Radar Image of Venus Courtesy of NASA, this is a composite radar image from the Magellan mission which was a Venus Radar Mapper. Launch date was May 4th, 1989. This view is centered at 90 degrees longitude.

Greetings star-pilots, welcome to October the season of transition from Virgo to Libra, when the Virgin becomes the Lover. Appropriately the sky seems to concur it being a month of Venusian energies in that all of the major aspects defining the month involve Venus in some form or another. And now for an allegory:

The 6 of Swords in the Tarot deck also known as the Lord of Science, represents the moment of integration, recovery, and rest that follows a period of great activity, chaos, and unrelenting change, much of October will have this feel as the aspect patterns show relatively smooth sailing with a few bumps due to a Venus-Pluto square mid-month and a disruptive Venus-Uranus opposition also mid-month, that said these aspects usually actually prove to be beneficial as they provide selective pressure for many of us receptive to them to begin operating at a higher level of complexity, interesting to note that chaotic attractors in nature serve this function as well; Which is to say that disruptive elements such as virus’ have the inadvertent effect of providing selective pressure to move systems into higher states of complex functioning, call it the upside of evolutionary pressures.

It looks like for a time in the long arc of the Uranus-Pluto square years that we are getting a reprieve, a month of relative calm, I would like to say it is the calm after the storm but it is more accurately the eye of the hurricane, that still point inside the swirling chaos, called the eye-wall. These are challenging times that collectively we find ourselves in that said far more entertaining to live through pivotal times than it is to live in ones of ease when not much happens and no evolution occurs (we are in the era of creative chaos a period of reintegration and we won’t see this calm down until sometime in the 22^nd century, due to a number of converging crises).

October will begin gentle enough and then progress towards an unstable, surprising, evolutionary sense with a cluster of Venus contacts involving the big planets. Namely a square with Pluto, an opposition with Uranus, and finally a sextile with Jupiter, and the latter always promises the feel of big love even if it can seem to get out of hand. What is unique is how each of these contacts initiate within 2 days of each other so it will be an interesting balancing act, and being the season of Libra equilibrium is the theme (alas Libra rarely ever attains true homeostasis like nature it can only ever approach the state as it attempts to balance its own equation).

If it seems like there is an imperceptible crackle and electricity in the air, these three contacts will be partially why (it also is the fact that our world is currently a tinderbox, and our species is at an existential crossroads). To add to that crackling live-wire is the influence of Pluto which adds intensity and compression, high-lighted by the expansive scope of Jupiter, which always goes one way or another, it can bring expansion and growth, Jupiter also bring excess and malignancy.

The square with Pluto is the first major factor to pay attention to at it reflects an on-going issue that plagues our interconnected world, it is one of collective apathy, reflective of an individualistic culture that states that what happens half way across the world is of no self interest (the funny thing is because all of nature including the Universe itself is interconnected it matters immensely to self-interest what happens in Qatar as what happens there will eventually blow back to the developed world, even if through nothing more than cause and effect). The example to which I refer to is the ongoing Ebola epidemic in Central Africa. It has been stated in a number of sources that if more is not done in the way of international cooperation and funding for public health infrastructure than the Ebola virus  will continue its rampage and will not be able to be contained for many more months perhaps stretching into years. A Venus-Pluto square presents a perfect evolutionary condition to begin to address this. Pluto in the form of the Ebola Virus (Pluto is said to rule virus’) will continue its destructive transformation of Central Africa until the world learns to relate in a more interconnected and coordinated way (Venus-our capacity for connection) to stem the tide of the epidemic and begin to bring these developing nations into a higher state of complexity (as in economic and social parity to the developed nations).

We are interconnected and are embedded and implicated in each others lives for good or for ill, whether we like it or not it is simply a fact of reality in the Universe we find ourselves in. We are also playing a much bigger non-zero-sum game in which we are becoming a planetized society and as such we must begin to act as such and increase the scope of self-interest to include the issues of the developing world as they will soon become our issues especially as it pertains to epidemics. Ebola has now made it to Spain and to Dallas Texas in the United States .

To use another example from Central Africa, the HIV-1 Group M virus was recently identified definitively as having its origins in Southern Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo specifically the city of Kinsasha in 1920 (interesting to note that Ebola and HIV have similar geographic origins, and are both zoonotic disease emerging from bushmeat). It was when it made it to this bustling metropolis that it was then able to, facilitated by transportation networks and colonialism to spread North and East to Kisangani and Katanga respectively, then South to Lubumbashi and Mbuyi-Mayi. From there it made its way to Coastal Africa and from there spread to Norway, Haiti, the U.S., India, and China, it is now a global pandemic and has become endemic to some areas. This example illustrates that what we fail to do for the developing world will have major impacts for the developed world, through the exponential growth of contagion.

This aspect pattern is our palimpsest reminding us that we have many things at our disposal to address this ongoing crisis and turn the tide. In essence we can evolve our Venusian function to a higher level which the patterns reflected in the inner sky are attempting to compel us to do. We can stop the destruction this epidemic is causing (Pluto) by moving into our depths and realizing our inextricable link to each other (Venus). We Can use our technology and genius (Uranus) to find novel treatments, vaccines, and possibly cure to this viral disease and also to improve the infra-structure that will prevent another crisis like this from emerging. The issue will not go away (what you resist persists), as Jupiter will magnify its impact until it becomes so intense that we are forced by necessity to properly address this issue. It will continue to spatter the news media possibly amplified by the Mercury-Jupiter sextile 12 days out from the initial Square aspect, and won’t abate until it is addressed. This rather intense metaphor is used to illustrate the importance of addressing these connection issues and to make clear that we are a unit, we are a singular world and we must if we would like a future begin to act as such.

