Build Your Web and Let It Come to You

Before We Dive In

Venus is retrograde, Mercury is stationing retrograde, and I’ve had all kinds of weird things happen, including the video background I put up every week suddenly appearing reversed and mirrored without me changing anything. So. Ah!

This Venus retrograde, with Mercury coming up behind it, is intense. It’s all good. It’s life, things happening. But it’s hitting my chart big time, and Pluto is stationing direct affecting my chart as I record this too. Scorpio energy can be really exhausting. Water energy can be. I feel tired all the time, but I’m okay.

There will be some changes coming. I can’t keep up the pace of weekly forecasts plus new and full moon videos, especially when everybody on YouTube is doing new moons, full moons, and forecasts. There are other things I want to talk about. I’m not making a decision on that yet. [But I wanted you to hear it from me first.]

Some News I’m Proud Of

One of the articles I wrote for The Evolving Astrologer, the magazine of OPA (the Organization for Professional Astrology), has been picked up and published by astro.com. That’s a big deal for an astrologer. I’m really, really happy, and I hope you’ll give it a read and let me know what you think. Read the article here.

London School of Astrology: Chiron Weekend

The Chiron Weekend is this weekend, October 17th and 18th (UK time), and I’m presenting on the 17th. It’s all about Chiron coming home to the degree where it was discovered, with many perspectives and discussions.

The lineup: Melanie Reinhart, the Centaur Queen as I call her, whom I’m proud to call a friend; Brian Clark, an amazing, amazing guy; Jason Holley; Andrew Smith from Ireland; Barbara Hand Clow; and M. Kelly Hunter. I’m on this thing with people who have been mentors and teachers to me, and I’m loving it.

It’s not free, but you keep the recordings in their member portal, and the money goes to charity. It’s a great thing that Frank Clifford, who runs the London School of Astrology, does every year. There are some pre-recorded sessions available now too. Chiron: Returning Home, 17–18 October

A not-to-be-missed weekend celebrating Chiron and the 50th anniversary of its discovery – hosted by Brian Clark, Frank Clifford and Melanie Reinhart – with a dozen world-class speakers across ten sessions (including four pre-recorded available to view now).

Chiron’s message is more relevant than ever, and this celebratory and fundraising event for the astrological and therapeutic communities will honour Chiron’s presence under a multi-faceted sky. Joining us will be a wonderful array of astrologers and practitioners: Brian Clark, Barbara Hand Clow, Louise Edington, Heather Ensworth, Jason Holley, Kelley Hunter, Dr Michael Kearney, Melanie Reinhart, Chris Skidmore, Andrew Smith, Zane B. Stein and John Wadsworth.

Topics include: Chiron’s discovery return in 2027; the Chiron return at 50; building a new vocabulary; approaching Chiron in consultation; Chiron’s love story; Chiron and the heroic quest.

Price: £99 (approx US$130, and includes unlimited access to all live sessions + recorded videos).

Schedule/enrolment: https://www.londonschoolofastrology.com/courses/chiron50

The Week at a Glance

It’s an intense week. Give yourself some real space, especially on Friday.

* Pluto stationed direct late on October 15th, square Haumea, and is still sitting at 3°04’ Aquarius. Still churning. Still excavating.

* First Quarter Moon on Sunday at 25° Capricorn: the crisis in action.

* A fixed T-square at 3°, with Pluto, Haumea, asteroid Lilith, and Venus (who has retrograded back to 3°), widely opposed by Okyrhoe to form a fixed grand cross.

* Venus squares Pluto on Tuesday.

* A water grand trine builds between Ceres, Nessus, and Mercury.

* The Sun opposes Chiron on Wednesday: a last look at Chiron in Aries.

* The Sun enters Scorpio on Friday October 23rd at 5:37am.

* The Venus Star Point: the Sun and Venus meet at 0° Scorpio at 11:44pm on Friday October 23rd, Venus’s own day. It’s the last Scorpio Star Point in our lifetimes.

* Mercury stations retrograde on Saturday October 24th at 3:12am.

We start the week with the Moon in Capricorn, moving away from the Sun. It’s gained light, so we’re moving into an action phase.

