Image by Dimitris Vetsikas
All dates and times are UT so may vary in your time zone.
This supermoon is new in the 24th degree of Libra at 19:32 UT on 16th October 2020. The Sabian Symbol for this degree – a third wing on the left side of a butterfly – reflects the triangulation of what previously looked like an issue of ‘either / or’.
An unusual occurrence is augured that draws our attention to something fresh and unexpected. A matter we once considered closed reveals its multi-dimensional nature. As such, this moon augurs an opportunity to reflect on those areas of certainty we fail to question because they already feel like a ‘done deal’. An opposition to this new moon from the dwarf planet Eris reveals just how mind-blowing this fresh perspective could be if we open our hearts to its might.
In the dark of this moon we can experience a deepened sense of our innate power as we contemplate the strength that lies at our core: the unyielding life-force shared with all beings everywhere. In the weeks to come we can nurture and nourish this connection to our sovereign self, which can be diminished by nothing and no one, however fearful or disempowered we may feel. The ripples emanating from this moon, together with Mercury’s current retrograde passage through Scorpio, set the scene for the final three months of this year, illuminating the issues, blessings and challenges laid before us.
Black Moon Lilith conjunct Eris at this moon honours our pure and vital essence that cannot be conquered by the current unrelenting assertion of inherent vulnerability. Many right now fear a virus. Others, tyranny. Some fear both and others neither. Fear of death has been weaponised to force submission, isolation and suspicion of each other. But when we allow fear to dictate our every move, we can neither think straight nor wisely and those who peddle it gain a disproportionate power over our lives. This supermoon affirms that love is the only remedy for fear, for when we remain rooted in love we can regard our own and other people’s disquiet through wiser, more compassionate eyes.
But we would be wrong to only equate love with yielding gentleness! This moon speaks of wild love that burns hard: searing love, tough love and angry love. It affirms that love of the self is vital if we’re to stand firm in what we know to be true. For if we cannot be who we authentically are, what’s the point of being?
In this moon we meet the primal force that births creation. The crash of waves on the shore and the courageous tenacity needed to call the darkness by name. A formidable force that can knock us off our feet with its many faces of grief and longing, fierce compassion and terrible grace, this is love that toughens as it softens and places rock where once the ground gave way. It explodes into becoming and births the future unbridled by fear. It may be hurricane force, battering down our door to reach us, breaking apart the earth to penetrate our soul. Or come as a lightning strike of awakening that renders all things changed.
This Libran moon recalibrates the power of love, and may hit us where it hurts, to shift our perception and cut to the chase. If the soft and gentle kind doesn’t break us open enough to acknowledge the shocking nature of our current predicament, a more unyielding love may be needed to reveal where we deny our true nature by submitting to dependency and fear. The more intimately we acquaint ourselves with this vital force, the more courageous we become in our relationships. And the greater our capacity to bear the pressure as we prepare for the further unfolding of our collective future when Saturn conjuncts Jupiter at the end of this extraordinary year.
As all things Libran remind us, we do not exist in a vacuum but instead depend on all manner of factors for our survival: each other, the elements, Mother Earth, fate and chance, karmic forces and those of creative design.
Every thought and action ripples through the shared ground of our collective being. Each decision, word and deed echoes far beyond our current time and space.
As tension mounts and intensity builds, this moon affirms that embodying this primal force of love within our lives can, and will, catalyse unfathomable evolutionary change.
©2020. Reprinted with permission of the author.
About the Author
Sarah Varcas is an intuitive astrologer with a passion for applying planetary messages to the ups and downs of everyday life. In doing so she aims to support people in their personal and spiritual development, making available celestial wisdom which may otherwise be inaccessible for those without astrological expertise.
Sarah has studied astrology for over thirty years alongside an eclectic spiritual path spanning Buddhism, contemplative Christianity and many other diverse teachings and practices. She also offers an online (via email) Self-Study Astrology Course.
You can find out more about Sarah and her work at www.astro-awakenings.co.uk.
