Today is Friday, Sept. 30, 2016
Hebrew date is 27 of Elul, 5776
Islamic date is 28 Dhul Hijjah 1437
Mayan Tzolk’in Day is 5 Kawak
Mayan Long Count is 13.0.3.14.19
Julian Day is 2457662

Today’s Birthdays: Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi (1207-1273), Buddy Rich (1917-1987), Marc Bolan (1947-1977), T-Pain (1984).

Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere. They’re in each other all along.
— Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi

Special Comment: Libra New Moon, part 2
Libra is the sign of relationships. In our era, relationships are under profound strain, largely due to living under digital conditions. While all these tools we use seem innocent enough, they are all robotic devices, and they are teaching us to act, and think, like robots. If you’re experiencing alienation and wondering what it’s about, you might look there first.

A New Moon in Libra gives us an opportunity to reconsider our ideas about relationship: the meaning of the people who are in our lives. Jupiter’s recent entry into Libra is expanding this opportunity, and will help siphon off some energy from the Uranus-Eris conjunction in Aries, which is one symbol of the chaos and confusion that’s making intimacy seem so difficult to trust. It’s true that not everyone is in this situation, though many people are. At this time, the emphasis in relationships needs to be on trust rather than on what we call love. In our age, trust is love.

The emotions surrounding Friday evening’s New Moon are deeper than may seem obvious at first. Venus, the planet associated with Libra, is in Scorpio. This is focusing up what the esoteric master Alice A. Bailey proposed was the inherently sexual nature of Libra.

Some Fresh Autumn Music
On the eve of this New Moon, my friends Daniel Grimsland and Daniel Sternstein composed and recorded some music. The piece, called Libra Moon, has that mellow feeling of a rainy autumn night. You may listen here.

Moon Phase: Moon is in waning crescent (Balsamic) phase until the Libra New Moon at 5:11 pm PDT / 8:11 pm EDT today (00:11:19 10/1 UTC).
Next Full Moon is on Oct 15/16 at 9:23 pm 10/15 PDT / 12:23 am 10/16 EDT (04:23:02 UTC) in Aries.
Moon Sign: Moon enters Libra today at 12:52 am PDT / 3:52 am EDT (07:52:18 UTC).
Sun Degree: 08-09 Libra.

Planetary Stations and Sign Changes
Moon enters Libra at 12:52 am PDT / 3:52 am EDT (07:52:18 UTC).
Moon occults (passes in front of) Jupiter at 9:45 am PDT / 12:45 pm EDT (16:44:59 UTC).

Interesting Selected Aspects
— Mars square Logos at 9:29 am PDT / 12:29 pm EDT (16:28:38 UTC).
— Mars trine Ceres at 8:25 pm PDT / 11:25 pm EDT (03:25:09 10/1 UTC).

If Your Birthday is Sept. 30
(The Day of Glaring Truth) | Get Your Birthday Reading
A New Moon on your birthday is a reminder that this is the year you will begin to write a new story of your life. You have the help of Jupiter, which is adding to your already magnetic personality. There may be times when you must seek what you want, but for the most part, it will come to you; and I suggest you receive these gifts gracefully.

Written in the Planets
Over the next few days, Mercury will make an opposition to Chiron. This has happened twice before as part of the Mercury retrograde process of the past six weeks. Mercury in Virgo may be obsessed with logic and reason, and with getting it right. Chiron in Pisces is suggesting that there are many ideas about what is right, and that if you are using reason and rationality, it’s essential that you be open to intuition. How do you know how to distinguish intuition from emotion? Intuition is a sense of quiet knowingness. It’s inherently still. Emotion is energy in motion — it swirls and moves.

The challenge of aspects between Mercury and Chiron is the feeling of being wrong. To the extent that Chiron represents a sense of injury or a point of challenge, it can really leave Mercury (which would be you) questioning its right to have an idea. Chiron is offering something deeper, which is an opportunity to heal that very puzzle. Whatever you may think, you don’t need to question your right or privilege to have that thought. If you’re uncertain, convert the thought to a question and let it stand unanswered for a while.

This live audio class covers the most basic level of astrology: where things happen, the houses. If you understand the houses as environments and groups of themes, you can read a chart. We will hold the class by teleconference at noon EDT on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2016. You may sign up here.