October Astrology Report 2004

by Roxana Muise

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October hosts 15 dynamic aspects. One conjunction, one opposition, one direct station, four ingresses, four squares, a Solar eclipse and a Lunar eclipse, and two grand quintiles. Grand quintiles, five or more planets at 72-degree intervals around the zodiac are quite rare (last one in 1941, next one in 2024). The energy of this aspect/configuration links us to the creativity within the universe. (GQ charts are calculated for Seattle, WA, and timed for when the Moon triggers the midpoints of all involved planets.)

Dynamic energy for the first half of October embodies cooperation between your mind and your values. After the Solar eclipse a powerful pulse of energy continues until month&Mac226;s end, when personal values become even more significant. Keep in mind that Venus is a morning star all month, which traditionally exemplifies the aggressive nature of the goddess - willing to wage war to defend her values - in Virgo: a powerful tactician, and sensitive to criticism.

10/1 Grand Quintile 5:10 AM. Anchored by slow-moving Pluto at 19:49 Sagittarius, Sun at 8:39 Libra and Uranus Rx at 3:32 Pisces quintile, and Saturn at 26:03 Cancer and Moon at 14:10 Taurus biquintile his position. *See below for interpretation of GQs.

10/3 Venus enters Virgo 10:20 AM. Truth becomes an important issue in all things. A curious combination of the practical and the beautiful emerges defining a need to delve beyond the obvious. Call upon your innate wisdom to support the defense of your value or self-worth.

10/5 Sun conjoins Mercury 11:29 AM, 12:51 Libra. Mental clarity is possible if a spiritual direction is invoked. Knowing what you want will help clear the way for attaining goals.

10/6 Venus opposes Uranus Rx 8:23 AM 3:24 Virgo/Pisces. Unusual methods of expressing your innermost need for love may bring emotional distress to others. This can be a time of artistic creativity, helping you focus on previously hidden aspirations.

10/13 Mercury squares Saturn 4:14 PM, 26:45 Libra/Cancer. A need for appreciation becomes the focal point of all interactions. Crises may arise dealing with family responsibilities or peer relationships. A mediator or counselor may add insight and good judgment to your issues.

" Solar Eclipse 21:06 Libra, west coast 7:48 PM, east coast 10:48 PM. Begin new creative projects by drawing upon past experiences. West coast issues suggest that paying attention to speculative ventures or creative projects may facilitate discovering the source of a problem that can stabilize work or health. On the east coast, before investing capital or energy in local or domestic projects, use in-depth analysis to help validate their current significance.

10/15 Mercury enters Scorpio 3:57 PM. This is an excellent time to investigate unexplained or enigmatic past mysteries. Enlist the assistance of a knowledgeable associate or friend.

10/19 Sun squares Saturn (midpoint Venus) 6:25 PM, 27:00 Libra/Cancer. Conserve your energies, and be alert for crisis situations that could require your complete attention. Your evaluation and ability to resolve the situation may depend on the emotional cooperation of others.

10/20 Venus squares Pluto (m/p Mercury) 2:25 PM, 20:14 Virgo/Sagittarius. Power struggles hasten a challenge to become conscious of the roots of problems that have defied description until the present time. Clear heads and cooperation can fend off mistakes or misfortune.

10/22 Sun enters Scorpio 6:49 PM. Advanced perspectives are available to assist your planning for the intensity expected at the end of the month. A good time to probe previously unresolved secrets or enigmas. Avoid letting your work pile up.

10/23 Mercury squares Neptune Rx 3:20 PM, 12:36 Scorpio/Aquarius. Support your inner consciousness through meditation on the principles that lay at the heart of your issues. Details change - principles remain constant. Answers will become apparent through entering the stillness. Avoid becoming caught up in digressive or wasteful issues through emotional arguments.

10/24 Neptune turns direct 4:57 AM, 12:36 Aquarius. Issues previously considered nebulous or confusing begin to become clear. Be ready to welcome new information that clarifies true feelings and loyalties.

10/27 Lunar Eclipse 5:02 Taurus, west coast 8:07 PM; east coast 11:07 PM. Releasing any grudges or pent up emotions will give you a clean slate for work with current and future powerful energies. Changes in prior procedures are possible, and bringing projects to fruition can be accomplished. The future can become current. West coast endeavors include changes in values or awarenesses of an emotional nature. Irrational fears about privacy, hidden values, or karmic nurturance may cause stressful conditions unless they are identified and mastered. On the east coast, business and career activities are likely to change abruptly. Honest communication may be the determining factor in all transactions. Family support can be nourishing and sustaining. The breadth and interaction in all ventures keeps everyone on their toes,but may catch some off-guard.

