Let’s get on with it, we really want to. We notice whatever has been stuck in an unimaginative or limiting conundrum and now just don’t feel the same need to stick by the old rules since Venus entered restless and generally cheerful Sagittarius a few days ago. This restlessness will only intensify as the Moon waxes towards next Friday’s Full Moon in rebellious Aries.
But it won’t be that easy. With Venus in Sagittarius, sign of the cheerful traveler, we may just want to take a geographic cure and walk on, or write off the national debt, or blow off the difficult relative or politician, but probably will have to work our way out of the situation instead. A few minutes in the sunshine, walking our dog or watching the birds fly south, can give us just the break we need to get back in the ring. Venus in Sagittarius can encourage our sense of humor and help us look way outside the box for possibilities, but can also tempt us to run away from home.
Mercury, now in Scorpio and conjunct serious Saturn, says not so fast. It calls us to fix the problem at the foundations, or we’ll recreate it again elsewhere. This combo does not promote quick thinking, it wants us to go deep and get profound. Dig up the garden and rebuilds the beds, versus plant a few annuals. Make it real, or let’s forget about it.
Mercury conjuncts Saturn now and twice again over the next few months as Mercury retrogrades back and forth (Oct 21 –Nov 11), belaboring the same point repeatedly. To handle this etching intensity, we need to give our minds something to chew upon, worthy projects to tackle, and watch where our minds perseverate. This is a fantastic aspect for real research, meditative retreat, or investigative journalism. Already we may notice the mercury retrograde snafus creeping in, like delays in transportation, or strange communications glitches.
On a tough day, this Mercury-Saturn conjunction in Scorpio calls us to look in the shadows and under the rocks and lets depression linger around the edges. Words sharpen when we’re angry, and some people just don’t know when to back off. If we’ve had a problem with depression in the past, it’s important to notice we are not those shadows, they are something we can step in, do the work waiting for us, and step out.
Motivating Mars is now in Leo and has been for months, adding extra bombast and entrenchment to our disagreements, and panache to our love life and our creative efforts. It brings romance to our souls and grace notes to our dinner table, as long as we don’t start arguing. Then we have to tip-toe around the eggshell egos to get back on track. Mars enters Virgo by the end of the week and tones the ambient bellicosity down to help us get back to work. Venus and Mars were both in fixed signs over the last few months, and now both are in mutable signs, which encourages much more flexibility and interest in compromise than we’ve recently seen (even if Mercury in fixed-sign Scorpio makes that hard to admit). Mars in Virgo can, however make our guts hurt under stress. The tougher life is, the gentler we’ll need to be to our digestions.
So we’ll grow more flexible but also more willful as the week goes by. Daily life will be eventful, so we need to employ good time management skills and tend to both the urgent and the longer-range important before Mercury turns retrograde on Oct 21. Let’s get our ducks in a row and organize our work for the next few months.
Friday finishes the week with a strategic, productive and hardworking but depressingly opinionated effort under a Capricorn Moon. The weekend unfolds with a more communal, community sense that calls us to the farmer’s market or out to festivals and conferences. Midweek we need to be extra gentle to one another as our emotions catch up with us and the backlog needs to be processed under a sensitive Pisces Moon. The week ends with a wild rebellious flare under a waxing Aries Moon.
Friday, Oct 11: Overnight discontent can leave us feeling either stuck or motivated (depending on how we choose to react) as the Capricorn Moon squares Uranus. During serious, useful conversation this morning, the integrity of our word is vitally important; say less and make it real. Be kind to self and others midday as doubts arise midday. Watch the hovering discouragement, and be motivated to improve the situation instead. On this competent afternoon, bring work to completion and clear the plate for a new effort. Evening may wax philosophically expansive as the Moon opposes Jupiter if we can just forgive wild and staunch opinions. If digestion is challenged by tiredness, rest and recuperate.
Saturday, Oct 12; Morning is productively unsettling, be inspired and commit to an ameliorating effort as the Sun squares Jupiter. If a desire to do too much brings up control issues, say less and do more. The mood becomes more collective and festive this afternoon; meet and greet, and kibitz as the Moon enters Aquarius. The mood is generally sociable with deep currents running underneath; we wear our mystery well.
Sunday, Oct 13: On this somewhat challenging day, the needs of the group may clash with the needs of the individual, and both are important. Midday, as the Moon squares both the lunar nodes, Saturn and Mercury, have facts ready and be on the lookout for important new connections. Tonight, make the effort to understand, but know that people may be unusually tired and need ease and support, not debate.
Monday, Oct 14: Although the mood is generally positive, we can get off on the wrong-foot, this morning merely because we’re out of synch or our timing is off. If so, flail less and center more. Our feelings grow more sensitive, need respect and acceptance, not justification, as the afternoon wears on and the Moon enters Pisces. Let go of the agenda and process.
Tuesday, Oct 15: Relationship issues flare easily this morning; something may suddenly bother us where we ignore it before. We need to find a productive use for our sensitivities we’ll tend to feel squishy, sensitive, and get irritable if overloaded. Mars enters Virgo and nudges us to move forward with some industrious efforts. It takes the melodrama out of a scenario but can instill guilt and snarky criticism as a defense. We don’t have to buy in. Take a break from any argument to focus on the possible positive outcomes.
Wednesday, Oct 16: Venus trines Uranus and helps us experiment. Link up with new people, try a new aesthetic. We have little patience for pain or dysfunction, even minor versions, but let’s not throw out the baby with the bathwater. Break habits, not relationships. As the waxing Moon enters Aries later on, we’ll resist the pressure of pother people’s personality, and want to dive into life with both hands. Watch the temper spike and live fully.
Thursday, Oct 17: Impatience builds towards tomorrow’s Full Moon. We just want to get on with it. Keep interactions fresh and present, responsive and firm but not belligerent. Give one another hope for positive change and room for individual expression, and so buy time to me it happen. Swift, sharp consequences occur; trees are pruned and decisions are made. Make them wise.
Starcodes 
Heather my dear, you have become my rock. Just when I start screaming to myself (silently , of course), “What the hell is going on around here?” Here you are with the answer. Thank you!