Happy equinox week, everyone.
Weāve made it through the last eclipse of 2025! (ā¦.definitely not unscathed, but hopefully wiser and lighter on our feet than we were before eclipse sesason!)
This yearās eclipses happened on the Pisces/Virgo axis, a polarity of water and earth. The north node in Pisces is collectively nudging us to surrender, to flush out Virgoās shadows of perfectionism and over-analysis.
Surrendering my grip on what I canāt control, while focusing positive energy into what I can, was a huge focus for me this eclipse. Was it for you, too? In surrendering, we must remember that surrender is not apathy. Surrender is not passive. Surrender is the acknowledgement of the passing of time and the inevitability of change.
Surrender is releasing our grip on clinging onto how things were, and also on our mental framework of how things āshould have beenā. Surrender is being in the present moment and looking for opportunities to move into the future with courage and grace.
When the river is raging past, we canāt hold onto the banks. We must swim out to the middle and float on our backs, and catch a breath. Then look around to see whoās there with us. And talk to them. Swim with them. Build something new with them.
Itās always a good idea to pay attention to who and what are leaving and entering our lives during eclipse season. Did a relationship come to an end for you over the past few weeks? Did a subconscious pattern that is no longer serving you come into light, allowing you to be conscious of it? Did you meet anyone who felt like soul family? Take note of these things, as they will continue to be integrated into your experience over the next 6 months.
For me, this eclipse season brought in some wonderful new unexpected friends and connections. As a Virgo sun and Mercury, it also helped me to release some deep-seated, ancestrally karmic gripping around my value being linked to my output, and the need to have to prove myself consistently with spreadsheets, facts and figures. I felt an embodied sense of surrendering to the larger networks of energy that create circumstances, and less shame and blame around āwhat should have happenedā.
Iāve been doing a weekly forecast podcast for a year and a half now, and the structure around it has been so wonderful in helping me learn and teach (both) about the intersecting qualities of these polycultural wheels of the year. But over the past couple of months, it has felt like more of an obligation of time, with less direct insight channeling through than I used to have. Iāve also been invited into some juicy and interesting projects that I need to create some spaciousness for.
SO, Iāve decided to make few changes to align with my current energy and allow for the emergence of what wants to be birthed in its divine timing.
Instead of weekly podcasts, Iām going to be recording a monthly overview at the beginning of each Zodiac season, starting with this one on Libra! Weāll talk about the medicine wheel, the 5-Element Cycle, the Pagan holy days, the zodiac elements and archetypes, and the human design gates of the season in storytelling form. Weāll also lay out the week-by-week themes that correspond with the seasonal workbooks that paid subscribers receive every month.
Midway through each season, Iāll be doing a podcast episode for my new mini-series āParadigm Shift: 2025-2027ā, where Iāll be deep-diving into some of the bigger cycles weāre facing in this moment of intensity- like the 2027 Human Design Shift, the Kali Yuga, the Saturn-Neptune conjunction at the first degree of the Zodiac, and more.
So, 2 podcasts a month.
But for all you weekly listeners: donāt worry, Iām still going to be writing on a weekly basis (just probably not recording).
Instead of a weekly forecast, Iām inspired to write a post about every Human Design/IāChing/Gene Keys gate that the sun transits throughā¦. along with itās corresponding Earth gate, the sunās polarity across the wheel.
I feel like these times weāre living in are deeply asking us to understand and integrate polarities, or else get swallowed up by them- itās becoming clear that that integration is a personal mission of mine. So much of my work with the Wheel of the Year has been deepening into the realization that there is no summer without winter, no fall without spring. The 32 polarities of energies in the Human Design Mandala give us insights on how to integrate differences on a weekly basis, and that content feels especially relevant right now.
Iāll be doing some guided meditations about these gate polarities from time to time for paid subscribers, too, along with the breathwork sessions, Zodiac season guidebooks, and workshops.
Thanks for your continued support! I just reached 600 subscribers, which feels big to meā¦. Iām stoked to have each and every one of you here.
xoxo!
