Planet Waves for Oct. 5, 2023
Here is the weekly horoscope.
By Eric Francis Coppolino
ARIES — It may be tempting over the next few days to see others as injured, and maybe think it’s your role to help them. However, this is probably a distraction from the important personal work at hand. In our inside-out world, we’re constantly told that the feelings of other people are our responsibility. Simple as it may seem, this is the primary ingredient in codependency. It’s also true that people often feel guilty for taking care of themselves, and making decisions designed to improve their lives. What is often called “selfish” is not and what is often truly selfish gets labeled as altruistic. The world has a lot of things backwards, but you don’t have to. Part of claiming yourself is making peace with the fact that nobody else can complete you. You are fortunate if they can even help you. And if you focus on being responsible for yourself and how you feel, you can get out of some very old patterns.
TAURUS — You may feel some pressure mounting to make important changes, and to do so promptly. The scale of revision and recreation you want to make may sum up as becoming a different person. You don’t need to do this all at once, but over the next week or two, it would be very helpful if you made several solid moves in your planned direction of travel, or transformation. You want to make a downpayment with your body and your soul; the commitment must in some way be physical. And by soul, I mean go deeper than the mental level and reach an understanding with yourself about what is necessary and why. You may be experiencing internal pressures that are difficult to describe, and may be affecting you below the level of full awareness. The most potent tropism that is influencing you — that is, an instinctual drive — is the desire to be whole. Try that idea on and see how you feel.
GEMINI — There is often something aggressive about the creative process, which is not powered merely by love and light. Healing implies addressing the darkest, most shadowy elements in the psyche, and the sources of our pain. The blessing of this journey is transmuting seemingly impossible emotions such as rage, guilt, anxiety and blame into a kind of healing balm. Everyone should know that this is available, but many or even most do not. Yet I reckon that the reason for most struggles is that awareness of this transformational force is both cut off and kept secret. You’re now being granted a direct route to opening this pathway. You will know you’re doing so because you feel a little nervous. Also be aware that this whole set of ideas is related to your sexual feelings and what you might think of as ‘energy’, and that is certainly not in vogue. I don’t mean anything political, social or opinionated, but rather the feelings in your body.
CANCER — The only thing that’s ever stood between you and doing great things is your degree of confidence in yourself. Have you ever wondered why people with less talent and ideas with less merit than your own can succeed so wildly? The answer is confidence — though that is often fueled by desire and drive. Those who want something a lot tend to get it, and if they don’t, they try to get it again and keep trying until they do. So is the precious mystical elixir confidence, or is it desire? While you’re pondering that, my question for you is: what do you want? I mean want so badly you can taste it? I mean want more than all the other experiences or things that you thought you wanted? This includes what you want to achieve, and the mark you want to make on the world. You are allowed to want this. If you need someone to give you permission, consider it granted.
LEO — You’re being guided toward a spiritual solution, but what is that? Ultimately, one that is loving, and where you take a high degree of responsibility for the contents of your mind and your emotions. To most, this will seem like taking responsibility for your neighbor’s loud music, except that what you think and what you feel are about you. The spiritual solution I’m talking about is working with the notion that you’re a whole being, not a bunch of fragmentary parts and voices. Those things certainly seem to be there; there are those who will argue that we are many people inside, but this is just another illusion of the ego. It may require some faith to transcend this; or a concerted effort to make contact with your inner being. It does not shriek so loudly; it speaks softly, and you may not notice its calm voice at first. That is to say — learning to hear your true inner voice takes practice, and learning to filter out the noise.
VIRGO — You must proceed with a financial strategy. That means having a clear accounting of all the ins and outs; of assets and debt; and knowing your plastic from your cash. I’ve noticed that people tend to spend money on two things: what they are forced to; and some form of sugar and fat. There’s a lot of territory in between, and that’s where the action is. As you explore that space, you may decide that the forcing is not so forced (and there are many places to economize) and that the sugar and fat don’t provide any nourishment or comfort. Simply put, a variety of approaching factors are urging you to get your priorities in order. You can do this simply by determining what comes first, what comes second and what comes third — your basic triage approach. The freaky thing about this is how unsettling it can be to size up your values. If you feel guilty about it, that’s a sign of success. Just keep going.
