Weekly Astrology Oct 25 - Nov 1
Friends, we have before us a relatively quiet week of astrological aspects, still challenging, but with some significant improvements that may provide a little relief. Still, with Saturn and Pluto conjunct, as they were when the pandemic began, and November’s Jupiter Pluto conjunction gaining strength, we will have to make an effort to find that feeling of relief. It will be all too easy to remain in the maelstrom of anxiety, in the vortex of pessimism and depression. And yet Saturn and Pluto offer much more than suffering. They can teach us very important lessons about ourselves and about life. They can liberate us from what we’ve outgrown. They can help lead us to renewal and revival, meditation and healing. For best results emphasize rest and nutrition. Be humble, and avoid unnecessary conflict. Judging and undermining others, dismissive rejections and the like will not have good results. Have faith in yourself and in others. Allow them to evolve. Awaken the eager student that every soul is.
Yesterday’s Venus trine Saturn will be with us through most of this week, helping us to organize and to set boundaries. If you want relationships to last be honest, devoted and loyal. If you want your creative work to last identify weaknesses and strengthen them with mentorship, practice and study. Read history to gain perspective on our own time of crisis, and to gain insights into how to live a happy life. For some a darker shade of art and humor may bring comfort. Writers like Celine or Khodasevich, melancholy or cathartic music and fine art can help us realize others have been where we are now.
For example, the great Renaissance Platonist Marsilio Ficino near the end of his life faced a time when Europe was ravaged with plague, and Savonarola ignited the Bonfire of the Vanities, burning many books and masterpieces of art, including Ficino’s books. In the midst of Savonarola’s orgy of penance and pessimism, his rejection of nature, of earthly love and harmony, Ficino penned a moving commentary on the Epistle of Paul that reminded readers, to use the terminology of a different culture, that this world is the Buddha World. In one of his letters Ficino wrote: “To an evil man, indeed, all things, even the good, are turned into evil. To a good man, however, all things, even those which seem very bad, are finally turned into good.”
This morning at 11:23 AM Pacific, sun conjunct Mercury was exact, making this a good time for reading, communicating, and researching. There can be a tendency with this aspect to put too much ego into communications. To see only our own point of view. With Mercury retrograde it’s all the more important to listen and to ask questions. Expect delays and confusion. Patiently explain your position and respect opposing opinions. Learn something valuable by paying attention to the messages of the day through the beginning of this week.
Tuesday Oct 27 at 6:33 PM Mercury enters Libra, having been in Scorpio and soon to return there. Here Mercury is more favorable for partnerships, negotiations, romance and for adding grace to creativity. Look for the balance of fairness in your communications. With sun conjunct Mercury this a good time for writers to bring beauty to their craft.
Also Tue at 6:41 PM Venus enters Libra, which many will find as a relief from its sojourn through Virgo since Oct 3. Venus in Virgo can be overly analytic and prone to worry. There is a tendency to criticize self and others. Creativity and romance can be inhibited, but also articulated. With Venus in a sign it rules the focus turns to partnership and to creativity. Enjoy some music. Express yourself diplomatically. Seek harmony and balance.
Wed Oct 28 sun inconjunct Chiron is exact at 2:32 PM. Inconjunctions can indicate issues around health, and Chiron can provoke healing through crisis, so we have here an important few days this week relating to well being in the physical sense. With Saturn conjunct Pluto and Jupiter soon to be conjunct Pluto the pandemic has surged into a third wave as scientists and astrologers have predicted for some time. Avoid risks. Over optimism can have drastic consequences with Jupiter conjunct Pluto. Jupiter amplifies, and amplified Pluto can more anxiety and suffering. So take care of yourself and take care for others. Listen to the signs your body is showing you. Uncover underlying issues related to suppressed emotions or bad habits, or the absence of specific good ones. If the news has disturbed your ability to get adequate sleep and to eat well then unplug from the feed and give yourself a day off to return to the simple pleasures.
Also on Wed, Saturn finally moves out of 25 Capricorn, but it is still conjunct Pluto, and Pluto is still stationary at 22 Cap. These long stations, especially involving Saturn or Pluto, and even more so when Saturn and Pluto are conjunct, can feel intolerably slow, grinding us down, leaving many feeling hopeless and helpless. But this is also a rare opportunity for making big changes in our lives, for deepening our soulfulness and mindfulness, for learning essential lessons that will help us live better lives. With Saturn leaving 25 Capricorn there can be a small sense of relief, of resumed motion. But the conjunction continues and Pluto is still stationary so the unusually strong challenges we’ve been facing remain. Be patient. Remember, Dec 21 a new 20 year cycle begins, this time in the sign of Aquarius, and the world a few years from now will be very different from today’s miasma of calamities.
