Libra season marks the spring equinox in the southern hemisphere and the autumn equinox in the northern hemisphere…

…Libra is a cardinal sign meaning it begins a new season in the four-season system of a year. in the southern hemisphere it begins spring, taking us towards summer. and in the northern hemisphere it begins autumn, eventually leading us to winter.

we can interpret cardinal energy as initiating energy that enables beginnings, a quality that contains vision and leadership. Libra is an air sign, which makes it a “diurnal” or “masculine*” sign. it is associated with the planet Venus. i find Libra energy to be highly tuned into social and political dynamics, concerned with balance and justice and very aware of beauty.

there is also something about Libra that makes me think of perspective. as an air sign governed by Venus, it is deeply relational and has a capacity to comprehend multiple perspectives, sometimes to its own detriment. Libra always makes me think of exhibitions and theatres, diplomacy, elegant clothing and a social situation where one feels like one belongs.

some keywords we can associate with Libra are: balance / etiquette / harmony / reflection / charm. (remember, this doesn’t necessarily mean people with a Libra sun always connect with these words, rather i am speaking to the archetypal quality of the zodiac sign itself.)

*masculine is a loaded term, and i prefer to use the word “diurnal” which refers to air and fire signs. diurnal signs are associated with the solar and the day time. “nocturnal” on the other hand refers to earth and water signs, which are associated more to the lunar and the night time. these are just two ways of languaging different and complementary energies. diurnal signs are often more externally orientated and nocturnal signs more internally orientated.

i feel that pop astrology tends to over-feminize libra because of its association with venus, but as a diurnal venusian sign there is something fundamentally gender-fucky about libra, as it embodies a kind of externally focussed femmeness, or a soft-and-socially-aware-mascness that society often struggles to place (in traditional astrology, libra is a challenging place for the sun to be).

i see this is a sort of super-power of libra, as challenging as it might be, because it demands a new and visionary type of relationship between intimacy and society. the diurnal “masculine” venus energy of libra is something i adore, as i find libras to be very self-aware and other-aware doms.

libra

give yourself permission to talk to yourself, use a tone that is sweet and kind. call it praying to the divinity that is you if you like. give yourself pep talks and sing yourself lullabies. embrace the oddities within you and delight in the strange habits you so often tend to hide from others. this is a gift you can give to yourself. being weird right now is going to help you become who you’re becoming.

around the middle of october you’ll feel a sense of homecoming, something to soothe the irritations that have emerged over this past month or so. until then, give yourself permission to talk yourself, sweetly and kindly.

scorpio

half of you is decomposing, the other half is rising from the dead. it’s a strange sensation when chapters cross over – something opens, something closes. you might be feeling both motivated and impatient to start, but things may still need wrapping up or the way forward might not be entirely illuminated. stay steady and use this time to strategise.

many predators have a moment of strategic stillness before they leap. be intentional about quiet in relationship to your labours. give yourself the gift of stillness and understand that stillness can be the thing that makes your next move perfect.

sagittarius

libra season is often a sweet sort of closing party for you before the year wraps up. of course, with the world on the brink of all kinds of collapse, a sweet closing party might feel mildly impossible but deeply necessary. give yourself the gift of a social evening that fills you with your own brand of joy, be it a night in the club or joining a protest for the cause you believe in (or both).

coming off this past month where there may have been serious drama unfolding in your work or home life, let yourself be supported by your friends. make room for air, for talk, for the exchange of ideas. you’re a fire sign, let fresh winds from new people breathe life into you.

capricorn

pressure turns you on because it helps you feel your edges, which can bring you closer to your center. there may be something about your public life that is causing some stress or tension, but this moment is part of a longer trajectory that returns you to yourself.

if you’re sensing wobbly confusions that pull you in two directions, it’s okay. give yourself the gift of wobbles and confusion. be like those inflatable weighted toys that casually bounce back up after they’re pushed down. your anchors permit you to float during this time. and your routines are supposed to be disrupted right now. trust yourself.

