As the editor of the Astrology Arizona newsletter, I compose an overview of each month. Today we take a look at the primary factors for the month.

The Overview for October

In 2024, the month of October puts the focus on the Libra and Scorpio sectors of our chart. The month begins with Mercury in a Superior conjunction with the Sun at 9 Libra, showing the next few months will be about us “returning to Source” for inspiration and a re-connect with what inspires us. We have many powerful and important configurations happening this month, including a Grand Water Trine the first week of October with Venus in Scorpio, Mars in Cancer, and Saturn in Pisces.

Continue to make as much forward progress as you can in October, since Mars is slowing down, preparing to go retrograde in December. This month also sees Jupiter going retrograde, preparing to review our Jupiter lesson of July through now, and Pluto going direct, with the next few weeks finishing our Pluto in Capricorn lessons for this century!

We are now preparing to finish our inner planet oppositions to the outer planets over the next few weeks while they all begin to close in on their next conjunctions with Pluto and Saturn between January and March. This month we have Venus opposed Uranus in the middle of the month, heralding the coming Mercury opposed Uranus at the end of the month and the Sun opposed Uranus in November.

At this point, we have planets in Capricorn, Pisces, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Libra, and Scorpio. As you can see, they’re spread out across quite a few signs, showing all those areas of our charts are active according to which planet is in which house. Remember too that this time of year is about endings, harvests, and saying goodbye. This year that’s especially strong due to the Lunar eclipse at 26 Virgo/Pisces which will play out through the next two weeks during the time the October New Moon Solar Eclipse begins its SIX years-long effects!

Because of when the New Moon occurs, we’ve begun a span when the current month is no longer influenced by the previous month’s Lunations. This month features the New Moon Annular Solar eclipse at 11 Libra on October 2, which will begin shutting some things down in that area of our charts.

The first half of the month features Sun square Mars, requiring “right action” wherever we have mid-Cancer and mid-Libra. Show balance, discipline, organization, and the ability to do your own thing in your own way, withdrawing from unproductive situations as soon as you recognize them for what they are. As Mars takes a very favorable trine from Venus, it should be clear what is to be done and which way the flow is going. Add they are both trine to Saturn, and it seems all we need to do is remember this is all a rehearsal for 2025’s closures and new initiatives.

As with last month, the good news is that Saturn is quintile Uranus. That means the “awareness generator” of the Scorpio oppositions to Uranus are turned into very serendipitous quintile/tredeciles promising unique gifts, blessings, and quintessentially special circumstances. Those most affected have planets or points near 1-5 Capricorn/Cancer, 7-11 Aquarius/Leo, 13-17 Pisces/Virgo, 19-23 Aries/Libra, and 25-290 Taurus/Scorpio.

Pluto leads the outer planet occupied span through early 2025. July began a long run of oppositions to Pluto, Saturn, Neptune, and Uranus beginning with the oppositions to Saturn and Neptune by Venus in August which heralded the oppositions of Mercury and the Sun to those planets in September. This month almost completes the run of oppositions with Mercury and Venus opposed Uranus which portends the Solar opposition in November.

The oppositions to Pluto by Mercury, Venus, and the Sun helped us see to the core of things, and uncover hidden agendas, corrosive attitudes, and underhanded methods. These will help us anticipate the intensity of Mars opposed Pluto three times later this year, in early November, early January, and late April 2025.

Now that Jupiter’s in Gemini, it gives a Gemini backdrop to planets we have in Sagittarius and Pisces, as well as the houses where these signs are on the cusp. Jupiter in Gemini brings new information and perspectives to those things it rules. Still, the conjunctions to Jupiter when it was in Taurus rule the coming year until the conjunctions with Jupiter in Cancer in June 2025.

Saturn is now retrograde and tracking the path it traveled between late April and early June. It will be occupying its 2024 Shadow zone between 13 and 20 Pisces through February 2025. We have begun to receive the promise of that which nourishes us “at the end of our day of labor,” and October finishes our “rehearsal before the battle” while encouraging us to find an appropriate “camouflage” so we can do what we have to do.

