Creating a relationship prescription
Firstly, happy September Equinox, as those of us in the South celebrate the honeyed kiss of spring while the northerners find beauty in the cooling autumn days. Libra’s harmony is well suited to this time of balance between day and night, between warmth and cold. This is the ultimate Goldilocks’s Effect of seeking that “juuuust right” balance and the natural world provides important guidance here. If you’re someone who enjoys celebrating these cycles through ceremony, you may enjoy this Spring Equinox video I recorded last year.
Now onto Libra season, and as the Sun brightens this domain of partnership and connection my minds turns to one word.
Integration.
The yearning for Libra is to create harmony through integration of two sides, but the Sun’s annual Libran check in (23 Sep – 23/24 Oct) won’t have the usual smoothness. Shakeups are likely to affect partnerships of all kinds, but especially those based on love, beauty, desire and women.
The second half of 2023 has focused us on partnerships of all kinds, as Venus’ astral connective tissue is probed and tested. Recently returned from the hidden depths of her Leo retrograde, reborn and rejuvenated in her morning star phase, Venus is still performing the third act of this play on the balancing act of exploring your individual hearts desires while valuing the interrelated needs of your other. Now Libra Season keeps Venus in spotlight as the final stages come to a resolution and new, more authentic possibilities can be explored with loved ones and important partners.
In other words, it’s time to integrate all you learned during the retrograde through practical application. Take it beyond your mind and heart, and put it into your actions.
I wish I could say it will be all balance and harmony, like the sweet ending of a Disney movies but life is messy and that is just a surface level look at Libra. If you’ve ever worked in a consensus model, you’ll know just how hard you need to work to create harmony. When all the voices need to be heard, it takes time and all the diplomacy you can muster to find a state of accord.
And there’s MANY voices crowding into Libra’s space right now, and not all of them are amenable to Venus’s charm. With the South Node now in Libra, there’s a drain on Venus’ connective abilities, much like during her recent retrograde. Hard realities may reemerge without her usual flow of honeyed words and diplomatic ideas. The Libran Solar eclipse on Oct 14/15 will cause ripples (or shudders) to flow outwards through this area of your life as well, and this will continue through until 19 Oct as first the Sun and then Mercury conjunct the South Node. With Mars and the South Node cohabiting in Libra I’m also thinking of other interwords. Interrupt. Interfere. Interject. So you’ll need self-control and patience to weather the weeks ahead.
Integration is key for relationships to work. That’s true for relationships with ourselves and with others. Integration is wholeness. Integration is complex. It invites us to embrace complexity. To know you’re capable of bothness. To throw away happily ever after. To let go of certainty.
It also tells us there are two sides to the story and to hear both we need to get curious, connect and listen to our partners.
As Dr John Gottman’s research demonstrates, that even though 69% of issues in relationships are unsolvable you can understand and accept this is just a part of human relationship dynamics and doesn’t mean it’s not working. Acceptance brings compassion, melting tensions so new ways to manage conflict arise and connection is built again.
This Libran season will have a tone shift part way through. The start with Venus still in Leo brings passion and creativity, a desire to express feelings and inspire hearts. When Venus moves into Virgo on Oct 9, the mood moves to streamlined and minimalist. It’s not the most comfortable space for pleasure focused Venus, but Virgo’s analysis genius and discerning eye offer a relationship checkup like no other, helping you diagnose the issues, problem solve solutions and form a practical prescription moving forwards. This is when integration can get real by practically applying or experimenting with your insights. Just remember not to translate Virgo’s desire to improve into a drive for perfection – it doesn’t exist!
Dates to diarise this month
25 Sept – Mercury trine Jupiter
The final of these three over the retrograde period. Schedule important conversations, plan brainstorming, consider making announcements that need to go wide! Mercury also rules commerce so perhaps could be a launch day for a product or service you’re hoping to sell.
5 Oct – Mars conjunct South Node & 9 Oct Mars square Pluto
If any period is a time for conflict, this will be one, as deep urges and karmic lessons vie for attention. Feelings of being scarcity or being overly stretched can heighten tensions, or alternatively you may feel a loss of purpose or direction. Know this will pass, it’s not forever. If there is an argument to be had, make agreements on how and where you’ll argue (over a sink, bath or a toilet where you can drain/flush the energy away). If you can, agree to postpone it to a time when heads are calmer, and everyone can more easily follow agreed ground rules.
9/10 October – Venus moves into Virgo, then forms an opposition to Saturn
This tone shift for Venus brings he rinto her “fall” – a state where a planet is considered to have a temporary set back. Relationships that have been moving forwards may stall or take a step back, espeically with Saturn in the mix, so see it as a need pause to ensure you’re on the right track. This is a time where logic battles intuition, and the mind tries to control the heart. As Blaise Pascal said “The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing” and you may find answers through the intelligence of your body rather than your heart or mind right now.
14/15 October – Solar eclipse in Libra
This is the first of the eclipses in Libra in this series, and with it’s ruler Venus in her fall until 8 November, the ripples of this eclipse may feel uncomfortable at first but end up bringing goodness down the track. You may find similar themes to October 2004 coming into play, so reflect back on that period.
22 Oct – Venus trine Jupiter
After the hectic pace of the last three weeks, Jupiter helps Venus increase the pour of her sweetness. It could be a time to resolve issues with a loved one, or day to indulge in pleasure, and a perfect time to put practical future relationship ideas in place.