16 Sep Weep You No More ~ September 19th-25th, 2016

Weep you no more, sad fountains;

What need you flow so fast?

Look how the snowy mountains

Heav’n’s sun doth gently waste.

With such an expenditure of emotional energy as last week’s lunar eclipse required, this week you may need some extra time for quiet contemplation. As the Moon wanes, let your levels of extroverted engagement with the world wane too.

This is the week of the equinox and of Mercury’s station direct in Virgo. With this change of seasons in the northern hemisphere, the daylight is weakening and thus it is now time accept the small shivers of melancholy that herald the end of summer.

September’s equinox brings the transition of the Sun into Libra, where for one day and night, the light and the dark are experienced in equal measure.

In the mystery schools of ancient Greece, the fall equinox was associated with the goddess Persephone’s melancholic return to the underworld. The myth of Persephone was in fact the basis for the famed Eleusinian Mysteries.

(Greek: Ἐλευσίνια Μυστήρια): initiations held every year for the cult of Demeter and Persephone based at Eleusis in ancient Greece. They are the “most famous of the secret religious rites of ancient Greece”.

At the moment of perfect balance between dark and light, your conscious and unconscious mind will be equally informative, offering you a natural sense of equanimity.

But my sun’s heav’nly eyes

View not your weeping

That now lies sleeping,

Softly, softly, now softly lies sleeping.

As the light begins to fall and the darkness begins to rise, you may begin to feel some of Persephone’s resignation and her loneliness. At this time of year, there is a natural mourning for the loss of summer, the loss of Persephone’s light. But such is the cycle of life.

Nothing gold can stay.

Sleep is a reconciling,

A rest that Peace begets.

Doth not the sun rise smiling

When fair at e’en he sets

Contrary to what we like to believe, there is much beauty to be found in lamentation and mourning. So long as these feelings find a mode of expression, the taste of a little melancholy need not be feared.

With beneficent grace, both Venus and Jupiter in Libra will add an angelic sweetness to whatever sadness may arise. Be soothed by music, comforted by poetry, and lulled into a rest that Peace begets.

Rest you then, rest, sad eyes,

Melt not in weeping

While she lies sleeping,

Softly, softly, now softly lies sleeping.

It is widely accepted that greatest glory of Elizabethan lute music was realized in the compositions of John Dowland. (1563–1626) Sometimes called, the English Orpheus’, John Dowland was a highly regarded genius in his own time and remains so in ours. Dowland wrote solo lute music, song books, psalms, spiritual songs, as well as being an accomplished lyricist.

It was quite fashionable in Dowland’s time to sing songs about grief, sadness and loss. But rather than miring the listener in misery, this music pulls tears from the deepest wells of the soul and transmutes emotional pain into serenity. Every Dowland song is ennobling to the human spirit and offers a glimmers of light through the vales and the tears.

In Weep You No More Sad Fountains, Dowland’s poetic words float upon the melody of his equally beautiful music. The result is a magically healing and becalming journey through sound. This week, let this song and others like it exalt and refine your earthly sorrows into something heavenly.

Monday/Tuesday: My Sun’s Heav’nly Eyes

The week begins with Venus in Libra, the sign of her rulership, in a sextile with Mars in Sagittarius. This supportive aspect between the receptive feminine and the stimulating masculine offers you the ripened fruit of golden charisma!

You will likely find it easy to appear confident whilst maintaining the most likable and diplomatic manners. You will feel more charming, more persuasive, and more attractive. Thus, transit is magnificent for success in romance, socializing or doing business.

On Tuesday, Mercury retrograde in Virgo will trine Pluto in Capricorn. If a little bit of the glitter from yesterday has faded, your powers of influence and persuasiveness have only been magnified by this transit. It is best to use this transit wisely, because your depth of perception and your insight into what you usually categorize as esoteric will be elucidated in some way.

Secrets rise to the surface. Mysteries unveil themselves. Dense subjects begin to open up to you. The light will be darkening soon and what should you do with all your time spent indoors in the coming months? This trine between Mercury and Pluto may initiate you into a tremendous new  study or creative endeavor.

Wednesday/Thursday: Heav’n’s Sun Doth Gently Waste

Thursday is the equinox and the day that Mercury will station direct in Virgo in the midst of a mutable grand cross with Saturn, Neptune, and the waning Moon in Gemini. So, before you breathe a huge sigh of relief about the retrograde being over, bear in mind that there are still many loose ends to be tied up.

When there is this much mutable energy, sometimes things get complicated. A better and more accurate word is mercurial: subject to sudden or unpredictable changes of mood or mind.

A mutable and mercurial nature is quite the right condition for summer to fade into autumn. On the equinox, the Sun’s arrival in Libra will perfectly balance the light and dark upon the scales. But even in that equilibrium, there will be a sigh, for nobody likes to say farewell to summer. (At least not until the holidays begin to cheer things up again)

This is the last day of Venus’ transit through Libra, and the virtues of grace and beauty will endeavor to make themselves well known to you. Sense these little offerings in the flames of color, the twirling breezes, and the sweet voices that emerge to bring you comfort and joy.

Friday/Saturday/Sunday: Rest Sad Eyes

On Friday, Venus enters the sign of Scorpio, the sign of her detriment, meaning that she has a bit of a rough time expressing herself here. In Libra, Venus is hailed as the Queen of Heaven. In Scorpio, Venus must shine through a glass darkly.

So, why is Venus considered to be in her detriment in Scorpio, the sign of sex, death, and transformation? Succinctly put, Venus is in her detriment here because a plunge into the realm of Scorpionic emotion summons up aggression and obsession. That ebullient Venusian charm can be somewhat obscured by these murkier aspects of the psyche.

But Venus is not afraid, for in the underworld, she becomes magnetic, hypnotic and lucky!

On Saturday and Sunday, the Sun in Libra will conjunct Jupiter and you will feel in rhythm and in harmony with life. The good and the bad in your life will seem perfectly suited to you. Jupiter will magnify the Sun’s light so brightly, that you may fully identify as an artist, a connoisseur or a peacemaker during this time.

This is a weekend to rest in full faith that for all your melancholy and plaintive moments, there will be an equal amount of joyful and effervescent ones. Such is the nature of the scales, which responds to all sorrows with good cheer.