EQUINOX: SYMBOLISM

Several days ago, on September 23, 2011, we experienced the Autumnal Equinox here in the Northern Hemisphere. We now begin the Yin, feminine part of the year. The flowing of lifeforce energy from the Earth, as absorbed from the Sun, is on the wane, and we move into a time of review, harvest and turning-inward. This inward-descending spiral will culminate on the Winter Solstice, the time of void where we begin to gestate space for our new project sthat we will seed at the Spring Equinox 2012.

The calendar days are numbered as well. We have less than 90 days left in the Gregorian year 2011. It's been quite a year. Begin the process now of integrating your experiences, especially in the context of your personal spiritual stretching and the quickening associated with the calendar system of Carl Calleman, which ends on October 28, 2011. (Go to my newsletter archive for many recent newsletters on this subject: http://conta.cc/j5HyG) We began the 6th Night of the 9th Wave on the same day as the Autumnal Equinox, only adding to the integration and review aspect of the balance of this time of year.

EQUINOX: ASTRONOMICAL

the Equinoxes

The astronomical facts about the equinoxes: "Earth's two hemispheres are receiving the sun's rays equally now. Night and day are approximately equal in length. The name 'equinox' comes from the Latin aequus (equal) and nox (night). Because Earth doesn't orbit upright, but is instead tilted on its axis by 23-and-a-half degrees, Earth's northern and southern hemispheres trade places in receiving the sun's light and warmth most directly. We have an equinox twice a year - spring and fall - when the tilt of the Earth's axis and Earth's orbit around the sun combine in such a way that the axis is inclined neither away from nor toward the sun. But, since Earth never stops moving around the sun, these days of equal sunlight and night will change quickly." http://bit.ly/neC5tw 

The energy does change quickly. There is a small window where the Sun's path over the equator decreases the usual strength of the Earth's magnetic field. The magnetic field moves clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counter clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere creating a spiral magnetic effect. Twice each year as the Sun passes over the equator the magnetic energies of both hemispheres are at their lowest potency. This means for about 24 hours before and after the exact Equinox point it is easier to connect with other dimensions.

Well, I didn't get this newsletter out in time to mention that you might want to take advantage of this energetic boundary collapse, but it is still worth noting. Now, the Libra New Moon will occur tomorrow, September 27, 2011. Libra encapsulates the energy of the equinoxes - balance of the opposites.

LIBRA: LADY JUSTICE

Libra's symbol is the goddess of Justice. She holds the scales of justice and goes by many names; the most popular are Lady Justice, Scales of Justice, and Blind Justice. The origins of the goddess of Justice go back to the ancient Greek and Roman images of Themis and Justitia.

Classical representations of Themis did not show her blindfolded (because of her talent for prophecy, she had no need to be blinded) nor was she holding a sword (because she represented common consent, not coercion). However, in Western depictions of the Lady of Justice, she is not only shown holding the scales of justice in her left hand representing fairness and balance; she is also holding a sword and chain in her right hand - symbols of enforced, even deadly, justice. Almost always draped in flowing robes, mature but not old, she symbolizes - no matter the remedy, violent or not - the fair and equal administration of the law, without corruption, avarice, prejudice or favor.

Justice is blind

It was only during the 16th century that artists began depicting the lady blindfolded to show that justice is not subject to influence. From this, the statue earned the name Blind Justice. And in modern times, it has taken on a more negative connotation in common speech: is justice blinded to the inequities taking place in our current corrupt legal system?

Themis was one of the Titans, the children of Uranus (Sky) and Gaia (Earth). In Homer, Themis appears three times where her role, according to Timothy Gantz in Early Greek Myth, was that of "imposing some kind of order or control over gatherings...." Sometimes Themis is called the mother of the Moirai and the Horai (Dike [Justice], Eirene [Peace], and Eunomia [Lawful Government]).

Most do not know that Lady Justice i.e. Themis was either first or second to deliver oracles at Delphi - an office she gave over to Apollo when the patriarchy descended on and destroyed the goddess culture.

In addition, this same archetypal goddess was referred to as Ma'at by the ancient Egyptians. Ma'at was often depicted carrying a sword with an ostrich feather in her hair (but no scales) to symbolize truth and justice.

The Ancient Egyptians believed that when you died, you travelled to the Hall of the Dead. There Anubis (the Egyptian version of Pluto) weighed your heart against the feather of Ma'at. Ma'at, the goddess of justice, sits on top of the scales to make sure that the weighing is carried out properly. Anubis steadies the scales to make the weighing fair. If your heart was lighter than the feather, you lived forever. We still talk of "a heart as light as a feather" to mean care-free, and "heavy-hearted" to mean sad. Thoth, god of wisdom and writing, stands by to record what happens. For more information on Ma'at and the sign of Libra, here is my previous newsletter: http://conta.cc/azqAM 

LIBRA: KARMA AND BALANCE

The goddess of Justice in the noblest sense represents peace, fairness and balance. Capital punishment is one (more primitive) way to balance the scales and right wrongs; so is vigilantism. On a larger scale there is the idea of Karma, meaning that in the scheme of things all actions will balance themselves out, due to the Law of Cause and Effect.