Neptune is at 2° Aries, the degree of the last Venus Star Point in Aries on March 22nd, 2025.

Hekate and Chariklo are worth watching. The North Node is moving back toward them. Hekate was the first to turn direct, and Chariklo will turn direct next. Then both will meet the North Node, which is going to be really interesting for creating, writing, and weaving this new story we’re moving into, the one I’ve been promising you for ages.

Asteroid Lilith has just opposed Pluto. I barely look at Black Moon Lilith anymore, so I’ve actually taken her off my charts. Asteroid Lilith is shouting really loudly to me. She’s the only physical Lilith (the others are points), and it feels like she wants to be heard. That’s the talk-to-the-hand energy, the rebellious teenager. She just opposed Pluto at the same degree Mars did, and all of these are approaching the South Node, the drain, to release things.

Apart from Hygieia (preventative health), only the Sun, Venus, and Mercury have crossed the South Node, and Regulus with it. Jupiter is heading toward it, Mars faster, and asteroid Lilith and Ceres are on their way too. We’ve still got some time to go in this nightmare transition, but we’re moving beyond it.

The Cards — A First Glance

From the Red Seeds Tarot (Linda Hill, Etsy UK): Eight of Seeds reversed, Queen Bee reversed, and The Sun. And from the Witch Oracle, one of my favourites: Spider Woman.

Two reversals while we approach the cazimi. I’m really not surprised. But we end the week on a much more upbeat note.

I love Linda Hill’s decks because they’re all based on myths and all the things I’m interested in. I’ve also got her Red Threads Tarot, and I’ve just bought her Red Stone Tarot (I need to read the book first). The Witch Oracle is Witch: Woman in Total Control of Herself by Angie Sullins, with art by her partner, Silas Toball.

More on all four cards at the end.

Day by Day

(Times are Eastern, as always.)

Sunday, October 18 — First Quarter Moon. A Cardinal T-Square and a Fixed T-Square.

Pluto stationed direct late on the 15th, so we’re only a couple of days past the station, and it hasn’t moved a minute. If you’re feeling rather churny as you read this (I always use that word for Pluto stations), that’s why. Pluto is stationing direct in a square to Haumea, and Pluto is the modern guide of Scorpio. This is deep. We’re still very much in that digging, excavating, purging energy that Pluto stations bring.

The Capricorn Moon starts the day by opposing Ceres: needs met and unmet, in the Moon’s own sign. We may get more news about price rises and inflation, needs not being met, and the basics of security feeling very rocky, as they have for many people for a while.

Right after that comes the First Quarter Moon, with the Moon at 25° Capricorn squaring the Libra Sun. This is the crisis in action, and crisis literally means crossroads, decision, or turning point. People hear “crisis” and panic, but we have two every month: the crisis in action at the first quarter and the crisis in consciousness at the last quarter. This one is in the initiating, cardinal signs, saying it’s time to take action and start building toward what you want, toward justice, toward everything you want to create in the world. It’s the real go-go-go phase for whatever you set intentions for at the last new moon.

Right after the First Quarter Moon, the Sun opposes Eris, the table turner. That makes a cardinal T-square, saying it’s time to shake more tables. And we’re seeing it happen everywhere in the world.

Then asteroid Lilith (I love asteroid Lilith) squares Haumea, regeneration and rebirth. She’s already opposed Pluto, and Venus is retrograding back here too. So we have a fixed T-square, all at 3°. That’s really potent: Pluto is still at its station point, and Venus is coming up to square Pluto as well.

This is digging deep. But it’s at 3, and in numerology 3 is a lovely number of creation: creativity, self-expression, useful optimism, and communication. So it’s a big deal that all this is happening at 3. Mars opposed Pluto at 3. Now Venus is back at 3. Pluto and Haumea are in their ongoing square.

And it’s all widely opposing Okyrhoe, the seer, the voice that spoke out even though she’d be punished for it. She’s different from Cassandra, whom nobody believed. Okyrhoe had the gift of prophecy and foresaw what would happen to Chiron: that he’d be wounded, and the wound would not heal. She was punished for saying so. She’s part of this fixed grand cross, saying we have to dig deep and say what we’re seeing right now, so we can bring the change.

