Happy October, Everyone!

Here's your astrological forecast from your friendly neighborhood luna-tic! 

The first ten days of this month are likely to be a bit rough, especially when it comes to relationships with others. This is because Venus, the planet of harmony and balance, turns retrograde on the 5th. This isn’t that big of a deal in one way, but in another way it is, because Venus is the planet that spends less time than any of the others doing a backward dance across the sky. It may just be an inner planet, but those with any milligram of intuition in their beings will feel it pretty strongly.

Affection and your relationship with others may become strained at this time. Sometimes people become more selfish, more arrogant, and more demanding. You want to talk about soul mates? Yeah, Venus retrograde might bring them out of the woodwork, not to reconnect and fall in love happily ever after amen, but in order that karma might be brought back into balance. Now, remember, karma isn’t some big sledgehammer in the cosmos waiting to give you a headache when you least expect it. It’s just the laws of cause and effect, kind of like the apology part of a 12-step program.

Finances might be highlighted during this period, too, which lasts until 16 November. Because Venus is the planet of balance, money might be drained or out of balance in some way while it’s retrograde. It’s not the best time to invest in a big-ticket item. Watch your pre-Christmas spending, and don’t let things get out of hand.

This all might not sound like a lot of fun, but the retrograde does have it’s good points. It’s a fantastic time for doing what I call the inner work, of going within your own soul and doing some searching as to where you’re out of balance. Remember the karma I talked about? You may indeed find that you have some unfinished business with someone or that an ex-lover comes back into your life. Just don’t go rushing into their arms during the retrograde. They’re an ex for a reason; wait until Venus turns direct and then see if the bond is still there, and if you still feel the same about each other. Often things that start with a retrograde stop when the retrograde ends.

Everything could come to a head around the 10th, because that’s when Venus and Mars square off to each other. Mars is the planet of energy and adventure, and with Venus having that love factor around it, your sex drive may be up but the cooperation and amiability could well be down. If you’re in a good relationship and you know your partner well, then the sparks of passion could really fly, but remember that passion also manifests itself in rage, and make sure that you’re not taking any unnecessary risks or chances at this time. Don’t lower your standards just to hook up with someone or you might find it brings unwanted consequences into your life.  

If your relationship is less than perfect, this is not a time to hammer out what’s wrong. Yeah, you might feel that you need to get it off your chest and clear the air, but no matter how well intentioned you are, it has the potential to all backfire. My suggestion would be to write it out; if you keep a journal, great, and if not, write it out in a letter and then burn it rather than send it. Just purge it for now, and then have that heart-to-heart in a few days, when the energy isn’t quite so volatile. The 15th of October, when Mercury pairs up with Venus in the skies, is the best time to approach that type of heavy conversation. In the meantime, if you find your own passion is getting the better of you, channel it in a positive way. I tend to throw clay around, pull weeds, or go for a long walk! Just do what gets it out of your system, so that you don’t say or do something you’ll regret later on.

Those are the biggies! There’s the New Moon in Libra on 8 October, usually a time for new beginnings but you might want to postpone things this month. For one, Venus is retrograde and for two, Venus is the ruler of Libra. There’s definitely a withheld energy knocking around here. The Full Moon in Taurus on the 24th throws some energy back into Libra and might agitate that Venus retrograde, particularly as it is conjunct impulsive Uranus at the time. The Sun bumps into Venus on 26 October, and while that would usually be good for new relationships remember that Venus is retrograde, so take things steadily—unless of course you’re just looking for a quick fling! The month ends with Jupiter buddying up with Mercury on the 19th, just in time to create some fun and shenanigans in time for Halloween!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this walk through the skies this month. If you’d like a more in-depth look at the way that Venus retrograde or any of the other transits might influence you, I’d be happy to do an astrology transit report for you. Just drop me a line and we’ll take it from there, yeah?