“…there is a certain responsibility and expectation in terms of how you behave and how you present yourself.”
— President Obama (referring to standards for presidential candidates)

You can’t control how other people behave. Realistically, the only person you can aspire to regulate is yourself. At best, you can serve as an example to others. At the very least, how you express yourself, along with the actions you take, will serve to define who and what you are.

Taken as a whole, the astrology for the remainder of this week will support you in defining yourself as you wish to be known. There is even some chance that your example could make a greater difference than usual. As always, your conscious participation with the sky will be the necessary requisite for an optimized outcome.

As usual, your collaborations with the universe this week must necessarily begin on the inside. You can start by making an effort to be fully conscious of your thoughts. Given how the so-called ‘personal planets’ (the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus and probably Mars) are moving, that endeavor will require more effort than usual.

The Sun (astrology’s emblem of consciousness) has been in Scorpio since the weekend. Mercury (astrology’s symbol of mind) followed the Sun into Scorpio yesterday. As result, there is an implicitly introspective vibe to the astrology. Blend in the waning Moon’s ingress to Virgo (ruled by Mercury) last night, and indications are that your thoughts are, or can be, running very deep. If you add in what Venus and Mars are currently doing, it would be worth your while to exercise some executive function and plumb those depths with intent.

Right now, Venus is cruising in Sagittarius towards aspects that indicate you will feel compelled to express what you are thinking. That’s probably a good thing. At the same time, Mars is moving through its Capricorn exaltation and into aspects that imply you will be strongly motivated to act on your thoughts. That could be even better. The key is to make sure you don’t put yourself into a situation where you later wonder (or are asked) what you were thinking prior to speaking, writing or acting.

To avoid regrettable behavior this week, there are three practical things you can do. First, write. Second, read what you wrote. Third, behave as if you actually are a presidential candidate campaigning for votes.

If keeping a journal is already part of your lifestyle, gift yourself with a little extra time to examine what your entries are really saying. If you are not a diary person, experiment with sending all of your electronic messages to only you for thorough review before passing them on.

Finally, think of yourself as a candidate of sorts. It will not benefit anybody if you are inhibited. Speaking your mind comes with the territory. Neither is inaction likely to be appropriate. It would not do, however, to be either thoughtless or reckless in how you behave or present yourself.

Be aware of where you stand. Know your issues inside and out. Speak to encourage. Act to inspire. Give others a reason to agree, rather than argue with you. Support from above is already there. Now, what you need to do is bring the skies down to Earth. In order to manifest the current celestial implications here below, work from the inside out.

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Eric has begun the early pre-order phase of the 2017 annual edition. You can read his full letter about it here. Or, go straight to the purchase page for the current early discount, which will increase again later in the season. (If you’re a Core Community or Backstage Pass member, or have questions, please email us at cs@planetwaves.net for your extra-special discounted price.)

When the Sun enters Scorpio shortly after 7:45 pm EDT (23:45:29 UTC) tomorrow, the accompanying astrology will be complex but understandable. Initially, at least, you may find that conditions in your life will follow suit. In general, you can expect the tableau to include an interesting mix of logical and unexpected developments.

As you might expect, much of what you consciously initiated while the Sun was in Libra will proceed to coalesce into logical consequences under a Scorpio Sun.

As those consequences take form, you will probably have to make only a few minor adjustments in order to manifest what you started over the last three or four weeks. The outcomes you have recently been seeking will likely be obtainable over the next three or four weeks so long as you are flexible regarding the details.

If, for example, you have been planning to host a Halloween party, it would be more wise to focus on essential preparations than fixate on whether someone in particular will show up.

Should there be any surprises in store while the Sun is in Scorpio, chances are they originated while you or somebody else was proceeding less than consciously during solar Libra. Should that be the case for you, take responsibility, but only for your own oversights. This does not mean you should abandon others. Instead, serve as an example to others by cleaning up after yourself as a first priority.

Finally, a word about boundaries. The two planets said to rule Scorpio (Mars and Pluto) are currently in Capricorn, which is ruled by Saturn — the lord of boundaries. The main implication of that arrangement is that you would be better off setting limits for yourself than challenging those of others. Keep your boundaries simple, and make them clear. Channel your energies towards remaining firmly grounded in what you know. Refrain from speculation, extrapolation or hyperbole.

