When It’s Time to Say “Enough”
Even when the schedule is already packed, we’re out of groceries, and we’ve been wearing the same clothes for days because there’s no time to do laundry, it can be surprisingly hard to turn down tempting opportunities to do even more. But Mercury’s sextile to Jupiter (Sep. 21, 2026, 3:51 pm PDT) is a reminder that we needn’t – and probably shouldn’t – take every opportunity that comes our way.
Everyone loves making contact with Jupiter. Each of Mercury in Libra’s inspired notions seems even more dazzling when it teams up with the god of Big Ideas. Jupiter in Leo is that terrific friend who says “Yes! – and more!” to everything you propose. A night out with Jupiter is such fun… until it becomes exhausting.
At this sextile, Mercury is on the Sabian symbol 18 Libra, Two men placed under arrest. Don’t go too far, too fast. Think things through before you leap. Have fun with Jupiter, but know when it’s time to say “enough.”
Butterfly with a Dart
The Sun enters Libra this week (Sep. 22, 2026, 5:05 pm PDT), marking the autumnal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere, and the vernal equinox in the Southern Hemisphere.
The Sun is in its fall in Libra, so it’s interesting it begins the season of “fall” here in the Northern Hemisphere. The Sun wants to exert itself, its individuality, and all its magnificence, but Libra can only let individuality stretch to the limits of another person with whom it’s trying to collaborate.
Libra’s qualities and concerns are around relating, collaboration, attractiveness, art and mechanics, fairness, and justice. The Sabian symbol that begins Libra is 1 Libra, A butterfly made perfect by a dart through it, and I really love Judith DeHaan’s take on this symbol, which boils down to this: Do you want beauty, or do you want to have a possession?
And I think that goes to the heart of many of Libra’s great concerns, which have to do with relationship, but on the other hand, also possessions. It is a sign that’s connected to relationship and to wealth, so do you want beauty, or do you want a possession? It’s a really good question for Libra time.
The Sun is in Libra through October 23rd, when it will move into Scorpio, and as the Sun begins its time in Libra, Venus, the planetary ruler of Libra, is already in Scorpio. So even the Libra season itself has a lot of this Scorpio feeling to it already, and makes very appropriate this question about possessing something that you’re meant to love, or just appreciate from an aesthetic point of view.
Dawn of a New Day
The Sun opposes Neptune (Sep. 25, 2026, 6:36 pm PDT) on the symbol 3 Libra, The dawn of a new day, everything changed. And that sounds, on the face of it, like a perfectly lovely image, like everything has been scrubbed clean overnight and you’re starting fresh.
But I happen to be thinking about this on the day a cousin passed away; we weren’t close, though he was a lovable person and I did love him. But I’m thinking of how tomorrow will feel to his wife, alone without him after 29 years; and the way it feels when you wake up to a bright new day after something awful has happened, and for a split second you don’t remember – and then you do, and it’s like a kick to the gut.
The Sun in Libra is the dream of togetherness, forever, although the wedding vows sort of grudgingly acknowledge that it’s just “til death do us part.” And here, it comes face to face with Neptune in Aries, and a new dream – normally we’d consider Aries to be a lone wolf riding across the prairie, but it’s on the symbol 3 Aries, A cameo profile of a man, in the outline of his country. A collectivist image. One that says there’s sadness, yes. Everything is changed. But maybe there’s hope of mending through pulling together with others. Comfort through the kind of symbols that bring meaning, bring the feeling of being part of something shared.
Power You Can’t Lose
If you’d asked me when I was young whether I’d rather be rich or famous, fame would have won handily. Today, I’d lean the other way.
But actually, an extreme amount of either wealth or fame seems to come with its share of problems. It seems that our happiest, lightest, most joyful characteristics risk being dimmed in either situation.
This week, as the Sun – symbol of the happy, full-hearted child within – trines formidable Pluto (Sep. 25, 2026, 10:34 pm PDT), true power comes from neither wealth nor fame, both of which make us vulnerable to the whims or avarice of others. Rather, the Sun trine Pluto illuminates the power that comes from joyfully embracing our true. That’s power that can’t be taken away.
In the end, this kind of power can’t be given to us. We can become obscenely wealthy and still lose a partner. We can be elected to office or crowned a monarch, yet be unable to command the love and respect of our constituents. The Sun with Pluto reminds us that real power can only come from within.
A Secluded Walk and a Campfire
At some point during the Sun’s Libra season comes the Aries Full Moon, where there’s a moment to contemplate where we stand, in that space between putting others first – Libra – and prioritizing ourselves.
This particular Full Moon (Sep. 26, 2026, 9:49 am PDT) is on the Sabian symbol 4 Aries: Two lovers strolling through a secluded walk. Romantic. Much more akin to the Sun in Libra. But it’s ruled by Mars at 29.09 Cancer, the sign of its fall, and it’s on the anaretic degree, the transition point where it gains some power, some aggression, and the tendency to extreme actions. It also conjoins Neptune, which accentuates Aries’ idealistic side. You may find yourself torn between that aggression, and impulsiveness, of Mars at 29 degrees, and the Moon together with Neptune; and they may influence each other. What are you rushing toward, and are you clear about what it really is and what it really means for you?
The Sun at this Full Moon is on 4 Libra, A group around a campfire. Can you sit in a group and keep track of who you are? You’re the Sun, sitting across from the Moon and Neptune, watching the lovers strolling away from the fire for their secluded walk. You’ve got the group for company, but that isn’t the same thing, especially for Libra. Sometimes, you can feel especially lonely in a group of people.
These are some of the thoughts that occupy this Full Moon: Being in a group. Being apart from the group but with one special other. Which is what you find your heart craving?
Fight Like Kings
Leo’s great gift is its ability to let us see ourselves in a noble light. When Mars, the warrior planet, enters this regal sign (Sep. 27, 2026, 7:49 pm PDT), it rallies support for a cause not just because it is worthwhile, but because the fight itself elevates those who support it. Mars is the planet of battles and those who fight them, and in each sign of the zodiac it symbolizes a different style of warrior. As Mars leaves mute, defensive Cancer this week and enters Leo, it’s time to fight like kings.
The classic example is Henry V’s magnificent speech to his troops, badly outnumbered by the French at Agincourt. His essential message? “It’s actually a good thing that we’re outnumbered, because that means a greater share of glory for each of us when we win. This is a very exclusive club we’ve got here. We’re going to kick some serious ass, and as we tell this story for the rest of our lives other men will be green with envy that they weren’t here. We few, we happy few, we band of brothers,” etc.
Henry got lucky that day, and his army won. But from a rhetorical point of view, it didn’t much matter. Simply fighting alongside your brothers made you better than the next man, shinier and more resplendent.
In the interest of full disclosure, Mars in Leo can have an ugly, self-serving, bombastic side. The preening, vain, and vacuous playboy that was Prince Hal of Henry IV, before he renounced his old boozing pal Falstaff and became King Henry V, is the failed, shadowy side of Leo. That Prince Hal could never have rallied the troops at Agincourt. First, he had to become the exemplar of his men’s highest vision for themselves.
There’s your struggle for the long days of Mars in Leo: Put forth a vision of yourself that you can be proud of, and apply every ounce of it to each important task at hand; be the example that inspires others to do the same. (Mars is in Leo through Nov. 25, then re-enters the sign retrograde from Feb. 21, 2027 – May 14, 2027.)
© Words and Illustrations by April Elliott Kent
