Horoscope: October 22 to 28, 2018
Astrologer Pam Younghans writes this weekly astrological journal based on planetary influences, and offers perspectives and insights to assist you in making the best use of current energies. This column is not intended as prediction. Your own experience will be more specifically defined by transits to your personal chart.
Highlighted Aspects for This Week
All times listed are Pacific Daylight Time. For Greenwich Mean Time, add 7 hours; for Eastern Time, add 3 hours.
MON: Sun quincunx Chiron, Sun sesquiquadrate Neptune, Mercury sextile Pluto, Mercury semisquare Saturn
TUE: Sun enters Scorpio, Sun opposite Uranus
WED: Venus sextile Saturn, Full Moon 9:45 a.m. PDT, Sun square Nodes
FRI: Sun conjunct Venus
SAT: Sun sextile Saturn
OUR ATTENTION is riveted on the potentially Earth-shaking Full Moon that occurs this week. Although the actual event occurs on Wednesday, we'll start feeling its influence on Monday and Tuesday, when several pieces of the lunation puzzle start to fall into place.
While still in Libra on Monday, the Sun forms challenging aspects with Chiron and Neptune, both of which are currently in Pisces. Recent events have upset our balance and shaken our faith, undercutting our confidence in fairness and justice -- Libran ideals by which we optimally would choose to live. If we have become disillusioned and are drawn into escapism or avoidance, Monday's planetary aspects compel us to adjust our attitudes.
The Sun-Chiron quincunx calls us to heal a lack of faith in the overall positive evolution of humanity. It tells us to look beyond what appears on the surface, to go deeper than our disappointment, and to seek the harmony and balance that is at the core of our beings.
At the same time, the Sun-Neptune sesquiquadrate reveals the unsatisfactory nature of apathy and avoidance. Pretending that we don't care leaves us with a dullness and an inability to fully engage in life. When we close our hearts to one area of life, walls start to build in adjacent areas, soon leaving us feeling separate and alone, when we really want to feel love.
THE SUN enters Scorpio's turbulent waters on Tuesday at 4:22 a.m. PDT (11:22 a.m. GMT), setting the energetic stage for its opposition to Uranus in Taurus, which perfects thirteen hours later. This is a highly energized and unpredictable influence, manifesting on both the emotional (Scorpio) and physical (Taurus) levels.
The effects of a Sun-Uranus opposition can be sudden and surprising, either literally or figuratively shaking the ground beneath our feet. With the Sun in Scorpio, a sign that can be quite reactive, any disruptions or eruptions we experience are likely to evoke a deep emotional response.
THE EFFECTS of this Sun-Uranus opposition come into full expression with Wednesday's Full Moon, when the Moon aligns with Uranus and opposes the Sun. The lunation occurs on October 24 at 9:45 a.m. PDT (4:45 p.m. GMT), when the Moon reaches 1°13? Taurus.
A configuration called a fixed grand cross is formed by this Full Moon. Making up the pattern are the Sun and Venus in Scorpio, Uranus and the Moon in Taurus, the South Node in Aquarius, and the North Node in Leo. The configuration is called a cross because lines drawn between these points on the zodiac form a large X.
A grand cross such as this represents great tension that is looking for a way to be released, much like lava that is building in the depths of a volcano. Ultimately, the energy will be vented through the weakest places in the mantle of society or of planet Earth herself.
ASTROLOGER Bil Tierney writes that a fixed grand cross:
"... tends to work its powerful energies out on the will and desire level, creating inner frustrations often leading to an emotional crisis. We will thus be challenged to become more willing to make changes, adapt to others, and actively seek new alternatives in self-expression.
"This is the grand cross of extremism. The energy it generates can draw out the most purposeful, dedicated expression, as well as the most debased and cruel. We are pressured to clear out all lingering resentments, hostilities, jealousies, and festering hatred. Life will inevitably teach us how to soften our will and open our hearts to a more universal level of love. Once we earnestly devote ourselves to uplifting spiritual service, we can much better break up the destructive crystallization of this configuration. By accepting life on its own terms with a sense of compassion and understanding, rather than forcing it to satisfy our own uncompromising demands, we can become a stabilizing anchor for many."
