​Saturday, October 8.  “Fasten Your Seatbelts it's Going to be a Bumpy Night” is a famous line delivered with gusto by the inimitable Bette Davis from the 1950 classic film ALL ABOUT EVE.  It’s an apt quote for the upcoming astrology as this weekend’s Full Moon at 17° Aries ushers in the eclipse season along with today’s massively important direct station of Pluto at 26°06’ of Capricorn.  The Full Moon is ruled by Mars in Gemini slowing down getting ready for a very long retrograde through January 12 and the upcoming Solar Eclipse at 2° Scorpio is also ruled by Mars thereby doubly emphasizes the warrior planet’s current and future influence over the next six months.  Many of us are already aware to some extent of the quagmire that will absorb us through the rest of the year into early 2023.   
 
The Pluto station this weekend, emotionally heightened by an Aries Full Moon, unleashes intense energy from the underworld.  Passion and Power are key words.  The sword of power can swing two ways. There’s an eruptive quality to the weekend as important matters, both good and bad, come to light. You may be dealing with issues surrounding compulsions, addictions, obsessions, manipulations, money, control, triangularized relationships and trust.  The blessing of this full moon is that Jupiter and Venus play major roles by lending their benefic touch to what comes to light.  This is a gateway full moon so Jupiter/Venus can offer meaning, explanations, love and compassion to understand the forces at work that will dominate the weekend.  Enjoy any fun and good news the weekend brings because things will only heat up as the month progresses.  The looming intensity of the next six months may be a different matter altogether. 
 
Plutonian power forges evolutionary change but it can be used appropriately and inappropriately, consciously and unconsciously and we often don’t have much control over how things play out, although sometimes we do.  The complex combination of the power dynamics makes a difference in the degree of intensity in how these evolutionary changes are experienced.   We all are about to gain consciousness on our karmic patterns as they’re brought to the surface.  Certain underlying habitual patterns can be changed and altered, others we learn to accept and live with, while still others will be ripped apart from us in ways beyond our control.  The level of pain and suffering when Pluto is involved is extremely dependent on how each individual deals with deep rooted issues of death, transformation, destruction and eventual rebirth that comes after a period of annihilation.  I know these are extreme words but we are living in extreme and polarizing times and Pluto in its current position in the zodiac and in the natal chart of the USA is about to separate the men from the boys and the wheat from the chaff, so to speak.  People, places, things, concepts, ideas, countries, institutions, structures and almost anything else that forms the basis of our material world is being uprooted, purged and reshaped. 
 
The dark and often frightening underworld of our psychological complexes as well as the physical and material underworld of our life structures are being rocked in evolutionary ways that will change things forever in the upcoming months and years.  Pluto is at the last degrees of Capricorn before entering a brand new sign, Aquarius, on March 23, 2023.  The energetic difference between Capricorn and Aquarius is like being caught between two worlds; the future of the living and the past of the dead.  The questions being asked are what of the past will remain and in what form vs. what will die and be annihilated.   Will you have the power and will to survive the continued evolutionary onslaught?  Pluto leaving Capricorn signals a final blow of death and destruction of those structures and institutions that no longer can stand the test of time.  This is true in our personal lives as well as on the world stage.  The shift of energy is reminiscent of the Titanic on her last voyage.  The seemingly invincible institutions and structures that have been the bedrock of our world and have been upheld for hundreds and hundreds of years continue to be questioned as many sink into the dark, deep ocean after having been hit by an iceberg.  Not all of them, just those that are rotting and decaying from the inside out and can no longer survive in their current form.
 
Mars retrograde demands re-thinking things and taking action by returning and reviewing the past to collect more information and facts about what needs to stay and what needs to go. We must re-think action before steering on a new course in 2023.  Mars is digging deep into the depths of our unconscious.  Mars rejoices in the 6th house for that is a place of servitude, hard work and effort.  In Hellenistic astrology it is the house of bad fortune.  In the diurnal motion it is the first house to sink below the Earth’s surface.  It has to excavate with the diligence of a ditch digger into the muck and mire and do the dirty work necessary before it can get to the gold that lies deeply beneath mother earth’s surface in the 5th house of good fortune.  It takes courage and bravery to go into the depths of the earth.  Many a hero in ancient mythology takes a journey into the underworld to fight dragons and demons in order to return to the light wiser, greater and stronger.  Descending into the depths is dark, dank, without light and it is where undesirable things are banished, buried and hidden.  It takes a God like Mars to have the guts to face the unforeseen monsters both real and imaginary and slay the demons and return rebirthed and glorified after winning the battle.  
 
