Allllrighty then!

There’s an eclipse underway that is visible in the Americas. You can see its path and watch it online here.   Here in Rome, it’s just another beautiful sunset.

And here is a recap of patterns driving the action through this weekend:

• FRIDAY: Interestingly enough, there’s an easy flow between Mars and Saturn that argues for the successful application of militantly disciplined energy. That pattern — a trine — is exact at 8:28 AM ET. No exact aspects to the Moon today suggests plenty of debate over what’s fair, and what’s not, with perhaps a focused intention (finally) by 4:57 AM ET, on…
• SATURDAY: when Mercury meets up with Moon. Or maybe we’ll hear about it, but won’t really see it for what it is. Moon is now at the end of the lunar cycle, where some may feel listless or restless, sensing that something new is about to begin, but we don’t know what. With no light from the Moon, clandestine activities are favored. However, because this New Moon is also an eclipse, chances are we’ll realize what was going on right under our noses when the eclipse is activated later on. The New Moon is exact at 1:55 PM ET.
  

Here is what the New Moon in Libra looks like, from the perspective of Washington, D.C.:

Observations:

• A Libra Moon suggests a focus on fairness, balance, justice and relationship, with a strong need for appreciation on both sides.
•  This New Moon falls in the 9th house, along with Mercury, Mars and the South Node. That’s a big focus on foreign affairs and collective mindsets (publishing, legal theory, religious dogma, etc.). No surprise there. Sun-Moon-Mercury are heading towards the South Node, a possible release of what no longer serves, give or take a time unit of four.
• Pluto is in the 1st house, like a proverbial ocean liner turning around, having just turned direct a few days ago. Pluto (power and resources) is screamingly stuck between a rock and a hard place, squaring the North and South Nodes (the North points to growth; the South points to a path of least resistance — but usually in a pattern that no longer serves). Pluto is still in a tense square to Eris, Goddess of Discord, and all-too-willing to burn down the house if a place at the table is denied.
• Mars (action, courage, assertion, aggression) is fierce, and at the top of this chart. It has just trined (harmonized) with Saturn, ruler of this eclipse chart for the U.S., suggesting an easy flow of assertive and authoritative energy. Note that Saturn is still retrograde, and actually beginning to slow down as it prepares to turn direct — but not until November 4th. Mars and Saturn — militant discipline — are at the beginning of their respective signs, suggesting it’s too soon to tell how it will go.
• Venus, the ruler of this Libra New Moon, is unhappily placed in Virgo and locked in the 8th house — of other peoples’ values and resources, debt, and death.  Venus has some functionality here, but it is likely impossible to please everyone — if anyone, frankly.
• The Sabian Symbol for this New Moon is “a child giving birds a drink at a fountain.” So sweet — especially against the backdrop of so many challenging patterns in this New Moon chart. It’s not like the birds can give this child anything in return, but she does it anyway. Or perhaps what the child receives is the self-satisfaction of having made a connection that feels empowering, because the birds accept what the child spontaneously offers. Or maybe its enough that the child wants to connect with and be generous to these birds, which — at first glance — are not like her. Astrologer Lynda Hill has more on this here, and Blain Bovee sums it up thusly:

Inspiration: It is given: no matter how impossible the situation seems, there is a gentle heart-directed solution.

• So there you have it: astrology’s coping strategy — at least in your own personal world — for these challenging times. Be kind in your interactions with others, as naive as some may judge it to be. Try to see others as worthy — possibly even equal (as “equal” is one of the aspirations of Libra, even if it does swing wildly from side to side in an effort to achieve balance).
• [UPDATE] After this forecast was shipped to subscribers, I noticed this op-ed in WaPo — wish I’d seen it earlier, as it speaks eloquently to the Sabian Symbol of this New Moon.
• You are more personally affected by this New Moon/eclipse if you have planets or angles around 21 degrees of Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn. If you’d like a few paragraphs of personal insights on what this eclipse suggests for you, as well as the upcoming lunar eclipse, toss $65 into my Cosmic Tip Jar (you’ll find a payment button for the eclipse insights on this page), and please email me your birth data, if you know I don’t already have it. Just know that I am still traveling, so it will take me at least a week to send you my thoughts, with gratitude for your patience. Eclipses are good to know about, which is why I offer this service twice a year.

