The Sun Enters Libra Marking Equinox With a Strong 'Lord of the Underworld' Infusion

Pluto stations direct at 11 degrees Capricorn tonight (6:36 p.m. CST), just as the Sun enters Libra, marking equinox.

The daytime hours and nighttime hours are in perfect balance now, but it's definitely going to require some effort on our part to see that sort of balance reflected in our own lives, selves, and relationships as we move into fall 2014 in the northern hemisphere.

If we expected a breather as the personal planets moved into lovely Libra, we may have to reconsider...

"Intense" is the word most often associated with Pluto and the sign it rules, Scorpio, but that may be a bit of an understatement for this fall.

Pluto is basically stopped in the zodiac at the moment as it completes its standard six-month retrograde period, which began in April. As Pluto stations, some of its inky, edgy, uncomfortable energy and themes permeate the scene and every interaction we have.

Let's just say: socially taut with multiple tripwires. 

Pluto is associated with all the darkest emotions on the human spectrum - including experiences of hell - and we can expect moments during this station (with effects felt into late November) when the conditions we face seem simply intolerable.

(This is exacerbated, of course, by ongoing attempts by the Global Governors to start World War III...) 

Rage, anxiety, fear, nausea, paranoia, obsession, emotional triggers, a feeling of energetic moulting - all these are Pluto terrain, and they are often intensified around stations.  

Pluto has been dredging the bottom for six months. Now, it turns direct, bringing some emotionally dicey issues, some hidden subtext, and some potentially poisonous power dynamics to the surface.

We move into Libra season with beastly Pluto permeating the scene, and all that dredged-up, simmering subtext starts coming out into our relationships and social interactions as the personal planets in Libra form squares to Pluto and oppositions to Uranus in Aries.

Yes, the Uranus-Pluto square is being activated heavily this Libra season, triggering more collective issues and impetus for change that trickle down to personal relationships.

Our relationships are molten lava this fall, in a state of alchemical morph, and it's going to be one hell of a ride. (No Plutonic pun intended.) Things will not be the same on a relational front as we come out the other side.

The old days are over. The illusions are dissipating. Change is required. New relational rules apply.

With the personal planets in Libra forming conjunctions to the transiting North Node this October, we are channeling the wild, radical, and revolutionary energy of Uranus in Aries conjunct the South Node into our relationships and relationship constructs.

Uranus in Aries requires that we bring new facets of our identities more strongly into our relationships, rather than upholding standard relationship roles that no longer bring satisfaction.

Stubbornly hold to old relationship forms to your own detriment now. If Uranus and Pluto say it's time for change, it's time for change.

We're working with new-era rules now about equality and fairness, and this particularly involves traditional male-female and masculine-feminine relations. There is no such thing as invisible relationship work or unimportant support work from now on. It all requires recognition and fair compensation as we work out new dynamics and frameworks.

Communication planet Mercury is currently in Libra, moving through a very loaded Via Combusta retrograde shadow. Everything we've been thinking about or talking about since September 13 will be coming back up again during the Mercury retrograde October 4 - 24 from 2 degrees Scorpio to 16 degrees Libra.

Mercury will have an extended stay in this "burning path" area of the zodiac, and we are rubbing up against some raw and potentially uncomfortable subjects over the next two months. Some very touchy and even potentially explosive social interactions are possible until Mercury leaves the Via Combusta November 18. Until then, the messenger is on the burning path, and our words are alchemically spicy and loaded.

Mercury dips into Scorpio September 27, making the retrograde station at 2 degrees Scorpio on October 4 and re-entering Libra October 10.

Relationship planet Venus enters its own sign of Libra September 29, running the cardinal gauntlet before entering Scorpio October 23 and meeting the Sun in exterior conjunction October 25. 

From tonight's equinox, we move to a New Moon at 1 degree Libra on September 24, and this New Moon opens a new relationship cycle as well as a highly-charged eclipse season that will bring more relational backdrop changes.

The New Moon in Libra culminates in a "high noon" Full Moon total lunar eclipse in Aries conjunct Uranus and the South Node on October 8.

This Full Moon conjunct Uranus and the South Node also activates a high-spirited Grand Fire Trine with Jupiter in Leo and Mars in Sagittarius, indicating major inspiration and creative potential on tap - if we can navigate the frictional spots. That may be easier said than done because at the time of the Aries Full Moon eclipse, Venus in Libra will be exactly square Pluto, newly direct and still ever-so-powerful in Capricorn. Pissing matches and a "severing of social ties" are possible as the Moon grows full and things are pushed to an emotional head. Careful, careful, as South Node in Aries recklessness and restlessness can bring unpleasantness.

We aren't who we once were, and this can cause social and relational upheaval as we forge ahead into the new astrological era.

Yowza.

This is edgy and terse as all get out, but we need all that friction and pressure in order to make the bold moves necessary. Ride the molten lava this fall, and it will move you into more interesting and enlivening social and relational territory. Take the social opportunities that come to you organically, and let go of old social habits and scenarios that no longer bear fruit.

From the Full Moon total eclipse in Aries, we move to a New Moon partial lunar eclipse at 0 degrees Scorpio on October 23. This New Moon deepens the themes of the new relationship cycle as the Sun and Venus come together in exterior conjunction October 25 at 1 degree Scorpio.

Everything needs to be on the table now. We need things out in the open if we are to achieve the true equality and fairness in human relations indicated by the transiting North Node in Libra. This Scorpio New Moon eclipse with the Sun and Venus conjunct does just that, pushing some underlying issues and dynamics to the surface. Some old resentments and simmering anger could come up for recognition, resolution, and release. Work with the simmering themes gently over the following 28 days, relieving pressure one step at a time to avoid social/relational blowouts.

All in all, we are moving into a very dynamic period for human relations, both personal and professional. Our relations are butting up against the Uranus-Pluto square, as well as the transiting nodal axis. Movement and change are required, and seeing the writing on the wall early puts you in a stronger position to successfully ride out any related social/relational turbulence kicked up over the next two months.

We are running into some socially intolerable points because, yes, things are intolerable at points. The friction and frustration indicate areas that require some transformation, shaking up, or re-direction. 

There is a Plutonic dance of social connection and withdrawal going on this fall. Surfacing and submerging, surfacing and submerging.

We are working right up to the very edge in our relations, working to find the alchemical release points without pushing past them, without moving into detrimental "trigger zones," without allowing things to degenerate into hatred or a severing of ties. (Unless a severing of ties is called for, of course.) 

With the transiting Libra North Node so highlighted by conjunctions from the personal planets (in effect most strongly October 11 - 20), relationship progress, fairness, equality, beauty, and balance are our soul-directed goals. But there is certainly a great deal of social turbulence that must be navigated as we work toward those goals.

Some Upcoming Hotspots:

* New Moon at 1 degree Libra with the Moon moving into a square to Pluto in Capricorn and opposition to Uranus in Aries - September 24/25
* Sun in Libra square Pluto in Capricorn (11 degrees) - October 3/4
* Mercury retrograde station at 2 degrees Scorpio (Via Combusta territory) - October 4
* Sun in Libra opposite Uranus in Aries (14 degrees) - October 7
* Full Moon total lunar eclipse at 15 degrees Aries conjunct Uranus and the South Node with Venus in Libra opposite Pluto in Capricorn - October 8
* Venus in Libra opposite Uranus in Aries (14 degrees) - October 11