Alison
Libra Season in the Wheel of the Year:
MEDICINE WHEEL Direction: WEST
WUXING Element: METAL
ZODIAC Season: LIBRA (September 22- October 22)
PAGAN Season/Holy Day: MABON (Fall Equinox)
IāCHING Hexagrams/HUMAN DESIGN Gates:
Embodiment/ aka Determination of the Self (46) > Correction (18) > Depth/ aka āThe Wellā (48) > Intuition (57) > Continuity (32) > Values/ aka āThe Cauldronā (50)
MOONS:
October 6: Full Moon in Aries in gate 21: The Hunter
October 21: New Moon in Libra in Gate 50: The Cauldron
PLANETARY DANCES of LIBRA SEASON:
September 22:
Sun enters Libra
Mars enters Scorpio
September 23-23: Sun trine Pluto/Mars square Pluto
October 6: Mercury enters Scorpio
October 13:
Venus enters Libra
Pluto Stations Direct in Aquarius
October 22:
Neptune Rx Enters Pisces
Scorpio Season begins
Descent into the Underworld From Virgo > Libra > Scorpio
Libra was not always its own sign. In the old skies, its faint stars were seen as the claws of the Scorpion to the east, or the scales held by the Virgin to the west.
The ancient Greeks called the Libra constellation āChelae,ā meaning Claws, as the two brightest stars of Libra were commonly identified as the claws of the scorpion. These stars are still called by their Arabic names Zubenelschamali, the Northern Claw, and Zubenelgenubi (the Southern Claw). In many renditions of Virgo, she is the maiden holding up the scales of justice.
Dim and understated, Libraās constellation sits between these brighter figures of the Harvest Goddess and the Scorpion. In this way, as the only inanimate object in the Zodiac, Libra is a threshold between more than a distinct archetype, balancing the above-world with the underworld with grace. This liminal space and time of year holds immense significance: it is the place of the equinox, where light and dark stand equal before the year tips toward descent.
The movement from Virgo into Libra into Scorpio season traces an ancient underworld arc. Virgo gathers and sifts the harvest, separating wheat from chaff. Libra is the balance point, weighing what must be carried forward and what must be released. And Scorpio claims what falls away, guiding the soul deeper underground into shadow and transformation, into the darker half of the year. The Scales of Libra belong to this passage, a fleeting pause of equal measure before the plunge. Their stars may be dim, but their role is pivotal- to remind us that the active practice of balance is the gateway to meaning within descent.
Libra is a Cardinal Air Sign
The Sun passes through Libra from September 22 to October 22, welcoming us into the art of relationship, the law of symmetry, and the struggle to live in right relationship. Librans seek beauty, justice, and harmony, yet must also face the truth that equilibrium is rarely static. The Libran task is not perfection but ongoing correction, the willingness to recalibrate when things fall askew.
Libra is a Cardinal Air sign, evoking a brisk fall wind that blows dead leaves to the ground. These are the leaves that were so recently filled with color and life, and now find themselves on the ground, breaking apart to become a part of something larger than themselves: the soil, composed of everything that has come before them.
Libra season ushers in the first crisp winds of autumn, carrying the qualities of Cardinal Air: movement, initiation, and direction. Unlike Fixed Air (Aquarius), which holds steady in the atmosphere, or Mutable Air (Gemini), which scatters and pollinates, Cardinal Air begins. Itās the gust that sets the leaves in motion, the breath that initiates a conversation.
In Libra, this air gusts, instead of breezing or stagnating. Cardinal Air wants to start something, like a dialogue, a relationship, an agreement. Itās the energy of fresh perspective, the ability to see multiple sides at once, and the drive to put those perspectives into play.
This Zodiac season carries momentum through ideas and relationships. The wind of Libra pushes us to make choices, to reach across divides, to take the first step toward harmony- the leaves from the trees meeting the soil to begin their integration into relationship with the past cycles of life.
Libraās strength lies in setting things into motion through words, invitations, and gestures that alter the dynamics of a space. Cardinal Air teaches that balance begins with movement, that justice starts with an opening, and that harmony is not static but created each time we choose to engage.
Libra in the Body
In the body, Libra rules the systems of balance and filtration. The kidneys quietly sort the pure from the impure, maintaining the delicate chemistry of the blood and regulating fluids and minerals.
They embody Libraās archetype of justice: weighing, filtering, and deciding what is useful to keep and what must be released. When kidneys are taxed, it often mirrors a life situation where choices feel muddied or relationships lack clarity. Difficulty āfiltering outā what is toxicāwhether food, emotion, or companyācan take its toll here.
Perched atop the kidneys, the adrenal glands act like sentinels, producing the hormones that govern stress response and vitality. In balance, they provide steadiness and resilience, but when overdrawn by chronic tension or relational discord, adrenal fatigue can arise. This reflects Libraās tendency to overextend in the name of peacekeeping, to hold harmony externally while the inner reserves are quietly drained.