Powerful words. A powerful time.
THE MOON'S NODES form two arms of the grand cross. These points in space represent our karmic past and evolutionary future, with the South Node showing qualities we are leaving behind, and the North Node revealing the higher destiny we are moving toward.
There is a strong evolutionary imperative to this Full Moon. The North Node in Leo is calling for us to come together at the heart level, to hold the courage of compassion as our banner, and to demonstrate that which we aspire to become. The South Node in Aquarius shows our fallback patterns: ambivalence, over-intellectualizing instead of feeling our emotions, and reducing the personal to impersonal so that we do not have to become involved.
This inclusion of the Nodes in the Full Moon chart carries extra significance since the Nodes are almost done with their journey through the Leo/Aquarius axis. They will move into the next pair of signs on November 6, and so are working extra hard to get us to take this essential step in our evolutionary journey.
Echoing the lessons of the Nodes, the Moon aligns with the fixed star Stella Mira at the time of the Full Moon. Astrologer Roderick Kidston writes that Stella Mira "is a star of independence; this drive to fly solo can run the gamut from inspiring individualism through various degrees of difference, eccentricity, or even to a sense of alienation. But the truth is, the world needs you, with your unusual way of perceiving and interpreting it. Opt IN, not out!"
THE FOURTH POINT of the grand cross is held by the Sun and retrograde Venus, both in Scorpio. The alignment of these two planets perfects on Friday, carrying the effects of the Full Moon well into next weekend. We'll also see fallout from the lunation occurring in the following week as well, when Venus exactly opposes Uranus right before re-entering Libra (on October 31).
Venus is the goddess of Beauty and Love, and thus in astrology, she rules those people and things that we open our human hearts to. With her involvement in the grand cross, we can expect changes in our relationships that encourage both parties to claim their own unique voice and perspective. We may also experience shifts of our core values, represented by the ways that we earn, spend, and save money. And, since Venus rules the Arts, our creative outlets may change, or we may decide to explore entirely new and original ways of expressing our art.
And, given that Venus is in truth-revealing Scorpio, she is currently adding her voice to the #MeToo movement. This means other shocking secrets related to the abuse of power may be uncovered this week and next. Or, with Venus now retrograde, this may instead be a time for deep internal processing and cleansing of dark relationships and experiences from our past, as we rebel (Uranus) against the limitations that these memories have placed on us.
AMIDST all this potential upheaval, we must remember that Uranus, while called the god of Chaos, is also a transpersonal planet and the planetary representative of the Higher Mind. The lightning bolt that can alter a physical life in a split second may also be the inspired insight or channeled information that likewise can remap the course of our journey.
Upsetting changes tend to play an important role in the process of our global awakening. It's just that, for the most part, our perceptions are still limited and do not provide us with the greater overview. But if humanity is meant to start thinking in new, more expansive ways, and acting with greater compassion and mindfulness, how else are the gods to get our attention? If all proceeds in calm and ordered fashion, we don't tend to see the need for change.
IF YOUR BIRTHDAY IS THIS WEEK: There is a deep restlessness stirring in your being over the coming year, one that calls you to break free from ways that you have been limiting your personal fulfillment. This may have already started (if your birthday is Monday-Thursday), or may be still in its nascent stages (if your birthday is Friday-Sunday). This could manifest as a literal rebellion against the status quo of your life, especially in resistance to the "shoulds" that you have unconsciously allowed to make decisions for you. This is meant to be a time when you focus on what you need and want. As a result, you may find yourself pushing against those who want you to fill a certain role or be a certain way. Or, you may experience a loved one as being particularly erratic or unpredictable, so that you become more aware of yourself as a separate individual with your own unique role and path. You are coming into greater authenticity, and learning to appreciate and honor who you are and how you want to live your life.
About the Author
Pam Younghans is a professional astrologer, editor, and writer. She lives in a log home northeast of Seattle, Washington with her beloved animal companions. She has been interpreting charts professionally for over 25 years. If you are interested in an astrology reading, e-mail
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