Libra Solar Eclipse; Ego Death and Emotional Release
On October 2, we have a Solar Eclipse in Libra, an air sign ruled by Venus. Libra is about relationships between ourselves and others, diplomacy, balanced perspective, fairness, and justice. When we have a Solar Eclipse, the Sun appears to disappear from the sky, often bringing a sense of foreboding and interrupting ordinary events. Eclipse energy is strongest in the 2 weeks after the eclipse, but can be felt up to 6 months after the eclipse.
Symbolically, the Sun is associated with our vision of who we are; it can represent consciousness, spirit, father figures, and leaders. Solar eclipses can shift our ego structure—our sense of identity and who we are, opening new avenues for personal growth.
This is a South Node Eclipse, meaning it may ask us to let go of some outdated way of understanding ourselves, perhaps some way in which we identify with a particular idea or group. We all have many ways of identifying ourselves, from our roles in our families to our professions, religious affiliation or non-affiliation, political leanings, organizations we belong to, and so on.
Say, for example, this eclipse falls in your 5th house of children, and your last child has just left for college; the eclipse could bring a shift in your sense of who you are as a parent, an “aha!” moment when you realize and integrate the fact that you have let go a bit of that parental role with your child. Now, who are you? What new way of understanding yourself might emerge amid this change?
Sometimes, if you resist the shift in your identity and the truth that things have changed, something may happen in the outer world that forces you to accept that things have changed. Returning to the empty nester example, say your child who is no longer a child runs into trouble at college and calls you for help.
You have a niggling sense that they can handle it on their own but ignore that inner knowledge and fall back into the comfort and safety of your old identity as mom or dad. You decide you’ll fly out to visit them and sort everything out. You buy your plane ticket, pack your bags, and then wake up the day you’re supposed to leave sick as a dog; you’ve got COVID and can’t fly to their rescue after all.
A few days later, your child calls and proudly announces they resolved the problem independently. You are happy for them and, at the same time, feel a bit sad as the reality sets in that they do not need you the way they did when they were younger.
Since the eclipse is taking place in the sign of relationships, any ego death we might experience may be around who we are in relationship to another person in our life. It falls in the second decan (10 degrees) of Libra. This decan is associated with contracts and commitments, especially contracts between two people, like the marriage contract. The Tarot card associated with this decan is the Three of Swords. The image speaks for itself, the pain of heartbreak. Yet there is a symmetry to the swords, suggesting a clean cut, a final ending, a connection to the loss that frees the soul to move forward.
Three of Swords, Rider Waite Tarot
Other energy in the chart doubles down on the watery quality of the eclipse. Venus, the goddess of love, relationship, beauty and justice rules the eclipse because she rules Libra. She is in the sign of Scorpio, also suggesting a heavy emotional quality to the moment. The goddess of love has a difficult time in Scorpio, a sign ruled by Mars, the god of war. Scorpio energy digs deep to grapple with heavy questions of life, death, and survival, adding an extra layer of drama to the chart.
October 2, 2024 Eclipse Chart
What is more, Mars in Cancer is in a difficult aspect to Venus, exacerbating the emotional quality of the eclipse. The Warrior does not do well in Cancer, a sign that nurtures and protects hearth and home. When Mars is in Cancer, emotions can run high as we try to protect the softer parts of who we are.
So, how to prepare and bear this eclipse if it does affect you? Given it carries so much watery Mars energy, I’d take time to sit with my emotions before reacting to any difficult events that may arise. Mars in Cancer can be impulsive and defensive, and Scorpio can sometimes have a distorted picture of reality. With Mars in Cancer ruling my Scorpio rising chart, I know a little bit about this, LOL.
Take a beat, meditate, if you feel rage (Pluto is also opposing Mars, so this is possible), do some vigorous exercise—Mars in Cancer really benefits from moving its energy out of your body. If you do have something to work through with a loved one, try to raise it once you’ve centered yourself in your body and can speak from the heart.
Of course, this eclipse will affect some of us more than others. If you are a Cardinal sign rising (Libra, Capricorn, Aries, or Cancer) or have personal planets around 8-13 of any of the Cardinal signs you may feel this eclipse more keenly than others. The area of your life affected by the eclipse will depend on what house Libra occupies in your chart; if you are a Libra rising, it falls in your first house and you may be called to let go of some way you understand who you are, if it falls in your 7th house of one-one relationships, you may be called to let go of some idea you had around your partner or the partnership itself, and so on.
To learn more about how this eclipse, feel free to reach out for a reading using the link below.