Equinox in Washington, D.C.

The Libra Equinox was at 9:55 p.m. EDT on September 22, 2018.

Libra equinox
Sept. 22, 2018
9:55 p.m. EDT
Washington, D.C.

The equinox is that rare (twice a year) and fleeting moment when the hours of day and night are precisely equal, when we are half in the light and half in the dark.  It is the mythical and magical state of equipoise before we slip gradually onto a different trajectory as, day by day, the nights become longer and longer (in the Northern Hemisphere — the opposite, of course, occurs in the Southern Hemisphere). The cosmos does not offer us a precipitous decline or a sudden elevation, but a gentle and ageless yielding to our place around the Sun.

The experience of inhaling and exhaling our way through the days is ongoing. We can see ourselves as both entangled and free; abundant and scarce; arriving and departing; asleep and awake; above and below; lost and found; guilty and innocent; humble and proud; transparent and opaque — all carried, as the yogis say, on the rhythm of the breath.

To consider a more public view of the equinox chart, here is a prominent news story in the United States: the confirmation hearings for Brett Kavanaugh as Justice for the Supreme Court.

When the chart is set for Washington, D.C., mutable air sign Gemini is rising — conditions are changeable, and exchange of information is a dominant theme for this quarter of the year. (The next quarter is governed by the Capricorn solstice chart.)

Mercury, the ruler of Gemini, is a planet of great significance for this quarter, having just been purified at the heart of the Sun (cazimi was on September 20 at 28° Virgo). Mercury then quickly got focused with its square to Saturn, suggesting that we must understand what needs to be said, at least in some critically important areas of life.

The Sun at 0° Libra is opposite Chiron at 0° Aries — painful situations (inner and outer) are apparent everywhere we look — and with the square to Saturn, we have the  fortitude to walk with our respective wounds and move forward to a place of greater insight. (Wise centaur Chiron travels in his orbit between Saturn and Uranus, advising that insight, integration, and healing are parallel with what may be painful to acknowledge.)

Anita Hill, born on July 30, 1956, has been speaking out. (1) Her recent opinion piece begins: “There is no way to redo 1991, but there are ways to do better. The facts underlying Christine Blasey Ford’s claim of being sexually assaulted by a young Brett Kavanaugh will continue to be revealed as confirmation proceedings unfold. Yet it’s impossible to miss the parallels between the Kavanaugh confirmation hearing of 2018 and the 1991 confirmation hearing for Justice Clarence Thomas.” (2)

Anita Hill
July 30, 1956
Tulsa, Oklahoma
sunrise chart, no birth time known

She testified in hearings for Clarence Thomas’s Supreme Court position (which began on October 11, 1991) and spoke of his inappropriate sexual behavior. Hill has Chiron opposite the Sun in the natal chart, and transiting Chiron was conjunct her Sun at the time of her testimony.

Bi-wheel: inner: Anita Hill, natal; outer: transits to Oct. 11, 1991
(Clarence Thomas hearing)

The most recent solar eclipse, on August 11, was at 18°34’ Leo, conjunct Hill’s natal Mercury. (The sunrise chart gives Mercury at 18°35’ Leo.)

That same eclipse is strong in the chart of Brett Kavanaugh (born on February 12, 1965). (3)

Kavanaugh has Jupiter at 17°54’ Taurus opposite Neptune at 19°59’ Scorpio, with both squaring the Sun and Mercury (whose midpoint is 19° Aquarius). The August solar eclipse at 18°34’ Leo fills in a grand fixed cross in his horoscope.

Brett Kavanaugh
Feb., 12, 1965
Washington, D.C.
sunrise chart, no birth time known

The U.S. Sibly Mars at 21° Gemini is conjunct Kavanaugh’s North Node, indicating the volatility of the gentleman’s connection to the country.

Onward, friends. With Chiron in Aries, we are the heroes of our own stories, and individual bravery is a sign of the times!

Footnotes:

(1) AstroDataBank

(2) Her opinion piece was published in The New York Times on September 18.
Anita Hill: How to Get the Kavanaugh Hearings Right

(3) Wikipedia: Brett Kavanaugh