ASTROLOGY FOR THE WHEEL OF THE YEAR: Mabon

On September 22, the Sun ingresses into Libra, marking the Autumnal Equinox in the northern hemisphere. This time is celebrated as the sabbat Mabon in the witches’ Wheel of the Year. It is a time when the hours of day and night are equal in length, as the Sun crosses the celestial equator. From this point until the Winter Solstice, the days will grow shorter as we move deeper into darkness. Libra is described as the sign of the Sun’s fall or depression, in part because as it moves through this sign, its light and power diminish. Libra is also a sign concerned with cooperation, collaboration, and holding the needs of others together in balance and harmony, whereas the Sun is a singular, centralizing force around which all others orbit. In Libra, the Sun is challenged with distributing attention away from the one and toward others, building relations rather than blazing ahead alone.

This year as the Sun enters Libra, its ruler Venus is in Scorpio, the sign of its antithesis or detriment, applying to an opposition with Uranus in Taurus. Venus in Scorpio is traversing terrain far from its home sign of Taurus, seeking pleasure in the shadows and beauty in places where others might turn away. Uranus is the planet of upheaval, revolution, disruption, and radical change, demanding breakthroughs or breakdowns from established conventions.

How might we become more capable of meeting one another’s needs and satisfying one another’s desires if we dare to unsettle or overturn what we have accepted as the standards of beauty, desirability, and superficial connections? As we move into this new season, may we each commit to diving deeply into the longings we have refused to acknowledge, subterranean passions that break open the ground of who we thought we had to be, sending fault lines through the social expectations that kept so much potential love and pleasure buried beneath the surface.

[First image reads “Astrology of the Wheel of the Year: MABON, 22 September 2021” in golden letters on a dark green field of flowers and stars. Second image shows the chart for the Sun’s ingress into Libra and reads “Mabon, 22 September 2021, 3:21pm, Columbus, OH, USA”]