Integrating the Aries/Libra Eclipse Energies: Foundationing Relationships through Valuing Self and Accessing Personal Power

As the energy from the big eclipse on Sunday evening dissipates and the moon begins its waning cycle, we now have the opportunity to examine what information we’ve been given about this theme of self and partnership and how it has shown up in our lives.  Over the next two weeks we can identify and release old habits and patterns of relating.  

How can we integrate these two seemingly opposing ideas of self and relationship in our lives?  Since this eclipse series began in April 2014, what have you discovered about your relationship with yourself and how is that coming up in relationship?  Our relationships are mirrors. They serve to show us what needs work within ourselves.  What patterns within yourself have you noticed?

A key theme running parallel with this eclipse and supporting this energy is the theme of Venus retrograde which is ultimately about claiming your personal power.  This fits into the theme of the Aries-Libra eclipse because Aries is asking for each person to step into their personal power and honor self. By becoming aware of and accepting your less desirable aspects, or the shadow self, you honor your whole self.  This is the journey of Venus retrograde.  We all have these shadow aspects and they are necessary and valuable.  You cannot have the light of the sun without it casting a shadow, just like you cannot have creation without destruction.  The end result of confronting the shadow self is acknowledging the whole self and its innate value so that you can take responsibility for yourself and step fully into your own power.

If you are consciously creating, you can choose to step into your personal power or give it away with nearly every breath you take.  Every thought, every reaction, every interaction, every situation, and every communication throughout your day is an opportunity to choose to come from a place of personal power.

Where are you giving your power away?  There are many ways we give away our power.  If you find yourself saying something like “he/she made me feel”, that’s a clue that you’re giving away your power.  You’ve just acknowledged verbally that you relinquished your power by allowing your state of being to be determined by someone else; being in your power means taking responsibility for your emotions.  Taking personal responsibility emotionally sounds like, “when you did X, I felt Y”.  This also gives you a lot more freedom in the situation to choose your reality.  Allowing others or outside influences to determine your state of being is playing the role of the victim.

The victim mentality consistently gives up personal power by placing the responsibility elsewhere.  When the victim role or archetype is active then there is blame and it’s always “out there’;  it’s always the other person or the situation that is at fault for the victim’s experience.  Less than desirable experiences can and do happen to all of us, but in the end only you can be responsible for your emotions.  By taking responsibility, you reclaim your power and your freedom.  You are once again ruling your reality.  There are also a lot of habitual thinking patterns that erode your power by giving energy away.  Over-identifying with labels and allowing them to define you (such as a medical diagnosis), complaining, over-explaining, worrying, venting, ruminating, replaying conversations in your head, and gathering allies are all ways of giving away your power.  When you are overly attached to a specific outcome, you also give away your power, because once again you are allowing your state of being to be determined by something outside of you.

Being in your personal power is like being grounded firmly in the center of who you are, in your uniqueness, and consciously choosing to create each moment.  You may not have a choice about everything that comes into your life, but you work from the premise that you are always creating your own reality by being aware of your beliefs and choosing your thoughts which in turn affect your emotions and behavior.  In this way you are accountable and responsible for your own emotional state.  Because you’ve acknowledged those shadow parts buried deep within and have accepted them as a valid part of you, you’ve done the work that brings the awareness of patterns that may not serve the reality you want to create.  With this awareness comes a huge amount of personal power and it is the key to your freedom. With this new sense of self, and value of self, you now have the ability to be in tune with your needs.  You know that valuing yourself and honoring your needs is the only way you will have a foundation from which to offer value to others.  

Aries says the foundation is you, the self.  Aries says make sure the foundation is strong and true.  Aries says that there is a certain amount of “selfishness” that is necessary for your well-being and the well-being of your relationships. But actually rather than selfishness, it’s self-responsibility.  Aries says in order to be responsible for yourself you must know yourself and know your needs.  Aries says take positive action to meet your own needs consistently. Aries says you are the sovereign ruler of your own personal kingdom or queendom – all you have to do is step up and take your crown by taking responsibility for yourself.  This crown signifies your value of self and is a symbol of the power you’ve claimed.  You are standing in your center, in your truth, now, and from this place you rule your life, creating your reality.  You trust yourself and you know what is right for you and what is not and you speak and act accordingly.  You always come from a place of truth and speak your truth. 

Once you have honored the self and are coming from a place of valuing yourself fully, standing firmly in the center of your personal truth, you can then take that new way of being into your partnerships.  In this way, instead of having self and partnership battling against each other, you can successfully integrate the self into the relationship.  Rather than entering into relationship from a place of emotional dependency, expecting (most likely unconsciously) the other to fill a need for you, you are already whole.  Then when you enter relationship, you do it with healthy boundaries and the concept of interdependence, in the true Libran spirit of equal partnership, collaboration, and cooperation.    

This is the resolution of the Aries-Libra dilemma that has been brought up by this weekend’s eclipse.  Aries asks you to value yourself and take responsibility for yourself so that from that strong centered foundation you may enter into true partnership, which is Libra’s strongest desire.  

The question is, are you ready to step into your truth, take responsibility and claim your crown to rule your life like the King or Queen you truly are?  Now is the time to examine your shadows - have courage and take a good look at your patterns of relating with others and with yourself. Notice whether you value yourself or devalue yourself and see how you give away your power.  With your new awareness, you can acknowledge and release your old way of being, claim your rightful place ruling your life, and choose a new way being and relating.