The Astrology of October 2022: Hi Def to High Saturation

The first member newsletter I sent out in September I titled “Preparing For Shape-shift”, and looking over the astrology of October 2022 I see multiple signals that this is where much of the shapeshift occurs. That being said, its not like there’s one moment of super-astrology that throws you into volatile metamorphosis, although a kind of chiasmus of themes runs in confluence in October progressing through an elemental sequence and opening and closing the chutes which mediate fate flows in such a way that we can certainly point to stretches of the October sky-time and glimpse the holographic whole of the transformation playing out over both the medium and long term, the precedents which began expressing and foreshadowing in various past episodes. For instance Pluto’s time in Capricorn (2008—March 2023), Saturn’s time in Aquarius (2020—March 2023), Mars’ time in Gemini (August 2022—March 2023) as well as Jupiter’s in and out swims through Pisces (May 2021—July 2021, Dec 2021—May 2022, Oct 2022—Dec 2022), the squares between Uranus and Saturn all 2021 and 2022 and the inner planets retrograde cycles. It has me thinking about how the stories are framed in our 10 planet plus narrative clock and how the plot would be structured if written as a masive novel, with the many characters, themes, sub-themes and layering to make a holographic whole, all synodically woven by the cycles of the planets orbits and speeds seen from our geocentric perspective, as we are on and inhabitants of Earth after all, no matter how astronautical we become or how cosmically we expand our consciousness, our bodies and lives are here and for some of us, a decreasing amount, the sky is still visible at night.

One frame that popped into mind is the segments between direct station and direct station, especially those of the outer planets, five of which are retrograde right now, and are going to turn direct over the next few months beginning with Saturn in late October. This direct station segment of Saturn will be 10/10/21—10/23/22. Have narrative book ends which might make sense with these as plot caps, segmenting this story of chronology, construction, strategy, constriction, boundary, and framework upgrade into what might be a single episode in a series of episodes? This will overlap with Jupiters direct to direct station story and all the other planetary hands on the clock, but as Saturn is slowing down to return to forward motion across all October, and there are trine configurations to him throughout, we are going to be referencing this Saturn story in a big way, and this all leads us to the finalization of his Aquarian project by March of 2023— So, whatever you have been pressured and obligated to instal to upgrade how you conceptualize your life, and move yourself into brave new territory, hypothesizing innovative updated systems for yourself so as to break out of the outdated forms you have built for yourself, this is the month to integrate these difficult ideas and begin to work with them. You were doing exactly this around October 10th of 2021, so scroll back in your camera roll and check out what you were up to, or if you have a detailed diary even better. You likely faced adversity and your progressed was halted or even reversed. Thats ok. But now is the time to boot strap and finish it out. Why? Because as Saturn squares his current position in just over seven years and then opposes himself in just over fourteen and then returns to this spot in just over twenty nine years, which are the points you will either be patting yourself on the back for setting yourself up so good and bolstering a progressive and rewarding life of pioneering discovery, or be weighted by melancholy that you never went beyond your safety and feel like the warden of your own incarceration. This is not equally distributed for everyone, it depends on your nativity and I’m dramatizing for the sake of metaphor, but that’s the gist of the now: head out into the frontiers beyond security or simply stay stuck in yesterdays accomplishments. That’s the thing about Aquarius, its not the traditional formatted tried and true strategy of Capricorn. It’s on the cutting edge. No guarantees. Cancer is opposite Capricorn, its balanced by safety and slow growth cycles, but Aquarius is opposite Leo, you have to trust in god, trust in your heart, trust that you are self-sovereign to conceptualize altogether new constructs to inhabit.

