Starcodes Oct 13, 2023

We are in the middle of tumultuous aspects and luck is not necessarily on our side this Friday the 13th. Like sailing ahead of a storm, we can use these blustering winds for good and power ourselves forward, if we engage the compassion inherent in Friday- Venus’ day, and 13, the Moons cycles a year, and manage to avoid the shoals of conflict. Though it may not be easy.

This weekend’s solar eclipse under determined Mars in Scorpio could shake things up and reveal hidden problems or exacerbate the shadow obsessions running underneath the world’s condition. Most of us will just feel a little twitchy, maybe worried about the world’s problems or ready to focus on our own work, but we could find ourselves fixated on the raw global headlines or a more personal battle and have trouble looking ahead.

Every astrological aspect can express itself in a range, from its worst challenge, through its practical expression, to a potentially great gift. Usually, we can find a way to use the gift expression to redirect the challenging energy and this is the whole point of an astrological forecast, offering you the tools to work with the stars. But sometimes the challenges can overwhelm and trigger a landslide or an event that we get caught up within.

No amount of astrological counselling would’ve helped the Mideast last week and this, though with these aspects our advice would have been to triple down on security and make no aggressive moves that will set off a lasting conflagration. Every astrologer spoke about the Mars square Pluto, one of the most explosive and willful combinations, but one which happens once a year and can act as trigger for the deeper, longer time-frame transits.

This square occurred just as Pluto turned direct, right before a solar eclipse (eclipses resonate for months) with Mars conjunct the south lunar node, and Eris, the asteroid of discord, was within a degree of the north node (exact over the next few weeks) and just before Mars entered Scorpio, where it stings and has a long memory. When a planet turns direct, we often see what’s been brooding while that planet was retrograde. Retrograde planets give us a chance to review the past; some review to heal and course-correct, others to perseverate on wrongs and plan retribution. Mars and Pluto often reveal difficult plots when they turn direct after a…