If you want to know where you’re at, look at whom you’re with. You can quote me on that, assuming the grammar is correct (the downside of life without an editor). But seriously folks, this New Moon in Libra offers us the opportunity for a prominent focus on relationships of  all kinds — interpersonal, international, interracial, maybe even intergalactic.

The New Moon — i.e.,  the monthly meet-up of the Sun and Moon — happens at 2:14AM ET this morning.  A New Moon offers us an opportunity to re-set  intentions and goals for the next lunar cycle.  Sometime today or tomorrow, light a candle and make a list.  Around October 1st, on the First Quarter Moon, we can expect a challenge to those goals, with appropriate adjustments made. At the time of the Full Moon on the 8th, we can expect illumination on the success or failure of our goals for the cycle. If we succeeded, we can consciously release our success into our reality; if we failed, we let go of whatever did not work. After the Third Quarter Moon on the 15th, we can review our achievements, tie up loose ends and get ready to begin another New Moon on the 23rd.

Libra is the sign of partnerships; marriage is an obvious partnership; some business relationships are partnerships, including adversarial ones. We went through the first half of the zodiac with New Moons focusing on the Self: Aries = my identity; Taurus = my values/possessions; Gemini = my mind; Cancer = my emotions/family; Leo = my love to give; Virgo = my service/work/body. Now we’re ready to go public. Take a look at your relationships: how are We doing? What is the State of Our Unions?  How do they reflect the Libran qualities of justice, fairness, diplomacy, peace, beauty and sweetness? Is there resentment or a lack of appreciation? Are there issues hanging in the balance (Libra is the sign of the Scales)?

Use a bit of creative visualization in your New Moon meditation  — and if you’re not a meditating type, grab a pen and paper and make a list of partnership objectives for the next few months.  If there’s anything/anyone on that list that you already have, make time for social graces and express your appreciation. Libra NEEDS appreciation for being valuable in relationship; by extension, our relationships need grace and appreciation, too.

The Sabian Symbol for this New Moon at 1 degree 8 minutes of Libra is this: “Light of the sixth race transmuted to the seventh,” and I’m so glad Sabian Symbol guru Blain Bovee has thought long and hard about how we might apply it in real life. This is an “image of a shifting in the quality of light energy into a higher, accelerated frequency,” he writes. “‘Race’ can be a dicey topic if approached in a less than enlightened manner.” Mmm-hmmm, so perhaps this suggests a need to proceed with a delicate consideration in relationships during this lunar cycle, especially since much of it will occur during mental Mercury’s next retrograde, which happens on October 4th. Mercury retrogrades suggest a higher probability for misunderstandings, doncha know.

And what about this idea of transmutation? “In esoteric philosophy, transmutation from the sixth to the seventh ray is the movement from a path of devotion to a path of ceremonial magic that realizes the unity of all things, as well as open-mindedness, gentleness and love.” Not bad traits to cultivate in your relationships during this cycle, along with “an awareness of all uplifting shifts within experience; from dark to light; cold to warm…consider ultrafine sensibilities; ultralight tenderness; imperceptible impressions”…all those refined expressions of appreciation Libra can do so well.

There’s no Moon void to delay or detour your efforts to move forward in a straight line today, though note the potential for a bit of emotional intensity or a power play around 9:39PM ET, when the Moon is challenged by ruthless Pluto. Adding to the mystical pixie dust of the fading Mars-Neptune square is an approaching easy connection between expansive Jupiter in regal Leo and rebel Uranus in Aries. Jupiter-Uranus connections spark high-flying ideas and ambitions….some humanitarian, others cosmic or at least, high-tech. Let’s watch the headlines for innovation and boundaries pushed….and oh, look, here’s a TV show premiering later tonight that perhaps aims to do just that. It’s called “black-ish,” which is quite intriguing, given the Sabian Symbol for the New Moon.

You may be feeling the high-flying optimism of the Jupiter-Uranus trine if you have a planet between 8 and 17 degrees of Aries, Leo and Sagittarius. That would include NYT columnist David Brooks, whose shiny happy ode to New York in today’s paper has some readers wondering what he’s been smoking. Brooks has his Mercury (mindset) at 14 Leo, which is exactly where Jupiter is now. Jupiter making contact with Mercury suggests a need for uplifting and expansive thinking, for better or for worse. To be fair, the aforementioned column does segue into a more sober tone, perhaps reflecting the fact that stern Saturn at 19 Scorpio is squaring his 18 Leo Sun.  And last week, he wrote about the importance of friendship, as Uranus (ruler of “who’s yer buddy?” Aquarius) made contact with Mercury. I’ll bet your current train of thought is reflected in patterns in your horoscope, too.

And now, more news.

Pluto turned direct on Monday, suggesting a potent release of energy, possibly destructive. With Pluto almost exactly opposing the US Sun in Cancer, let the record show that airstrikes against ISIS were launched in Syria and elsewhere. News from underground often bubbles to the surface during Pluto activity, and in that article you’ll read about a troubling group of individuals known as the Khorasan. We’ve never heard of them before…until now.  Meanwhile, the Sun at 0 degrees Libra (the Aries Point, as discussed in the last forecast), suggested a need for prominence in the Libran concern for equality in relationship. And there was Emma Watson,  who brought Hermione Granger to life and is now serving as a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador, delivering an impassioned speech on gender equality. And boy did this speech attract attention — including threats from the social media trolls, who have now been categorically proven in this recent study to be the sociopaths, sadists and narcissists we always suspected them to be.

Finally, in case you missed the (virtually non-existent) TV coverage of Sunday’s Peoples’ Climate March in New York, here’s Jon Stewart’s take on the event, along with an excerpt of a  stunning recent hearing held before the Congressional Committee on Science, Space and Technology. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry — and you might find it helpful to know that all of the illustrious Congressmen in this Daily Show segment are up for re-election in November…and if you don’t vote, somebody else will.

Oh. One other astrological tidbit reflected in today’s news. Scientists (bless them) have released predictions on which US cities are most vulnerable to the anticipated effects of climate change. Which ones are your safest bet?  Which ones might be toast and which ones might be under water by 2047-2048?  It’s fascinating that scientists are keying in on 2047 as a significant date. Why? Well, for years we’ve been talking about the dramatic crisis/awareness suggested by the never-ending Uranus-Pluto square, a.k.a. the Planetary Pattern Everyone Should Be Talking About. But of course I say never-ending in jest; the seven series of squares wrap up next year, though the pattern will still likely be felt through 2016.  Then what? Well, in 2047, we’ll have the Uranus-Pluto opposition. For clues on what we can expect, think of the opposition operating as an opposition between the Sun and Moon (i.e., a Full Moon) — and re-read the second paragraph of this forecast. Will we work out the challenges of the Uranus-Pluto square (which operates like a First Quarter Moon) by the time the series completes? Fingers crossed….and here’s some good news: 40 companies have pledged to stop tropical deforestation by 2030 and others are stepping up to the plate. It’s a start.

Have an uplifting New Moon day planting beautiful seeds for graceful, balanced, loving relationships. Take time to express appreciation — you will raise the vibration of the entire planet; people will appreciate you in return and your generous heart and spirit will be rewarded a thousandfold…and you can take that straight to the Good Karma Bank.

Thank you for reading and sharing this forecast.

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