2:17 UTC on September 23rd 2014 marks the entry of the Sun into the tropical sign of Libra, a moment of symbolic transformation in our relationship with the powers of solar light.

The common perception of the Libra ingress is that it signals a shift from grappling with the Virgoan hands-on practical nature of things,  healing and dealing with the ‘devil in the detail’, which we encounter in our everyday world, into a more co-operative period in which problems shared can become problems solved. Personal healing into collective, internal relations into external and formative processes into developmental. But, it is above all else when we become conscious of the presence of Natural Law that we embody that shift. If our minds are open to such notions, that is…..

In reality the ingress of our star into any cardinal sign indicates a planetary shift, a transition from one energetic state into another and, although we may celebrate equality and enjoy the enriching feeling of the Spring and Fall at their highest intensity through this time, it is the rapidity of the change between light and darkness that reveals the true characteristic of the sacred time of Equinox. If there is equilibrium in this moment it is of the most dynamic and, in contrast with the Solstices, energetically complex nature. An inner alchemy takes on outward form and Nature is repleat with the splendour of that alchemy.

Nature has a way of manifesting this dynamic for all to see through vivid colours, scents, forms and feelings, revealing a creative expression of transformation into new forms and states. Within their respective hemispheres fruit begin to grow from the heart of flowers and seeds are sown from within the heart of the fruits.

Animals and plants experience the changes in light, the pitch, intensity and angle of the Suns illumination, as an encouragement to access primal memory, a photonic stimulation of inner changes that catalyse instinctive shifts in behaviour. But, what of Humans……

…….we are contextual beings, we have a tendency to lean upon the words ‘because’ and ‘therefore’, and are constantly in search of ways and means to qualify their use, and, in this is a key to perhaps one of our greatest mysteries and dilemas – in our search for meaning we apply an insatiable curiousity to the world, at best a need-to-know and at worst a blind tampering with the world. Within our times this drives our behaviour to a far greater degree than any natural cyclical stimulus we recognise. All too often we do so at the expense of the inner knowing we already possess, crucifying that knowing on the cross of material verification and deepening the wound that seperates us in the process, unconsciously so. All to often under duress we have grown more towards following the trajectory of the ‘arrow of time’, than deeper into knowledge of its spiralling nature. Here-in lies a challenge that the state of the world reflects back to us.

The thirst for knowledge is also symptomatic, of our need for a context that reconnects us with the spiral dynamic. It is a symptom of the underlying insecurity that corresponds to the loss of connection with those natural stimulus, with our nature. We need to know because the inner knowing that is inherent in the migrating birds, the rutting deer and the egg laying turtles, for example, the cosmically oriented connection that manifests and emerges through them at this time in the solar cycle, has become a blind spot within ourselves, as Human animals. But, we can learn, renew our understanding, and, in the spirit of Libra, help each other in doing so.

In some deeper respects Libra refines what Virgo has drawn our attention to, makes of it a collective push for understanding. This is the natural push for integration, both with each other and with our home planet. The degree of success each of us find within this process is indicative not only of the real extent to which our own personal lives embody connectivity with each other and Life, but, of our maturity as a species, as it is mirrored back to us.

The Sun’s Libra ingress is our opportunity to re-enter the flow, to engage in the cosmological ground-swell, and head up-stream towards our own spawning grounds. The ancient meeting place is where we can recover our ‘original face’, the face we share with our deep ancestry. It is also time to gather the clarity of mind we need to reconnect with that powerful flow of knowing that infuses the stars and the Earth we live upon with creative beauty. Libra holds the key to that meeting place,  and when the Sun enters here we can come face to face with the beauty that radiates from within.

Venus as ruler of Libra ‘minds us of that beauty, our earthed nature and its creative potential. In the triplicity rulerships of the decans both the last decan of Virgo and the first decan of Libra are also ruled by Venus. And, with Venus in the last decan of Virgo at the September 2014 Equinox, we are reminded of where practical needs transcend the personal and embed their seeds within the journey we all share. The Mayan saying mirrors it, ‘In Lakesh‘…….

An astrological reading of the chart for this equinox time would show another major change occuring within an hour of the Equinox moment, namely Pluto stationing direct in Capricorn. Pluto can bring access to the underlying drives and unconscious motivations behind the energy of the personal. This is becoming superceded, is now inflected towards outward manifestations of how we handle deeper insights, and more importantly the power this bestows upon us. Our ability to bring about systemic change in keeping with the times, as Pluto would inevitably have it, is thrown into sharper relief, becomes a rooted urge to transfigure and embody the alchemy of change itself.

Pluto’s direct motion is no small thing and begins to close the square with Uranus that will become exact in December. There will be a sense of things turning rising out of this aspect as well – politically, economically, environmentally, inter-nationally, socially and spiritually, in fact in all aspects of Life as humans relate to it, the collective nature of our impact upon, intents towards and means for enshrining the power for change within world around us is in question. The intelligence of the Venusian heart when brought to bear upon our relationships is a beautiful thing to behold.

There is something in the angle of the Sun at this time that works at the deepest levels,  slants through the mirror of the world and stimulates an inner mechanism of the finest subtlety….the animals know and experience this first hand, and the plants respond in kind. Amongst the animals, the solar catalyst brings enzymes alive that allow the pineal gland to release its endorphins,  awakening the inner eye. Boundaries evaporate before that stimulous, worlds are opened through which a more intrinsic light of knowing can illuminate the universal knowledge present in all. The animals in particular hold that knowledge here on the earth plane, a fact of great importance to the original healers, the seers, wise ones and shamans. It is an alchemy of knowing, the Elder wisdom, and if the doors are held open to its influx, as Nature shows us the world becomes transformed. It is the underlying imperative of the times to restore this wisdom. Nature is its shrine.

Amongst humans the the shamans and wise people tend that shrine, and, the shamanic imperative for our times is also enshrined within re-embodiment of that alchemy……it depends upon respect. From it emerges a deeper understanding of who we are, why we are here and where we are going, the answer to our insatiable curiousity. The shaman knows that the spirits are the key to its realisation within the Earth plane, and the animal powers and allies are crucial to this end. The shaman also knows that the reality of the dis-ease must be encountered, for healing to take place. The shaman is tasked with honouring those allies, as much as the healing is ineffectual without that encounter.

On this equinox we have the opportunity to deepen our relationships, to actively nourish them, to honour them and bring the flow of energy between us to bear upon our lives….it is the right time to do so. And, we must, if we are to recover balance. But, respect is the crucial part of Natural Law that precedes all, upon which all health and good relations rest. If the traditions behind our celebration of Equinox are to carry meaning forward, in the spirit of Libra we must surely evoke respect now on our Earth.

The new Moon that follows on September 24th opens a lunation of high potential for initiating radical healing, so use this time well……the state of the world tells us clearly its a huge ask that is being made of us, and while not everyone might feel ready, Sun in Libra tells us we are all in this together, and, whatever you or I can offer, it will matter……

In Lakesh