 Canada Goose
Libra Moon:
Libra/Scorpio Solar Festivals
4th October & 2nd November 2009
Malvin Artley, our regular esoteric commentator examines the subtle meaning of the Full Moons in Aries and Taurus for 2009. These are Libra's Full Moon and Scorpio's Full Moon, as the Moon is full in the sign opposing the Sun. The full moon of Libra (the full moon at Aries 11º10') occurs on the 4th of October 2009 at 06:11 UT and 1:11 AM EST in the US. This is 5:11 PM AEST, (Sydney time). The full moon of Scorpio (the full moon at Taurus 10º30') occurs on the 2nd of November 2009 at 19:16 UT and 2:16 PM EST in the US. This is 6:16 AM AEST, (Sydney time) on Nov.3.
Belated Halloween Greetings, friends!
In 1999 I made a trip back to North Carolina to see my family. It had been five years since I had moved to Australia and I had not been back in all that time, so I was due to revisit loved ones and places from my youth I had left behind. Of course, my family was happy to see me and it was good to catch up with friends as well. My sister was pregnant at the time with my nephew and she had given birth to my niece while I was gone. My parents were the same and I made the rounds about town taking in the sights. The thing that amazed me was how much everything had changed in such a short amount of time. The people were all the same, but the place was different. It didn't feel like 'home' so much any more. I even got lost a few times driving through the newer developments. One of the biggest things that struck me, and it might seem an odd thing, was the wildlife – and I am not talking about late nights partying. Driving out through the country one day to visit with my mom I happened to look out at one of the many ponds through the area and there were a dozen Canadian geese happily swimming around. In all the time I had lived in North Carolina I had never seen a Canadian goose in the flesh. And, several times I saw flocks of them flying overhead. “Oh, yes!” I was told. “They are very common here now since the new conservation laws came into effect.” Well, I'll be! Canadian geese – and groundhogs, chipmunks and coyotes, too.
Those few years ago people were happy to see all the wildlife return. (Now there are even bears and wolves in North Carolina. I never saw any of them, either). These days, however, people are getting pretty grumpy about the geese and the deer. It is hard to keep a garden because the deer come at night and eat everything and it is hard to enjoy a country pond any more because of all the geese. They will charge at you, you know? Things and attitudes do change. As much as we might like for certain things to remain the same we eventually have to accept that all things are really only temporary. Still, it is better to see the balance of nature returning. I even saw my first zebra that trip – at a country pond in North Carolina. And, my ex-supervisor had two pet emus in his back yard. It's a strange old world sometimes. 
Why all this talk of animals? It highlights what can happen when we change our relationship with our immediate environment and shows that nature does have a resiliency and a life-force that we often discount or ignore. It is also a hint of what might come to be in the years to follow as we will have to change the ways we do certain things. We cannot keep going on the way we have and expect nature to tolerate the increasing load of human population. Something has to give.
Due to commitments and other factors I was unable to write the Libra letter before the event this year. Also, because I was on retreat for the better part of this month, I am late sending the Scorpio letter, so I have put both letters together. As it turns out there are some very interesting aspect patterns that are common to both full moon periods, so there are similar energies in the two charts. It has been a difficult and demanding period in the world since the Virgo full moon this year with a fair amount of suffering. Aside from the earthquakes and tsunami in the South Pacific, many people have expressed the fact that they are fatigued more than usual, that emotional concerns have come to the surface that have been lying hidden for unattended for some time and reports of vague or unexplained pains and feelings of heaviness in the limbs and low back. The physical and emotional symptoms are consistent with what generally happens when there is increased seismic activity in the world. We should keep in mind, too, that we begin an eighteen-month period wherein there will be numerous eclipse activations and the finishing off of a period that was set in motion in the middle of this decade. In short, a time of instability and intense collective purification/clearing is upon us and we thus have a unique opportunity to make ourselves anew in some ways over the next year or so.
Planting of Seeds
It is perhaps appropriate that we move into this series of eclipse activations and completions during the Libra interval. Libra, especially if one is a Libran type (Sun-sign or Ascendant) represents a choice – a change of direction. It is a common joke among astrologers and people who know a bit about astrology that Librans have difficulty in making decisions. Some people have the odd notion that a Libran presented with a choice can go paralytic in the process of arriving at a decision. I actually find that to be more common among the mutable signs (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces). With the Librans I know, yes there can be a period where they weigh all the factors, but it is usually not very long and once they make up their minds they are unlikely to change their decision. The biggest choice represented in Libra is not about mundane affairs, but rather about one's direction in life – most specifically, one's spiritual direction – and that is the one area of life where the Libran can take a long time to decide, and rightly so, for it is not the sort of thing to be lightly glossed over.
