Full moons light it up from both sides of the month as Mercury joins Mars on the retrograde stage.
With a full Harvest Moon on the first and a rare Blue Moon on Halloween bookending the retrograde drama, it’s wise to wait in the wings and get ready for your next act.
As heat waves continue to roll through the West, tropical storms flood the South and drought depletes reservoirs in the Northeast, the pressure builds beyond the red zone threatening to shatter the gauge glass. Cue, presidential debates! Folks, October is bound to be a sizzler. To catch a cooling trend, redirect all this fiery Martian energy into making a plan of action for when the heat dies down. Let the sign of the scales be your guide. When you’re spent on strategizing, find a comfortable pumpkin patch and lie down, radical rest is a must. While you’re at it, tap into the Venus in Virgo and Mercury retrograde in Scorpio (Oct. 13th to Nov. 3rd) energy this month and get out your journal. Write it all out as you take healthy steps toward eating more plants than animals. And consider chanting Michele Obama’s mantra, “When they go low, we go high.” An unpredictable player in this combustible month, trickster planet Uranus, saddles up to the second full moon on Halloween, likely adding to the level of frustration. Yet his antics while unsettling, offer a much needed breath of fresh air and can set us on a path to freedom. Yes please and thank you, we welcome that.
By Lisa Lisa and the Star Jam*
LIBRA (Sept. 23–Oct. 22) This month presents a balancing act between yourself and others. The full moon on the first tips the scales toward making adjustments in a significant partnership. With agro planet Mars moving backward in your house of one-on-ones, when you find others spoiling for a fight, waive your white flag and walk away. ‘Easy does it’ becomes more than a bumper sticker-–tattoo it on your butt this fall, Libra. As your peace-loving ruler, Venus wanders through your behind-the-scenes house most of the month, you find divine guidance by getting cozy with some alone time. Serenity is what you’ll be seeking, so spend time in the forest, meditating, or interpreting your dreams. Add to that, a new moon in your sign mid-month, further turning your attention to what you want. Spend your birthday month pampering your body and finetuning your eating and sleeping habits. Libran athletes may be motivated to begin a new cycle of smarter training. Using what you’ve learned through trial and error and making tweaks will set you up for success by Thanksgiving. As Mercury retraces its tracks in your money house, you may find yourself obsessing over your bank statements or reevaluating how to monetize your talents. At the end of the month, a surprise development in the tricky territory of shared resources and intimacy could catch you unawares. Whether it harkens a sudden loss or a deepening of an already lusty relationship, embrace stillness over action in order to maintain equilibrium.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23–Nov. 21) The full Harvest Moon on the first motivates you to axe a dead aspect of your daily life that’s been weighing you down for a while, and in doing so you may gain insight into why you were holding on to it in the first place. Good riddance once and for all. This act of reckoning ignites a powerful healing process that at first sets up some deep reflection around how your ego operates in terms of your self-image. As mental Mercury reverses through your house of the unconscious, plumb the depths of your innermost psyche. If this deep dive turns up stinky dirt, don’t freak out about the worms, instead keep turning the compost! Use the new moon in cool-headed Libra mid-month to harness this dark matter, employing that rich compost to amend the soil of your community, making space for deeper, more interdependent growth. As the month comes to a close with your favorite holiday, expect a sudden pivot in your most personal relationship. How can you use such a shake-up to your advantage? Fair-minded Venus gracing your house of group involvement for most of the month eases the way with a little help from your friends.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22–Dec. 21) A full moon right at the beginning of the month lights up an area where you’ve been stuck over analyzing a problem. Whether it’s a struggle to get a creative project off the ground, move a new love interest to the next level, or help your kid get to the next developmental stage, the remedy is to loosen up and laugh. So, let the paint fly, meet up with your former band mates to strum a few chords, or finally go out on that second date; whatever it is, let pleasure lead the way. Mid-month as nimble Mercury backtracks through your house of the unconscious, carve out some time for a self-styled spiritual retreat. You’ll find that you tap in quickly to your inspiration and can gain quite a lot of information from unexpected ethereal sources. The potential is there to elevate the vibes of your daily grind. We may witness you charm your way into a new job or see your stock rise at work; the higher ups appreciate you now and this increased recognition has the potential to pay off. A new moon on the 16th marks a new beginning around attracting like-minded peers with whom you could collaborate on a social justice cause close to your heart. Halloween may bring a pleasant surprise to your daily activities, opening up space for this new group effort. And suddenly, you’re off galloping again!
