Welcome to the Libra New Moon. This is the time in the lunar calendar when we turn our attention towards relationship. It’s a solar eclipse, too, which makes for powerful new beginnings. Over the coming months, we’re prioritizing connection, harmony, balance. The new moon solar eclipse will be exact on October 14, 2023 at 1:56 pm ET, 21 degrees Libra. That’s 10:56 am Los Angeles, 6:56 pm London, 7:56 pm Johannesburg, 4:56 am Sydney on October 15, and 6:56 am Auckland.
New moons are new beginnings. But a solar eclipse? It opens up a container of time that works its way through the coming six months and beyond. New moons are usually a time to seek renewal, to turn our attention to a different facet of life. A solar eclipse, instead, is a pivot or inflection point for the year. People come in and out of our lives. Events can mark this new beginning.
What is Libra? It’s the seventh sign of the zodiac. It stands on the opposite side of the zodiac from Aries, the first sign of the zodiac, the sign of individuality, leadership, power, drive, and motivation. But in Libra, our individuality has to make way for others. We can’t be so singularly minded that we forget the needs of others.
Libra is a call to find solutions and compromise, to forge connection, and find ways to relate to one another. Ruled by Venus, Libra is peace, beauty, and harmony. The sign of the scales, Libra reminds us that everything has its place in order for life to be in balance. We need the support of others so that life can thrive.
Even if you are not a Libra, you have relationships in your life. We often equate Libra with serious relationship, such as marriage and partnership, but Libra encompasses all the people with whom we connect with on a one-to-one basis.
The eclipse poses a few questions. What is the state of relationship in your life? Are things in balance? Is your life in harmony? What are your commitment to others? How do you show up?
We all experience relationship differently, which is why the solar eclipse will express itself through personal lives like a lens, highlighting experiences and even bringing up energies from the past. This will be a theme that will work its way through the next six months, until the next set of eclipses in March-April 2024.
The solar eclipse is conjunct the South Node of the Moon, which conventional astrological wisdom tells us that we have something to release, to work through, to dig up from the past. Could this be past relationship or relationship patterns? Is there healing that needs to happen? The solar eclipse is opposite Chiron, an asteroid that speaks to the deep healing of a reoccurring pain point. Perhaps it’s time to loosen or untie one of the knots that has bound us to our past through other people.
Venus, the ruler of the solar eclipse is in Virgo. While not a sign that Venus is typically comfortable in, instead Venus has to examine the duties that it has to others. There may be a call to help people, be of service. Or, to take into account where a relationship has become very imbalanced, to the point where we feel that we have become a servant of other people’s wants and needs.
An opposition between Venus and Saturn is a reality check for some. For others, it’s an important time to step up, take a commitment seriously, and step into a role of care and responsibility.
A square to Pluto means that we have real work to do over the coming six months. Pluto can show that a relationship is actually unhealthy or even toxic. How do we see our part in this? How do we make a real reformation? Pluto says structural change needs to happen, not just outside of us, but within.
Finally, we do have support from Jupiter in Taurus. If we do the work, if we strip away anything that is clouding our ability to connect with others, if we stand in our real self worth, there’s a potential for real growth and powerful new discoveries.
Learn more about this eclipse and the lunar eclipse to come on October 28 in my two-hour webinar, The Eclipses of October 2023. Find out why eclipses are some of the most important astrology for the year and what it means for you and your sign. Get the replay in the link below.