Home->Latest Forecast

Printable PDF

Past forecasts

by Terry Lamb, M.A., C.A.

For a free subscription, contact me.

TIP JAR
Leave any amount. (Yes, it really works now!)

New to astrology? Read on and ignore the technical bits. There's plenty here for you too! Why don’t I write horoscopes for each sign?

WE ARE NOW IN A CARDINAL WORLD. It started in July, with the Lunar Eclipse on July 7 and 21, but we didn’t really feel it so much until the end of August when Mercury, Mars, and Pluto tangled. Now that we’re through Mercury’s retrograde, when it contacted Mars and Pluto for the second of three times, we are much better acquainted with what lies ahead.

Part of “what lies ahead” will come to us later this month when Saturn enters Libra. We are already feeling this. While Saturn was in Virgo, a mutable sign, our first response to something was to avoid an obstacle, or to flex around it. We were inclined to slip through cracks of weakness, double back on ourselves, or give up — not always good approaches. But sometimes sticky situations have a way of working themselves out while we put them on the back burner rather than confronting them directly. On the other hand, sometimes they grow when we’re not looking, not addressing them when they come up.

The World Will Feel Very Different.
We need both universal forces — cardinal and mutable (as well as the third force, fixed). They each can be used well or poorly, have extreme and weak expressions. After many years (since 1995) where the mutable force was largely dominant, we are shifting now to an extended period when the cardinal force is most powerful.

This means that we will be responding differently to our experiences, but we are more likely to notice the shift in others’ behaviors before our own. When we see things through cardinal eyes, we are more likely to be confrontational — or perceive aggression in others. Similarly, there is often an uptick in aggressive rhetoric in the world of politics and international relations. As the Sun entered Libra (re-triggering the degrees of the Mercury-Mars-Pluto T-square), we saw the surprise revelation during the G20 summit and UN assembly that Iran has a secret nuclear facility that could only be used to produce weapons — and an international consensus that this is completely unacceptable.

Bellicose behavior is common when the slow-moving planets are in cardinal signs, because no one wants to (feels they can) back down. This is especially true in the early degrees, where the planets are now and will be over the next several months.

This does not mean (and is not meant to imply) that war is likely. It does mean that we’ll notice a decided shift toward posturing (instead of waffling) behavior. It also means that there will be more decisiveness, more driving force behind initiatives. Our legislators may even show more guts. Under a cardinal influence, we find it easier to set boundaries.

It’s a Time for New Beginnings.
In our own lives, all these things will be true just as much. Family, groups and organizations we belong to will shift in their collective expression. Children, who express everything more instinctually and unconsciously, will display these qualities in an unfettered manner. If you know where you have cardinal energies in your own birth chart, you will be able to characterize more precisely your experiences and when peaks will occur.

Under cardinal planets, we have the get-up-and-go to start new things, but completions — well, they’re not as likely to occur. We will be eager to launch ourselves boldly into fresh adventures. Frontiers, pioneering, new product launches, founding of new companies, scientific innovations (especially once Uranus enters Aries next year), getting out of “stuck conditions” — cardinal is good for all this.

Pluto in Capricorn & the Last Waltz of the Tyrants.
Let’s not forget what is happening as far as the thrust of human evolution is concerned. Our two biggest challenges, the break-up of the oligarchic world order (read this as: corporations own us) and the taming of global warming/environmental destruction, must still be faced. Currently, the will to make the necessary changes does not exist in the halls of government (unless you look at some of the small countries in Europe).

Since Pluto is the father/mother of these processes, the contact with Saturn now and over the next three years and with Uranus in 2010–2016, will force the hands of those in power. Actually, it will partially take the decision-making power out of their hands as events unfold that are beyond anyone’s direct control.

Although I do not recommend the polemic book, Last Waltz of the Tyrants, I return to the basic psychological response that this phrase depicts: When people who are controlling and/or power-hungry (sociopathic and psychopathic) begin to lose their grip, their response is to do anything that comes into their head to retain power. Their ploys and strategies are unconsciously driven, and always rest on manipulating people through fear. This is how you can tell when someone falls into this category. More sympathetically, they are only projecting their own deep, unanalyzed terror of what will happen to them when they lose control. They are really more like frightened children, except when they lash out, their actions affect us more than a child’s does because of their sometimes terrible power. The more we are governed by fear, the more the proclamations and actions of these “leaders” hook into us and create waves in our lives.

