The long winter is over for those south of Earth’s equator but for those in the Northern Hemisphere, the Sun crosses south of the equator (from our perspective standing on Earth) at 7:21 am Pacific time on September 22, 2016.  This is Autumn and a prelude to winter but the Spring blooms will rise in the south.  As I look out of my office window I can see a few orange pumpkins, red, orange and yellow peppers and one dwarf watermelon ripening in my friend’s garden.  The literal fruits of their labors are evident on the ground.  There is still a lot of green here where I live in Oregon, but many other colors are beginning to show as the billions of plants prepare for the coming winter season.  But as things change on the ground, so too does the sky.

This wobble of the Earth back and forth every year is of great benefit to us and all life.  It provides a rhythm and order to our world with clear signals in the air, ground and sky that tell us not only the season we are in, but when to do what needs to be done.  Some of those signals come in the form of stellar bodies of rocks, gasses and bits of ice gathered to together in stars, planets and other planetoids near and far.  The closest (not in actual distance) visible star to the Sun at the time of the September Equinox is Zavijava in the Constellation of the Priestess (what astronomers call Virgo), only 2 ½ degrees away with Zaniah only five degrees away to the left of the Sun.  These stars comprise the arm and shoulder (or possibly the head) of the Priestess.

This region of stars represents the border of the signs of Virgo and Libra.  This can be confusing to some because when we think of Virgo, the Constellation of the Priestess comes to mind.  And isn’t Libra the Scales?  Well, no.  2000 years ago that was true but not in the present.  Because of a barely perceptible movement in the wobble of the Earth, the constellations are very slowly moving backward against the seasonal signs. This has led to some astronomers and others claiming that there are now 13 signs.  I use and most astrologers in the West use the tropical zodiac which is seasonally-based.  That means it is tied to Earth seasons rather than the constellations or asterisms (groupings of stars).  So there are NOT 13  signs, nor will there ever be in the tropical zodiac.  In other words, the signs are NOT the constellations.

For more on that, check out Cayelin Castell’s video tutorial here

However, the constellations do inform the signs.  In Shamanic Astrology, the paradigm/system I use (created by Daniel Giamario) views the stars and constellations as significant to helping us understand the overall makeup or character of the signs (or archetypes).  For those of us who have any personal planets or points (Moon, Lunar Nodes, Sun, Mars, Mercury, Venus, Vesta, Jupiter, Ascendant, Midheaven) in the later degrees of Virgo and early degrees of Libra have these stars as part of your overall road map toward understanding who you are and what you are working on in this lifetime.  At the minimum, the equinox point plays an important role in your life.

6,500 years ago, this area of the sky marked the June Solstice (Summer in the North and Winter in the South).  So, it was in the signs of Gemini and Cancer at that time.  So the Priestess Constellation would have been highly important to those with personal points or planets in Gemini and Cancer.

Every year, there is a different character of the equinox and this year is no different.  The planet Jupiter, which ingressed (moved into a new sign) into the sign of Libra back in the early morning hours (here on the Pacific coast) of September 9^th, is very near the Sun right now (only 2 ½ degrees away) as the Sun draws closer and closer to the giant planet.  But because of Jupiter’s orbit, it was even closer to the Sun twelve years ago at just ½ a degree (less than a finger’s width).  We couldn’t see it in the glare of the Sun as we can’t this year too.  Jupiter is providing a certain amount of character to this year’s September Equinox, in a sense providing a balance to the intensity and hard-edged energy of the recent Saturn-Mars-Antares lineup in August and release this month.  With the sign of Libra and the Constellation of the Priestess involved, it gives an incentive to expanded cooperation and dialogue world-wide.  Conscious, equal partnerships and relationships is the mantra of Libra.

But this is also a stage where Jupiter is not visible and therefore in the “underworld” in terms of how the ancients viewed when the planets disappeared in the glare of our Sun.  This means that

Libra Glyph – Representing balance of Light and Dark

there could be buried shadows in our relationships that have yet to be acknowledged or seen by the other.  What have we not said or need to share?  What ceremony can be conducted to help bring about that which is hidden to our conscious self?  Inquiries like that can be extremely helpful during this time and can lead to honoring and respecting each other no matter our differences in philosophy.

This is a period of time where it can be beneficial to extend an olive branch with no strings attached and simply talk or connect without any judgments.  This can truly be helpful on the days when Jupiter and the Sun are conjunct exactly on the 25^th and on the New Moon of September 30^th where the Sun, Moon and Jupiter will be within 3 degrees of each other.  One can begin anew with a given relationship with one or with a group and vice versa.

The shadow of this can also come up with expanded unhealthy versions of co-dependency between partners or groups of people or even nations.  An unbalanced relationship of any kind will do no favors except as an initiation to see the toxic patterns for what they really are.

As one can get a sense of is the energy of the equinox through the sign of Libra and the weighing of our individual and collective relationships.  It is also about balancing our own identity with those of our energy toward any given relationship.  Is it more than 50% toward the Partner?  If so, then it gives us an opportunity to explore why that is the case.

The Priestess constellation contributes to Libra by making relationship intent sacred with its connection to the patterning of the seasons of our lives as they are intimately related to the seasons of our planet.  We can ask ourselves “what is sacred to me or to us?”

As Autumn and Spring arrive in our respective hemispheres, we can acknowledge and honor what is hidden by the Sun, the stars and planets and the shadows within us all.  We will get to taste those pumpkins and peppers as well as smell the flowers that burst onto the scene, brightening our days.

-Erik Roth, Shamanic Astrologer