Astrology for October Part 2 ~ Dark Hours

Happy Halloween and Happy Samhain!

Before diving into part two of October’s Astrological happenings, I'll take a step back to consider the background canvas against which these temporal events are occurring.

The big one is Uranus square Pluto and the themes this represents are playing out dramatically in the world, as anyone who follows current affairs will know.

Uranus in Aries square Pluto in Capricorn symbolises rebellious impulses; hot-headed behavior; sudden and shocking events; anti-establishment feelings; the demand for freedom and respect; issues of control and responsibility; spontaneous uprisings; collective and individual crisis on any level. A serious questioning of power structures and authority is indicated.

Deep and radical changes are occurring in our world at large and in our own personal lives. Do we embrace the radical and disruptive changes we face or do we use our energy to try to hold back the change and maintain the status quo? My personal feeling is that while change can be scary and difficult and while it often involves painful losses, we cause ourselves more suffering in the long run by resisting the inevitable. By making a conscious choice to let go of the past, to concede where we have no control and embrace the future, we place ourselves in a better position to welcome change that is positive, freeing and less traumatic than the alternative. There is one thing that is certain and that is the unpredictability of the future over the next few years. Instead of adding up your losses, count your blessings, stay strong, and be true to your heart. To paraphrase the old saying, be the change you want to see in the world.

As I discussed in Part 1, mid October marks the beginning of a new Sun-Saturn cycle, with Sun Conjunct Saturn in Libra. The two conjoin roughly once a year and mark a time for setting clear, achievable goals for the year ahead. The starting point for setting those goals should  be where you are right now. This is not about pipe dreams, it’s about taking responsibility for your future and setting for yourself some boundaries of normalcy, even as the world goes crazy around you.

October 14 to 17: Venus and Mercury in Scorpio oppose Jupiter in Taurus

This planetary pattern (Venus with Jupiter on the 14^th and Mercury with Jupiter on the 17^th) invites us to be expansive, extravagant, adventurous and broadminded. This could be tempting, but rather than overindulging and overspending, your time would be better spent thinking about your spending. Are you spending within your means? Are you spending too much to please others and is it resources? Of course, it’s not all about the money, this alignment can also bring a generous dose of passion into your life. Are you ready? As if that’s not enough, secrets could be revealed on or around the 17^th!

October 21: Sun trine Neptune

OK, so have things been getting a bit too real for you lately? Well, just in time for the weekend, Sun trine Neptune is perfect for allowing yourself a little bit of escapism. Pile on the glamour and hit the town with your friends, indulge in a romantic evening with your lover or lose yourself in something creative, poetic or artistic. Enjoy it while it lasts because this Sun-Neptune energy comes with a slight warning not to overindulge or mix fantasy with reality. If you do, you could find yourself headed back down to earth with a bump on Monday morning!

October 23: Sun into Scorpio

Happy birthday to all you lovely Scorpios out there.

Scorpio is one of the emotional water signs. In Pisces water runs freely, but is at risk of becoming tainted because it flows indiscriminately. In Cancer water is contained and used resourcefully, but is at risk of becoming stagnant if held for too long. In Scorpio, water is held in solid form, as ice. As such, it is not easily accessible, but once thawed, is pure and crystal clear. So, while Scorpio is a cool customer, he holds the power to transform that which is dark and dirty into that which is cleansing and healing. Read more….

Click for some wonderfully insightful quotes from some very famous Scorpios. Here are a couple to whet your appetite:

Do you seriously expect me to be the first Prince of Wales in history not to have a mistress?
Prince Charles, Sun in Scorpio, Moon in Taurus

The thing women have yet to learn is nobody gives you power. You just take it.

