Neil Spencer

Your Stars September 2010

Posted on 04 September 2010

As many of you will have observed, we remain in the midst of one of Mercury’s regular tricky retrograde cycles – a handy reason for why these forecasts are behind schedule. Sorry.

While other planets press us to move onwards (notably the implacable pair of Saturn and Pluto), until Mercury turns round on the 15^th, we must play by the trickster planet’s rules; do things twice, exercise patience, chase our lost luggage.

The Autumn Equinox, always a game changer, arrives with extra oomph this year, being accompanied by a full Moon on the 23^rd (at 9.17 a.m.), Shrtly afterwards, the Libran Sun joins Saturn on the last day of the month; the first time this pair have been allied in the Scales for thirty years.

Libra is justly celebrated as the sign of balance, good judgment and peace, but Libra’s subjects can be awfully forceful in the way they pursue such objectives. You guess a Libran’s mood at your peril, but assume they will be in serious, mission mode this autumn.

Given that we have four planets in dignity (as we say) this month  – Mercury, Mars and Jupiter in the signs they rule (Virgo, Scorpio, Pisces), plus Saturn in exaltation in Libra – from astrology’s odd, metaphorical perspective, the cosmos looks in no mood to pull its punches. Tighten your seat belts.

Virgo

A Virgo is never whistling and staring at the clouds for long – there is always an interesting errand to run – but until your planet, Mercury stops backsliding on the 12^th, you’re better off dusting down the past and preparing for the future than trying to press ahead. This is doubly the case since the messenger planet is sliding backwards in your skies. Be thorough, clean up the office, catch up with old chums, go a little introvert.

As there is a new Moon in your skies on the 8th, you are simultaneously beginning a fresh cycle that accelerates as the month goes on. Mercury is in your patch of the heavens until October 20^th, making this a perfect phase for seeding your ideas, snapping orders and being a tiresome busybody that gets things done. Someone has to. If you want to advertise your talents, the world is listening. Be specific about what you can offer, and what you want.

Equally important is that you evaluate the last couple of years, when Saturn has given you a reality check and perhaps obliged you to completely change tack. What has worked out and what hasn’t? The taskmaster planet has moved on (though not if you were born in 1981, in which case Saturn is currently your close and unrelenting companion) but the lessons you learned must still be applied.

You are in a less taxing phase, though tax and all things fiscal are up for useful scrutiny this autumn. Explore every cranny of your income and outgoings.

Any inner turmoil is best reserved for issues of partnership – love affairs, marriages, ex’s and the like. The fandango being danced by Jupiter and Uranus is an extended one, and won’t be concluded until January 2011. This makes your current situation a process, one where definitive answers are less likely than prevarication from the other party. Pleas of ‘I need some space’ should be taken seriously, but equally, you cannot go into drudge/doormat mode – that is surely the big lesson of the last two years. September 21^st and 22^nd –just before the full Moon – are to be avoided for confrontation.

Moreover, Uranian energies are notoriously disruptive, and often signal the entrance of a wild but compulsive character (or more than one). Virgos are unfairly painted as dull (your Corn Goddess symbol is a reminder you are actually a creature of glamour) so feel free to run away with a dashing marine ecologist or stunning yoga teacher. There will likely be hell to pay later but, hey, relationships are in flux. You too ‘need space’.

Libra

It’s an odd phase alright. This autumn represents the beginning of a new cycle in which independence and self-satisfaction come first. Your ruthless streak will be called upon – and behind the pleasantries of ‘We’re all in this together’ (copyright David Cameron, born 9/10/66) is a Libran packing a silenced pistol ….in a designer tuxedo or evening purse of course.

As yet, though, you are obliged to drag your feet. Mercury doesn’t go forwards until the 12^th, and it isn’t until the equinox of the 23^rd that you enter the comfort zone of your birthday month. Not that there’s much comfortable about it this year. Don’t fret, you’ll get your beautifully choreographed party, but Saturn’s march through your skies is relentless until Christmas, and so must you be in your pursuit of the glittering prizes of career or creativity. Only cast-iron achievement scratches Saturn’s itch.

Whatever you are planning, you may not wish to make it too public until after the 23^rd – Mercury’s arrival in early October makes a good cue for springing surprises.

Furthermore, the past may be hanging around in unexpected ways. Saturn is the planet of karma, of ‘as you sow so shall ye reap’, and for those you go back that far, 1981 and 1996/97 are handy reference points for the kind of issues in play now (though it’s not so dread this time around as in ‘81.)

