Autumn Equinox 2021 arrives on September 22 at 3:21p EDT, 12:21p PDT and 19:21 UT

It is Spring Equinox for those in the Southern Hemisphere which is on September 23 at 5:21 AEDT

The Old Farmers Almanac has all the basic info and some beautiful photos too, and Mental Floss gives you ways to celebrate the Equinox. China and Vietnam and other Asian countries celebrate the Moon Festival which is on the full moon nearest to the equinox, and this Equinox is called Mabon in the modern pagan tradition named after the God of Welsh mythology – the Child of Light and the son of the Earth Mother Goddess.

All seasons have their beauty but Autumn’s beauty is outrageous! Here in the US we know about New England’s riotous colors and the stunning golden aspens in the West, but Autumn’s beauty is spans the globe. Here are images of Autumn glory around the world 10 best places outside the U.S. for fall color.

The September Equinox marks the beginning of this new season and the chart for the Equinox indicates astrological trends for the season. Here is the Equinox chart cast for Washington, DC.

This equinox marks the moment the Sun enters Libra each year. This year Mars is also in Libra riding close to the Sun and Mercury is in this airy balanced sign too.. Venus rules Libra so her placement is always important and this year Venus swims in the dark waters of Scorpio exerting her power in deep and mysterious ways to be revealed later.  The Moon is in fiery Aries, Chiron retro is too. Saturn and Jupiter are both retrograde in icy Aquarius. Neptune continues his retro journey in Pisces and Pluto, retro too, remains in Capricorn. The Karmic South Node (pull to the past) is in Sagittarius and North Node (future direction) is in Gemini.

Mars represents action and the last time Mars joined the Sun in Libra on the Autumn Equinox was in 2008, just before the US election when Barack Obama became President.  At the 2021 Equinox Mars forms a close  trine to Saturn and also to the Gemini North Node, forming a Grand Air Trine and the Sun plays into this positive pattern too.  This uplifting energy as the new season begins bodes well for better interaction helping average people understand each other better (let us hope!).

Communicator Mercury enhances this, forming another airy trine to Jupiter in Aquarius. Mercury helps spread the Libra ideas of fair play for all with the ability to see both sides of an issue to provide intelligent solutions and this trine to bountiful Jupiter adds more impact. However Mercury moves slowly now in prep for his retrograde phase 5 days after the Equinox and Jupiter is retrograde at the Equinox so Mercury’s uplifting message may fly over people’s heads for now. On November 1st this same trine repeats with both planets moving direct so the message has a better chance of connecting.

Tiny Mercury plays large in the Equinox chart again because along with this trine he forms an exact square to Pluto retro in serious Capricorn. Pluto has been in Capricorn since 11/27/2008 another push back to that significant year, and this Mercury square repeats challenges operative since then to the corporate and government top down patriarchal power structures.  Pluto moves forward on 10/6 and on November 2nd, the day after the repeat of the positive trine between Mercury and Jupiter, this Mercury – Pluto square repeats too.  Interesting contrast.

To get a hint about what this means let’s look at how the Equinox Moon in Aries plays in. The Moon in the Equinox chart represents the public’s mood and Moon in Mars ruled Aries is passionate! The Moon forms a see-saw opposition to Mercury and also squares Pluto forming a tense T-Square which demands action to resolve the challenge. Texas just passed the most rigid anti abortion law not only in the US but in most other countries across the world. Libra’s symbol, the balanced scales of Justice, indicates the connection to law and courts like the US Supreme Court which formally denied to freeze the Texas law even though it violates Roe v. Wade.

The outcry after this law passed was swift with rallies across the country protesting the law and even corporations like American Airlines and Lyft are  against the law . One of the most draconian parts of the law is that it encourages average citizens to turn in anyone violating the law and allows them to sue too! Ironically the very Republicans who crafted and passed this law and who spit and rave about “socialists” must have forgotten how similar this law is to the old Communist Party in the Soviet Union and China which also encouraged people to turn in their neighbors for violating Party regulations.

