Not everyone will like you. Not everyone will know you well enough to. They won’t all see your potential, your brilliance, your scars, your kindness, your care or your endearing quirks. Most won’t stick around to realize your funny ways or hear about your schoolgirl/boy days.
Some of us may feel that we remain outside of the social sphere. Adrift on Facebook. Uncertain on Instagram. Tenuous on Twitter. Internally paralyzed, confused and shell-shocked in the face of having to find ways to fit in. Fit into conversations. Fit into groups. Fit into the cool kids club that doesn’t fit in anywhere else, because, you know, they are that cool.
Perhaps there is no greater sickness then wanting the world to love us, to see us and to understand us. But perhaps there is no greater mark of being a human than trying to fill this bottomless hunger.
Not all are so afflicted though. Some of us are better at the dance of relationships than others. Some of us can withstand the great discomfort that comes with being rejected, betrayed or, worse, misunderstood. Some of us can handle the emotions that might arise when interacting with other people. Some of us don’t feel the need to explain ourselves. Some are granted the mysterious powers of being able to know ourselves and not be swayed by another’s opinion of us, whether it be favorable or not.
Some of us are just good like that.
And the rest of us have no choice but to work on it. Especially during eclipse season. Especially during a full moon. Especially during a Libra moon. A blood moon. A total lunar eclipse moon.
Full moons activate a polarity, in this case the opposition of Aries and Libra. Self and Other. Me and You. Desire and Diplomacy. Narcissism and Codependency. Single and Coupled. Arrogant and Tempered. Impulsive and Considerate.
Both are cardinal signs, active in their respective domains. Aries initiates a new cycle of life while Libra initiates relationships. Libra is here to find the balance to self and the only way to balance out the me-ness of me is to include the you-ness of you. I need you to know who I am. I need a counterpoint to my weight, to my strength and to my own desire.
Libra needs you to like it and it needs to like you. Or hate you. Relationship is relationship after all. However, most Libras can rely on their indisputably intoxicating charm instead of all out hostility to win you over however. Most Libras can “like” you into doing something for them without you ever being the wiser. Most Libras have a beauty, a balance and an ability to appear like they actually, sincerely like everyone they meet.
To which some of us just stand in awe and wonder how this could be so.
How do they do it? Why do they do it? Apart from the compulsive need to be liked, Libra actually wants to be connected, wants to find the pleasurable and the redeemable in each of us. Libra believes in justice. Libra wants all things to be fair. Libra wants to understand the heart of all who walk the road with it. When it’s functioning that is.
Libra is also known for being so taken with the beautiful, so swept up by the eloquent, so charmed by the charm that it can end up falling for shallow and insincere flattery. There are many that will prey on our need to be needed. Many that will shower us with praise and the phrases we long to hear so they can get their own needs met.
Libra can also be the giver of empty promises and the agent of unresolved conflicts. Always wanting to be in balance, Libra can often get caught in a maelstrom of indecision and genuine terror about how to handle anyone that is displeased with them. Tormented at the thought of someone upset with them and paralyzed with fear about not being able to make it right, Libra can spend too much precious time trying to figure everyone else needs out and completely deny its own. This can inhibit Libra from ever realizing its true potential because in order to reach it we cannot be concerned with every hum and haw of those around us. If my identity is centered around being loved and appreciated by others I’m bound to never really know myself.
We cannot be the balancing point to everyone else’s meshugas if we want to get shit done.
Experiencing eclipses, especially the second of two, is much like living through a compilation of recurring dreams. They sneak up on you and then before you know it you are in a full-fledged revival of everything you thought you already dealt with. Eclipses come along and say, Not so fast little one, you aren’t too big to be humbled. Or to do the next level of your work on this issue.
It’s usually a time when deeper issues get teased out, when hidden truths get revealed and when we must make peace with the state of affairs that we are presently in. Or make necessary changes. It can be a time when dramatic emotions erupt, bodies are brought to the brink of exhaustion and systems go kaput.