In a further complication, Libra’s ruling planet, fair Venus, will be turning retrograde in October, meaning all your social and romantic encounters this month will be revisited later. That may mean a second bite at an attractive cherry or that bad manners come back to bite you!

What’s more, the autumn Equinox – rarely an easy entry point into the long haul of autumn/winter – has extra angst loaded by a full Moon in your opposing sign of Aries. Best leave your pistol at home then, in case you get so riled you use it. If your birthday is the 23^rd/25^th, recognise that you have come to the end of one era or relationship and that dumping the past is a pre-requisite of building your future.

Scorpio

In terms of getting the job done, even just showing up on time, it’s doubtless been a dog the last couple of weeks. Still, the month of Virgo has not been and is not about twiddling thumbs and admiring your etchings but practical application of your considerable professional skills, despite the trials of Mercury retrograde. After the 12^th you will be able to push on swiftly and with minimal fuss, especially if you are in any line of the communications industry. It may be hard to give as much time and focus to your work as you should, given the incoming transit of Venus, from the 8^th, and Mars, ruler of Scorpio, from the 15^th. With this pair on your side you can variously rampage, charm, exhibit your fiercesome magnetism and play Heathcliff/Mata Hari for the next several weeks.

You are, in short, empowered. With your mojo back, you can conquer either boardroom or bedroom. No point prevaricating; go with your instincts and pursue your cause, and heaven help those who dare to cross your path (isn’t being potentially deadly part of the fun of being a Scorp?). Venus’s retreat in October suggests a few second thoughts later on about who you are pulling into your orbit this month, but for now, it’s a case of try it for size.

Attractions from earlier in the year – spring and early summer – also promise to come back into play this month, especially for mid to late November birthdays. A pair of planets re-occupy the zone of easy flirtation/desperate attraction (delete to fit) to put errant lovers back in your sights. You have the rest of the year to consolidate what seemed to have slipped away. If Pisceans are involved, catch them carefully rather than impetuously.

A similar time frame applies to any pet projects that you have nursed in hope since way back in March. Re-engage and give them your best shot now. There’s a backing breeze that won’t be blowing so strongly on the other side of New Year’s Eve. The most unorthodox ideas are likely to be your best.

Given such exciting times, what might you possibly be worried about? The Libran Sun, dipping into your twelfth house of mysteries after the 23^rd suggests an inner communion with private hopes/demons is in order. The full Moon of the equinox offers important clues in this respect. At the weekend of the 11^th/12^th, with a waxing Moon in your skies, your focus should be on promoting yourself with giddy disregard to what’s churning away inside. Sometimes you have to swagger and catch up with yourself later.

Sagittarius

Consider September a transitional month. Like it or not (and probably not) you have to be a team player at work. Forge alliances with a touch of calculation and make the terms of any coalitions ruthlessly clear. After the last couple of trying years, you can’t be taken for granted any longer. The more you spell out how and with whom you are wiling to co-operate, the more respect flows your way. You are no longer on the back foot, especially after mid-month, when Mercury’s turn-around plus a new Moon ease your path. Centaurs are all too adaptable on small issues, while remaining strong on principle. Now, detailed haggling about is as important as grand ideals.

While professional concerns probably top your worry list, the domestic scenario also calls for a less than tender touch. Nothing new here, just a return to the aggravation and uncertainty of earlier in 2010. However, since the Archer’s personal ruler, Jupiter, is involved, your luck is in over the next three months. The worst case is that you suffer unhappily rather than take action – don’t rule out unorthodox solutions to property/family situation. You have time on your side, but not an infinite amount – your birthday makes a useful deadline to clinch agreement.

The time frame regarding love affairs you would like to change/instigate is shorter. The full Moon of the 23^rd and the ensuing weekend pushes romances into the spotlight – good for a display of attraction, destructive for confrontations. There’s another month to run until you can declare closure to matters of the heart, so hang back. For singletons, early in September, bunking off from work, is a prime time for casting your net, with the 14^th alluringly starred.

Financial stability – about which noble centaurs can be somewhat cavalier – remains a brooding presence in your ‘scope. Pluto is sitting immobile in your ‘scope’s cash zone all month, asking you to do battle for your reserves, uncompromisingly but ethically. Good luck.

