Cosmic Forecast October 2022
/
Illustration by Jess Stanley
As autumn begins, a shifting wind blows into through the stars. This month will bring with it a much-needed reprieve from the intense astrology of September. The summer’s Saturn and Pluto retrogrades are wrapping up, as is last month’s Mercury retrograde. The crisp fall air is inviting in a chance for restfulness and reprieve that will cool off anxiety and ease our bodies into the slowness of winter.
October is the sunset month where the days begin to slide deeper into darkness and the year tilts towards Samhain, the pagan celebration of the dead. Libra season stretches over the majority of the month, reminding us to focus on the careful balance of the light and dark of the seasons and life itself. Libra is about harmony, rationality, and realism. Its energy asks us to see things for what they really are, bravely face the truth, and cultivate acceptance for what we cannot change.
October’s astrological activity is meditative, a balm for the challenges we may have faced over the last four or five months. It’s a time to reassess the way you think about reality, engage with new philosophies, and learn new ways of seeing. Libra season’s astrological weather carries the message that we can find a sense of stillness and peace because of the chaos of life, rather than in spite of it. As Pema Chödrön writes in her book When Things Fall Apart:
Things falling apart is a kind of testing and also a kind of healing. We think that the point is to pass the test or to overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don’t really get solved. They come together, and they fall apart. Then they come together again and fall apart again. It’s just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy. (9)
Throughout the month, there’s a Grand Air Trine between Saturn in Aquarius, Mars in Gemini and the Sun, Mercury, and Venus. This Grand Trine contrasts September’s Grand Earth Trine, releasing us from a feeling of heaviness or stagnancy. While the Earth Trine gave us stability and comfort, it also created friction. With Mercury in retrograde through the Earth sign Virgo, last month’s Grand Trine may have contributed to a sense of malaise—a lack of change when it was desperately needed. Now that the planets have moved into Air signs, their energies are freer, more flexible. This cosmic formation asks us to open our minds to new possibilities. It makes thinking and communicating easier, providing clarity, straightforwardness, and solutions to complex problems.
From the 12th to the 25th, the Sun and Venus square up with Pluto. This transit will take us into the waters of our hearts and invite us to take a holistic view of our desires. Pluto represents the unknown, the unseen, and the unacknowledged. Still in Capricorn, the planet’s energy is turned towards the structures in our lives—social, political, cultural, and the limits and rules that live inside ourselves. The square creates tension between our limits and our identities (the Sun) and what we truly long for (Venus). During the square, honesty with self is critical. You have vital needs and boundaries, passions and deep, unavoidable hopes that all speak to you of a life that feels like home. It’s high time you listen to the parts of yourself that you (or others) might be judging. Pay particular attention to those parts that you’re most critical of, where your self-talk is the harshest. That’s where you’ll find a dark well of possibility waiting for you to drink.
A Full Moon in Aries on October 9th lights a campfire of joy in the middle of the season’s chill. It’s an excellent time to focus on the new things you want to bring into your life this season. Aries is the first sign of the zodiac and the Moon in the sign allows us to capture that energy, even as the Sun dims in the sky. Use this lunation to write out a list of things you want to try and experiences you want to have. Open your heart to absolute faith that your dreams will come true.
Scorpio season begins on the 23rd, swiftly followed by a partial New Moon Solar Eclipse on the 25th. We’ll celebrate Samhain on the 31st with a waxing crescent in Aquarius hanging in the sky. As the month wraps up, the energy is intensely magical. The Sun, Venus, and Mercury hold hands in Scorpio, inviting us towards the esoteric. Allow more questions than answers, approach everything with a sense of wonder. Cast spells and stargaze—marvel at everything you can’t understand. And, as iconic witch Sally Owens says: always throw spilled salt over your left shoulder. Keep rosemary by your garden gate. Plant lavender for luck. And fall in love whenever you can.
Keagan (she/her) is a writer, tarot reader, and astrologer. Find her on Instagram @moonsingemini to book a reading. Subscribe to her monthly tarotscope newsletter here.
