The trees prepare their farewell ceremony, lighting up their leaves like a final firework display. The winds grow stronger and subtly chillier as they pull more and more leaves down to the earth. The power of the Sun wanes – even bright, cloudless days do not contain the same heat as a midsummer afternoon.
In my own home in Pennsylvania, the ripening of fruits and summer asters has been replaced by acorns and luminous goldenrod. Nuts and squashes have begun to form where berries and wildflowers would dominate. The trails behind my home receive their first coating of reds, yellows, and oranges from the oaks, poplars, and maples that populate these woods.
Autumn has arrived. I wish you all a happy equinox, fellow mages, aspirants, and celebrants.
The autumn equinox announces the passage of the Sun into the zodiac sign of Libra. This entry marks a pivotal shift regarding the amount of light in each day. Ever since the spring equinox six months ago, the days have been longer than the nights in the northern hemisphere. The Sun shines brightly, the flowers grow, the harvest ripens. Food is abundant, community thrives. Light has dominated the darkness.
But the days have continued to shorten every day since the summer solstice. And on the equinox, we stand on a precipice between the hegemony of light and the rising power of darkness. They are equally matched, but darkness will gain the upper hand and continue to grow in power throughout the season of Libra. Darkness begins to dominate the light.
At the point in the year, the first harvest has ended, and the second harvest is on its way. Plants are starting to die and animals are starting to hibernate. The community has to begin getting real in preparation for the wintertime when food is scarce. This involves a lot of dialogue, a lot of deliberation, and also a lot of tough decisions.
And this is where we get a lot of the common characteristics of Libra - Libran people are very concerned with fairness and balance. Making sure that people have what they need, and that everyone is being properly taken care within the network of relationship and community. Finding fairness and justice involves dialogue and conversation - it is very much an interpersonal task, and so Libran people can also be quite communicative and social.
This emphasis on fairness and interpersonal harmony is very reminiscent of Libra’s planetary ruler, Venus. But here we see the more clinical, detached version of Venus - a focus on what is right and good in a very abstract, absolute sense. This awareness actually offers Libra a talent for making tough calls and difficult decisions. After much deliberation, Libra can see a way forward that is best for everyone.
And as the leaves begin to change color, and the wind begins to bring with it the slightest, crisp chill, you may find your heart stirring with the beauty and aesthetic senses of Venus. But this is not a beauty that lasts - contained within the soul-stirring power of the changing of seasons is the reminder that death is real, and the force of life that dominates in the Summer will always fade away again.
During this period, you will have more opportunity to focus fairness and balanced relationships with other people. Interpersonal adjustments, changes in friend groups, and modulations of how you respond and relate to other people are all very common. You may find that your relationships take a great focus than normal, and questions of how you relate to other people and the world take top priority.
Because you may find yourself having to make more difficult decisions, decision paralysis can abound. Indeed, this is another thing that libran people are famous for. This is understandable, consdiering the decisions being made traditionally during this time of year would have had people’s lives on the line - deciding who gets food and who doesn’t, for instance.
If you want to know more about how this Libra season will affect you, remember to examine your own chart - especially the house that the Sun is transiting. If you are Gemini rising, your 5th house will be activated. If Aries rising, your 7th, and so on. This is your quickest way to find out what kinds of themes and topics in your life will show up most strongly.
aspects for this year’s libra season
This Libra Season, the Sun’s ruler Venus occupies Scorpio, her detriment.This will bring more heaviness and challenges to the Libra season. You will almost certainly find yourself having to make some kinds of tough calls in life, or let some things go. Ultimately, you will be rewarded by more grace and beauty in your life if you choose to release what the universe reveals is no longer serves you.
We have a Mercury retrograde in Libra during this period. While these periods are often more expressive and communicative than others, the interpersonal connection that you have with others may not always be easy, and the communication will not always be readily clear and accessible. I would spend more time in deliberation and inner reflection than I would trying to dialogue with others. Misunderstandings and miscommunications have the potential to greatly proliferate.
Both Jupiter and Saturn station direct after being retrograde for several months. Jupiter’s direct station creates a great thrust of forward energy and forward momentum. Jupiter will provide advances in financial and business sides of life. You will almost certainly find spiritual insights and profound realizations coming to you, as Jupiter rules spiritual abundance as well as financial abundance.
If you have felt like you have been in a long-term rut the past few months due to depression or lack of motivation, Saturn’s direct station may lift some of the fog for you. IWhile it won’t necessarily make the triggers for these feelings go away, it will at least create forward movement that you can work through, and you won’t feel as stuck.
Both these planets form trines to the Sun. This greatly augments the advantages and benefits that these planets can bring. Jupiter becomes more positive by far. The difficult lessons that Saturn provides will have significant upshots. You may have to go through difficult experiences, and you may be really compelled to let things go and make tough decisions in true Libran fashion, but the rewards on the other side of this will be vast.
magical practices for the libra season
Unless you live in the southern hemisphere, you will need to begin preparing yourself for the descent of the Sun, the darkening of days, and the increase of cold over heat. You must start this process now. By staying in attunement to the shifting of the seasons, your energy will stay integrated with the natural cycle of the spirits and larger energies around you.
This will make your meditation and spiritual practices more effective and grounded. Your mind will run amok less. Your body will also be healthier and more vital – fall and winter are not at all inherently draining if you can adapt properly to them. You will even find yourself growing in magical power.
Your baseline magical practical is simply taking walks in nature. Taking walks is perhaps the simplest thing that you can do to acclimate your body and soul to the shifting of seasons and the passage of time. As you walk, feel your body sync up with the shifting of the season, with the changing of time. Focus as much as you can on your bodily and emotional sensations and responses to being in the natural world.
Physically speaking, gentle backbends are excellent during this period, as they keep your connection to your inner fire strong without overworking yourself. Doing some kind of backbend in yoga every day during this period is ideal. In Taiji, holding the press form releases stagnant water from the kidneys and allows the kidney fire to burn more brightly.
Chrysolite and Beryl are your best gemstone allies during this season. They are both ruled by Venus, and bring you into closer connection to your heart while also opening up your mind to see clearly.
When it comes to working with spirits, both Libra and Scorpio periods are strongly associated with the dead and ancestors. The Libra period is best for contacting ancestors who are well, especially for divination (necromancy in the strictest sense) and advice. This can be ancestors from more recent generations, or even spiritual ancestors and more ancient ancestors that you feel a connection with, perhaps different plant or animal spirits or even different Gods.