equinox – True Tarot Tales

Michaelmas: the harvest fires of airy Libra: St Michael and a messenger Dragonfly

No sooner had I posted this article on Substack about the equinox, the harvest festival of Michaelmas, the archangel Michael and his colours of brightest cobalt blue, than my eye was caught by a movement through the sitting room window; the most amazing, brightest electric blue dragonfly out over the pond. So huge that I did a double take, thinking perhaps it was a bird. But there is no bird so blue, or not round here.

blue damselfly perched on brown stick in close up photography during daytime — Photo by Wolfgang Hasselmann on Unsplash

Only a kingfisher could be so blue, and I have seen one here before. But no, back it came again. An electric blue dragonfly, an insect warrior spirit, the fiercest hunter on the pond. It begins by hunting underwater in its larval state, and it is lethal, and then, once fledged, is a supreme hunter by air over water. Lethal beauty.

There are many dragonflies here during the summer months, some blue, others golden or pale yellow. But not usually so late in the year.

But I had literally, just moments, before hit the publish button on a piece about the harvest festival of Michaelmas, and the archangel Michael and his armour of brightest blue. The closeness of this timing struck me as odd, or was it a real time synchronicity?

Dragonfly symbolism says that the dragonfly represents change, transformation and maturity, while blue is the colour of serenity, insight and inspiration.

A blue dragonfly is a message from a higher realm, possibly angelic, and is a message that a loved one is at peace. In my case, this would be my darling, mighty little mother who died 27 February on a night when the Northern Lights were seen the length of the British Isles, and we could hear the hooting of short eared owls outside the bedroom window. Two treatments of IV antibiotics had failed to stop pneumonia, and now, in accordance with her wishes, she had been brought home on what they termed “end of life care.”

(The hospital ward was bedlam on occasion, but in general the NHS were wonderfully kind,quick and efficient at this,her time of extremis)

Sky Phenomenon — Photo by Jonatan Pie on Unsplash

So now I drew a Tarot card. What was the ‘message’ of the dragonfly? And by extension, what was the ‘message’ from Michael, archangel of the South, whose name means, ‘who is like God’?

Blow me down. More synchronicity. I drew the King of Swords from The Legacy of the Divine deck.

A warrior of Air, a gigantic human dragonfly, an armed angel wearing blue.

Astrologically, this card classically represents a man belonging to one of the air signs, particularly the fixed sign of Aquarius, though he may be a Gemini or Libra subject. Volodymyr Zelenskyy is an Aquarius sun sign subject. Donald Trump is a Gemini sun sign subject. Now we are in Libra territory. My spouse, Il Matrimonio is a Libra sun sign subject, and served in the UK military a long time ago, and served as a helicopter pilot in the Army Air Corps. Vladimir Putin is a Libra sun sign native, though his year of birth is uncertain, whether it is 1952 as officially stated or 1950.

This king’s natural ruling element is Air.

Attack by air may mean missiles, with an eye to Crimea or The Black Sea, though I fear we won’t see an end to this war in Ukraine in 2023. I don’t know, of course, but Scorpio or Sagittarius timing is looking more likely to me right now as viewed through the cards, late in 2024, and I pray that this is wrong.

But ‘attack by air’ may just as likely mean a political battle of wills, or misinformation, or airborne infections. My brother has covid now for the third time, though in his case it is only unpleasant and not dangerous, and he has had some, but not all of the boosters.

Many years ago I was diagnosed with a leaky aortic heart valve, now diagnosed as heart failure, and earlier this week had a scan, pending analysis and feedback from the cardiologist (The King of Swords can indicate a surgeon or surgery.)

I have lived with all this a long time. I am not alarmed, and whatever the findings, will not be rushed or pressured in respect of decision making.

Beyond the sun sign meanings associated with this blue human dragonfly, Aquarius rules the astrological Eleventh House of Community, ideas, science. IT and technology. More big news in the space industry any time soon, then.

The message of Archangel Michael, the coincidental dragonfly, and then the King of Swords can be seen and understood equally as something or nothing.

The broadest meaning of the message, whether this is understood as being meant for me personally, or for the wider collective at this turbulent time seems to be,

The Truth will come to light. Confusions will come clear.

Coping strategies: keep your eyes open and keep your cool, no matter what. This way, we can avoid making anything worse. Hold your temper, your tongue and your nerve. Do your research. In the meantime, tread lightly, if decisively. No going stamp-about in the face of provocation. Stand your ground but go high, stay high. Do not buckle. But do buckle up. Not because of any imminent threat, but simply because life right now demands more resilience than it has done at other times.

The dragonfly is a promise of change. A blue dragonfly is change for the better. And on a personal note, I know my mother has reached and attained the wild blue yonder. I felt her, saw her go through the valley on the tenth day after her passing. What she was looking at now, I have to say, looked rather like North Yorkshire, and she was looking away from me, looking up and smiling, clouds chasing the sunshine across the hills.

