October Sidereal Moon Wisdom + Transits

*Image by Dr. Serhat Demiroglu

October 2023

October begins with Retrograde Jupiter in Aries with Moon and Rahu, Venus at the edge of Cancer, Mercury at the edge of Leo, Sun and Mars in Virgo, Ketu in Libra, retrograde Saturn in his own sign of Aquarius.

October Transits:

Mercury exalts in Virgo on the 1st

Venus enters Leo on the 2nd

Mars enters Libra on the 3rd

Pitru Paksha ends on the 13th

Solar eclipse on the 14th

Maha Navaratri begins on the 15th

Sun debilitates in Libra on the 17th

Mercury enters Libra on the 18th

Vijaya Dashami + Buddha Jayanti on the 23rd

Lunar eclipse on the 28th

Navaratri ends on the 28th

Rahu enters Pisces, Ketu enters Virgo on the 30th

New Moon in Virgo and Chitra Nakshatra on October 14th at 11:55 am MT + Solar Eclipse

The new Moon highlights Mercury in his own sign. Rest body and mind with meditation, time in Nature, and easy to digest foods. Rahu and Ketu are preparing to change signs and navigating sandhi degrees. This is a time to take caution and not make major decisions. (Especially important for Aries and Libra ascendants). Saturn and Jupiter are still retrograde. Deep clean up continues. This entire month is a very vulnerable yet sacred junction point. Slow down, listen carefully, and don’t push too hard. A complex and delicate transition is taking place spiritually and materially. Use this time for spiritual and grief work.

Moon in Chitra nakshatra brings the wisdom and support of Vishvakarma and the planet Mars. Action, movement, building, planning and creating are all within his domain. As the celestial architect, he is responsible for creating the blueprint of the stars, bringing it to life through the zodiac. He is an artist, a powerful creator and takes big action steps. Like Brahma he brings ideas and visions into form. As an Aditya, he also provides resources and brings support on the material plane of existence.

Vishvakarma rules the portion of the sky that spans from about 23 degrees Virgo to just over 06 degrees Libra. He supports building, growth, planning and action oriented endeavors, especially the creativity required to increase and proliferate- to bring plans into form. As the Divine Architect, he is an Aditya, which means he provides resources, support and gains on the material plane of existence. He creates, constructs, builds and plans- using the celestial sphere as his playground. As a form of Lord Brahma, he supports the manifestation process; ideas come into form, thoughts emerge into existence, visions become reality. This is a powerful cycle to clarify your desires and get clear on the action steps needed to materialize them into tangible, relative form. Without your clarity, you can not create and manifest.

What is your ultimate goal? What action steps are required to bring this vision into reality? What are you creating for yourself? Your life? Your legacy? What action steps are you taking to move you closer to these goals and desires? Get clear on what steps need to happen and start moving in that direction.

Action, integrity, motivation, and energy activate in the cycle to come. Creative momentum for building something new has arrived, but first you must retrace your previous steps and discard what is hindering your progress. What ground requires that you return, excavate and rediscover the messages you previously glossed over? Where are you still stuck and feeling misaligned?

Manifestation takes place on the feeling level of your being- not on the thinking level of mind. If you are disconnected from your emotional body, you will have challenges creating and activating your inner intelligence and manifestation capabilities. Work closely with sensing and feeling in order to deepen your desires, needs and your relationship with your emotional body wisdom. What is showing up right now in your emotional body? Your needs and desires? Where do you feel safe to create and grow? Where are you feeling unsafe to expand and move forward?

It will be through steady, consistent action steps that you succeed and arrive at your destination. You can not skip steps. Keep showing up, leaning in, moving towards your desires. Seek clarity through ample pause and check, silence, meditation and inner listening. You must make room for the new. This requires that you release and let go of the outworn emotional patterns and behaviors keeping you locked in old ways of being. Clear the mind of illusions, stories and pains that don’t support your forward momentum. Listen carefully to body and spirit as resources for your sustained growth.

This new Moon signals a powerful transformation process, yet there is a fragility and vulnerability that comes with it. Sensitivity is also at an all time high. Use this sacred, natural gap to pause and listen to your body and its wisdom. Honor the immense silence occurring in Nature and align with the strengthening potency of the Divine Feminine. Meditate, use ritual, body care, easy to digest foods, and pause to honor this transition point.

As the Moon shifts into the first tithi of the waxing Moon cycle, the sacred nine day and night celebration of Maha Navaratri begins.

