A fanciful depiction of war between cats and rats, 12th century
Promise me, as your astrologer, that you’ll eat right, get plenty of rest, and not spend the month of October, 2024 immersed in social media, news media, your phone or even gossip over the back fence. And please try to keep a positive outlook for your life and those dear to you, even when the latest news is definitely alarming.
This will be one of the busiest months I have seen in many years, at least astrologically speaking. And you may consider it to be a month that will affect everyone on the planet in one form or another. Therefore I’m not going to pinpoint any certain signs which may be hard put to find that silver gleam in the black clouds overhanging us all.
A partial eclipse of the Sun October 2 shows the Sun and Moon positions to be square Mars. As my astrology students, you well know Mars gets its knickers in a twist whenever it’s challenged by a square, and this month is no exception. Frankly, there’ll be a square between Mars and the Sun virtually all month long. If that isn’t enough to sour Mars’ warlike disposition, Mars will be opposing Pluto. This is somewhat akin to candles on a birthday cake being lighted by a blow torch. The most practical thing any of us can do is to keep a very tight rein on our tempers and leave sarcastic comments unsaid. There is no reason to destroy a friendship or a business partnership with nasty remarks or a juvenile tantrum.
Emotions still run high at the quarter Moon when it is at roughly 13 degrees Capricorn, the Sun at 15 degrees Libra while Mars sulks at 15 degrees Cancer. That’s quite a square, as it involves three Cardinal signs – the signs of leadership, of wanting to lead your particular community, state or even nation (sometimes by brute force), and truthfully, stubbornness and unwillingness to see any other point of view. Shifts in leadership, or perhaps those people unheard and ignored rising up, or even massive natural disasters may make the news a litany of one cataclysm after another. Hold on to what means most to you and refuse to take sides if you can.
Keep in mind Pluto is the sign of atomic/nuclear energy and deep, dark secrets being exposed on a grand scale. That legendary swamp is indeed going to be drained, but we must keep ourselves from being exhausted by the sheer weight of the revelations. The Full Moon October 17 (depending on your time zone) with the Sun in Libra, Moon in Aries and both square (again!) Mars in Cancer and Pluto in Capricorn could see literally decades of deception, double-dealing and huge sums of money used in buying and selling power revealed to the nations of the world.
Stay calm. Meditate. Contradictory news reports will inflame your ulcers or your anger if you’re not careful. Take a giant step back and remind yourself you’re not on the world stage (at least most of my students are not), so your part may be to listen to others and be the calm, thoughtful person urging rational discourse instead of throwing bricks. Also take care not to be that person in the middle of the fight if both sides decide they don’t want to listen to reason. Don’t endanger yourself, your friends or your tribe by attempting to pour cool water on flames already out of control. Instead, simply leave. Karma will provide a solution.
When the month and the election are both over, and our nation is still standing in spite of all the negative aspects, consider this: we will all have been tested in a crucible of emotions and fervor, trying to make others see only our point of view. But we are big enough, and our country is big enough, to pull through these trials by fire.
Many thanks for your comment, Mr. Stark. (Perhaps my pessimism may be laid to the shock of having to actually cook something to consume upon finding the refrigerator lacking in overly-processed food. “Out, out, damn pot!” I say to the archaic art of rendering a lump of ‘something’ edible if not palatable.)
However, I apologize for my latest columns reading as if the apocalypse is imminent. It’s not. Too many people have bills due November 1st for the world to stop turning or churning. This human-infested blue marble will continue.
November 19 is a day, I must admit, in which the evil side of my own nature is revealed – Pluto, the planet of ‘paying back,’ not paying forward, enters Aquarius for many years – approximately 19 (numerologically significant I would wager) or 20 if you want to round it off, leaving the Sign of the Water Bearer in 2044. Pluto rips the social mask off miscreants and unveils criminals; white collar crime or truly detestable foul deeds. Politicians would be well-advised to ‘retire’ before Pluto gets too many degrees into Aquarius, simply because its orbit takes many, many years … and its thirst for vengeance grows with each passing astrological minute. Woe unto those who have been ‘on the take’ whether from foreign influences or home-grown lobbyists, for they shall be revealed to their constituents. Pluto destroys in order to rebuild; that’s the ‘way it rolls,’ ducks.
If you’ve been quietly spending your days being what was once known as a good citizen – helping little old ladies across the street, telling no unwarranted lies, paying rent on time, working hard and doing no recreational activity to excess – you should be perfectly fine on this date and ever after.
The creatures who are no paragons of virtue, however, but horrible examples of a life that you would never want for yourself or anyone for whom you had a kindly feeling, will be consigned to a particularly fitting type of hell. Not the fire and brimstone hell, but a lifetime or two of being vilified, ignored, penniless, homeless, made to work hard with their formerly white, soft hands and for cold-hearted supervisors of every creed, skin color and sexual orientation… having made their bed while inflicting misery upon others, they will suffer punishment handed out by Pluto until the Ruler of the Underworld is satisfied. Karma will be fulfilled.
In the best of all scenarios, court systems will be revised so that Justice is once more blindfolded and renders a just verdict. Those elected to offices will serve the people who put them there – or they will be speedily replaced. Luster will be restored to public service and kindness, honesty, and helping other folk to progress and thrive, not just survive. Taxes will be restructured so everyone pays a fair amount for the well-being of all. Idealistic? Yes, absolutely. But ‘civilization’ has moved so viciously away from any of its many definitions, it will take at least those twenty years of Plutonic upheaval to start to settle matters. I can hardly wait. November 19th begins Karma’s Christmas, in my view. Blessings to all!
Madame Z, This post and your previous missive can be described, fairly I believe, as unsettling. Heavens perhaps mirroring our confusion, pathetic creatures we could be if only not so terribly lethal. That being said, I have the date November 19 circled. My guess is it doesn’t bode well. What do you know about this date?