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22–Jan. 19) We are aggrieved to say it yet we know that you know it’s true; Sea Goats have been getting more than their fair share of hardship this year. Stay as positive as you can though, as it’s just a couple more months of this, and that pesky clump of heavy planets in your sign will finally move on to other cusps. At the beginning of October, focus on the homefront, whether it’s putting the finishing touches on new digs or delving into your ancestry, you are likely to find an opportunity to lay unhealthy dependencies to rest. Done is done. Mid-month, Mercury moves backward making sure you dot i’s and cross t’s with some potentially intricate details regarding that board you serve on. Don’t rush it. Meanwhile, delightful Venus smooths the corridors of your house of higher-learning and truth, making study or teaching a favored pursuit. A Blue Moon (a second full moon) at the end of the month brings a refreshing charge of creative impulse. Get out and howl at the moon, you old Goat.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20–Feb. 18) While the start of the harvest month has your focus on what is and isn’t working regarding where you stand within the social fabric of your neighborhood, by the end you may be surprised to find yourself on new ground. Meanwhile, Mercury retrograding through your career house could have you back-tracking on a business negotiation or reconsidering just what to say to the boss. Take your time. The new moon mid-month highlights ideas about your ideals or may have you committing to a new book deal. Could just be where the extra cash comes from this fall, helping you get through some of the thornier financial hedgerows to come. With the good graces of Venus, you should find support in addressing difficult topics involving shared finances or a power dynamic that if handled with grace could eventually deepen your engagement with intimacy.
PISCES (Feb. 19–March 20) There’s an old story still waiting to be resolved around your self-worth issues, which you know well by now also have to do with your financial issues. The month starts with an opportunity to focus on this stale narrative. Can you finally put this beast to rest for good and embrace your powerful life-affirming imagination? We’re here to remind you that whatever you can envision in your mind’s eye, you can actualize in real time; such is the Fishes enviable gift. Mid-month has Mercury retracing his steps through your house of higher mind, encouraging you to look at all the angles of an intricate philosophical treatise or is it a question, while the new moon suggests you might surrender into a deeper intimacy with an as yet to be examined asset. Do your due diligence and consider exercising those stock options. There could be gold in them there M&As. All the while, Venus’s good graces bestow a lovely vibe to all your personal one-to-one relationships. At Halloween you may want to outthink the tricksters by setting up your own surprise at the front door for all those mysteriously masked (hooray PPE!) revellers.
ARIES (March 21–April 19) The month starts with a doozy of a full moon in your sign, which basically means, stay home and hide behind the couch. Ha-ha! Just kidding, you ol’ feisty warrior. What it could mean though is, if you can focus on your own wounds, no matter how mad your crazy neighbor makes you, you may find some final healing for not just your soul but your actual physical body, too. Now, that’s music to an athletic Ram’s ears. Yes, go for your long-awaited trail run now that the air’s clearing but start slow, go slower and finish 10 minutes later. With Mercury going retrograde in your house of deep resources and intimacy, you’re going to be retreading through this terrain and closely examining your investments, both financial and emotional. Venus will offer a leg up around your daily routines, ensuring your to-do list includes a few delightful things. The full moon on Halloween could bring a surprise, neigh revolution to your bank account. Remember, you actually like surprises.