Roseanne Barr, Sun in Scorpio, Moon in Gemini

October 26: New Moon in Scorpio

The New Moon is the darkest time of the lunar cycle, when Lady Luna disappears from our sky. Of course this is merely an illusion, she is there we just can’t see her. This reminds me of Scorpio’s ruler Pluto who, in mythology, must wear a helmet of invisibility whenever he surfaces from the Underworld. Unseen he does his work, so that when we finally see the results of his actions, they arrive in the form of dramatic changes that we come to realise were always inevitable. Scorpio operates in a similar way and its realm is our deepest emotions. Scorpio invites us to scour the hidden depths of our feelings, often taking us to places we would normally shy away from, especially during the dark Scorpio Moon. When the Moon starts to wax back into the light, it can show us our deepest and the darkest emotional detritus, offering it up for cleansing and healing. The medicine might taste bitter, but we'll know it’s good for us.

This New Moon opposes Jupiter in Taurus and sextiles Pluto, picking up on the ongoing Jupiter-Pluto trines (see below for more)...

October 28: Jupiter trine Pluto

This is the second of three trines between Jupiter in Taurus and Pluto in Capricorn. The first was in July this year and the final one will be in May next year.

This planetary combination can bring optimism or all too easily its opposite, pessimism. At best, this alignment can bring inspiration and a powerful affirmation of self belief. On the world stage, it is has been reflected in the excessive faith and optimism our governments have placed in the concept of future economic growth. We can now see that this ‘let’s get back to business as usual’ approach hasn’t worked and we are headed towards a worse financial crisis than the previous. Individually and as a collective, we need to transform our old beliefs and put our faith in something new because we can’t simply carry on as we have been doing. As this alignment connects to the Scorpio New Moon, it’s time to ask if our old desires still serve us, or do we need to fundamentally change our approach. When our goals are more fully aligned with what we truly need in the here and now, then perhaps we can better embrace our future, wherever that may take us.

October 29: Sun opposite Jupiter and sextile Pluto

The Sun makes its exact alignment with the ongoing Jupiter Pluto trines. See above for details.

October 31: Venus square Neptune

This alignment invokes a yearning for bliss which often manifests as a desire for escapism and a retreat into fantasy. We want to feel at one with others, so these energies tend to be projected onto our closest relationships. We want things to be ideal and are tempted to slip on rose tinted spectacles. Enjoy it while it lasts, but remember that you would quickly get bored with your perfect knight (or princess). If you think about it, It’s the flaws and quirks that make our close ones interesting and loveable.

Summary of October's Astrology:

October 2: Mars square Jupiter
October 6: Mercury conjunct Saturn
October 7: Venus trine Neptune
October 8: Venus into Scorpio
October 11/12: Full Moon in Aries
October 13: Sun conjunct Saturn
October 13: Mercury into Scorpio
October 14: Venus opposes Jupiter
October 17: Venus opposes Mercury
October 21: Sun trines Neptune
October 23: Sun into Scorpio
October 26: New Moon in Scorpio
October 28: Jupiter trine Pluto
October 29: Sun opposite Jupiter and sextile Pluto
October 31: Venus square Neptune

Click for Void of Course Moon Times for October

Click for October’s Moon Phases

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Transits of 'Imprisonment' and 'Liberation'

The reversal of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito’s conviction for the murder of Meredith Kercher was a story which gripped and polarised the public and the media. Whether the pair really had anything to do with the murder we may perhaps never know and that’s not a subject I’m going to speculate about here. When fascinated me about their story is how the timing for the original conviction, the appeal and their eventual release key in to the timing of major outer planet alignments, namely Saturn Square Pluto, Saturn opposite Uranus and the incoming Uranus Square Pluto.  Both Sollecito and Knox have had these alignments touching their charts by transit, with Knox in particular experiencing them very strongly.

What intrigued me even more were the parallels between what happened to them while Saturn, Pluto and Uranus transited their charts and what happened to me while the same transiting planets were touching my own chart. No, I haven’t been convicted, imprisoned, retried and then acquitted of any crime, nor have I had my personal life and character hauled over the coals for all the world to see, but what I did experience with these transits was similar on the psychological and emotional level. Feeling trapped (imprisoned) by external circumstances apparently beyond my control, a sense of ‘fighting back’ and eventually, release and freedom.

By making this analogy, I hope to demonstrate how the themes we associate with outer planet transits to our natal planets can manifest in our lives on so many different levels... From the most literal, external, public events to processes and feelings that occur at the most private and inner level. Often of course, they manifest on many different levels at once and fortunately for most of us, they are not nearly as dramatic or public as the Knox and Sollecito case.

