by Teri Parsley Starnes

Teri’s interest with astrology lies with helping people see how following a practice of intention and self-awareness leads to a fuller relationship with Mystery. Astrology is a wonderful tool for this. Her weekly column orients readers to the seasonal energy of
each month’s Sun sign in order to set magical/mindful intention for the lunar month beginning at the New Moon.

Each week Teri will write about the unfolding energies that support and challenge our intentions. The ebb and flow of the lunar cycle resides deep in our souls. Through following the phases of the Moon, we remember the natural cycles that guide us.

Astrologers divide the lunar month into eight phases. These are:
New Moon: Dreaming
Crescent Moon: Beginning
First Quarter Moon: Manifesting
Gibbous Moon: Perfecting
Full Moon: Illuminating
Disseminating Moon: Sharing
Last Quarter Moon: Evaluating
Balsamic Moon: Surrendering

Come follow the Moon as we practice intentional awareness together.

Forecast for October 26, 2014 – November 1
The Moon is a very good guide through life. This is is pretty much the premise of my column each month: I write about following the Moon on a journey of mindfulness and intention. Just about everything I need to keep moving, learning and transforming is provided by this dear companion and guide. I’ve been following the Moon for years and I am here to tell you that this journey just keeps delivering – insight, revelation, patience, and purpose – a way to focus on my next steps. The Moon is a primal guide through my dark nights and clear days, unveiling my known and my hidden desires, helping me pause to reflect on the wisdom of cycle and season. The natal moon, by sign, position and lunar phase, represents a homing signal that tells us how to return to primal wisdom. It is the way back to source. Just think, each one of us is equiped with this signal. We can unravel our relationship to source through contemplation of our Moons in our birth charts and through following the Moon each month. This is true all the time, but is especially so during the Scorpio* lunar cycle. The Source is Scorpio’s speciality.
One of the things I love about Scorpio is its fearless regard for the deepest places within us, our shadows, our wounds, our passions, our lusts. Scorpio paints a picture of the source that leaves nothing out, not the ugly things, not the sublime. Scorpio’s season reflects the lessons we learn from Death. Death has a way of connecting us to the ultimate in everything. So, this is the context for the current lunar cycle that began with a solar eclipse at 0 degrees Scorpio. What has been eclipsed so that the essential core is revealed? It is easy to let these moments pass us by, to let our busy lives take precedence over what our souls need. But that would be a mistake. Soulful awareness actually helps us get through our lives, even when what life is serving us at the moment is hardship. Even then.

We are still in the opening phases of this Scorpio lunar cycle. It isn’t too late to engage with this particular journey to Source. Actually, it is never too late, but this is where we find ourselves now. A solar eclipse animated the entire sign of Scorpio; Venus, hidden from sight, joined the Sun at the same time; Mercury has just turned direct (an underworld journey of his own); and I wonder about the opportunity that presents itself now. One of Scopio’s prime directives is to release, purge, transform. As the Moon, Venus, and Mercury have all recently visited the Source (another word for Sun), I find myself wondering what I want to leave behind in this powerful moment. It is time to let go, to release one burden or piece that truly no longer serves. Deaths create grieving. There is an innate instinct to avoid grief. But I have found if I turn towards the loss, the losing becomes a gift. What are you discovering?

Forecast for October 26, 2014 – November 1

Moon in Sagittarius
Sunday, October 26. As we slept (CDT), the Moon squared Neptune, always a potent contact for stimulating our dreams. This Moon is far-seeing. The horizon is more interesting than what is around us everyday. Neptune invites distraction and fantasy too. It may be hard to focus this morning on achieving anything more than plans for a great trip, or taking a flight of fancy somewhere enchanting. These moments of dream can actually fuel the deeper journey; perhaps all we need is a way to link them to intention. Mars makes a big shift today out of Sagittarius and into Capricorn. Mars entered Sagittarius on September 13 and will be in Capricorn till December 4. Things are about to get real. The journey through Sagittarius revealed the vision, the transit through earthy Capricorn has us doing the work needed to achieve the vision. This ally helps us focus and discern; it also gives more stanima for the long-haul. The caution is an increased judgemental reactivity and a streak of competiveness that could get in the way but could also spur us to new heights.

Moon in Sagittarius
October 27—Crescent Moon: Beginning. Although Scorpio (sign of this lunar cycle) is a water sign, it would be wrong to assume that Scorpio is all about coddling other people’s emotional experiences. Scorpio’ traditional ruler is Mars and that creates an edge, one I rather like, which is more interested in piercing to the heart of emotion than trying to make it all better. This quality is important to keep in mind because as the waxing Moon encourages us to be bolder in our exploration of source and soul, we may step on toes or have our toes stepped on. The fire Moon (Sagittarius) is joining with other fire planets (Uranus and Jupiter) to reduce reaction times and encourage telling it like it is. With Mars just into the first degrees of Capricorn, we take boldness into the arena of deciding right and wrong, useful and unuseful, who’s in charge and who isn’t. There is a fine line between egotism and mastery. Perhaps the Scorpio lunar cycle can helps us with this fine line. First, it helps to get everything on the table. What is really motivating us? What are the fears? What are the essential realities? I believe that honesty is only a virtue when we practice it on ourselves first. What are you hiding from yourself? This can be petty desires but it can also be that you are brilliant beyond your wildest dreams. It is time to reveal ourselves to ourselves. It doesn’t matter who else sees. As is the case on many days, there is another transit offering a different choice. Venus in Scoprio (encouraging piercing honesty) is trine Neptune in Pisces (encouraging idealism/fantasy). This could provide us with delightful distraction or an opportunity to see how we share many of the same emotions when you look under the surface: the same fear, the same love, the same longing for authenticity.