Because of the Grand Water Trine followed by the tredeciles to Saturn from late Scorpio, open to the unexpected unique interactive gifts that are perfect for your circumstances and events which are perfect for your gifts to come forth. And as I gave you last month, the primary Saturn theme for the rest of this year and early 2025 is going to help us finish some things, forgive some things, and bless some endings.

The Spiritual Field

We continue to be blessed by the closest Neptune sextile with Pluto in 30 years, with Uranus joining the “three note chord” by the Summer of 2024. With Uranus in late Taurus, Neptune in late Pisces, and Pluto in late Capricorn/early Aquarius, we will have a very strong “double sextile/trine” which should favorably impact all planets we have in the last 5 degrees of Taurus, Cancer, Virgo, Scorpio, Capricorn, and Pisces. The Spiritual Field represented by these outermost planets is helping stabilize our late Earth and Water sectors in the spiritual sectors of their signs.

This is preparing us for an entirely new experience of Spirit and Life in 2025 when these Spiritual powerhouses shift out of Earth and Water into Fire and Air, joined by Saturn when it enters Aries creating a “three note chord” of harmonic consciousness. That means 2024 and 2025 will spiritually harmonize planets we have in the late degrees of the Earth and Water signs, while in 2025-2026 they will do the same for planets we have in the early degrees of the Fire and Air signs. This was discussed in greater depth in the AAZ April master class on long wave political cycles of change by Tony Dickey and Gary Lorentzen.

Uranus will occupy the third decan of Taurus for the rest of this year through early July 2025. This is a Capricorn sub-influence with an added dose of Saturn, so there’ll be more structure and discipline and less micromanagement of details. The Cosmic Awakener promises us a new life and a “genuine rejuvenation” and life renewal as a result of what we went through in August and September.

We’ve been moving through an individual and spiritual awakening which marks the beginning of a long term regeneration and renewal wherever we have late Taurus. This is the next step of the new 2 year cycle where we have 27 Taurus in our charts resulting from the July Mars/Uranus conjunction.

Neptune at “the end of the end” of Pisces is giving us all a sense of vast feelings and finality. We’ve been in a purification process since December and now move into an oceanic feeling of dreaming the future we want to see become manifest. This year we experience the vast unifying field as we prepare to move into a more fiery collective energy in 2025.

With Pluto in late Capricorn for the last time in centuries, about to re-enter Aquarius, we are living on the cusp of historical change. As it just went stationary retrograde at 3 Aquarius, we’ve begun a wild ride into a time of defiance, rebellion, with many refusing to follow what they believe to be authoritarian control systems. Be open to “regrasping past experience” and see it from a different angle of understanding due to a “sharp self-examination.” Be fearless in making the decisions you need to make.

We also have several long wave Aries cycles in play. Jupiter launched a major healing and mentoring cycle when it conjuncted Chiron at 15 Aries on March 11, 2023. That began a long wave Chiron cycle which will last until the Summer of 2036. And we just finished a 2 year Mars/Chiron cycle and began a new one at 23 Aries.

Not all Chiron cycles are the same length. When Chiron transits between Aquarius and Gemini, it moves relatively slowly and has conjunctions with Jupiter about every 13 years. However, it can take 19-20 years for the next conjunction after Gemini or Cancer. That means once the conjunction at 16 Gemini happens in the Summer of 2036 we won’t have another conjunction of Jupiter and Chiron until the Spring of 2056 in Aquarius, which will launch another long term “expansive healing/mentoring” cycle.

Mars

Mars is now slowing as it prepares to go retrograde at 7 Leo in early December, but we can still get a lot done quickly in October if we find the right rhythm and balanced perspective, adjusting what needs adjusting to facilitate the flow. Mars has now begun its long term occupancy of the area between 18 Cancer and 7 Leo, so get used to it! This month is about decisions to act, to consolidate and protect what needs protecting, and learning to play good defense.

This month Mars activates the house(s) where we have 16 through 30 Cancer. The first half of the month activates 16-22 Cancer, and the second half of the month activates 22-29 Cancer. So the first half of the month has an agitating effect on planets between 16-22 Cancer, Libra, Capricorn, and Aries and the second half of the month it’ll have the same effect on planets between 22-29 degrees of the same signs.

