Goddess in the Underworld: Libra New Moon – October 8, 2018

Venus, Ceres & Persephone: Re-Balancing Relationships

As I was meditating on the chart for the Libra New Moon last night, I kept being drawn to the fact that – right after the Kavanaugh fiasco – we have a New Moon in the sign of relationship and justice that is conjunct Ceres. And that Ceres is square Pluto.

Suddenly I experienced a little mental nudge: “I wonder where Persephone is?” (More on that in a sec…)

Venus, Persephone, Ceres: the goddess and her underworld journeyCeres’ tight conjunction to the New Moon indicates that Ceres themes (the pain of women and children in societies based on patriarchal privilege; abortion, abduction, sexual assault, pedophilia) are going to predominate. As I noted in my piece last week on the mythology of Ceres and how she shows up in astrological charts, Ceres has a strong warrior nature. But there seems to be a need for ritual grieving of the wounded feminine (in women and men) before that warrior side can be truly empowered.

Check. There’s definitely plenty of grief and shock to go around since the Senate voted Saturday to confirm Brett Kavanaugh as our newest Supreme Court justice. Kavanaugh’s judicial record and public comments certainly seem to legitimize the widespread fear that a high court now tilted heavily in favor of right wing ideologues will act as soon as possible to reverse Roe v Wade, the landmark ruling that made abortion legal 45 years ago.

New Moons always herald the end of an old cycle and the beginning of a new one. We are definitely still deep in the mourning / letting go of the past energy of the  ‘old cycle ending’ phase.

In my post on the astrology of the September 27 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, I hypothesized that the reaction of Republican Senators, the President, and the right wing media was actually more important than whether or not Kavanaugh was confirmed.

I know it doesn’t feel that way for many of us. And it’s important that we feel our feelings now.

But Ceres has been super active in this year’s key astrology charts. And when we place this New Moon chart in the context of some bigger astrological cycles, we start to see the power of divine evolutionary intent at work.

I believe Ceres’ presence at this lunation indicates an evolutionary imperative to fundamentally rebalance our society’s attitudes toward not only women but toward the divine feminine and the divine masculine within each of us.

Even more than oppositions, squares in astrology indicate two archetypes butting heads with one another. Squares are challenging aspects, true; but they always produce change or movement in the material world. The potential of this square between the Sun/Moon/Ceres in Libra and Pluto in Capricorn is for an evolution in consciousness that challenges the status quo and contributes to the destruction or transformation of the patriarchal power structure.

Strange Echoes & A Light in the Darkness

So, I mentioned that I started wondering where Persephone was. I knew there was an asteroid named Persephone. But there are hundreds of named asteroids, most of which I’ve never used when casting charts.

Still, given the circumstances, it seemed wrong not to at least look up where she happens to be at the moment. And would you believe it?

Ceres, Venus & Persephone: Libra New Moon, October 8, 2018, 11:45 pm EDT, Washington, D.C.

Ceres, Venus & Persephone: Libra New Moon, October 8, 2018, 11:45 pm EDT, Washington, D.C.

At tonight’s New Moon, Persephone is conjunct Venus in Scorpio (< 0° 10′). Not only that, she’s in the exact degree where Venus stationed retrograde last Friday (10 Scorpio 50′).

When Venus goes retrograde, she metaphorically journeys to the Underworld to be transformed and born anew. She disappears from the night sky (Venus as “evening star”) and, 40 days later, reappears as the morning star.

Quick reminder: Persephone/Proserpine is the daughter of Demeter/Ceres. While picking flowers one day, Persephone/Proserpine is abducted by Hades/Pluto and taken to the Underworld, leaving Ceres grief-stricken and bereft.

But wait – this story gets even weirder!

The Big Picture – Saros cycle 155

In mundane astrology (the astrology of world affairs), the solar eclipse preceding any key event is considered important in placing the event in context. The ‘prenatal’ eclipse for Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court was the August 11, 2018 solar eclipse in Leo. This eclipse belongs to Saros series 155.¹

In her book Predictive Astrology: The Eagle and the Lark, Bernadette Brady says of this eclipse family:

“Confusion may reign, but the long-term effects are those of rebuilding and transformation. After the dust has settled, the rebuilding starts and the consequences of this reshaping will have far-reaching effects.”

The first eclipse in any Saros series outlines the overarching themes that will be present throughout the rest of the cycle. The first eclipse in series 155 was the Gemini solar eclipse of June 17, 1928.

Guess what degree is on the Ascendant in Washington, D.C., for that eclipse?

The first eclipse in Saros series 155 was a solar eclipse in Gemini. Chart: June 17, 1928, 4:42 pm EDT, Washington, DC.

The first eclipse in Saros series 155 was a solar eclipse in Gemini. (June 17, 1928, 4:42 pm EDT, Washington, D.C.)

On Saturday, October 6, the day the Senate officially confirmed Brett Kavanaugh as our new Supreme Court justice, Persephone was at 9 Scorpio 46′ – conjunct the Ascendant for the first eclipse in this Saros series by one-quarter of a degree. Venus, still in her retrograde station, was at 10 Scorpio 49′.