Gustave Courbert

So check into where you are at in the story, how you progress and develop your circumstances from here, and frame for yourself where you see yourself in the short, medium and long term, as they are handled quite differently. October is about hearing the symphonic equalization of all your life layers playing in concert, and getting the mix balanced before the more accelerating events later in the month. You have to produce your own production, and to pull yourself to stability requires lightening your load, refining your instincts, releasing old trauma and heading into unexplored constructs where there might be little understanding or acceptance from others. Although, Aquarius being an air sign, there should be some social cohesion in consorting with those that share in your ideas, even if that means who you used to relate with can’t wrap their minds around your new notions. The first half of the month finds the relatability maxed up, which might make us feel secure in pursuing these pioneering directives, but when the time comes to take the leap you will ultimately be doing it alone— There’s another world on the other side! I can’t make the decisions for you, so access your internal compass always and especially here, but I would suggest if you can identify the pressurization in Aquarius in your own chart and life, stand up to the challenge and take responsibility for the upgrade, you will thank yourself later.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Dorothea Tanning

Saturn and Uranus very square: Saturn and Uranus squared multiple times in 2021, beginning with the 2/17/21 square that occurred as an unexprected winter storm in Texas knocked out a energy grid leaving a staggering amount of people powerless— there could be no more of an accurate example of what this aspect entailed. The grids need to be updated, thats obvious, and energy needs to be rethought, another blaring alarm, but you can’t just turn off the power for the next decade while everything is updated and upgraded, so progress is essentially nill, a sort of stale mate for now. The aspect drifted in and out of orb and gets incredibly tight for the final time here in October, but never goes exact, as Uranus is headed backwards while Saturn is preparing to stop and move ahead again on the 23rd, at which point this system jam starts releasing, rendering Saturn more innovative and constructive and Uranus more free to shake things up finally. Looking at how this moment harmonizes with a Mars working double time, if not working 10X, to overcome obstacles which jive with what Saturn has in mind to install, it seems the whip will be cracking to the tune of new things you felt necessary to introduce into your life the past couple years which got hopelessly trapped and hopefully not too chewed up in the works in the meanwhile. It’s likely stuff did get radically altered, but doesn’t mean its broken or destroyed necessarily, but at this point it might be about experimenting with the new grooves rather than trying to revert baselines to default settings. Welcome to tomorrow, hope you’re ready to wake up and get crackin’.

__________________________

Dahlov Ipcar

10/1/22:

-Venus opposite Jupiter: It’s never unwelcomed when the benefics aspect each other, especially if one of them is in rulership, as Venus is here. She’s about to go through quite the refresh process, not only by combustion, which renders her temporarily invisible, but also destined to be channeled into the center of the solar eclipse by the end of the month, triggering more significant purgations of bonds, values, desires, pleasure, attractions, aesthetics, creativity and romance currents. We want to keep the idea of release and refinement present and not fall prey to sweeping compulsions to destroy that which doesn’t shake us on a soul deep level. Her combustion phase is remediated somewhat by her being in her own domicile, so in this early half of October she is certainly facilitating all that is charming and graceful, even if the experience of that is more personal and internalized. This opposition can shed considerable coherence on all of these dynamics, especially from a what is my autonomy, energetic prowess and what am I going to do about it perspective.

10/2/22:

-Mercury stations direct: With the above considerations expanded and enlarged to see and feel its not surprising that Mercury gets the memo and concludes his backward motion at this point, finding himself in his rulership while Venus is in hers. I’d expect for a lot of what was sticky, tricky, tangled or snagged to have pretty much unlatched and worked itself out at this point. Not to say there’s no confusion. Thinking is precise and efficient but still presided over by dreams, projections and fantasies, even if you think you got a handle on that over the past month, its still an overlay in the context, so be vigilant to consider and integrate how these imaginings and other movies you let play in your mind might be informing your operational processes.

10/7/22

-Mercury trine Pluto: As Mercury gets some motion going again first move is to trine Pluto, like he had before on 8/22/22, and the Sun had on 9/19/22 then Venus did on 9/26/22. Pluto is normally ominous, obsessive, mysterious, fear traversing and capable of powerful and profound change in the sense of initiatory passages through the unknowable and uncertain, and planets making their yearly aspect to him is not necessarily always a huge part of the narrative but more of a mood, although on this occaision, we know that the Sun, Mercury and Venus will all interweave into the upcoming eclipse configurations and that Pluto makes his first ingress into Aquarius in March of 2023, tolling the bell for the end of the Pluto in Capricorn project which began in 2008— So, what ever dark divides we are looking into and considering crossing over initiatory thresholds pay attention at this date, and if fear is a part of the equation maker an attempt to stay calm and look directly through it, scrying the void for impressions of burgeoning gravities and impending power shifts.