Mars will move on to Aquarius Nov. 8 (or Nov. 9, depending on your time zone). Until then, tend to your own business first. Do the right thing as best you can. Live and let live. If you can do only those simple things, the concluding days of the Sun in Scorpio will more than likely be quite gratifying for you.

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Eric has begun the early pre-order phase of the 2017 annual edition. You can read his full letter about it here. Or, go straight to the purchase page for the significant early discount, which will increase Oct. 22. (If you’re a Core Community or Backstage Pass member, or have questions, please email us at cs@planetwaves.net for your extra-special discounted price.)

Most of you are familiar with the “The Little Engine That Could.” Usually told as a tale for children, the story depicts a small railroad engine who takes on a big job, and succeeds while repeating “I think I can.” Starting today, and for the remainder of this week, the astrology as a whole indicates the same mantra will come in handy for you.

Before getting into the astrology, however, take a moment to appreciate yourself as a whole. Unlike a machine, you are more than just a collection of physical parts. You have demonstrably real, albeit intangible attributes such as mind, emotion, instinct and intuition.

Perhaps most profoundly, you have imagination. Even as a child you could envision a railroad engine with a personality, and learn from its fictional example. Among those lessons was how your thinking can support your efforts — or not — depending on what you choose to think. The same principle applies to what is being implied by astrological events this week.

Today’s astrology is very different from yesterday. Both the Moon and Venus have changed signs. Shortly after 3 am EDT this morning (07:00:37 UTC) Venus left Scorpio behind to initiate a journey through Sagittarius which will not conclude until Nov. 12. Less than eight hours after Venus entered Sagittarius, the Moon moved out of Taurus to begin two days in Gemini.

The most straightforward interpretation of having the Moon and Venus change signs as they have today is that some things or conditions in your life have moved on as well. It’s a cue for you to move on with them. Taking other celestial placements into account, you could plausibly begin manifesting what the Moon and Venus are indicating in two ways.

First, as much as you practically can, put the immediate past behind you. Rather than prolong any climaxes that took place with the Aries Full Moon last weekend, allow for any resolution that feels natural and unforced to take its course. Next, evaluate how much energy you have now, and where you want to put it through the weekend to come.

Mars is, as Robert Hand concisely put it, “an energy planet.” While it is not the only celestial object that may be considered so, whenever there are issues regarding energy in your life or in the world as a whole, Mars is probably where you should look first for useful information from astrology.

Tomorrow (Wednesday Oct. 19), Mars will begin the second half of its journey through Capricorn by conjoining with Pluto in the same degree of cardinal earth. Were it any planet other than Mars merging its nature with Pluto in a sign representing manifestation (among other things), you would logically expect tomorrow’s conjunction of the two to express as a climax of its own. Mars, however, is not just any other planet.

For whatever reason, Mars aspects tend to peak before they are exact to the degree. Hence, instead of waiting until after tomorrow to take stock of your own energy and plan for its future expenditure, you can safely begin to do so now. Additionally, based on what the Sun and Mercury are doing now, some optimistic planning (and effort) would probably be in order.

The Sun (astrology’s emblem for conscious awareness) is currently slogging through the final five degrees of Libra. Versatile Mercury (astrology’s symbol for how you think) is not far behind the Sun and is catching up. Together, the image represented by the Sun and Mercury this week is not unlike that depicted by “The Little Engine That Could.” Depending on who you are the details will vary, but you should at least think twice before declining to try any endeavor — even if the task seems intimidating.

What seems like a long uphill trek in your imagination may not turn out to be so bad in practice. In all probability, simply thinking that your effort will get you over the crest and on the downhill side of whatever labors you are now facing will be enough to get the job done.

Consciously put your energy into constantly and consistently imagining the outcomes you want rather than being discouraged by the trials you dread. On the whole, if you can do so, what others (or even you, prior to today) considered to be too demanding will almost certainly yield to your will.

Yesterday is gone. Today is here. Tomorrow beckons. Whatever your situation, your place in the cosmos right now strongly implies you should first and foremost think you can, no matter what life brings you.

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When tributaries come together to make a greater river, it’s a wondrous thing. It’s also a phenomenon too easy to take for granted because it is so effortless and natural. With notable exception for the Sun and Moon acting as a counterpoint of sorts, there’s a lot of confluence going on in the sky now.