10/28 Grand Quintile 12 PM (noon PDT). This time, anchored again by slow-moving Pluto at 20:27 Sagittarius, Jupiter at 7:07 Libra and Uranus Rx at 2:57 Pisces quintile, and Saturn at 27:14 Cancer and Moon at 13:23 Taurus biquintile his position.

*The Grand Quintile symbolizes inner activity conceived and made ready for manifestation. John Addey speaks of the fifth harmonic as the "Power to create or destroy". Venus, whose geocentric orbit describes a repeatable five-pointed figure with her retrograde cycles, supports fiveness. Fiveness symbolizes the principle of dexterity (five fingers), balance (five toes), the five senses, and the ideal human &Mac246; ready to manifest. Addey supports Pythagoras&Mac226; association of this harmonic with the divine marriage, as the union of the first male number (2) and the first female number (3), first emerging from the unity of 1 (before division). The artist in each person unites form (2) and matter (3). In effect, the coming together of 5 planets in symmetrical equilibrium symbolizes the nature and purpose of art practiced as a path to personal power. The GQ is more an inner process than an outer expression, and may serve to consummate awareness important to one&Mac226;s inner nature, or sense of inner peace. The power in numbers suggests that shared focus can bring this energy to large-scale awareness. The number five abounds in nature.

"Quintile: Expression of talent and the creative mind." Michael R. Meyer, Handbook for the Humanistic Astrologer, Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1974, NY.

For more on the GQ: http://www.grandquintiles.co.uk <http://www.grandquintiles.co.uk/>

10/28 Venus enters Libra 5:39 PM. Special people in your life will respond to genuine appreciation. This is a good time to acknowledge them, as the stress of this week is great, and the need for new hope is considerable. There is plenty of respect and esteem energy to go around - the cost is tiny, and the effects can be enormous.

Next month&Mac226;s report describes a day full of quintiles including a shy-grand quintile &Mac246; you can complete it with a natal planet near 13 Taurus!

Daylight time ends at 2 AM on October 31, fall back 1 hour.


OCTOBER 2004 SYMBOLISM

October is associated with the altruistic Athene, Greek wisdom goddess, (Roman Minerva) unborn daughter of Zeus (she sprang from his head, fully formed), goddess of justice, righteousness, the arts, navigation, the liberal arts, and agriculture. The appellation, Pallas defines her warrior mantle. October was named for the eighth month of the old Roman calendar. The goddess Astraea, daughter of Zeus and Themis is honored as the goddess of purity, justice and discipline. Astraea brought patience and hope to the world of mortals, as they progressed into ever more violent times. May we now invoke her benevolent energies? October is also sacred to the great goddess, Hathor, who embodies all the feminine possibilities. Goddess of the underworld, and of the sky, Hathor is also identified with Venus, which is said to govern the sign Libra.

The gemstones associated with October are the opal and the tourmaline. The fire opal, October&Mac226;s most spectacular gemstone, may be worn as a talisman of hope, for it embodies the colors of all precious stones. The opal is said to avert painful times and misfortune when worn by those born in the sign of Libra (September 22 to October 22). For the Scorpio part of October, the tourmaline balances the polarity of its wearer, especially when worn on the forehead at the third eye or at the throat chakra, and it deflects negativity. Tourmaline wands are used in massage, in healing and in ritual.

The Jewish celebration of Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles began at sundown on 9/30 and ends on 10/5. Prayers are recited for the success of the exodus, the dwellings in the desert, and the glory of God. The next day is Shemini Atzeret, a day of invocation for rain and successful crops. The next day is Simchat Torah, which celebrates the yearlong cycle of reading the Torah. The Torah is the Jewish document of Truth.

The second week emphasizes the evaluation of principles, and the separation of truth from illusion. Allegiances will shift, and individuals will be asked to choose between the traditions of the past and the ever-changing, unexplored path of the future. Simhat Torah, "Rejoicing of the Law," part of the Jewish Thanksgiving festival, marks the end and rebirth of the yearly Torah reading cycle. At this time the highest Law of Truth within calls upon us all to define and renew our lives.

The feast of Saint Francis of Assisi is celebrated on the 10/4. St. Francis had an affinity for animals and for all the elements of creation. His "Canticle of the Sun" shows him to be an adherent of natural conservation.

The Islamic festival of Ramadan begins on 10/15 and runs for a month (11/14). Ramadan is the month of fasting time of worship and contemplation in honor of the Holy Quran being sent down from heaven, offering guidance unto men, a declaration of life direction, and a means of Salvation. The Quran is the Islamic document of Truth.