Moon enters Capricorn 5:03 am CDT
Tuesday, October 28. Capricorn (today’s Moon) has a juicy relationship with Scorpio. They can encourage each other skillfully and unskillfully to use awareness of emotional depth to formulate plans for the collective. If you innately know what motivates people and you have a desire to get ahead of them, you have the upper hand. However, there is another side to this: Desiring that everyone achieve their highest success, emotional understanding creates empathy for the challenges we meet along the way. A theme of this week is the dance between reality and fantasy. We have a choice between the two but it doesn’t have to be either/or. How do our ideals serve what we can realistically achieve? How do we even know what is realistic unless we dream big and fail? As the Sun trines Neptune today, we get to ponder these questions. The stars are lining up to encourage grand mistakes. What are you learning?

Moon in Capricorn
Wednesday, October 29. One of my favorite Rumi poems declares: “Don’t go back to sleep. People are going back and forth across the doorsill where the two worlds touch. The door is round and open. Don’t go back to sleep.” It would be good to keep this in mind during this lunar cycle and especially today. The veil between the seen and unseen worlds is thinning. Worlds are touching and we can learn from the unseen world how to make better choices, how to remember who we really are, and what is really important. The Moon triggers the ongoing square of Pluto in Capricorn and Uranus in Aries today. This is old stuff. We’ve been going through a waking up process since 2012. As the worlds touch, as the door opens, what is needed now? How can change happen now? Stay awake. The quincunx between the Moon and Jupiter today provokes another awakening. Sometimes, we need to think collectively and sometimes we need to go our own way. These are authentic desires; how can they collaborate?

Moon enters Aquarius 8:52 am CDT
October 30—First Quarter Moon: Manifesting. What are you noticing about the interior journey? Have you made time to check on what is really in your heart right now? Sometimes, that view isn’t the prettiest. But we don’t care about the surface of things right now. It doesn’t matter if things are pretty. The question is: Is it real? There is strength and power in the unwavering gaze. This is the way it is now, as my meditation teacher reminds me. Awareness of the way it is creates freedom. The Moon in Aquarius leaps toward liberation, ready for revolution. The Sun in Scorpio wonders if there is something still hiding within that keeps us emprisoned. Perhaps we need more time to uncover it. The conflict between these signs can feel uncomfortable but also offers us the opportunity to manifest new realities. As Samhain approaches, the potent possibilities of where the seen and unseen worlds meet increase. A little bit of us is ready for big, liberating change. Another bit is suspicious of unexamined consequences.

Moon in Aquarius
Friday, October 31. Calendar Samhain. Traditionally, the witches’s new year, Samhain, has been celebrated on October 31. Another valid time to celebrate is when the Sun reaches the midpoint of Scorpio on November 7. For me, there is a Samhain season that begins when the Sun and Moon enter Scorpio and ends at varying times, perhaps not until the Sun goes into Sagittarius. Today represents one of the times we take note of this sacred season. The Moon in Aquarius peaks our interest in the future; and the Sun, Venus, Saturn in Scorpio says don’t forget what has passed: the growing season which has just ended, our beloved ancestors, and pieces of ourselves which have been forever changed by life itself. As you tune into this season where so many worlds meet, let their be a free market exchange. None of us know what the future will bring, but many of us suspect we can’t do it without looked into the past.

Moon enters Pisces 11:30 am CDT
Saturday, November 1. Water is the universal solvent. It dissolves many chemicals and breaks down many substances. Today has that universal solvent feeling to it. Things are breaking down, but not in a bad way. It is good to let things return to universal solvency. With the Moon in Pisces, it will be hard to resist. Let it flow, let it go, and notice the ways we can tune into each other more fluidly. Obviously, this can present problems when we use this state to project our stuff onto others or when we lose track of our essential boundaries. Big-heartedness sometimes needs Scorpio grit for grounding. Explore the many expressions of compassion. With a sextile between Mercury and Jupiter, communication and expression flows well. After the recent Mercury retrograde, this is a relief. Venus in Scorpio sextile Pluto provide opportunity for soulful expressions of beauty, including the erotic. And with Mars in Capricorn sextile to Neptune, which rules the Pisces Moon, we actually get a pretty good sense of where to draw the boundaries between self and others. Let the water take you.

* Read about the beginning of the Scorpio lunar cycle (October 23) on my blog http://starsdanceastrology.blogspot.com/2014/10/follow-moon-forecast-for-october-19.html

Contact Teri at teri@starsdanceastrology.com and visit her website at http://www.starsdanceastrology.com to learn about booking a reading of your chart.