This October can have us seeking solutions to problems that have long been lying below the surface, niggling at us for attention but issues that we preferred to avoid or deny. While resolution may be something we all seek, we could experience ourselves going through the whipsaws of emotions and actions. Old ways may no longer work. New techniques might seem at best skeptical. We might feel confused wondering which way to go especially as we see impediments in all directions.
October is a month when we seek a balance like the scales representative of Libra that influences the beginning of the month. During this month, we may find the scales swinging wildly between extremes until, or if, we find a balance point. Nature at this time of year shows the balance between warm, temperate days and cool, crisp nights. We have to seek the same for ourselves — a balance between our duality, a balance between the market psychology of greed and fear, a balance between the security of the known and the discomfort of unfamiliar variables.
We are at a crossroads in our life and in our manner of living. Old programs no longer work. New scenarios have not become clear.
During this extreme volatility, it is essential that we not fall prey to knee-jerk reactions nor take on a tunnel vision of seeing only what lies straight ahead of us. It is important, even essential, to draw upon our faith, even if we can only muster a blind faith. Having trust in the universe, working with peripheral vision and being receptive to asequential reality whereby things can virtually come out of the blue are important ingredients for us to successfully navigate the squalls and shoals of these times.
October starts off with one planet in a Fire Sign, two planets in Earth Signs, five planets in Air Signs and two planets in Water Signs. There are five planets in Cardinal Signs, two planets in Fixed Signs and three planets in Mutable Signs. Six planets are in Positive Signs, four planets are in Negative Signs.
The month begins with a great deal of Air, even a Stellium of three or more planets in the Cardinal Air Sign with the Sun, Moon, Mercury and Mars in Libra. People may be talking the talk but the lack of Fire would also indicate an inability to take a leadership position. Seeking accommodation and acceptance may be far more important than taking the lead. Certainly with an emphasis upon the Cardinal Signs with five planets and the Mutable Signs with three planets creating a T-Square by Sign; we can see a great deal of initiation only to bob and weave, changing our minds, seeking answers and looking at the past for solutions all the while wanting to make changes for our future. Talk about a two-step! We are likely to be taking one step forward, then two steps back, then two steps forward and one step back.
Not only do we have this indecisive dance going on, but we also are in the midst of Mercury retrograde until the 15th with its ‘shadow’ continuing through the end of the month. The potential for missteps, miscommunications, misunderstandings and gaffes cannot be underestimated. Whatever we have to say or do, it would be wise for us to check and recheck before, during and after in order to be certain that we have been clear and that our statements or our decisions are not open to misinterpretation.
Let’s keep in mind that we are under the influence of the Saturn Uranus opposition exact on the 4th of November that happens to be Election Day in the US, and an energy configuration with which we have to deal into mid-2010.
Old and new are likely to be in conflict and can only contribute to the whipsaws of these times. On the one hand, we are asked to look back at the old paradigm of sequential reality to see the steps that brought us to where we are. On the other hand, we have the opportunity of letting go, realizing that there are always alternatives and options, even those of which we are not aware. We are on the threshold of a major paradigm shift but like any threshold the crossing can be difficult and what we are crossing into can be foreign to our experience. Again, we need to draw upon trust, faith and a reconnection to the natural law whereby we see the process of growth and development through the involution, evolution and devolution phases. Know-it-alls have little place as scouts for threshold-crossings. On the contrary, we need to have our antennae up, our ears and eyes wide open to glean the clues along the scavenger hunt of the new day we are moving into.
In so doing, it would be wise neither to totally reject the past nor to subscribe to its patterns. It would be wise not to blindly accept the possibilities of new techniques and new patterns without testing their efficacy and viability for the future. In a sense this time frame and one that continues on into the mid part of 2010 asks us, may even demand, to create a suspension bridge, utilizing the best of the past as a means to cross the threshold chasm into our future.
The most effective way of working with the Saturn Uranus opposition is the intention of making fundamental changes, considering alternatives even if those alternatives seem unrealistic, even impossible and then focusing on the details and the specifics to create a best practices approach to bring the conceptual intention into practical manifestation. It may take times of testing, reworking and even blind faith, but if we accept our role as co-creators, accept a learning curve of the ways of the new paradigm, and adopt a sense of humility, then we can truly make it through the night into the dawn of a new day.
We start the month of October with Mars sextile Pluto. We can feel a sense of drive and determination to take a broader view, a wider perspective and consider the input of others by which we can emphasize quality in living. Our interests are likely to broaden and include people and situations foreign to us. By taking a wider perspective we can be less ensnared in the minutiae of the day-in, day-out, take a philosophical approach and see the larger picture.
On the 4th, Mars exits Libra where it is uncomfortable and enters its own Sign of Scorpio, which it co-rules with Pluto. We may feel a greater intensity, less impacted by the whims of others and more self-sufficient and self-reliant. With Mars and Venus both in Scorpio, our relationships can be passionate but the passions being the extremes of love or hate. This is a time when cutting to the core and stripping away the superfluous can give a sharp, caustic edge to our interactions with other people.