Also on Wed, Mars square Pluto separates more than five degrees, another small relief for those sensitive enough to feel it. This square will return at the end of December and early January 2021. With Saturn and Pluto still conjunct, and for the most part stationary, it may be hard to tell that Mars will not aggravate our predicaments as intensely as it has been. The easing of Mars square Saturn last week and Mars square Pluto this week somewhat reduces the potential for violence in the aftermath of what promises to be a confusing Election Day.
Sat Oct 31 sun opposition Uranus is exact at 8:53 AM, this aspect can indicate disruptions and upsets but also liberation and realizations. With Mercury retrograde and square Saturn, and sun opposition Uranus, delays are likely. This can be an anxious, nervous aspect, given to erratic movements and even accidents. Drive defensively. Be careful where you walk. Think before you speak. Have a safe Halloween. Keep in mind that children 14 and under generally get only two Halloweens on Saturday nights, so while you stay safe, do something special for the kids.
Sun Nov 1 Mercury square Saturn is exact at 11:06 AM, it will be exact again on Nov 6 and very strong throughout as Mercury slows to stationary direct on Nov 2. Expect bad news about the pandemic and depression and anxiety over politics. This can be an aspect of pessimistic speculation, exhausted communication, and criticism of self and others. Fear and issues from the past can interfere with the present. The thoughts of the collective turn to winter, to the shorter days, and the cold weather. With political turmoil and the pandemic this will be a hard time for many. Reach out to people. As individuals we can practice patience, organize our thoughts and our routines, and seek mentorship, study and practice to build strength where we are weak, or caught up in self defeating patterns. In a world where time and impermanence are faced by everyone, loss is an experience not to be avoided. Even for those with awakened spiritual senses the absence of loved ones aches. With Mercury square Saturn meditation can help us to heal these agonies, and can also sharpen our appreciation for the joys we have, while we have them.
Also Sunday, Venus opposition Chiron is exact at 11:55 AM. Chiron can involve healing through crisis. With Venus afflicted women, and feminine or creative people in general, may have to navigate the results of the sorrow and anxiouxness that have dwelled over all of us for so many months. But don’t allow crisis to overwhelm. View it as a path to healing. Preventative actions are best. Get rest. Meditate. Recharge yourself with the beauties of nature and art. Feed your soul with inspiring creations. Eat steadily and eat the best quality of food you can. Take time to appreciate the little things. By balancing healthy habits with creativity, romance, harmony and beauty. the end of this week, next weekend, and the beginning of the following week, can be a time of healing for us as individuals, even as the tragedy of the pandemic continues to unfold. As Ficino wrote: “Let us, I beg you, nourish and increase the spirit with spiritual food, so that it may at length become mighty and give small regard for physical things, as though they were worth very little.”
The following week will be rather quiet astrologically speaking but the one after will be intense. Take it easy this week and next, to be more prepared to face the stress of mid November. Still, we are seeing some lessening of pressure as indicated by the astrological aspects. While 2021 begins with some of the difficult aspects of next year continuing, and features a Saturn square Uranus that suggests whoever wins the election the divide in our country and world between the conservative and the progressive will continue, as will the consequences of the events of 2020, the astrological weather will not be as dire as this year’s storm of Saturn, Pluto and Mars.
Ponder, if you will, this quote from Ficino: “Why do we think love is a magician? Because the whole power of magic consists in love. The work of magic is the attraction of one thing by another because of a certain affinity of nature. But the parts of this world, like the parts of a single animal, all deriving from a single author, are joined to each other by the communion of a single nature. Just as the brain, lungs, heart, liver and the rest of the parts draw something from each other and sympathize with any of them when it suffers, so the parts of this great animal, that is all of the bodies of the world, similarly joined together, borrow and lend natures to and from each other. From this common relationship is born a common love; from love a common attraction. And this is the true magic.”
You can also view my astrology reports on Instagram and Facebook. https://www.instagram.com/theronniepontiac/ https://www.facebook.com/ronnie.pontiac
