Pam Younghans/NorthPoint Journal: Your guide to planetary energies for October 3 to 9, 2016

NorthPoint Journal

Your guide to planetary energies for October 3 to 9, 2016

By Pam Younghans

Highlighted Aspects
TUE: Sun sextile Saturn
WED: Venus sextile Pluto, Mars square Jupiter
FRI: Mercury enters Libra, Sun square Pluto, Saturn square Nodes
SAT: First Quarter Moon 9:33pm PDT (4:33am GMT on Sunday)


AFTER SEPTEMBER'S CONFLUENCE of planetary events, it's nice that the first full week of October begins a bit more calmly. This gives us a couple of days to get our bearings in what may feel like a new and perhaps unfamiliar life landscape.

We'll want to take advantage of the opportunities to stabilize and consolidate our efforts early in the week. The Sun-Saturn aspect on Tuesday is especially supportive for working in harmony with others to achieve short-term goals, and is a good time for planning ahead.

HOWEVER, we'll also need to be flexible with those plans, since the planetary activity picks up again starting midweek. Challenges are on the schedule for Wednesday, when Mars and Jupiter square off and we find that our idealistic vision has to come down to earth somewhat. We'll need to be aware of the subtle differences between our needs and the needs of others, since problems that are not addressed directly may come out passive-aggressively later on.

A Sun-Pluto square on Friday may be the very catalyst needed to bring those hidden issues to the surface. It will be fairly easy to blame the other for the ways they have contributed to the problem, but we also are not likely to sit comfortably in the energy of accusation for long. A square aspect between Saturn and the Moon's Nodes requires that we take responsibility for our part of any victim-perpetrator-martyr-rescuer game.

THE FIRST QUARTER MOON occurs over the weekend (9:33pm PDT on Saturday, 4:33am GMT on Sunday). This phase in the lunar cycle is our opportunity to see how well we're adapting to the new territory that we've recently begun to navigate. It may be a time of facing some fears or renegotiating the route we had decided was optimum. Maintaining balance will be key for successful adaptation.

The Sabian symbol for the First Quarter Moon clarifies that being centered in our physical and spiritual knowing is the means that will help us move beyond old fears and limitations:

"A repressed woman finds a psychological release in nudism: The escape from bondage to social inhibitions and a reliance upon the wisdom of the body."

ANOTHER SYMBOLIC SYSTEM describing the 360 degrees of the zodiac has been defined by astrologer Martin Goldsmith, in his book The Zodiac by Degrees. His image for the degree of the First Quarter Moon is similar in some ways to the Sabian symbol, but more clearly emphasizes the spiritual component:

"A naked woman bathes in a moonlit woodland pool. Freeing her mind of her daytime concerns and self-image, she begins to see pictures forming in the shining water."

We can use Goldsmith's descriptive phrases for this symbol to help us focus our efforts at this choice point represented by the First Quarter Moon:

• Nurturing and protecting a private relationship with God
• Dedicating oneself to an inner vision -- accessing images from the superconscious mind that feed and refresh the soul
• Purifying the emotions
• Seeing the open-endedness of reality vs. being sucked in by convention
• Inspiring people by holding forth on their hearts' most cherished images -- visionary political or spiritual leadership

These may seem to be lofty goals to hold for "just" a First Quarter Moon -- but if we work with this lunar phase with strong intention, we can make great progress as we move toward next week's Full Moon (October 15).

IF YOUR BIRTHDAY IS THIS WEEK: A process of deep transformation is underway for you this year, as you continue to refine how you use your innate relationship skills. It will no longer feel comfortable to be accommodating to such a degree that your own goals and ambitions are compromised. You may find yourself having strong reactions to circumstances and pressures that you used to accept without questioning them. This year provides the opportunity for you to claim an inner strength and to allow it to more directly guide your actions in the world.
In peace,

Pam
 
Copyright Pam Younghans 2016. All right