Capricorn

The problem with being a high achiever – which as a Capricorn you doubtless are, or at least someone who has managed to put a roof or three over your head – is that it’s gets so damn exhausting. And when you look back and down, at the poor impoverished scrap you were when you started out, and at the heaving masses scrabbling to climb the lofty peaks where you sit…well it can make you giddy.

This autumn is not the time to go losing your nerve, however. Saturn, the Goat’s unflinching ruler, is at its most relentless, asking you to exercise your staying powers, conjure up the commanding perspective that makes you such a formidable operator, and show the world your skills. This summer (late July in particular) has already indicated the issues in play (power and money of course). That there aren’t any quick fixes or easy options is the message likely to be repeated come the equinox. For those of you born before Christmas – and who therefore have Pluto strong in the planetary mix – drastic action may be the only and right course; opting for early retirement or changing jobs for example. For most of you it’s case of hanging in and dealing with pressure in your customary, unflappable way. You may wish to make it clear just how indispensable you are, rather than just getting on with the job.

It isn’t as if you are without allies. Mars in Scorpio from the 15^th makes being seen part of the team a strong hand to play – you won’t agree with everyone around the cabinet table, but you can rub along with them, though the person you can rely on most remains yourself.

Until the 15^th you should take every opportunity to indulge in ‘me time’ – it isn’t in fact indulgence but ensuring your physical and mental batteries remain topped up. Good time for research too.

Personal relationships are shifting into a more congenial phase, not least those involving the family, where summer’s dramas are either resolved or shelved. Here, the full Moon of the 23^rd may come as a climactic point. Romance: its looks like the school of hard knocks and difficult to please customers, giving way to something more stirring in the latter half of the month.

Power days: 16^th and 17^th.

Aquarius

It would be easy, and not unrewarding, to go into cruise mode over the next couple of months. Unlike 2009 or the early part of this year, you are not being urged along or confronted by impatient planets. You may not think so, but this is a comparatively easy-going stretch, with plenty of social action to keep you amused.

It is precisely now, however, that you should formulate your professional aims and pursue them with due diligence. Saturn, to repeat last month’s message, is in unusually co-operative mood, meaning your best efforts receive a favourable rather than frosty response from the powers that be. Steady application of your talents is the key to success; get into routine, keep things ticking over, whatever you put in place pays off further down the line (in 2011 but more especially in two years time). If you’re the creative stripe of Aquarius, get something big and ambitious on the go.

Not all Aquarians are mavericks, but marching to a different beat comes easily to many, and the humanitarian ideals for which your sign is celebrated can play a fruitful role in your professional life over the next two years. Philosophical pursuits and education, formal or not, are to be embraced – this is very much the start of a new term for you.

In the more immediate future, there’s a murkiness around your private life. Not that you are up to anything untoward (the thought!) but it isn’t until mid-month that knotty issues in your emotional life begin to straighten out. The scenario pertaining in late August/early September does not lend itself to instant answers. Keep your own counsel. Any big secrets can stay just that for now. You might be similarly circumspect about any new romances that have sprung up over recent weeks. Wild enthusiasm isn’t out of place (might make a change from your customary detachment) but with Neptune strong in your personal life now, and again in November, dreamboats may be more dream than is healthy.

Hot weekend for self-promotion: the 18/19^th .

Pisces

Flying high or laying low? The month of September, as you may have noticed, often marks a critical juncture in your affairs, this year being no different. The reason is simple enough – it has been six months since your birthday, you’re halfway round the annual clock. That in itself is reason enough for pause, but with Mercury in both opposition and in retrograde, go-slows, minor reversals, people flaking out and odd faces showing up from the past all conspire to slow your pace. Crawl along patiently until later in the month – not easy when major changes are upon you or in the pipeline.

The new Moon of the 8^th begins to clear up issues, especially those involving significant others. Best not expect instant resolution, though; events around the 21^st are more likely to spell out where key relationships are at. It takes two to tango, of course, but the weight of decision is with you, not the other party. The muscular planetary duo (Jupiter/Uranus) that is back in Piscean skies through until almost your birthday is extraordinary and fortuitous but unsettling. As you have doubtless realised, 2010 is not an average year, it’s one where your path is eased or your hand is forced, and in either case you have to swim with the tide in your canny fishy fashion.

Once the full Moon of the 23^rd is out the way, you’re in a stronger position to carve out your destiny, whether that involves a simple steadying of the ship or throwing over your spouse to elope with an errant rock star or glamour queen in a sports car.

