After the Full Moon

As astrologers we know that when Saturn is in Libra the heavenly guides are offering the optimal time to pay attention to how we relate to one another.

Relationships are the vehicle through which we can reveal ourselves and learn more about ourselves; it takes the reflection of the “other” to find aspects of ourselves. Relationships can become the ground for the inner work of reclaiming parts of ourselves. Saturn in Libra is directly open to reflection from others. (1)

Libra is the archetype for all relationships, not just the romantic ones. Although this comes as a continual surprise to some of us with Neptune in Libra (2), there are other ways to relate. All teamwork, cooperative efforts, and gestures to include the larger social contract are on the front burner. There is much more that we can and need to accomplish together.

We are now in a highly charged planetary geometry whereby the domain labeled “necessary work with others” (Saturn in Libra) is being defined by wild and striking moments of self-expression and realization (Uranus in Aries), as well as a call for a vital new meaning or purpose (Jupiter in Aries) that is in service to the ongoing profound and hidden deconstruction of our collective experience of reality (Pluto in Capricorn). (3)

That’s a big (!) enough job and yet, on July 29, Mars joins Saturn in Libra, bringing a sharp edge to these established players on the stage. Mars and Saturn can be a wicked combo, but let’s tease it apart and look for the high road here.

Saturn offers internal stability and groundedness; this archetype, remember, relates to the skin and the skeletal system in the physical body. We need a strong and flexible sense of self and the ability to hold steady inside ourselves to embrace and work with all that is coming our way at this time.

Instead of embittered, hardened, and thwarted (Saturn) drives and desires (Mars), perhaps we can stand poised and serene within our own selves (Saturn) and take actions (Mars) that will ultimately bring benefit for the larger social sphere (Libra).

If we hold steady inside ourselves, what we receive from others and what we can create together will be maximized, including shocking and delightful new possibilities, as well as the triggering of our own unconscious mental and emotional patterns that are ready to be released.

With Mars and Saturn in Libra, perhaps our defenses and resistances can be refined so precisely that we become more efficient and skillful from here on in. A finely wrought balance between inside and out is a current theme, especially these next few weeks. Mars and Saturn means we are simultaneously fired up and restrained, and that takes skill to pull off.

In Gary Caton’s wonderful Lunar Eclipse blog from a few weeks ago, he suggested a simple exercise for improving communications. In that same spirit, on the Full Moon yesterday, I twice was reminded of Marshall Rosenberg’s work on Nonviolent Communication (NVC). Christiane Northrup suggested him as a resource in her blog on Huffington Post. She writes:

“I recommend that you go to Marshall Rosenberg’s Web site for the Center for Nonviolent Communication and check out the emotions and needs lists. Ask yourself what need is behind what you are feeling. Once you can identify the unmet need, know that, as an adult, you have the power to get that need met directly. Children don’t have this capacity, which is why most difficult emotions spring from unmet childhood needs that must now be addressed. When you can state a need directly to yourself, you are well on your way to health.”  (4)

Norma Nakai Burton, the Unity minister here in Ashland, also spoke about Rosenberg’s work in some of the most painful and divisive locations in the world right now. Last night I was part of a circle where Norma applied this approach in a beautifully productive way.

On a lighter (and back to the romantic) note, the late astrologer Richard Idemon makes a funny point in his book Through the Looking Glass (a transcription from a 1982 seminar). I can’t find the exact quote but he says that “relationships” are almost  like some sort of an “object” or construction, and that those who are in one can’t wait to get out, and those who aren’t in one can’t wait to get in. Some of us (maybe especially those with planets in early degrees of the cardinal signs?) are jumping in and out again and again and on lots of different levels, i.e., by actually making physical separations, distinctions and boundaries, or, in more subtle ways, by acutely learning from our emotional and mental responses to others.

As homage to Saturn, may we all know the deep satisfaction in facing the bare bones of our reality and experiencing the naked truth of our own existence. From that point of strength and self-sufficiency, may we welcome and recognize each other deeply and carry on together with the great transformational work at our doorstep!

References:

(1) Saturn is in Libra until October 2012.

(2) Those born between 1942–1956 have natal Neptune in Libra. For a quick synopsis: those born between 1968–1975 have Uranus in Libra and are drawn to brilliant instability in relationships, while the generation of Pluto in Libra (1971–1984) are compelled to face the very edge of life and death in the relationship arena. (Is everyone having fun by now?)

(3) Pluto is in Capricorn from late 2009 through early 2024.

(4) Huffington Post