Autumnal Equinox 2026
Justice by Brando
Before we get into this Autumnal Equinox chart that heralds Libra season, here’s me once again playing Flava Flav to my inner Chuck D:
Saturday, October 3, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Venus Retrograde: A Heroine’s Journey from Love Goddess to Warrior Queen
Register HERE
The Autumnal Equinox 2026 occurs on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, at 7:05 pm CST. In Western Tropical Astrology, Libra season begins at the Autumnal Equinox, when the Sun has seemingly descended back to the equator from its northernmost position at the Tropic of Cancer at the time of the Summer Solstice. Spoiler alert! It’s actually the Earth’s tilting motion that causes the Sun to appear to move north and south and back north and then south again in the sky throughout the seasons. At both the Vernal Equinox (which ushers in Aries season) and the Autumnal Equinox (which ushers in Libra season) we have a period of time of roughly equal day and night due to the Earth’s positioning on its axis. Pretty cool, hunh? Aren’t we so blessed to be inhabitants of this magical Earth?
At the Autumnal Equinox we’re also heading into the darker half of the year, where the daylight hours will grow shorter than the nighttime hours, until the return of the light at Capricorn season on the Winter Solstice. At that time, the moments of daylight slowly start to increase, until they are roughly equal again at the Vernal Equinox. In Greek mythology, the Autumnal Equinox is also the time that Persephone leaves her mother Demeter here on Earth and returns to her husband Hades, and her role as Queen of the Underworld - thus marking the end of the growing season on Earth. Persephone returns to her mother Demeter again at the Vernal Equinox, at which time Demeter allows the Earth to become fertile once again. To honor our Earth’s balance of day and night at the Autumnal Equinox, as well as the entrance into the more fallow time of the year, we can use the quality of time to attempt to slow down and bring balance into our own lives at this time. Sounds good to me - bring on the slow down!
The astrology of this year’s Autumnal Equinox has a dark goddess intensity to it, calling to mind the Hindu goddess Durga - one of my faves.
Hindu goddess Durga
In this year’s Autumnal Equinox chart, let’s start by looking at the Sun at 00°00” Libra, who is once again activating the outer planet talent triangle, applying to oppose Neptune at 03°05’ Aries, and applying to trine both Pluto at 03°11’ Aquarius and Uranus at 05°38’ Gemini.
How can we use the energy of the small talent triangle to purposely create a more balanced and harmonious life for ourselves and those around us? With the energy of Libra, we have Cardinal Air - an initiatory energy, a proactive impulse toward bringing beauty and harmony into the world. If we conjure up the image of Lady Justice, we see that she is blindfolded and carrying a scales - but more importantly - she also carries the sword of discernment and enforcement. Hindu goddess Durga also carries a sword, which for her symbolizes wisdom, clarity, and detachment from illusion. Durga’s sword is used to cut away anything that takes the Seeker away from their true spiritual nature. I like both of these images for this particular Autumnal Equinox chart, but I liken the image of Lady Justice specifically to the sign of Libra. Libra is not only the impartial weighing of options, it is also enforcing the changes that need to be made to bring harmony and beauty into the world. With the energy of Libra, there is a concern with composition, and so this enforcement may be put together in a way that is maneuvering and charming, so that we may not even notice the possible ouchy swordiness of the enforcement. At this Autumnal Equinox, let’s contemplate some ideas that these two powerful feminine figures represent:
How can we purposely and creatively use our own figurative swords of enforcement to compose more balance and harmony in our lives?
How can we use Durga’s sword of clarity and detachment from illusion to cut away anything that takes us away from our higher Self?
Now let’s look to Libra’s ruler Venus in this Autumnal Equinox chart. Venus is at 06°34’ Scorpio, moving verrrrry slowly, preparing for her station retrograde at 08°29’ on October 3rd. Venus in Scorpio is one of my favorite placements - as one of my teachers Carol Ferris says, “Venus in Scorpio knows her own mind”.
Some Venus concerns include:
love
relationship
art & artists
romance
values
money
pleasure
self-worth
beauty
creativity
Venus is concerned with these themes, no matter what sign she is in. But in Scorpio there is an edge to Venus that I find particularly charming. Venus in Scorpio will, like any Venus, work to be in relationship, but in order to be in relationship, Venus in Scorpio needs to get down to the real nitty gritty of any relationship dynamic. She will not simply go along to get along, or overlook questionable behavior out of fear of losing the relationship. Venus in Scorpio is sensitive and intuitive, but it is the sensitivity that is strong enough to be vulnerable, knowing that true intimacy requires vulnerability. Venus in Scorpio is acutely aware that both wounding and growth can occur right at the razor’s edge of instinct and vulnerability.
For a good example of an artist with Venus in Scorpio, you can explore the artwork of Marina Abramovic. With her work, you will get a good idea of how this Scorpionic Venus can be both confronting and vulnerable in her creative expression. Thank you to my teacher Dr. Safron Rossi for introducing me to this compelling artist!
If you are as charmed by this Scorpionic Venus as I am, be sure to register for the upcoming Venus Retrograde event at Harvest Preserve, where we will do a deep dive into Venus’s journey back and forth through Scorpio and Libra during this retrograde cycle, AND identify which area of life this badass energy will show up for you in your personal horoscope!
