October
Changes—
October 24
Neptune direct
October 27-28
Vesta direct
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O C T O B E R 2 0 0 4 R E T R O G R A D E W A T C H  by Maya del Mar One planet and one asteroid turn direct this month, Neptune and Vesta. By the end of the month we have only one planet traveling retrograde (Uranus). Both of these planets turn direct during the last few days of October. This last week in October, centering around the Total Lunar Eclipse in Taurus on October 27-28, is a very active time. Neptune and Vesta thus become featured bodies in the eclipse changes. On October 24, Neptune turns direct at 13 Aquarius. Neptune is our cosmic connection. It tells where and how we connect with those dimensions which nourish our soul. It refers to the collective unconscious, to that great sea of primordial creativity from which all life springs. Neptune is difficult to define or discuss because it rules that vast dimension where everything is connected. There are no boundaries in Neptune’s realm. God of the Sea, indeed. Neptune is the Symphony of the Spheres, and we can best connect with it through music, art, and poetry. It represents the highest and most inspired urges of human nature. Images are its coin of the realm, and film, video, and movies are Neptunian. So are their stars, who arise out of the collective unconscious, and express universal urges. Neptune is a planet of sleep and dreams, of leaving this world, of escaping into fantasy or into spirit worlds. With Neptune, grounding is difficult. There can be chaos, confusion, illusion, and deceit. Penetrating insight is necessary to have any conscious direction over using Neptune’s channels to the beyond. Under Neptune’s direction, seductive propaganda, using images to convince the public, can easily draw masses of people into its web. Those images move among us as though they have a life of their own. Our unconscious automatically picks them up. This mass assimilation is the matrix of the collective "mood of the times," as we all join Neptune’s compelling flow. We lose track of our individual egos, and feel instead a public pressure to have a certain look, or uncritically accept certain ideas, or certain people—those who have captured our imaginations. This joining uncritically with mass manifestations is much more prevalent when Neptune is traveling direct. We all tend to get drawn into the same net. A particular person or concept can then have great power to inspire or to direct us, just through the use of images. We don’t really understand or experience a boundary between us and the collective. When Neptune is traveling retrograde, we are much likely to create our own nets of images, those which are apt to support our personal egos. Differences between people, and between groups, are emphasized. We have a much better idea of who we are, and of what our own particular cosmic channel is. We can buck the trend. Neptune has been retrograde since May 17. That was the day that the 911 hearings began, and the public began to lift the veils of the official story in which we had been awash. People could start a process of thinking for themselves about the meanings of those images which have been in the public domain. It is certain that during these five months during which Neptune has been traveling retrograde, there has been much re-evaluation of the flow of images throughout the social body. They have not been accepted uncritically. Now Neptune turns direct, and our individual unconsciouses will again combine to form a more unified collective unconscious. The "mood of the times" will be different than it was before last May. Our possibilities are now different. One hopeful possibility is that Neptune, in Aquarius, can provide us with lofty visions about the possibilities of humankind to live together in community. Libra, now emerging in full force, will support those ideals. We can commence to thrive in a flow of energy which is life-supportive. At the same time, Neptune, at its turn, squares Mercury in Scorpio. Neptune with Mercury, the planet of perception, can enhance the imaginative faculty—or confuse it, or deceive it. Faulty judgment, wrong thinking, hypocrisy, and lying can accompany this aspect. But Mercury in Scorpio is an ace detective, and Mercury could see through Neptune’s deceptions, and ground Neptune in reality. Both things will probably happen. We will see how Neptune/Mercury plays out during Neptune’s 7-month direct travel, for which this time sets the tone. One thing is certain. The U.S. presidential election will be a confusing situation. In fact, it already is, from many standpoints. Vesta turns direct on October 27-28, along with the Lunar Eclipse in Taurus. Vesta is about focus and dedication to what we consider important to our security. Vesta was Goddess of the Hearth, and the security of the family was her concern. She often represents work or career in a chart. One can only imagine her distress as families are being bombed out, and homes destroyed, in Palestine and in Iraq. To say nothing of the inhuman conditions in prisons, which are temporary homes. Safety is also a Vesta concern. She is connected with law and order, but universal law and order rather than that of a particular group , the ordinary rights of ordinary humans to go about their business in safety. This is the main thing for which people in Iraq are pleading. Vesta is also concerned about the safety of the clan, the community, the nation, all of those aspects of culture which create identity. As the U.S. is so mindless of the identities of other groups, and destroys them for its own ends, Vesta must be devastated. Vesta has been traveling in Pisces since mid-April, and will remain there until mid-January 2005. She enters martial Aries just before the Inauguration. It was in mid-April that the photos of the abuse at Abu Ghraib prison were first made public. I can just hear Vesta saying, "Be aware of the awful conditions which you are allowing to exist." Vesta in Pisces is dedicated to compassion, and is willing to sacrifice for the collective. She feels protective towards all the underdogs and the dispossessed of society. Vesta has been retrograde since the end of July, when the 911 report was due. Pisces is Neptune’s sign, and thus any planet in Pisces has a Neptunian wrap. We see both Neptune and Vesta connected with the 911 propaganda, the aura of glamour which moves multitudes. Neptune and Pisces Vesta together form the fabric of the "signs of the times." Vesta protects her territory—in the case of Pisces, the universe—so protection is a big theme here. Prisons are Piscean, and so is any group which is downtrodden or disenfranchised. Guarding security means guarding trust, and trustworthiness is a Vesta concern. Concern about the trustworthiness of U.S. elections is a Vesta matter. In the community of the United States, each person deserves an equal voice in the government. During the retrograde time, Vesta issues of security and trust have been dominant. We have each assimilated those issues in our own way. Now as Vesta turns direct, we will join with others who have similar views. With Vesta in Pisces, those community views will become part of the fabric of the mood of the times which is set by Neptune. During both of her stations, Vesta has been (and will be) strongly connected to Pallas Athena, the strategist. When Vesta stationed retrograde, Pallas was in Cancer, joining the U.S. Sun, thus bringing protection of the U.S. to the fore. Now in October, Pallas is in the sign of Virgo, which in this context most likely refers to the armed services. This is further confirmed by Vesta’s next stop being the martial sign of Aries. This Vesta station occurs just hours after the Lunar Eclipse, and is very much part of its action. The Eclipse is in Taurus, a sign also concerned with protecting property. Thus protection is a double theme of this eclipse. Being the great protector is Bush’s big image, and he will win voters by being in tune with the times. Want to know the planetary retrogrades for the year, in advance? Maya's extremely handy 2004 Retrograde Guide shows you at a glance the upcoming retrogrades, and how to best apply your energies during each period. Available exclusively as a Premium Subscriber bonus. |