For those of you who are unaware, The Tower tarot card in a spread symbolizes sudden change, upheaval, and awakening. It’s a card to pay attention to and to heed its warning. My coven has a mantra that we use when one of us receives this card during divination, “Let the Tower fall.” You can’t stop the inevitable, you can delay it, but then that just creates even more mayhem. So this month I say to all of you, “Let the tower fall.”
As if the summer hadn’t been transformative enough with retrograde season, October continues to bring us potent alignments. This October will be a powerful cosmic month and a time of growth, revelation, and change with two potent eclipses that are sure to create major shifts in our lives. Eclipses are the way we experience accelerated change, however, at a deeper level, they are our biggest opportunities for self-actualization. Being catalysts for spiritual transformation and evolution, eclipses bring both endings and beginnings that shape our perspectives. Therefore, the best medicine for October is to embrace surrender and acceptance. Practicing self-care and rituals remains our go-to practice, but we must remember that eclipses are not meant to be harnessed for manifestation practices, they are more about honoring our process of deep transformation.
Venus has finally emerged from her post-retrograde shadow on October 8. If we cast our minds back to early June, Venus began her slowdown into retrograde territory. Then, on July 22, she moved officially retrograde, traveling through the depths of our psyche, uncovering issues in our relationships. On September 3, Venus stationed direct, bringing the final lessons. Now, as she leaves the shadow phase, she is on to new adventures and so are we, especially when it comes to matters of the heart.
On October 10, Pluto wakes up from its five-month nap to make quite an entrance. As one of the key players of the astrology of 2023, Pluto has been ending its fifteen-year journey in Capricorn, slowly dipping back into Aquarius by January 2024. For the last few months, we have had strong retrograde activity from the planets. This can sometimes create a feeling of sluggishness and a feeling of being stuck. More and more now, planets are starting to shift direct and Pluto is next in line. With Pluto now moving direct, we may begin to see things starting to move around us with a bit more speed and ease. It may be easier to take steps forward, especially in areas we have felt controlled or suppressed in some way. Pluto represents power, so often when it stations direct, we can find ourselves coming into a new personal power. If we have been dealing with power struggles in our lives, things can start to feel easier from this point forward. Especially being in Capricorn, Pluto guides us to express our power in a responsible way. How can we step into our power so we can take responsibility for the things that are important to us?
Eclipses always come in pairs, with the first one being a new moon solar eclipse and the second one being a full moon lunar eclipse. The October 14 solar eclipse is the first to illuminate air sign Libra since March of 2016. As far as themes for this eclipse we could be considering new beginnings in relationships and connections of all kinds. Themes of justice, fairness, and balance could permeate both collectively and personally. We’re invited to find harmony and embrace the beautiful side of life as epiphanies arrive and deep healing takes place at a soul level.”
The very last eclipse of 2023 arrives exactly two weeks later, on October 28. This full moon lunar eclipse, happening in Taurus, marks the end of a two-year cycle that began in November of 2021. Since full moons are about wrapping stuff up, endings should now be pronounced. We may experience a major release that feels both sacred and necessary. A cycle is now coming to an end so new realities can come to exist for us. Our focus could be on security, finances, self-esteem, and the material realm. Adjustments to how we’re building our lives and legacies could be highlighted.
Mars (October 12) and Mercury (October 22) enter the waters of Scorpio, followed by the sun on October 23. This three-planet combination creates an extremely magical atmosphere that awakens our inner mystic, which can be very empowering. Our intuition will be at an all-time high, making October an especially beneficial time for rituals of all kinds. With special access to our emotional depths, we may come to find that we have the drive to accomplish anything we want, this month and beyond.
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