Confluence in astrology is when planets come together in the sky and on the zodiac to occupy the same degree of the same sign. Astrologers call that a ‘conjunction’ — one of many geometric relationships between celestial objects collectively called ‘aspects’.

First and foremost among all the things conjunctions represent for astrologers is a new cycle. As is the case with other aspects where retrogrades are not involved, the prototypical conjunction by which all other such mergers are interpreted takes place between the Sun and Moon — astrology’s two ‘luminaries’. It is called a New Moon.

On the day of a New Moon, you can’t see the Moon from our perspective on Earth because it is moving through the daytime sky with the Sun. On the days that follow a New Moon, we see Luna reappear, its illumination gradually growing as it separates from the Sun. At maximum separation (about two weeks after a New Moon) we see the Sun and Moon on opposite sides of the sky and zodiac. That’s a Full Moon, astrology’s template for the aspect known as an opposition.

This weekend there will be a Full Moon in Aries. Weather permitting, it will be a beautiful sight. Regardless of where you are, this particular Aries Full Moon also promises to be a momentous occasion correlating with events significant enough to be in the foreground of your consciousness.

In the background, however, a whole heaping handful of astrologically significant objects are in the process of moving (or ‘applying’, as astrologers put it) towards their respective conjunctions. As Eric and Amanda have previously noted here on Planet Waves, one of those conjunctions (between Uranus and Eris) will share the same degree of Aries with this weekend’s Full Moon.

In the meantime, Mars is applying to conjoin with Capricorn in Pluto this coming Wednesday. Mercury, for its part, is currently chasing down the Sun in Libra for a conjunction that will take place on Oct. 27 after both have moved on to Scorpio.

Finally, this coming Tuesday, Venus will move on from Scorpio to Sagittarius. There it will conjoin with Saturn on Oct. 29 (or Oct. 30, depending on where you live), coinciding with the next New Moon.

What should you make of all these applying conjunctions currently being outshone by an impending (and implicitly momentous) Full Moon? Appropriately, there is a confluence of answers to that question. First off, as big a deal as the Aries Full Moon (and corresponding events) look to be, no single astrological aspect is the be-all, end-all. The Sun, Moon and planets keep moving after even the biggest moments. Just as the world does. Just as you endeavor to do.

More to the point, astrology is both cyclical and holistic. There is no linear movement in the sky. Everything goes around to come around, just as life does. What’s more, at any given time there are a lot of cycles going on, each in a different phase of completion. It’s important to see all of those cycles as a whole, one aspect leading to the next, all coming together effortlessly like tributaries making rivers that return to the sea to begin again.

If you are fortunate enough to view the Full Moon this weekend, remember that it’s just a moment. As with every precious moment in your life, it should not be taken for granted. Neither, however, should you take it for more than it is. Seek to flow with the corresponding events in your own way, and find your own place (whether foreground or background) within them. Then, as with all other things in the solar system of which you are a part, move on.

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It was quite a weekend just past for politics in the U.S. If astrological trends are any indicator, the remainder of this week will be partially distinguished in two ways. First, the political or public issues of the previous week (or two) will implicitly come to some sort of culmination.

The word “culmination” as used here is not intended to express an ending so much as a climax — a peak of intensity, rather than a conclusion. The second astrological indicator is of an indirect personal parallel to political events.

In other words, it is a bit less than likely for political events to affect you directly — at least for the near term. Instead, it is more probable that your private life will in some way emulate what’s going on in the public sphere. The reason for that conclusion has to do with how astrological sign rulers are now moving in relation to one another.

Often, when there is a confluence of the political and personal, it is because something significant is taking place in or near the first degree of cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn). As with many things astrological, an understanding of how the doorstep of a cardinal sign functions begins with the Sun.

When the Sun enters a cardinal sign, a new season begins. When a new season initiates, everybody on Earth has a similar experience with the Sun. At an equinox (Sun entering Aries or Libra) all earthlings experience not only an equivalent length of day and night but also see the Sun rise and set precisely east and west

At a solstice (solar ingress to either Cancer or Capricorn) sunrises and sunsets take place either as far North (Cancer) or South (Capricorn) as they will ever get, regardless of your location on Earth’s surface. These common experiences of the Sun, corresponding with the beginning of a new season, are the prototypical ‘Aries point’ events: your life having something in common with both everybody else and the greater whole.

