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October '13
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by Terry Lamb

We’re on notice that something has to change. The Fixed Signs say so, even as they prompt in us the desire to hold on to what we identify as stable. By October 1, this dynamic is established in the wake of the Venus-Mars square on September 26 (19 Scorpio-Leo), but its depth and breadth was founded lifetimes ago, conveyed to us via the time-space portals we know as the Nodes.

We’re not just talking about the Lunar Nodes, which bring us the semi-annual set of eclipses, but also the other planetary nodes, in this case principally Venus’s South (Descending) Node at 16 Libra. Every planet has its own set of nodes—places where the planet’s orbit ascends (North) or descends (South) over the ecliptic (apparent path of the Sun around Earth). They are not opposite each other, as are those of the Moon.

We could call them "sleeper" effects, because we don’t commonly track them in modern astrology, but they are powerful and it benefits us to be aware of them. The Venus South Node was contacted on August 30, bringing us into contact with a relationship black hole that ties to other timelines (past, parallel, future) because that’s what a black hole is—a door into an alternate reality ("universe"), the proverbial rabbit hole. Slipping into a black hole might feel like a death, but it is also (and actually) a rebirth into a new reality, just as Alice discovered.

We usually avoid such opportunities when they arise in our lives because we are moored tightly to our structures and web of relations. But sometimes we are cut adrift, set out to sea without anchor or support. From this fluid, flexible, malleable state of intense discomfort, we suddenly find ourselves open to new possibilities that would not even have appeared on our perceptual radar when we were safely in harbor ticking off our to-do list.

This can happen on a personal basis when we experience a transit of Pluto or Uranus to a personal point or planet, but with Uranus and Pluto in a long-term square and the dam broken open by Jupiter in Cancer (so sorry, Colorado), we are all floating away from our familiar shores. We see ourselves unmoored from a world where life was consistent, efforts were amply rewarded, and Earth was in balance. It creates a dramatic backdrop against which our personal joys and challenges continue to unfold, and we build a ship of our own construction by which we will make a crossing to the distant land of a new reality based on more sustainable values and practices.

We are distressed by this process because it is huge and long-term; yet the soul revels in it because it teaches us the true nature of life and the importance of love. What we are experiencing now is so much about love and how it is what brings us through times of great challenge. And yet, it is love that brings us the most powerful inner challenges!

In the next nine months, we will see a love story unfold in our lives in some way. It is not always about romantic love, but it can be. We have already seen its roots, felt their connection to the tree of our life, as we journey the roads of late August—Venus’s Libra transit through the gauntlet of Cardinal planets, and mid-September—Mercury’s transit of the same.

In an odd way, what was (not) happening at this time will echo forward into our nine-month saga, featuring as it does a Venus and a Mars retrograde in Cardinal signs. If you’re tired of no progress and nothing happening, this time frame will bring things to the surface, with changes to suit. If you’ve been building your ship in a particular way, wondering if it will turn out the way you want it to, this time frame will show you the shape and integrity of the hull, its seaworthiness. We will have the chance to test it, to take a maiden voyage, make adjustments to shape, integrity, and course where needed.

This testing comes through the resistance we encounter via the Fixed Signs, which are strong this Fall, particularly in October-November, as Mercury takes us through a retrograde passage in Scorpio involving Saturn, the impending eclipse season, and the shadow cast forward by the Venus-Mars squares. I say"‘squareS" because, incredibly there was another such square exactly a year ago with Venus and Mars near the same degrees but in reversed positions. This was the waning/completing square, in the closing of the previous Venus-Mars cycle that started in May 2011.

Now we are in a new cycle that started April 6 (2013)/19°58' Aries, and the most recent Venus-Mars square was waxing/formative: Their story of love and connection has yet to be fulfilled. As Venus moves daily upward in the western sky at sunset, we know she is preparing to descend through the gates to burn in the Sun (January 2014). As Mars moves nightly ever higher in the eastern sky before sunrise, we know that he is preparing to give his maximum illumination to our world from his closest point to Earth. Each of these events takes place during their respective retrograde, which overlap December 26–March 4 (including the shadow periods).

If this all sounds too complex to follow, we can say the same about our stories, because they engage us at such a deep level, beyond ordinary awareness. Our story started with a seed planted many lifetimes and dimensions ago, whose obstacle course was uncovered over the past three years (even if the love connection had not yet emerged). Last September found us exposing wounds rooted in 1980-2 (even if we weren’t born yet), taking us into the healing wilderness in a process that has yet to be completed.

If we are a little familiar with the inner realms, we know that something profound is afoot, even if we can’t identify it. When we discover that it is taking way too long (by society’s standards) to accomplish our goals, we feel challenged with self-doubt, anxiety, and all the other ghosts that we have been carrying with us invisibly on this journey. As the ghosts reveal themselves, we have been coming to recognize and dispel the ways they have convinced us into self-limitation. This is the rich treasure that we seek, that no one can take from us once discovered. This treasure empowers us in the visible world, making us more flexible and less vulnerable when leaping over the obstacles in our path.

The latter half of September brought a kismet, as Venus, Saturn, and the Lunar North Node showed us the road forward. We had a question; we received an answer—one we may not understand, but still we have it. We can find delight as we embark on a path hewn out of our wilderness wanderings. Finally there’s something to do, someplace to go, even if the destination is foggy. Something feels more definite, worth fighting for, even if we don’t know quite what it will become, what we are becoming. We are molting the past, drying our wings, unfurling our potentials for flight, the task of Scorpio.

We have not necessarily felt good, but perhaps we have a sense that what we are becoming and creating is good, that there will be better days, that the struggle is bringing something wonderful to us. It is both easier and harder where love is involved. We experience what it’s all about, the ecstasy of union, then feel the anguish of separation as ego reacts to the merging. We’ve never grown faster, learned more quickly.

October is a month of reshaping our world to match the new information and insight we’ve gained since a year ago. It is a good time, as we close the current eclipse chapter, to give thought to what we’ve learned and accomplished in the past three years. Make a “got it done” list, with both internal and external accomplishments, indexed to your own value system less than that of society (with insights from trusted friends who see you clearly).

The Lunar Eclipse on October 18 will take us through a wormhole away from old ways of thinking—we may not even remember them once we emerge on the other side. Mercury’s retrograde will lead us through the passage, and we will find our footing in the new landscape with the Solar Eclipse on November 3. Let Mercury be the conductor (one of its many roles), and we will see new life and beauty unfold unique to our own eyes, if we look for it. Live in gratitude for what we have, and this will be a journey of wonder and purpose. Do not be disheartened if pain is also a (temporary) companion, to be healed, blessed, and released.

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