Already it’s getting dark. By the time I get home, the sun has already set and a chill is in the air. We know that the darkness is going to grow, as the leaves turn and start to fall. This can be a wonderfully refreshing time of year from the overbearing heat and humidity of the Summer, but it also can be a little unnerving. Next Spring and Summer are very far away now, and as someone who constantly wants to grow, when the universe is contracting around you, it can be hard to feel that new horizons are on the way.

This past New Moon in Libra, clocking in at 7:08 AM EDT yesterday morning on the 27th, I think shows that although some of the tumultuousness of the early Summer may return, we’ve been given a unique opportunity to resolve the challenges ahead.

It’s rare, when you look at a chart and see a very clear picture, like we have for our Libra New Moon. All of the planets except Saturn conjuncting Venus are involved in a giant web forming an irregular hexagon! The number 6 in astrology corresponds with the sextile aspect of 60 degrees–an aspect that facilitates growth! Within this hexagon, you’ll see the Libra Sun/Moon/Mercury conjunction opposing Uranus in Aries, all Square Pluto. Mars is also Squaring Jupiter, adding to the somewhat explosive tension that we’ve been given! However, with Uranus Trine Mars, Jupiter Trine Pluto, Sun/Moon/Mercury Sextile Mars, Jupiter loosely sextile Neptune, and then Neptune sextile Pluto, it’s like everything is working together to form a stable harmonious unit, just like a molecule where tension is divided equally between the bonds of the atoms.

In other words, one very tense area of your life can now fuel great growth in another! It’s often said by astrologers that no one really wants to have all traditionally “easy” aspects in their chart because in fact without a little stress, one might just be tempted to sit on the couch and watch TV all day and not get anything done! Divine discontent can lead to great things, and hopefully this Moon cycle will show us just how that can happen!

I don’t want to delve into it too much, but if we include the new dwarf planet Orcus (read about myth here) the hexagon turns into an irregular septagon that includes a variation of the mystic rectangle (which is usually two oppositions with 60 and then 120 degrees between them) with 30 degrees between the two ends of the rectangle and 150 degrees between the planets on the long side. This rectangle would be more conducive to making a move towards resolution given that it would have the unstable 150 as part of it’s main core. Orcus is at 3 degrees Virgo, very close to the New Moon of Virgo last month, and is currently opposing Neptune. I’m most intrigued by the concept that Orcus is a version of Pluto that is more concerned with retribution (or justice if you will) when an oath is broken. Orcus is right now forming a grand trine including Jupiter and Pluto, all in Earth signs. It will be interesting to see what transpires ahead, and if you can find any particular correlation in ones life.

But enough about astrology–this New Moon mixtape is entitled “Blazing a Trail into the Darkness” for our journey ahead! Listen here!