The Astrology Blog 10 October 2022
All times in BST
“Your life changes the moment you make a new, congruent and committed decision.”
Tony Robbins
https://www.astrotheme.com/astrology/Tony_Robbins
“Working to turn suffering into meaning … I’ve been privileged to witness the amazing capacity of our minds for change.”
Gwen Adshead – Psychotherapist, b 14 Sept 1960, Sun Virgo/Mercury Libra
If you’d like to receive the weekly blog straight to inbox on Monday mornings, it’s free, and you can either send an email address to me joannaw@otenet.gr to be added to the mailing list or anyone can sign up from the website. Here’s the link for the sign up box –
EVELYN ROBERTS
If you’ve been on the astrology scene for any length of time you’ll know the name Evelyn Roberts, the founder of Heaven and Earth Workshops in Bali. I was intensely moved by her story that I received in her mailing last week, a heartbreakingly honest account of how her life there collapsed after 17 years and how she’s starting over.
Evelyn tells me that she has more astrological irons in the fire and may her new life progress and prosper! If you’d like to join her mailing list you can do so through her website. You can also meet Evelyn in the spring if you’d like to join her Joys of the Shires trip in the UK. Here’s the link to find out more –
Daily Itineraries | heavenandearth (heavenandearthworkshops.com)
WHAT’S HAPPENING THIS WEEK?
So let’s start with the “at a glance” list of aspects and features for the coming week and then I’ll break it down into themes –
Tuesday 11 October
- Mercury ingress Libra 00.52
- Sun 18 Libra quinqunx Uranus 18 Taurus 10.14
Wednesday 12 October
- Sun 18 Libra trine Saturn 18 Aquarius 02.08
- Mars 23 Gemini square Neptune 23 Pisces 06.50
- Mercury 1 Libra opposite Jupiter 1 Aries 08.25
Thursday 13 October
- Venus 18 Libra quinqunx Uranus 18 Taurus 17.58
Friday 14 October
- Venus 18 Libra trine Saturn 18 Aquarius 07.22
Sunday 16 October
- Sun 23 Libra quinqunx Neptune 23 Pisces 16.41
Monday 17 October
- Mercury out of shadow 8.53 Libra 05.00
SATURN – URANUS
The most obvious theme is that the faster moving Sun and Venus are both picking up Saturn and Uranus, two slow moving planets who are both in Fixed signs and who formed an exact square three times last year in February, June and December.
They are currently both at 18 degrees of their respective signs BUT the exact square isn’t happening again as the gap between them is widening, not closing. Saturn is now “stationary direct” – getting ready to switch from retrograde to direct on 23 Oct, at 18 and a half degrees Aquarius – while Uranus continues to go the other way, staying retrograde until turning direct at 14.56 Taurus on 22 January.
Tuesday 11 October
- Sun 18 Libra quinqunx Uranus 18 Taurus 10.14
Wednesday 12 October
- Sun 18 Libra trine Saturn 18 Aquarius 02.08
Thursday 13 October
- Venus 18 Libra quinqunx Uranus 18 Taurus 17.58
Friday 14 October
- Venus 18 Libra trine Saturn 18 Aquarius 07.22
The Sun and Venus are travelling side by side and will themselves make an exact conjunction 22 October, at 29 Libra. This is a beautiful aspect that we see approx every 10 months, the last one was at 18 Capricorn 9 January, and you can read more about this union on Jamie Partridge’s brilliant website –
https://astrologyking.com/sun-conjunct-venus/
In the meantime however both have to struggle past the quinqunx to Uranus (5 signs apart, minor aspect but a notorious blind spot to an unpredictable planet) and the trine to Saturn (4 signs apart, major aspect, harmonious but it’s still taskmaster Saturn) that will play out from Tues to Fri. In other words the joys and blessings of the Sun – Venus union lie in wait but first they’re re-invoking the big square so it’s an obstacle course to get there.
Sun – Venus combinations highlight love, money, girlfriends, children and life’s pleasures. For some of us unfolding events will have long roots stretching back into the near or even further back past, or the choices we now want to make may disrupt other parts of our lives or may not sit easily with others. Pay special attention if you have planets at 18 degrees of the signs mentioned, or a Sun – Venus natal conjunction in any sign. Take your time when it comes to figuring out what you really want as any kind of effortful work now should pay more than worthwhile rewards.