Saturn-Pluto Is About Dispelling Fear.
Saturn-Pluto is about dispelling fear, because our fears are frequently heightened when these two planets connect. Fear was abundant when they connected in 1946-47 after World War II, when Stalin enforced totalitarian rule over the Eastern Bloc nations of Europe. The Cold War (a term that perfectly symbolizes a dark expression of Saturn [“cold”] and Pluto [“war”]) began, as did the Atomic Age. This is also the energy under which Israel was born and much of the modern world was conceived, so as a species we are grappling with this energy.

The fact is that any encounter with Pluto brings an encounter with death, even if it is the little death that fear brings to us every time we feel it. The more comfortable we are with death whether symbolic or experiential, the more we are able to handle our fears and Saturn-Pluto contacts.

About every 8 years, Saturn and Pluto interact in a challenging way for about a year, so we are regularly confronted by their process. The last time they interconnected was in 2001, and their interaction was directly implicated in the 9/11 events.

Saturn Engages Pluto at the End of the Month.
When Saturn enters Libra on October 29, it immediately engages Pluto, which is still early in Capricorn. We have felt this energy ahead of time however as other planets have transited the sensitive 1st degree of any cardinal sign over the past 6 weeks. We will continue to do so as Mercury and Venus track across this degree on October 9–10 (Mercury) and October 14–15 (Venus). We can expect more information and insight into what Saturn-Pluto will be mean to us on these dates. Keep in mind that the Moon is our weekly compass for anything “hot” in the heavens. The Moon makes hot contacts to Pluto every Friday this month. The most telling of these is on the 30th, the first day after Saturn enters Libra. The Moon will connect with Saturn, then carry Saturn’s energy to Pluto for added punch, all over 2 hours at midday.

October Overview
The spread of the planets this month forms a “splay” in the heavens — roughly 3 uneven groupings of planets. Since Mercury and Venus trail the Sun, we plunge in with courageous action, then adjust our plans with information and concern for others. This means we may act confidently, then be a little chagrined by the results of our actions. However, the solar force well used can bring us to do things we would otherwise shy away from due to lack of confidence. With more confidence this month, we could accomplish tasks that we thought undoable before.

Mercury Finishes its Tour of the Retrograde Zone.
Mercury, which turned direct on September 29, is slow and still in its retrograde zone. It will hit the economic and healthcare reform hot buttons when it make its third contact with the Saturn-Uranus opposition. When it made its retrograde pass over these planets, the experts were reassessing the events related to last year’s crash. Obama made a statement supporting “consumer protection” regulations and legislation which lacked the teeth that would be required to avert a bigger incident very soon. This is hardly surprising considering his actions so far, which have been very “Wall Street”.

With healthcare reform, the debate began to become more rational. The Mercury contact to Saturn-Uranus occurred as Obama scheduled and fulfilled his media blitz about healthcare reform. The truth about healthcare reform started to penetrate the public consciousness, and by the time Mercury turned direct, the public was savvy to the pro-lobbyist attacks on the reform bill. Public opinion polls were strongly in favor of a public option by the end of September.

The third Mercury contact to these planets occurs October 4–7; observe what happens both in the public arena and in your own life at this time. It will be an evolution of processes that started last September. By now we are more used to the current level of uncertainty that these planets foster. We may even see that uncertainty gives us more wiggle room, more opportunity to create what we want.

Mercury makes its third pass square to Pluto on the 10th, bringing back events from the end of August. How did you do with the challenges that arose then? Are they complete now? For myself, I found it the right time to build a new computer for myself — something I’d dreaded doing and had put off for more than four years. With all the data files, software settings, and add-ons it was a daunting task, but it went more smoothly than I could have imagined. It just . . . took . . time. If Mercury is about logistical matters, and Pluto is about power (I’ve always had a Pluto transit when a major change in my computational capacity occurs), then this set of Mercury-Pluto contacts is symbolic of my experience. Even though we must wait until the 10th for the third hit, my computer is currently ready to go.

Relationships Are Sweetened by Venus and Soothed by Trines.
Venus gets into the action by revealing hidden truths about our relationships when she opposes Uranus and conjoins Saturn (the 9th–13th). Dormant emotions surface to reveal unexpected depths of connectedness with others. Or we could find that a current connection does not mean as much as we thought. Whatever the result in your life, you will be able to live more authentically when this contact has passed.

There’s more to like on the relationship front as well, as Venus sextiles Mars on the 13th. This adds to the harmonious tone of outcomes in fulfilling our connections with others. We’ll be feeling even rosier as a grand trine fills the skies with ease and flow around the 8th.