Metaphysically, Justice is blind because the Law of Karma is objective, indifferent and impersonal. The righting of wrongs does not come from a punishing God or other being in the sky and is not dependent on society doling out perfect or imperfect justice; it is simply a natural outcome of the Universal Law of Cause and Effect. Our thoughts are creative. Whatever we think and choose (thought, speech, action) the Universe responds with a matching mirror re-action or effect. This process occurs without judgment of whether or not our thoughts and choices are good for us or in alignment with the Highest Good. It is a law as natural and inexorable as the Law of Gravity. You reap what you sow. It sounds harsh but it is simply a fact.

Lady Justice ~Prophetess at Delphi~

This time of year is a good time to do a 'reckoning' of your actions and relationships (see below for more on relationships). If we don't reckon with our past, we tend to create the exact same experiences in our now and our future. So we have to 'judge' ourselves. Don't be harsh with yourself. Be impartial, be the OBSERVER, just as Ma'at is as she looks down on the balancing ceremony, the searching and fearless inventory of the human heart.

Don't blindfold yourself to what's going on, like an ostrich with its head in the sand. The Balance Point is: objective observation of your actions and choices combined with a discerning honest mind against the background of radical self-compassion and compassion for the those you have harmed with your thoughts, actions and deeds.

Keep in mind that when we make choices that cause ourselves or someone else pain and suffering, we are out of alignment with the Ultimate Law of the Universe: Love and Oneness. When we make harmful choices, we are laboring under the blind fear-based idea that we are separate and that we can hurt another being without also hurting ourselves. If we are all connected, the sword we plunge into 'the other' (someone outside of us in space and time), must first pass through ourselves. The Buddha said: we are not punished FOR our anger, but BY our anger. 

The mystical dimension of Lady Justice reveals an important part of understanding our relations with others. Listening with an inner ear, receiving insight and intuition about ourselves and what we are seeing around us - this informs the process of re-calibrating our thoughts, words and deeds to create harmony. This lost deep and mystical aspect of Lady Justice in her original aspect as Themis is a rich Truth to be explored. 

LIBRA: RELATIONSHIPS & SATURN IN LIBRA

Make it work. - Tim Gunn // The planet associated with this kind of balance -whether legal or otherwise - is the Lord of Karma, Saturn. Saturn is actually in the sign of Libra right now - from 2009 to 2012. This balancing process in our lives is especially meaningful now as the Great Taskmaster is a consultant on the process, which basically means it can't be avoided. Because Libra is associated with one-on-one relationships, any relationship is up for serious review now.

Relationships include: those with yourself (your beliefs and how you treat yourself), your spouse or partner, your friends, your boss, your clients, and even your relationship with a Higher Power, as well as the guy in the supermarket line, and the saleswoman who cold-calls you on the phone during dinner. If your most significant relationships don't work or are imbalanced - they will either have to be re-structured or will end. The foundation of all of your relationships will now be inspected. It's time to 'make it work.'

With Saturn in Libra while we move through the reaping time of the year, you might want to examine each of your relationships and ask yourself: Who am I ('self') in relationship to the 'other'? How do I conduct myself in this relationship? Is it balanced, is it conscious, is it equal? Is it based on over-giving, or on giving your power away to keep the relationship together? Do I lose myself in the other in this relationship? Or do I ignore the needs of the other and focus mainly on my-self?

LIBRA: THE MIRROR

the mirror

Another key Libra concept is that of THE MIRROR. Our relationship-others often mirror to us those parts of ourselves that we don't want to see, our shadow side. For instance, after the romance of a significant-other relationship wears off, suddenly the things that attracted us to our partner can become the things that annoy us the most. We looked at them when we first met and were drawn to the parts of ourselves that we want to transform. In the beginning of a relationship, opposites attract. Later, opposites attack. 

In addition, if we look closely at our significant-other relationships, we might see that we were magnetically drawn to the qualities we saw in the other person, qualities that we think are missing in ourselves. Truth is, these qualities already exist within us and we do not need an-'other' to bring them to us. You complete me? No, that is a romantic myth. Libra at its most evolved level is the Sacred Union of the masculine and feminine parts of us, the Sacred Marriage which brings us to the point where we don't need another person to feel ok, we are ok in ourselves, we feel complete. From that, more enlightened state of consciousness, we then are capable of choosing partnership for the purpose of enhancing our lives through the rewarding experience of opening ourselves, our hearts, to another human being.

It is not easy to look in the mirror in this way, but if we choose to do it with good intent, we can winnow the old and refresh what is lasting and meaningful to us. We can come to understand the self in relation to the other in a way that enriches both. The Libra New Moon - in the season of the Autumnal Equinox and harvest, while Saturn is in Libra - creates a celestial wind at our backs to move forward in balancing our relationships and bringing peace, within and without.