Writing about the August 11 eclipse this year, Brazilian astrologer Maria Eunice Sousa points out that Pluto is currently opposing its position in the first eclipse of the Saros 155 family. Since all of the solar eclipses in Saros 155 happen conjunct the North Node, Sousa writes,  “the symbolized ‘events’ represented by these eclipses actually push us toward our evolution.”

Scorpio, of course, is the sign that symbolizes the Underworld Journey. Scorpio astrology pushes us down into the dark recesses of the soul to confront what has been hidden from us or what we’ve hidden from ourselves. How weird is it that Persephone just ‘happens’ to be conjunct Venus as Venus descends into the Underworld in 2018?

And that it happens at a moment when women who have suffered through sexual assault in the United States are being told en masse that sexual assault (if it ever really happened; where’s your evidence, bitch?) is just part of a woman’s path through life. And being told that the real victims are ‘good men’ like Brett Kavanaugh whose life was almost ruined by a conspiracy of Democrats and the liberal media and a few women he allegedly assaulted decades ago?

I have to mention the Sumerian myth of Inanna, echoes of which appear in the symbology of the Venus retrograde cycle and the astrological functioning of Black Moon Lilith as well as in the Ceres/Demeter/Persephone myth.²

(Can I point out that Black Moon Lilith in Scorpio dominates the 1st House of the 1928 eclipse chart? Or that transiting Jupiter is at 23 Scorpio 38 now, conjunct Black Moon Lilith in the 1928 chart?)

Perception, Identity & Essence (What Are We Gonna Do Now?)

With Ceres, Venus and Persephone heavily involved in the astrological pictures, I think it’s safe to say this moment is an evolutionary tipping point in how women are perceived in our society.

But how do we get from here to there?

First, Ceres demands that we acknowledge what we have lost and that we honor our grief. This may be the loss of safety or of innocence or of carefree joy due to sexual assault. It may be the loss of a piece of our heart and soul due to abortion or to the death of a child. It may be abandonment by mother, or separation from mother due to death or physical or mental illness.

It may be the loss of of life energy, of hope, of health, or of belief, due to the relentless grinding of the patriarchal Matrix machinery.

I feel strongly that we as a society are in need of public rituals to express and honor our grief. I don’t know exactly what that looks like, but I’d love to hear your ideas.

Venus Rx and Black Moon Lilith (still conjunct the USA’s South Node, exact October 13) demand that we face our shadows and do the work necessary to integrate them and regain our power.

How women are perceived is directly related to how women perceive themselves. Which, as some remarkable women of the GOP have shown us this past week, is a complicated tangle of many factors. Including: how girls and boys are socialized; a woman’s beliefs based on family dynamics, race, religious programming, security fears and status concerns; and the web of often-invisible societal mores and taboos around gender and sexuality we all carry in the unconscious mind.

Women can’t do this work alone, though, nor should they have to. We all contain both the feminine and the masculine. Libra teaches us that the balance and harmony we seek in relationships must first be be attained within the Self. At the same time, we can help one another with our inner work by modeling loving attention, non-violent communication, and respect for the needs and boundaries of the other.³

The Venus retrograde continues through November 16, emphasizing the integration of the shadow and the journey from identity to essence. This is a powerful period for identifying the false personae we were given in childhood as well as the identities we’ve developed in attempts to avoid more pain and punishment and to get a little more love and pleasure.

We can hold space for one another to feel our feelings, whatever it is we need to feel, knowing that this is the fastest route to reclaiming our soul power.  And we can remind one another that, if we stick together, we are totally up to the task of reversing any and all damage done by the unimaginative creeps masquerading as ‘our leaders’.

And we can remind one another that we are here now because we chose to be. Because we’re the badass ninja warriors of the soul realm. So let’s feel our feelings, let go of what needs to be let go, and harness the evolutionary potential of this potent moment.


Want to do more for yourself?

People routinely tell me after a reading how much better they feel about themselves and about life. One reason I love astrology is that it shows us which archetypes are currently activated within the soul. And it shows us that (a) this activation won’t last forever; and (b) what we can do to have a better experience of these energies.

If you’re ready to align with your soul’s sweet spot, go to my Astrology Readings page to book a reading at special Venus Retrograde prices, now through October 31.

Check out Five Ways to Feel Better Fast for tools you can use to boost your energy and confidence and let go of stuck emotions.


Notes

1 – The Saros series describes ‘families’ of similar eclipses. Every 223 lunar or synodic months, eclipses occur that share nearly the same relative geometry among the Sun, Moon, and Nodes. In any Saros series, the eclipses happen about 18 years and 11 days apart.

Series 155 is a ‘young’ Saros cycle that began with the Gemini solar eclipse on June 17, 1928.

You can see the charts for individual eclipses in series 155 here. And in the animated GIF on this Wikipedia page you can see how the Saros geometry tracks across the globe through an entire series.

2 – This Astro Butterfly post succinctly explains Venus’ descent into the Underworld and connects it to the themes of Inanna and Ereshkigal. And it’s admirably succinct!

3 – Not helpful: Men reacting with contempt or apathy to the grief and anger being expressed by the women in their lives; women spewing anger at the men in their lives and expecting them to soak up those emotions because the fact they were born with a penis makes them automatically the oppressor.

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