LIBRA — If you move with precision, you can resolve a critical matter once and for all. Everything is aligned. Just be sure you’re impeccably organized and possess genuine understanding of your situation. This includes being able to interpret the same facts from a diversity of viewpoints, so you have all of the counter-arguments covered. As in judo, utilize the force coming from others and turn it against them. This requires minimal effort on your part, and mostly the use of leveraging one thing or idea on another to get your desired result. Situations are not as dangerous as they seem, though you must not use any of your own disadvantages against yourself. And of course don’t let on what they are. Leverage means saying less rather than more — though ensuring that you say the right thing at the right time. Your presently high visibility is a factor. Use that to your advantage.
SCORPIO — If you stick to working on important long-term matters this week, rather than immediate dramas, you will do well for yourself. There will be little making sense of personality dynamics, and it’s possible to avoid them — rather than play into them — especially in any work-related matters. But you will need to monitor your anxiety level, because that could drag you in. Your colleagues have a much different approach to their commitments than you do; they are not so invested, and so their words and actions often mean less. Hence, you can skip past any tempests in the kettle, and stick to what truly makes a difference to you, and what will help you in the future. Do this a few times and you may decide that the dramas were there only as distractions from your most urgent life priorities. You can leave that to others; it’s a popular product, but you don’t need it.
SAGITTARIUS — Whatever conflict you may feel, work it out in your art studio, at the gym, or in bed. Maintain a strict policy of saying nothing in whatever counts for public, such as online, at a social event, or even spoken to more than one or two people. There’s a kind of trap involved in any form of group disclosure; things could become something that they are not. While there exists little concept of privacy in the world as we know it, now is a good time to experiment with both the concept and the reality. Most of the Sagittarians I know tend to be private and reserved people, so the charts may be describing a potential slip, for example, something said inappropriately or that gets away from you. It may involve a project you’re working on. Anyway, keep mum this entire month, and await additional information about how to proceed at the New Moon on the 14th and the Full Moon on the 28th. Work slowly and steadily. There is no rush.
CAPRICORN — Everyone has anger they need to address; the world gives us plenty to rage at, as does personal history. That is no excuse to leave it festering; it’s no more useful than a nail sticking up out of the floor. You can step around the nail, or think it may be useful some day in case the world turns sideways and you want to hang up your coat. But it still is what it is. Your grievances only hurt you, and serve those who would do you harm — specifically by doing so. Yet the current setup, including Mars on the South Node, is offering protection and a kind of karmic drain where you may let go of old tendencies. As you do this, you’ll get to trade in problems with a two-for-one bargain for each on understanding something new about your true purpose. As you release anger and pain, the ideas and a sense of understanding will come to you. A little trust will go a long way.
AQUARIUS — Mars in your fellow air sign Libra is encouraging you to focus on your mission, though it you must let go of one to find another. This is about liberating bandwidth, worry and unnecessary involvement with others. Said another way, you are well guided onto the path that you know you belong on; now the challenge is removing all that might hinder you. It is only the first steps along this journey that will seem difficult, until you get your footing and realize how committed you really are. What you are experiencing is the result of a promise made to yourself, not the usual kind made to someone else. You might think you have to hold yourself to this one, though that is probably not the case. Yet learning how to deflect others and maintain your focus. And there may be matters of confidence involved. You are the only one who can be assured that your mental and intellectual skills are up to any challenge; nobody can do that for you. And direct experience is both the means of discovery, the journey and the proof all in one.
PISCES — You will be rewarded for making difficult financial decisions — decisions, I will add, that will work in your favor in their own right. If there is something pending right now, act swiftly and address it. You have a rare opportunity to pull yourself through what may seem like a narrow opening but which in truth is just wide enough. Imagine that in taking care of one matter, you’re also resolving something that exists on the karmic level and has potential been a factor for lifetimes. If you understood your own potential, you would be very excited about this. Because you’ve never gotten to this point, you may have concerns about what is possible. Under the influence of Saturn in your sign, anything is — if you take responsibility for your affairs, your feelings and the trajectory of your life. It is never too late, and as the master of time and timing, you can trust what you know you must do now.
Thank you----reading that felt good.