As I’ve offered before, when Mars is within a degree of forming or separating from a hard aspect with a planet, slow down and show deliberation and caution in how you use force. Hard aspects to/from Mars always require that we moderate or antidote impulsiveness and impatience.

We’re Actors On A New Stage With A New Set – The Bigger Picture

We’re still in the initial years of a new era in human evolution. The Grand Mutation of Jupiter conjunct Saturn at 1 Aquarius began a new 20 year Aquarian Era in December 2020, as well as a new 200 year era, moving global energies out of Earth and into Air. We’ve begun to grow beyond the materialism of the past 200 years and have entered two centuries of Air emphasis, with its qualities of relatedness, receptivity, versatility, movability, lightness, and cooperative ideas, visions, and ideals.

We’re still "under the beams" of the Solar Eclipses we experienced in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024 and these “cosmic recyclers” continue to remove what we no longer need in our lives. Take note of where you have 1 Cancer, 24 and 13 Sagittarius, 20 Gemini, 20 and 30 Aries, 11 Taurus, and 2 Scorpio, since we’ve all had to let go of many things related to these sectors the past few years. You can find out more about Solar and Lunar eclipses by going to my numerous articles in the archives on how eclipses work.

The April-May 2023 eclipses have begun to work their magic on our Aries and Libra sectors for a long time to come. The Solar eclipse at 30 Aries and the October 2023 Solar eclipse at 22 Libra are also shutting down parts of our lives where we have those signs. We now have the Solar eclipse at 20 Aries added to the list, as well as the current Solar eclipse at 11 Libra.

As we study how successive Eclipses have affected various areas of our charts and lives, we can get a sense of the utility of these “Cosmic Recyclers” in removing what we no longer needed in those areas, creating a void which attracted new life experiences. They invite us to look back, and then forward, to see the continuity of “letting go, taking in, letting go, taking in” across the years.

Primary Action Beats for the First Half of the Month

October begins with the Solar eclipse at 11 Libra, showing that some things will be shutting down over the next 6 years in that area of our map. As the Superior conjunction fell just 2 days earlier, it’s clear this month is about us “returning to Source” to find a new inspiration as we let go of old ways of communicating what we know to bring balance into that area of our lives. Because the New Moon is tredecile Jupiter and tredecile Pluto with Jupiter biquintile Pluto, those with planets near 2-6 Pisces/Virgo, 8-12 Aries/Libra, 14-18 Taurus/Scorpio, 20-24 Gemini/Sagittarius and 26-30 Cancer/Capricorn can expect very favorable serendipitous events and experiences.

Hint! We’ll be seeing eclipse effects when Mars is in late Cancer at the end of October and beginning of November, again in January when Mars is RX in the same zone, and again in April when it transits the zone for the final time. As Jupiter is in the Gemini zone through early November and again in late April and early May, mark your calendars and expect something uniquely favorable!

The first week of October also brings Mercury quincunx Saturn, so make adjustments and show good Leo and Taurus skills. With Venus also trine Saturn, slow and steady is the rule. Mercury squares Mars on October 5, so slow down and be cautious from October 4 to 6. The Sun quincunxes Saturn on October 6, so whatever you thought or understood at the Mercury quincunx needs to be implemented when the Sun makes the same aspect.

The first week features the Moon moving from Virgo to Sagittarius, and the second week of October features the Moon moving from Sagittarius to Pisces, showing those signs are the Lunar focus the first half of October. The second week of the month begins with Venus trine Mars and Mercury trine Jupiter, bringing harmony between 8 different sectors of our charts!

Jupiter goes stationary retrograde on October 9, with Venus as the nozzle of a Yod when She quincunxes Jupiter and Chiron on October 10. The second week of October also brings Pluto going stationary direct on October 11 and Mercury in late Libra being the focus of a Yod as it quincunxes Uranus and Neptune on October 11/12 just before squaring Pluto on October 13 and then entering Scorpio.

As October 12 also shows Mars square Chiron, the Sun opposed Chiron and Sun trine Jupiter followed by Sun square Mars on October 14, you can bet there’s going to be all kinds of releases and power demonstrations wherever we have mid-Capricorn. As Venus makes the first opposition to Uranus on October 14, go slow during that weekend and Monday, since haste will likely bring wreckage.

