Mercury Retrograde, the Eclipses, and Pluto Direct in October 2014

In October we will be weaving in and out of both Libra and Scorpio.  This mix of energies may prove to be an interesting warp and woof of both lovely serenity as well as magnified intensity which can even become deeply disturbing.  Both signs are relationship oriented, so pay attention to all of your major relationships both personal and professional.  This is where the action will be focused and where you have an opportunity to delve more deeply into greater observation of what is wrong and how to fix things to improve or transform the dynamics.

We start out with a Mercury Retrograde on October 4th at 2+ Scorpio.  By October 11th Mercury has moved back into Libra where it will continue to  unwind until October 25th when it finally stations Direct at 16+ degrees of Libra.  Keep in mind that from September 13th through November 10th (nearly two months) we experience Mercury moving from 15+ Libra through 2+ Scorpio.  Pay attention to where this is taking place in your own chart.  This is the area where all those lovely retrograde words will matter:  review, revamp, rethink, rewrite, take recourse, recant (!), redo, reroute, and on and on.  🙂  Pay attention to how you listen and how you speak, how you move and how you hold stillness.

Note also, from the chart above, that Pluto in Capricorn forms a close square to the Sun/Venus in Libra and Uranus retrograde in Aries at the beginning of this retrograde period.  This Cardinal T-square continues in various forms throughout October.

B. A. Vierling artist

Pluto in Capricorn is now direct and inching closer and closer to that 15th degree of maximum intensity.  The square with Uranus is far from over reaching exactness once again in December.  Any time other planets move into an alignment with this conflict of interests between the two transpersonal energies we will continue to see fireworks.  A key theme with Pluto is intensity, while a key theme with Uranus is erratic unpredictability.  Intense, erratic, and unpredictable events are going on here, there, and everywhere.  Furthermore, as Kathy points out in her monthly forecast, we have a Grand Trine right now in Fire signs which brings to the table more passion, energy, as well as inflationary energies.  Here in California it has felt like a conflagration with the monstrous King Fire that stormed through nearly 100,000 acres of forest recently.  Our air was so choked with smoke it was difficult to move about out of doors.

There is action aplenty going on everywhere.  People are moving around, switching jobs, getting married, changing partners—–well, isn’t that always going on?  Yes, but we see it strongly right now in Aries people especially, then Librans.   Probably Capricorn resists and Cancer reluctantly complies with what can not be controlled due to that Pluto/Uranus dynamic.  Partnership and famiily matters are likely to be forefront and center during October.

One nice note in the mix is that Sun/Venus conjunction which will eventually include Mercury.  The closest they all come together during Mercury’s retrograde is between October 16th and 18th.  Enjoy the love and artistry that those three may bring!

The Full Moon Total Lunar Eclipse on October 8th finds the 15th+ degree of Sun in Libra and Moon in Aries very much highlighted.  Both Venus and the North Node align with the Sun while Uranus and the South Node align with the Moon. This is a potent polarity exacerbated by the intensity of Pluto in Capricorn squaring both.  The world stage is fraught with heightened tensions on so many levels it feels like almost more than we can take in emotionally.  There is the ever-escalating violence in the Middle East, there is the Ebola epidemic in Africa gradually escaping to other places on the globe via air travel, there is currently the Hong Kong ‘umbrella protests’ against China, and the aftermath of the great ‘climate march’.  The list goes on and on doesn’t it?  It’s often difficult to make sense of cause and effect right now.  Is Pluto symbolizing true break-downs where those in power are concerned, or even tighter grips on control?  Is Uranus symbolizing public protests and uprisings of people wanting more individual rights, or a furtherance of erratic violence?  One thing we do know is that these issues are now global rather than simply localized incidents.  Naomi Klein addresses these issues eloquently in her new book, “This Changes Everything”.   It’s truly a ‘must read’ informing us of what capitalism has wrought on this planet.   Her book goes a long way in connecting the dots between humankind’s exploitation of natural resources and climate change, for climate change impacts everyone.

This Total Lunar Eclipse will be visible from most of South America, some of North and Central America across the great Pacific to Asia and Australia.  That’s a wide swath of impact!  These Libra/Aries themes combined with Pluto in Capricorn reverberate the war and peace themes to a heightened crescendo.  It’s a cliche to say we need more love.  We need more concern for life on every level!!  We are now witnessing clearly how greed destroys, and  who those voracious old dinosaurs are who are still hungry for more.  They could be individuals, collective groups/institutions/corporations, or governments.  We know it can’t continue or we all say ‘bye bye’ beautiful earth’.  Yes, it is sobering when we consider the young lives whose potential is yet unlived.  No wonder we see so many young people rising and protesting.  They want to have a world to live in!  And they want a world that is still healthy, vibrant, and enjoyable.  Why wouldn’t they?