Nava means nine and ratri means night in Sanskrit. Each day and night of this powerful junction point, correlates to the epic battle between the goddess Sri Devi Mahatmyam and the demon Mahishasura. Maha Devi Mahatmyam is connected to both Durga and Shakti, powerful forms of divine feminine energy that awaken, clear, transform and heal. Sri Devi is understood to be the supreme creation power of the universe, the Tridevi, or triple goddess, as she expresses the creation, sustaining and destructive energies that perpetuate all forms of life. In the sacred text known as the Sri Devi Mahatmyam, composed between 400 and 600 CE, many forms of the goddess are expressed.

“She is presented, through a language of praise, as the one who dwells in all creatures, as the soul, as the power to know, the power to will and the power to act. She is consciousness of all living beings, she is intelligence, she is matter, and she is all that is form or emotion.” – Via Wikipedia

During the nine day and night Navaratri celebration, the battle between light and dark forces enlivens, ending on the 10th day with Victory Day, Vijaya Dashami. This battle between light and dark, good and bad, masculine and feminine, transformation and healing, is taking place within all beings at this sacred junction point. It is a time to heal and integrate polarities within.

This is an incredibly potent time for awakening dharma in our lives. Use the coming days to go within, slow down, and listen. Your inner wisdom and dharmic gifts will be strengthening. Listen closely. Clarity, focus and alignment can be easily accessed during the sacred celebration of Navarati. Transformation is taking place on all levels of Nature. Be present to the release, the emptiness, the creativity, that is arriving.

What needs to be released and transformed on your path? How can you create more space and silence in your life? What is your body wisdom telling you about your needs? What is the wisdom of your passion and creativity sharing with you?

This complex new Moon also arrives with a solar eclipse.

The annual solar eclipse will intensify the instability surfacing so pay attention to what is emerging from your depths. This opens a two week cycle that will invoke the depth of your shadows. Eclipses intensify everything and tend to make mountains out of mole hills- so we can see what we have been avoiding or negating within the unconscious realms. We may get lost in the overwhelm and negativity during this two week cycle, so keep moving toward the light. Stay positive and look for solutions rather than focusing on the darkness, but do not bypass the necessary inner work that you are being asked to show up for. This is a powerful time to address inner shadows head on and release inner blockages that you’ve been overlooking. Solar eclipses tend to intensify issues with the masculine, power, father, and vitality.

Your willingness to honor your big emotions will support their release. Stay present and willing to be with your challenging parts. There is something trying to push through and come to the surface. Are you listening? What needs to change? Your emotional body waves are asking for more nourishment. Be willing to support the release so that you have space for more of what you truly want and need.

The solar eclipse begins at 09:03 am MT on October 14th. The eclipse will end at 14:55 MT on the 15th.

A reminder that this begins a two week cycle that is not good for starting new projects. Emotions tend to intensify during eclipses and shadows are much stronger. You may feel less clear and focused so don’t make sudden decisions. Challenges often intensify so we can see them more clearly and make the necessary changes that will support new growth. This can be a time of immense inner transformation if used properly.

This solar eclipse is visible from the United States. The shadow will cross most of North and South America. From a Vedic perspective, it is not advised to be outside during an eclipse or to look directly at the eclipse taking place. Wear a head covering if you have to be outside so you don’t absorb the shadow. Ideally, this is a time for spiritual practices such as meditation, chanting and fasting. Set intentions and honor the sensitivity of this time. It is also widely recognized that during and between eclipses, starting new endeavors will not bring positive results. No new projects, relationships or activities should start in the eclipse portal. Notice what needs are arriving, then take action after the eclipse portal closes. Best to lay low, attend to spiritual pursuits, get extra rest and work with your inner shadow very consciously during this cycle.

Use the two week Eclipse cycle for spiritual practices, rest, retreat and your dharmic path. Set intentions for the coming weeks and honor your self care. Honor you emotional body wisdom and confront your inner shadows. Make necessary changes in your actions and choices. Release negative thought patterns, behaviors and inner dialogue that is keeping you stuck in patterns and cycles of lack. Clear, release and let go so that you have even more space for your deepest nourishment.