-Sun opposite Chiron: Not surprising that the Sun spends this same day trying to keep our focus balanced while unease and discomfort quiver the scales and sensitize the harmony. Look for balms and healing salves which speak directly to whatever seems sore rather than attempting to avoid wounds that could fester if left unattended.

El Greco

10/9/22

-Full Moon Aries: Ignoring the wounds mentioned above is probably impossible as the Moon ends up going full bloom right upon the bone of contention, saturating the subjective awareness with a need for healing surrounding dynamics of independence, action, efficacy, impulse, performance, and the immediate application of energy. Since Jupiter will conjoin Chiron in Aries in March 2023 just before the eclipses in Aries begin, this Full Moon probably speaks to issues which will be around for a while, and are not necessarily quick fixes, but require ongoing treatment rather than bandaids. That being said, that this is Aries, its possible some of the lessons learned surrounding Chiron here is realizing how to bring yourself back to to functioning equilibrium quickly after being knocked off balance by things your uncomfortable with so you can return to wielding energy effectively in the moment.

-Venus opposite Chiron: Venus makes the aspect the Sun made the previous day, in this case its our attractions, desires, and values rather than our focus, attention and objectives considering the healing of woundedness, uneasiness, discomfort, and so on, but Venus is in rulership looking at this and brings with her expertise in harmony, grace, charm, equilibrium, fairness and diplomacy to attend to whatever the issue seems to be.

-Mercury ingress Libra: It’s just then that Mercury enters Libra, almost as if the Doctor of Communication and Mediation arrives on call from the signal Venus puts out. In Libra this could literally be bringing in some intermediary to mediate a conflict on sore territory.

10/11/22

-Sun trine Saturn: Meanwhile, the Sun harmonized to Saturns plans in Aquarius suggests that the objective conclusion of feeling uncomfortable in highly saturated way is to find equilibrium in new and innovative boundaries, updated mental frameworks, and pursuits outside of the box that previously defined things. If we are going to heal and be more capable in the future we need to move ourselves into new territory. We should feel pretty clear affirmation of that around here which could echo Saturn’s trine to Mars at the end of September, highlighting the developments and rewirings wherever you have air signs in your chard.

Dorothea Tanning

10/12/22

-Mars square Neptune: As Mars is slowing down to station retrograde by the 30th this square to Neptune essentially just sits there for weeks and weeks, basically in orb until December. Sounds confusing, being a serious understatement. We may be working at multiple things at once and by the nature of extreme multitasking we are almost certainly going to find ourselves working cross purpose one way or another. Squares sound alarms that something needs to be done, some critical action needs to be taken, and we know with Mars creeping to a halt and then reversing while buzzers are going off that all the buzz around our jumping from action to action, the webs of communication and multiple possibilities these spin off can throw us into a delusional state where good old fashion imagination can be hard to distinguish from exponential fantasy from permeating hallucination to total delusion. There’s no way to pull the acid out of your system after you’ve eaten it, its a matter of time at that point in which you proceed through your activities aware that you’re altered and streaming with synesthetic associations, mystical downloads, high saturation states and non linear waves of quantum foam. Ok so don’t worry you just got dosed is all and its a little bit of a bad trip, just chill and find the flow state, sounds easy enough right? Well, yes and no. Mars retrogrades can be a lot of things but easy is probably the most antithetical word to put there. I’d say this could be a kind of multidirectional energy output blur that grows to more maelstrom size as Mars picks up backwards speed, but is simultaneously ineffective, like shoveling water, unless you get with Saturn’s insistence on upgrading frameworks, so you can be working things from multiple angles, moving qi, projecting intentions, distributing expressions throughout the entire holistic array of reality. This doesn’t mean make a wish and say a spell and don’t do anything, it more means sync up to the nuances of how effects occur and cascade throughout multiple parallels of happening simultaneously and surf the space between with agility and find yourself where you meant to end up on the other side of the high water, which likely will come as dramatic emotional deluges. Imagine running around attending to a million different unrelated things in a randomized relay while tripping and having a sobbing session but also feeling, elated, inspired, romantic, sympathetic and tragic all at once— some of whats causing the tears to flow is reality and some of it is merely possibility, but its unclear which is which, and an endless obstacle course of multiple choice selections and road forkings pop up in your face at random. Sounds dizzying, but not necessarily nightmarish. It’ll be on for over a month so just get settled in and find your idiosyncratic way of working it like a honey bee in psychedelic dream sequence.

