Finally… this month has some big happenings, but not every… single… day. Phew! This month starts off with the Full Moon in Aries on the 1st. That means we’ll have a blue moon at the end of the month, another full moon in one calendar cycle. The Full Moon is with Chiron on the first, so it’s a great opportunity to look at the wounds illuminated in Aries. Aries is the warrior who must have a mission to serve. It has a very right vs wrong attitude towards everything. There isn’t a lot of middle ground for Aries. It’s a sign with lots of strength and purpose. It’s wounding or shadow leans towards the aggressive and competitive, a need to crush its foes and be victorious. The question that I keep pondering with the upcoming Mars cycle beginning in Aries on the 13th is will Aries help us by being the warrior for change we desperately need or for maintaining the masculine status quo, fighting the needed changes to the death? This full moon gives us an opportunity, yet again, to lean into what we want to see coming out of this incredible year and is a kick off to the starting Mars cycle, which lasts around two years.

Theme for October 1-15

It’s still 2020, so the Big 3 continue to dominate our intention reflected in the sky. Saturn, Pluto and Jupiter traveling together all through this year shows our collective energetic intent to shift out of patterns and systems that aren’t serving us and find which structures of our society can serve us (Saturn). We arrive that these two destinations through feeling, especially feeling into what we just accept as truth, what’s in our subconscious and what do we deny and keep hidden from even ourselves (Pluto). This interplay of deep, even scary emotions as a path to discovering what we need to encourage and create in our world is extra super charged by Jupiter being there as well. I think we’ve all been experiencing this with the pandemic completely changing how we do things in the world and giving energy to the serious injustices we experience in our world. For me, the biggest system behind all of this that needs some major composting is the thousands years long structure of patriarchy. I don’t mean men, but that patriarchal system that pits one group as the best and all the rest inferior. It doesn’t serve any of us, male or female.

Over these two weeks we get more opportunities to keep composting our own inner patriarchal buy ins that lead to what we see outside ourselves. We have to do the internal work to see the shifts in the external. The full moon in Aries lights up Chiron and then Mars, bringing our attention to the wounded masculine expression of Aries. Venus moves into Virgo, the earth priestess sign in service to Gaia and the feminine – support for continued dismantling of the wounded masculine. Pluto goes direct and is squared by Mars, more shadow work around patriarchy and the disempowered masculine. The sun gets in on the action as it squares the Big 3. Venus moves through the heart chakra gate. Lastly, Mars starts a new 24-month cycle with the overtone of Aries. The obvious focus on shifting into equality is what keeps showing up. We probably won’t get there by the end of 2020, but hopefully we are sowing the seeds that take us there now.

Key Dates

Full Moon October 1 with Chiron

This is a great day for ceremony. It doesn’t need to be complicated or elaborate, just something that helps you to mark your connection to the natural world. The full moon is a time to reflect on your new moon intention and let go of anything that is holding you back from the realization of that intention. It’s a check in time. Are you where you want to be with this month’s focus or is there something you need to release to get there? With what I wrote above about Aries and the new Mars cycle starting on the 13th, perhaps we could add something extra into our full moon ceremonies. I’d like to put energy towards Aries being the warrior for good in this world, a warrior for equality, for compassion for others, and for empathy towards the earth. What would your Aries fight for?

October 2

Right on the heels of the full moon and the Chiron conjunction, the just barely waning moon catches up to Mars and squares the Big 3. Here we have an exact highlight of what I’ve seen as the main intent of 2020, illuminating the shadow of patriarchy and a desire to shift out of this broken system that isn’t serving women, men, our society or the earth. We have the Big 3, Mars, Chiron all activated by the movement of the Moon over these two days. Feel into what you’d like to see created. 

Venus enters Virgo today as well, marking a transition of the Divine Feminine into the Earth Priestess sign. This flavor of the feminine sees the sacred in everything, the pattern of the earth’s cycles and holds the ceremonies to honor and serve the earth. It’s a big day of energy and Venus helps us to create the patterns we want to begin in the world, a communion with the earth.