The lower back and hips form the bodyās central hinge, carrying weight and distributing movement evenly between left and right. Symbolically, they remind us of partnership: how two halves support the whole.
Libra in the body teaches that health comes through dynamic recalibration, responding gracefully to constant shifts in movement. Practices that restore symmetry, such as yoga, tai chi, or dance, feed Libraās body. So too do honest conversations that release hidden tensions, much like the kidneys flush toxins.
When Libra tends both inner and outer harmony, the kidneys flow smoothly, the adrenals recharge, and the back and hips support with strength and ease.
Libra in the Human Life Cycle
Libra in the Life Cycle corresponds to the relational years of mid-life, a stage when partnership, balance, and shared responsibility take on profound importance. This is the era when the self, once established, turns outward toward the other, seeking harmony in love, family, and community. Many people are caring for aging parents along with children, finding balance in the middle years.
In these years, lifeās lessons center on collaboration and compromise. Libra is ruled by Venus, the planet of attraction and connection, and mid-life is a time when the bonds of marriage, friendship, and community become defining. Choices around intimacy, co-parenting, collaboration, and partnership bring both challenge and fulfillment.
This chapter often asks: how do I balance my own identity with the needs of others? Where do I compromise, and where do I hold the line? The scales of justice serve as a mirror, reflecting both the beauty and the strain of relationship. Harmony becomes a lived practice, not an ideal.
There is grace and refinement in this stage, a desire for fairness, peace, and beauty in oneās environment. Yet the challenge arises when balance slips into avoidance, or when the self is lost in the pursuit of keeping the peace. Mid-life partnerships may be tested here, not only through the presence of others but through the inner reckoning of whether harmony has been genuine or surface-deep.
This phase of life reflects Libraās lesson: that true balance is dynamic instead of static, requiring presence, honesty, and continual recalibration. The gift of these years is learning how to stand in oneās own truth while extending equal recognition to another, discovering that justice and love are sustained through reciprocity.
In the life cycle, Libra teaches that the maturity of selfhood is revealed in relationship, and that mid-life blossoms most fully when sovereignty and connection are held in equal measure.
This season in the Polycultural Wheel of the Year
Libra season arrives with the equinox light balanced, a hinge between summerās fire and winterās descent. Within a polycultural lens, this season resonates across many wisdom systems: the Medicine Wheel, the Wuxing 5-Element Cycle, the Zodiac, the Pagan Wheel of the Year, the I Ching and Human Design, and the living sky itself. Together they form a chorus of images for how to meet this moment.
Medicine Wheel: The West
Libraās direction of West on the medicine wheel marks the place of the setting sun, endings, and integration. It is where light meets shadow and the scales are weighed in truth.
Autumn strips away illusions the way trees shed their leaves, revealing the bare structure beneath. In this way, the West asks for honesty in what is complete, what must be released, and what agreements need to be honored or dissolved.
It is harvest time, when the results of past choices and relationships come into full view. Effort and imbalance alike are exposed, demanding correction. Libraās affinity for beauty mirrors the fleeting splendor of autumn colors, beauty heightened by its transience and the knowledge of decline.
The West is the direction of adulthood, and of the element water. Water teaches flow, reflection, and the dissolving of rigid boundaries. This seasonās connection to water highlights Libraās role as a mirror, responding, adjusting, and balancing in response to emotional currents.
The emotional medicine of Libra lies in the recognition that harmony cannot be forced. When emotions are suppressed to preserve appearances, imbalance accumulates like stagnant water. Yet when feelings are expressed honestly and received fairly, they move like a cleansing stream, restoring equilibrium. The direction west teaches that balance in relationship requires attending to these currents. This is the season when we learn when to stand firm, when to yield, and when to let go.
The 5-Element (Wuxing) Cycle: Metal
In the Wuxing (Five Element) cycle, autumn marks the transition from the phase of Earth to the phase of Metal. After Earthās centering nourishment and integration, the cycle turns toward refinement. What has been gathered in late summer is now sorted, pared down, and prepared for storage or release.
Metal represents discernment, clarity, and letting go. It is the force that distinguishes what is essential from what is excess, what can be preserved from what must be shed. Just as the air turns crisp and leaves fall from the trees, Metal energy sharpens perception and strips away what no longer serves.