A rather down to earth vision of paradise, one might feel. Limited perhaps by my own imagination. How do we picture what is so very far beyond our ken? But my mother used to say of herself, that she was all her life, a child of the Pennines. She grew up in Lancashire and used to say the people of Lancashire were peculiarly and particularly warm and kindly. After her children had all left home, she lived her last thirty years and died in her home in Teesdale, on the south bank of the river Tees, marking the old limits of North Yorkshire (and the people of Yorkshire do like to say of Yorkshire that it is God’s own country.)

But to return to that blue dragonfly, and the archangel Michael and his battle with The Devil is above all, a liar, and he is not our friend. Whatever entraps us, takes us into dependency, helplessness or obsession-whether it is our own worst fears, or our deepest desires; whether it is to do with another person, or situation, or a substance addiction, it is not our friend.

See the chains around their necks.

We will all die one day, ain’t that the truth. And people that we love will die before us, and we shall bear witness to their passing, and be left to grieve and mourn their absence, but to be grateful that they were here, and that we knew them, and that now they have gone free and gone forward.

The truth is sometimes painful, but it sets us free, so goes the wise old saying. Michael went into battle with Lucifer in defense of God’s Law, and Humankind. His element is fire, the ultimate fire of creation, and his weapon is the sword of truth.

The battle angel Michael offers safe escort to the souls of the newly dead on their journey back home to the origins of everything beyond the stars.

His colours are blue. It might be any colour of blue, but in battle array, he wears the hottest cobalt blue.

Thank you for reading True Tarot Tales.

Libra, Celestial Scales of the Equinox-Weighing the Balance in the Stars

But what’s the bigger picture? What’s the ancient story behind the zodiac sign as we know it today? Read on for the story of Libra…

22 SEPT 2023

Traditional Associations

Quality: Cardinal

Element: Air

Affirmation: I (seek to) Balance

Ruling planet: Venus

Body: Lower back, buttocks, kidneys

Colour: Indigo Blue

Flower: Rose, Hydrangea

Birthstones: Sapphire- September birthdays. Opal- October birthdays

Lucky Number: 6 (community, childhood)

Tarot card:

Major Arcana: Justice showing the dual goddess, Astraea and Dike

Court card: The Queen of Swords

Minor Arcana 2,3 and 4 Swords.

Justice from The Legacy of The Divine Tarot, Ciro Marchetti

Astronomy

Libra (technically, it is correctly pronounced Ly-bra as in Library) is a small but distinct constellation, 29th in size of the 88 constellations, next door to the constellation of Virgo.

The Libra constellation has been described as looking like a lop-sided diamond and is visible from April to July in the northern hemisphere.

Libra used to be regarded, not as a constellation in its own right, but as part of its neighbouring constellations, Scorpio and Virgo. The stars representing the scales of Justice are the same stars representing the claws of the Scorpion.

Libra, like Cancer, is faint in comparison with other constellations, and contains no spectacular first magnitude stars, but contains its own galaxy cluster, possibly around 10 billion years old, the same age as our own galaxy, The Milky Way.

There also is a red dwarf star Gliese 581 with three orbiting planets, two of which may possibly be suitable for life, about 20 light years from Earth.

The brightest star in Libra is a binary star about 77 light years from Earth. α Librae. or Zubenelgenubi, meaning in Arabic “the Southern Claw.”

The second-brightest star in the constellation of Libra is β Librae, or Zubeneschamali, from the Arabic for “The Northern Claw.”

Equilibrium and Equinox

The Sun used to pass through the constellation of Libra at the time of the equinox (c. 23 September) when the length of hours of night and daylight were almost the same- hence the Libran concept of natural balance.

But the zodiac sign of Libra ceased to coincide in real time with the actual placement of the constellation way back in AD 730 because of the wobble of the Earth, and the resulting effect known as precession – the movement of the equinoxes relative to Earth.

Since 2002, the Sun has actually appeared in the constellation of Libra from October 31 to November 22.

This is different to the dates used for this sign in your media horoscope, which is based on modern western or tropical astrology, and says Libra begins around 23rd of September, coinciding with the autumn equinox (in the northern hemisphere).

But this fact of astronomy does not invalidate your horoscope. The symbolic, historic and astrological concept still stands in all its original meaning, absolutely, based on the arithmetic model of the zodiac as codified by the mathematician Ptolemy in the 2nd Century.

Mythology and History

We have the Romans to thank for the name of this constellation, as well as the sun sign or zodiac sign of Libra as we understand it today.