On 4^th December 2009, Knox and Sollecito were convicted of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher. This conviction occurred very close to Saturn’s first exact square to Pluto at 2 degrees Libra and Capricorn in November 2009. Saturn and Pluto’s next exact alignment was at the end of January 2010 at 4 degrees of Libra and Capricorn. For both of them, Saturn and Pluto were transiting personal planets in their charts.

Saturn-Pluto transits can seem, at least on the psychological level, to take away our freedom and our free will. In the case of Knox and Sollecito, the loss of freedom was literal. In fact, losses on any level can occur under this transit. It tends to be a time of forced change, fear, pressure, negativity, crisis, restriction and a psychological journey to the underworld.  We may feel that invisible forces are working against us, that we are fighting for survival on some level. Even as our personal power is taken away, we need to find the strength to carry on, to work hard and then even harder to face and banish our demons. For this we need courage, strength and staying power. We need to tap into inner and outer resources to help us through. Readers with planets or angles at 1-5 degrees of Aries, Cancer, Libra and/or Capricorn are likely to identify with some of these themes if they look back over the last couple of years or so (get your chart for free at www.alabe.com).

The charts below show how the Saturn and Pluto square picked up on personal planets in Knox and Sollecito's birth charts. Knox has Venus at 4 degrees of Cancer, so just after the conviction transiting Pluto was exactly opposing her Venus, with Saturn squaring her Venus. She also has Mercury conjunct Venus, with Neptune in early Capricorn opposing from the public seventh house. The Moon’s Nodes, in early Aries and Libra, complete a dynamic, but no doubt stressful cardinal grand cross.  With Pluto and Saturn transiting this grand cross it’s not surprising that she has been called a liar, a manipulator, a seductress, violent, perverted and a she-devil, but imagine having to face your demons when the world is naming you as the demon!

Click to enlarge

Sollecito has his Sun at 5 degrees Aries squaring Neptune at 1 Capricorn, within orb of the Saturn-Pluto squares of late 2009 and spring/summer 2010.  While he has attracted less attention than Knox, the Saturn-Pluto transit to his Sun and Neptune is telling. Was he a victim in all this or was he deceiving everyone when he proclaimed his innocence? It’s hard to tell with that Sun-Neptune square, except to mention that it is reasonable to expect martyrdom on some level, or at least the sacrifice of the ego, with this aspect, especially so because both the Sun and Neptune are angular in his chart.

Click to enlarge

For myself, I have Sun in the eighth house at 4 degrees Capricorn, which meant that for most of 2009, transiting Pluto was in orb of conjunction with my Sun, with its first exact hit in January 2010. Transiting Saturn was in orb of a square to my Sun from late 2009 through autumn 2010, with the first hit in December 2009. What happened to me? Well, a change in personal circumstances beyond my control meant that I felt trapped in an unhappy situation both literally and emotionally. Any attempt to get myself out of the situation seemed blocked at every turn and I felt like a rat in a maze. I won’t go into great detail, except to say that it was all very eighth house on every level!  Friends will testify that during this time I would often say that my situation felt like a prison sentence, but that I wasn’t sure what my crime had been!

We all know that in life nothing is forever and like life, transits are temporal. With Saturn-Pluto transits, there is, thankfully, a light at the end of the tunnel, with the eventual promise of empowerment and emancipation, but not before a lot of hard work and a lot of seemingly endless patience.

Sollecito and Knox‘s legal teams filed appeals against their convictions in April 2010 and the appeal process began in December 2010. It was during the time between the filing of the appeal and the actual appeal that the Saturn-Pluto squares and the ongoing, status-quo upsetting Saturn-Uranus oppositions formed what has been widely dubbed by astrologers as the cardinal climax – a t-square in the early cardinal planets that had been building since 2008 and has come to symbolise shocks, changes, intense challenges, restriction, losses and hard, hard work. Its most obvious manifestation has been in dramatic change of fortune in the world’s economies, the effects of which have filtered down into the lives of individuals everywhere, but overall, these aspects have been reflected in individuals’ lives in many different ways and on many different levels.

