New Moon in Scorpio

from here

This is today, the 30th October, 5:40 pm GMT

A new moon in Scorpio is always witchy – the dark of the moon is a time of powerful, shadowy inceptions, and Scorpio is a forceful and covert sign, having to do with sex, death, the taboo, regeneration and transformation.

But this new moon is especially witchy. It falls nearly on Samhain (now Halloween), the pagan festival of the dead – the time of year when darkness is in ascendancy and life retreats underground. Traditionally, the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead was thought to be most porous right now.

And this new moon reinforces the Samhain theme of the thinning of the veil. It is conjunct Mercury in Scorpio (deep, incisive, instinctual thought and communication) and trining Neptune in Pisces (dreams, dissolutions, spirituality, art).

Mercury and Neptune together mean magical communication. So this is about messages from the depths – our minds will be open to the Otherworld / the collective unconscious /the great beyond – or the will of God, if you like. The lunar cycle this new moon opens looks very deep and quiet and full of inward revelation to me. Intuitive in a shadowy, instinctive way.

But the new moon also sextiles the north node in Virgo, which is about humility, realism, routine and systematic work. So this is deep intuition that can be put to everyday use – practical magic.

In short, it's powerfully magical, full of the potential for healing and regeneration. It's the exact right time for doing magical rituals, channeling messages from the beyond, making art and music, committing to a spiritual practice. (Or having lots of sex. There is a big relationship slant to all this, which I'll get to – and Scorpio requires intense merger, ahem.)

I think it looks great. It doesn't make any harsh aspects. Very like last year's new moon in Scorpio, really - a serpent's egg, full of coiled-up power and depth.

You can trust your gut and your intuition here – there is solid guidance at hand. There will be something to build on. A a new idea or revelation, a new possibility, a dream with solid potential.

--And maybe a decisive ending. What is no longer viable will have to fall away so that something new can take shape.

Mercury-Neptune contacts can be flaky and ethereal to the point of incoherence and delusion. But because this is a new moon in unsentimental, no-bullshit Scorpio - and because we have the pragmatic north node in Virgo involved - we are not talking half-baked New Age nostrums here. Quite the opposite. This is about grounding the otherworldly and ethereal in the here-and-now, putting it to work.

The point is regeneration and healing. Virgo and Scorpio both have an association with healing: Virgo is good at identifying problems and crafting solutions in a detail-oriented, systematic way. And Scorpio weeds out energy drains. It zeroes in on whatever is diseased, rotten, false; and it does all the life-or-death, disgusting work no one else wants to do – it drains out the pus, amputates the gangrenous limb, sews in the sutures.

So you put these energies together and you have a very unsentimental, surgical kind of vibe, focused on survival and regeneration.

Reinforcing this theme, we have the rulers of Scorpio (Mars and Pluto) both in Capricorn, sign of work and structured achievement. They are still loosely conjunct for this new moon, and Pluto is beneficially aspecting the Virgo north node.

Mars and Pluto together do not make for the most fun influence – this combination is known for killer rage and eruptive violence. And though Mars is moving out of the conjunction, he'll be squaring Uranus this new moon – an influence that magnifies the potential for shocking violence and accidents. So be careful driving and operating machinery this month, please! And avoid rage zombies.

In spite of this potential violence, I'm inclined to see the Mars-Pluto stuff as beneficial here. It means there is vast energy and drive to put toward whatever needs fixing or (re)building in your life.

--Here is hexagram 18 from the I Ching - on repairing a rotten situation.

With the current Mars-Pluto stuff, if poison bubbles up out of the depths - it is a symptom of a larger problem, and you can potentially address the problem at its roots right now. It is not a time for ignoring the ugly stuff - you have to be willing to dig deep and get your hands dirty.

So I think it's beneficial overall, even if it manifests as some kind of eruptive ugliness.

Another beneficial influence: we have love and money planet Venus now in Sagittarius. Sagittarius is an optimistic, free-spirited sign; Venus in Sagittarius is tolerant and happy-go-lucky. So this is great!

Plus she is in mutual reception with Jupiter in Libra – ie, Venus is in the sign Jupiter rules, and Jupiter is in the sign Venus rules. And these two lucky, traditionally “benefic” planets are also in beneficial aspect.

