HAPPY HALLOWEEN, Astronews

Week of October 25th-31st

by Arianna Nadine, @notyourbasicwitch

Happy Full Moon! It’s been a rough few weeks for so many people around me. I’ve watched so many couples going through it during this Venus Rx. Friendships and work relationships, too. The good news is that we’re half-way through this cycle as of the 26th (today). Venus is at the lowest point in her retrograde today, and she will begin her ascent soon. What we’ve been doing, is going through the worst of ourselves, our partnerships, and ourselves within those partnerships. As much as it is an external fight, it is an internal fight, too. Be wary of manipulation from “friends” who want to be more than friends, and are trying to make you feel guilty or feel entitled to a place in your life. Love isn’t always a feeling. Your intuition and self-value need to be called into question whether you should stay or go. Also, remember that someone pining over you, and waiting around for you is not cool and in no way makes you obligated to give them a chance. Venus Retrograde wants us to remember, “Yo, you’re not thatspecial. No one should throw their life away for you if you’re not consenting to that type of exchange in your relationship.” 

Knowing the astrological transits is an important way to stay connected with our selves, the people we work and live with, and the world at large. The feeling that things are happening to us, instead of for us stems from a victim mentality, and a disconnect from Mother Nature, Source, and our Higher Selves. Astrology is important for spiritual growth and change. When we go through break ups and make ups during transits like Venus Retrograde, we are given synchronistic energy that makes our choices not feel in vain. They are now lined up and have meaning and purpose. And with that sense of control in our lives, we can become more positive, confident, grounded, and begin to take more agency in our lives, and truly make the world a better place. 

So pay attention this week, inform your people, cause this week has a lot going on.

On Saturday the 27th, the Sun in Scorpio is sextile Saturn in Capricorn. Not the best party atmosphere, but we’re all gonna be out there, regardless, so do what you can. Maybe don’t spend your night with people who you aren’t super close to. You’ll probably have a better time with people you can get kinda deep and emotional with. You may be really serious about winning a costume contest, but so will everyone else. This is a day when hard work is coming forth through some dark creativity—especially if it’s related to your day job. My friend and I work at an animal clinic. She is dressing up as Cruella de Ville with bloody patches of Dalmatian skin, and her husband as a blood-splattered Jasper with a bludgeoning tool.  

Being able to satirize our society is what creates inspiration, awareness, and change. Scorpio is scared of the dark, but it is more scared of not knowing what’s in it. Scorpio will explore ever dark crevice of a haunted house, trembling but determined. It will find where the monsters are, befriend them, or leave them offerings at the threshold to their space. It will come to visit from time to time to make sure they aren’t feeling neglected or cared for. 

For Scorpio knows the real terror comes from a monster that is left to fester, to grow in rage, to spread out past its boundaries. Scorpios will sprinkle the line of salt, leave the silver coins, and a bite of fruit. “You may stay here, but only if you stay right here.”

 On the 29th, Sunday, Mercury in Scorpio is conjunct Jupiter in Scorpio. Take advantage of this energy today, for Mercury is entering Sagittarius tomorrow, the 30th. Mercury conjunct Jupiter is bringing us expansions in our conversations and communications, especially if they are around death, sex, taxes, and our Shadow sides. It feels easy to see our flaws and breathe into them. We can even share them and feel a lot of, “Oh, same here” responses from our friends and family members. Everyones feeling a little heavy and emotional, but not necessarily in a bad way. Just a lot of passion. A lot of daydreaming and longing for a future where everyone is free to be themselves without religious dogma from governmental agencies. A dear friend of mine told me that Christ never claimed to come to us as God incarnate—as a small piece of God in human form. Christ was meant to represent God. Radical. Inclusive. Loving. Progressive. Humble. Accepting all humans from all walks of life. 