When the Moon or a planet enters a cardinal sign, they can be said to emulate the Sun. On such occasions, the political and personal often flow together in a manner reminiscent of how the object in question expresses in your life.

At the moment, the sign ruler closest to the first degree of a cardinal sign is Jupiter in the eighth degree of Libra. While eight degrees is well within what astrologer’s call Jupiter’s ‘orb of influence’ the current distribution of planets is not exactly indicative of an Aries Point event.

Even so, there is another way for cardinal signs to express: through the planets that rule them. Aries is ruled by Mars. Cancer is the Moon’s dominion. Venus is at home in Libra. Finally, Saturn rules Capricorn.

There is an old proverb asserting that you can take a person off the farm, but you can never take the farm out of a person who grew up there. You might also say that you can take a planet out of its dominion, but you can never take the dominion out of a planet. Hence, wherever a sign ruler goes, it takes some of the characteristics of its home with it.

It so happens that the Moon, Venus, Mars and Saturn are now placed so as to project something of their respective cardinal dominions onto the astrology as a whole by where and how they are moving. Without going into a lot of liturgical detail, those movements are combining to indicate that your personal life is occurring in parallel with what you might call history in the making, even if you are not a major political player. All of that implies that you now might be able to better understand what’s currently going on in the world through your own experience.

To have personal experience reveal something of what’s happening for other people and the world as a whole is not something that happens very often. If there is anything to the astrology this week, however, what’s now building to a culmination for you will give you a valuable clue about what you hear from others or learn about through the news media over the next handful of days. Keep that in mind as this week goes on, and you will likely possess a level of awareness that gives you a valuable key to understanding more than just your situation.

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If you are thinking about Hurricane Matthew this morning, your heart is in the right place. After taking nearly 600 lives in Haiti, Matthew has become the first hurricane of category 3 or greater to make landfall on the U.S. Atlantic coast in many a year. Being curious about that, and other facts, could well be the right place for your mind right now.

For example, consider how Mercury (astrology’s versatile emblem for the mind, thinking and curiosity — among other things) concluded many a week in Virgo and entered Libra earlier today just as Matthew was making landfall in the U.S. That would appear to be a bit beyond coincidence.

This is not to imply Mercury causes hurricanes. Astrology is more sophisticated that to say anything of the kind. What an astrologer might say is that you should at least be curious about any astrological and earthly events that parallel each other so closely and in such a striking manner. Think about it. Mercury entered Virgo way back on July 30 of this year. Even when you take its most recent retrograde into account, that’s an unusually long time for Mercury to be confined to one sign.

Mercury typically takes less than three weeks to move through any given sign. In parallel with how you think, Mercury would seem to like it that way. After all, a quick mind is generally considered to be a healthy mind. Conversely, when your thoughts are moving slowly, it’s usually because your mind is in some way impaired.

Even though most astrologers consider Virgo to be a healthy and empowering place for Mercury, it was undeniably moving slowly there for quite a while. It would follow, then, that Mercury’s earthly parallels (including your mind) might be at least a bit rusty now. Addressing the situation is where you come in.

Of all the things you might be responsible for in this world, how you think must certainly be foremost among them. Just as Mercury does not cause hurricanes, it would not follow that Mercury finally getting up to speed in a new sign would cause your thinking to improve all by itself. Instead, what Mercury’s long-delayed ingress to Libra most likely implies is that you should now consciously keep your mind in mind.

Even if your mind has not been somehow impaired during the last nine weeks or so, you could probably use some sort of mental workout about now. When you consider how the symbolically emotional Moon will be spending all of tomorrow and Sunday implicitly inhibited in Capricorn, the astrological message is even more clear. It would be to your advantage to think, and think again.

This does not necessarily mean that you should spend the weekend playing chess or reading Shakespeare, although you could do a lot worse. Instead, you can almost certainly meet the astrology and match it simply by being curious. If your curiosity has gotten a little rusty as of late, think back to when you were a kid.

Remember how, as a child, you were not as satisfied when learning unless you found things out for yourself. Recall how lessons experienced stayed with you longer than lessons taught in school. If you simply go back and try being like that again, you could do a lot worse than that, too.

Eric’s new class, It’s All In the Houses, will be held on Oct. 8. Discover the key to truly understanding a chart. You may sign up here.