The 5th through the 7th can have the accordion of expansion and contraction operating, the whipsaws of these times. We may feel optimistic, confident and exuberant but with an enthusiasm that might not be realistic. Venus sextiles Jupiter on the 5th. On the 6th, Mercury conjuncts the Sun and they both square Jupiter. The 7th has Venus sextile Saturn. If we maintain a rein on our expenses and our commitments, then we are less likely to go overboard. But the tendency of the metronome going between extravagance and calculated expenditure can have us going back and forth. As the saying goes, let’s not count our chickens before they hatch. These times speak to an element of conservatism regarding our resources. Although we might be use to easy money, easy credit, and getting things when we want them with the assumption that we can pay down over time; let’s keep in mind the concept that if we dance to the music, we pay to the piper. And the piper may now be looking for immediate payment and no longer interested in keeping a tab.
The 10th – 11th offers some interesting, although possibly confusing, connections. Venus trines Uranus on the 10th, followed by Venus square Neptune on the 11th. Exciting contacts, serendipitous meetings can seem destiny driven but the question remains of whether such connections are brief encounters or far more meaningful or entanglements with a trickster, someone appearing one way, the reality being totally different. During these times of frenzied flux, it is essential that we keep our wits about us. It is important that we are not seduced by the Wizard of Oz screen but rather pull back the curtain and see whether the Wizard has substance or is merely some guy punching buttons. Appearance, reality, image, substance will be the challenge for our discernment.
The 14th has the Aries Full Moon and the inclination to prospects, possibilities, hoped-for realities, and magic wands to make everything all right. We could easily glide into a Netherland, a virtual reality that negates mundane reality and concentrates instead on the illusions of wish fulfillment. To some degree, we may feel the New Age mantram of easily attained ‘secrets’ whereby everything unfolds according to our plan, our projection, our perceived control. Such an attitude is a bizarre twist to the old paradigm. The old paradigm speaks to a concept of humankind being in control over the environment. And this magic wand of New Age belief continues the concept of humankind being in control over their reality, their destiny. Still control, still the egocentric, still out of touch with true reality. Not a new paradigm but rather the old paradigm in the haute couture of the twenty-first century.
Mercury ends its retrograde cycle and turns direct on the 15th. Whenever Mercury is stationary, either in process of turning retrograde or turning direct, the impacts of a dysfunctional Mercury can be turned up. Consequently, communications can be off, travel can be disrupted, and computers can go through their crashes. It is a time to slow things down in order to make sure that all particulars are considered and that no significant details are left out.
On the 18th, Venus exits Scorpio, a Sign in which it is uncomfortable and enters Sagittarius. If our relationships have suffered over the past three to four weeks due to our holding the bar too high for people from our grand expectations, our interactions can improve. We seem to have less of a chip on our shoulder and more interested in widening our social circle to include people from diverse backgrounds and different experiences. Even amidst the craziness of these times, we are now looking to walk on the sunny side of the street. We may find our interactions with other people to be uplifting, inspiring and helpful in avoiding our focus on being solely on the immediate and instead taking into account a longer view perspective.
The 21st has the Sun sextile Pluto just before the Sun exits Libra and enters Scorpio on the 22nd. Similar to nature itself when the leaves have fallen from the trees and the skeletal trunk, branches and limbs reveal the bare structure of the tree itself, we too may be looking at stripping away the veneer and truly looking at the bare bones of our situation and circumstance. Clear awareness is the first step in addressing problems and formulating their solutions.
The last week of the month has various energy configurations that can have us looking at the future with far more optimistic eyes. We may not be like the phoenix rising from its ashes, but we can stand in the midst of the turmoil and the cuttings away that have occurred and feel a sense of possible relief coming our way.
Mercury squares Jupiter on the 26th, followed by Mars sextile Jupiter. We can make our plans, even looking to stretch beyond our reach. But we also have the support and encouragement of other people to assist us in turning things around. It is always fascinating to see that when the going gets tough, people often rally around, come together and build anew from the ashes. Egocentric concerns drop away and a gathering of individuals works as one.
No matter how difficult things might seem, this last week of October offers an ability to clear the clutter away, clean up the debris and take action for our new tomorrows.
On the 28th, the Scorpio New Moon occurs and with it the influence of the Mars Jupiter sextile exact on the 27th, the Mars sextile Saturn exact on the 30th and a Mars Uranus trine on the 31st. Mercury also trines Neptune on the 30th, instilling us with intuitive insight and a sense of real possibilities. Spirit in action gives us the impetus to make things right, provides the detailed methodology for appropriate action, and offers us the ability to think outside the box and utilize innovative techniques to plant the seeds of our new future.
Out of the ashes of many yesterdays comes the promise of new days, brighter days through better ways.
October… amidst the chaos, clarity and purpose…