MERCURY
So Mercury switched direction a week ago and has therefore exchanged the Trickster’s hat for the Magician’s. Mercury re-enters Libra in the early hours of tomorrow morning (first time was 26 August, got as far as 9 Libra but then turned retrograde) so second chances are a major theme –
Tuesday 11 October
- Mercury ingress Libra 00.52
Wednesday 12 October
- Mercury 1 Libra opposite Jupiter 1 Aries 08.25
Monday 17 October
- Mercury out of shadow 8.53 Libra 05.00
Mercury the talking planet in Libra the sign of the Scales is the archetype of the negotiator and the peace maker, but also the ditherer. Here’s my take on this combination as a natal placing from Be Your Own Astrologer –
This Mercury carefully weighs up words and thoughts so at best this is the diplomat, brilliant at seeing all sides to an issue and appreciating everyone’s point of view. They loathe confrontation and are the ultimate smoothers and soothers. At worst it’s the hopeless procrastinator. I’ll think about it, I need to mull it over, I’ll do it later, tomorrow, what do you think I should do – and on and on. Libra is known for indecision and, for Mercury in this sign, reaching the point of understanding or especially action can be a tortuous and confusing process, driving themselves and their loved ones nuts in the process. In the words of one client, “It’s not making the decision that’s the problem, it’s sticking to it. I am constantly changing my mind.”
So focus on decision making wherever possible, especially as Mercury is now moving things in the right direction and will come out of shadow at the very beginning of next week, which translates into being back to full speed. As above, so below, look out for info coming to light, things that you hadn’t known up until that point and which will make a definite difference.
Also note that Mercury’s opposition to benefic Jupiter is the third and final one of a series of three, the other two being 3 Sept and 18 Sept. In the UK the middle one coincided with the end of the long queues to see the Queen’s coffin before her funeral 19 Sept. I’ve noticed many times that significant aspects to Jupiter, Mr Big of the heavens, often show the gathering of huge numbers, especially for peaceable or religious reasons. There may be more news this week about the royals and the coronation to come.
In our personal lives the third and final Mercury – Jupiter combo bodes well for wrapping up anything that’s been ongoing since the beginning of Sept, especially in terms of info, discussions, ideas, decision making processes etc that relate to Jupiter issues – longer term future, education, travel, publishing, anything that makes our world bigger and better.
Relationship matters also get a huge tick as Libra is THE sign of relating. The Scales are not just about the famous indecision, they’re also the symbol of partnership, showing our quest for balance and equality, and how what one person does automatically affects their other half. But, again, keep your focus on solutions and closure. Get to the point. Librans can be terrors for preferring to use 500 words when 50 will do.
But if you’re getting to know someone new then long conversations will be part of the process. Just as it is in psychotherapy, the talking cure. Thanks to a friend in Sept who left me a copy of the gripping The Devil You Know – Encounters in Forensic Psychiatry by Dr Gwen Adshead. I just had a hunch that she would be Mercury Libra, and she is, shown not just by her ability to listen to the other side of humanity gone wrong stories but also by the fact that she collaborated with a professional author to get her work written. Mercury in Libra is brilliant for partnership in every respect.
MARS – NEPTUNE
The Sun – Mars trine will be exact at the beginning of next week and in the meantime they’re both picking up aspects to Neptune, still sailing on through his long voyage through his own sign of Pisces –
Wednesday 12 October
- Mars 23 Gemini square Neptune 23 Pisces 06.50
Sunday 16 October
- Sun 23 Libra quinqunx Neptune 23 Pisces 16.41
These are both challenging aspects, and as Neptune himself is so nebulous it’s not the easiest of pictures. Let’s start with a reminder of Neptune symbolism –
Neptune – main principle is Redemption. He rules our night world of sleep and dreams, and any altered state of consciousness. He is god of the seas and psychologically his realm is fusion, the boundless watery world of the emotions, ruling the fuzzy world of falling in love right through to the suffering of loss, grief or personal sacrifice. On the plus side the Neptunian nature is magical, healing, boundlessly imaginative, empathic with highly developed instincts or psychic talents. The trickier side is subtle, seductive and addictive – ruling alcohol and drugs – mysterious, confusing or disorientating.
For some this will be the beginning of a highly sensitive period of time that will unfold between now and next spring as this is the first of three squares between Mars and Neptune, because of Mars’ imminent retrograde phase which translates into Mars journeying through Gemini for 7 months instead of the usual two. Here’s the sequence –
- 20 August – Mars enters Gemini
- 12 October – Mars square Neptune 1st time
- 30 October – Mars turns retrograde at 25 Gemini
- 19 November – Mars 22 Gemini square Neptune 22 Pisces 2nd time
- 12 January – Mars turns direct at 8 Gemini
- 14 March – Mars 25 Gemini square Neptune 25 Pisces 3rd and final time
- 25 March – Mars leaves Gemini and enters the next sign of Cancer
This journey will be especially relevant for you if you have planets or Angles at or very close to these degrees in any of the mutable signs, especially Gemini and Pisces, but also their opposite signs of Sagittarius and Virgo. Pay close attention to what unfolds for you this week or to anyone new coming into your life as there’ll be a lot more to come.
Until next week, with love from Greece
Joanna