Dear Friend and Reader:
We release the new monthly horoscope on the first Monday the Sun is in the new sign. The Sun is currently in the last degrees of Libra, so Planet Waves Monthly will be published one week from today. For now I want to chime in with a short astrology report, as we’re in a turning point week.
First main event is the Sun’s ingress to Scorpio, which occurs Tuesday, Oct. 23 at 3:15 pm EDT. This is nearly synchronous with the Sun-Mercury conjunction in the first degree of Scorpio which occurs at 7:55 pm EDT Tuesday, just a few hours later. Mercury is still retrograde, and will return to direct motion on Nov. 1. In effect, in the space of a few hours, Mercury and the Sun will exchange places as Mercury backs in to Libra.
Mars continues to slow down, approaching its retrograde in Cancer, which begins Nov. 15. I’ll have much more to say about this as the time approaches, but warming up the discussion: the theme of this retrograde is where the need for emotional security meets the limits we have on control in our relationships, and where that meets the theme of desire. This is a complicated aspect of our lives. As with most complex human affairs, we tend to deal with it by denial: denying our needs, denying awareness of feeling suffocated, and denying that we need a new way to have relationships. Denial is a good way to miss 10 or 20 years of your life, or the whole thing for that matter.
Most of my clients show up wondering when they are going to “meet someone.” An astonishing number of oracle inquiries are on the same topic, and I keep seeing plenty of the “will he call, should I call” variety. Women in particular still tend to have a big issue with being passive in their relationships and with not quite recognizing that self-confidence and self-esteem are the underlying subject matters. It is a big deal to speak up, and I realize it’s not encouraging when the guys in your life seem to want no part of the conversation. So in this “new way to have relationships,” actual communication is at the top of the list. It is the criterion by which all other criteria must be ordered and assessed. In a relationship, it’s all there is; money is not a substitute, and sex tends to be terrible when communication shuts down.
The drive to take possession and control of another person in an incorporated relationship still appears to be a strong impulse, taught to us by our parents and marketing culture. This is the shadow side of the need for stability and home, which are real needs that don’t tend to be addressed honestly, or where side issues take the forefront. At the same time, we crave freedom and independence. There is woefully little discussion, in public or private, about creating relationship models that accommodate both. We tend to skew the balance toward ether some form of shutdown; or wanting total freedom or allowing others to have it at our expense, without working for a common ground or set of agreements that work for everyone. This is not so hard to do once people are willing to be honest about what they want and how they feel, and all the available resources are put to work.
But this takes a little stretch: relating consciously to the unknown, daring to reveal your needs, risking rejection, accepting the potential for admitting you need to move on. Sally Sunshine has written an interesting blog on this topic, by the way.
Both the coming Mars retrograde and the currently developing Mercury retrograde speak to these themes, which include challenging our perception of sex roles, determining the ways that desire frightens us, discovering how to handle the changes of another person, and finding the words for what you want or need to say.
This week as Mercury makes a conjunction to the Sun in the first degree of Scorpio, we get a moment of illumination. Then Mercury, sliding back into Libra for a while, gives us the chance to open a new discussion of the emotional themes we found with Mercury in Scorpio. You may feel that certain people in your life are impossible to communicate with. I would propose that if anyone does not want to share their feelings or hear yours, you’re in the wrong place.
As the week progresses, we build to a Full Moon in Taurus, which occurs Friday just past midnight EDT. This Full Moon is within one degree of the Chiron discovery degree in Taurus. We will have a detailed report a few hours after the fact when the Friday edition comes out, but for now — be conscious that the Full Moon energy is building just as the Sun is changing signs, with retrograde Mercury conjunct the Sun and then changing signs. This is one of those classic astrological shuffle situations, where the checkerboard of life gets rearranged quickly.
There is more than enough energy right now to carry you of its own accord; you don’t need to push, only to guide.
I’ll be back Friday with a full edition. Throughout the week, please check in with Priya’s daily blog that covers the aspects as they develop.
Keep in touch!