Then Pallas Athena comes back and meets Saturn, both retrograde. She is wise justice, and Saturn tends to bring clarity and a reality check. With the Moon gaining light, plus the review, reflection, redoing, and purging energy of this Venus retrograde and fixed T-square, we’re starting to see what needs to change. We’re getting so clear.

As you know, the power hungry keep outing themselves more and more: how they want to cling to their power, and how they think they can do it. That’s very Scorpionic. So we’re going to start getting some clarity.

And talking of the power hungry: there was an 87-year-old woman in Spain who was evicted because she couldn’t pay her rent, after it was raised so high. There was a vote in the Spanish parliament, I think, to help people like her, and the elected officials voted against it. People are in uproar. And I’ve since heard, thanks to one of my members, that she has died. That’s really sad. That’s the kind of thing I mean. They are not taking care of our needs, only the power hungry, the greed, the wealth, the autocracy, whatever you want to call it.

At the end of the day, the Moon enters Aquarius.

Monday, October 19 — The Moon Crosses Pluto. Venus Squares Asteroid Lilith and Meets Haumea.

The Aquarius Moon activates that fixed grand cross. It’s digging deep. We are really seeing the corruption, the power games, the manipulation, the detritus, the nastiness, whatever you want to call it, of all these power-hungry, greedy people saying: we don’t care what you say, we’re taking it.

I don’t think the people are going to take it. The Moon and Pluto are in the sign of the humanitarian, the people, and the future. Aquarius does have its authoritarian side, though, so it’s digging deep right now.

Right at the start of the day, Venus, back at 3°, squares asteroid Lilith, saying nobody’s putting Baby back in the corner. This isn’t particularly about women. It’s about everything that’s been othered and kept down: class, colour, women, all of it, because of the power-hungry greed of those (mostly men) in power. No, not all men. But you get the idea. It’s the difference between power-over and power from within, power in interconnectedness. And we are moving away from power-over.

The Aquarius Moon sextiles Neptune, trines Sedna (adaptability), and conjuncts Pluto, digging into the shadow that the Pluto station is unearthing before it moves forward to show us more. Then the Moon squares Haumea, squares Venus, and opposes asteroid Lilith. That’s the oh God, I didn’t know you were that bad. I can see it all now, and I’m not taking it anymore energy.

Then Venus meets Haumea, regeneration and rebirth, at that lovely 3° mark.

And Venus sextiles Hygieia, an aspect of opportunity to preventative, holistic health. Hygieia was the first asteroid to cross the drain in Leo (no more kings) and then cross Regulus, the birth of stewardship of each other and the earth. She’s saying: okay, here’s an opportunity. We’re looking at this. Here’s how we can start to take it on. It’s a process, but I’m starting to see it more and more.

The Moon trines Uranus, the modern guide of Aquarius, at 5°, the number of change. More ahas and awakenings. Change is coming. I know it doesn’t always feel like it. I’m almost looking forward to the election now. I do think they might try to cheat, but the tide is turning. That’s in the US, but we’re seeing it everywhere: the corruption, the power hunger, putting people down and not caring at all for those less fortunate.

The Moon then aspects the Saturn–Pallas Athena pair. Pallas has now moved past Saturn, and with that clarity she’s starting to think about new strategies. She has even more clarity about all this putting-people-down business, and more clarity about our own self-limiting belief that we don’t have the power to be the change we want to see in the world. We do. Just not on our own. We have to come into community.

The last aspect of the day: the Moon opposes Mars. Alright, what action are we going to take now?

Tuesday, October 20 — Venus Squares Pluto. A Water Grand Trine. The Moon Meets Chariklo and Hekate.

Venus squares Pluto. This is ongoing and so deep, and we’re now 3 days from the Venus Star Point. We’re going down a long tunnel, and we’re being asked to look in our backpack and see what we need to purge, release, and let go of. It’s not easy. It’s very deep. Lean in.

Pluto is still at 3°04’ and still hasn’t moved a minute. So again, we’re really seeing the shadow. And Venus is like: oof, I don’t like it. I don’t want to create this, and I’m going to spend the rest of my retrograde seeing what I need to do to change it.