In the outer world, there’ll be more action on the healthcare reform legislative process. Once again, as in last year’s election, the people have the chance to defy conventional behaviors and take back the legislative process if they act. The grassroots groundswell of support for a public option could become an earthquake at this time. You can bet that the Senate and/or House will be taking action at this time, although we don’t expect a bill to pass until closer to Thanksgiving (just before the holiday recess). However, agreements and outcomes that are good for the people are also likely in this arena.

It’s Harvest Time!
Several of the planets near the end of their yearly cyclic interaction with the Sun. Jupiter returns to forward motion on the 12th, and Chiron on the 31st. Neptune is very slow and makes its direct station on November 4. If you recall, Jupiter, Chiron, and Neptune have been traveling companions all year in the last half of Aquarius. They are tied to the populism that has dominated the political world this year, both the positive side (greater citizen awareness/participation, increased sense of community) and the negative (disrupted town hall meetings, threats against leaders).

I have spoken of this triple conjunction as giving us the opportunity to heal the Great Wound, both within ourselves as individuals and in humanity. As Jupiter now moves forward, its expansiveness will be available to us for four more months before it moves on to illuminate our lives in a different way, through Pisces. We’ve experienced Jupiter’s energies in high focus on January 23, March 21, May 15-31, June 15, and mid-August. Now it’s time to harvest the fruits of our year-long labors.

When Jupiter turned retrograde in mid-June, the new Iranian revolution was in full swing; certainly there will be events hitting the news wires involving Iran at this time. We also found that some of our plans had to be revised and reworked. We had to fall back into old patterns, slow down complete unfinished tasks, instead of ploughing ahead as we had in the first frenetic months of the year. Now we have a sense of accomplishment as we have made those completions, laid a new framework, learned something new. We’ve healed ourselves in some way that is critical to future successes. We made it!

Chiron is following suit on the 31st, bringing our focus more sharply back to our healing process. We’ve had 5 months to clear old obstacles and smooth away wounds and scars. How have you done? The wounds that are revealed are rooted in the spiritual level, as Chiron travels with the ruler of the unseen realms, Neptune. This pas-de-deux continues through next year and wanes in 2011, so we still have time to take advantage of this opportunity for growth. Dates that tie in with Chiron’s energy in our lives include February 9, May 16–29, and mid-August. Chiron enriches and deepens the harvest process.

Mars’s Opening Salvo: A Retrograde Is Just Around the Corner.
On October 16, Mars enters Leo, which is the same as saying that it enters the zone where it will retrograde starting December 21. This shadow period is a time when we may take actions that have unexpected consequences and long-term effects that are not necessarily bad. In October Mars has not yet slowed down, so we are not yet prone to over-enthusiasm or the over-strong reactions that can come when Mars’s energy is concentrated by sluggish movement. Discretion is the better part of any behavior after October 16.

We’re reaching the halfway point in the current eclipse cycle, which occurs when the Sun squares the Nodes on the 18th. Issues that arose in July will come up again now. The political stability of Iran, the viability of the world economy, the price of oil, the latest outbreak of swine flu — these will be in the news.

On October 29, we’ll encounter a stubborn streak as Sun squares Mars — not in ourselves of course! It’s not a good day to push anyone to do something, because you will ensure that it WON’T happen. We’ll feel this also as an urge to take action or increase our level of activity that will start on the 23rd, when this contact takes effect.

Saturn Enters Libra.
I have already written at length about Saturn’s ingress into Libra, which occurs on the 29th. This is the sign of Saturn’s exaltation, where Saturn does well, and we do well with it. Will it help us to be disciplined, well-mannered, and authentically collaborative? If anything can, this will. Although Saturn enters Libra now, it retrogrades on December 25 and goes back into Virgo again on April 7, until July 21. This gives us a chance to recover and finish incomplete processes from our tasks of the last two years.

As Saturn (or any planet) enters a new sign, we take on a new major task or dedicate ourselves to a process. We get a vision of perfection about what we should create. We can potentiate this time of inspiration by recording or ritualizing it in some way. As the next two years unfold, we will fulfill this task/process, and we will fight fiercely to do so. Being conscious about what we commit to helps us to be clear that we want what we’re creating and aids us in doing so.

October In Depth

October 1-2
We could call this the recovery period, when Mercury is still slow and no other planets assume prominence. We can drift along and complete our work, dealing primarily with our Saturn/Virgo-Uranus/Pisces process as the Moon moves through Pisces. Any surprises on the 2nd? Use it as a way to better understand the Saturn-Uranus energy in your life and see it as an opportunity (which it certainly is). We are in the Mercury Recovery Zone in some ways through the 14th.

