Today is Saturday, Oct. 1, 2016
Hebrew date is 28 Elul
Islamic date is 29 Dhul Hijjah
Mayan Tzolk’in Day is 6
Mayan Long Count is 13.0.3.15.
Julian Day is 2457663
Today’s Birthdays: Annie Besant (1847-1933), Jimmy Carter Jr. (1924), Richard Harris (1930-2002), Julie Andrews (1935), Zach Galifianakis (1969).
“Refusal to believe until proof is given is a rational position; denial of all outside of our own limited experience is absurd.”
— Annie Besant: feminist, secularist and Theosophist
Special Comment: A New Lunar Month, Eve of a Jewish New Year
The New Moon marks a new lunar month and is also the eve of Rosh Hashanah, the new year in the Hebrew calendar: it’s about to be 5777 (officially this holiday begins the evening of Sunday, Oct. 2 and ends the evening of Tuesday, Oct. 4). It’s the first two days starting on the first day of the Jewish month of Tishri. By Old Testament reckoning, it’s been 5777 years since the world was created (that’s what the Hebrew calendar is purportedly timed to). I don’t know what to make of all those fossils, but the beginning of the Hebrew year is the time to admit you were wrong, when you were wrong, and to make amends. The world could use a bit more of that, as could most of us. In some ways it’s easier to be wrong and get it over with than it is to be ‘right’ and to struggle with yourself and with others.
Thursday night, my friends in the Planet Waves house band, Vision Quest, composed and recorded a song in the spirit of Libra and a rainy autumn night called Libra New Moon. You may listen here.
Moon Phase: Moon is in New phase. The New Moon took place at 5:11 pm PDT / 8:11 pm EDT Sept. 30 (00:11:19 10/1 UTC).
Next Full Moon is on Oct 15/16 at 9:23 pm 10/15 PDT / 12:23 am 10/16 EDT (04:23:02 UTC) in Aries.
Next New Moon is in Scorpio on Oct. 30 at 10:38 am PDT / 1:38 pm EDT (17:38:08 UTC).
Moon Sign: Moon is in Libra and enters Scorpio on Oct. 2 at 12:43 pm PDT / 3:43 pm EDT (19:42:38 UTC).
Sun Degree: 09-10 Libra.
Planetary Stations and Sign Changes
None today.
Interesting Selected Aspects
— Mars sextile Nessus at 6:37 am PDT / 9:37 am EDT (13:37:20 UTC).
— Venus trine Neptune at 10:13 am PDT / 1:13 pm EDT (17:13:26 UTC).
— Mercury opposite Chiron at 8:22 pm PDT / 11:22 pm EDT (03:22:02 10/2 UTC). [See comment in yesterday’s edition.]
If Your Birthday is Oct. 1
(The Day of the Top Dog) | Get Your Birthday Reading
You begin a new solar year with the Sun and Moon in your sign, on the heels of a rather spectacular New Moon. You are the initiator of your life and of your fortunes; that is your secret to success, and that is the road forward. Or perhaps the path through some new wilderness. Your instincts will guide you, your intuition will inform you, and seeking your pleasure will fulfill you.
Written in the Planets
Mercury is still clearing its shadow phase from the recent retrograde, which ended Sept. 22. Things are still a little itchy and scratchy, but we are at least out of the slog. It’s possible to get some momentum and to make some gains.
There are several stages to Mercury retrograde as it does its back and forth dance in the sky. There’s a preparatory phase, if we could call it that (the first shadow or echo phase), which began way back on Aug. 10. Then the retrograde began on Aug. 30, mixed in with a total solar eclipse. That’s known as emphasis. Then the retrograde ended on Sept. 22 — right on the equinox — that again is emphasis. If you’re wondering why this retrograde seemed so large, and was so challenging, that is part of the story.
The other part is the fact that it was in Virgo, which Mercury both rules and is exalted in (the only such relationship between a planet and a sign; in all other cases, at most it’s one or the other). Now we’re at the end of the completion phase, where Mercury is still in the degrees where it was retrograde. Mercury enters new territory on Thursday, Oct. 6. Push ahead, pay attention and persist.
This live audio class covers the most basic level of astrology: where things happen, the houses. If you understand the houses as environments and groups of themes, you can read a chart. We will hold the class by teleconference at noon EDT on Saturday, Oct. 8, 2016. You may sign up here.