Most new moons are a time to seed something new. To pitch new projects, to reach out to editors and agents, to go out on submission. To manifest all the glorious creativity that’s been brewing behind the scenes. But this is that rare new moon where you might want to keep things stewing privately for just a touch longer, in the interest of putting finishing touches on things before sending them out into an extremely explosive world.
If you’re sensing a theme of unusually intense or abrupt astrology this fall, you’re not wrong. This new moon in Libra — generally, about infusions to our relationships; generally, about nurturing love and beauty and connecting to folks through cultural projects — is caught up in some of the most intense stories happening in the sky right now.
This moon leaves us all super sensitive. It’s opposite the warrior Mars, which has been retrograde in tempestuous Aries for five weeks, asking us to review our relationship to conflict. It’s in a difficult square to that cluster of Capricorn planets (Saturn, Jupiter, and Pluto) that keep saying no, that keep asking us to review what we’re transforming, that can give a little but ask so much of us in return.
You may feel stale or stuck, frightening or torrential, frustrated or simply sad. Given the world around us, that is more than understandable. But this is a moment of reflection. Of pausing. Of going in, rather than out. Of nourishing ourselves with books to read rather than the books we tell ourselves that we must write.
This is a day to listen, to breathe, to journal, and to be, rather than to push yourself to do. A moment to take a cue from Mary Oliver,
I go down to the shore in the morning
and depending on the hour the waves
are rolling in or moving out,
and I say, oh, I am miserable,
what shall—
what should I do? And the sea says
in its lovely voice:
Excuse me, I have work to do.
Writing Prompts for the New Moon in Libra
What projects in your creative life require some breathing room right now? What needs a moment of deep rest?
How does your mental health impact your relationship to productivity, work, or scheduling? In what ways can you release a pressure valve and allow yourself spaciousness, grace, and ease in this part of your process?
What books, films, artworks, and other cultural artifacts are longtime sources of inspiration for you? How can you return to them in this moment and feed yourself without expectation?
Just journaled the shit out of these prompts. It reminded me (to use the artist's way example) that I need to fill my well. And that breathers are not a bad thing. <3