Also on the 20th, Ceres makes a watery trine to Nessus: toxins, abuses, and poisons. This makes a water grand trine with Mercury, and it’s very emotional, because Mercury is heading toward his station. Seeing all of this, Mercury starts to think: I need to rethink how we deal with all of this.

Then the Moon meets a lovely little crew. First Chariklo, the cosmic doula, the spinner of grace. She’s a bit like Grandmother Spider (and we’ve got that card this week, so I’ll read it). Then Hekate, who is now moving, though still slowly because she only just stationed direct. She’s moved ahead of Chariklo and is saying: I’ve got you. Here’s the torch. We’re at this big crossroads, and I’m showing you the way.

Wednesday, October 21 — Moon Meets the North Node. The Sun Opposes Chiron.

The Moon has crossed Hekate and is heading toward the North Node. The Moon trines the Sun, so we’re well on the way to the full moon. Then the Moon conjuncts the North Node and aspects Chiron.

At 8:35am the Moon moves into Pisces, and things start to get more emotional again. Aquarius gives us a bit of distance, a bit of I can see the big picture. Pisces goes: oh, we might start feeling a bit watery again. A lot of this is very emotional.

The Sun reaches 28° Libra and aspects the Nodes, trining the North Node, moving toward it and starting to create what we want to see in the world. (We get the “moon wobble” when the Sun squares the Nodes, but we’ll talk about that when we get there.)

Once in Pisces, the Moon makes a watery trine to Venus, who is almost at the cazimi. Pluto is still at 3°04’. This asks: what do we need to erode? What do we need to release, surrender to, let go of? We have to surrender to the fact that we can’t change everything ourselves.

The last aspect of the 21st, apart from some lunar ones, is the Sun opposing Chiron. Remember that Chiron has only dipped back into Aries before returning to Taurus for its Chiron return, the return to its discovery degree. (Chiron Weekend: go check it out.)

This is the Libra Sun’s last look at Chiron in Aries, at what we’ve called toxic masculinity. We’ve definitely seen that with the tech bros, the Andrew Tates, and people like that. But it’s also the wider toxicity of power-over energy, rather than power from within. It’s a big last look that asks: how are we going to bring this “we” into everything?

Thursday, October 22 — Feeling It All.

Hardly any aspects today. Pluto is starting to move, but very, very slowly.

The main aspects are lunar. The Pisces Moon conjuncts Nessus, trines Mercury, and trines Ceres, so the Moon amplifies the water grand trine. You may find yourself feeling really disoriented with this major water energy, and also quite flat, with a lack of energy. A lot of it is asking you to tune into what you’re feeling about all this before we can move forward.

Friday, October 23 — Venus Day. The Sun Enters Scorpio. The Last Scorpio Venus Star Point.

This day is really huge. Give yourself some real space.

The Sun reaches the anaretic, last degree of Libra and, just before entering Scorpio, squares Juno: our contracts, our sacred marriage asteroid. She was retrograde in Capricorn, the sign of our institutions and structures and is about to re-enter Aquarius. This square looks at where the injustice is. And both are about to change signs. Another threshold.

At 5:37am, the Sun enters Scorpio. Witchy time! I’ve been feeling it already as we head toward Halloween. Scorpio season begins, so happy birthday to all the Scorpios. When the Sun enters Scorpio, the Sun and Venus are still 1°12’ apart, so we’re not officially in the cazimi yet.

At 3:53pm, the Moon enters Aries, the other Martian sign. Things get a bit ragey, to be quite honest, with the Aries Moon heading toward the full moon, which is at 2° Taurus. By the time the Moon changes signs, the Sun and Venus are about 25’ apart.

I love that the cazimi falls on Venus Day. Let me walk you through how it builds:

* The Moon meets Neptune at 2° Aries, on that last Venus Star Point, in a quincunx (an aspect of adjustment) to the Scorpio cluster. The Sun and Venus are now only 15’ apart, so they’re officially in the cazimi (about 17’ is the orb) as the Moon touches the last Venus Star Point. We’re really in a new beginning time of releasing the past and moving forward. This is a new Venus.

