The Taurus Full Moon 2009:
Saturn Enters Libra
All Hallow’s Eve

The quarter Moon rides high in the nighttime sky besides Jupiter these nights.  The first strong, cold winds of autumn are finally shoving the long hot summer out of the Valley.  The time has come for the Dark to enter the Cosmic Story.  The Celtic celebration of Samhain, All Hallow’s Eve is the doorway to Wintertime, to death and cold and darkness.  For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, the darkness will grow quickly now, just as for those of you in the South, the Light will begin to come back for the year.

This festival of the Dead bids us to make peace with our dead as well as with those inner habits, beliefs and objectives that have outlived their purpose.  We need to let go.  That’s the hard part.  What comes next?  It seems we need to go into the darkness to re-discover the Light. 

Carl Jung said, “One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.”   This encounter with the Unconscious is our call to the Hero/ine's Journey.   Each of us who answers the call brings back unique gifts – magical gifts to transform our lives and share with the world. 

It is no mistake that the dark and cold of late autumn take shape during the Sun’s journey through Scorpio. Each sign of the zodiac shows us a different way to grow, to change, to evolve.  When the Sun reaches Scorpio, we are challenged to face the dark, which includes our death, and look for our truth.  In the cycle of the seasons, it is the time of year when the veils between the worlds open and the Dead make their peace with Life and Life makes its peace with Death.  It’s a time to honor your dead, to remember their life and love.  And a time to make peace with the idea that one day, you too will die.  As don Juan told Carlos, “Take death as your advisor.” It makes life passionate and intense, rather than boring and repetitive and full of fear.

I think our tradition of Hallow’een opens us to different views of death and dying.  On Hallow’een, we give food and nurturing to the Dead. (So I guess they’re still around?)  We dress up and take on new personas.   We allow for all sorts of beings – demons, angels, hobbits, dragons, knights, princesses, vampires, werewolves.  We step into an alter-ego and allow ourselves to become someone or something else.  The dark is alive with mystery and magic.  That’s a good way to see Death.  Rather than something to be feared, we might see it as a mystery to be explored.

If you’d like to read a Samhain story, go to:  All Hallow’s Eve

Saturn Moves into Libra

On Thursday, October 29^th, Saturn, the ‘reality’ energy that teaches us self-disciple, that tests us by forcing us to confront ‘collective reality’, will enter the sign of Libra at 10:09am Pacific and 1:09 Eastern time.  Saturn will occupy the sign of Libra from October 29, 2009 to April 7, 2010; and then from July 21, 2010 to October 5, 2012. Saturn retrogrades at 4-5 degrees Libra mid-January 2010, re-entering Virgo on April 7, 2010. Saturn then turns direct near the end of May, 2010, and returns to Libra on July 21, 2010.

The Sabian Symbol for 1* Libra:  Pierced by a dart of light a butterfly is ‘made perfect’.

Dane Rudhyar says that this image indicates the formation of an archetypal pattern.  The perfection of the butterfly, which is symbolic of the soul, is preserved.  The archetypal patterns of life lead us to the sacred, to the holy, to the Light of consciousness.   This degree opens the season of autumn, when humans begin the collective journey out of self and into relationship with others.  As Saturn begins his journey through Libra, let the archetypal energies of the soul guide your transformation as you step beyond yourself.

Hopefully, Saturn’s 2 ½ year-journey through Virgo has confronted us with the lessons of self-ownership.  Saturn in Virgo has been a long, hard journey into ourselves, making us face our health, work and Self issues.   Hopefully, we’ve gained valuable self-knowledge that will serve us well during Saturn’s stay in Libra.   Take time during the day to feel the shift in energy from Virgo’s mutable earth to Libra’s cardinal air.

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The last two times Saturn was in Libra was from November 1950 to October 1953, when it occupied Libra along with Neptune, and from September 1980 to August 1983, when it occupied Libra along with Pluto.   Many of my contemporaries from the 50s will be experiencing their second Saturn return, as well as having Saturn go over their natal Neptune position.  The Neptune in Libra generation were disillusioned with relationships, exalted relationships, infused spirit into relationships.  We wanted soul-mates.  We ended up divorcing a lot.  Some of our children were born with Pluto in Libra, and while they will be experiencing their first Saturn return, they experienced the pain of divorce and now will want to establish new forms of relationship that work.  No divorce for them!  I can see it happening already. Perhaps this time around, we’ll all get it right.     

Saturn in any sign forces us to confront the reality of that sign.  Through constriction, fear, pain and limitations, Saturn forces us to focus our will and get what we really want.   Saturn in Libra will make us more aware of our partnerships and one-on-one relationships.  Where are we limited or limit ourselves in our relationships?  Where are we in pain or fear over our needs and desires?  Whether you are in a personal relationship or you want to be in one, you will be working on this aspect of your life for the next 2 ½ years.  Take advantage of Saturn’s responsibility, self-discipline and authority to shape up your sense of fair-play and justice and dump the blame-game.  Saturn will try to trap you in that one!

Saturn in Libra sharpens our focus on maintaining balance, integrity and fairness in all our relationships.  We can only do that if we have a good relationship with ourselves first!  Have you balanced your masculine and feminine energies?  Do you listen to your feelings and intuitions and then balance them with your thinking and sensing?  If so, you will go into relationship as a whole person.  And that’s what’s needed.