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Full Moon in Aries and Ashwini Nakshatra on October 28th at 14:23 MT + Penumbral Lunar Eclipse

Moon collides with retrograde Jupiter and a sandhi Rahu as it becomes completely empty. Debilitated Sun conjuncts Ketu, Mars and Mercury. This is a delicate time for body and emotions. Rahu and Ketu are poised to shift into new signs on the 30th. The change is already taking place. When the nodes move, shadow and light are shifting. Perception of self and other is being altered. Expect sudden changes with relationships that may feel confusing, uncertain, or even shocking.

The eighteen month transit of Rahu in Aries and Ketu in Libra comes to a climax with this Ashwini full Moon. Something you’ve needed to see and understand over the last year and a half is culminating at this time with new awareness and insight. What have you learned about your self and others in this cycle? What have relationships brought to you? What healing has taken place?

Beginnings and rejuvenation arrive. This is a powerful cycle for healing and transformation. Release, make space, and open to the new. Moon feels energized and enlivened at the time of the full Moon. Direct this energy towards self care, healing resources and creativity.

As Moon awakens Ashwini nakshatra during this full Moon, the constellation of healing supports greater inner wisdom to arrive. Clear space for this wisdom by releasing and letting go of stagnation, undigested emotions and mental clutter. This is an ideal cycle to attend to the physical body and wellness practices. Continue your fall or spring cleanse and jump start your healing process in the weeks ahead.

The Ashwini Kumara twins rule the first constellation of the zodiac, Ashwini. This dynamic duo are brothers- both Ayurvedic doctors who can support powerful healing within the body. They awaken creativity, spark new life and enliven rejuvenation so new life can arrive. They rule over all the healing arts- resources that support increased life force energy. The more life force within, the more vitality and strength experienced within the physiology. Allow the support of the Ashwini Kumaras to help you restore balance, integration and wellness in the cycle ahead.

The symbol of Ashwini is a horse head. Horses represent power, strength, endurance and vitality. Working with horses and riding horses requires clarity, focus and a strong will, as well as willingness to be touched by horse medicine. Ashwini expresses the ability to strengthen ourselves and heal like the mighty horse. Horses are known to create an anti-venom which literally and metaphorically expresses the ability to ward off evil, poison and snakes. The coming cycle can support greater strength and vitality- in body, mind, emotions and spirit. Spend time with horses and watch them carefully for healing insights.

Aries is the first sign of the zodiac, while Ashwini is the first constellation of all twenty seven nakshatras. The arrival of this full Moon brings beginnings with it. As with all openings, there is also closing, release and letting go. Are you attending to losses and release? Are you allowing for the letting go? What grief needs to be purged and has yet to be honored? Where are you skipping over your closing ritual?

The two week eclipse portal closes with a powerful Aries full Moon and penumbral lunar eclipse.

Emotions are bigger than normal, inner waves more extreme, and lunar intelligence at peak levels. This waxing cycle has brought challenges to the surface for re-evaluation. Your shadows have been intensifying parts of yourself that need greater awareness. It’s time for an upgrade and a change in direction. Are you ready to pivot?

The challenges surfacing are likely not new issues emerging, but rather old parts of yourself that have been ignored. Without intensification they won’t get the attention that is required for transformation and healing. Now that your pain and discomfort has your focused attention, what needs to shift?

Have you been paying attention to your shadow parts? What do you need to shift or change in your approach? What does your pain tell you about your deeper needs?

The penumbral lunar eclipse begins on October 28th at 12:01 pm MT. It ends at 16:26 MT. This eclipse is visible across Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, North America, Much of South America, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Arctic, Antarctica.

From a Vedic perspective, it is not advised to be outside during an eclipse or to look directly at the eclipse. Wear a head covering if you have to be outside so you don’t absorb the shadow. Ideally, this is a time for spiritual practices such as meditation, chanting and fasting. Set intentions and honor the sensitivity of this time. It is also widely recognized that during and between eclipses, starting new endeavors will not bring positive results. No new projects, relationships or activities should start in the eclipse portal. Notice what needs are arriving, then take action after the eclipse portal closes. Best to lay low, attend to spiritual pursuits, get extra rest and work with your inner shadow very consciously during this cycle.

In the days following the eclipse, you will likely notice a release, purging and clearing taking place. Expect some break through or new awareness to emerge. The clouds will part, the veil will lift, and the shadow will lessen. This is an important time to pay attention to needs that are surfacing and refocus. It’s time for a life upgrade! Where are you playing small, or allowing victim behavior to disempower you? Release the lack, uncertainty and resistance to change. What steps can you take to move closer to your dreams, goals and desires?