Hi, doll.
I woke at 4:30 am with Barbra Streisand singing inside my head. I’m more of an Aretha Franklin broad, but this track was blasting like it was on my wicked loud neighbor’s Bluetooth speaker.
The track title? The Woman in the Moon.
Coffee brewing, I blasted it on my Bluetooth speaker—sorry, neighbor!—and these lyrics jumped out:
They can hold back the tide, but they can never hold the woman in the moon. I believe in a best of both worlds, mixing old and new. Recognizing change is seldom expected.
Sage words for today’s new moon/solar eclipse, especially given that they hail from A Star Is Born, Streisand’s 1976 remake with Kris Kristofferson. No death of a beloved elder ever feels well-timed, but his departure last week reminded us to uphold his legacy of care and social justice, the running themes of this eclipse season.
Last month’s lunar eclipse commenced a three-year cycle on the Pisces-Virgo axis, ushering in an era of concretized compassion and making us extra weepy and witchy in the process. Today’s solar eclipse is on the Libra-Aries axis, which balances the needs of the individual and the collective.
Pretty terrific as we move into the last weeks before Election Day. Also a pretty terrific commencement to the Jewish New Year, which begins tonight. (Another reason Babs may be popping up.)
Eclipse seasons are inevitably disruptive, and this one has been a lot. When the moon joins the sun in harmonious Libra, though, the real goal is communion.
New moons are about fresh starts, the beginnings of cycles. But this eclipse emphasizes the south node—what we’re leaving behind, what we’ve suffered and seen. Combined, the effect temporarily moves us into kairos—the Ancient Greek term for soul time rather than linear time. It’s the portal we enter during intuitive work, the spiritual equivalent of HGH (human growth hormone).
Cue breakthroughs aplenty over the three days, especially in areas connected to communication. How you speak, how you listen, how you connect. Relationship turning points will abound, and you’ll find words that have long eluded you—especially in writing projects, marketing endeavors, group settings.
You also may make peace with people whom you never expected to talk to again.
Before we can wholly understand what repentance is, we’re instructed to name, out loud, the harm that we have caused. ― Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg
Confession: Libra has never been my favorite. Technically, I adore all things Venus, Libra’s ruling planet. But I’ve never liked this sign’s emphasis on the surface of things—prettiness rather than beauty, niceness rather than kindness, compromise rather than catharsis.
As a person with her moon in Libra, I know too well how this sign can make me indecisive, people-pleasing, even cold. But over the years I’ve come to see how Libra can be cool rather than cold; even rather than equivocating.
Consider VP Kamala Harris. Born with her sun in Libra and moon in Aries, she’s the reigning queen of this eclipse, with such a cool head and fiery gut that she may be the one American capable of rattling Donald Tramp in a debate. Pleasant and brilliantly unflappable, she prizes justice above everything else.
Today puts great wind on her back as she leads us into what very well could be a better tomorrow.
At the moment of commitment, the entire universe conspires to assist you—Goethe via Streisand’s memoir My Name is Barbra
So how can the rest of us make the most of this magic? By remembering that words are spells, and by reconsidering the energetic impact of what we say.
What stories do you tell about yourself and others? What deserves revision, even flat-out fact-checking? (A key word these days.) What needs to be said, and what would be better honored by silence? Fundamentally, is your self-expression helping or hurting?
For sure today will churn up intense emotions, so practice patience. Eclipse day has the physical impact of very high altitudes so drink a lot of water; avoid alcohol, rich foods, drugs, and strenuous activity; and emphasize diaphragmatic breathing. Those with cardinal signs prominent in their chart—Libra, Capricorn, Aries, Cancer—will be most affected.
But this double-Libra moment also heightens our ability to reserve final judgment until we know the whole story. It enables us to hear others out and understand opposing truths. It makes it easier to speak to the heart of every matter, and to extend and accept apologies.
The operative word is grace.
The veil is lifted right now, making it an ideal time to investigate your legacy and launch new endeavors with the support of your guides and ancestors. Book an intuitive reading for yourself or a loved one.
In the spirit of this moment, I am launching a new Substack. The Ruby Report will continue apace; next week, paid subscribers will receive a new metaphysical tool I’ve devised.
But this second newsletter will feature my strolls through NYC and more bucolic environs, strained through the second puberty that is midlife. Entitled The Flaneuzy, a portmanteau of flaneur and floozy, it will be free unless you prefer to listen to a Boston-accented audio version. Sign up now to receive the first post.
I bid you beautiful balance, and, if you celebrate, shana tova.
With waggling eyebrows and slow kitty blinks,
Shana Tova!