New Moon In Libra For 2019

Note: Astrology forecasts are inevitably generalized because they can’t account for each individual’s birth chart and how it interfaces with the current planetary positions. This post focuses primarily on the new Moon. Each week, Modern Witch creator Devin Hunter writes a magical astrology forecast for the week as a whole that I encourage you to check out! Also, this post refers to the pure, archetypal forms of the zodiac signs, not what we see in actual people, who each have complex birth charts.

On Saturday, September 28^th at 11:26 a.m. PST, the new Moon in Libra will rise. A new Moon occurs when the Moon is in the same astrological sign and degree as the Sun. Practically speaking, this means that our core identity (Sun) and our emotions, instincts, and feelings (Moon) are aligned, working in tandem and able to dialogue well. This makes gaining clarity about ourselves more accessible than usual.

This new Moon is also a supermoon. Supermoons occur when the Moon is closer to the earth’s orbit than normal, rendering it larger in the sky and increasing its subtle effects. New Moons are said to be times of beginning and initiation, as well as potent opportunities for setting intentions, breaking unhealthy patterns, and looking inward. Our shadow is the most exposed on the new Moon, with the least amount of competition from the Sun’s light.

Entering Libra Season

This new Moon holds the peak of Libra energy this year. Libra Season, the time when the Sun is in Libra, begins on the autumnal equinox on September 23rd. With the Sun and Moon in Libra (as well as Mercury, Venus, and soon, Mars), a Libran tint covers our world. Libra is the cardinal air sign (each element has three phases in astrology: cardinal, fixed, and mutable). Cardinal signs are activating, dynamic, energizing, and initiating, and the solstices and equinoxes mark the entry into the cardinal signs. Since air is the province of the intellect, ideas may flow during Libra season.

Ruled by Venus, Libra is a sign of art, relationships, and harmony. It seeks balance and makes peace. Stereotypically, Libra is often portrayed as being confrontation avoidant, flirtatious, indecisive, socially graceful, and fine with deferring to your restaurant choices (Libra is the most “down for whatever” sign). More deeply though, Libra represents the human drive to make the pieces of life fit in a serene, glorious tapestry. And miraculously, it can.

Libra can intellectually step back from its perspective like no other sign, which gives it an innate wisdom. Drive on the freeway and the activity looks random, but look down from a plane and it appears patterned and flowing. This is a Libran gift: to see the greater whole and how the parts weave together.

When tinkering with something would increase the harmony of the big picture, Libra can tell. This is where its artistic aptitude comes from. Libra isn’t the most imaginative sign – that’s Cancer and Pisces – but it has the most refined sense of what pleases the eye, and this applies in relationships too. Libra knows how to bend to right a ship, and it wants to. It’s also able to appreciate the different perspectives of a situation. Regarding being a peacemaker, it’s important to consider what making peace often entails: understanding, reconciliation, and compromise – all qualities Libra embodies, which we have heightened access to during Libra season.

On this new Moon, and throughout Libra season, Libran issues tend to surface. Relationships may become a focus, and with Libra’s aid, we’re abler than usual to see diverse perspectives and consider if we’re being fair with ourselves and others. Libra’s wisdom can also help us find closure or insight. That said, it’s important to mind the Libran shadow of hiding behind acquiescence and conformity and losing ourselves in others.

Expanding the View

When considering the Wheel of the Year, it makes sense to me that Libra season begins with the autumnal equinox. Primarily, because Libra is the sign of balance, but also because of where we are in the journey of the year. The first equinox is the point between lives: we die in Pisces and are reborn in Aries. That equality is about circumstance, not effort. The equilibrium we experience at the autumnal equinox is more of our making, and the extent to which we haven’t lived harmoniously often becomes more apparent. By Libra season’s end, Samhain is just a week and change away, and Libra season archetypally involves readying ourselves for that. We’re called to order our life so we can dive within.

Some people ask why the astrological seasons vary so much energetically between years. The clearest reason I know is that because the planets move at different rates, they configure differently in the sky. For example, during one Libra season, Jupiter will be in Sagittarius, and during another, Capricorn. This alters the symphony of planetary energy we receive. This year, there’s an exceptionally rare occurrence of Saturn, Pluto, and the South Node being in Capricorn with Chiron in Aries and Uranus in Taurus. This means that as the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Moon pass through Libra, they’ll form challenging relationships with these planets.

What does this mean in practical terms? The short answer is that it depends on how this interfaces with your birth chart. Assuming you’re lit up by it, there will likely be a substantial purging and surfacing of difficulties. Many of us have experienced intense transformation this year involving our shadow and the past, often including structural shifts in how we live (the Marie Kondo boom jives with the astrology). This is a potent season for sifting through whatever difficulties have emerged and piecing them into our greater life narrative, as well as setting intentions for how to live differently for increased harmony, answering questions like: who am I in light of my history? What do I want to do with what I’ve learned? Saturn is the archetypal teacher and reality-checker, Pluto is a skin-shedding emetic, Uranus confronts us with our authenticity, and Chiron holds the healing gifts of wounding. We can emerge healthier and stronger if we opt for productive shadow work during this time.

When I think about new moons, I try to imagine life before electricity. The tides of the moon were inescapable then. Once a month, everyone experienced a sky lit only by distant stars, and a shadowy, pregnant darkness. This experience is still available to us each new Moon, an evening ripe for entering our depths and the Underworld.

This new Moon, consider setting intentions and journeying, perhaps using Tarot cards for scrying, like Justice, which corresponds in the Golden Dawn system to Libra (also Temperance, in my opinion).

For those of you who enjoy Tarot, here’s a spread for this new Moon: