Autumnal Equinox: An Early Clue to the New Direction

Greetings, dear stargazing readers:

I am midway through The Beatles Are Here!, a not-bad look-back book edited by Penelope Rowlands, which indirectly inspired the subtitle of this post -- a line from my favorite scene from the first Beatles movie, A Hard Day's Night. George (my favorite Beatle when I am in spiritual, searching mode, as opposed to cynical-but-idealistic, kickass-but-vulnerable John mode) accidentally wanders into the office of an ad/PR firm and is pressed into offering his opinion on some new shirts said firm is flogging ("They're grotty!") and an "It Girl" on a teen TV show ("We turn the sound down on her and say rude things."). When the Brit Mad Man kicks George out, the receptionist suggests he may be "an early clue to the new direction," but it is mistakenly decided that he is "just a troublemaker."

And what has this Beatleology to do with astrology? Well, today marks the first day of fall, aka the Autumnal Equinox, aka the Sun's ingress into Libra. On this first day of the Sun in Libra, its scales are perfectly balanced between day and night, but from here on out, the night force grows until the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year. The beginning of all four Cardinal signs marks the beginning of the four seasons: the early clue to the new direction.

Today, at least in the County of Kings (aka Brooklyn), it still feels like summer -- but Mars is still clinging to fiery Leo (the last degree) and Mercury is still Retrograde. What is highly significant about this particular Equinox is that the Sun is conjunct the North Node of the Moon at 0 degrees of Libra. I do not normally spend much time or energy on the Nodes, as they are not planets but points arrived via inscrutable formula having to do with angles on the ecliptic; however, a Sun-NN conjunction at not only a critical degree of a sign, but at the beginning of a season, makes me sit up and take notice. The North Node of the Moon faces toward the future, whereas the South Node faces the past. Today therefore marks an unusual opportunity to break free from the shackles of past disappointments and believe with all your heart that today is truly a new day of a new season in your life.

Strengthening your opportunity to take advantage of this significant and uncommon conjunction is the sextile between the Sun and Saturn, which is now 0 degrees of Sagittarius. We last saw Saturn in Sagittarius in mid-June; the summer of 2015 was marked by Saturn's three-month return to Scorpio, urging us all to confront challenges and limitations involving sex, death, transformation, the occult, and partners' resources. Now that Saturn is firmly back in Sagittarius for the next two years, another early clue to the new direction involves harnessing your desire to communicate in relationships (Libra) to your desire to hone and share your knowledge and philosophy (Saturn in Sagittarius).

With Mercury still Retrograde for another two weeks, this is also a good time to pay a visit to the Lost & Found and retrieve something of value you'd thought was gone forever. (This need not be a material object, but a memory or a solution to a problem.) People with whom you'd lost touch are also likely to reenter your life, and it is up to you to decide if they fit into your own new direction.

On the Edge of the Autumnal Equinox (a poem)

Last sunset of summer
over the Hudson River
from a Tribeca rooftop
through my wineglass --
a birthday party for
the Virgo girlfriend
of a Virgo ex.
It has been over three years
since I have been here.

My best friend brought a date
who is so rude that he leaves
before he drives her
to push him off the roof
for being hostile and uncouth.

I keep thinking I will leave
after one more glass of wine --
it does not happen.
It is a magical glass
that keeps refilling itself.
But what the hell:
the Moon is in Sagittarius,
which encourages excess.

The party's remnants
move from the roof to my ex's apartment
to smoke and drink. A pizza arrives
and I take a slice to absorb all the wine.
Three latecomers show up
just as I am about to leave --
I wind up staying till the party breaks up
because two are astrologers
visiting from the West Coast
and the other one knows her chart
and makes me feel smart.

Just a few blocks from home
I hold the door of a bodega open
to let in a large black cat with a white chin
that I have seen slinking down those aisles
of canned soups, sodas, and six packs.
A guy passing by exclaims how nice that was
of me to do, and asks me what I think
the cat's name is -- it's gotta be
something Arabic, right?
Without missing a beat, I reply "Halal,"
and as the guy laughs, I still can't believe it's nearly fall.

Have an Exquisite Equinox!

Apologies for the sparseness of my posts this month, but I was busy preparing for a featured poetry performance that finally happened last night. With the Moon transiting my Sun Sign of Cancer in my 10th house, and the Sun at 28 Virgo just past a sextile to my Mercury and Neptune, I daresay it was one of my better performances, and I will post a link to the show once it's been archived.

Another equinox is upon us. Although this one ushers in autumn, not spring, other aspects tomorrow indicate it will feel more like spring and summer: the Moon in fiery Leo conjuncts Mars and trines Uranus in Aries just a few hours before the Sun moves into Libra at 5:05 a.m. EDT. And just a few hours after that, Mars forms an exact trine with Uranus.

