Working hard on making my new flat the best home in the world, I am being a perfect example of Mars in Cancer. Mars went into Cancer at the beginning of October and, because he will be retrograde in this sign, continues there for a few months. This represents our direct energetic involvement in home matters, which includes relationships with family and close friends, creating comfort, and generally nurturing self and others as much as possible.

Clearing the past out of the present

In this New Moon chart, Saturn and Venus are approaching the South Node of the Moon. Its significance is offering the opportunity to comb through old situations, old self-images, relationship stuff, and general accumulated possessions, to sort out the wheat from the chaff, the useful from the junk, the learning from the experiences.

This is a good time to take a deep look at what stirs you emotionally, and realise what you really want in life, in relationship, in work - not what you want to have, or want to happen, but what is really most important to your heart. This is not about longing for something, but rather celebrating what brings your heart joy. It lets all your other desires relax into perspective, so that the everyday ups and downs in your life happen against a backdrop of inner certainty.

As this New Moon is in Libra, the old stuff re-surfacing is likely to be about relationships, giving us the chance to balance the books, taking responsibility for our part in any difficulties so that we can move on. If you find yourself involved in, or close to, other people’s relationships, there is a very important point to bear in mind.

Other people’s relationships

You may be very important to each individual person in the relationship, but you are probably on the sidelines when it comes to them working out their karma with each other. Not only do you need to stand back from their relationship with each other, you need to keep your opinions to yourself unless asked – we cannot know the process their spiritual lives require; we don’t know what their outcome needs to be. If you find yourself worrying about what’s going on with other people, you are probably identifying with one or more of them. If you can sort out who you are identifying with, and what situation it’s reminding you of from your own past, you begin the process of healing it. Just endeavouring to learn something about yourself can change your relationship with the present situation.

Our job in any turmoil between other people is to love each one, asking inwardly that they be open to their spirit’s guidance, while we endeavour to be guided by ours. We may well prefer a specific outcome for them, and that’s OK as long as we don’t try in any way to bring it about. Even our unspoken preference has enough energy to influence those close to us - our interference is powerful enough to hinder their spiritual growth.

Follow your joy

These last few days have seen the last of Jupiter exaggerating the Uranus effect – Jupiter’s encouragement to explore beyond the boundaries began last January, and gave us another burst of innovative energy in May. The new understanding we’ve been growing all year has required that we make major shifts. If over the last few months you’ve been contemplating breaking out into an inspired new direction, now you may know how to do it, and even be on the way. It’s possible that you are now feeling a freedom that you’ve been wanting all year – bearing in mind that true freedom is the freedom to choose, without being shackled to the past.

To follow through all possibilities, we would need to clone ourselves! Trying to fit everything in may already have lead to a burnt-out nervous system. We have to turn some things down, and dwelling on what you’re missing drains energy from what you might achieve. If you can’t get things going just now, by mid December, when Jupiter moves into Capricorn, you may find it easier to focus and get on with the moves necessary to approach your dream. Until then, expect to keep sifting through your past, and agree with yourself to sort out whatever faces you. The more you clear, the more present you are.

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Here’s a couple of quotes from websites that might interest you:

from Philip Sedgwick, astrologer, written on 23 September (www.philipsedgwick.com)

The next three and a half months are some of the most powerful energies I can ever recall. It is a remarkable, virtually unlimited time. Using the simple process of daily balance, the huge waves of incoming raw energy tend to disrupt less as they enthusiastically shower humanity with more insight than it's known for a very long time. In the changing scent of the season lurks an excitement like never before.

from www.spaceweather.com written on 10 October

CELESTIAL TRIANGLE: Set your alarm. For the next five mornings, just before dawn banishes the night, you can see a compact celestial triangle rising in the eastern sky. The corners are dazzling Venus, Saturn and the bright star Regulus. This is worth waking up for--at least once. Visit http://spaceweather.com for sky maps and more.