October 2017 By Bob Mulligan (a personal note is at the end of the newsletter) When a planet changes signs we have a change of temperament. In October we have Jupiter moving into Scorpio while Venus and Mars move into Libra. The Sun changes signs every month, the Moon changes signs every couple of days, and Mercury frequently changes signs in a month. These movements all bring change; however, this month is big on change as Venus and Mars do not change signs every month and Jupiter only once a year. This transit of Jupiter is a deepening of our fascination with the mysteries of life. This month will be a time of emotional quickening; our outlook on life will change. The Full Moon on the 12th degree of Libra/Aries at 2:40 PM EDT forms a T-Square with Pluto in Capricorn. This promises physical activity with some abrupt changes to government and organizational structures. Because Pluto is Trine the Venus/Mars Conjunction in Virgo, there will be a thorough transition of personnel in many of the big structures of our collective lives. With Saturn and Uranus forming a Grand Trine with the Leo North Node of the Moon, we are guided to balance caution with innovation as we are encouraged to promote our creative ideas. The New Moon is on the 26th degree of Libra at 3:12 PM EDT and Opposite Uranus. This promises unexpected changes in our plans, opportunities to explore new options in key relationships, and a chance to get clarity where there has been lingering doubts. As Jupiter is Conjunct Mercury and Saturn is Sextile the New Moon and Trine to Uranus, common sense and discipline will help us sort out the recurring upheavals in a responsible and adventuresome manner. The Sun enters Scorpio on the 23rd at 1:27 AM EDT. With the Sun Conjunct Jupiter and Mercury Trine Neptune we go through this next solar month with confidence and optimism. Because the Moon is Square Neptune we are cautioned to check our facts and make sure we are really aiming at our intended goal. From the 1st to the 8th the energy has changed on almost every front. However, we seem to be on a tear to complete some things left dangling from last month. Even though work seems to dominate our waking moments, love is in the air. Romance is not a duty but an invitation. We can repair damages in our key relationships. From the 9th to the 15th hard mental and physical work brings results, but it is necessary to pace ourselves. After the essential tasks have been completed, there are new doors opening and it is good if we have some reserves left to take advantage of the unique opportunities. We learn much by staying with the flow of events. From the 16th to the 22nd new insights show us a fresh perspective on lingering issues. Meditating, paying attention to our basic ideals, and helping others can make this a productive week. Partnerships make a course correction; romantic impulses emerge periodically and all our interactions can be colorful. From the 23rd to the 31st our spirits seem to lift without much effort. Our confidence gathers strength if we choose the right course of action and the correct projects to get behind and push. Establishing the proper foundation now will build momentum going forward for every project. 1st – Sunday – Mars Trine Pluto – We have the energy, direction, and attention to complete something important. Practical steps taken now can simplify our efforts over the next week. 2nd – Monday – Jupiter Contra-parallel Uranus – Some reward we were expecting or closure we have been waiting on comes now. A serendipitous turn of events brings good fortune if we have the sight to recognize it. 3rd – Tuesday – Venus Trine Pluto – Both work and play have a profound intensity. Love and harmony are in the air and will not be denied. Work gets done through prioritizing. 4th – Wednesday – After a few corrective steps, we are off to a fast start. Kindness never goes out of style and this is the perfect time to engage others with our better selves. There is a gathering intensity to how we express our love nature. 5th – Thursday – Venus Conjunct Mars, the Full Moon is at 2:40 PM EDT on the 12th degree of Libra/Aries – This is a great opportunity to clear the air and become productive. Cupid has the last word on much of the activities now. Regardless of how long it takes, we need to be willing to hang on to our objectives and keep nurturing our partnerships. 6th – Friday – Sun Contra-parallel Mars, Sun Contra-parallel Venus, Venus Parallel Mars, Mercury Quincunx Neptune – We drill down to the core of some of our basic values. Pink glasses can make the world look rosier than it really is, still we get further by thinking positively and giving others the benefit of the doubt. Because the best plans are going to be altered anyway, we do best to look to opportunities to go with the new realities. 7th – Saturday – Uranus Semi-square Neptune, Mercury Contra-parallel Venus – Too much information can be as confusing as not enough. “Threading the needle ” when making plans requires knowing who to ask and where to put our concentration. Staying on task with our previously conceived plans may look inadvisable, but it is probably the shortest route to success. 8th – Sunday – Mercury Contra-parallel Mars, Venus Square Saturn, Sun Conjunct Mercury – Impulsiveness can leave us feeling isolated. Including others in our plans can reduce misunderstandings. Our own thoughts can get in the way, preventing us from gaining a larger perspective. Listening to others can give us important information regarding our own current situation. 