Greetings! As many of you know, this month we are entering into a very important period of cycles that will take us into 2012 and beyond. Some of us are calling this major set of dynamics aspects “The Cardinal Climax!” Whatever the name the consequences of such planetary interchanges will certainly be climatic, profoundly affecting both our psychological and physical climate. Astrologers including yours truly will be having a lot to say about all of this over the coming years, so please stay tuned. The first of these celestial movements is Saturn’s entry into Libra and square to Pluto in Capricorn. My comments about this passage follow below.

October 23: The Sun enters Scorpio at 06:45am
The sign of the “cosmic cyclotron,” Scorpio demands of us all to either “transmute or die!” (A cyclotron by the way is a device used in atomic laboratories to break up the structure of an atom and release its power so that it may be channeled into other forms of energy. Thus from atomic energy, we can either illuminate whole cities with light or bomb these same cities into ashes.) No matter what else is taking place this month in terms of planetary transits and positions, this underling scorpionic theme will prevail and give us any number of opportunities for personal transformation. We would do well to objectify what changes in our lives we are resisting and thereby locate “the lessons of the day.”

October 24: Sun sextile Pluto (1 Sco/Cap); Mercury trine Neptune (24 Lib/Aqu)
This month there are several important degree points worth noting as a number of important transits will occur at these placements. These are 0-2, 17-18, and 23-25. Although the sextile is not a particularly strong aspect in itself, when coupled by the fact that the Sun in Scorpio is sextile Pluto its dispositor, this adds considerable potency to the combination. This thus becomes a good day to empower those plans and projects that serve to take us “up a notch or two” in our lives. The Mercury/Neptune trine gives insight and inspiration plus positive creative social interchanges.

October 25: Mercury square Lunar Nodes (25 Lib/Cap)
Take care not to backtrack into information and communications that you have already made. We can always review what we have said and already know but the past is already a “done deal.”

October 28: Mercury enters Scorpio at 10:09am; Mercury sextile Pluto (1 Sco/Cap); Venus trine Jupiter (17Lib/Aqu)
Mercury’s entry into Scorpio is very potent as it sextiles Pluto shortly afterwards. The “Little Herm” will be in the same sign as the Sun until November 15th, adding to the scorpionic note of the period. This is an excellent period for research. It is also one in which telling the truth will serve to remove a lot of confusion from our path. The reader should understand that the writer is an Aries/Scorpio with a Gemini Moon so is a little “prejudiced” about right and honest (and sometimes confrontational) communication. But hey, why get lost in “astral land” if telling it like it is can be your ticket to some open space better suited to creativity and greater harmony? The latter is certainly supported by the Venus/Jupiter contact (it also means “have fun!”).

October 29: Sun square Mars (6 Sco/Leo); Saturn enters Libra at 05:10pm
Talk about “harmony through conflict!” OK, tempers may be sharp today especially if the Sun/Mars square falls in your chart at a major point. This also will give you lots of energy to forge ahead if you channel this fiery force correctly.

Saturn entering Libra is a major event as in the course of time it will square Pluto in Capricorn, and opposed Uranus and Jupiter in Aries. I will be commenting here and in my lectures and workshops, readings and writings on all of these events as they happen (plus before and after!). Please keep in mind that Saturn is exalted in the Scales, leading to the urge for right and balanced human relationships. But my good goddess, what opposition awaits us all both personally and politically in terms of achieving this lofty goal! Those of you, who have important placements in your chart in the first five degrees of the cardinal signs, will be especially affected by all of the above mentioned contacts (including your writer who has Mars at 0 Cancer and Neptune at 3 Libra). Right away I want to serve notice (as if you already haven’t figured it out yourselves, dear fellow astrology students) that many millions of us (still alive and functioning if you please!) born from late 1942 through the middle of 1945 have Neptune in these early degrees of Libra so we will all be having Pluto in Capricorn square Neptune while at the same time also be experiencing Saturn in Libra conjoined this position.

These transits require us to separate fact from fiction, the real from the ideal in terms of our human relationships relative to the house position of natal Neptune. We are a generation of idealists and are super prone to relationships where disfunctionality may occur because we refuse to see the reality of the other person with whom we are engaged (a polite way of putting what has gotten us in huge amounts of trouble!). And even if we see it, we either refuse to accept it as reality. Saturn/Pluto will not let us get away with this any longer or at least if we insist of living inside a 1960’s lava lamp, will certainly require us to pay a huge price for such continued self-deception. Now that said, Saturn/Pluto (as the square is being molded from the time of Saturn’s entry into Libra and continues until April 2010, resuming for a tad in August of that year) can be a very good friend (I know that may be hard to believe!), if we can reshape and restructure our perception into acceptance and recreate our sense of responsibility both to ourselves and to others accordingly

This last set of comments applied to one and all but especially to those who have major planetary configurations or points (i.e. house angles) in Libra or the three other cardinal signs. The entry of Saturn in Libra and its subsequent squares to Pluto in Capricorn and Aries planets will make the global political scene very precarious over the next few years as huge power struggles will ensue. I would also imagine that an increase in earthquake activity and other natural climatic challenges will also increase. “As Above, So Below” as the old saying goes!

November 1: Mercury square Mars (8 Sco/Leo)
So much to do, so little time to do it and such pressure to perform, the sense of having my will being thwarted, and—“Why are you standing in my way?” These are the themes of this “little” square, especially if it falls squarely into your chart.