October 4

Pluto goes direct! It’s the last of the Big 3 to end its retrograde cycle. Now, all 3 are moving forward again, which means eventually they aren’t going to be traveling together anymore. Yay! 2020 will eventually end! Pluto going direct means we get some forward momentum going in this underworld planet. We are ending taking that deeper, lengthened look at what we need to compost from our lives to come into more empowerment within ourselves and our world. We aren’t done with Pluto’s teachings yet, but it’s moving ahead again.

October 7

Mercury in Scorpio is opposite Uranus in Taurus. It’s a great day to lean into your own unique expression of you and what turns you on, you special individual you! 

October 9 and 10

Mars squares Pluto, while the Moon squares Mars and is opposite the Big 3. It’s another day to keep us moving towards shifting out of the patriarchal system, feeling how it isn’t serving us anymore. What healing do we need to do within ourselves to keep feeding the changes we desperately need in our societal structures?

October 11

The Sun begins to come into squares with the Big 3, with the first square to Jupiter. Think of this like Jupiter being the last quarter moon (when the sun squares the moon) and sets up some tension. The sun lights up the Big 3 over the next week, so you may feel some push back internally to that intent for 2020 to shift what isn’t working through a deep feelings, even despair that nothing will ever change. 

October 13

Lots of action today! The Sun is opposite Mars, which signifies the start of the new Mars cycle in Aries. This cycle lasts for over two years! Mars will go through other signs, but the overtone of the entire cycle is the sign Mars is in when it opposes the sun. That’s Aries. That shows our intent around the Divine Masculine energy of the world. Again, I’ve been writing about this already, but I see this as an amazing opportunity to create more healing around the patriarchal, warring, aggressive shadow expression of Aries. How do we use that powerful, actional, intuition-driven energy of Aries to be the warrior for equality and what we need to shift in the world that makes it sustainable for us to continue living here?

Mercury goes retrograde today, signaling that shift in our thinking from linear left-brain to circular right-brain, that many of us struggle with. It’s a time to be creative, in the flow, unattached to outcomes. Mercury is in Scorpio, which is a deeply feeling sign, a right-brained, emotional, water sign. This will either support you in getting into your creative side and doing what turns you on or it will challenge your grip on linear thinking. I say try to do what turns you on and get in the flow with a Scorpio retrograde Mercury. You may have to face some of your shadow to get there, but that’s ok because Scorpio thrives in the shadow.

Lastly, as if it there isn’t enough today, Venus and the Moon come together signaling Venus is at the next chakra gate in her cycle. She’s moving into the heart chakra on her journey towards the sun, when she enters the underworld. She’s currently releasing anything blocking her heart chakra from being as healthy and authentic as possible. As she moves through each of these gates or chakras, she’s letting go of her egoic attachments that block her fullest expression as she moves towards the underworld journey of deep healing and renewal.

October 15

The Sun squares Pluto, of the Big 3, so there is a sunlight shining on this underworld planet, alighting the shadow and what needs composting for our world to change.

Preview October 16

It’s the New Moon in Libra! Join me for my free online New Moon Ceremonial Class by clicking here.

Spiritual Aromatherapy for October

We still need a lot of grounding essences to help us with the intention of the Big 3. Black Pine and Black Spruce are excellent essences for these two weeks, as the Underworld planet Pluto plays a big role. Those two conifer trees support us in going into our own Underworlds for healing and renewal. Essences like Red Pine or Cinnamon Bark or Leaf support our emerging Mars cycle in Aries. Both are trees, so help with the grounding needed now as well. Lastly, heart openers such as Hyssop and Ylang Ylang are great for the new Venus gate through the 4th chakra. You can shop for these and other essential oils by clicking here.

Join My FREE Monthly New Moon Ceremonial Astrology and Aromatherapy Online Class – Friday, October 16, 4 PM MDT – always recorded