that is the real value of our relations, that we seek to make our lot together more purposeful and meaningful (which brings in the esoteric ruler of Libra: Uranus)—that we ensure better conditions for the greatest number, both in this life and especially in future lives. In short, we renounce all petty concerns and thinking only of this life, set our sights on the good of the whole, engage in meaningful practices and don't waste our time about anything that, say, will be forgotten in five minutes/years/decades—even five lifetimes from now.
This registration of renunciation is the truth behind 'the reversal of the wheel' that is spoken of with regard to Libra. The 'wheel' is not the wheel of the zodiac in my opinion, but the wheel of life and death. It refers not to a single life, but to any and every life where one is born as a Libran type. To be born a Libran type is an assurance and indication that some area of life will come under reassessment and that a choice in the present life for better lives in the future will be presented. The hope and intent with Libra is that a choice to reorient oneself toward one's higher nature and thus the betterment of society in general will be made in that life, and you can bet that there will be critical times of intense inner questioning and struggle in the Libran's life that will present the opportunities for said choices to be made. There is a lot more that could be said about Libra, but with the preceding points in mind, let's have a look at the full moon.
The Full Moon
The full moon took place at 12:36 PM AEDT (1:36 AM UT) on the 23rd of Oct 2010. The figure is quite a charged one in an easier sort of way, with the Sun/Moon axis forming an 'easy opposition' with Pluto (Pluto is sextiles the Sun and trine the Moon in the figure). In addition Mars is trine to the Jupiter/Uranus conjunction, a very energetic and creatively potent configuration. The Sabian symbol for the degree of the Sun reads as follows:
Three mounds of knowledge on a philosopher's head. 30 Libra
Esoterically, the 'three mounds of knowledge' are the 'Triple Flower' (higher Self) of the philosopher, his/her accumulated and timeless spiritual wisdom, informing the persona. It is a symbol that denotes not just knowledge, but a profound understanding of life—wisdom. This symbol denotes that if we so choose we can access our storehouse of wisdom through this interval and open a channel to the higher Self. It would be, for example, an excellent interlude to undertake some sort of spiritual empowerment or embark on a quest of some sort, even just to sit and meditate or reflect deeply on life. Not to worry if you missed the full moon. This type of energy will pervade the weeks to come. The symbol for the degree of the Moon reads as follows:
A duck pond and its brood. 30 Aries
This symbol puts one in mind of boundaries and karmic outcomes. How did the ducks come to be at that pond and why do they not go beyond it? Well, eventually they would move on from it. Yes, it is a place of nurture for the young ones and probably quite a lovely scene, and would itself be a place where one could sit and reflect for long hours. However, one may not really think it, but duck ponds are on the whole man-made, and sometimes not with the highest of intentions. Some duck ponds are purpose-built solely for hunting ducks, so the symbol itself can hold a deceptive charm. How often are we drawn to scenarios or people because we are charmed by the possibilities? How often do we stay in places simply because we are provided for? How long is long enough to stay in a place? Are we there because it is to good purpose or simply because we like the view? Does it nurture us or does it hold hidden dangers for us? I do not mean to throw a negative slant on an idyllic image, but to me the point of this image, especially in the context of this full moon, is that we should closely examine our motivation for being in certain scenarios and especially to take a close look at our contrived notions about where we are in life, enjoy the beauty for what it is, but not be deceived by what might lurk in darker corners.
Charm and Idealism
To round out a consideration of the full moon figure and to finish up, we find Mars in square to the Neptune/Chiron conjunction and the Sun trine to said union. Mars square Neptune is an aspect found in the charts of spiritual or charismatic leaders. It gives a magnetic control over the hearts and minds of people and in and of itself can be quite alluring. There is thus a danger with this aspect of being charmed by people or circumstance. However, we also find Saturn in sesquisquare to Neptune/Chiron, and that will serve to make our view of things more objective and down-to-earth. Mars is semisquare Saturn, which tones down the fieriness of Mars somewhat. Pluto is conjunct the North Node, which can bring in powerful associations with people, and we find the Sun in a wide conjunction with Mercury/Venus, adding to charm and idealism. On the whole, this is a chart uniquely suited toward magnetization of spiritual pursuits as well as worldly matters and a great amount of pioneering and original thinking can come from it. All we need do is to sit and attune ourselves as best we can with our higher nature and see whatever might be holding us back in our lives.
Life gets very interesting when we begin to realize that things and people are often not what they seem. The longer one journeys on the spiritual path the more one has to look beyond the ordinary appearances of things. One also begins to get a larger perspective on matters before oneself and slowly at first what we used to think was important simply drops away, to be replaced with more meaningful aspects of life. Then, when we come to understand that it is the energy of things and matters that are far more important than what is before us and that our choices about how we use our energies are of utmost importance, then it begins to dawn on us that even what seem to be trifle decisions can have an enormous impact down the track. We begin to take great care in our thoughts. Every thought, every act, has a consequence, good or otherwise. It is just simple metaphysics, and not rocket science. So, the next time you see a Libran agonizing over a decision, a bit of understanding would not be misplaced. On the other hand, you may want to stop and ask them how much it will matter in a few months' time. The answer might be a surprise to both of you.
Blessings,
Malvin.
23 Oct 2010
This is the end of the article.
 Return to the start of The 2010 Libra Solar Festival at the Full Moon in Aries.
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 Malvin Artley is an accredited member of the American Federation of Astrologers. His primary focus over the past 25 years has been on the sciences as they express occultism and with bridging work between the two. His special interests in those fields are the human subtle energy system and all the chakras, or energy centres, physics and technology, astronomy and all aspects of Chinese occultism.
He sends out periodic emails about astrological happenings and developments. These letters are sent out as a gift and a service. If you wish to be added to or deleted from the mailing list please let me know. If you feel inspired to pass them on please do so, but do so without alteration or charge. They are sent to people of many persuasions, not just astrologers. Blessings. Click here to subscribe to Malvin's periodic letters.
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