In the October 16 New Moon chart, Mars, the god of war, squares Sun, Moon and Mercury in peace-loving Libra.  We knew this already – such are the obvious ingredients launching the current moon cycle.  What we finally cook from them is really up to us.  And we won’t all be cooking the same dish – as in that show “The Iron Chef,” where two master chefs are challenged to cook an exquisite meal using the same surprise ingredient – squid, cherimoya, or in our case, Mars.  This cycle’s cook-off may begin in a difficult moment:  when we feel separate, attacked, anxious to fight or shut down.  Mars rushes in just after the discovery we’ve been vulnerable, after we’ve been hurt.  We can go to war then.  Or we could try cooking some new kind of peace.

Obviously this is a hot global issue, but the real work of global change comes more personally. Trines to the Libra planets from the North Node and Uranus, plus a sextile from Chiron in the New Moon chart shimmer with the possibility of meeting ingenious solutions, of going where we haven’t gone before, of discovering a new talent that brings healing. Libra says the world is a house of mirrors; it wants every view to be beautiful. Retrograde Mercury advises we watch for the coyote trickster at play in the mind field.  The answers we have for everyone else might just be the ones we aren’t prepared to enact ourselves. 

And what a shame if we miss this Libra opportunity for balance and grace!  Let’s put ourselves on tactical alert – noting all those moments we find ourselves at war – with our loved ones, the traffic, our kitchen toaster, the world.  At that very moment, let’s try a Libran remedy and shift focus into our opponent’s view.  Instead of defending ourselves, let’s see ourselves from their eyes.  Can we see that we’re not looking at an enemy but into a mirror?
I think of two images I’ve recently seen:  The first was of a tear-stained woman holding a photo of her husband lost in the World Trade Center.  It was followed by a picture of an Afghani woman in a burkha; surrounded by her children, holding a photo of her missing husband.  The eyes of both women held the same panic and pain. 

Michael, a frequent contributor to our Talking Circle, recently wrote me:  "I read somewhere that we sing about what we need most.  The Hopi sing for rain, while 90% of our pop culture sings for love."  The Libra cycle might especially remind us how much we want to receive love.  Sages in all cultures have said that love is limitless and the easiest way to get it is to give it away.  This may be the best Libra recipe of all.