To open up this week, there will be a South Node Libra Eclipse which will be a Full Moon. This is the second of three Libran Eclipses of this series. It began with the Libran New Moon in October 2023 and the final installment will be October 2 later this year. Matters arising this week can have a connection to October 2023 through some kind of milestone or progression of those themes. But, the full resolution won’t be met until October later this year.

In this article, I’ll focus on some of the archetypal and personal meanings of this Libran eclipse, then head to a short historical analysis of how this eclipse series has played out in our modern history.

Weighing up your relative position

Themes of justice, fairness and balance are what the Libran archetype stands for. At the collective level, these Libran themes may pertain to social affairs, social justice, ideologies and laws, fitting to the domain of Libra. 

Personally, the Libran eclipses may be working on your relationships as the scales of equilibrium seek greater equality between you and your partner, whether romantic, platonic or business related. Expect opposing points of view to be brought to your attention, even though you’re probably aware of them already. But this week will make these polarities felt more strongly as you’re forced to navigate through the differences in order to strike a greater balance. Even your relationship with yourself could be undergoing the judgement of the Libran scales, which may be showing you various traits and shadows that may need greater balance.  Try to go deeper into the triggers which other people may be setting off, as they could stem from unseen aspects of yourself. The South Node influence of this eclipse is calling for you to remove your ego security which can usually mask the truth of your existence through illusions.

By weighing up your relationships at the personal and collective level, the goal behind this Libran eclipse story can be one of becoming more integrated and whole. Building greater peace and harmony in all your relationships will begin with seeking awareness of ‘the other’ (wherever this may be projected towards) and understanding your position in relation to this. The Libran eclipses, which commenced in October 2023, will help you to achieve this by producing events and situations that can make you consider how comfortable, happy, peaceful or content you are with your relative position. The eclipses will also create the forceful impulse within you to adjust this position if you are not.

The emptying cup of the South Node

The South Node or Ketu, otherwise symbolised by a headless serpent’s tail, is travelling through Libra which is bringing the eclipse attention to this area of your chart. Since Ketu moved into Libra in July 2023, you may have felt some restlessness, dissatisfaction and tension in this Libra house of your chart, and the need to purge, minimise and get back to basics in whatever affairs rule this house.

If the fiery Ketu has been more forceful in its influence, more intense experiences, situations and events may have occurred to coerce you to consider what’s really important in your life. Wherever the South Node travels through your chart, it points to an important spiritual topic of focus for that approximately 18-month period. It’s always good practice to put those areas through the purifying fires of Ketu intentionally, or risk the destructive inferno coming to you. This can be seen at times with the force of Mother Nature producing natural disasters, for example.

Of course, nothing is really that destructive if you consider that the South Node only acts to put you on your path of spiritual liberation. The biggest hurdle when dealing with South Node dilemmas is your confrontation with your own ego. This can give you the illusion that you’re on top of everything, that you’re safe, secure and don’t need to change. Ketu knows best and will show you the way to spiritual liberation through removal, minimisation, decrease and loss. It will empty the vessel and provide a clean slate to work with.

History

Being a humanistic sign, Libra’s domain focuses on society, culture and people. It’s an air elemental sign, showing an emphasis on the ideas, exchanges and discussions around people and culture. Throughout history, Libran South Node Eclipses has produced significant moments where equality and justice is sought for the people. This can be seen through various stories in history that occur every 18.5 years when the South Node Libra Eclipse comes around.

2023 – Last year in Australia, the Indigenous Voice Referendum coincided with the October Libra Eclipse, providing a highly charged contextual example of the dynamics of this eclipse story – read about it here. 

2005 – Hurricane Katrina of 2005, saw the issue of systemic racism highlighted through the lack of support and resources available for the people of New Orleans city. 

1986 – Before this, the 1986 eclipse was in the midst of the Anti-Apartheid Movement where worldwide economic sanctions and boycotts were in place to put pressure on the South African Government to dismantle racial segregation.

1968 – The big moment, though, was around 1968 which saw many revolutions based on themes of equality, including the Women’s Liberation Movement and the Civil Rights Movement. It was an extraordinary time of major planetary activity such as the Uranus Pluto Jupiter stellium in Virgo, alongside the Libra South Node Eclipses which looking back, was certainly a societal upgrade that was taking place.

As the civil rights movement was gaining momentum at this time, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated just little over a week ahead of a South Node Libra Eclipse in 1968. His death was considered a national disaster, ending his famous strategy of non-violence in his fight for racial equality. What a powerful motif King’s death was, in light of the sacrificial South Node connotations, along with shifting tides in the people’s justice issue as represented by an Eclipse in Libra.

King’s inspiration for his non-violent approach comes from Mahatma Gandhi, who was famous for this same activism strategy. For Gandhi, it took a South Node Libra Eclipse during his coming of age in 1893 (aged 23) to experience first hand racial discrimination in a British colony which he considered to belong to. During this time, Gandhi was appointed as a lawyer in South Africa, where he worked for 21 years and formed political and ethical viewpoints that was later to become what he was most known for in history.