-Mercury opposite Jupiter: Mercury opposite Jupiter is incredibly significant here, as Mars is in Mercury ruled Gemini and Neptune is in Jupiter ruled Pisces, and Jupiter is in Mars ruled Aries. They form a kind of committee to discuss what exactly is going on here and how they are going to situate the next several weeks. This is the analytical, rational detail oriented brain which also deals with communication coming from a perspective of balance and equilibrium attempting to see and find common ground with the big picture, philosophical and optimistic coherence coming from an independent, action oriented and autonomous perspective. How do we communicate fairly with whoever and whatever is involved, keep the peace and at the same time grow more effective and skillful and able to be our own free agent?

10/14/22

-Venus trine Saturn: Venus echos the trine that the Sun made three days prior, this time pinging the Moon in Gemini applying to Mars. This is an extremely integrative moment where it might feel very good and balanced to install some new difficult things and press go on a variety of options where decisions will ultimately have to be made. Try to be mindful and not revert to ABACADABA because it’s easier.

Dorothea Tanning

10/17/22

-Sun trine Mars: Here’s more of that integrative harmony across life layers, but like the above, this is the malefics harmonizing, so its a time where it feels good and right to sever and block, not the cheeriest things, but as we bring about real balance and take steps into new territory some of the old territory is naturally left behind, which could easily explain why Neptune is dousing all the convoluted actions in so much acid spiked nostalgia.

10/18/22

-Venus trine Mars: Now Venus hits the harmonic to Mars, echoing the above, the transits of the Sun and Venus occurring at a faster clip as they come together and objectives align with desires. This seems a vivifying yet tender time for the heart.

10/19/22

-Sun square Pluto: Here’s where the implications of all the new independence, boundaries, frameworks, pioneering and alternative activities hits and the fear comes on. This could feel exciting and it could feel terrifying and it probably feels both but either way an ominous chord is here struck as the tunnel to walk through comes into sight.

-Mercury opposite Chiron: Perfect moment for Mercury to consider being hurt, feeling uneasy, uncomfortable, tender and sore.

10/20/22

-Venus square Pluto: Venus now looks out into the dark expanse not knowing what will come from it.

Dorothea Tanning

10/22/22

-Venus Cazimi 29-26 Libra: After glimpsing the void, our sense of values and desire, romance and creativity goes internal, and in a contemplative episode lets go of whatever doesn’t currently suit her, which leads to this moment of specificity in realization of what exactly you actually resonate with. Venus in the heart of the Sun gains a lens with which to see what we long for, vibe with and what brings us pleasure right in the here and now.

-Mercury trine Saturn: Our analytical and communication processes consider Saturn’s pressure to construct new workable frameworks outside of what we might have previously ever considered. It’s safe to say Saturn and Venus and the Sun and Mercury and Mars are all in accord here and the resolve to conceptualize new territory is profound. It’s simply what is fair and just.

10/23/22

-Saturn stations direct: This is a marking point in Saturn’s move from being more constrictive to more constructive. It paints a particular picture that five of the personal planets are in agreement with his hypothetical strategy. Plan approved.

-Venus/Sun ingress Scorpio: But hold on just as that plan gets stamped and sent off to the builders Venus moves into square by sign with the planet of system, structure and boundary. What did we just sign up for? The Sun follows essentially moments later, as they are moving into Mars’ watery domicile in cazimi, tightly conjunct. Venus goes from rulership to detriment in an instance. Suddenly, caring about being in balance with other people goes out the window, and the animal within takes over to satisfy urges that brew at primal levels. Seems installing these new systems and frameworks is going to require caring a little less if people get upset.

