Libra New Moon 2008
Don't look for a quick fix to our economic woes, with Mercury just turned retrograde on September 24th, as the American government tries to pass a law for the bailout of Wall Street. It's astrological wisdom that you don't sign anything while Mercury is retrograde, since there's a good chance that one or the other of the parties will change their minds because they've had time to do more research. When signing documents, Mercury retrograde always says, 'Go back, you've missed something important. Do more research!'
Mercury will be retrograde until October 15 and the shadow of the retrograde – the zodiac degrees leading up to the retrograde and then after Mercury turns direct til when it gets back to 23 Libra – is active from September 3 to October 31. So for those of you who've been asking me why things haven't been working out even before the 24th, this is it.
It's also interesting that one side of the Libra balance, the President and his staff, have been making plans for this bailout for a while, as stated below. And yet, Congress is urged to quickly pass the bill into law. Both Mercury retrograde and the waning balsamic moon would say, “Wait, not so fast. There might be some hidden issues here.”
White House deputy press secretary Tony Fratto stated to members of the press on September 23rd: “This is -- this was not a program that was conceived of or put together hastily. There was an enormous amount of analysis and debate and discussion before we came forward with this program. I think we have anticipated a lot of the questions that members of Congress would naturally have about taking this step, but we have had -- some of the policy staff have had months to think about what a program like this would be like and how it would work. Others have had at least weeks to think about it. Members of Congress have had days to think about it. And it's very, very complex and takes time to think through all of the implications of it and why some alternative ideas might not work as well as this one.” (click here Justice can only be served when both sides of an issue get an equal hearing. Where does fairness lie? That is the Libra question. Can we really put Humpty Dumpty back together again? Or should we? If something fails this badly, should we try to patch it up and hope for the best? Or do we need to start all over again with new laws (Libra) and a new sense of justice for all? Thom Hartmann has suggested that if we create an agency to fund the bailout, loan that agency the money from the Treasury, and then have that agency tax Wall Street to pay us (the Treasury) back. It's called a Securities Turnover Excise Tax (STET) Check out his article. We've had these taxes before and they stop speculation and would pay back the money within a year. Any way you look at it, if Congress pushes through an ill-conceived, hurried plan, we are in for more trouble. Heck, we're in for more trouble any way you look at it. Ever since Pluto first went into Capricorn last January for a two month foray into the sign of government, culture, corporations and structures, we've seen the beginning of the end for our institutions as we know them. Bear Stearns was just the beginning in March 2008. Just look what's happened since Pluto along with Jupiter in Capricorn (makes things bigger) went direct on September 9th. Even though Pluto is still in Sagittarius, the impact on our financial structures is explosive. They are foundering because they are obviously rotten at their core. And we still have another two months to go before Pluto goes back into Capricorn for the next 16 years! Stay tuned for more surprises as we reform our society along more equitable lines. For those of you who have missed my previous newsletters, when Pluto goes through a sign, it destroys the forms that no longer serve life. Which is a good thing in the long run, but hard in the moment. Evolution is the force of change and growth. Without it we stagnate and die. The last time Pluto was in Capricorn was in the years before and during the American revolution. They were fighting against corporations back then too – remember the Boston Tea Party? Well, for the first time since our country was formed, we are going to have the chance to create a real reformation of our government and laws. We just have to get through it. I would remind you that our souls chose to be born in this time, so we are part of the plan. So while we probably won't feel very balanced when we look at what's happening in the outer world, it behooves us to find our inner balance. Let's look at the new moon that occurs on Monday September 29, 2008 at 1:12 am pdt and 4:12 am edt. Libra is the sign of the Autumn Equinox, and the Libra new Moon is another reminder that we are at that balance point, that moment of stillness that signifies a turning point in the year. Now the darkness will rise until its greatest depth is reached at the Winter Solstice. Now the days begin to get shorter and the nights longer. It is the time of harvest, when we look to what we have accomplished this year. Was our harvest life-giving or death-dealing? Either way, we now have to look outside ourselves to others. Libra is the sign of the Other. Now as the darkness grows, we have to band together and form partnerships and community. That is the purpose of Libra. Libra's symbol is the Scale, or Balance, the only symbol in the Zodiac that isn't a living being. The scale is a symbol of balance, harmony, equality and cosmic law. We often associate Libra with the ideas of relationship, balance, fairness, justice and diplomacy. But in ancient times the Scale, or Balance, had a different meaning. A Scale was used to weigh things against a socially accepted standard weight. It was used to measure and evaluate the fundamental worth of something in terms of social value. It therefore implied a judgment. Libra's scales want to know our social worth to the collective, as well how that worth weighs in with the cosmic laws of Justice and Mercy. What do people and our society need from us? What do we have to offer them? How synchronistic that our banking system should fail just as they are weighed in the cosmic balance of this year of change and found wanting! The Scale goes back to the Egyptian belief that at death, your heart (conscience) is put in the balance over against a feather belonging to the Goddess Maat (the goddess of natural law and cosmic justice), to discover the truth of your heart and if you had served your fellow human beings. Your life itself was weighed in the balance. We get a chance to put ourselves in that balance each Fall Equinox. (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
