Greetings!

Today we have the Full Moon in Scorpio, with the moon in Taurus and the Sun in Scorpio. And, it just so happens to be Halloween. And, it just so happens to be a Mercury retrograde. And, it just so happens to be a Mars retrograde. And, it just so happens that there are really five planets retrograde right now, but no one in the over-hyped social media scene is not writing about that, because there is no reason to spread more false fear right now, as could be the case at other times of the year when memes of “many planets retrograde, scary, scary” make the social media circuit. So, just to remind you-think for yourself. If you see that kind of shit, remember that you’re either a buyer or a seller of it, so choose wisely.

Progressing to the Full Moon today, we do have all of that planetary activity happening, yes, and there are a lot of major themes occurring. Mercury directs in just a few days, and Mars approximately ten days after that, so a lot of the focus on the inner world will be fading by the middle of November. There will still be themes of internal spiritual and emotional healing present, but less emphasis on communication, adaptability, and the allocation of personal energy. In that way, from the middle of November on, you may find that it is curiously a time of new beginnings. Even though the calendar year is coming to a close, and even though it is Autumn in the northern hemisphere, in the southern it is Spring, and the energies in the sky reflect that new-ness. This may be a counterintuitive thought to a lot of people, but to wrap your head around it, just remember that most material on astrology and occultism that is out there today is northern hemisphere-centric, so you can only trust about half of it when it comes to topics like this.

Peculiarly enough though, in ancient Celtic beliefs (as well as other countries), it was believed and practiced that the new year actually begins with the carnival of Samhain. Even though yes, this was in the Autumn in the northern hemisphere, it was still considered a time of new beginnings. I point this out because this year of all years, or at least many recent years, have these two energetics aligning-Spring in the southern hemisphere, and new beginnings possible shortly after Samhain. Usually, an inverse paradox exists, meaning that while it is a time for new beginnings in the southern hemisphere, it is the dying part of the year in the northern, but this year is the exception to the rule.

So, since it is an exceptional period, what do we do with this knowledge and this energy? There is still a lot of cardinal sign activity, so as you know, that means there are more challenges present than not, but the underlying theme is that of inviting Spirit into your life in new, greater ways, to navigate these times of change, and to do what needs to be done for the sake of evolution. Social structures, long-standing behaviors, and powerful facets of society continue to be transformed, destroyed, or seemingly unaffected by what is going on now. Yes, seemingly unaffected. The Mars retrograde reminds us that things are happening behind the scenes, but they may not come to light for another two to three weeks or so. There is very little emphasis on spiritual initiations and dealing with emotions right now, as is evidenced by a lack of water in this full moon chart, but the other three elements are pretty balanced, telling us that now is the time of formulating a plan (air), aligning it with your wills (spiritual and personal-fire), and putting it into physical action for practical results (earth). It’s a pretty simple formula, but there is one final point to consider.

Oftentimes, when someone, or a group of people, are going through challenging times, there is a psychological tendency to seek comfort in the spiritual. An example of this can be found in the stand-up comedy of Paul Mooney. In short, when times get tough, a lot of people increase their emphasis and connection with their spirituality and what they call divinity through prayer, meditation, etc. Sorry, but now is not that time. Now is not the time to create an echo chamber and turn a blind eye to what is going on in the world. Now is the time to identify your spiritual beliefs, and then go forth and bring them into being. The last four years have been extensive shadow work, and now it is time to come out of Plato’s cave and deliver the dark fruit of that shadow work to the world at large. What have you learned over the last four years? And, how are you putting it into practice now? And if you’re not putting it into practice now, when will you? Hint: A good time would be the latter part of November-after Mars has gone direct, and when we are in the next waxing moon cycle. All of this can be summed up with a phrase from Gandhi: “If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him… We need not wait to see what others do.” (And please don’t forget, that when he says ‘man,’ it is the generic term for humanity, ffs.)

Now is the time to stand and deliver. Now is the time to align your spiritual beliefs with physical world behavior and actions. In short, as is true every time: Now is the time.

Namaste,