Happy Equinox Earthlings!

Today the Sun enters the Scales of Libra marking the shift of seasons and an equal length in day and night; a ceremonious exchange between yin and yang as daylight takes a bow and recedes for the seasons where star-speckled darkness reigns.

Here, the Sun centers our attention on social affairs, fairness, and relationships. Libra is the sign of grace, diplomacy, and modesty and the Sun in Libra places higher importance on making sure that we recognize the need for balance. Traditionally, the Sun is said to be in its fall while in Libra. Astrologically, the Sun symbolizes one’s identity, self-sovereignty, and one's willpower. But keeping the desires and needs of others in mind is of utmost importance for those particularly touched by the Sun's dance through Libra, which often makes asserting the self more difficult because the self (Sun) revolves around others. This year, the Sun’s entrance into Libra immediately begins applying to square Saturn in Capricorn. Boundaries in all kinds of relationships become emphasized as does the theme of authority (or rather, who is in charge within inter-relational dynamics and how does one deftly navigate relationships where they clearly lack control without abandoning their power?)

With Venus ruling this portion of the firmament, this transition directs our attention toward her upcoming retrograde through Scorpio (then Libra), which begins October 5. Praised as the sphere of beauty, love, money, and unity, Venus will disappear from the night sky, signaling that it is time to be more reflective about the areas of life that she symbolizes and influences. Her backward swim through Scorpio hints at the emotional material we will be asked to sift through, especially the attachments and wounds we've been hauling around as baggage in our primary relationships. Venus in Scorpio (and retrograde) inclines those particularly influenced by her transit to get to the bottom of things.

What things, you ask?

Those with planets or angles in the early degrees of the fixed signs (Scorpio, Aquarius, Taurus, or Leo) or late degrees of the cardinal signs (Libra, Capricorn, Aries, or Cancer) are going to feel pulled to dig up the past (be it your familial past, old arguments or ex-lovers that lack a sense of finality and closure, emotional trauma, or expired coping patterns) and examine it from all angles, inside and out.

The instinctive reflex to guard the heart and sniff out potential threats is high during Venus’ backward motion through Scorpio and partnerships particularly touched by this transit (by natal placement or by the activation of time lord) will be pushed to reveal the contents of their heart. Venus in Scorpio offers the chance to know and understand the psycho-spiritual state of our relationships— be it our relationship to money, sex, body-image, or another person— but the only way this will truly happen is by stripping away secrets, and the layers that we hide behind (consciously or not) to bare the matter of our soul.

Social dynamics, cultural values, aesthetics, and the face of politics will stand out more once Venus makes it back in to the late degrees of Libra. If this transit stands out to you, consider contemplating the relationship you have with yourself. How do you define yourself outside of your relationships? Can you discern a distinct identity or is it tightly bound up in the influential opinions, ideas, and expressions of a significant other? What do you do or what don't you do to keep others happy? Let this time inform you of your love, or lack of for the self, and dedicate some energy to cultivating more inner harmony, self-knowledge, and unconditional self-love.