The Harvest

Fall is upon us and the astrology for the season, both individual and collective, is rich, powerful, and full of potential. Throughout the month of October, the majority of personal, or inner, planets are in Libra and Scorpio. The Sun ingressed Libra on the 22nd of September followed by Venus’ (ruler of Libra) ingress into Scorpio two days later. While Venus rules Libra—bringing lightness, beauty, harmony, and balance, Pluto rules Scorpio—painting a picture of depth, darkness, destruction, and transformation. Libra speaks to relationships with others; Scorpio to relationship with oneself. Within the cycle of the zodiac, Scorpio follows Libra. They are adjacent signs. And now, the ruler of one is in the sign of the other.

I’ve seen the relationship between adjacent signs described in various ways in the astrological literature. The latter sign incorporates the former. It deepens the lessons of the sign before it at the same time as it acts as a “correction” to it. A sign also learns something from the one which precedes it, as well as from the one which follows it. Scorpio, then, takes the lessons of relationship (of Other), honed by the energy of Libra, and is called to deepen them; to apply those lessons to oneself; to correct for the emphasis on other, harmony, and balance through its emphasis on self, destruction, and rebirth, for example. From Scorpio, Libra can learn to deepen and to touch those taboo areas of life, just as Scorp can learn something about balance, diplomacy, and the beauty in all things from the Libra influences around him.

In my own life, I experience tension due to the influences of these two energies as reflected in my natal chart. There is an exact opposition between Pluto (ruled by Scorpio) and Venus (ruled by Libra and Taurus) in my chart, as well as a second exact opposition between Jupiter (in Pluto-ruled Scorp) and Saturn (in Venus-ruled Taurus), adding to the tension I experience between these two energies. I tend to favor the deep, dark energies of Scorpio. As I look out my window today and notice the dark sky and at times heavy rain, I am less aware of the necessity of rain for the beauty of colorful, fall leaves; drinking water to purify our bodies; and budding plants next spring (expressions of Libra); and am more aware of diving into myself where I might indulge those feelings evoked by the rain—melancholy, anger, and self-absorption (expression of Scorpio). Truth is, I could use more Libra energy in life, and probably a little less Scorpio. What my chart suggests, though, is a need to learn better integration of these energies, rather than favoring one over another, and to do so from an evolved perspective.

Oppositions in the natal chart ask this of us: To learn to balance or integrate the opposing energies. Squares, too, require this. Regardless of whether Libra and Scorpio are related through squares or oppositions in your chart, they are present in some form, and during the fall months, the vibe of these two energies are intermingled in the surrounding atmosphere. One aspect of the shadow-side of Libra is the denial of those depths that its neighbor, Scorp, is so known for. Likewise, a shadow element of Scorpio energy is the tendency to get lost in those depths to the exclusion of noticing the beauty of that which surrounds one right now.

Remember, Libra and Scorpio can teach each other. The zodiac is represented by a wheel—by a circle and cycles. The energies are meant to work together; to find their own unique ways of coming together. This is why all astrology is full of potential, this fall’s astrology included. The potential that exists this fall is manifold, and includes the opportunity to reflect on the relationship between beauty (Libra) and transformation (Scorpio). It is a good time to deepen your experiences—to pursue them into their core—not for the purposes of getting lost there, but rather for the possibility of creating the beauty that comes from knowing what motivates us and appreciating what we have thus far created in life. It is a time to appreciate the lightness of life, maybe particularly the lightness that comes with letting go. The opportunity to harmonize energies after we’ve let them “cook” within us is also present this fall, as is the juice of life that comes from stepping inside of oneself with full disclosure and emerging from a place of greater authenticity, from which we then share ourselves with the others. This is the gift of those intermingled Scorpio and Libra energies, the fruits of sticking with their tension, and the harvest of knowing oneself in all of one’s beauty.