Here, Wikipedia describes Gandhi’s 1893 entrance into South Africa, which so strikingly illustrates Gandhi’s internal process of understanding his relative position towards a life and relationship to his country that he had held until then:

“Immediately upon arriving in South Africa, Gandhi faced discrimination because of his skin colour and heritage. He was not allowed to sit with European passengers in the stagecoach and told to sit on the floor near the driver, then beaten when he refused; elsewhere he was kicked into a gutter for daring to walk near a house, in another instance thrown off a train at Pietermaritzburg after refusing to leave the first-class. He sat in the train station, shivering all night and pondering if he should return to India or protest for his rights. He chose to protest and was allowed to board the train the next day. In another incident, the magistrate of a Durban court ordered Gandhi to remove his turban, which he refused to do.”

By the last Libran Eclipse of that season, Gandhi had worked to fight for the rights of South African Indians to vote, and helped form the Natal Indian Congress. It was certainly not a resolution to the entire matter by any stretch, however, this series of Libran South Node Eclipses cemented strong racial experiences for Gandhi which was infused into this life’s work as a highly respected racial activist.

The non-violent strategy employed by King and Gandhi can be explained by the rulership of Libra by the planet Venus. Venus is known for harmony and peace, and most of you may know a Libran or two that have poised skills in negotiation and compromise for the purpose of keeping the peace. Gandhi also has his Sun in Libra.

Venusian affairs

The Venus rulership of Libra seeks beauty, aesthetics, pleasure, connection and appeal of the senses. It’s interesting to note that Gandhi’s first experience of discrimination in South Africa was related to his skin colour; judging him based on aesthetics rather than by merit. Being ordered by the magistrate to remove his turban in court was another example of the Venusian concept at work with adornments being a key Venusian feature, made most famous by the Babylonian myth of Inanna where she was required to strip herself of all physical adornments when she descended into the Underworld.

However, on a lighter note, the areas of fashion and the arts might undergo shifts during this time just as we saw the rise of fast designer fashion brands like H&M and Zara in 2004-2005 when the last South Node Eclipse in Libra occurred. The boho-chic style popularised during this time, characterised by flowy skirts, floral prints and accessories also screams of Venus’ influences over fashion trends during this time. 

Additionally, the air element of the Libran influence saw fashion and technology merge with the rise of fashion blogs and influencers becoming a new promotional channel for the fashion industry. At the current eclipse in Libra, we see AI playing a significant role in the fashion industry by predicting consumer behaviour and data analysis which is creating new advancements in supply chain management.

Libra Eclipse Chart – 25 March 2024

The eclipse chart of this week sees ruler Venus, exalted in the sign of Pisces which may indicate that the matters of this eclipse might be highly visible or raised to great proportions in our awareness. It shows somewhat of a peak in the potential experiences explored above.

Venus has recently left a conjunction with Saturn but still within its reach of influence. This could show up as tensions from the recent past in your relationships that could produce coldness, rigidity and conditional expectations. Saturn as the exalted ruler of Libra is helping to balance out Venus’ overly heightened desire and materialistic nature in favour of long term sustainability, sensibility and stability. Therefore, behind this eclipse could be major decisions required to cut down any superfluous or over-indulgent matters.

Venus’ sextile to Jupiter and Uranus this week is somewhat promising though. Despite the intensity of emotions that you might be moving through this week, Jupiter and Uranus offer a creative spark of inspiration that can pull you out of deep dark holes and into the light. Both this current eclipse and the upcoming Jupiter Uranus conjunction later in April are two of the most profound planetary events of 2024. The fact that they both occur in Venus’ signs shows that big developments are happening this year which will generally highlight matters pertaining to Venus’ domains – pleasure, joy, beauty, indulgence, finances, abundance issues, resources, women’s issues, equality, justice and balance, to name a few. You’ll have to look into your birth chart to see specifically how this might affect you.

Lastly, looking at the chart of the current Lunar Eclipse, you can see that the Moon and South Node stand alone, completely apart from the rest of the other planets. This can emphasise themes of isolation, exclusion and loneliness associated with this eclipse, or the need to retreat. Usually, the area of Libra is a space where you want to connect or sometimes, depend on others as a security need. But the South Node is draining away the social glue that holds you in place with others, and you may feel like you’re left standing alone which could be cause for anxiety and panic – a feeling often experienced when a planet is in its own decan such as the current eclipsed Moon is at 5 degrees of Libra.

Practices for this eclipse

The South Node calls for the need to purify and cleanse your daily existence so that you can step beyond the material distortions of the eclipse in daily life, and into a creative field where its power can be harnessed for your own spiritual quest.

This can look like cleaning, physical cleansing, fasting and generally maintaining a purified state of the body.

If you happen to experience any of the situations described above, try to step into a higher level where you can take a spiritual perspective on the situation. Avoid submitting to emotional reactions and the craving urges of your desires that may pull you down into the chaos, limitations and dissatisfaction of the material realm.

Instead, seek to find the emptiness of your internal state in whatever way you can, whether that be meditating, journeying, mindfulness, breathwork or however you can best find this. This is a place that can reveal great truths about how you can access your own sense of peace, joy and happiness and understand the limitless potential available to you in shifting life experiences with your own agency.  The act of purification will help you get to this place more quickly in order to catch the fleeting window of the eclipse.

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See you next Sunday for the next installment of planetary news.

Shu xx