aquarius

this time could be feeling a bit like a new year for you, both a little sad and a little like a new start. make a mini-endish of year resolution that brings you just one tiny step closer to a long-term goal. be open to the idea that unplanned encounters with people might just be a magical message from the universe. talk and write and breathe. a lot.

something about what you make is changing. something about who you are is changing. this is good. but don’t rely on knowing what exactly. give yourself the gift of not knowing. try be more drifty than usual until the end of the year. come february you’ll have more vision but need more patience.

pisces

just when you thought you had shaken off that weight that’s been following you for three years, it’s come back (and it will pass.) but with it, comes a moment to reflect on all the ways in which you have become more concretely yourself over the past few years. make a list (write it by hand) of your wins, of where you have grown. give yourself the gift of recognising your growth.

i feel like for the whole of libra season you’re sort of looking at life through a rear-view mirror. you can see, but you have to work a little harder and focus a little more to fully trust what you see. move slowly. there is energy behind the projects that motivate you, but remember that you can’t push a river to flow faster. 

aries

do you have reoccurring dreams? what are the landscapes and images that follow you around like little ghosties? pay attention to the invisible guides hiding in the corners of your psyche. people often perceive aries as stubborn sporty sweaty fighters, which is what it is. but you’re just as mystical and dreamy as a pisces, only your magic burns instead of floats.

libra season wants you to the give yourself the gift of looking back. look at yourself, under yourself, behind yourself. catch glances of your being from all directions, what new perspectives await your wonder? the full moon in your sign on 7 october asks you to let go of something big.

taurus

you might find that a lot of the time people don’t think you’re working because you have a way of making labour look kind of glamorous and fancy. but it’s still labour and it probably definitely doesn’t feel fancy or glamorous.

this season, give yourself the gift of taking all the different kinds of labour you do seriously. try to respect your labour the way people respect diplomats or surgeons. your work, whatever it is, is deeply important. even the work of figuring out your work is important – indeed, this work is especially important. don’t let pressure in your relationships distract you from the beauty of your daily habits. 

gemini

libra season opens up for you with a gush of playful and potentially erotic-creative joy. even though you might still be exhausted from the solar eclipse that happened on 21 september. it’s time to slowly dip your toes back into things that delight you, so give yourself time to float along breezy ideas and encounters with sweet people as you recover. but be strategic with your body’s energy.

give yourself the gift of playing with people, whatever that might look like. set up play dates, make them wholesome. there’s a chance for friendships and connections to get deep come october, but make sure to hold them lightly.

cancer

there’s a restless itchiness that always comes with growth and it can be annoying. cancer is not always the first sign people think of when they think of ambition, but you are ambitious. and right now, you can sense so much potential in yourself, so much desire to expand. and it can be annoying. especially when you’re not where you want to be.

this season, let your dissatisfactions and annoyances reveal to you something about your desires. let your hunger for growth remind you of your vitality. let your longing for longevity enable you to take up the challenge. give yourself the gift of fighting for what you believe in, even if it doesn’t look how it’s “supposed” to look.  

leo

write yourself back into yourself. this season asks for language to act as a sweet little bridge back to the very middle of your middle. each day, try to identify your mood as a verb, a noun, an adjective. look at your mood-vocabulary in other languages, look at etymologies. imagine your day as a poem, a rhetorical question, a run-on sentence.

letting language play with you will help you manage a certain tension that is available to motivate you. you’re at the start of a journey that invites you to create a new relationship to power, so give yourself the gift of enunciation.

virgo

i have a strange desire to feed you some sort of stew and then put you to sleep. libra season wants you to rest and position your body on soft surfaces whenever possible. the past few weeks have brought about profound shifts, which would like to become profoundly healing shifts, but need a whole lot of nourishment and restorative actions to do so.

give yourself the gift of hearty food. plan pot lucks with friends, cook your grandmother’s recipes, ask for someone to bring you lunch. with each meal you make, add a sprinkle of intentional love with the knowledge that nourishment supports integration.