by Eric Francis
ARIES — The goal of many people is to “fit in.” For two reasons described by your astrology, this is not going to work for you. The first is an immediate situation: Mars is making its way across Aquarius, an important zone of your chart associated with your social interactions. Mars does not take any bullshit, and the combination of Mars and Aquarius will bring out your most individualistic properties. Second is a long-range transit, which is Chiron in your birth sign. This has been in effect for about six months; after one last retrograde into Pisces, it will continue for another nine years. Chiron is the maverick: the one who stands apart. This is less about individuation and more about profound necessity. As Bob Dylan once wrote, if you try to be anyone but yourself, you will fail. When you look around at all of the struggle, the strife, the jealousy and (to use Bob’s word) failure, consider how much of that is about the refusal to be oneself. As I said: not an option for you.
TAURUS — Venus, the Taurus planet, is now in your opposite sign Scorpio. This describes an unusual opportunity in all of your relationships, which is for you to see things from the point of view of those who experience you. Yet as this process moves deeper, with the retrograde of Venus from Oct. 5 through Nov. 16, the theme changes, to others seeing the world from your point of view — and this may be intense for them. People tend to seek completion in their relationships. There is often the search for the “missing piece.” Sooner or later, everyone arrives at the realization that their missing piece is within them, not held by someone else. There will be a little of this in all of your exchanges with others. Here’s a simple way to work with this energy: ask yourself what you seek from others, and how you can get some, most, or all of it from yourself.
GEMINI — Are you struggling to make something? To build or create something? If so, remember: that which you’re creating is yourself. When you’re actually in a space of self-creation, that pushes the entire environment that surrounds you, because you’re part of your world, and your world is part of the pattern of your life. This is about you coming out of your comfort zone, which to some extent will give everyone around you a little push, whether you’re doing it intentionally or not. And herein lies the problem of conformity. Most people you meet refuse to engage this process and emerge as themselves specifically because they are in fear of this knock-on effect: when you change, everyone else has to, even if just a little. And this has a way of keeping everyone petrified and calcified into their “place,” which means state of mind. For you at least, those days are over.
CANCER — Monday’s Full Moon illuminates your professional potential, in that distinctive style of Chiron. However, at this juncture, let’s note the difference between a career and a vocation. To career means to run at full speed (it’s originally a verb; we use it as a noun: to have a career). A vocation is a calling, or more accurately, a spiritual calling, as if from God or the Universe. Chiron, now in your solar 10th house, is being graced and, in a sense, revealed by the Full Moon in Aries. Chiron emphasizes the vocational or calling aspect of the work that you do. Chiron is all about the work itself; the process of learning and teaching; the inconvenient but vitally important effort; the delayed result. Given that Aries is involved, remember, this is not about something that you do, it’s about who you are. So to follow this calling is to respond to your own soul inviting you to become. And in truth, it does not matter what you do, only how you do it.
LEO — You need to spread your wings. You are discovering that the world is a wider, wilder place than you imagined, and you need to see more of it, feel more of it and in a sense, become more of it. This is a distinctly spiritual calling: that is, the purpose is to get closer to God, however you may interpret that. It’s associated with Chiron in Aries, now moving over the first degree of that sign, a spot called the Aries Point. This is a larger-than-life point in the zodiac. While (after the winter) Chiron will spend the next nine years in Aries, and in theory this gives you plenty of time, the beginning of this journey is important. Monday’s Full Moon is conjunct Chiron, which is calling attention to whatever this placement means to you. The Moon is likely to illuminate a desire, a destination, a pull, a craving. Note it carefully, as there is an element of truth to it. Whatever it is, let yourself feel it — and face the direction that you want to go.
VIRGO — There’s something you’re seeing in its most idealistic potential, and you must be careful about that. Take your time, and be discerning. This is definitely not a time when you can assume that first impressions are correct. Rather, count them as your face-value experience, and then give things (meaning events, and people) time and see what percolates through your reality. In terms of evaluating another person, the most vital thing you can do is size up how you feel in someone’s presence. If you meet someone and, when you’re with them, you find yourself not liking yourself, notice that — that’s your signal. If you meet someone and you feel good about yourself, that’s your signal. I am not talking about comfort. Important teachers, formal or informal, are supposed to push us into new territory. Also, beware of a special kind of ego trip where you might pretend “someone is judging you.” So as suggested above — give it all time. Evaluate slowly. Listen to yourself.
