The Autumnal Equinox: A Deep Bow to the Mystery
Source: Flickr – Title: “Autumn leaves,” Owner: sigusr0
In the northern hemisphere, where the ancient mythic realities were first articulated in story and ritual, the Autumnal Equinox signals the beginning of something truly astonishing. Clothed in splendor and covered with glory, Nature undergoes an ecstatic death. The energy she releases is radiant, beckoning us to a kind of shamanic communion. There, we can understand what she’s showing us: dying and re-birthing are one seamless energy, two parts of one process.
This is, in fact, the central mystery of life. Despite our fear of change, this knowledge resides at the very core of our being. The German poet Goethe wrote of it in “The Holy Longing:” “And so long as you haven’t experienced this:/ To die and so to grow, /You are only a troubled guest/ On the dark earth.” Each year, at the Autumnal Equinox, we receive our invitation from Nature. Leave behind the dull, numbed life of a troubled guest. Participate in the holy mystery of life. Never has the invitation been issued more urgently than in this year.
Relatedness: The Heart of the Mystery
The first degree of any of the four cardinal signs—0 degrees of Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn—triggers the most dynamic energy of the zodiac. Like the signs that carry it, this energy is called the Cardinal Cross. When it is released into our lives, we must take action. We have no choice. In Libra, the Cardinal Cross impels action around a theme that is deceptively simple–the interdependence and relatedness of all life, from the human to the cosmic. In the part of the sky we call Libra, we become deeply aware of our interdependence—on relationship, with other humans, with the earth, and with the cosmos. And this, it turns out, is the most transformative moment in the great wheel.
We think of Libra as an energy of pleasantries and good manners. In fact, Libra’s call to relationship pulls us beyond ourselves, into the often challenging, conflicted, and confrontational realities of fundamentally different beings. Libra takes us straight into the mystery. What follows after the experiences of Libra is the transformational vortex of Scorpio and the questing arc of Sagittarius, home of the Galactic Center.
This Equinox is the most pivotal we’ve seen in years. It follows the two opening squares of Pluto, the Cosmic Transformer, and Uranus, the Cosmic Awakener. For the next three months, those experiences–in late June and mid-September–will be transforming us. The collision of their vibrations in the skies above us – and within us—released seed energy that is already at work within us, reshaping reality. Everywhere around us and within us, outworn structures are dying. The future is being seeded, and it is not like the past. We’re only beginning to realize this. When we emerge from the vortex of this season’s changes, we’ll understand much more than we do now.
The Equinox Sky: Decisively Tilted Towards Radical Change
At this still point int he cosmos, nearly the entire solar system is either in the change-focused cardinal signs or the flexible, adjustment-oriented mutable ones. Only Mars the Warrior joins the Moon’s Node—the ancient indictor of cosmic purpose—in the fixed sign of Scorpio. The dominant elements are fire and water—the steamy mist of change is what we’re breathing.
Only one planet, Pluto, is in an Earth sign. Like the charts of individuals that have an imbalance of earth, this Equinox brings both a gift and a wound. Little earth in a chart brings the possibility of a highly original relationship to the powers of nature and cosmos. It also brings the dangers that come from being ungrounded. Connecting with our bodies and the earth, as often as we can, will be crucially important in the season we are entering. There are many ways we can do this and all of them are necesssary. They include spending as much time as we can in nature. Gardening, hiking, birdwatching—all are auspicious activities in this season. Pay special attention to the food you’re eating. Make sure you get plenty of sleep. Exercise your body. Get massages. Wear earth tones as often as you can.
The tense, powerful, and extremely volatile energy pattern known as a T-square dominates this Equinox sky. The energy of the Uranus-Pluto square is intensified by this pattern. Mercury, the ancient Messenger of the Gods, is joined with the Sun, heart of our solar system. Together these two confront Uranus, the Awakener. All of them challenge Pluto, powerful and relentless. In the season that begins today, the pivot point on which all depends is our own relationship to power and our willingness to be transformed.
From the beginning of the extraordinary series of Uranus-Pluto squares, the energies of the cosmic feminine have played a key role. That’s definitely true in this Equinox sky. The Moon, ruler of our intuitive, partly unconscious wisdom of our emotions and our bodies, occupies one of the most powerful degrees in all the sky. It’s the same degree as the center of our galaxy, believed by some to be the Great Mother of Creation. From this primordial degree, Luna sends blessings of love and affirmation to Venus, the ancient goddess of Love. With Neptune the Cosmic Dreamer and Chiron the Healer, Luna creates opportunities for an open and inspired heart, and for deep healing. It is worth remembering, at every opportunity that we can, that Neptune is in his own sign of Pisces for the first time since he was discovered in the mid-19th century. In the Equinox sky he has returned to Pisces’ first degree.
Neptune carries the longing for transcendence of the limitations of mortal life. Profoundly mystical, deeply creative, and fundamentally idealistic, he carries our dream. At this point of balance, this moment before the balance tilts, Neptune is supported by Saturn, the Lord of Karma. The opportunities now are profound. Saturn is in the last degree of Libra, the sign of his exaltation. He wants to make the dream real. If we can allow the structures of our lives to be reshaped, in these last days before the Lord of Karma and Angel of the Present moves into Scorpio, this can be the moment we release the seed power of the future into our lives. The Equinox can be the moment we choose to throw our weight behind the dreams that want to come true for us, and for our world.