It’s a time to succumb to what is. Be it grief or fear of greatness. Be it sorrow or regret that dogs you daily. It matters not what it is, it only matters that we allow clarity to come instead of splitting off from the truth. There is profound power held in the moments where we feel we couldn’t possibly accept the situation we are in. There is profound power in knowing that this is exactly what we need to accept. Maybe we have been left. Maybe our heart is broken. Maybe we did make a mess of things. OK. So be it. Stand in accountability and face the outcome of your choices. Hold space for your own emotional response. Don’t vomit them all over everyone else.
Even if this weekend’s religious festivals weren’t inundated with themes of freedom from bondage, rebirth, renewal, remembering and resurrecting, the astrological motifs of this eclipse are. The sun is currently conjunct Uranus and squaring Pluto. This is an eclipse that would rather you be uncomfortably awake than comfortably numb.
The square from Pluto to both the sun and moon can bring a heightened emotional intensity, a furious fatalism and a long lasting healing of old wounds that we have excavated if we muster up the courage to do so.
The lunar eclipse will be opposing the sun/Uranus conjunction in Aries with Mercury standing close by. This is a combination that can be illuminating, truth-telling, bold, brilliant, and traumatic in its eruptive nature but liberating none-the-less.
Both Saturn and Jupiter are forming a (wide in orb) grand trine with the Mercury/sun/Uranus in Aries combination. It’s the perfect energetic compilation for being broken open just enough so that we are left inspired to bring our gifts forward.
True happiness never comes from being the most popular. True happiness never comes from being the prettiest or the most accepted. If any sign knows that looking good doesn’t equal feeling good, it’s Libra. True happiness comes from a deep and abiding self-love and self-acceptance. It’s really the starting point for being in relationship with every aspect of our lives.
Infinite eclipse blessings,
Chani
If you want more information on the eclipse and a ritual to do to honor and make the most out of these themes and the full moon check out my recording on it: The Art of Relating: Lunar Eclipse in Libra Ritual
All times from EarthSky
Eclipse times in Universal Time.
Partial umbral eclipse begins: 10:16 Universal Time (UT)
Total eclipse begins: 11:58 UT
Greatest eclipse: 12:00 UT
Total eclipse ends: 12:03 UT
Partial umbral eclipse ends: 13:45 UT
How do I translate Universal Time to my time?
Eclipse times for for North American time zones.
Eastern Daylight Time (April 4, 2015)
Partial umbral eclipse begins: 6:16 a.m. EDT
Moon sets before start of total eclipse
Central Daylight Time (April 4, 2015)
Partial umbral eclipse begins: 5:16 a.m. CDT
Total eclipse begins: 6:58 a.m. CDT
Greatest eclipse: 7:00 a.m. CDT
Total eclipse ends: 7:03 a.m. CDT
Moon may set before start of total eclipse
Mountain Daylight Time (April 4, 2015)
Partial umbral eclipse begins: 4:16 a.m. MDT
Total eclipse begins: 5:58 a.m. MDT
Greatest eclipse: 6:00 a.m. MDT
Total eclipse ends: 6:03 a.m. MDT
Partial umbral eclipse ends: 7:45 a.m. MDT
Moon sets before end of partial umbral eclipse
Pacific Daylight Time (April 4, 2015)
Partial umbral eclipse begins: 3:16 a.m. PDT
Total eclipse begins: 4:58 a.m. PDT
Greatest eclipse: 5:00 a.m. PDT
Total eclipse ends: 5:03 a.m. PDT
Partial umbral eclipse ends: 6:45 a.m. PDT
Moon may set before end of partial umbral eclipse
Alaskan Daylight Time (April 4, 2015)
Partial umbral eclipse begins: 2:16 a.m. AKDT
Total eclipse begins: 3:58 a.m. AKDT
Greatest eclipse: 4:00 a.m. AKDT
Total eclipse ends: 4:03 a.m. AKDT
Partial umbral eclipse ends: 5:45 a.m. AKDT
Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time (April 4, 2015)
Partial umbral eclipse begins: 12:16 a.m. HAST
Total eclipse begins: 1:58 a.m. HAST
Greatest eclipse: 2:00 a.m. HAST
Total eclipse ends: 2:03 a.m. HAST
Partial umbral eclipse ends: 3:45 a.m. HAS