This is a time of harvest and contraction, when the expansive abundance of the earlier seasons condenses into essence. The lungs draw in purity and vitality, while the large intestine releases waste and stagnation, mirroring Metalās role as the bodyās judge of value and release. The movement from Earth to Metal invites a process of refinement and surrender. It calls us to honor grief for what is ending, while also finding reverence for what remains. In this way, Metal teaches integrity: the ability to uphold what is precious and to let go of what is not.
In this passage from Earth to Metal, autumn offers the wisdom of boundaries and precision. It is a season of distillation, when life pares itself back to its essentials, preparing body, mind, and spirit for the stillness of winter.
The Pagan Wheel of the Year: Mabon
In the balance-point between Virgo and Libra, we celebrate Mabon, the festival of the second harvest, traditionally observed at the end of Virgo season at autumn equinox around September 21ā23. It marks the moment in the Wheel of the Year when day and night stand in equal measure, and the Sun begins its descent into the darker half of the year. Where Lammas honored the first fruits of the harvest, Mabon is a celebration of the full ripeness of the season and the deep work of gathering, preserving, and preparing for winter.
Mabon is a time of completion and gratitude. The fields, orchards, and gardens give their last great offerings (apples, grapes, nuts, root vegetables) before lying fallow. For ancient peoples, this was the critical second harvest, the one that determined how well they could endure the lean months ahead.
In modern Wiccan and Celtic-inspired traditions, the festival takes its name from the Welsh mythic figure Mabon ap Modron, the āSon of the Great Mother,ā a symbol of light held in the embrace of darkness. In Welsh mythology, Mabon ap Modron is a divine youth stolen from his mother, the Great Mother goddess Modron, just three days after his birth. Rescued later by heroes, he is associated with the sunās light returning from captivity, the vitality of youth, and the turning of seasons. His story reflects the equinox theme of light held in balance with darkness, a reminder that what is lost can be restored, and that cycles of descent are always followed by renewal.
Like Lammas, Mabon is marked with feasts, offerings, and gatherings. Fresh bread, cider, wine, and preserved foods are shared in thanks to the land and the unseen forces that sustain the people. This is also a time to honor the gods and spirits of the harvest, and to make offerings of grain, fruit, or libations as acts of reciprocity. In many places, this is the season of wine-making, cider pressing, and storing food for the months ahead, a practical and sacred work alike.
Mabonās equal day and night invite reflection and recalibration. Just as the Sun stands poised before tipping into longer nights, we are asked to consider where we are in balance and where we have tipped too far in one direction. The festival honors the truth that light and dark are not enemies but necessary halves of the same whole, and that endings are simply beginnings in another form.
Mabon offers the following questions for the season:
Where in my life can I bring myself back into balance?
What abundance am I ready to harvest, acknowledge and give thanks for?
What still needs to be gathered before the final harvest at Samhain?
The IāChing & Human Design
The Sunās path through Libra maps onto a sequence of gates in Human Design, each drawn from the IāChing:
Gate 46 ā The Determination of the Self: embodiment through experience, where the body leads the way.
Gate 18 ā Correction: the willingness to refine, critique, and repair.
Gate 48 ā The Well: depth of wisdom, the inexhaustible source that lies beneath.
Gate 57 ā Intuition: the clarity of instinct in the present moment.
Gate 32 ā Continuity: what endures, what has the strength to survive the long cycle.
Gate 50 ā The Cauldron: values and nourishment, the vessel that holds the tribe.
Together they form a narrative of embodiment, critique, depth, instinct, survival, and shared values. Libra season teaches us not only how to balance, but how to sustain balance across time.
As a story, the evolution of Libra follows this arc:
As the Sun tips into Libra, the Scales rise at Gate 46 (Embodiment). The equinox brings day and night into equal measure, and here balance is first felt through the body itself. The Scales remind us that harmony begins in the simple act of being alive, of delighting in touch, breath, and presence.
From this grounding, the path leads into Gate 18 (Correction). The light sharpens, shadows lengthen, and flaws become visible. Here the Scales turn to what has been spoiled, weighing distortion against integrity. Judgment may arise, but the deeper call is renewal, to mend what has faltered and restore it to right proportion.
Having faced what is broken, the journey descends into Gate 48 (Depth). Like a well hidden beneath the earth, wisdom waits in stillness. Doubt and inadequacy may haunt the threshold, yet when courage draws the bucket, the waters rise. The Scales learn that resourcefulness and wisdom replenish themselves when shared.
Then Gate 57 (Intuitive Clarity) arrives with the quiet wind of perception. The air is cool, the nights lengthen, and subtle signals stir awareness. Unease can ripple here, yet beneath it lies intuitionāan embodied knowing of what is true in the present moment. The Scales learn to trust the whisper that steadies balance before the mind has words.