Primary Action Beats for the Second Half of the Month

The Sun repeats the Yod with a quincunx to Uranus and quincunx to Neptune between October 18-20, so expect “multiple expansions through sacrifices” squeezing your spiritual focus wherever you have late Libra. During the third week of October the Moon moves from Pisces to Cancer, while the last 10 days of the month show the Moon moving from Cancer to Scorpio.

The fourth week of the month shows Mercury trine Saturn on October 21, and Sun square Pluto followed by the Sun’s entry into Scorpio on October 22. The entire week should be inventive and productive with Mars sextile Uranus, and the week ends with Mercury repeating the Venus Yod with Jupiter sextile Chiron on October 26/27. The last 10 days of the month have Mars trine Neptune, which culminates on October 28 along with Venus square Saturn from mid-Sag to mid-Pisces, affecting planets we have in the middle of the mutable signs.

The month ends with Mercury opposed Uranus and trine Neptune, throwing a very favorable void into 26-28 Virgo, showing that whatever new spiritual service we’ve been introduced to since the Lunar eclipse at 26 Virgo/Pisces will be important as a means to focus this powerful energy. Be willing to refine what you need to, but if you must demonstrate the power of your personality and make crucial decisions, just do it!

However, the end of October is the entry to the powerful aspects in play the first weekend of November, when the New Moon at 10 Scorpio promises us “reunions” which mark the emergence of a new group cohesion. Add Jupiter sextile Chiron, Mercury trine Mars, Mercury sextile Pluto, Mercury entering Sagittarius, Mars opposed Pluto, Venus opposed Jupiter, Venus trine Chiron, and Mars entering Leo all happening on November 2 and 3, expect a lot of tension in the air, showing both polarization and promise, intensity and humor, with new bursts of energy coming forth spontaneously!

Evolutionary Development

This is the fifteenth month of the North Node in Aries era! This is a time of our greatest development being served by self-initiated activity (Aries) shown through our balanced response (Libra) to an ongoing transfiguration toward an ideal. So we grow through focused action and demonstrate it through expressing our Archetypal Self, whether in the world of inner space or outer affairs. We build through Aries and release through Libra, so adopt a pioneering attitude that is expressed with grace and diplomacy.

Our wise friend Saturn continues to teach us through the vast feeling experiences from its time in Pisces, and now we’re seeing what is to be perpetuated into the new era in 2025. We are still learning disciplines of forgiveness and compassion, and this month continues our reward and nourishment “after our day of labor.”

The Sun in Libra is where we glimpse new archetypes appearing in our lives, new relationships or new ways of relating to old friends. Now that we’ve had 6 months of the Sun illuminating Aries through Virgo, we begin a new 6 months of the Sun illuminating Libra through Pisces. Having had the benefit of the practical stability of the Grand Earth Trines in September, now we get to adjust, refine, sacrifice, and eliminate what we no longer want to carry forward.

Keep moving forward, preparing for the Mars retrograde, where many things will slow down, stop, or even seem to reverse course. Much will be reviewed in late November and early December before we feel like some things are moving forward, even though the main forward motion won’t begin until mid-February.

We are in our fourth year of the new Aquarian era, with a new iteration of that future-oriented energy set into motion in February. Jupiter in Taurus helped us get a new grounded expansive view of how to sustain the Aquarian unfoldment into the future which is finding forms of expression while Jupiter is in Gemini. We’ve all entered a new land. Let go of the lesser, accept the greater, and the new land you’re in is going to be far more enjoyable than the old land you’ve had to leave.

Because we’re in the fourth year of a new 20 year and 200 year cycle, remember a new era has dawned. Have courage and take the initiative to leave the Earth and fly free into the Air of what’s opening as the Grand Mutation expands its promise into the Divine transfigured ideal of a more just truth and future. This month brings stability and expansion of new Aquarian expressions. As always, lighten up, play a little, and be willing to explore new arenas of effective activity where you can work and play with other Light Spirits, and take heart as we navigate the dawning of the Pluto in Aquarius era.

We have now collectively transfigured into a greater vision of the one Light/Life we all are together. Continue to find your heart strength and new forms of genuine happiness appropriate for who you are now, and who you are becoming relative to just a few months ago.

