Dateblog: October 2012

I have this continuing conviction that there must be a decently easy way to give you a broad-stroke idea of what the astrological month ahead is sort of, kind of, generally about.

So in line with this ingrained bit of mental stubbornness, I zeroed in on October 2012 and gave Powerpoint a try.

(This is after Excel failed quasi-miserably.)

And here's the result. (You'll have to let me know how you like it - but I think it's downright half decent!) 

October 2012

Yes, I know...this is only the Sun through Saturn. So maybe you're wondering what happened to the other planets? Well, they're still there (out in the solar system I mean)...but if I had squished them into the above, you wouldn't have been able to read any of it.

Compromises must be made.

So we'll just talk (type) the other three best known astro-objects though. Uranus and Neptune remain in retrograde all month. Uranus is in Aries and Neptune is in Pisces. Meanwhile, back at the ranch in Capricorn, Pluto continues riding after Facies, determined to run that nebula down.

(Yes, Pluto is a cowboy in this scenario.)

This idea of only drawing a chart as far as Saturn is rather quaint in a sense...after all, Saturn is as far as we can see from here on Earth using our own wee naked eyes.

 A wonderful panoramic photo (covering about 230 degrees) of ESA's

Very Large Telescope (the VLT) taken by ESO Photo Ambassador

 Gerhard Hudeophl with Moon and Jupiter (June 2011). A lot of our night

 skies are 'polluted' by the lights of the cities we live in, which is one of the

 things which makes an installation like the VLA so wonderful. Built at high

 altitudes here and there around our globe, such installations literally extend

 the scope of what we can see...in essence, taking us back hundreds of years

 to a time when people could walk outside and see far more of the night sky

 than we can today.

As we start into October, three planets (Sun, Mercury and Saturn) are in Libra. As soon as I say that I’ll add that it’s also worth noting the fact that Saturn is just about to change signs. That means it’s in Libra's most "urgent" degree (29 Libra) as the month begins. Libra being about trying to get 'results' by using our ability to interact, connect or relate (or get others to relate to you), this is a signal all about things reaching 'fever pitch.'

This alludes to breakthroughs - literal or figurative. They may be part and parcel of what you’re doing...then again, this may be the moment when you begin to do something which turns out to be your ‘breakthrough.’

Or maybe you’ll just come to recognize why Attitude-or-Method ‘A’ works...and why Attitude-or-Method ‘B’ doesn’t work so very well.

With Jupiter in Gemini, we also are given to understand that things - particular thoughts and words – may be evocative, provocative or missing a few spoonfuls of understanding (as we’ve seen - to the max! - during September). With Jupiter moving into its station on October 2nd and going retrograde on the 4th (with the station extending on through October 6th) we know from that combination of strong Jupiter and Saturn influences that things are about to change. They need to change. This isn’t a peaceful moment, but this is a moment where things of import may well get done. Saturn and Jupiter have long been tied to the rise and fall of nations, rulers, religions and marriages. So any time we see both Saturn and Jupiter making any sort of ‘change’ within a close span of time, we know something is afoot.

Or can be.

As Jupiter enters its station and goes retrograde, some will face the music, some will realize they should have been practicing harder...and some will recognize they have definite musical ability. With so much Libra 'flavor' in the mix, the issue of how we connect with others and who we connect with is telling. Are you connecting (or connected) to the right folks? There will be a lot of ‘blaming’ going on and much ‘excuse making,’ but the truth is that people who haven’t toed the line know they haven’t toed the line, no matter what they say.

Meanwhile, with Mars moving through the end of its Scorpio transit, much intensity hangs in the air. There’s much lingering desire to try to get what we want out of situations and frustration where that just isn’t happening. But let's remember: Scorpio is about the ability to lead through finding solutions which work for everybody. Where nobody can get 100% of what they want, compromise should be equal on all sides, and where it isn't, those trying to 'hog' the lion's share are going to look craven, stubborn, selfish and in general, not very likable.

Venus moving into Virgo just as Jupiter hits its station tells us that workable solutions can be found, but that they aren’t likely to be all that super-comfortable. With Mars just at the tail end of Scorpio some of us will flinch as we realize how we got ourselves into our current situation. That’s not to despair about – it’s to learn from.

And don’t worry...there’s plenty of Scorpio around to practice-makes-perfect with!

Speaking of which, come October 5th, both Mercury and Saturn move into Scorpio. Things get serious – and seriously real. For some, this will be a moment of getting much done. For others, this changes their opinions of things...and people...in a very lasting sort of way. For those who are launching or building something new in life, once Mars enters Sagittarius on the 7th the tone lightens and everything moves into a ‘let’s try a new tact’ sort of mode. But still...things are altogether real, and those who don’t do well with reality (you know them – the ‘rose colored glasses’ crowd?) – they’re likely to be fluttering and bubbling.

