Preparing to Winter: October Notes & Astro Forecast 🍁🍂
Food For Thought.
It is always this time of year I get to thinking a lot about place. Fall and early winter are my most favorite time of year. There is an audible slow down, a silence after the heat and bustle of Summer. The last harvest, the final moments of “life” before the die back of winter, the cold and the turn inward. I recognize that everything in this is life is cyclical, the seasons, birth through death, the journey of zodiac from Aries to Pisces (and house 1-12), the planting of a seed to flower, the moon (and I could go on)… When you begin to work with the cycles of the natural world, slowing down, speeding up, beginning, ending, in appropriate times, I find we are assisted by unseen forces. Things are just easier, they make more sense. That is what I truly love about astrology, as we come to know the journey of the signs and houses in relationship to the cyclical ebb and flows, they are suggestions and helpers, blue prints of how to organize “cycles.” We can use it to build a business plan, write a book, to know when to travel, when to create and when to rest.
As someone who grew up in Southern California, an extremely mild climate with limited seasonal shift, it always made me feel a bit stagnant. The weather outside not always reflecting the weather inside. I think there is something really potent about being somewhere where the seasonal change outside is a reminder of the time and space it may be best to “be in”. Especially for someone like me with multiple air placements and a mind that is always going. As many of you know I just move back to San Diego, and honestly this was one of my biggest reservations. I am truly loving being home in so many ways, but already find that I am craving the seasonal changes I had in Northern California, to calibrate me for the next season. I think this just means more trips in the Winter and Spring, and maybe eventually splitting time between different climates. This is a bit of a brain dump but it felt worth sharing. As someone who would describe themselves as perpetually restless (I am working on it!) sometimes I need a boulder in front of me to make me stop, slow down pivot, or go! Things need to be concrete, and I realize the power of weather and the elements really do that for me. Maybe some of you feel the same, I am curious to know!?
A lot of intense feelings and topics came up for me in eclipse season and I think for others as well. Coming out of it I am still trying to parse together what all those realizations mean. Sometimes it’s not about action, it’s just about sitting with something and waiting until it makes sense. Wintering the thoughts so we can come back with a fresh perspective when things heat up again.
Photo HASHTHETICS Via Pinterest
In The Cosmos.
10.6 Mercury moves into Scorpio ☿
10.6 Full Moon Aries 14’08 🌕
10.13 Venus moves from Virgo to Libra 💚
10.21 New Moon Libra 28’22 🌑
10.22 Neptune retrograde into Pisces ♆
10.22 Sun moves into Scorpio 🦂
10.29 Mercury moves into Sagittarius ☿
10.31 Samhain/Halloween 🎃
The full Moon in Aries officially wraps up the last lunation cycle and eclipse season. Aries is about our body, our power, our actions. We may feel compelled to take action on things we have been stewing on the last few weeks. Or we may feel a more internal courage or empowerment. I know for many the SN Virgo eclipse brought up issues around health and daily routines, loss, stalling of jobs, medical diagnosis etc. This full moon hopefully illuminates the next steps, or at least ignites our inner courage to take on the challenge.
On this same day Mercury moves into Scorpio, the planet of communication and our mind, enters the watery depths of psychological Scorpio. This energy aids us in going deep, a time when we are more able to analyze and understand our motivations (and those of people around us). Reflect on your internal states, begin (or re-start) therapy sessions. Scorpio requires integration of both the mind and the heart to appease how deep it is willing to go.
Mid month on 10.13 Venus enters Libra and about a week later, on 10.21 we have a new moon in the same sign, in the midst of - you guessed it - the solar Libran season. The month of October really embodies the energy of both Libra & Venus to me. Venus is the planet of beauty, all that is aesthetically pleasing, the divine feminine. The month of harvest, middle of fall, we see the “ripening” of fruits of our labor a divine “balancing” out from the transition of summer to winter. Libra is about our values, it prides itself on justice and fairness. At its worst it is non-confrontational and at its best it is diplomatic. Venus is in it’s home sign or “domicile” in Libra, it is a cozy place for it to be. As the Sun shines through this same sign placement, our sense of self as it relates to alignment with our values will be highlighted. This is a beautiful time to re-center, doubling down on this new moon bringing in the same energies. If we are in balance, it will be highlighted, if we are out of balanced it will be highlighted, but these energies are ripe for exploration, (especially aided by mercury in Scorpio) and planting seeds of change. This may also be a time where you just feel a particular craving for comforts, drawn towards beauty, and aesthetics. This could be re-doing your wardrobe, your home, or on a macro level, cleaning up your relationships. Wherever it hits for you, there is a “pruning” that occurs in order to move forward with most aligned and best suited, people, places, things, routines etc.
On 10.22 Neptune retrogrades back into Pisces where it will be until mid December. This is Neptunes last time in Pisces for another roughly 165 years! Neptune spends about 14 years in each sign, and it officially moved into Aries earlier this year. But due to pesky retrogrades, we will get one last burst in Pisces before it is gone for good in our lifetimes. Neptune rules Pisces, so once again it is in it’s home sign or “domicile.” This Neptune cycle has highlighted collective themes around spirituality, consciousness and intuition. It has reflected a period of time of accelerated interest and exploration around these topics. It highlights the ideas/feelings of oneness, and collective truths. As we reflect on these final moments and Neptunes eventual station in Aries to stay, we are looking at a shift from dreams, dissolution and discovery, to a period marked by courage, inner strength and action. Neptune in Pisces helped us find our ideals and cosmic truths and Neptune in Aries will now help us fight for them. This will certainly play out on the world stage and personally depending on your chart placements.
On the same day Scorpio season begins, Happy Birthday to my fellow stingers! Libra season helps us recalibrate, rebuild our capacity so that we can dig in deep. Scorpio is all about shedding letting what needs to die fall away. This sign is intuitive deep and has a proclivity for shadows, and exploring the darker side of life. Naturally, we celebrate Halloween or Samhain on 10.31, in the height of Scorpio season. During the suns stay in the sign of “transformation” funny how we celebrate a holiday where we all literally “transform” ourselves into something different entirely. Dare to dream and explore the your deepest desires.
On 10.29 Mercury moves from Sagittarius into Scorpio. After some intense mental gymnastics, mercury in sagittarius helps us to move forward with stronger and clear convictions. We have seen the truth, now how can it set us free?
Dora Maar’s ‘Star Model’ 1936
Reflect.
I have been enjoying this meditation from creator Sound Science Soul (you can find her on YouTube & Insight Timer). This one is based on a hypnosis technique rooted in the Silva Method, which you can read more about if interested. It has to do with moving you mental frequency to to Alpha state to essentially reprogram the mind.
Nourish.
I have been been settling into our new house and traveling a bit the last few months! I have to admit my meals have been a bit more utilitarian than my liking! I have been getting re-inspired by Fall flavors and produce. I will be back with a serious recipe drop next month <3