* Neptune sextiles Sedna. Adapt or die, as they say. I don’t like that phrase. Let’s say you’ve got to adapt to survive.

* 10:40 pm: Juno moves into Aquarius and starts to square the Venus Star Point, saying: we are not taking this, we are transforming it. Our contracts with the earth and with each other aren’t being met, and we are going to change that.

* Uranus squares Hygieia. Uranus has moved back to 4° Gemini, where it was at the peak of the first cradle, or Basket, pattern on July 19th–20th, with Neptune and Pluto, and with Jupiter where asteroid Lilith is now. We are literally birthing this new paradigm, and it’s one of stewardship.

* 9:21pm: the Moon reaches 3° Aries and sextiles Pluto. That 3° mark has been huge. Pluto has now moved a minute, and the Sun and Venus are really close.

Then, late, late on her own day:

At 11:44pm, Venus and the Sun meet at 0° Scorpio.

This is the last Scorpio cazimi, or Venus Star Point, in our lifetimes. As the Star Points move through their 4- and 8-year cycles, they’ll all be in Libra after this. The next retrograde Star Point will be in Libra in 8 years’ time. This is a big deal.

Zero is the alpha and the omega. It’s the Fool card in the Tarot: new beginnings and taking a leap into the unknown. But it’s also potential, unlimited potential. It’s the divine source and the void from which everything emerges.

The symbols for 1° Scorpio (we always round up):

* Sabian symbol: A sightseeing bus. James Burgess says: “We move away from our beloved past, motivated by curiosity for greater experience.”

* Omega symbol: A person suspended in the air watches everything from a great height. We’re in observer mode right now, which ties into the curiosity of the sightseeing bus.

* Chandra symbol: A tunnel through a mountain. John Sandbach says: “This degree cares not how difficult something is, it will work to get where it’s going, no matter how much effort has to be put forth. It is very aware of all the obstructions and of everything that’s blocking its path, but it also knows that everything is attainable, and its desire is always to tunnel right through.”

I won’t go into the full readings. You can Google them if you like.

But I have to tell you: a friend gave me a lovely pair of socks for my last birthday that say “Whatever it is, I could probably do it.” I didn’t think of this when I put them on this morning. So there’s your mantra for this moment.

Saturday, October 24 — Mercury Stations Retrograde. A New Venus.

The Sun and Venus are starting to separate. About three and a half hours after the cazimi, at 3:12am, Mercury stations retrograde and joins Venus in retrograde. The Aries Moon is right in the mix, with a sextile to Uranus and a trine to asteroid Lilith. We’re really burning off the past here, but Mercury says: I’ve got to go and think about this, plan it, and strategize.

The Moon then meets Pallas Athena (more strategy) and Saturn (more clarity, but also more determination), because the Moon is heading toward full, so it’s full of energy. Then the Moon makes a fire trine to Mars in Leo: okay, I get it. We have to take more heart-aligned action.

At 9:01pm, Venus squares Juno, who has just changed signs. I can’t believe these aspects, honestly. Venus and the Sun have moved apart from their cazimi now. Venus is starting to be free of the Sun (not fully yet, of course, because she’s invisible to most of us at the moment). This is Venus saying: okay, I’ve seen this, and here’s what we have to change, Juno. We have to change how we interconnect with each other. We have to change these contracts.

If you’ve been following along with me, you’ll know this one: Venus sextiles Regulus. Venus was the first of the personal planets to cross the South Node and Regulus, and she did it at 0° Virgo, where Regulus will stay for a while, because a fixed star spends about 72 years at a degree. That was when we realized we are creating the age of stewardship: more humble, crafty, connected, more of a gardening energy, more stewardship of the earth. We are building this together. Now Venus is starting to see what she has to see and purge before we can move forward.

The last aspect of the week: the Moon meets Vesta, our sacred inner flame of devotion, focus, and commitment. What are you committed to building? You may not be fully clear yet. Venus and Mercury are both retrograde now. But you’re thinking about it.

So this is where we finish the week. The Sun and Venus are moving apart rapidly, 37’ apart by now, with the Sun heading one way and Venus the other. Mercury is retrograde. (Interestingly, in the DC chart, the Sun squares the Ascendant at the start of the day after the cazimi: the public face.)