Venus rules Libra so her placement in the Equinox chart is always important and she is in potent and powerful Scorpio and forms a tight opposition to change agent Uranus in Taurus and both planets also square Lord of Karma Saturn in Aquarius. Another strained T-Square! Venus rules females and you don’t want to undermine women when Venus is in Scorpio! Venus in Scorpio keeps her intentions well hidden and pounces like a panther to capture her prey.  Since both Uranus and Saturn are retro it might take a while for her plan to unfold but don’t doubt that it will!

These T-Squares also point to the ongoing civil war between Q-anon fanatics and those who will do anything to avoid getting a covid vaccination even ingesting toxic substances versus those who don’t believe Democrats drink baby blood and who believe in following scientific data. It’s definitely weird out there hang on because the Libra scales wildly out of balance looks to continue through the season.

Here is an Equinox post I like from Jude Cowell. She says the, “Mars-Venus vibes… is the blend of the cool-headed “peace-making crusader” who can be “jolted by emotional conflict and criticism from others.” There’s a sociability and a sense of “great expectations” to this blend and romance is not out of the picture! There can be quite a tussle with independence vs dependence issues in some partnerships so watch out for this. ”

At the personal level the way to avoid those swinging scales is to tap into the positive Equinox trends activated by the uplifting Air Trines. The Libra angle invites you to reach out to your community and friends to help each other stay positive and  share good times together. It also motivates you to put extra energy into making your own personal relationships – family and romantic partner, better. Venus in juicy Scorpio helps with this and the Aries Moon provides a lot of passion to pull it off!  The Aquarius angle from Saturn and Jupiter encourages you to look to the future and rise above the unhinged media messages including those from your own social media sources. Trust your own intuitive inner guidance and use it to rise to your personal bigger picture understanding and you’ll see through any outer illusion.  As the wonderful poet Rumi, born with Sun in Libra, says, We carry inside us the wonders we seek outside us. ~ Rumi

When the planet of drive and desire, anger and frustration travels through the sign of peace and harmony it’s not always easy.  Mars in Libra craves harmony and true partnership- the equanimity that occurs when everything in our lives is in balance.  Libra is the sign of love and beauty, certainly, but the underlying energy here is the sense of harmonious integration which is experienced when we are surrounded by beauty and feeling the comfort of love. The love and beauty are means to an end rather than the end itself.

Mars is none of those things. Mars is easily frustrated when needs aren’t met, and eager to achieve desires and goals. It cares nothing for harmony but instead seeks personal satisfaction. Mars is therefore often disrespected by astrologers as a “bad” planet – a malefic, one that is up to no good. But as my readers know, an effective Mars is essential for a healthy personal eco-system. Our needs must be met, and our truths must be spoken.

Mars is the ruler of Aries, Libra’s opposite polarity so Mars is said to be in its detriment in Libra, where it is less easily able to find its full expression as the planet of aggression and self-direction.  Under Mars in Libra we sometimes tend to sacrifice who we are and what we ourselves need in order to find that peaceful integration that will soothe our jangled nerves – we yearn to find balance and integrate the confusion of opposites into one complete whole of understanding and compassion.

Mars will be in Libra until it moves into Scorpio on October 30th.  Scorpio is the other Mars-ruled sign, and Mars is intense and passionate in Scorpio.  While in Scorpio Mars will set off the square from Saturn to Uranus, and you may already be hearing warnings about this. A friend of my sister wrote “Check in with your sister. Those of us in the metaphysical world have been hearing signs of dramatic shift/disjunction in November this year. Another COVID setback? Terrorist act? Natural disaster?”  Mars moves quickly unless it’s in its retrograde cycle (as it was in 2020), and these triggers to the outer planets are not necessarily harbingers of major crises. There won’t be other major alignments to intensify the action of Mars, so I’m not too worried about November. That said, it wouldn’t hurt to keep your eyes open between November 7 and 20 when three planets in Scorpio set off both Saturn and Uranus.  More about that later!

Meanwhile, when Mars is in Libra we will be well-served by remembering to honor our own needs and desires (Mars) while seeking the peace and equanimity of the Libran experience. This is not a time to lose ourselves for the sake of harmonious balance.

The post Mars in Libra: Striving for balance appeared first on Astrology readings and writings by Lynn Hayes.