Dorothea Tanning

10/25/22

-6:49am: SN solar eclipse in Scorpio conjunct Venus: This triggers a kind of sudden purge, as Venus cazimi the Sun gets caught up in the eclipse. This is the next in a series of Scorpio eclipses, the third so far in the set, which has been trying to refine the emotional body by releasing intensity and trauma, and this continues on that theme but in the process it appears we could be letting go of some of the things we love, are obsessed with, fixated on or salivate over, or conversely, are clearing away things we once resonated with deeply to make room for exactly that which wets our appetites now. This has been a process of essentially shapeshifting, releasing elements of the animal you were to become the animal you are now, and the new animal might be attracted to much different things than the old one, which requires a swapping out of values on an instinctual level.

10/26/22

-Mercury trine Mars: Mercury then checks in on the variety of tasks we are expected to do at this time, cut here, run over there pound one nail, then make a phone call, start dinner, pick up at the airport, pound another nail, cut there, start three new projects on the list, finish dinner etc. Along the way there’s lots of various decisions and each one leads into a parallel reality that could be all together varied, lots to think about and calculate, weighing the options.

10/27/22

-Mercury square Pluto: Seems thinking about all the things we have to do, especially to integrate Saturn’s demands on us, send Mercury to the same brink, as he comes into position to consider the tunnel to a land unknown.

10/28/22:

-Jupiter regress Pisces: That Jupiter returns to Pisces for the first time since 5/10/22 is striking. Apparently, we’re going back to finish some growth in another life layer before we can accomplish the complete installation of Saturn’s. Jupiter won’t be too long this time in Pisces, only until 12/19/23, but this is probably one of the layers of unfinished business we have to retrieve to end up at the place we’ve been building to since March 2020. Jupiter is in rulership in Pisces, so there is likely beneficence permeating the whole here, but its a bit awkward and not as quite as straight forward as the week prior when all the life layers were harmonizing or collaborating with one another. Returned to the eclipse storyline and returned to a couple months of Jupiter in Pisces is likely a return to waters we previously tread in the spring but this time with an advanced context as Saturn is set to finish up his Aquarian project by March. Jupiter’s proximity in Pisces to Neptune could bring the trip Mars is on to its peak, but in a way that also delivers some major insights at least for us to work with, and though a bit jarring, we might find a flow state, though its a flow state while struggling against drowning, not best case scenario, the upside is we don’t drown and are delivered to shore, and maybe to some fortune along the way.

Dorothea Tanning

10/29/22

-Mercury ingress Scorpio: Mercury slips into the water, but in the intense, primal, instinctual soul depth end with the eclipse axis and the attention of the Sun rather than Jupiter in the romantic and holistic oceans of tidal swelling Pisces. Having four of the personal planets moved into water signs by the end of October implies a lot more moodiness and emotional saturation than when we began and throughout much of the month with our ideas all clicking into place and resonating with each other.

10/30/22

-Mars stations RX: The final astrological action of the Month is Mars’ actual retrograde station. Mars retrograde is like energy and action dynamics becoming intensified and irregular. You might have to wait to act and then have three times as much stuff to accomplish all at once by the time you get the green light, and this seems to happen at a frustratingly randomized schedule, usually due to happenstance. Some Mars retrogrades are more irregular than others, and thats distributed differently between people’s nativities, but they occur for two months every two years, so we shouldn’t be terrified, but we should expect things to be on the fritz while we apply much more than the usual amount of effort to get things done, which in the best case means accomplishing a lot by burning up an unsustainable amount of energy and working at an accelerated pace temporarily to push through a phase. As you would if you were working a job all week and working on building a house on the weekends— once the house was built your weekends would be free. Mercury and Mars being in mutual reception here is likely to facilitate, and what is getting purged and released in Scorpio may be to Mars’ advantage, even though having shapeshifted into a new animal body is awkward to get used to, even if the new animal is a bear and the old animal was a chipmunk and now you have considerably more strength, there is still an awkward period of trial and error to get comfortable with all the new options available.