9th – Monday – Mercury Square Pluto, Sun Square Pluto – Stubborn facts get in the way of materializing our plans. We fare better if we find a way to postpone our forward march until we can sort out new information and find more appropriate methods for dealing with our situation. Others can help if we are open to revisions. 10th – Tuesday – Jupiter enters Scorpio – The universe offers a method for achieving our goals. However, this may require being more self-reliant. Circumstances are rearranging themselves and we must accommodate the changes. 11th – Wednesday – Mars Square Saturn, Sun Parallel Mercury, Venus Quincunx Uranus – Even though we may be working very hard on something, flexibility is needed to be successful. Methods and ideals are not in agreement and the path forward requires integration. 12th – Thursday – Mercury Parallel Neptune, Mercury Sextile Saturn – A mentally rich environment can set the framework for consistent effort leading us forward. Listening to others brings us important information. 13th – Friday – Sun Parallel Neptune, Mercury Semi-sextile Mars – It is a time of remembrance. We have the opportunity to get in touch with our better selves. But more than this, we can translate our faith in ourselves and in life into service to others, to a cause. Even small steps in this direction will have meaning. 14th – Saturday – Venus enters Libra, Mercury Contra-parallel Uranus – Information coming from alternate sources than the ones we ordinarily listen to will bring us a new perspective. With some effort we can find genuine harmony with coworkers and partners. Just because circumstances are unpredictable and disruptive doesn’t make them bad. Luck comes through continuous adjustment to the changing tides of fortune. 15th – Sunday – Venus Semi-sextile Jupiter, Mercury Opposite Uranus, Mercury Sesquiquadrate Neptune – Our emotional and our mental life seem to be on different time scales. We may feel more comfortable taking gradual measured steps; even though we are flying high mentally, we are feeling the urgency to act quickly. Integration comes through listening to our inner voice of reason. Acting from compassion gives us practical grounding. 16th – Monday – Sun Sextile Saturn, Mercury Parallel Jupiter – There is joy in following the well trod path. There is a feeling of accomplishment as we get closure on some arena of our personal lives. By taking the time to create order in our environment, we can tidy up our thought processes as the external is a mirror of our internal awareness. 17th – Tuesday – Mercury enters Scorpio, Mars Quincunx Uranus – It is easy to be caught between two extremes: inactivity due to fear or impulsive actions powered by unstable emotions. The middle path is found by concentrating on assisting others, loving close ones, and taking an inventory of personal habits. Regardless of the external stimulus, our real victories now are inner. 18th – Wednesday – Sun Contra-parallel Uranus, Mercury Conjunct Jupiter – The universe is prompting us to change. Meditation coming into the New Moon is always good, but more than this, we are at a crossroads moment. We can be successful in one area of our lives. Choosing where we want our winning reveals our true character and can be very instructive going forward. 19th – Thursday – Sun Opposite Uranus, the New Moon at 3:12 PM EDT is on the 26th degree of Libra, Sun Sesquiquadrate Neptune – Setting our intentions for the new month is of course important; however, it is also important to see the forces at work in our own psyche that will not be denied. The desire to do good, to be better, and to respond creatively to the turbulence around us is paramount. 20th – Friday – Venus Contra-parallel Mars – By paying attention to practical details we can find harmony with others. Collective action, designed to promote basic improvements to our lives, is not only uplifting, it’s fun. 21st – Saturday – Finding the right manner of self expression may require finesse, but it is totally worth the effort. Some emotional pressure release is necessary now and we are happiest when our actions are in harmony with our reasoning. A higher intuition can lead the way. 22nd – Sunday – Mars enters Libra, Mercury Semi-square Saturn – We may experience second thoughts about things we have already put in motion. Correcting mistakes, apologizing for wounds inflicted on others, and self-evaluation are all ways of improving our standing in relationship with others. Self honesty is good, but it is possible to be too self condemning. Being gentle in judgment, even with ourselves, is helpful. 23rd – Monday – Sun Parallel Jupiter, Sun enters Scorpio, Venus Quincunx Neptune, Sun Semi-sextile Mars – Our confidence is strong but it is possible “overplay our hand”. We do best to channel our enthusiasm into small prototype projects. This is a moment for testing ideas and values. We need to find out if our beliefs are based on fact or fantasy. 