We now navigate the cosmic time-space between endings and beginnings so bless and forgive much to flow down the time stream. The past is over and we all have begun our trek into a new world of new potential, new adventures, and new ways to enjoy being ourselves while doing our work of Destiny. Open to the abundance of the process of growth, since we are all on a rocket ship to the stars!

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Since I also include this in the newsletter, I’ll offer it to you here:

PLANETARY MOTIONS IN OCTOBER 2024

(All the degree values listed in the next three sections are computed the same way Sabian Symbols are read; we always round up. 9+ = 10; 19+ = 20; 29+ = 30)

SUN – 9 Libra to 9 Scorpio
MERCURY – 9 Libra to 27 Scorpio
VENUS – 11 Scorpio to 17 Sagittarius
MARS – 16 to 29 Cancer
JUPITER - 22 to 21 Gemini
SATURN - 15 to 13 Pisces
URANUS – 27 to 26 Taurus
NEPTUNE – 29 to 28 Pisces
PLUTO – 30 Capricorn (all month)
CHIRON – 22 to 21 Aries
TRUE NORTH NODE – 7 Aries (all month)

SIGNIFICANT ASTROLOGICAL OCCURRENCES IN OCTOBER 2024

(Bold entries are the ingresses, stations, and lunations. Non-bold are significant aspects.)

SUPERIOR CONJUNCTION OF MERCURY/SUN; September 30 at 9 Libra
NEW MOON SOLAR ECLIPSE; October 2; Sun and Moon at 11 Libra
MARS ENTERS SHADOW ZONE; October 5 at 18 Cancer
MERCURY SQUARE MARS; October 5 at 18 Libra/Cancer
MERCURY OPPOSITION CHIRON; October 8 at 22 Libra/Aries
JUPITER STATIONARY RETROGRADE; October 9 at 22 Gemini
PLUTO STATIONARY DIRECT; October 11 at 30 Capricorn
MERCURY YOD TO URANUS/NEPTUNE; October 11-12 at 27/28 Libra
MERCURY SQUARE PLUTO; October 13 at 30 Libra/Capricorn
MERCURY ENTERS SCORPIO; October 13
SUN SQUARE MARS; October 14 at 22 Libra/Cancer
VENUS OPPOSITION URANUS; October 14 at 27 Scorpio/Taurus
FULL MOON; October 17; Sun 25 Libra; Moon 25 Aries
VENUS ENTERS SAGITTARIUS; October 17
SUN YOD TO URANUS/NEPTUNE; October 18-20 at 27/28 Libra
SUN SQUARE PLUTO; October 22 at 30 Libra/Capricorn
SUN ENTERS SCORPIO; October 22
AAZ MEETING; October 26
VENUS SQUARE SATURN; October 28 at 13 Sagittarius/Pisces
MERCURY OPPOSITION URANUS; October 30 at 26 Scorpio/Taurus
NEW MOON; November 1; Sun and Moon at 10 Scorpio
MERCURY ENTERS SAGITTARIUS; November 2
MARS OPPOSITION PLUTO; November 3 at 30 Cancer/Capricorn
VENUS OPPOSITION JUPITER; November 3 at 13 Sagittarius/Gemini
MARS ENTERS LEO; November 3
MERCURY ENTERS SHADOW ZONE; November 7 at 7 Sagittarius

Again, please consider joining Astrology Arizona to get all this and a lot more delivered to your email inbox at the beginning of each month. Members get to advertise their business on our website for free, there’s free access to the fantastic documentary Changing of the Gods, and discounts on recorded talks as they are available.

Reprinted on crystalwind.ca with written permission from Robert Wilkinson. Copying this article to other blogs is strictly prohibited. It is copyright protected. 

© Copyright 2024 Robert Wilkinson

Again, please consider joining Astrology Arizona to get all this and a lot more delivered to your email inbox at the beginning of each month. Members get to advertise their business on our website for free, there’s free access to the fantastic documentary Changing of the Gods, and discounts on recorded talks as they are available.

Posting on CrystalWind.ca ©2024. All rights reserved. Please do not reproduce any content without written permission. The article's title was crafted by CrystalWind.ca.