In the former case you might take a steely look at the degree to which your finances are involved with other people, and decide to draw a few boundaries concerning who pays for what. Better to do so now than wait until 2011. when the issue returns more forcibly.

You can choose your own moment for any major decision this autumn, but before the start of December is preferable (another irksome cycle of Mercury Retrograde begins then).

In the short term, the duo of Venus and Mars heads into your fellow water sign of Scorpio in mid-September, promising bodacious encounters of a social/romantic nature, not least with members of that sign, and the enhancement of long distance love affairs.

Aries

Inconvenient maybe, but nothing changes in a rush just now. For starters, you’re stuck in the traffic jam that is Mercury retrograde, just like everyone else, and if you are trying to sort out paperwork/online deals, then you going to have be firstly scrupulous and secondly patient. Just wing it and get the work out of the way? Fat chance.

Then there is the ongoing transit of Saturn, now firmly ensconced in opposition, for what might seem like ever more (key word, seem). This is likewise a restriction on your speed, and a demand that you approach tasks with a steady, one-thing-at-a-time attitude. Conserving your energy and looking after your health is paramount. Under Saturn it’s easy to burn out. If you have dental problems don’t postpone treatment, though after the 15^th, when your Mars ruler moves on, is preferable to early September.

Under Saturn bosses and dull patriarchs do you few favours – they seem to delight in piling on the pressure and watching you struggle. You may experience the same feeling with spouses and ex’s, who become more like rivals and opponents than allies. Shared financial and property issues require deft, cautious handling. As for open enemies, expect the worst and you won’t be surprised. Bear in mind that other people are sent not only to test or abet us but also to reflect our own shortcomings and strengths.

With an assortment of planets and asteroids plying their way through your opposing sign of Libra, significant others become extra significant this autumn. Whether you are planning to get hitched, formalise an existing relationship or cut the knot that binds, you likely have a major decision pending.

Best not make a rash move around the Equinox, however. The full Moon in Aries on the 23^rd/24th is a point of pressure and the cue for a bit of headstrong Ram madness. You can make quite an impression then, but factor in a quiet lie-down amid the mayhem.

It isn’t all trial and tribulation. A delicious strain of attraction and temptation is also in play, ideal for sending singles chasing after some head-turning new arrival, (or for instigating a love triangle). With your governing planet, Mars, heading into the intense waters of Scorpio in mid-month, you are likewise beckoned into sensual, transformational relationships, or steering your current affair that way.

Taurus

Providing your legendary Taurean patience holds up, September promises the pay-off for which you worked so tirelessly earlier in the year, perhaps without reward. On a strictly practical level, you have a green light, even if you have to proceed slowly until Mercury’s turn-round on the 12^th. If you have to push on regardless before then, double check details. Afterwards, your working life looks unstoppable – be the Bull that everyone is scared to make angry.

The glitzy factor that has been fitfully operative in your career all year, whereby your undoubted charisma is amplified, is fully operational throughout the autumn. Don’t be afraid to ramp up your credentials to back up the effort you are obliged (and you will be) to put in on a more mundane level. Even if you’re not in the entertainment game, this looks suspiciously like show business; fulfil both parts of the phrase – showing off and hard-nosed graft.

You are likely not the sole architect of your professional success in any case. Planets in the zone of group involvements – very active in the first half of the year – return this month and stick around until the New Year. Committees, teams, conferences and the like are all in favour, not least around the 21^st/22^nd while the Moon in your skies on the 26^th/27^th is dandy for pressing your case at work or at play.

Taurean love lives have been a case of commit or quit for the last couple of years, and while the commitment part is often simple enough, your ability to maintain relationships has been put to the test. With Saturn out of your solar fifth house, the pressures of being together should have eased somewhat. The new Moon of the 8^th opens a more buoyant phase in your love life, not least since your ruling planet, Venus, simultaneously graces your partnership zone. With Mars also there from the 15^th, the latter part of the month looks rosy for chasing attractive (compulsive even) playmates as well as for getting involved in spats of jealousy and short temper. Nothing you can’t handle, natch, providing you keep in mind that others can be just as downright stubborn as you, especially if another Taurean or Scorpio is involved. If you are nursing any secrets, be wary that they don’t tumble out at the full Moon of the equinox, the 23^rd.

