Solar Eclipse in Libra. 10.14.23.
Photo credit: Chris Pietsch, an Oregon-based multimedia photojournalist working at The Register-Guard in Eugene, Oregon, caught this amazing glimpse of the Libra solar eclipse. Image description: A ring of light is shown against a hazy, cloudy, black and gold-hued backdrop.
Happy eclipse season, beautiful souls!
I hope you’re all taking care good care of yourselves and getting lots of rest as a powerful eclipse portal opens up today.
The first of two eclipses taking place this month happened at 1:55pm ET today at 21 degrees of Libra. It will be followed by a lunar eclipse in Taurus on October 28th (more on that one in the next installment of Practical Woo).
Before I get into what it all means, first: a quick reminder about eclipse energy:
While eclipse energy isn’t the kind of energy one traditionally works with for manifestation, as with “ordinary” New or Full Moons—tl;dr: it’s unstable, power-surge energy, making grounding a must during this roughly two-week period—eclipse pairs open powerful portals that we are all likely to feel and remember in retrospect. The best way to work with the energy is to let it move through you; to surrender and allow what’s coming up vs. resisting it or trying to control the events in your life; and to witness what comes up in your life with curiosity and an extra dose of self-care.
Eclipses often mark beginnings and endings; the closing of one chapter and the opening of another. Sudden opportunities often arise. Events that feel fated may take place. No matter what, it’s worth building in some extra buffer time for rest and reflection—and to prepare to whatever extent you can to expect the unexpected. Because that’s what eclipses tend to bring.
For example, say you’ve been wanting to start or leave a relationship or a job—or doing that is in service of your highest and greatest good even if you’re not looking for it consciously. During eclipse season, things may get sped up. (This isn’t something to try to make happen, it’s something to allow to happen and to be prepared for and to welcome in.)
Despite all the cosmic paranoia that gets peddled whenever we step back into eclipse season, eclipses aren’t to be feared. They’re a rich portal for reflection, surrender, and catalyzing the process of consciousness expansion. My top advice is to allow vs resisting whatever changes might be arising for you. Eclipse season is a great time to practice the art of surrender—to trust that everything is working out as it should and your Higher Self is leading you wherever you’re meant to be headed even if you can’t see the full picture yet.
While this weekend’s eclipse is happening in Libra, eclipses activate both the sign they take place in and the sign that’s opposite to it in the zodiac. The Libra eclipse today is activating the Aries/Libra axis. Additionally, eclipses also work across time, highlighting ongoing stories that play out over the course of a couple of years. So the Libra eclipse today is the second in the Aries/Libra eclipse sequence that was kicked off on April 20, 2023, and which will run its course up to March 29, 2025 when it culminates in the final Aries eclipse in the series. (The full series of dates in the Aries/Libra eclipse series includes: April 20, 2023; October 14, 2023; March 25, 2024; April 8, 2024; October 2, 2024; and March 29, 2025).
So a powerful way to deepen your reflections on this Libra eclipse is to think about any connections between what was coming up for you back around April 20th and now.
Some of the themes that this series of Aries/Libra eclipses may be raising in our lives:
What we’ve been learning about how to be our authentic selves in relationship—and any blocks/fears we’re ready to release so we can do that more fully.
What we’ve been learning about how to communicate about our physical and emotional needs and boundaries so that they get met in relationship—and where we have more work to do on that front.
Where we’re ready to let go of energy patterns in relationship that no longer serve us and which stand in the way of equality in relationship—people pleasing especially, but also any other ways in which we sacrifice or abandon ourselves to preserve relationships/keep the peace/for fear of not being loved.
New relationships in our lives that allow us to be our full selves—as well as any unhealthy/toxic relationships we’re ready to let go of.
Libra is also about justice and harmony. And Aries is associated with leadership and courage. So this eclipse (and the others in the series) may be inviting us, additionally, to explore how we are being called to show up as forces for the Libran ideals of justice, love, equality in relationship, and collective harmony for the betterment of society as a whole. How we are being called to help move the collective beyond hierarchy and competition and aggression to other ways of relating to one another and organizing ourselves as humans. And how we are learning that justice is love.
The current eclipse portal will be open the whole period between the two October eclipses, from 10/14 —10/28. This whole stretch will be ripe for going within and reflecting on where endings and beginnings and transformation have been playing out for you and their significance as part of your larger ascension process.
Venus rules both Libra and Taurus, so she is in charge of this whole eclipse portal. Unconditional love of others, and of ourselves, speaks to me as the core teaching while the portal is open, and the anchor to come back to whenever we feel lost, ungrounded, confused, or anxious about change.
Some other astrology worth mentioning from this week . . .
Throwing additional energy into the alchemical cauldron of this Libra eclipse, Pluto stationed direct this week, while forming a square with Mars. At low vibration, this energy can manifest in the form of power struggles, clashes of wills, conflicts that test our aggressive tendencies, surges of raw egotism, and even destructive physical activity. It’s notable that that describes a lot of what’s been playing out on the world stage this week via the Israel-Gaza conflict. (Meanwhile, as I was annoying my husband by reminding him this week while looking at the astrology, a similar Mars-Pluto alignment combined with a Pluto station also coincided with the February 2020 invasion of Ukraine by Russia.)
This Mars-Pluto energy has certainly been playing out in low vibration ways in circles I move in this week, some of it in pretty unexpected and even explosive ways.
All that being said, I’m bringing it up here with the goal of focusing on the higher vibration of this energy combination we’re being invited to reach for, especially since I tend to work with lightworkers who are already vibrating high (and since few astrologers offer the full range of potential octaves “difficult” energy combinations can be expressed at).