Whatever the manifestation, I’m proposing that it was accompanied by these feelings of entrapment and imprisonment that I have described, along with the feeling of being part of something bigger than yourself and in many ways out of your control. Despite this, many of us have emerged much stronger and more resourceful, even as we find our material circumstances reduced.

So, for those of you still feeling trapped and repressed, where and when is the release? Let’s look again at the charts of Knox and Sollecito. 

They won their appeal against their murder conviction and were freed on October 3^rd 2011. By now, Saturn has moved out of the picture, with the much anticipated Uranus-Pluto square forming. On the day of their release, Uranus was at 2 Aries and Pluto at 5 Capricorn, connecting with the cardinal planets in their charts very closely. Under Uranus-Pluto moving aspects we demand freedom, we question authority, we don’t accept the letter of the law and we won’t tolerate being controlled. We want to feel free to do what we want to do and we want to make a difference.

Knox’s father summed up Saturn-Pluto followed by Uranus-Pluto perfectly, "she's almost kind of reborn in a way. I mean, living for four years inside a concrete and steel, you know, prison, and now being able to kind of just look around, smell the air and - and just do what she wants to do, hopefully when she wants to do it, it makes a huge difference." (quote from cbsnews.com)

For myself, after a year or more of Saturn and Pluto transiting my Sun, I had the first squares from Uranus to my Sun in May this year. Around the time of the second hit, a surprising event happened that changed everything for me. As I sit here writing, I am looking forward to the next few months leading up the third and final square of transiting Uranus to my Sun, with Uranus is also making a series of sextiles to my MC and 10^th house Aquarius planets.  I am now in a position where I feel free do whatever I want with my life. Yes, there has been much upheaval and masses of change, but finally my appeal has been heard and I have been released from my psychological prison. I still don’t know what my crime was, but that doesn’t matter, because what I do now know is that I have the inner resources to cope with an uncertain future and it doesn’t matter that I can’t control everything. All that matters is that I use my time and energy wisely from now on and follow my heart.

Readers, have you experienced similar feelings and events over the last couple of years or so? How are things now?

With love,
Mandi
www.mandilockley.com

Chart data from Astrodatabank.

A note to subscribers: an apology that at the end of Astrology for October there was an error in the text for Venus and Mercury opposing Jupiter. This has now been corrected:

http://mandilockley.blogspot.com/2011/10/astrology-for-october-golden.html

Astrology for October ~ Golden Opportunities

Welcome to October, that wonderful month which for me is always about endings and fresh starts. Especially so this year, as I finished my 'day job' yesterday. The future is uncertain, but very exciting. October is also one of the most beautiful months as here in the northern hemisphere, the leaves turn every imaginable shade of gold and red, giving us a magnificent display before they fall. This year, the start of October brings unseasonable hot weather, with the mercury set to hit 30 degrees here in London today! A perfect day to go to a wedding, although I'm having to rethink my outfit, which involves knitwear!!! I hope you enjoy October folks.

October 2: Mars in Leo squares Jupiter in Taurus

October kicks off in dynamic fashion with passionate Mars squaring up to expansive Jupiter. This is a good time for following your heart and embarking on an exciting adventure. One note of caution… Try not to overstretch yourself by taking on too much and watch you don’t overindulge or overspend on luxuries! Use the energies of this alignment in a more positive way by setting goals for self improvement or embarking on initiatives to improve the lot of others.

October 6: Mercury in Libra conjuncts Saturn in Libra

When Mercury lines up with Saturn it signals a time to pay attention to how you communicate. Be as clear as you can with others if you don’t want to be misunderstood and be honest in your dealings. If you don’t play fair now, you could well be found out…you’ve been warned! The key to working this energy is to slow down, discipline your mind and approach tasks systematically. Give your brain a workout by playing word games, memory games or quizzes.