This is the essence of all between October 7 through October 21 - with a few notes. The first handful of same would refer to the fact that we’re likely to see some inexplicable choices, statements and behaviors around the 10th (as asteroid Lilith goes direct) added to which will be the need to deal with odd combinations of inspiration and uncertainty about what ‘lies ahead’ as Saturn perfects a trine to Neptune on October 11th with all of this falling between the approximate October 10-15 (or 16) dappling of sparks and qualms prompted by the Orionid meteor shower....amidst which occurs a New Moon in Libra. Occurring on the 15th, this New Moon opens a (lunar) month-long period which favor things like communications, making connections, issuing apologies, presentations of work or ideas, meeting new people and getting advice, instruction or information on how to proceed.

 A stained glass rendition of Scorpio's emblem found in the

Gothic-style Cathedral of Lausanne (Switzerland) built between

the years of 1170 CE and 1240 CE.

  

EXCEPT FOR....the South Node (the easy and comfortable way to do things) will conjuncts Algol at the New Moon. So while one part of the world is trying to make things better, another part of the world is going to be perfectly content to sit there acting smugly satisfied.

The second half of October is greatly colored (astrologically) by two events.

The first involves asteroid Vesta (everything you ever wanted to know about making and keeping promises) going retrograde on October 22nd just before the Libra Ingress (otherwise known as the Sun entering Libra). That means that as Vesta does this turnaround, the Sun (life) is at a point which is (or feels) very critical. Or critique-laden.
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 Vesta as photographed by NASA (March 2011)

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If you know the old expression ‘be careful of what you ask for, you just might get it..’ the days between October 20th and 25th are going to be loaded with incidents and encounters which tweak this into ‘be careful of making promises – and the promises you have made.’ For some this is about what it takes to keep those promises, for others what arises now is the understanding that maybe you need to NOT make those promises...and for still others, the cost of promises made and broken begins to hit home.

The Sun entering Scorpio on the 22nd modifies the ongoing sense of ‘hard reality’ to some extent as well. Accepting responsibility for what we have or haven't done is hard to do but necessary as those who won't (or haven't) accepted what life's realities are and what those realities dictate as needs (responsibilities) are likely to make life harder for themselves.

And the rest of us too, yes.

If you were thinking you can get away with being an island, that isn't likely to work.

 Silhouette Island in the Seychelles by Hansueli Krapf (June 2006)

Yes, it's picturesque as all get-out, but it's just not likely to work!

But granted...for many, a Scorpio Saturn/Mercury meetup will elicit the temptation to just go your own way and not deal with anyone. Saturn can always represent isolation, and in conjunction with Mercury that isolation can be mental (as in my way or the highway) or it can be isolating the problem to misunderstandings or the need to establish common ground and/or mutually satisfactory agreements. Some people will always manifest Saturn/Mercury combinations as the tendency to go it alone or (in Scorpio) ignore the needs, desires or even the rights of others. And some will simply throw up walls, staging resistance in the name of the very sort of righteous refusal which at some level tells you they're afraid to listen to anyone else.

Scorpio - like all fixed signs - asks us to risk. Unlike Leo, which risks mostly for attention or popularity...and unlike Aquarius, which is forced to risk in order to remain viable...Scorpio asks that we risk that which is to any person most dear: our feelings of security and self worth, often by going through a revolution of outlook which leads to an evolutionary renovation of our life.

With Jupiter going into (and being) in a Gemini retrograde, the optimal is to think through what we're doing and to think over what we've done. Our choices have led us to where we are and we may need to make different choices in order to improve life going forward. Those willing to make the changes now will be ahead of the eclipse curve going into November. Given that the upcoming solar eclipse is in a third decanate position (a degree between 20 and 29 of a given sign) we know that we will either change - or be changed - going forward.

Working towards change gives us control.

Working against having to make changes is very Scorpio-fixed-sign-like, but that only guarantees that life will foist changes upon you.

So which will you choose? We'll have to see. 

The last October noodle involves Venus entering Libra on the 28th and Mercury entering Sagittarius on the 29th in conjunction with a Full Moon at 6 Taurus – a whole little nest of questions about haste making waste and what we owe others, what they owe us and whether our relationships are functionally equal (read: worth our time and efforts). Combined with everything else, this would seem to make the whole last half of October about whether we want to make any general course corrections with regards to how we're steering our lives. Making changes may well be not just apt but needed particularly in the sense that next month (November) is a month of eclipses. That makes October prime 'shudder territory' where life tries to point out what needs revamping, whether or not we take the hint.

(And yes, all that shuddering does fit the monthly theme if you're celebrating Halloween!)

 A lit Jack-o'-lantern glows menacingly into the night....

(photo credit huk flicker, October 2009)

And that's it for the October overview. As usual, a couple of days prior to all these events (and a few others which though interesting, didn't make it into the headlines) blogs going into nuances pro and con including tips and tricks for making the best of each dynamic will be posted here at the blog.

So until then...a happy, healthy October to you and yours!

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