All Systems Go: Astro Update #9

Special Blog Post! Because so much is happening at the beginning of October, astrological speaking. Read on. 

End of 4 Retrogrades, Including Pluto

6 planets are presently retrograde: Pluto, Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter and Mercury. Retrograde planets lose their energy and tend to bring about a repeat of the past. While we’re used to Mercury retrograde, which happens 3 times a year, for a few weeks, the planets that have a longer orbit have longer retrograde periods, albeit less often. Retrograde energy is slower and seemingly going nowhere.

Pluto

The biggest relief is Pluto going direct on October 7th, coinciding with a new moon in Aries and Venus moving into Sagittarius. Pluto has been retrograde for five months in Capricorn, where it’s been since 2008 and will be until 2024.

Pluto takes over two centuries to go around the sun. It spends so much time in each sign, roughly a little less than 20 years, that most of us will only experience Pluto in four maybe five signs in our lifetime.

Pluto brings slow but inevitable and thorough change. Accent on thorough. Terms associated with Pluto are transformative, endings, death, rebirth. Pluto is the modern ruler of Scorpio and like this sign, it is also associated with power and control and what is hidden. As in your shadow side, your subconscious, the secrets you keep from yourself and the process of uncovering and transforming them to ultimately regain power and control.  Sound like a lot? It is, and thank goodness Pluto takes almost 20 years to do this. If you know what house this falls in, you know which area of your life has been affected most. But Pluto’s power is so transformative and complete, you will feel an overall restructuring from deep within.

During the retrograde, though, there’s been a feeling of being stuck. Especially in one aspect of your life. You may have felt the same scenario kept repeating, you couldn’t seem to move forward. Nothing is working. This will lift with the end of the retrograde.

Pluto Direct and New Moon

Pluto going to direct on the seventh, follows the new moon in Libra on the sixth. New moons are a great time for initiating something. Although with Mercury retrograde until mid month, it’s a good idea to keep it in the conceptual stages. Save the launch for early November.

Libra is all about our committed, contractual relationships with others, not just romantic ones. This includes business partnerships as associates or trade partners, for example.

Saturn and Jupiter

Both Saturn and Jupiter will go direct in October. Remember, despite a planet going direct, there is a catch up period when it takes a couple of weeks to catch up to it position at the time of turning retrograde. So thing will pick up as the fog lifts.

Saturn will station direct on the 10th, a few days after Pluto. Saturn is all about putting in the work for what you want, it’s about boundaries and structure and cohesion in our everyday lives. So what seemed to be all over the place or not really going anywhere, will suddenly have a better plan, perhaps more focus through structure. A project can get back on the rails and move forward.

Then Jupiter will end his retrograde on the 18th, at the same time as Mercury. Jupiter was called the great benefic by ancient astrologers. Jupiter brings joy and luck, but also knowledge and solutions.

Both Jupiter and Saturn are in Aquarius, but this may be in 2 different areas of your life. Saturn is still at the start, whereas Jupiter is in the final degrees and will enter Pisces in December.

This combined energy may bring knowledge or opportunities a lucky break (Jupiter), leading to the structure and focus for our work (Saturn) to reach a goal. You move forward because now you know where you are going  anyhow to get there.

Mercury

On the same day as Jupiter, Mercury’s retrograde and as well. The messenger is associated with communication, transportations, trade and commerce. The ruling planet of Gemini, he’s also associated with ideas, thought and quick intellect.

So October brings relief. The energies of these planets in retrograde is low the planets are said to be dormant but now finally and October things will pick up again will grow will become structured. 

Venus and Mars

Since we’re at it, Venus and Mars will change signs in October. Neither are retrograde but it’s interesting to note that the start of the month, on the 7th again, Venus moves into Sagittarius. Sagitarius likes freedom and expansion. It’s the sign of big, all-encompassing, idealistic ideas. Sagittarius is very aware of boundaries, in the sense of not liking them. So relationships brought about by Venus’s energy will be sensitive to restrictions.

Venus also rules over money, our revenue and valuables. Because of its association with the second house. In Sagittarius we may feel encouraged us to make money doing something that we truly love that because that is how we find freedom. Marc Anthony (the guy who was with JLo, not Cleopatra) famously said, “If you do what you love, you won’t work a day in your life.”

At the end of the month Mars will move into Scorpio on the 30th. There will be an Astro update just for that in the coming weeks.

So all in all, if you feel you’ve been trying and nothing seems to be going anywhere–and that’s exactly how I’ve been feeling–now things will start to pick up. Remember, all planets have a shadow period. Meaning the time from when they station direct, to when they catch up to where they were before they started going retrograde. But as we get to the middle of the month it’ll be different. And when Jupiter and Mercury move forward, you’ll feel like you’re in a whole new place. Onwards we go!

People ask me if there’s an astrology book out there to learn the basics of  your chart. Understanding the Birth Chart by Kevin Burk is an easy to comprehend and will allow you to explore each placement in your chart. The writing style is engaging and humorous. No dry textbook here.  If you just want to know about you and your future, try Georgia Nicol’s aptly named, You and Your Future. Georgia takes her forecasts to 2025 for all signs. She also has a great sense of humor.  Finally there’s the classic: Linda Goodman’s Sun Signs. She takes us through all 12 signs and who they are as a man, woman, a boss or a child. (The links are affiliated and you can learn more here).

Photo by John Baker on Unsplash