We need to consider a few facts about this sign because it is not easily understood from the standpoint of worldly affairs. In past letters we have looked at the three rulers attributed to this sign (Venus, Uranus and Saturn) and what they mean to the Libran type. What we need to consider here at this point in our history is the factor of what has been termed in esoteric astrology as 'the reversal of the wheel'. We are at a point in world history that is likely to be viewed in future years as a tremendous period of change and reversal of trends, and it is in that vein that we need to consider the sign Libra this year. Many people who take a cursory look at esoteric astrology come to Libra and surmise that Libra marks the point in the Soul's evolutionary process where the focus of the person in their personal life shifts from worldly matters to those of spiritual import. In short, many people with an interest in esoteric astrology are apt to believe that if one is born as a Libra type that the person's life is marked as one where they must turn away from worldly concerns and light the torch of the Path. While that might be true for some Librans, it is no more so than for any other sign. In looking at this matter over the years, I am more inclined to think that Libran types and Libran intervals have a different onus than that just mentioned. To me, the life of the Libran type is not so much one of 'reversal of the wheel' and a reorientation of life so much as it is one of reassessment and the planting of seeds for future lives.
Tests and Triumphs of Libra
Every sign has its tests and trials, its weaknesses and triumphs. Libra is a sign in which one sees the world through the mirror of other people. It is the sign most implicated in partnerships of all sorts, and is said to rule the law, sex and money. However, it is not the concrete aspects of those three factors that matter to Librans so much as it is one's attitude toward them. Every Libran type will be presented with trials and questions about one or all of the three and will have to make certain choices around them. All three factors – law, sex and money – are intimately tied up with marriage and it is that area where people have some of their greatest trials in life. With Librans marriage is a natural inclination and a deep-seated drive, but marriage is not without its problems and what once may have been the joy of one's life can quickly become a bitter battleground when things go sour in the marital stakes. Libra also rules open enemies and the law courts always have their share of broken marriages to sort through.
Human love is a fragile thing, especially where emotions (what most people call 'the heart') are involved and given a choice between a spiritual path or choice within a relationship, the emotions usually win out. Mismatched spirituality between partners is a breeding ground for discontent, but the still, quiet voice of the higher Self and one's karma guides us to our proper path in life. Every self-aware Libran type will have to face their spiritual side at some point because Libra also rules the 'marriage of the higher with the lower' and for Librans their catalyst to look at something larger than themselves is usually relationship trouble. So, there are two primary choices before every Libran type: - the choice between human love and divine love and
- the choice to see things in a different light and to act accordingly or to continue in the old ways of doing things.
The first choice just mentioned is usually the catalyst that brings about the second choice for Librans. This will make more sense as we go through the following paragraphs.
Lessons of Love
Venus in connection with Libra is about human love. Librans are famously known for their relationship emphasis and the more shallow type will jump from relation to relation looking for 'the one' who can fulfill their needs/dreams in life. Venus is the ideal lover, but more than that is wisdom veiled in form. Venus is commonly associated with women and female issues and with wisdom (and thus 'the ideal') in more esoteric terms. In short then, the thing the Libran type is actually seeking in any relationship – and this is true for either men or women – is the realization of their own inner truth, their own innate wisdom. No human relationship will ever confer that. They will always fall short of that goal unless one is privy to the true secrets of what sex and intimacy actually represents.
Relationships can bring very painful lessons to the Libran type. There is a great longing that can set in for the more idealistic type of Libran and that longing is for the ultimate union that will fulfill the objectives and aims of life in all its departments. So long as the focus is outward into worldly life the longing will be left unfulfilled. Librans eventually learn that attachment (human love) is not the answer and that lovers and other relations are but mirrors to and of one's true Self. Once that realization is made then the life of the Libran type takes a dramatic turn and much of what once had meaning in life becomes unfulfilling and even viewed as a source of entrapment. Venus then fades into the background and Uranus takes the stage in the Libran type's life. The quest then becomes the search for conditions that will ultimately bring about the true and lasting happiness that transcends all worldly concerns. Uranus takes over as the motivating factor behind the choices to be made by the Libran type, representing the 'urge to better conditions'.
Wisdom Beings
Choice for the Uranus phase of Libra takes on far-reaching aims. Uranus goes far beyond any single lifetime or person. Uranus leads one to universal truths and takes one out of the personal. The Uranian type of Libran will seek to set up conditions that will bring ultimate happiness, not simply in the present life but for many lifetimes into the future. Once those factors that will lead the Libran type to their goal are in place, then the nature of the ultimate ruler of the sign (Saturn) starts to become evident. Libra rules over a class of lives called the Triple Flowers, what are called in Buddhist terminology 'Wisdom Beings', or jnanasattvas – the Soul, or Ego in Theosophical terms. It is this level of wisdom to which all Libran effort is directed. In Libra we have what might be termed 'Venus and Saturn in opposition' – wisdom borne of worldly experience (Venus, or accumulated wisdom) in distinction to ultimate wisdom, 'the View' or realization of emptiness (full enlightenment). It is this latter wisdom toward which all effort in Libra under the influence of Uranus and Saturn is directed. Essentially, all choice by a Libran type or in a Libran interval (such as the full moon period just passed) when one is on the spiritual path is directed toward planting the seeds of future karma that will ultimately lead to full enlightenment. Saturn as ruler of Libra represents the karmic imprints being put in place (choices made in this life and the actions that follow upon those choices) that will inexorably lead to full enlightenment.
In part two of this article, Malvin Artley continues his exploration of the esoteric meanings of the Libra Solar Festival at the Full Moon in Aries of 2009.
 Read part two of The Libra Solar Festival
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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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