A Numinous, Introspective and Surprising October

The astrology of October features a Mercury Retrograde, as well as Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, plus two eclipses. Mercury is retrograde nearly all month, beginning on Saturday, October 4th, near the beginning of Scorpio. As is true of the year of 2014 in general, Mercury begins its retrograde early in a Water sign, then backs into the preceding Air sign before straightening and eventually regaining its lost zodiacal longitude. Mercury stations direct on October 25th and fully escapes its "retrograde shadow" only on the 10th of November. All during this entire month it is therefore a better time for introspection, especially in relation to emotional issues, and for journaling your thoughts, rather than for acting on them. This is so even though there is plenty of impulse for direct action.

Mercury will have just gone into Scorpio, Pluto's sign, before the October 4th station. Mercury is a little out of his depth, here, and proceeds with consternation, before retrograding back into Libra on October 10th. Venus has changed signs also, and to the sign she rules, namely Libra. All through the month, therefore we are rethinking our behavior patterns and most especially in regard to the relationship energy that we have with others. We are reflecting on the very process of relationship, working this out as we live our lives.

The Lunar Eclipse and Full Moon of Wednesday, October 8th, is very exciting, as the Moon aligns almost exactly with the trickster energy of Uranus, in trine with Jupiter in Leo and Mars in Sagittarius, forming a grand trine in Fire signs. This is an expansive and powerfully intuitive time, when all bets are off and anything could happen, and when answers will come unbidden to our questing minds. And this is true for the next two weeks as well.

The Solar Eclipse of Thursday, October 23rd, is also quite dynamic, being in partile conjunction to Venus, now in the very beginning of Scorpio, and trine numinous Neptune. There is quite a Neptune factor for the whole of this month, since the New Moon that preceded the beginning of October also aspected Neptune. This adds a multi-dimensionality and the potential for confusion along the lines of the activities of the purely physical plane, as well as a strong sense of imaginative sensitivity as well as idealism.

The other two outer planets, Uranus and Pluto, are also highlighted in this month's configurations; with Uranus in particular being emphasized, as indicated above. The first lunation of the month, at the Quarter Moon of October 1st, coincides with the Moon in conjunction with Pluto; then the Full Moon eclipse of October 8th conjuncts Uranus, as already described. This is a busy month for transformational activity, as Uranus continues his retrograde motion, closing the gap between his degree in Aries and the perfection of his square with Pluto that gets closer over the weeks ahead, back for another exact hit by December 15th, in the ending of the year. This month is therefore bringing us a foretaste of the looming changes still to come, in symbolic resonance with the Uranus-Pluto square. This aspect refers to revolutionary and evolutionary changes that continue to be taking place, most intensely over the three-year period from 2013-2015, for each of us as individuals and for the surrounding society.