TAURUS (April 20–May 20) The month starts with some possible discomfort stirring in your psyche that with some close examination could prove to be fertile ground for furthering your emotional growth. Go ahead and book an extra session with your therapist to do some work with alternative methods like hypnosis or EMDR. You’ll be glad to uncover something stuck, look at it, and toss it into the compost bin for good. Getting this work out of the way paves new roads in your closest relationships as Mercury signals it’s final retrograde period of the year in your house of partnerships. A great time to think through the finepoints and come up with a strategy for your relationship moving forward. A new moon in your health house has you committing to a new exercise plan or giving up the IPA’s for a few weeks. New habits are wanting to be formed. A little warning for the wise, if you’re not wanting to get pregnant this month, best to be extra safe as Venus flirts in your house of romance (and procreation). By the end of the month, you’ve got us all guessing.
GEMINI (May 21–June 20) The beginning of the month may find you hot under the collar with your comrades at the local Communist Party planning meeting. Cool it, Twins! With your ruling planet Mercury reversing from your daily routine house to your house of romance and pleasure this month, save your spinning wheels for the screenplay rewrite or a flirtatious adventure with a new love interest. As the new moon in Libra brings in some much needed balance mid-month, rededicate yourself to your creative life and leave the self-righteous windbags to their own acrimony. Get to dusting literal and therefore figurative cobwebs as well-appointed Venus shows up in your house of hearth and home with mop and pail. A full moon on Halloween stirs up some unforeseen content usually locked away in the depths of your unconscious. Be brave and give it a good hard look. It could, at long last, free you from a crippling complex.
CANCER (June 21–July 22) As you conscientious Crabs take a step back from the demands of your careers, you begin to really feel how exhausted you are. Your next step is to set intentions for putting true self-care into action. A timeout translates into thinking about what has given you pleasure in the past versus what you find pleasurable now, after so much has changed. Seriously, set the to-do list aside and relax into a more organic flow to give that body a break. From resetting your rise and shine an hour later to the simple pleasure of savoring a piece of fruit or joining your kid in the sand box; as poet Mary Oliver writes, “you only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.” A new moon mid-month funds you the energy boost needed to refurbish your home and put things back in order on the domestic front. By Halloween, Crustaceans should prepare for some unexpected reshufflings in their friends group. And all those worldly decisions you thought you needed to make—just sleep on it.
LEO (July 23–Aug. 22) The full moon on the first illuminates a deeply ingrained ideology you hold that presently causes you pain; it’s an outgrown belief and while it might have once defined you, it’s high time you let that albatross go, Leo. Anchor yourself instead in this process of purging old habits and polishing over those tired grooves that have kept you on autopilot. As you reflect on those long past, difficult childhood experiences you rebuild your foundation of what home and safety mean to you. A secure den and private resting place are essential in helping you to take your time, process, and heal. As benevolent Venus moves into your money house this month, you have the cushion you require to get you through during any needed downtime. Get your rest, Kittys. A new moon mid-month nudges you to say what’s on your mind (or in your heart) in a gentle mew rather than a ferocious roar to just the right audience. Welcome home, Leo. Come Halloween, be ready for a last minute costume change, as that second full moon could mean a shakeup on the career front. We’ll keep our fingers crossed for a sweet promotion that has you polishing your new crown.
VIRGO (Aug. 23–Sept. 22) As your ruler Mercury shifts into reverse on the 13th, Virgins turn their attention to sharpening their pencils instead of their teeth. The power of language takes center stage and taking your time to say what you mean without zinging others becomes key. The route to clarity however, is found in the body not the mind. It’s time to tune into your senses and your heart. With peace-loving Venus hanging out in your sign for most of the month, your popularity soars and that extra dose of grace can bring harmony to some pretty dicey conversations. Remember, we’re all learning here, including you. The full moon on the 1st and new moon on the 16th spotlights your money houses, harkening changes around your finances. This could stir up some old wounds around your ability to support yourself and accept help when needed. Perhaps try seeing the ledger other than in black and white; allow for creative solutions to emerge and you’ll be sitting pretty not just on your tomato harvest but perhaps a stroke of luck involving one of your many innate talents. At this point, it’s less about the answers and more about the questions. At Halloween, don’t be surprised if a whole new way of looking at things opens up. It’s not scary. It’s liberating!
If you know your rising sign, read that too; it’s often more relevant.
By Lisa Lisa and the Star Jam*