As the days continue to darken, and the power wanes from the Sun, the Moon prepares to complete her circuit around the sky and rejoin her heavenly spouse. On October 6th, at 7:04am eastern time, she will be reborn in his fires at 13 degress of Libra, and a new lunar cycle will begin.
For those unfamiliar, new moons indicate new beginnings in astrology. As the moon travels through the zodiac, she becomes full of energies which pass through her and down to the earth to effect change on the world.
After traversing the entirety of the zodiac, she convenes again with the Sun and cleanses herself of all the acccumulated energies of the previous cycle, being completely born anew. And we are all reborn along with the Moon during this time.
Old patterns and alignments become cleared and new ones are ready to take their place. Magically speaking, the obscured moon can be likened to a fallow field – an empty bed rife with possibility and potential. As such, they make excellent opportunities to set new intentions and plant new seeds in the fertile soil of your own subconscious.
Each new moon is special - the sign placement and unique planetary alignments conspire to create a one in a lifetime opportunity for growth. This time, the astral configurations are quite volatile, and will bring great intensity to all of us. But with that intensity comes profound chances for transformation.
Talking things out with this New Moon
This Libra moon, in keeping with the focus of the Mercury retrograde and Libra season in general, puts a strong emphasis on interpersonal dynamics and relationships. The airy nature of Libra prioritizes conversation, dialogue, and deliberation. Anything dealing with the realm of thought and ideas, as well as the exchange and sharing of those ideas.
This, coupled with the fact that Libra is ruled by Venus, the Goddess of friendship and love, has given Libra a well-deserved reputation as an extremely social sign. For this reason, you have an opportunity to make some changes and start some new habits around how you relate to other people in a way that is useful for everyone involved.
However, Libra is not just social in a superficial way - Libra is also very concerned with fairness and justice. Libra’s focus is not just on socializing for the sake of socializing, but on cultivating relationship in a way that is respectful and balanced for everyone involved. In fact, Libra’s thought processes can be fairly heavy - it can even take on a Virgo-esque quality when it comes to scrutizining interpersonal dynamics and trying to find the most proper, best way for people to move forward as a group.
Libra is excellent at calibration and modulation - editing and refining your own way of being in the world to meet the needs of those around you. In fact, the Tarot card associated with Libra in Aleister Crowley’s Tarot deck goes by the name adjustment. Crowley - himself a Libra - understood very well the constant balancing act of fairness and justice that is involved in ensuring that everyone is being treated properly.
Because of this, the new beginnings involved with a Libra moon are not just about setting new habits to go out with friends and talk on the phone more frequently. You will be best served using this period to go inward and ask yourself how you can be more fair and balanced in your relationships to other people - do you act in a way that honors and respects your close friends and family? Are you walking with a mind for how your actions treat people? Do you notice the ripple effect into the lives of others from your own choices?
As I mentioned above. this Libra Moon is quite volatile. After all, we have a Mars conjunction to contend with. And not just any mars conjunction, but a mars conjunction within the exact degree of the new moon. This creates a lot of aggression and aggravation between people, and people tend to get on each other’s nerves. Many triggering events will arise with other people that really make you reflect on the questions I have posed.
To make matters worse, Mars is in detriment here in Libra. Here we don’t find people talking about difficult issues in a healthy way. Instead, you have a lot of repression. Mars wants to express himself, to get what he wants, and put himself out there with the battle-cry of a warrior. But he can’t do that in libra. Instead of expression of anger and healthy boundary-setting, we have a lot of deliberation, evaluation, and stifling of one’s own desires.
You will find situations arising that make you angry, but you will have trouble expressing and releasing that anger. You will notice injustice - something not being right, either with how you are being treated or with another situation outside of yourself. But you won’t have the opportunity or the energy to speak up or speak out. You will be stifled. Or, it the situation will be over before you even recognize what has happened, leaving you feeling manipulated and like your boundaries have been crossed.
To top it off, I guarantee you that rocky situations - especially the emotional kind - will arise around this period with Mercury retrograde and Venus in Scorpio. The celestial atmosphere is rife for miscommunications that lead to tremendously powerful emotional alchemy. But there’s no such thing as powerful emotional alchemy that is also easy, so buckle up.
Can you be kind and considerate to someone while they are getting under your skin? Can you let go of the frustration that other people throw at you, like water rolling off your back?How might you be contributing to the aggravating situations? How might you also be getting under other people’s skin?
learning from the New Moon - Cultivating Compassion under All Circumstances
So what can we do with this situation? What kinds of intentions can we set moving forward, knowing that we have these issues arising in our lives?
You have to remember that it’s not about you. Or me. Or any one person. It’s about us coming together to create a better world. This new moon is not about getting some new thing that you want - it’s about letting go of what you want so you can work towards a beautiful outcome that benefits more people than just yourself.
If you are going to set intentions, set intentions to be kinder and more considerate. Set an intention that, no matter how angry someone makes you, you will not lose your center or lose your connection to the absolute spirit within you that is constantly filled with compassion and understanding.
Some mages and occultists reading may have concerns that focussing on such “trivialities” as kindness and compassion is a waste of time when we have the opportunity to focus on more magically charged intentions or manifesting abundance or lovers or anything else.
To them I say: I guarantee you that every other aspect of your life will flourish more clearly if you have this basic protocol down. Manifestation happens through an open heart. Kindness creates power, whereas anger and the thought loops that arise from it will bleed your power. Abundance and money come to people who are sincere and can keep their cool. Lovers are attracted to those who love.
If you are looking for help, prayers to the ancestors are very strong during this new moon - the PGM (greek magical papyrii) specifies that this period is excellent for necromancy. Just so you know, necromancy did not traditionally mean using the spirits of the dead to get what you want, it meant consulting them for advice and counsel. The -mancy half of the compound comes from the Ancient Greek Manteia, or divination.
If you have ancestral figures that you work with who can help you with this, this would be an excellent time to consult them, and have them help you throughout the next lunar cycle with this work.
We’re all in this together. I hope that solid support and alliances come to you in the wake of these trials of relationship.
Own your power.
-Merlin