November 2: Venus trine Neptune (24 Lib/Aqu); Full Moon at 10 Tau/Sco at 07:15pm
Enjoy the light of the sensual Taurus/Scorpio Full Moon. A little pleasure break from all of this cosmic pressure—enjoy artistic, romantic, poetic people, go to the movies, have an ice cream!

November 3: Venus square the Lunar Nodes (24 Lib/Cap)
Elements from the past can cloud relationships in the present. You would do well to identify baggage you are still carrying or baggage that people bring to you that they still are holding that they may expect you to carry. We would also do well to be able to identify those values that we used to have as the foundation stones for building relationships that no longer serve a positive purpose. Now whoever said that remaining conscious 24/7 was an easy task?

November 4: Neptune turns direct at 23.41 Aquarius.
OK, the veil will finally lift from those of us who have 22-24 degrees of the fixed signs prominent in our charts and move along to becloud (or awaken!) those of us with 25 to 28 of these signs strongly featured in our maps.

November 5: Mercury conjuct the Sun at 13 Scorpio.
A little intensity on the communications front—tell the truth if you dare!

November 8: Venus enters Scorpio at 00:24am; Mercury square Jupiter (18 Sco/Aqu)
A very scorpionic time indeed as Venus joins the Sun and Mercury now and remain a trio in this sign until the 15th of the month when they are joined by the Moon. So the collective intensity factor goes up a notch! Please keep in mind the dispositorship factors in all of this. Scorpio is ruled by Pluto who is now in Capricorn ruled by Saturn in Libra which then brings the energy back to Venus in Scorpio. This is quite a wheel and stops at the following consideration: what needs to be killed off, released, and transformed in terms of the nature of your relationships both personal and financial? If the trouble spot in your life is a personal relationship with financial overtones, well then these next few weeks were “made in heaven” just for you (Venus remains in Scorpio until December 1st). Please note: Those of you interested in furthering your understanding of the importance and value of dispositorship dynamics in the natal chart might well consider referencing my book, Rulers of the Horoscope (IBIS Press, Pubs.).

The Mercury/Jupiter square usually points to delays or challenges in terms of travel and/or confusion in expressing one’s beliefs and opinions.

November 10: Sun square Jupiter (18 Sco/Aqu)
Please, let’s not exaggerate (those matters in the house positions where this square falls in your chart)!

November 11: Mercury trine Uranus (23 Sco/Pis); Mercury square Neptune (23 Sco/Aqu).
What an interesting combination of influences! (Mr. Oken pay special attention as you have 23.46 Scorpio rising! A side benefit I get from writing this Newsletter to you guys is that I get a chance to write up my own transit report every month.) The combination of Mercury/Uranus/Neptune is very inspirational. The differences in the qualities of the aspects involved ask us to make sure that what is perceived has some practical value and does not take us off into mental wanderings in space. One definitely will get a glimpse into a bigger picture now how is that vision going to be translated into correct action?

November 14: Sun trine Uranus (23 Sco/Pis).
The urge to break from routine and move out into a new direction will be strong. Uranus is the “Father of Archetypes.” When he is stimulated (especially by the Sun), he asks us to awaken to new possibilities for our creative self-expression. Keep in mind that Uranus is exalted in Scorpio so his relationship to planets in that sign (and as we will see most certainly in the coming years when he is square to Pluto) is one of tremendous possibilities for inventive activities that move us into new or at least different, life experiences.

November 15: Saturn square Pluto (1.42 Lib/Cap); Sun square Neptune (24 Sco/Aqu); Mercury enters Sagittarius at 00:29 on the 16th, meaning on the evening of the 15th for everyone living in North and South America.

Whew! Please note my comments under October 29th relative to Saturn and Pluto. I will be writing quite a bit about the “Cardinal Climax” in future editions of this Newsletter. Australian friends please note: Maggie Kerr and me will be giving a full weekend workshop on this topic in both Queensland and in Sydney in April of 2010. Please stay tuned and contact us for more details. Maggie can be reached at maggiekerr@universalastrology.com.au More information about these aspects can be found in an article I wrote for the February 2010 edition of Dell Horoscope Magazine and will also be featured in a number of ways on the astrology tab at www.infinitequest.com

As for the Sun square to Neptune on November 15th, it certainly is not an aspect the reinforces clarity of action, so care should be taken about remembering what you need to remember, watching where you place your feet, and avoiding making commitments with friends (Neptune in Aquarius) that you cannot keep. Naturally as with all transiting aspects, the stronger it fits into your natal chart, the more that the aspect is speaking directly to you.

November 16: New Moon at 24.35 Scorpio at 07:15pm; Mercury enters Sagittarius
A New Moon is always the beginning of a cycle. This is a good day to start something as the three days or so before the New Moon (when the solar/lunar phase is balsamic) is a great time for winding things up and endings. The Sagittarius quality of Mercury indicates that this is a great time to launch a voyage, start an educational program, or inaugurate some interesting writing project.

November 17: Mercury sextile Saturn (2 Sag/Lib)
Great day to bring in some practical details to the above mentioned projects or plans (see November 16th).

November 19: Venus square Mars (14 Sco/Leo)
Venus/Mars aspects always stimulate the libido but the square aspect can over stimulate our vitality and natural urges in this respect. In a more general sense, it can cause differences within the dynamics of relationships based on a conflict of wills as the two planets are in the fixed signs.

November 22: Sun enters Sagittarius at 04:24am
Ah Sagittarius—let’s have some fun and learn a little in the process!