INsight

October 2009

A season of endings and new beginnings

 

The October 4 Full Moon is known as the Harvest Moon. In the Northern hemisphere this is the Full Moon closest to the Autumn Equinox and it’s a traditional time of celebration and feasting after the hard work of the summer harvest.

 

 

Synchronistically, Saturn is about to close out its transit of Virgo, bringing a long cycle of hard work to an end.

 

Saturn will enter Libra, sign of its exaltation, by the end of the month, ushering in a two year period of negotiation, justice and balance, helping to cement new laws on environmental and social issues.

 

Saturn will return to Virgo in 2010 for a few months, but by and large this cycle is concluding. October is a good time for tying up loose ends and sorting out any details which need to be attended to.

 

 

Jupiter moves direct from the 13th, so this is a good time to arrange travel and make holiday bookings. For Aquarians and Sagittarians in particular, Jupiter’s direct movement ushers in a new phase of positive activity and progress.

 

 

The Libra New Moon on 18 October also highlights Jupiter which remains bright in the evening sky. Still joined with Chiron and Neptune, this planetary grouping is a spiritual, healing, and joyous union which is touching people in meaningful ways.

 

These planets now oppose Vesta suggesting this New Moon is a time for getting your house in order. A spring clean may be just the thing needed to bring a renewed feeling of domestic harmony and fresh energy.

 

As Jupiter moves forward, Mars shifts into Leo and starts to slow in preparation for his retrograde cycle in December. Mars will be in Leo for an extended stay, around nine months, from October 2009 until June 2010.

 

For better or worse, Mars in Leo intensifies passionate exchanges and the capacity for drama.

 

This transit could inflame egos resulting in angry outbursts or temper tantrums. Frustration is a common symptom of Mars retrograde.

 

The Sabian Symbol for this new Moon is; “the sight of an autumn leaf brings to a pilgrim the sudden revelation of the mystery of life and death”.

 

 

In the third week of October the Sun shifts into Scorpio and Saturn moves into Libra on the 30th, so the theme of rebirth and renewal will carry on throughout November.

 

The Ingress chart for Saturn in Libra (above) has a tight square between the Sun and Mars. It is this aspect which heralds Mars' slow down as he meets a major challenge in his heroic journey.

 

As Mars is co-ruler of Scorpio, and both planets form a sesquiqudrate to Moon/Juno/Uranus, Saturn in Libra is likely to resonate with powerful and dramatic shifts.

 

While Saturn is exalted in Libra there is in this Ingress chart the potential for confrontation. This is accentuated by Saturn's square to Pluto, the other ruler of Scorpio.

 

Above all, this is a month of endings and new beginnings, of reaping the harvest and sowing seeds for the new season ahead.