To that end, Mars-Pluto energy at higher vibrations can be worked with as a catalyst for the process of transcending the ego so that the Higher Self is greater command of the physical vehicle, to put it in esoteric terms. In combination with the Libra eclipse, this energy offers a powerful invitation to “aim one’s aggressive energies at transcendence rather than at other people or the earth’s living things” (in the words of archetypal astrologer Renn Butler, as he describes the Mars-Pluto combo).
In that light, clashes with other people (or between our ego and Higher Self) happening now offer opportunities for us to become aware of the things that trigger anger and conflict and hurt in us so that we can let go of and heal the underlying wounds that cause us to be triggered, hemmed in, and run by our triggers and wounds.
And with Pluto stationing direct (it’s been retrograde for the past 6 months) - this eclipse may be bringing new awareness to the fruits of whatever shadow work we’ve been doing for the past 6 months; the ways in which we have been transforming since April 2023; and any fears/limiting beliefs/and anything else holding us back from re/claiming our personal power that we’ve been working on releasing.
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That was a lot!
So to help you sort through it all . . here, with love, I’m sharing the prompts for the 7-card tarot spread I crafted to reflect on whatever this week’s Solar Eclipse in Libra energy brings in case you feel called to see where they take you as well.
I’ve also included some bonus self-care tips for surviving, thriving, and taking good care of yourself while the eclipse portal is open for the balance of the month.
As with all horoscopes, take what resonates and leave the rest!
XOXO,
Rebecca
P.S. I had a ton of fun teaching the Eclipses 101 small group workshop today—the first in what will become a monthly series of Alchemy of the Zodiac workshops. Stay tuned for upcoming topics + dates.
In the meantime, for folks looking for extra support during this eclipse season, I’ve opened up my books to offer 30-minute eclipse mini-readings throughout the month of October for $55. Click here to book.
Image description: The shadowy silhouette of a woman holding the scales of justice in one hand and a sword in the other is shown against a hazy, smoke-filled, purple, night-time backdrop, with a crowd of people at her feet. A second, larger set of scales of justice swing beside her.
Solar eclipse in Libra tarot spread.
Here are the prompts for the 7-card tarot spread I crafted to work with this week’s Solar Eclipse in Libra energy at its highest vibration. (Why 7 cards? Libra is associated with the 7th house in astrology). As always, feel free to use any/all of these as journal prompts and to skip the cards. <3
What is coming to light for me now about how I’ve been learning to more fully be my authentic self in relationship since April 2023?
What have I been learning about how to set and enforce boundaries in relationship? How have I been learning to better communicate about my emotional and physical needs so that they get met in relationship? What is coming to light about where I still have more work to do on that front (and what blocks me from doing that)?
What energy patterns in relationships are coming to light now that are not serving my highest and greatest good? What am I ready to release during this eclipse portal?
What is coming to light about how I sacrifice or abandon myself to preserve relationships/keep the peace/avoid conflict/for fear of not being liked or loved? (ex: people-pleasing)
What am I becoming aware of that triggers anger/conflict/hurt in me in relationships? What underlying wounds that trigger me in this way am I realizing are coming up for healing? What am I ready to heal/release so that I’m no longer run by my wounds?
What progress am I witnessing now when it comes to the work I’ve been doing (between April 2023 and now) to release fears or limiting beliefs that have kept me from claiming my personal power in relationship?
How am I feeling called in this moment to show up as a force for justice and equality for the betterment of the collective?
For folks looking for extra support during this eclipse season, I’ve opened up my books to offer 30-minute eclipse mini-readings throughout the month of October for $55, to look at how the eclipses are impacting you personally based on which houses they are activating in your birth chart. Click here to book.
Image description: a white woman with gold and brown and black hair, wearing a black and white striped long-sleeve shirt, stands, eyes closed, holding a red heart against her chest. Around her radiates a heart-shaped aura in a range of colors - pink, blue, purple, yellow. She looks at peace, deep in meditation.
Self-care tips for eclipse season.
Around eclipses, we run a LOT of energy. Pro-tips for taking care of yourself to survive and thrive during eclipse season:
Get a lot of rest. Take naps. Sleep in where you can. Honor what your body needs without judgment.
Drink lots of water. Eat whatever is comfort food to you (and allow yourself more food if that’s what your body is asking for, without judgment). Again we are running lots of energy so our systems may need more to stay nourished than we are used to.
Other things I find really helpful personally: taking hot baths with epsom salt; get in a sauna/whirlpool; take hot showers; whatever you’ve got access to to help your system process and clear energy.
GROUND, GROUND, GROUND. You probably have techniques that work for you. If not, or you’re looking to try something different, here is a quick and easy grounding visualization I find helpful (and which takes about 1-2 minutes, so you can do it anywhere, whenever you need it during the day):
Close your eyes.
Get into a comfortable seated or standing position.
Take a few deep, cleansing breaths (in through the nose, out through the mouth) and relax your body.
Feel the weight of your feet and/or sit bones.
Visualize roots going down through your feet, through the floor/grass/surface you’re on, all the way into the core of the Earth.
And then visualize a vertical pillar of light running up through your feet, up your spine, up through the crown of your head, and into the sky/heavens.
A simple affirmation/mantra I like to accompany this—or as a substitute on its own: “I am thoroughly grounded in my body.”
Much love to you all in this eclipse portal, and feel free to holler with any questions this edition of Practical Woo sparked for you!
To book a reading, click here for my October availability <3