LIBRA — While Venus, one of the Libra planets, is getting ready to go retrograde in Scorpio, you have the company of the Sun, Mercury and Ceres. Said another way, self-esteem is a practical tool. Imagine you’re rock climbing, and you have to make your way up or across a cliff face. Whether you feel good about yourself is not a question; the task at hand is. Sidestep the issue of “self worth” entirely, connect to your motivation, and do what you need to do. Draw your “worth” from your drive and what you accomplish, no matter how small. There are different techniques for approaching this question at different times, depending on your situation. There are times when you have to throw out the whole issue, and plunge forward, and get the job done. Now is such a time. There is something that you need to do, which you will recognize even more directly by the fact that you want to do it. Grab it with both hands and let it pull you forward.
SCORPIO — Certain family matters that came to the forefront of your life in the spring and summer are back, and you must look at them with fresh eyes. It will be too easy to fall into old patterns, or at least to try to. All of these relationships have been reshuffled and rearranged. Approach the people in your life from a new orientation, and use the information and experience you’ve gained. Yet there’s one more thing: be conscious of, and cautious of, your tendency to think of yourself as subservient to your tribe, to individuals within your tribe, or the ideas that people seem to want you to follow. Take none of that, and meet people where they are, coming from where you are. Stand your full height. Speak your mind boldly. Let people challenge you, and if they have a good point, make sure you tell them that right away. You are shifting your relationships from a parent-child pattern to an adult-adult pattern — and you’re the only one who can do this.
SAGITTARIUS — Let yourself experiment. Most people have forgotten how to do this; humans are said to be creatures of habit, which is one of the ways we are made into slaves, mental and otherwise. You must bust out of your thought patterns, and try different approaches to living. As an example, when you go someplace, return by a different route, particularly one you’ve never tried. Then apply this concept to everything. Bump yourself out of routines: what you have for breakfast, what you drink your water out of, which branch of the gym you go to, what you wear, and whatever else you may do habitually. This is a mind-liberating tool, which will have a cascade effect on the rest of your life. Emphasize expressing yourself in writing, and push it a little, letting yourself be as funny as the circumstances allow. Take any chance to have your communication and social engagement be in person rather than via digital means. Then, meet the future boldly.
CAPRICORN — It’s worth repeating the words of Lois Rodden, founder of the original index-card version of Astrodatabank, as spoken into my ear: Mars is the money planet. Most of the astrological literature will tell you that it’s Mercury, the planet of merchants. Rodden’s view was that being a merchant is all well and good, but if you want to make money, you need motivation, and that is a Mars thing. You need to focus on goals, and that, too, is a Mars thing. Here’s the hook: you must stop comparing yourself to other people. You must stop deciding that anyone is better than you (or, if applicable, that you are better than anyone). This is not about competition: Mars through Aquarius is about you doing your thing, your way, for your reasons. Being motivated by money, in this case, is not the best way to make the stuff. Rather, hitch your wagon to your creative power and drive, and then figure out the financial thing ongoing, as a constant yoga; as an art of adaptation.
AQUARIUS — What you are living through is not a replay. You get to experience every moment as a first-time event, if you decide to put yourself there. It’s true that concepts of the past and of the future form a potentially useful frame of reference, though you want to use this gently — that is, for reference purposes only. Speaking astrologically, your role is to emphasize the individualistic aspects of Aquarius rather than the conformist ones. This is not rebellion for its own sake, but rather actual original thinking. You will know you’re there because others might find it somewhat abrasive or irritating. You will have further confirmation as you evaluate any potential feelings of guilt for overstepping your bounds or “offending” people. Don’t take this too seriously. It’s a barometer more than anything else. A little conflict is essential, with Mars making its way through your sign: essential, that is, for finding out who you are. This is not about being aggressive; it’s about being real.
PISCES — The Aries Full Moon conjunct Chiron is prodding you to spring into action where your finances are concerned. You have your special distinctions that give you unusual value. You have your personal mission, which drives you to succeed in decidedly individual, personal ways, that don’t apply to others. And you have the motivation provided by Aries on your money house (the 2nd solar house). All you need to do is pluck up some extra confidence, and do the things you need to do. One thing to remember is that with rare exceptions, money does not “come to people.” They go out and get it; they sell what they have; they enter into meaningful agreements with people who value them. The thing you must remember, now, forever and anon, is that you have something of value to offer the world. That is the one thing never to doubt. One of your life missions, for the foreseeable future, is to establish this basic fact in your world, and the world.