We know the Republicans aren’t Christians. They are not like Christ, and, therefore, not like God. There is nothing holy or sanctimonious in our government, and the repeated oppressions and restrictions of individual explorations of our identity and sexuality and autonomy are clear examples of that frustrating fact. 

Cue October 31st, Halloween, the Witch’s New Year, and one of the most holy and misunderstood days of the year. Venus will retrograde back into Libra, and also oppose Uranus in Taurus. 

Values, values, values! So much focused on rethinking, reevaluating, and reframing what and who we value, why, and is it all worth it? Is this a foundation we’re okay with continuing to build off of, or are we just fucking  over it, and ready to deconstruct the whole thing and find better building materials? Make your last-ditch efforts now. They’ll set the tone for when Venus goes direct soon in early November. 

An important part of finding our values is not only defining them, but also sourcing them. Say what you will about the issues surrounding Disney movies and their problematic as fuck themes of feminine repression and sexisms, I’ve subconsciously absorbed a lot of my morals from Disney movies, and other fairy tales and pop culture. I’m totally an animal rights advocate due to 101 Dalmatians, Bambi, The Little Mermaid, and Pocahontas. Finding Nemo and Wall-E were also big influencers. Lion King II: Simba’s Pride taught me a lot about racism and healing racism through our connection to our ancestors. 

My coworker was playing “We Are One” from the movie the other day at work, and I said, “Wow, this song has so much more meaning to me as an adult.” The song Simba sings to his daughter Kiara says that they are one, because they are family, harkening back to his relationship to the dead Mufasa he has through their bloodline. Young Kiara wonders if she can still retain her individuality despite all the pressure she feels to live up to a family she didn’t chose to be a part of. “Can I trust in my own heart, or am I just one part of some big plan?” she questions, after her father says that she is more than just one person, but that her choices affect everyone in her family, and, in a spiral, the ecosystem around them. “When we die, we become the grass, and the antelope eat the grass. So we are all apart of the Great Circle of Life,” Mufasa said in the first movie. Simba didn’t understand the spiral then, but he does now, and tries to teach that to his daughter. The lesson deepens when Kiara meets Kovu, the boy love interest from a rival tribe—which also happens to be related to her royal family. It seems very Romeo and Juliet, but at the end when the two prides are facing one another in battle, Kiara and Kovu step in between them. Unlike the Verona star-crossed lovers of Shakespeare, both Kiara and Kovu have been tempted to run away together, but decided not to. They stayed to heal their families, their whole ancestral line. 

“Them? Us? Look at them!” Kiara says to her father. “They are us!” And yes. She means they’re all lions, (which always made me think of racial issues when I was younger, and think, “I hope my dad is paying attention!” There’s a lot of color schema that is suuuuuper relevant, but it’s pretty obvious). But, even deeper than that, they’re all lions that were once a part of the same pride—the same family. And Kiara has been taught that “we are one” and that your bloodline and the Circle of Life is the uniting force of the Pride Lands. Of the Universe. She knows that it is not enough for Kovu and her to elope and start their own family. She knows she will always be a part of that pride, and that creating yet another separate family solves nothing. She sets out to end the cycle of separation and hatred. 

Halloween is all about honoring your ancestors, the dead, and being in remembrance. It’s the start of the holiday season where you gather more and more in small groups indoors and cultivate traditions and share your stories with one another. Stories teach lessons that will travel through the bloodlines. What better way to honor your ancestors than to dive deeper into ancestor work, exploring and healing old family narratives? Use this night when the veil between our world and the world of spirit is most thin. Ask your tarot deck how you can best honor your family, past, present, and future. Meditate and allow them to speak to you tonight. Journal what they whisper to you, and begin to place your weapons down. You cannot run away from bad blood; but you can clean it, heal it, and reconstruct your DNA with epigenetic healing. 

Be brave, for your connection to the past is dark, sad, lonely, and triggering. The dead cannot live for you. They pave the way, and we must sometimes go back and use a better cement. 

See you next week,


Arianna 

Haley Murphy