Astro Tips for October 2010

American is having a nervous breakdown

Dr. Cornel West (writer, philosopher, activist) recently said, “America is having a nervous breakdown.” Isn’t that the truth! The Sun is in Libra but life seems anything but sane and harmonious. The Libra scales do not feel steady at the moment. Our society seems to be emotionally out of balance. And ready to crack apart.

When someone asks me about the planetary news, I have to say, the pressure continues. With the Libra New Moon on October 7th, Saturn was still opposing Uranus and both of those planets were squaring Pluto. This arrangement has been in place for a long time now. Pluto, the transformer, holding both Saturn and Uranus in a tight grip, wants us to eliminate what we no longer need and make appropriate changes. We have seen financial meltdown followed by painful unemployment. We have had many natural disasters and the Gulf oil spill. Now in Hungary there has been another chemical disaster killing people and spoiling the water and land. Mother Earth doesn’t even feel safe. Individuals and corporations who hold the power are not reliable. There is human error, accident and downright negligence occurring over and over. Has anything been eliminated yet? Now we have the politics of mid-term elections. Shock and bizarreness! It doesn’t look like we are evolving; however, we are in the movie. We aren’t watching the movie. Perhaps we cannot see from our perspective that we are evolving.

Saturn is transiting Libra

The planet Saturn is traveling through Libra until well into 2012. The Sun, Moon, Saturn and Mercury were sitting in Libra on the New Moon. Saturn brings our attention to limitations. Libra is balance, harmony and fairness. Saturn brings our attention to the lack of those qualities. Libra is about relationship. Perhaps on the individual level these days are filled with happy relational stories, but on the global level people just don’t seem to be getting along. When Libra is out of balance, life is not pretty. Saturn adds an element of fear to whatever it touches. To some degree America’s nervous breakdown is based on fear. Saturn in Libra asks us to reach for more maturity in the relational realm. Saturn in Libra suggests we get over our fear of each other. Saturn in Libra challenges us to examine issues and reach for fairness and justice. Saturn in Libra doesn’t like ugly behavior, and ugly really gets our attention these days.

Special message for all Libras

For those readers who were born under the sign of Libra, this is a serious time in your life. Saturn is sitting with your Sun. Life is not frivolous at the moment. You are facing life issues that only you can address. You will feel wiser and more mature as you face your challenges. You will confront what is really important to you. You will address your values and you will address the state of your relationships and all things that are truly valuable to you. That is what Saturn will ask you to do. Maybe it will be your family relationships, maybe friendships or work place relationships. Perhaps valuable means qualities, like self-respect and integrity. Saturn will teach you about yourself and you, in turn, can be a leader and teach others. Astrology says that Saturn is exalted in Libra, so you have the opportunity to behave with fairness and dignity and to make an impact on others. We think of Libras as nice people who want everyone to get along. We think Libras don’t like to fight. You will fight, however, if you feel you are being treated unfairly. If your values or relationships are threatened, you will fight to make things right.

Venus is retrograde

On October 8th, Venus began its retrograde cycle in the sign of Scorpio and this continues until November 18th. Venus isn’t particularly fond of the Scorpio sign. Mars and Pluto belong to Scorpio, making the sign intense and dramatic. Scorpio might bring power struggles rather than co-operative, supportive relationships. Venus is happy in Libra and Taurus. Scorpio is about intimacy that may be gained through sex, power and domination. Libra is about nice relationships! So here we go, Venus retrograde in Scorpio. Furthermore, Venus repeats its same retrograde cycle every eight years. Think back to 2002 or pull out your diaries and journals and see what was happening in October of 2002. What were you doing when Venus was retrograde in Scorpio in 2002? What were your concerns? For the individual, Venus retrograde invites a person to re-examine their relationships and values. A person may also examine their financial situation (Scorpio is one of the money signs). As a nation we are certainly looking at money, debt, over-spending, and allocation of resources. And just as Mercury retrograde sometimes brings messages from people we haven’t heard from for a while, the same is true of Venus retrograde. Loved ones from the past reappear. And with Venus in Scorpio, many people will deepen their relationships or try to improve them. Couples may go to counseling. They may go to a workshop to re-ignite their relationship. Scorpio is a “let-go and eliminate sign” so some relationships will end during their period if the fire cannot be re-lit.

Some people may end a chapter of their lives during Venus retrograde. Perhaps their values have shifted completely and it’s time to let go of an entire life chapter. Retirement, moving to a new location, finding a new career, and letting go of possessions are a few examples of what we might expect during the retrograde phase. It may take many more weeks for the new life chapter to unfold, but the seeds are in the ground and actions are taken now.

On the national, collective level, we see the harsher aspects of Venus in Scorpio playing out in the mid-term campaigns. Venus is retrograde in a sign that hisses and manipulates the truth. One of the symbols for Venus is the mirror. The political scene is holding up a mirror. We are seeing our diversity, our meanness, our kindness, our sanity, our insanity, our security and our insecurity. This mirror has a rear-view element since Venus is retrograde. We are looking back and seeing what used to be commonly held values. Whether it’s values around same-gender relationships, women’s reproductive rights, or economic opportunity for all, we are looking in the mirror and seeing all the things that our society has believed and to some extent continues to believe. When the chips are down, we cannot even say that everyone in the mirror supports religious freedom. Wow. People are agitated and spitting out their discontent. This Venus retrograde is transiting President’s Obama’s 10th house—the house of authority and leadership—on Election Day. I wish I could predict the outcome of the mid-term elections. The energy is unstable, fragile and unpredictable. The outcome will depend on what the people see in the mirror. We have the opportunity to look deeply (Scorpio) or to just see the surface.

Full Moon in Aries

The Moon is full at 29 degrees of Aries on October 22. The Moon opposes the Sun, Mercury and Venus. This is a sensitive, critical time where we have the opportunity to balance the needs of the self with awareness of the needs of other people.


Are we ready for 2012?

It helps to remember that our global society is undergoing enormous change. If the 2012 seers are correct, we are evolving into a more sensitive and spiritually connected species. Eventually we will understand our connection with the Universe. First we have to comprehend our connection with ourselves, with the Earth and with each other. So here we are in the days of Libra and we have time to contemplate our relationships. Not just our family and friend relationships. Not just our relationship to community and nation but our relationship to those who are not like us. It is hard work to get through this eye of the needle. How do we maintain respect for human diversity and actually embrace that diversity and let it be? We are fearful of losing our identity. Libra seeks out relationship and then runs the risk of losing the self and all clarity in that relationship.

The Pluto/Saturn/Uranus drama makes sure that people are afraid of losing their power identity. If we all get along, then we all are entitled to be treated the same. Love your neighbor as you love yourself. What happens to power then? Who has the power? Does anybody need to have the power? Will there someday be a humanity that figures things out without power being handed to just a few or to just one class or one race or one nation or one anything? All I know right now is this: the scales are shaking around and the archetypal energy of Libra is having a nervous breakdown.