Perhaps this New Moon in Libra has you feeling a little grumpy and restless. Every New Moon is a threshold – a starting gate – for the month ahead. Usually this would equal quiet contemplation followed by gentle excitement and a sense of purpose – not grumpiness. But this New Moon is different. Yes, the Sun and Moon are conjoining in the diplomatic and decorative sign of Libra. But hot-headed, irritable Mars is right there with them (conjunct the Sun and Moon) in the lovely Libra bedroom. And not far away (just seven degrees), let’s say in the office/guest room next door, networker Mercury is furiously texting his rich uncle, Jupiter with one hand and his bookie, Pluto, with the other. The whole New Moon “date” just needs more ambiance and definitely fewer house guests.
It is more than this though. The whole Astro family of planets is actually out of balance right now. Six of the eight planets that can go retrograde (the Sun and Moon cannot), are currently retrograde: Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. This feels sort of like being poised at the New Moon starting gate but having to wait for an exquisitely slow and indecisive freight train to clear the crossing first.
The truth is that everything is going to get moving again soon enough. Really. Pluto turns direct within hours of the New Moon. Saturn turns around on October 10th. Jupiter moves direct a week later on the 17th and Mercury about-faces the next day. So, just in time for the dynamic Full Moon in Aries on October 20th, some degree of balance will be restored. Balance doesn’t always equal peace though. Once this stalled out train of planets starts picking up speed, we can cue up the vintage Jethro Tull: “…no way to slow down.”