October is the doorway to the darker part of the year, and many cultures celebrate the end of October in honor of those who had died. The ancient Persians celebrated Mordad, dedicated to appeasing the Angel of Death. The Hindus celebrate a festival of the dead called "Durga." The ancient Egyptians celebrated the Day of the Dead in November, and the Mexicans and Peruvians commune with deceased relatives during the "Days of the Dead" at the end of October and beginning of November. The Christian holy day, All Hallows Eve on October 31st is the day before All Saints Day. It was originally established in the month of May when, in 615 AD, Pope Boniface IV reclaimed the pagan temple of the Pantheon in Rome and dedicated this new "church" to the Christian martyrs. In 844 AD, because the crowds became so large, and food was in short supply, Pope Gregory moved the feast to November 1st, coinciding with the feast of Pomona, goddess of the orchard, when grain, fruit and flowers were so plentiful that they were also used for decorations. This is the season of Skuld, the third and last of the Fates, who are goddesses who rule the processes of life. Skuld honors the Crone, or the wisdom path of the goddess.

After sundown on the Eve of Samhain (pronounced Sow-wain), the beginning of the Celtic New Year is a magical time of shape shifting, when the veil between the seen and the unseen is very thin. It is similar to its yearly opposite, Beltane, a time of elemental mischief and uncanny occurrences.

Z. Budapest describes Skuld as the Fate that allows transit to the other side of life.

Hallowe&Mac226;en, called the "Day of the Dead" in Latin cultures in the Americas, and "All Souls Day" in Christian cultures is when those who have left this plane of existence are remembered. Their accomplishments and/or their misdeeds are acknowledged, and their souls are remembered in prayer. The pagan feast of Samhain celebrates the peak of the cycle of rebirth, where mysteries are revealed to the faithful. This is the eve of "All Saints Day", when Christian heroes and heroines are recognized and petitioned to assist mortals in their quest for a more blessed existence.
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" "What is the nature of truth?" we asked. Here's what we learned about truth: We acknowledge that the truth is multiform, variegated, multifaceted, fractured, fragmented&Mac183;"
Jeff Dorchen, Chicago radio station WNUR 89.3 FM.


Truth

Facts that we normally take for granted were not always accepted by the world.

It was once widely believed that the Earth was a stationary object at the center of the universe.

Sixth century B.C., Greek mathematician Pythagoras (560 - 480 BC) was the first to propose that the Earth was a sphere that rotated on its own axis.

Aristarchus of Samos (310 - 230 BC) suggested that the Earth orbited the Sun, as did the rest of the planets.

400 years later Claudius Ptolemaeus, known as Ptolemy (85 - 165) deduced that the Earth was the supreme body of the Universe, lying stationary at its center. The Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn described circular orbits around the Earth. The Holy Roman Catholic Church accepted and supported this theory.

Unquestioned until the 16th Century. Polish astronomer, Nicolaus Copernicus (1473 - 1543), presented a model of the Universe had the Earth and other planets moving around the Sun in perfect circles, and published this in his book, "Concerning the Revolutions of the Celestial Bodies" in 1542, which was banned by the church.

Tycho Brahe, (1546 - 1601) tried to prove Copernicus wrong, and the Ptolemaic theory correct.

Johannes Kepler (1571 - 1630) followed the Sun-centered model, and developed a model for the elliptical orbits of the planets. The church still opposed this theory.

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was convinced of Aristarchus, Copernicus, and Kepler were right in suggesting that the Earth moved around the Sun. Galileo was ordered by the Roman Church to stop supporting this system, and forced to publicly recant his theories.

The Church finally lifted the ban on Copernicus&Mac226; book in 1822.



"You will observe with concern how long a useful truth may be known and exist, before it is generally received and practiced on." Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790)

"Every scientific truth goes through three stages. First, people say it conflicts with the Bible. Next, they say it had been discovered before. Lastly, they say they always believed it." Paleontologist Louis Agassiz (1807 &Mac246; 1873)

Louis Agassiz was born in Friborg, Switzerland on May 28, 1807 (Bio)

Nicholaus Copernicus was born in Torun, Poland on February 28, 1473 at 5:13 PM (Kepler software)

Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston, MA on January 17, 1706 (Bio)

Galileo Galilei was born in Piza on February 15, 1564 OS (bio)

Johannes Kepler was born in the Duchy of Weil der Stadt on January 6, 1572 OS at 2:30 PM (Bio)

Dates on the others are not known.