In Gate 32 (Continuity), attention shifts toward endurance. What has strength to last, what deserves devotion, what can be carried forward through time? Fear of failure may cling, but continuity teaches discernment, the recognition of what is truly alive and worth preserving.
The season closes in Gate 50 (Values), the cauldron that holds and transforms. Here Libra becomes the steward, tending the fire of community. Corruption is the shadow when responsibility is avoided, but in its gift this gate carries equilibrium, distributing nourishment fairly and holding harmony as a shared covenant.
As Libraās arc completes, the Scales stand in their true nature. Balance is no frozen perfection, but a living artāembodied, corrected, deepened, intuited, preserved, and offered back to the whole.
Planetary Dances of Libra Season 2025
The planetary movements of Libra season weave a deeper texture:
September 22: Sun enters Libra, Mars enters Scorpio
The equinox opens Libra season, a moment of equal day and night, reminding us of the ongoing dance between light and shadow. The Sun in Libra sets the tone of balance, justice, and relationship. On the same day, Mars slips into Scorpio, sharpening desire and drive with intensity. Action turns inward and strategic, less about speed and more about depth, power, and persistence.September 23: Sun trine Pluto, Mars square Pluto
The very next day, the Scales are tested in the crucible of Pluto. Sun trine Pluto empowers clarity and transformation, offering strength to shed what no longer serves. At the same time, Mars squaring Pluto ignites friction, bringing power struggles to the surface. This combination makes the air electricāwhat begins in Libraās grace is immediately forged by Scorpioās uncompromising truth.October 6: Full Moon in Aries (Gate 21, The Hunter)
The Aries Full Moon blazes opposite Libraās calm, highlighting the tension between autonomy and partnership. In Human Design, Gate 21 is about control, management, and sovereignty. The Hunter energy asks: who holds the reins? This lunation may stir confrontations around independence, resources, and leadership, testing how the Scales hold balance under fiery assertion.October 6: Mercury enters Scorpio
On the same day, Mercury leaves Libraās diplomacy for Scorpioās depth. Communication becomes probing, investigative, and unflinching. Conversations dive beneath the surface, exposing hidden motives, secrets, and truths that demand to be named.October 13: Venus enters Libra, Pluto stations direct in Aquarius
Venus comes home to Libra, softening edges and renewing the call to beauty, connection, and harmony. Relationships take center stage, with an emphasis on fairness and reciprocity. Simultaneously, Pluto turns direct in Aquarius, resuming its work of collective transformation. Structures of power shift, revealing the tension between individuality and the group, tradition and revolution. Together, these transits recalibrate both love and power.October 21: New Moon in Libra (Gate 50, The Cauldron)
Libra season closes with a renewal of shared values. The New Moon in Gate 50, The Cauldron, invites reflection on collective ethics, responsibility, and care. This is the vessel that transforms raw ingredients into nourishment for all. The lunation asks: what agreements, principles, and responsibilities do we choose to carry forward into the dark half of the year?October 22: Neptune retrogrades back into Pisces, Scorpio season begins
As Libraās balance gives way to Scorpioās descent, Neptune retreats into Pisces, softening the boundaries of reality. Dreams, illusions, and spiritual longings rise, dissolving what feels solid. The Sun enters Scorpio almost simultaneously, pulling the collective deeper into shadow and intensity. The true underworld season begins.
In closingā¦
Libra season is not a simple call to balance, but truly a deep invitation to dance with imbalance as we descend to the underworld time of year. It is a time to refine, to harvest, to enter the well of depth and draw from its waters. Across traditions, the message is clear: justice is not fixed, beauty is not static, and our values must be tended and cultivated like a warm brew bubbling in a heavy cauldron.
Have a truly beautiful Libra season, yāall.
xo
Alison
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Next Wednesday (Oct 1): Libra Season Breathwork Journey
If youād like to learn more about the energies of Libra season and resource yourself with an embodied breathwork experience, Iām hosting a Libra Season Workshop & Breathwork Journey next Wednesday, October1 at 5pm MST on Zoom.
In these monthly sessions, we chat for about an hour about the archetype of the season, and then I guide you through a 45-minute conscious-connected revolutionary breathwork session. Next week weāre tapping into Libraās sense of harmony and balance.
(Paid subscribers/ Embody the Revolution members, remember to use code EMBODY for a free ticket).
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