These transits are further colored in perception by the enveloping Mercury retrograde period lasting from October 4^th-October 26^th and transiting through the ultimate sign of diplomacy Virgo-Libra. With this undercurrent present careful diplomacy and being the voice of reason are capacities highlighted during this type of transit. Attention to detail and reviewing all communications before proceeding become extremely important. A continuation of the Venus theme for October is present as the retrograde occurs through a Venus ruled sign towards the end of it and a Mercury ruled sign towards the beginning and one in particular having to do with international diplomacy and social justice as these are areas covered under Libra’s purview, and attention to detail falling under the Virgo influence. Words are best chosen carefully to avoid misunderstandings, the media would do well to fact check before broadcasting anything to prevent mass hysteria and miscommunication (this doesn’t seem likely as hysteria tends to sell media products).

Fair and equal (Libra) and careful review (Virgo), become the modus-operundi under this retrograde period. In furthering the theme of connection and global society this again becomes the on-ramp for reviewing carefully exactly the kinds of international policies we do have and how we are assisting other developing nations in raising their standard of living. It seems almost like a cosmic invitation to act in a new way to genuinely offer beneficial assistance, it has to be said that what we do for another we are truly doing for ourselves as reciprocity is the rule rather than the exception.

The final transit of note that continues the strong Venusian themes of the month is a solar eclipse on October 23^rd, which coincides three days before Mercury stations direct. To add fire-power to the mix is a close conjunction between the Sun and Venus both in Virgo-Libra. Eclipses are intense times as they signal transition, usually from one state of being to another. Generally the symbolism has always been that the ruler is eclipsed by the common people as the sun is the symbol of the Ruler and the Moon the common people, perhaps this is the moment when the people on the ground can pull upon those is leadership positions to begin to act on behalf of the people’s well-being? Another interesting aspect to keep in mind is the closeness of the conjunction, normally it would put Venus combust but in this case because it is a 3 degree orb it places her cazimi, which is to say Venus is sitting in the rulers seat, love and connection is extremely powerful here! It begs the question that love could be a guiding force in a world and its miraculous properties could become how the world organizes itself, being in Libra and Virgo the themes of social justice are reinforced in a big way, not to mention a thorough criticality coming from the Virgo influence, it’s like Venus is center-stage with a single spotlight on her and she is making her firebrand speech to the masses, calling on compassion, mercy, empathy and justice in the human heart.

Fellow Space Cadets that concludes my October report, apologies for focusing less on personal perspectives, but as it goes the personal is political and what happens globally now more than at any other time in our history affects the personal.

I will see you all next month.

Important Dates to keep in mind:

October 4^th-October 26^th: Mercury Retrograde in Virgo-Libra (Diplomacy is highlighted, agreements must be fair and equal and carefully reviewed, attention to detail is a must as is communicating harmoniously and avoiding misunderstandings by using poorly thought out words, THINK before you speak).

October 4^th: Sun Square Pluto (Vitality is questioned by the need for renewal).

October 5^th: Mars trine Uranus (Will and independence work in harmony).

October 7^th: Sun opposition Uranus (Following your own drummer).

October 8^th: Venus square Pluto (Intensifying interpersonal pressures, crisis of integration).

October 10^th: Sun sextile Jupiter (The Sun shines and enhances Jupiter, important given our above example).

October 11^th: Venus opposition Uranus (Unusual Attractions, the conflict between intimacy and autonomy, strange bedfellows, odd diplomatic relations, perhaps things will unexpectedly smooth out between the U.S. and Russia?).

October 14^th: Venus sextile Jupiter (Big love, a new chance at global integration).

October 16^th: Sun conjunct Mercury (Communication and vitality are integrated, issues pertaining to life will be easily communicated).

Mercury sextile Mars (Forceful communications, the media may feel like a hammer demanding action due to escalating crisis).

October 17^th: Mercury conjunct Venus (Loving words, words that heal, and create connection).

October 20^th: Venus sextile Mars (the sexual live-wire, a good time to consummate intimate relations).

October 23^rd: Solar eclipse coinciding with Sun conjunct Venus in Virgo-Libra (Compelling transitions calling on love as a guiding force).

Mercury sextile Jupiter (Media and communications are magnified, if by now the world has begun to act on the Ebola outbreak we may hear about it by now).

October 25^th: Sun Conjunct Venus (Venus gets her downtown lights, Venusian impulses are the source of vitality).

October 27^th: Venus trine Neptune (it becomes difficult to separate romantic fact from fiction, at the same time we find inspiration in connecting).

October 28^th: Sun trine Neptune (the light of reason becomes obscured in the fog of confusion, a good day for critical thinking, don’t be fooled by glamours, and smoke and mirror tactics).

Be sure to listen to the on air version airing with my Friend HiC Luttmers on Sunday October 12^th, 2014 at 10:30am: www.blogtalkradio.com/fireflywillowslive

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