Astrology for October 2022
October hears the echo of last December’s Saturn square Uranus. Although they don’t move close enough for the square to become exact this time, they carry the energy of returning to complete what was left unfinished – a repeating theme of this month. This applies on a global scale, but also individually – especially if we have something significant around these degrees of the fixed signs.
Pluto and Jupiter station direct this month; they slow right down and then change direction. It feels like the air is finally starting to clear and this summer’s energy of looking back over our shoulders begins to lessen. This is Pluto’s final retrograde before he slips into Aquarius next March, but in many ways it feels as though this retrograde has been his final hurrah of Capricornian power struggle. Gradually, the new energy of Aquarius starts to call us forward as a light at the end of this long dark tunnel. There have been many positives during the Lord of the Underworld’s passage through controlling Capricorn, but the more free-spirited nature of Aquarius will arrive as a very welcome relief.
This sense of dense fog slowly starting to clear is reinforced by Saturn stationing direct on 23rd and Jupiter on 27th. They will take a while to clear their shadow periods, but there is still a feeling of tentative forward movement. Tentative because Mars begins his retrograde phase right at the end of the month, and Mars represents our energy and our ability to move ahead. He will retrograde through Mercury-ruled Gemini, which could feel as though we are having to fight old battles again, we can’t get our point across to others – and what’s more we don’t have the energy to do it. People are more likely to misunderstand what we say, or withhold information to their own advantage, and so we have to choose which battles we have the energy for.
The Full Moon is on 9th in Aries, a really intense energy for those who are Moon sensitive, which all too often brings restlessness and disturbed sleep because Aries calls us to action. We can use the retrograde energy of the month to look back on current goals and intentions, also to assess what influences have delayed or blocked their realisation. As the Sun is currently moving through Libra, aligning with the this Full Moon, this gifts us with Aries energy to achieve inner harmony, to achieve balance in our relationships, but beware the rashness that so often accompanies Aries, that’s not a good energy to combine with our emotions.
The Sun begins her annual journey through Virgo on 23rd, another Mercury-ruled sign. Hmm a lot of emphasis on Mercury communication this month. So, it feels really important not to get mired in Virgoan judgements and criticism, whether we are on the giving or the receiving end of this destructive energy. Better use of this energy would be to consciously focus on our soul’s desires rather than our head’s. Using the Sun’s energy to focus on the positive sides of Virgo, the archetype of the goddess of the harvest can gift us with of a boost to our confidence, a sense of empowerment, the ability to see the bounty that our hard work has brought and how that can best be used in service for others and the greater good.
The New Moon – and partial solar eclipse – falls in Scorpio on 25th, just 2 days after the Sun and relationship-oriented Venus move into Scorpio, and Saturn slows right down to turn direct. Eclipses are unstable times, bringing the kind of change that looks inevitable with the gift of hindsight, but at the time just seems plain scary. They present us with a challenge, get out of your rut willingly, or get unceremoniously kicked out it. When we are facing the intensity of Scorpionic focus on our shadow sides, we are being given the perfect environment to acknowledge, accept and then heal those sides of ourselves that we would prefer to keep hidden. This can be a place that makes us feel vulnerable, but also carries the potential for real transformation if we approach it with compassion and kindness.
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