A true partnership of equals is not about need.  It is about two wholes coming together and discovering that they fit together perfectly.  All the nooks and crannies, the dark and the light, both bring delight and a new sense of self-discovery.  Partners can do that – make two wholes into a new whole.   During Saturn’s stay in Libra’s paradigm, we get to practice how to be ourselves with another.  That can only happen if we are truthful with ourselves and truthful with each other.  Saturn will bring on the pain and constriction if we lie about our needs or deny another’s needs.  The balancing act is delicate and requires concentration and grace.

Saturn in Libra will bring out our ability to negotiate with our partners.  To find the third way through an impasse.  To take into consideration both sides so that we learn to create win-win situations.   And to do it all with beauty and grace, since Venus/Aphrodite rules the sign and Saturn is exalted (very happy there) in Libra.

Saturn in Libra will also be part of the big cardinal T-Square over the next two years, when Saturn will oppose Uranus/Jupiter in Aries and square Pluto in Capricorn (the next stage of the 60s revolution). We’ve already been through 3 Saturn/Uranus oppositions and now on November 15, 2009, Saturn will square Pluto for the first time.  This energy can create a backlash of fear around the disintegration of our culture or our established relationships, or it can begin to restructure both our institutions and our partnerships. 

Saturn and Pluto are considered harsh planetary energies and the square is also a hard aspect.  So we need to understand that these can be trying times, but we don’t have to despair (Saturn) or freak out (Pluto).  Saturn works well in Libra, is the ruler of Capricorn and is in a waning square relationship to Pluto.  These can help mitigate the harshness and get these planets working together for deep (Pluto) structural (Saturn) change. 

Anyone with planets in the first few degrees of Cardinal signs – Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn – will be especially hard-hit.  Consider having an astrological consultation to determine the best ways to handle it.

We’ve learned a lot about Libra’s lessons over the past 40 years.  Because Saturn

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Taurus/Scorpio Full Moon

The Taurus Full Moon occurs on Monday, November 2 at 2:14pm Eastern Time and 11:14am Pacific time.  A few hours later, Venus in Libra, the ruler of Taurus, trines Neptune in Aquarius, adding inspiration, imagination and vision to our full Moon awareness.  Venus also rules Libra, so our sense of beauty, grace and love will be heightened as well as influenced by the Aquarian vision of Neptune, Jupiter and Chiron.   Our actions can reflect our ideals and our need for fairness. 

Venus wants to open us to love, beauty, truth and connection while Neptune opens us to our imagination as well as our spiritual vision.  Mars, the ruler of Scorpio, is shining brightly in the Sun’s own sign of Leo, squaring this full Moon.  It challenges us to be the hero/ine of our own story and face our darkness and win through to a new vision (Jupiter in Aquarius is also squaring this full Moon and opposing Mars) that is life-giving, beautiful and loving as well as practical and secure.    

These four planets (Sun, Moon, Mars and Jupiter) are in fixed signs and form a grand cross.  Since the energy is concentrated, it will take effort to reform outmoded structures in our own behavior patterns and in our collective behavior and values.  But this is exactly what we’re being called upon to do.  The outer planets are all in the last three signs of the zodiac, calling for a collective transformation of our cultural structures, our belief systems and our relationship to Spirit.  So this full Moon is a call for Truth, for facing Death and for standing up for Life.

The full Moon in Taurus receives her light from the Scorpio Sun, which is losing its power and sinking down into darkness.  Perhaps that’s why the Taurus full Moon has always intrigued me.  Enhancing my own Taurus Sun, this full Moon calls me to remember how beautiful life is, the beauty of May and Spring.  It makes me long for ‘the kingdom of heaven’ being here and now.  The Sun lights up the Scorpionic need for merciless introspection into our real desires.  At this time of death, the Taurus full Moon makes us aware of how precious life is.  Perhaps once we get our priorities straightened out, we’ll be willing to let go of the old beliefs that keep us from living in that heavenly kingdom.  

The Sabian Symbol for the Sun at 11* Scorpio: A drowning man is being rescued. 

This symbol indicates the love and responsibility it takes to save another person.  Perhaps this man is being overwhelmed by the unconscious emotional needs that he’s repressed.  Whatever the cause, the rescue calls upon our humanitarianism, our belief that we are all in this life together.

The Sabian Symbol for the Moon at 11* Taurus:  A woman watering flowers in her garden.  Perhaps this woman is using the same waters that are drowning the man to promote life.  She is focusing that water and using it in a practical way to create beauty. 

The Scorpio/Taurus axis speaks to our emotional/desire nature.  Once we face our emotions and discover what is really important to us, we can channel those feelings into life.

Pay attention to your dreams during this full Moon and on Wednesday and Thursday nights as Saturn goes into Libra.  Ask for the truth about your ability to be in relationship, to be fair and balanced.  Ask for the truth of your desires.

Have a blessed Samhain/All Hallow’s Eve.

Cathy Pagano, M.A.

Jungian Psychotherapist/Astrologer/Wisdom Coach

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