October 7: Venus in Libra trines Neptune in Aquarius

Love is in the air when romantic Venus makes this easy trine alignment with dreamy, ethereal Neptune. Call me a mood killer, but it’s probably more about the yearning for romance than actual romance, so don’t be disappointed if that knight in shining armor turns out to be a bit tardy! Still, if you’re lucky enough to know your soul mate then hook up with them now! If not, then sweet times can still be had, so long as you realize that eventually you’ll have to wake up from the dream.

October 8: Venus enters Scorpio

Things can get heavy when love planet Venus moves into intense Scorpio. Obsession, compulsion, passion and extreme emotions are the realms of this placement. The urge is to connect deeply with others, but trust issues could get in the way. Perhaps you feel that others are keeping secrets from you or maybe you’re keeping secrets from them. At its most positive, Venus in Scorpio is about the power of love to transform and heal, at a deep and long lasting level.

Venus is in Scorpio until November 2^nd.

October 11/12 (depending on your time zone): Full Moon in Aries

The Sun in relationship-oriented Libra faces off against the Moon in self focused Aries today. It’s a good time to think about how you balance what you want out of your relationships with what you need for yourself. Feelings tend to run high at the Full Moon, so rows and conflicts are a possibility, but really, all everyone is looking for is a way to connect and get along. Remembering this can help prevent bad feelings escalating. On the plus side, it’s a pretty good Full Moon for partying thanks to a nice aspect between Venus and Jupiter. Another good reason not to fall out with your loved ones!

The bigger picture of this Full Moon is the conjunction of the Sun and Saturn in Libra. When these two planets join up in the same part of the sky (which occurs approximately once a year), it’s the start of a new cycle, so this Full Moon is a great time for setting realistic goals for the year ahead. For more insight see below….

October 13: Sun in Libra conjuncts Saturn in Libra

This alignment doesn’t sound like much fun. The image it evokes is a shadow falling across

the brightness of the Sun. But, with the glare toned down, can’t we better see things are they really are? This is the gift of this alignment if you are ready to accept it. You can really get a good understanding of what you are truly capable of under this aspect. This will help you set clear goals for the coming twelve months. This line up could also make you aware of your limitations. Using this realization wisely, without falling into self doubt is the key. This is Saturn so remember that hard work and self discipline is how you’ll succeed. This isn’t a time for risk taking and cutting corners.

October 13: Mercury enters Scorpio

There’ll be no tolerance for title tattle and small talk when Mercury moves into Scorpio. The
planet of communication in this sign demands that we ponder deep and meaningful matters. Probing deeply into any subject that you’re passionate about is a great way to work with Mercury in Scorpio, as it’s the perfect energy for research and even for a bit of crafty detective work! The downside is that we can get stubbornly stuck in our own mindset. Try to remember that there are other points of view and that these are valid too!

Mercury is in Scorpio until November 2^nd.

October 14 to 17: Venus and Mercury in Scorpio oppose Jupiter in Taurus

This planetary pattern (Venus with Jupiter on the 14^th and Mercury with Jupiter on the 17^th) invites us to be expansive, extravagant, adventurous and broadminded. This could be tempting, but rather than overindulging and overspending, your time would be better spent thinking about your spending. Are you spending within your means? Are you spending too much to please others and is it worth it? Of course, it’s not all about the money… This alignment can also bring a generous dose of passion into your life. Are you ready? As if that’s not enough, secrets could be revealed on or around the 17^th. Intriguing! 

Summary of October's Astrology:

October 2: Mars square Jupiter

October 6: Mercury conjunct Saturn
October 7: Venus trine Neptune
October 8: Venus into Scorpio
October 11/12: Full Moon in Aries
October 13: Sun conjunct Saturn
October 13: Mercury into Scorpio
October 14: Venus opposes Jupiter
October 17: Venus opposes Mercury
October 21: Sun trines Neptune details in part two
October 23: Sun into Scorpio details in part two
October 26: New Moon in Scorpio details in part two
October 28: Jupiter trine Pluto details in part two
October 29: Sun opposite Jupiter and sextile Pluto details in part two
October 31: Venus square Neptune details in part two

Click for Void of Course Moon Times for October

Click for October’s Moon Phases

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