The USA is experiencing its Pluto return from 2021 through 2023 along with its ingress into Aquarius the sign of politics, democracy, technology and freedom.  A Pluto return occurs approximately every 248 years.  In 1776 we had the birth of our nation after the Revolutionary War.  On the Pluto return we are being rebirthed.  For the last decade while Pluto has been in Capricorn reaping the USA has been reaping its karma of the past 248 years.   Everything bubbling up in a volcanic eruption since 2008 has revealed the ramifications of the most unsavory actions from our past.  It’s time to become mature about that which we have buried and left unprocessed   Staring the bogey man in the face is never easy.  Read the headlines.  We can see there are gravely deep powers at force spewing to the surface forging tectonic shifts.  Let’s see just what form the revolution takes.  Let’s see what Pluto destroys when it ingresses into Aquarius before it heals and rebirths. 
 
For two and half years Saturn has shown us the cracks in the sign of Aquarius.   Pluto will be the final death knell, flushing and evacuation of our Capricorn institutions before an eventual regenerative healing into the future Aquarian new age.  We have seen the amazing light into the future with incredible technological advances but along with that we have to deal with the misuse and abuse of power.  Pluto entering Aquarius in its initial stages over the next few years will be a further analysis and destruction of technology, political principals and continued global humanitarian crises.  Eventually there will be a reconstruction when a new template is created as the phoenix eventually rise from the ashes.     
 

There’s an important and volatile full moon in Taurus culminating late Friday night into early Saturday morning that has all the earmarks of an “October Surprise”.  Normally a Taurus Full Moon lights up issues surrounding material security.  This one is no different in essence, but the form it takes may not be the most comfortable, soothing or conservative energy to enhance or shift that security.  The degree of this full moon occurs at an exact conjunction with the planet Uranus.  Uranian themes color the entire weekend with ramifications that last into the future.  The style with which Uranus colors life events are to expect the unexpected, a roller coaster ride, chaos, things reverse and move in an opposite direction, a 180° shift, divorces, separations, earthquakes, sudden out of the blue events, break-ups, break-outs, break-downs break-throughs, enlightenment and epiphanies.  Just last night here in NYC high winds sent a crane tossing and turning high above a tall skyscraper, knocking debris off that came falling from the sky.  Luckily no one was hurt but this is the type of energy of which I’m talking.  Also, the temperatures here in the northeast are plummeting at least 30° in a short amount of time and a cold wet rain is turning into snow in many areas with the sudden and shocking shift in temperature. 
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Personally, these disruptive events happen in the house that the full moon occurs.  This is an erratic energy and we are taken off guard by what the surprise is, so in some ways it’s hard to be prepared.  Yet, the catchphrase “expect the unexpected” is the best way to deal with things and therefore it is a highly predictive type of energy.  Let’s see how this plays out on the political front with Election Day only 4 days away concurrent with a Mercury direct station. 

This also can be the type of awareness that shakes and knocks you out of a rut that you’ve been stuck in for a very long time.  If you’ve been sinking in quicksand then revelations occurring now may be just the right thing to shock you into an important shift and change.  The Taurus energy this time around is about not being complacent.  It’s essential to make change to the status quo.  Business as usual is over and you may need some kind of revolutionary energy to deliver the freedom needed to break you away from the shackles that bind you to a burdensome material existence. It’s about a reinvention of the material world and its resources that support you.  Taurus is a very physical and body oriented sign therefore much of this energy may be sourced through the body in terms of diet, physical activity, nutrition and disease.  As a money-oriented sign let’s continue to monitor the stock markets and our own personal bank accounts.  On a more deeply psychological level pay attention to your inner self worth and self-esteem by being more creatively inventive about your innate talents, resources and gifts.  You may be surprised as to what your true calling really is as you learn to apply those talents in new and innovative ways. 

One last image is that of an electric lightning bolt thrown from the sky thrusting into a giant redwood tree.  Instead of splicing it in half and burning it down there is a reanimation of life and matter that brings a rebirth.  Dr. Frankenstein tried to bring the dead back to life with dire consequences.  It’s not about playing God in a way where you are looking for unbridled power outside yourself but about looking to see how your inner God/Goddess can enlighten the power within making it sourced from the heart center thereby benefiting yourself and society at large.  

Happy Halloween!!!

Today is a full moon in Leo.  This sign likes to party and since this lunation falls on a Saturday it's a great night to have fun, do something entertaining, show off and enjoy life in all its full blown vitality.  There will be lots of competition to share the spotlight with others especially since Venus has just entered Aries, another self-driven and egocentric sign.  If you're not a competitive person you may be steam rolled by others that easily will steal the spotlight from you.  If you enjoy being an audience and watching others then there will be plenty to watch and enjoy.  

The Moon forms inconjunct aspects with Mercury, Jupiter and Neptune so this can cause mental confusion and misperceptions.  This is an energy that can easily cause discomfort if you overdo excessive behavior.  It's a wonderful day to work on art projects or attend artistic events.  Imbibing too much alcohol can draw the wrong type of attention so be mindful.  

​But all in all, have fun and play with friends, lovers and other strangers!