It is a complicated history. Libra began as part of Scorpio, and was known in Babylonian astronomy as MUL Zibanu (the “scales” or “balance”) but with an alternative name, the Claws of the Scorpion, while in ancient Greece Libra was also seen as the Scorpion’s Claws.

The Scales were sacred to the Babylonian sun god Shamash, the patron of truth and justice, and ever since these very early times, Libra has been associated with law, fairness and civility.

Because 3000 years ago, the Sun entering Libra marked the equinox, when days and nights were of equal length, i.e. balanced, Roman astrologers likewise considered that the constellation of Libra represented the principle of natural balance, equality, equilibrium and hence, justice.

In ancient Rome Libra was associated with the scales of justice held by the pre-Greek goddess Astraea, or her Roman counterpart Dike, although in Greek mythology she had always been associated with Virgo.

Claws, scales.

Virgo, Scorpio.

Eh? Que?

Confusing?

Typically complicated Libra!

According to the Roman writer and poet Marcus Manilius, the best Roman judges were noted to have been born under the sign of Libra, while The Moon, which in astrology governs mood and temperament, was said to be in Libra when Rome was founded, in a historical passage, which states “qua condita Roma.”

The early born Libra native may therefore be expected to have much in common with Virgo and Astraea, but the later born Libra may have quite a lot of Scorpio going on.

This same principle applies to all the zodiac signs, of course, depending whether you were born early or late in your own sun sign. But it’s particularly acute in the case of Libra, on account of its shared/borrowed stars.

The Libra Archetype

Libra is one of the three zodiac air signs, the others being Gemini and Aquarius. Libra is Cardinal Air- it instigates, where Aquarius is Fixed Air and stabilizes, and Gemini is the evolution and agility of Mutable Air.

Libra is the only zodiac sign that is not represented by a human or animal, but the scales signify the collective and enduring human hunger for justice, as well as Libra’s own especially keen personal need for balance, order, and equality.

Many astrologers view Libra as an especially lucky sign because it signifies the peak of the year, just after harvest time, when hard work yields is rewards…and we take stock and more clearly see, literally in the agricultural sense, the fruits of our labour.

Because Venus, the goddess of love, rules Libra, as it also rules Taurus, the Libra subject is especially, even acutely sensitive to beauty in anything, whether it is a person, nature, art, or music. Libra is suave, clever and extremely easy to like. The classic Libra subject has charm and can be a great listener with sharp observation skills and acute perception.

Libra intensely dislikes loud or sharp noises, cruelty, nastiness, and vulgarity, as they are naturally kindly and civilized people. They are also, may we observe, a teensy bit delicate at times.

Born diplomats, but also anything for a quiet life, Libras try to co-operate and compromise with everyone around them. This can sometimes be tiring, as they change their minds at short notice, constantly re-assessing and adjusting their thinking, swings and roundabouts, one foot to another, while remaining emotionally distant, or playing Devil’s advocate. This may on occasion even seem to call their personal loyalties into question.

They are not averse to keeping secrets, and can be more changeable even than Gemini. Those swinging scales are, after all, seeking balance, which is not the same as attaining it, or maintaining it.

Botticelli: The Birth of Venus, ruler of Libra

Libra is smiling, urbane, approachable, but does not receive or handle criticism as dispassionately as they dispense it. They may show resentment when challenged, jealousy when they are not the centre of attention, and at times be markedly moody. Libra is the sign of the diplomat but it is also the sign of the ‘iron fist in a velvet glove’ – smoothly vengeful, or even in the later born Libran subjects, capable of ruthlessness. They have warrior energy, oh yes, and are way more emotionally volatile and passionate than may at first be apparent.

Swings and roundabouts, searching for the centre of balance. Every zodiac sign has its darker potential. But lovely Libra, charming, smiling, civilized. Sunny side up, what not to like?

Famous Libra celebs

Famous Libra natives in history

Back soon with stories of the Decans of Libra.

Thank you for visiting True Tarot Tales.

Till next time 🙂

The Harvest Mother at The Autumn Equinox

Thursday 22 September marks the mythical British mid-harvest festival of Mabon, heralding the arrival of the autumn equinox which in 2022 is on 23 September.

During an equinox, the Sun crosses what we call the “celestial equator”—an imaginary extension of Earth’s equator line into space. The equinox occurs precisely when the Sun’s center passes through this line.

In the Northern Hemisphere, when the Sun crosses the equator going from north to south, this marks the autumnal equinox and when it crosses from south to north, this marks the vernal equinox. This is reversed in the Southern Hemisphere.

Now we leave the zodiac sign of Virgo, the Queen of the Harvest, and enter the astrological territory of Libra The Scales, representing the ever changing balance of day and night, represented in Tarot by The Justice card.

Libra is the only Zodiac constellation represented by an inanimate object, and not by an animal or a mythological character. The stars that represent the scales of justice are borrowed from the constellation of Scorpio next door, the claws of the Scorpion.