Back to the weekend forecast:

• SUNDAY: Moon squares Pluto at 3:10 AM ET, suggesting a power play or emotional catharsis. Chill during the four hour Moon void, if you happen to be awake. At 7:04 AM ET, Moon enters Scorpio, driving the next few days with a need for depth and substance. Discipline needed to fulfill its objectives comes courtesy of a trine between Moon and Saturn at 8:41 AM ET, with potential seeds of a new initiative or attack around 11:35 AM ET, as Moon meets up with Mars. We may see further developments on whatever action plan was in the news on Friday, the day of that “early in the game” trine between Mars and Saturn. Mood could lighten by evening, so long as proper protocols are followed, as Moon sextiles Venus at 8:50 PM ET.
• MONDAY: begins with an opposition between Moon and Jupiter, exact at 7:30 AM ET. This is a potentially stubborn face-off, with the Scorpio Moon’s need for control receiving a potentially exuberant (for better or worse) boost from Jupiter (expansion) in territorial Taurus. Moon travels without interference for the rest of the day, with the need for control growing and growing like a snowball rolling down a mountain.

And now, the news.

Photos of the eclipse — a ring of fire — can be found here.

Meanwhile…

Mars at the verrry end of Libra last week activated April’s solar eclipse at 29 Aries.  The rush of assertive energy expressed over the past few days may be tied to things that were percolating — but hiding in plain sight — back then.

I mentioned on Monday that Mars at the end of Libra suggested an urgency in matters related to being a warrior for peace. That urgency was expressed by President Biden in a phone with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu (as historian Heather Cox Richardson reports), in which Biden said they discussed,

“how democracies like Israel and the United States are stronger and more secure when we act according to the rule of law. Terrorists…purposefully target civilians, kill them. We uphold the laws of war,” Biden said, laws that prohibit deliberate targeting of civilians and require proportionate responses. “It matters. There’s a difference.”

Mars refers to war. Libra refers to the law.

On Friday, when Mars entered Scorpio — no longer interested in law, but in honor, power, and control — it trined a fearfully focused Saturn (authority) in Pisces (refugees, victims). Israel ordered 1.1 million people in the northern part of Gaza to evacuate, in preparation for its planned ground attack. Just like that. It boggles the mind, but Mars in Scorpio is determined and capable, and it is supported by the strategic ambition symbolized by Saturn.

President Biden — and anyone else with planets at 0 degrees of Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius — is personally impacted by Mars entering Scorpio, as it opposes his 0 degree Taurus Moon. Translation: his need to preserve the status quo; to build and maintain material comfort and security would be energized, for better or worse. As Mars continues through Scorpio, it will square his Pluto and meet up with his Mars, Mercury, Sun, and Venus — with the first two of those happening on October 22 and 30. Humming in the background — and serving to expand his resourceful action plan — is Jupiter, moving back to oppose his Mars on the 18th, and square Pluto at the end of November. Meanwhile, a disruptive/innovative/daring mindset is suggested by transiting Uranus opposing his Mercury on November 2nd.

In other news, House Republicans did not put forth a viable candidate to become the next Speaker. Steve Scalise (the reportedly self-proclaimed “David Duke without the baggage”) did not prevail, and in what we know of his horoscope, this is no surprise. Next up: insurrectionist Jim Jordan (per Liz Cheney) is going to make a go of it this week, and I wish we had a birth time for him (though in what we can see of his horoscope, prospects do not seem glowing).

Meanwhile, given what we know, the horoscopes of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and House Speaker pro temp Patrick McHenry continue to receive the empowering potential of transiting Pluto (to Jupiter and Sun, respectively). All 212 Democrats will back Jeffries’ nomination; there is talk of finding a way to allow McHenry to do more than bang a gavel, and so far, there are not five Republican members of the House (not yet, anyway) willing to form a bipartisan coalition so that this elected body of representatives can actually do something.

To be continued…

Here is the 411 on personal consultations. Email me and I’ll send a link to my nifty new scheduling software, and you can choose a time that works best for you. I’ll be back in the home office on October 22nd.

Thank you for reading this forecast — and sharing it with your friends.

Who needs Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel when you have Raffaello’s spectacular Villa Farnesina?

How many astrological representations do you see?