This translates into a feeling of high "yang" energy and a desire to take a few risks. Romance, creativity, and innovation: snap, crackle, and pop! The first major solar aspect occurs over the weekend, with the Sun-Uranus opposition throwing a spanner in many a relationship. Ego clashes are likely, and desire for freedom feels more important at this moment than harmony and "making nice"; the irony is that these things are exactly what the sign of Libra strives for (as well as balance), but the fiery Martial-Uranian energy from 9/23 through 9/26 will trump "typical" Libra.

Even the New Moon on 9/27 will not be a gentle, restful conjunction, for Mercury in Libra opposes Uranus that day, and the Sun squares Pluto -- and the following day, Moon squares Pluto, Mercury squares Pluto, and the Sun conjuncts Mercury. Any resentment and/or feelings of manipulation need to be dealt with as directly as possible before they fester. Blackmail, either overt or subtle, and misunderstood communications are unfortunate side effects of these combinations, as is a sense of danger and distrust. Without any water in current transits, it will be a challenge (particularly for those individuals who lack water in their natal charts) to know exactly what you are feeling, let alone follow your intuition. Try not to overthink things -- but just as crucial, do not underthink things.

Not until the 29th, when Venus in its ruling sign of Libra conjuncts Saturn (exalted in Libra) will any sense of balance and justice feel within reach. So pace yourself, and brace yourself...the first week of autumn is going to be one wild, rough ride.

"Ch-ch-ch-changes...turn and face the strange...."

I've been a bad Plutonian this month for not keeping my small-but-select readership abreast of all the astrological changes we've been going through...in part because Mercury was Retrograde till 9/12, which partly manifested though many difficulties with my new computer, and also because we've had so many changes that it's a formidable task to keep up with them, let alone offer up insights. Truly, it's as if we've entered another time zone, and perhaps another time--not the future, but the sort-of-recent past.

Have you been feeling unusually passionate, intense, sexy, emotional, moody, dreamy, and/or just plain thirsty? If so, you're in sync with our solar system's transits: Venus entered Scorpio on 9/8; Jupiter retrograded back into Pisces 9/9; Mars entered Scorpio 9/14. Add Uranus, which retrograded back into Pisces in mid-August, and we have four out of ten planets in the water element.

The Jupiter/Uranus conjunction at 28 degrees of Pisces ideally triggered inspiring visions, unusual and idealistic plans, and creative pursuits, especially involving film, music, dance, and writing. However, Uranus is entirely capable of rebelling against rational behavior, and Jupiter is all about exapansion. Combine these two planets in Pisces, there is unusually high danger of emotions distorting facts.

Specifically, this month we have seen more crackpot manifestos issuing from the Tea Party, the ascendancy of a Republicon (yes, I know how "Republican" is spelled, but poor Abe Lincoln has been turning over in his grave enough since the Nixon administration, so I'm spelling it with a "con" to denote both conservatism and con job or con artist) who opposes abortion even in the case of rape, and considers masturbation adultery. (And if you're not married...? I guess that means you're having pre-marital sex with yourself, and we all know how evil sex outside marriage is.) Oh yes, and the Republicons have just promised the American people a repeat of the mess that contributed largely to the recession that we are supposed to believe is over, as well as a promise to take away whatever good has come from the health care reform.

Astrologically, amnesia can be attributed to Pisces; it seems to be brought on by a blow, trauma, or shock (Uranus). I sometimes refer to the country in which I live as the Untied States of Amnesia; I am not joking, because this is no joke.

As a Plutonian, I understand all about the effectiveness of propaganda, a fancy term for having one's brain washed in bullshit. This is partly why people will vote time and time again for Republicons, who most assuredly do not have the poor and middle-class citizens' interests at what passes for their collective heart. Never mind the facts: Repubicons want for voters to be confused, poorly educated, and unhealthy, and an effective way to keep them that way is to feed them nothing but red herrings. Facts would hang the Grand Old Party out to dry.

Not that I think the Democrats are so groovy--they're in the back pocket of Wall Street, corporations, and various interest groups that are mainly self-interested opportunists, and I think the health-care reform leaves much to be desired. But politicians basically hang out with rich people, many of whom balk at the very idea of giving up a few percentage points of their vast millions and billions. Never mind that during the Eisenhower administration, the super-rich did just that and then some, and the result benefited everyone in the USA, not just the monied. Still, I really hope that the Democraps (sorry, couldn't resist) point out the obvious during this mid-term election instead of doing the usual, i.e., alienating the many voters who think "lib-uh-ruls" are wimpy, politically correct elitists preaching to the converted from their ivory tower/White House.

I honestly did not mean to go on a political tirade, but really, it all makes me sick.

In the meantime, I hope you feasted your orbs upon the big, beautiful Harvest Moon that coincided with the Autumnal Equinox (and the Sun's entrance into Libra). That bright star next to the Moon, by the way, was Jupiter.