You could begin by not being satisfied merely to note that it’s been a long time since there has been a hurricane like Matthew. You can log on to the Internet and find out for yourself how things got to be that way, and what the consequences are.

Then, you could endeavor to contact some people who are open to discussing the issues your curiosity brought up for you. Who knows, in the course of such discussions you could find new words to express new thoughts, and emerge (even as Mercury is now emerging) quicker and more mentally nimble than you have been for weeks on end.

We have some really interesting astrology coming up next week. What will happen for the world and your life in parallel cannot be predicted. One thing can be said with near certainty, however. Watching sports all weekend will not prepare you to make the most of your near future. Thinking will help. And, if there is anything to astrology, you will need to get and stay more curious than ever so as not to miss anything coming up over your life’s horizon.

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It’s not unusual for new patterns to become apparent early in a new season, which is where you are now. Nor is it unexpected if new developments emerge with a waxing crescent Moon, which is what you have in Scorpio today. Indeed, this whole week’s astrology seems to imply something new finally and gradually becoming evident for nearly everybody.

Metaphorically speaking, the seeds of changes now evincing were almost certainly planted days, even weeks ago. The sowing would have been in decisions you made, actions you took, plans you made or events that you witnessed.

Most probably that symbolic sowing took place sometime between the Pisces lunar eclipse of Sept. 16 and the Sun entering Libra for the equinox and new season on Sept. 22. With the New Moon in Libra last Friday, it would also be fair to say that your emblematic seeds had gestated and taken root. This week the seedlings are set to sprout forth, leaf out and grow in parallel with more than just the Moon. Several sign-ruling planets, and you, will be chipping in as well.

The astrological role of any planet is largely determined by the sign it occupies. To paraphrase shamanic astrologer Sheila Belanger, you can think of planets as actors and signs as costumes. This week, cardinal signs would seem to be the focus.

When the Sun enters a cardinal sign (Aries, Cancer, Libra or Capricorn), you enter a new season. With every new season come some new climatic conditions that compel you to respond. Among the most probable of your responses are changes in wardrobe, diet and elective activities. The deeper into a season you get, the more appropriate, even urgent, those changes become.

When a planet enters or moves through a cardinal sign, it emulates the Sun. In a cardinal sign, a given planet’s role is to act as an indicator of changes you can expect to see in parts of your life that correlate with that planet’s nature. One cardinal planetary aspect you are probably feeling already will be exact late tomorrow.

Shortly before 6 pm EDT (21:44:39 UTC) tomorrow, Mars in cardinal Capricorn will have opened precisely 90 degrees of separation from Jupiter in cardinal Libra. Astrologers refer to 90 degrees of separation as a ‘square’ aspect. In general, squares imply tension inside of you that often seems to originate from outside of you.

In truth, the anxiety often felt during square aspects is nearly always something you are at least partially responsible for. That’s good news, actually. It would follow that any inner disquiet you contribute to creating is also something you have the power to resolve. Usually, one singularly appropriate and well-timed act is all it takes.

Fortunately, Mars is what astrologer Robert Hand calls “an action planet.” Properly applied, Jupiter’s role in receiving a square from Mars would be to amplify your actions. Hence, you should act as though any action you take, however appropriate, is being magnified by a celestial version of power steering on an automobile.

Eric’s new class, It’s All In the Houses, will be held on Oct. 8. Discover the key to truly understanding a chart. You may sign up here.

In other words, act carefully, as if you don’t know your own strength. Furthermore, refrain from acting upon anybody other than yourself. Take measures to correct, adjust and change yourself first.

Then, rely on Jupiter’s expansive nature to make you an example for others. So long as your example is mindfully set, anything new coming out of your actions to make your inner environment more comfortable should also result in something new and gratifying coming back at you from others.

Such mindfulness is especially important now, when Mercury (astrology’s archetype of mind, among other things). is winding up more than two months in Virgo. As this week draws to a close, Mercury will finally move past the last degree of Virgo (where it stationed retrograde way back on Aug. 30) to join the Sun and Jupiter in cardinal Libra.

We will look into Mercury’s impending ingress to Libra more deeply on Friday. In the meantime, remember: Mercury is at the end of a long, winding and laborious journey. In all probability, that’s also the case for your mind and the minds of everybody you know. It’s been a long haul. Amidst everything new implicitly emerging, it’s currently just as important to think as carefully as you act.

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