October is usually the time of year we see leaves falling from trees, days getting shorter, and our minds are on romance and partnerships. This is because the Sun is now visiting the objective sign of Libra. This sign is concerned with finding balance in another person; this is why Libra is the marriage sign in astrology. The ruler or planet associated with Libra is Venus, the goddess of love & romance. In October Venus will be going retrograde for six weeks. Venus retrograde is not a negative energy if all is going well in your world and with your current partnerships, however, if that is not the case, then Venus retrograde demands looking at life through the magnifying glass to see what is not working and needs improvement.
Beginning on October 5th, Venus starts her reversal cycle in Scorpio. Venus moves backward in Scorpio until October 31st, then backwards into Libra until November 16th. During this period we may find ourselves needing more personal space and privacy in our relationships. If you’ve been feeling like you’re being smothered in love, you’ll welcome this change of direction. Whether you’ve been the clinger or the clingee, this is a period of detaching from the clinging vines and finding your own self again. Also during this retrograde we may find ourselves reminiscing about the one that got away or a passionate relationship from the past. We astrologers strongly advise not buying any large expensive luxurious items during a Venus retrograde if you can help it.
This month’s New Moon in Libra on October 8th is a bit of a paradox. On the one hand, when the Sun and Moon rendezvous in this Venus-ruled sign, it feels like the beginning of a beautiful relationship. But on the other hand, in the northern hemisphere, Libra is the sign of the fall equinox—and after that brief moment of equal light and darkness, everything seems to start winding down. This duality is part of every new moon, but in Libra, we’re likely to feel the tension even more. That’s because learning to embrace life’s contradictions is one of this sign’s greatest lessons. Furthermore, with this New Moon’s ruler, Venus, in retrograde motion, this can add another level of uncertainty to new potential partnerships. There are also a few unstable aspects to this lunation.
The first is a tight square between Venus and Mars, the tension between romantic relationships, and the battle between what we desire and how much we are willing to work to have it. The second major message is between the Libra New Moon and Neptune in Pisces forming an inconjunct, which represents connecting in an uncomfortable way. It is an aspect of adjustment. Neptune opens the door to the realm of spirit, creativity of imagination, and the vibration of unconditional love. The New Moon in Libra is concerned with the human element of personal relationships, fairness and justice, and the human qualities of kindness, beauty and appreciation of art.
Libra is all about infusing our lives with relationship knowledge including how another person thinks and feels and wants to be treated. This lunation is asking us to bring compassion and love to relationships including compassion for ourselves especially if there is a gap between where and someone else. The main task is to equilibrate ourselves and to bring more harmony in our lives and in our relationships. In order to obtain relationship harmony, each of us needs first to have inner harmony.
On October 9th the planet of reason, Mercury, moves into the keenly perceptive sign of Scorpio; you can bet that knowledge will pour in through your skin as if by osmosis. You can become so absorbed in your mental comprehensions that the earth could fly out of its orbit and you would miss the event. Mercury in the intense water sign of Scorpio brings a period of deep and profound thought…moving from the thrill of sexual excitement to the enlightenment of spirit. We are perceptive and aware. Not that we’ll tell anyone else about what we discover, though! Our thoughts are infused with such deep emotion that it can become just too painful to share our insights with anyone else.
The Scorpio theme continues on October 23rd when the Sun moves through Scorpio and we begin to feel a deep sense of strength. We become more secretive and intense about things. We know what we want and we’re going after it! As a water sign, Scorpio is associated with the subconscious. Scorpio’s energy is as powerful and mysterious as the oceans. They cover most of the earth, yet we know little about what lies in the depths below. The intensity of Scorpio is like that of Hurricane hitting the shore line. Massive amounts of water are on the move and nothing was going to stop it. Scorpio is also a fixed sign, which means it is resistant to change. It holds things in and balks at giving up its old ways of doing things. But when the dam breaks, it really breaks. Contemplate these things while the Sun is in Scorpio.
This month’s Full Moon on October 24th falls into the easy-going sign of Taurus. The Full Moon in Taurus occurs when the Sun is in Scorpio, around mid-autumn. The Sun in Scorpio is intricate, while the Moon in Taurus is simplistic. This creates a great counterbalance in energy, taking out the complicated and mysteries energies that are at play during this time. A Taurus Full Moon is a great reminder that by paying attention to our senses — what we can touch, taste, smell, and feel — we can ground ourselves and make life simple again. When the Full Moon is in Taurus it is a good time to get clear about what we want and don’t want in our lives.
We’ll become more decisive on October 30th when Mercury moves into fiery Sagittarius. There’s no beating around the bush with this transit as the God of messages enters the sign of wisdom and philosophy, we all start thinking a little broader and smarter. Words will fly as Mercury’s winged feet combine with the prancing hooves of Sagittarius. For the next couple of weeks, refrains of “it’s the principle of the thing” will surely echo throughout the mountain tops. Just don’t shoot yourself in the foot over it.
Psychic Astrologer
Joseph P. Anthony
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