Gemini

‘Slow, slow, quick quick, slow’…the formula for dancing the tango makes a neat fit for your current planetary picture. The retreat of Mercury, Gemini’s planet, invariably hits your sign more acutely than most. Add to that the retreat of the giant planets Jupiter and Uranus, and at least one part of your world is hit by uncertainty and tail-dragging. Whether it’s your domestic scenario that’s in limbo, or a career situation that is wildly unpredictable, expect the in conclusion to continue until the Autumn Equinox breezes in at the 23^rd, when quick quick takes over from slow slow.

Always a tipping point for Geminis, this equinox comes further weighted by a full Moon, heightening the sense of issues coming to a climax, most likely in the outer world rather than in your private life. An unorthodox career path looks a good fit this winter, either because you are juggling two jobs or because your interests are leading you somewhere surprising. Either way, the restrictions that were in place last year are fading away. Professionally, next spring looks like a born-again moment. In the meantime, work that you can do away from the strictures of authority, likely solo, promises to reward your efforts in the long run.

Matters of the heart? Saturn makes even the sources of joy something of a burden, whether it’s the kids to whom you have to give both unconditional love and a huge amount of your time and energy, or a romance that just got serious. Venus has made the last month a promising one for singletons, and while the planet of attraction shortly pushes onwards, its return in November means that one easy-come, easy-go link remains tantalisingly in the mix this autumn. Events at the 10^th and the 29^th might have more to say about it – at the very least they are ideal for you to give the world a smile and a wave.

Cancer

Coping or at crunch point? The ongoing march of Saturn across the floor of your horoscope is certainly no recipe for an easy life. More likely, especially for June birthdays, are moments of big decision and mighty challenge, when you have to tighten your belt, cast overboard some of the clutter that’s accrued over the years, and figure out where you belong in a world that can be scarily impersonal.

The first piece of good news is that you are not helpless. Saturn always thrusts destiny firmly into one’s hands, and a mixture of determination and hard work will rescue you from almost any predicament this autumn, providing you apply cold realism to your situation. The retreat of the uncompromising duo of Jupiter/Uranus from the peak of your horoscope also signals a quieting of the emergency bells. Grab any career break that has appeared this summer under their aegis – this pair of planets return next year to consolidate and expand your professional path. The autumn Equinox on the 23^rd, when a full Moon sits at the very apex of your ‘scope, promises a moment of illumination on all matters relating to your public life – good time to be in the spotlight – with the last week of the month also decisive. By then, the pesky retrograde of Mercury will be a thing of the past, loosening up your communications zone, restoring your social network (and internet connection) and enabling you to push through agreements. For those of you involved in education, studying or teaching, the autumn glows promisingly.

Cancerian social lives also get a major fillip in mid month when the up-close planets Venus and Mars surge into your kindred water sign of Scorpio to put energetic, prickly but enticing personalities in your sights, and favouring a twirl round the ballroom floor. Singletons should consider their luck in, with the weekends of the 11/12^th and 30^th/Ist especially charged for romantic encounters. If your birthday is 24 June or thereabouts and you have a relationship in crisis, resolution arrives this month. Remember that nothing gets reborn with perishing first.

Leo

If you heeded Saturn’s message over the last couple of years you should be ahead of the curve in the new age of austerity in which we all live, and living comfortably within your means. Leos are not risk averse, but that doesn’t mean you can flaunt the strictures of your bank manager indefinitely. Saturn has now moved on, but the first part of September asks you to go back over the paperwork and ensure that you have kept the accountants and pen pushers happy. Oh, and that your long suffering other half doesn’t realise you have maxed out the joint credit card. It’s a handy time for a spot of creative accountancy.

The worlds of work and travel take a turn for the better once the Equinox arrives on the 23^rd, when a full Moon in your fellow fire sign of Aries brings long-term prospects into sharer focus. Educational pursuits (whether as teacher or student) and overseas connections are highly favoured during the ensuing month of Libra; a new career path involving either can open up now. For writers and researchers, this autumn is a promising phase for the application of your talents.

Overhauling Leo Towers also gets the green light early in the month; with both Mars and Venus taking up residence in the sector of your ‘scope concerned with home and family, redecorating or even enduring the minor hell known as ‘getting in the builders’ are positively signalled, though try to avoid scraps with the neighbours/family over any changes to your manor.

Romances look to be in a curious spell of one step forwards one step backwards. Recent dalliances that have vanished as quickly as they arrived may not be quite as over as it appears…even if it’s you that’s pressed the ‘terminate’ button. With Venus due to backtrack later this autumn, one attraction seems likely to rekindle. Those of you in search of a hot date might ring the 6^th and the 24^th as promising.