Those born under Libra are famously cool in temperament, intellectual, and can be somewhat emotionally detached but also volatile. According to the Roman writer Marcus Manilius, Roman judges were born under the sign of Libra. The moon was said to have been in Libra when Rome was founded, and therefore the Roman empire itself (at least, according to Manilius) began on a just and balanced foundation. Or at least, a legalized, rational, process based system.

The first harvest festival of the year was Lammas (‘Loaf Mass Tide) celebrated on the first of August. This later second harvest, Mabon, ends on 29 September.

Mabon ap Modron, -Mabon the son of Modron, was a figure from Welsh mythology who by the tenth century AD, and the first written record of him in an old Welsh poem, had became associated with the story of King Arthur. In these stories, he was one of Arthur’s war band, but the roots are much older.

The origin of the name, Mabon is related to the Romano- British god Maponos, whose name means “Great Son”; his mother Modron, in turn, is likely related to the Gaulish goddess Dea Matrona. (modern word Matron) (Via Wiki)

The Empress from The Legacy of The Divine Tarot

Dea Matrona was the Divine Mother Goddess. The River Marne in France was named in her honour and Gaulish religious images included mass produced inexpensive terracotta statues for domestic use in household shrines. These little statues showed mother goddesses nursing babies or holding fruits, other foods, or small dogs in their laps.

Mabon may be a semi-fictionalized festival. The name is not known to have been associated with this late harvest before the 1970’s, and may be at least in part, a Neo-Pagan confection.

But there is only humility and gratitude, in seeing stories in the seasons, honouring the great earth mother, whether we think of her as Modron, Virgo, Astrea, Demeter, Gaia or Persephone, or simply as the earth itself.

All stories grow out of some real soil.

The stories are all true.

The fall or autumn equinox is especially associated with apple picking. Bring on the scrumping, the crumble and the cider.

The best cider vinegar still contains the living ‘mother.’ This vinegar is made through a two-step process. First, yeast is added to apple juice to break down the sugars and turn them into alcohol. Then, bacteria is added, converting the alcohol into acetic acid. This bacteria is what is known as the mother, This is the catalyst that gives rise to the vinegar. Many apple cider vinegars have the mother removed because it gives the vinegar a cloudy appearance and some people think it’s gone bad. Not so. The mother is the best bit, the most nutritious element.

Medicinally it is reputed to work as an antacid.

Back soon 🙂

Equinox, and the Tarot says Equipoise

Friday 23 September marks the the first day of astronomical autumn/fall in the Northern Hemisphere. and spring in the southern hemisphere, when day and night are nearly equal. In the United Kingdom the equinox will be 02:03 AM

Entering Libra

From The Gilded Tarot Royale, Ciro Marchetti

This is the day when we enter the zodiac air sign of Libra, and the Tarot cards specifically associated with 23 September are Justice and the Two of Swords, belonging to the first decan of Libra.

You will notice a striking similarity between this card and the Tarot’s Justice card, its major arcana counterpart.

The Two of Swords is blind like Justice. Wilfully blind, and for a purpose, either for tactical reasons, or because this decision simply cannot be rushed. Here, the wings serving as a blindfold denote the element of air, and impartiality, the use of cool, calm intellect brought to bear on a tricky situation.

If the card comes out upside down, then someone is being a refusenik. A decision must be taken but they are procrastinating.

The Two of Swords can describe a see-saw, and is reflecting what we all know, that internationally and domestically October looks like another tense month of watching, waiting, diplomatic stand-offs and tensions.

Mercury goes direct again 2 October, possibly smoothing certain communications, but October 2022 is going to be anything but a mild news month, and we don’t need the Tarot to see that.

I’ll be watching the first ten days or so of October when we are in Three of Swords territory. Meaning? Severance. Putin is a second decan Libra, which has all manner of wonderful qualities. But his personal chart features a difficult fixed star; born with his natal sun conjunct the ‘rapacious and fiendish’ Algorab, the right wing of the Crow in the constellation of Corvus the Crow.

The Two of Swords is difficult at times. It may suggest indecision, a delay, or a truce, a stand-off, a stalemate. Libra will see-saw in seeking to achieve an equilibrium. It may see-saw rather a lot.

On a personal level, more than once the Two of Swords has alerted me to the fact that a client has been experiencing headaches, possibly migraines. These have often been attributed to stress. Or they have been to see the optician, or have just scheduled a visit to see the optician. The Two of Swords may mean eyes-or teeth. This card may be talking, entirely literally, about needing to see the dentist.

Tarot can be literal like that. Rightly so. The reader is working in the real world. No, it isn’t always fun.

But the world keeps turning, and with it, the wonders of the wheel of the seasons.