Dear Chronogram Reader:
Friday, Sept. 30, we have a New Moon in Libra—the first New Moon following a pair of eclipses, Mercury’s recent retrograde, and the beginning of a new season. If you feel like you’re in distinctly different territory compared to one month ago, it’s because you are. Tomorrow’s New Moon seems to begin something rather distinct; and, like all New Moons, it also implies the coming Full Moon.
What a Full Moon that will be: on Oct. 16, the Moon will conjoin Uranus and Eris in Aries, and all three will oppose the Sun in Libra. Eric Francis has written much about the Uranus-Eris conjunction that spans this year.
Uranus-Eris in Aries seems to be describing the ways that identity has been fractured by the internet; a kind of disembodied existence we’re all trying to get a grip on even as we try to catch up with it—and with ourselves—as its effects snowball. In as much as Uranus-Eris represents our surprising, innovative and unpredictable relationship with our technology, it also suggests the ways we seek our identity through conflict.
One look at the way even the most well-meaning post on social media can become a no-holds-barred battleground between people who cannot actually see, hear or feel each other—and who might never have met—demonstrates this.
At the same time, we live in an environment where this online dissociation allows us seemingly to be ‘here’ and ‘someplace else’ at once. Suddenly, the Syrian refugee crisis and the Dakota Pipeline protest and an eclipse only visible on the other side of the planet are all unfolding in real time while we watch. Often it is too much to handle; often, in response, we shut down. It’s getting harder and harder to find the sane middle ground between overextension of our senses and emotions and ignoring everything.
When that Oct. 16 Full Moon peaks, it may very well shine some light on all of it. You might start preparing the ground with the New Moon on Friday, and you can begin today. If you have not already begun to tie up any loose ends that freed up (or frayed) with the Full Moon and eclipse two weeks ago, consider that on your agenda now.
New Moons close the previous four-week cycle and begin a new one. For tomorrow’s event, the Sun and Moon will conjoin at 8+ Libra, exact at 8:11 pm EDT.
Automatically, this calls in the theme of relationships and bringing them into balance or greater harmony. While the Sun and Moon are not making any ‘hard’ exact angles to other major planets, they are making some interesting contacts.
Foremost, the New Moon is square the midpoint between Mars in Capricorn and Pluto in Capricorn. We can look at Pluto as a sense of imperative to change what’s been established, and Mars as the self-will or desire to establish or achieve something new.
What is your incentive to adjust and evolve your relationships? Is it the irresistible force of outside pressure to adapt, as structures you thought you knew how to navigate are broken open? Or do you have some sense of self-guided desire to move toward personal goals, and to build relationships that genuinely support that? Maybe it’s possible to find a balance between the two as you renegotiate your relationships—both with yourself, and with others.
Looking ahead to the Oct. 16 Full Moon, are you aware of the ways in which you currently might seek to establish a sense of identity through conflict? It can be an effective method, but it’s not the only way and it’s not necessarily the most efficient, desirable or creative. You may have more options than you think.
Finally, there’s an intriguing cluster of asteroids along the cardinal cross in line with tomorrow’s Libra New Moon (though early Aries seems to be empty). Also, Neptune is making a quincunx to it (one sign off from an opposition). As you make continual small adjustments to your vision of how your relationships can work (including any illusions/denial you have about them), consider this:
Remember the past and honor the past, but what is the story of your relationships as they are now? What bonds with others can help you to transcend your awareness of what was, and move forward? You are the one responsible for bringing your whole identity, your entire multi-faceted self, to your relationships.
You can do that in harmony with others or through conflict. In two weeks, the Full Moon conjunct Uranus-Eris may illuminate—or bring to a head—how we’re all doing with what Eric has called “a personal revolution” and “a reclaiming of personhood” in our quickly shifting collective environment.
Yours & truly,
Amanda Painter