October 3-16

The Full Moon launches us into new activities as activities previously under the radar bear fruit. Jupiter is already effectively at its station, so we get a boost. Not only do we gain the abundance that comes from our efforts since the New Moon, but those we’ve put forward since January 23rd! And they will be more profound and come to us over a longer period. Not only will we notice a better-than-the-average Full Moon manifestation, the Jupiterian Horn of Plenty will pour its riches into our lives for the coming four months.

At the time of the Full Moon, Venus, Mercury, and Saturn are clustered together in Virgo. This is a marvelous combination for planning, analysis, commitment, and wise application of intelligence. This energy plays out over this period, with the peak of their interactions on the 7th–13th.

October 4

There is a convergence of planets at 23+° of their respective signs. If you have anything at or near 23° of any sign today, you will feel lots of activity internally, if not through external events. Mercury, Mars, Uranus, and Neptune are all there, and then the Moon triggers them all throughout the day. (See Chart B.)

October 8–10

 In the midst of all this, there is a lovely Sun-Moon-Jupiter/Chiron/Neptune grand trine in the Air signs gracing us on the 8th. (See Chart A.) We’ll feel it through Saturday. It lends us lightness, social generosity, and the inclination to forgive. The 8th is a great time for reconciliations and appreciation of our relationships with others. A sense of gratitude comes naturally for all things wonderful in our lives. Mercury enters Libra on the 9th and squares Pluto on the 10th for the final release of the challenges we took on at the end of August.

October 12–17

Healing energy fills us during this period, as Jupiter makes its station to forward (direct) motion on the 12th, and the Sun trines Chiron, the harbinger of its impending station to direct motion on the 31st. This offers us a tremendous release of old energies, blockages, and toxins. If you’ve an inclination to do a cleansing detox, this is a highly effective time to do it.

October 16–18

Mars enters Leo and the celestial space over which it will retrograde starting in December. The New Moon is especially blessed as both Sun and Moon trine the Jupiter-Chiron-Neptune conjunction in Aquarius. The New Moon chart has its challenges, its as if they are brought out now in order to completely dispel them.

October 18–22

So many planets are at late degrees (Sun, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune), if your chart is heavily populated in the high degrees of any sign, your chart will be active now. A Mercury-Jupiter trine is the first harmony we’ve had between these planets in many months, and it gives us a chance to form harmonious binding agreements when timed right. A minor grand trine between Moon, Venus, and Jupiter bless us on the 21st and 22nd.

October 22–29

Planetary tension builds when the Sun enters Scorpio at the end of the day. Our bright luminary catches hold of a square to Mars in Leo, and we feel a sense of urgency to get more done. There is pressure to do so, as if we’ve unwittingly piled on extra tasks at this time. Rely on your community for support — but realize that they have taken on their own “too-muchness” as well. A Mercury trine to Chiron relieves this panic, as if we realize that the pressure is coming from inside us and not as much from the expectations that others place upon us. A second minor grand trine for the month brings constructive action when the Moon connects with the Sun (by trine) and Pluto (by sextile) on the 28th.

October 29–31

A new wave reaches shore as Saturn enters Libra. We’ve been feeling its energies since the beginning of the month, like Christmas gifts yet to be opened. We know it’s there and we can feel its energy, but it will not land on our shores and ground into our being fully until now. Chiron’s station to direct (forward) motion penetrates all our experiences and lends grace notes to our life song.

Looking Ahead

We’ll be feeling the Saturn-Pluto square throughout November. When you feel fear, ask yourself, “Where is this coming from?” If you pull yourself into your own awareness and analyze it, you will probably discover that it has nothing to do with you. It was triggered when a fear-hook was released by someone who lives in fear, creating a wave of fear that sweeps the planet, implanting in anyone who doesn’t know how to fend it off. Part of our work in raising the vibration of the planet is to not fall prey to fear and to help dispel it in others.

⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆⋆

October gives us a break from the intensity of the past few months as we harvest the fruits of our year’s efforts. Perhaps we’ve acclimated to our troubling circumstances, but as long as we don’t become numb to them or accept pain and mediocrity as the standard we will press forward to the end and accomplish our goals.

Significant Planetary Events

Jupiter, Chiron, Uranus, and Neptune are retrograde. Mercury is in rulership. The Sun, Venus, and Mars are in fall.

All dates are based on Pacific Time.
Blue = harmonious/Red or orange = challenging/intense/black = neutral
Events in bold are more significant.

© Terry Lamb