We now have the new Venus. She still has to complete her retrograde, and then she’ll rise as Morning Star in the east, the light bringer. She’ll be in a different headspace after all of this, because she’s saying: okay, we’ve had the last cazimi in Scorpio in our lifetimes. Now it’s time for Libra. Balance, justice, harmony.

The Cards in Detail

Eight of Seeds (reversed)

This is the start of the week, as we approach the cazimi. It’s an energy of perfectionism, but also of everything is digging me so deep, and my backpack is so heavy. You might feel a bit disengaged, not very productive, weighed down. That’s just where we are at the start of such a deep week.

Queen Bee (reversed)

Remember I said there’d be a lot of emotion? This is overly emotional. I’m all in for being in touch with our emotions. But this week there might be a lot of letting our heart rule our head, a lot of poor me energy, that watery this is all horrible feeling. You might even feel a little cold-hearted toward the world, because it’s all just too much.

Because it is a lot.

The Sun

But then we finish the week with The Sun. I am radiant.

“The Sun is the symbol of the self. We’ve encountered challenges, but now are starting to enjoy the radiance of joy and vitality. Self-validation and the recognition of our achievements is now easier to acknowledge. Our hearts may fill with gratitude.”

And if you don’t feel it, do a gratitude list.

“We know that our hard work, dedication, and determination is bringing us closer to our truth. This is a golden time offering love, willpower, determination, and benevolence. Our inner light is shining with enlightenment, integration and wholeness. All is within our grasp.”

We are brilliant.

Spider Woman

Spider Woman, or Grandmother Spider, whichever you want to call her. I love her. She makes me think of Chariklo. She’s in the woods with spidery things around her, and she’s holding a little star. Or is it a spider? I think it’s a spider.

The card tells the old Native American story of Grandmother Spider:

“Once upon a time, a mighty hunter went searching for a symbol of hope and survival for his people.”

(Remember, that’s the power-over energy: hunting, control.)

“He embarks on a quest to find their sacred animal, wondering if elk or deer or buffalo might appear. Instead, he runs into a giant spiderweb, face-first, meeting Grandmother Spider.

‘Why have you interrupted me, Grandmother? You are not powerful like buffalo, or swift like deer. How am I to share you as a symbol of power?’

Grandmother Spider answers: ‘You who run over the plains and forests looking for a symbol, like the deer and buffalo who roam the meadows in search of sustenance, spending so much energy: how much more powerful am I, that I can build a net and let my food and my answers come to me? I have no travel, no big expenditure of energy. I simply build my silk net and let sustenance come to me.’

Now is the time to build your net. The answers, the resources, the solutions will come to you. A witch creates an intentional web. She lines it with silken hope, thoughtful preparation, and badass skills. Then she invites. She waits and watches. She trusts Grandmother Spider’s example and allows the answers to come to her.”

Take Grandmother Spider’s advice. Stop looking for answers out there.

Summing Up

It’s a deep, watery, intense week. Pluto has stationed direct and is still churning at 3°, with a fixed grand cross of Pluto, Haumea, asteroid Lilith, Venus, and Okyrhoe asking us to dig deep and say what we see. The First Quarter Moon calls for action. Venus squares Pluto. A water grand trine brings the feelings up. The Sun takes a last look at Chiron in Aries. Then, on Venus’s own day, the Sun enters Scorpio and meets Venus at 0° Scorpio, the last Scorpio Venus Star Point in our lifetimes: a sightseeing bus, a person watching from a great height, a tunnel through a mountain. Mercury stations retrograde a few hours later, and a new Venus is born.

The Eight of Seeds reversed says the backpack is heavy, and that’s okay. The Queen Bee reversed says the feelings may run the show for a bit. The Sun says you are radiant. And Spider Woman says: build your web, and let the answers come to you.

Whatever it is, you could probably do it.

— Louise

My article from The Evolving Astrologer, now on astro.com: https://www.astro.com/astrology/opa_article261008_e.htm

London School of Astrology Chiron Weekend, October 17–18. Recordings included, proceeds to charity. https://www.londonschoolofastrology.com/courses/chiron50

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