Lunar Eclipses blot out the Moon, which is another way of saying ‘the past’.  It’s time to see where each of us can make necessary changes to create more harmony, fairness, and—-yes—-love in all of our relationships.  It’s time, also, that we demand that our larger institutions and governments do the same.  Accountability is called for now on every level, which is one of the deeper meanings of Pluto moving through Capricorn.

I still like to use Lunar Eclipses to create a ritual of release.  It’s easy.  Simply write out everything you wish to release, to let go of.  Then burn it.  We have that Grand Trine in Fire with this Eclipse.  The fire of idealism and passion is still needed to move us to action and change.  In fact, this Lunar Eclipse chart has a lovely Kite Pattern as shown by the Venus/Sun at the head of the Kite branched by Jupiter in Leo on one side and Mars in Sagittarius on the other.  Both of these funnel down to the tail of the kite, Uranus/Moon in Aires.  A Kite Pattern shows how to resolve polarity with harmony.  The fire of enthusiasm is definitely needed now to shift energies in a positive direction.

Finally on October 23rd we witness another Partial Solar Eclipse at 0+ Scorpio.  There’s that repeating theme again!  We saw it first with Mercury hitting that spot twice.  I like the Janduz interpretation of this degree as one of ‘ferocious decision’.  We know that Scorpio can be voraciously focused with changing the status quo.  Scorpio marks that time of the year in the Northern Hemisphere when transformation through death and decay takes place.    It’s also that time of the year in the Southern Hemisphere when rebirth is taking place in readiness of warmer more fertile days.  This is part of the natural cycle which can not be thwarted.   We now know that death and rebirth are happening simultaneously which means that it’s never about just one experience.  They are intertwined.  Yet this Eclipse falling on the inception of this very deep and intense sign, Scorpio, signals that unfinished business is still at hand.  A Solar Eclipse means that  YOU CAN NOT MOVE FORWARD UNTIL THE PAST HAS BEEN DEALT WITH.

In this modern world we don’t like to look back and reflect.  I’ve said this countless times.  Our media, and media propaganda machines drive the obsession to keep us consuming and ever revved up to move forward with the next craze, trend, and newest gimmick.  We are like lemmings rushing to oblivion in our desires to have more of what is driving us forward.  We simply don’t stop to think, “Who is driving me?”  We don’t stop to think deeply about why is this going on and who wants it to happen?  We don’t even stop to evaluate why we should rush off into another war, for we are now led to believe that we must be in endless wars which have no end nor conclusion.  And who profits?  Who pays?  These ARE Scorpio themes my friends.

This Solar Eclipse is part of the ‘Saros Series 16’ eclipses which began way back in 1653.  The last solar eclipse at this degree was on October 23rd, 1995.  For those of you interested in mundane astrology it might prove interesting to see what was going on through-out the globe around that time:  We had the Oklahoma City bombing, NATO went on a bombing campaign against the Serbs, the Ebola virus killed 244 Central Africans, several enormous earthquakes took place, one killing 6,433 people in Kobe, Japan, Syria was having ‘peace talks’ with Israel, and the World Trade Organization began as a replacement for GATT.  Finally, in NYC more than 170 countries decided to extend the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty indefinitely and without conditions.  So where are we now with some of the these same themes?

For those of you more interested in your own personal life, it’s good to reflect anew on what was emphasized that year for you, keeping in mind that Solar Eclipses place emphasis on the area of life experience where the degree falls (meaning the House in your Natal Horoscope).  Any planets within 2-3 orb conjunct or opposite are also impacted.

This Eclipse places Venus also at 0+ Scorpio with the Sun/Moon.  They are nicely trining Neptune and in a quintile aspect with Pluto.  This is an aspect of either great creativity or destruction.  Since Venus rises ahead of Sun/Moon there is an emphasis on inner values.  It will boil down to what one values ultimately.  This is one of those combinations where a compromise simply for security will retard one’s personal development.  Remember that word ‘ferocious’.  Scorpio demands a deeper strata beyond social niceties and protocol.  Scorpio never sits on the fence.  It’s all or nothing with this sign and for better or worse this deepening of conflict as well as its resolution is going to be punctuated by this Solar Eclipse.  Remember that phrase, “This Changes Everything” which  I interpret to mean “Climate Changes Everything”.  The intensity of October sets the stage for much yet to unfold in the next six months.