Hi Everyone

Hope you had a wonderful summer! September and October are going to be busy with planets changing direction, lots of retrograde planets and eclipses.

September

September begins as August ended with six retrograde planets:  Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. Five planets are in earth signs until the Equinox and all the qualities are represented (cardinal, fixed and mutable). The Sun and Mercury are in Virgo; Jupiter and Uranus are in Taurus; and Pluto in Capricorn. That’s a lot of earth energy – grounded, practical, slow-moving, and/or determined. We have two planets in water: Saturn and Neptune are in Pisces, the sign of faith, fog, illusion, and escapism. Mars is the only planet in an air sign (Libra), the element of ideas and the sign of relationship. Venus is the only planet in a fire sign (Leo), the element of passion, grandeur, and a sense of unworthiness.

September 3-4

Venus is the first planet to end her retrograde motion on the 3^rd at 9:20 p.m. EDT. She’ll be at 12⁰ Leo. On the 4^th Jupiter, the planet of expansion and good fortune, stations retrograde at 10:10 a.m. He’ll be at 15⁰ Taurus, next to Uranus. Neither of these planets are comfortable in slow-moving earthbound Taurus, but she is the sign most closely associated with Mother Earth, property, and possessions. Uranus invites us to change our outmoded thinking and attitudes. In retrograde motion, Jupiter may slow down our tendency to leap before we look and our “good fortune” may seem slower to arrive during this period. When a planet changes direction, it sits on the degree of the sign it is in when the direction change occurs. Outer planets tend to sit on that degree for a long time; inner planets start moving again more quickly. When this change of direction is near a placement in your natal chart, it can bring intense energy there.

September 15

Mercury ends his retrograde motion at 4:21 p.m. He’ll be at 8⁰ Virgo. Mercury is comfortable in Virgo, as he likes to categorize and analyze and be very busy thinking about things.  But then, of course, there’s analysis paralysis!

September 23

The Sun enters Libra at 2:50 a.m. This is the Autumnal Equinox. He joins Mars in Libra, the air sign of balance and relationship. Libra tends to want peace at any price and generally has extremes of energy – moving rapidly or not at all.  It is ruled by Venus, the planet of love. Mars is not happy in this sign of balance as he wants to charge ahead into battle. Mars often doesn’t take into consideration the opinions of others, which Libra always wants to balance.

But it can be a good thing for the God of War to be in the sign ruled by the planet associated with Love (Venus) – a different kind of balance.  

The New Moon occurs on September 14^th. She’ll be at 21⁰ Virgo. The Full Moon occurs on the 27^th. She’ll be at 6⁰ Aries.

October

October features the last two eclipses of the year and five planets in water towards the end of the month (Sun, Mercury, Mars, Saturn, and Neptune). Water is the element of emotions and sensitivity – and also floods and rain or lack of water. It will be a switch from all the earth in September, but water softens earth, so perhaps entrenched ideas and patterns may soften. Or we’ll have a lot of rain and be over emotional!  It can go either (or both) ways. . ..

October 10

Pluto ends her retrograde motion at 9:10 p.m. She’ll be at 27⁰ Capricorn. She’s been retrograde since May. (A note about pronouns when referring to Pluto. The planet was named for the god of the underworld, but its energy is feminine. So I’ve chosen to use she and her when referred to Pluto.) When an outer planet changes direction it can signal a time when the lessons learned during the retrograde (introspective) period are more visible and insights are acted upon.

October 14

There will be an annular solar eclipse, which is often referred to as the Ring of Fire. It will be visible from Oregon to Texas in its totality in the US.  Other parts of the US will be able to see part of the eclipse. It will last about five hours, and the Sun will be at 21⁰ Libra. This eclipse occurs rather close to Saturn in the US chart, which is at 14⁰ Libra, representing the executive and to some degree our position in the world. This eclipse is about service and payback, especially in the area of relationships of all kinds – to each other and to the planet.

October 28

This is a partial lunar eclipse that will be visible mostly in Europe and Africa, but some parts of the eastern US will be able to view part of it before the Moon drops below the horizon. It will last about four hours. The moon will be at 5⁰ Taurus. Lunar eclipses generally signal the beginning of an ending of a pattern and occur on a full moon. (Solar eclipses occur at a new moon.) The Moon is said to be exalted in Taurus, meaning that here she is closely involved with the world of form and Mother Earth. The Moon also represents our emotional nature, and Taurus tends to hang on to everything and anything longer than is necessary or healthy. This eclipse may represent a time to let go of what is no longer serving all of us in the way we feel (key word) about things and each other. The Moon will be opposed to Mercury and Mars in Scorpio – think teeter totter/balance. Emotions will also be running very deep and sometimes secretively.

The Sun enters Scorpio on October 23^rd at 3:04 p.m.

Happy Fall, everyone!

Peace and abundant blessings,

Margaret