Venus in Scorpio in this Autumnal equinox chart is also activating the same outer planet small talent triangle that the Sun is activating, but in a more challenging way, that suggests adjustments may be necessary to work with these powerful energies. Venus is separating from a quincunx to both Uranus and Neptune, forming a yod aspect pattern, and she is also separating from a square to Pluto.
Let’s start with that square. Who doesn’t love a good Venus square Pluto? As Caroline Casey once said to me regarding Venus square Pluto, “anything you can figure out, let me know, because it’s a conundrum.” So let’s give it a shot here: with Pluto, we have the probing intensity, and with relational Venus, that intensity can show up somehow in our expression of Venus - in the way that we relate to others, or to beauty, art, creativity, pleasure, or money. Some examples of this could be:
Shaking people out of their delusions with some Real Talk around Venusian themes
A willingness to face uncomfortable truths with regard to Venusian themes
Making space for intense or painful conversations to happen around Venusian themes
Rubbing some folks the wrong way by coming on too strong - creatively, relationally, financially or romantically
Can we hear an echo here? This Venus-Pluto square sounds similar to Venus in Scorpio, as Scorpio has a Plutonian feel to it - that willingness to look under the hood and witness the mucky mess, to dig deep to get to the sensitive issues that need to be brought into the light to be washed cleaned and healed. Scorpio’s water energy is like the water that irrigates the wound to prevent infection - nothing else can clean so thoroughly or effectively, but it’s likely gonna take some time and work. And it’s definitely gonna be uncomfortable - possibly stinging a bit in the process. If we translate that idea to these current energies, it may be that some deep cleaning of some Venusian expression in our lives is in order - our romantic relationships, sure, but also our many other one to one relationships, our finances, our self-worth, our creative endeavors, or our experience of beauty or pleasure.
Venus is moving slowly through Scorpio at this Autumnal Equinox, preparing for her upcoming retrograde journey. This slow-moving Venus in Scorpio could indicate a need to dig deep into our relationships, finances, self-worth, or creative expression. There may be a need to be willing to witness the less pleasant (possibly horrific) parts of our Venus expression, but in a loving way that understands that life is messy for all of us. This can be done with the aim of bringing those issues to light, to be dealt with, so that we can bring some more balance to ourselves and these facets of our life. While love and relationship seems like it should be all light comfort and pleasantness (we’ve been sold a lie, people!), it’s actually much more complex than all that. To love means to be willing to address the less pleasant aspects of life and relationship, which takes tremendous courage and vulnerability. Which, let’s face it - it’s terrifying! But Venus in Scorpio is here to show us the way, with her intense friend Pluto in objective Aquarius giving us a helpful nudge from the underworld. “Nothing personal!” Pluto seems to say as she drags us down into the muck.
And now on to the yod aspect pattern that Venus, Uranus and Neptune are forming in this Autumnal Equinox chart. We’ve discussed the yod formation before in prior posts, so we’ll just touch on it briefly here. As Karen Hamaker-Zondag teaches us (Hamaker-Zondag, Karen. The Yod Book: Including a Complete Discussion of Unaspected Planets. Red Wheel Weiser, 2000), the energy of the yod is restless - the planets influence each other in irritating ways, as they are all in different elements (Fire, Earth, Air or Water) and modalities (Cardinal, Fixed or Mutable), and they don’t fully comprehend one another’s expression of the planetary energies. However, if we as humans learn to handle the discrepant energies, accept the inevitable unrest in ourselves and in the world, remain flexible (even when things go wrong, as things going wrong can sometimes be a blessing in disguise), and be courageous enough to live our own lives while keeping our minds open, there is a great deal of creative potential in the energy of the yod.
It is as if Venus in Scorpio is doing the intense work, paving the way for us to shine forth with the Sun through this creative potential at this Autumnal Equinox. So, let’s ask ourselves:
How can we take this creative potential that is being afforded us, seemingly on the heels of our digging deep into these Venusian themes of relationship, finances, self-worth, beauty, and creative expression?
Another planetary aspect occurring in this Autumnal Equinox chart is tied into the idea behind one of the purposes of Durga’s curved sword:
Mercury at 19°28’ Libra separating from a sextile to Jupiter at 18°07’ Leo:
This aspect has the energy of the Seeker looking for opportunities to connect with their higher Self through wisdom, clarity, and detachment from illusion. The sextile between these two planets give us an opportunity to learn something meaningful, whether through conversation, reading, writing, or mindfulness. If you sense an opportunity to create meaning in your life through expanding your breadth of experience or knowledge somehow, go for it! It’s a great time to be curious about new experiences that bring you joy and meaning. Since the Moon at 15°43’ Aquarius is applying to oppose that Jupiter in Leo, it may be an emotion or an intuitive sense of things that sparks said opportunity, so pay attention to your emotions and intuition, and what they may be trying to share with you.
Slowing down and bringing balance to our lives seems to be a never-ending pursuit, but it’s worth utilizing this quality of time of equal light and dark at the beginning of the darker half of the year to lean into that attempt, knowing that we are supported by Mother Earth herself as our role model in this endeavor.
Happy Equinox! May your Autumn be full of creative potential, joy, beauty, meaning, and healing connection, born of a willingness to face uncomfortable truths and the subsequent utilization of your own personal sword of discernment and enforcement.