This is really lovely and bouyant, especially for relationships. A bit of fun and lightness in an otherwise very heavy and serious sky.

But it's not all kittens and ice cream. Venus is also conjunct Saturn, and this is exact the day before the new moon. This conjunction can represent some form of limitation, delay, blockage or fear - especially re. relationships. But it also denotes great seriousness about the future, and a willingness to commit to a vision of what's actually possible. And to work for it..

So there are limits and boundaries here, and maybe endings – what's not actually possible or workable will have to fall away, so that something real can take its place. Trust your gut on this. You will know what cords have to be cut.

At the same time, there is a future for the building here. There are dreams that can come true, given a bit of work.

All in all it looks very positive to me. Jupiter in Libra, remember, is about balance and fairness, being able to see the other's point of view and to compromise... also big love and luck in relationships. And paired up with Venus and Saturn in Sagittarius, this is about realistic plans re. partnerships and money.

It looks like love that can go the distance, or a solid new direction, or a grounded and sincere kind of happiness. You just have to trust in it and be willing to put a bit of work in. Jupiter and Venus together denote a gift, but this is the kind of gift that takes good faith and commitment to secure - and time, and patience. It's not just going to fall into your lap.

Luckily, the Mars-Pluto conjunction will supply the necessary stamina and drive.

--All that said, we are still dealing with the north node in Virgo opposing Neptune and the south node in Pisces. This is a slough of despond – a real swamp of fantasy, delusion, addiction and escapism. So please keep in mind, you have to keep moving past the pull of destructive nostalgia and addiction. There is really no going back; you know that. And no running away either.

The north node in Virgo dictates the way forward: humble, systematic work. Don't let your emotional ungroundedness or moodiness get the better of you. Just focus on the day-to-day details and keep dealing with what needs doing as it comes up. If you start freaking out about the future or obsessing about the past, try to do something grounding and healthy. Or focus on how you can serve others.

Full Moon in Aries

by Eugenia Loli

This is early tomorrow morning, the 16th October. 5:23 am GMT. Maybe you're already feeling it! This is a big one - violent and explosive, with long-lasting effect. It's a turning point and it involves shock. If you can stay out of fights, listen to opposing points of view and mind your manners, you'll be doing well.

This full moon is a supermoon, which means it's closer to earth than usual and will appear larger. It's in Aries, a warlike, impulsive sign. It's conjunct Uranus, an explosive, shocking influence. And it squares the extremely violent and transformative Mars-Pluto conjunction in Capricorn (which is exact the 19th October).

Mercury (mind, communication) in Libra is involved, also in square to the Mars-Pluto conjunction. So there's the possibility for deep mental change and transformative communication – or deeply hurtful exchanges fuelled by eruptive rage.

Expect shocking news and fraught exchanges. Also shake-ups in relationships – the need for partnership and co-operation coming up against deep anger, rebellion and the demand for personal autonomy and space. Manipulation and shitty covert power dynamics are likely to be exposed.

This looks like Jupiter in Libra's first big test to me. Jupiter is about luck and blessing; Libra is about civility, harmony, balance and partnership. For the next year, as Jupiter transits Libra, your happiness and luck depend on being polite, diplomatic and able to see all sides of a situation – not just your own point of view.

Under this full moon, we are likely to see people acting out like big, moody, self-absorbed babies, spewing vitriol and aggression. It'll be too easy to lash out from a sense of wounded ego or personal grievance; also too easy to overreact to insults and imagined slights.

But with Jupiter in Libra and the north node in humble, pragmatic Virgo, that kind of behaviour is absolutely not going to do you any favors. Blessed are the peacemakers under this sky - the coalition-builders, the patient workers for equality and constructive change, the upholders of public decency and civility.

Peacemaking is easier said than done - there's a lot of provocative idiocy and outright delusion flying around right now. But you're sure not going to get anywhere by yelling about it. Jupiter in Libra is not a fan of crudeness, rudeness or people who make scenes - so please try to take the high road.

Michelle Obama's "when they go low, we go high" is actually a really good slogan for this full moon, and her recent speech on sexual harassment represents a productive use of shock and rage, in the interests of justice and deep, progressive social change. That's the sort of balancing act that's called for here, though knee-jerk rage is the simpler option.