24th – Tuesday – Mercury Trine Neptune – We know things that don’t seem to add up logically. We are mentally stretched beyond our common boundaries and start to partake of a wider collective vision of what our society can become. Our empathic bond with something outside of our normal parameters leads us to either move forward in faith or retreat in fear. 25th – Wednesday – Having well thought out plans for the day is a great way to build happiness and success. Once in motion a simple “step ladder” unfolding in front of us will guide us. Every practical idea has a place and a time. Emotional impressions and mental stimulation work hand in glove. 26th – Thursday – Sun Conjunct Jupiter – Projects started now have extra oomph. A new line of inquiry leads us to answers we have been seeking. But more importantly, we can see the question behind the question, the cause of the cause. To the initiated, some deeper mysteries open new dimensions. 27th – Friday – Venus Square Pluto, Mercury Sextile Pluto, Mercury Semi-sextile Venus – Consistency is difficult to achieve. Productivity comes through recognizing that “down time” is as important as “up time”. Aligning the head and the heart will take some coalescing; emotional equilibrium is difficult to achieve as time constraints and misunderstandings have made life complicated. Reason can be used to bring about harmony. 28th – Saturday – Mars Semi-sextile Jupiter – Looking for ways of working collectively may mean recruiting others to our projects or it may mean forgetting our own endeavors and joining someone else’s parade. There is potency to be used and we need to be honest with ourselves about where our attention is likely to have the longest lasting effect. 29th – Sunday – Mercury Semi-square Mars – Irritation comes from not being able to get everything done, wanting to share but not wanting to release, and frustration from the inertia of worn out mental habits. As we become cognizant of our own intellectual stubbornness, we can take corrective action. Freedom comes through controlling anger and developing methods which engender patience. 30th – Monday – A strong psychic boost makes for a colorful day. It is wise to embrace our faith and at the same time have the courage to explore areas where we would not go ordinarily. Being sensitive to our own needs can be the foundation for treating others kindly. 31st – Tuesday – We need to tell others how we really feel, unafraid. Also, we can assist others to get their own feelings to the surface; this can be accomplished simply by listening. Bob Mulligan is available for personal appointments, astrology classes, and astrological material. Call him at 239-261-2840 or by e-mail at bobmulliga@aol.com. Visit our web site, www.theastrologycompany.com When I arrived back in Naples, after three weeks in India, I was greeted by more than 300 emails. Over half of them were wishing me and my family safety during the hurricane. Thank you! It was really heartwarming to know that so many people were concerned about our wellbeing. Four important things happened in my life this month: 1) my pilgrimage to India, 2) the hurricane that hit Naples, 3) the end of an era in India, 4) a chance to start over. With great trepidation Katie and I left Naples on August 26th, heading for India. We knew this was going to be a more difficult time to endure. We arrived completely exhausted; taking this trip in this way is no longer an option in this lifetime. At the very least, the trip must be broken up along the way somehow. Inwardly, this was my most important pilgrimage to date and I’m eternally grateful for having been invited into it. Even though I’m physically spent, this pilgrimage was spiritually liberating. Naples got creamed by the hurricane. The recovery is still going on and will take some time to achieve anything like normal. This is a profound outer reflection of an important ending in my inner life, but also for the world. As with everything else, India is changing. Because I have been going to India since 1976, I have seen many changes. For me, India has always been about being at the feet of my Master, Meher Baba. However, this trip became so intimate inwardly that my relationship to the external world shifted ground, profoundly. This brought about a change in the way I will relate to my many friends and family in the mother land. Having Katie and Bailey with me in India was very blissful. I just missed my daughter, Juliana, who had to leave for the States the day before we got there because her school was beginning classes. On the way out the door for the plane to India, I picked up my copy of Meher Baba’s “Discourses”. I reread them all the way to India, while I was there, and on the way back. I took notes. A few years back I started taking notes to myself after each discourse. Going deeper into them, I turned a corner, a new page of this life started. When I was a child I knew that there were spiritual secrets, I wished to discover them, and then share them with everyone. As a wiser person, now I realize why some secrets are kept secret. So many people responded positively to the Meister Eckhart poem that I included in my last month’s newsletter that I thought I would share another. When I Was the Forest When I was the stream, when I was the
forest, when I was still the field,
when I was every hoof, foot,
fin and wing, when I
was the sky
itself, no one ever asked me did I have a purpose, no one ever
wondered was there anything I might need,
for there was nothing
I could not
love. It was when I left all we once were that
the agony began, the fear and questions came,
and I wept, I wept. And tears
I had never known
before. So I returned to the river, I returned to
the mountains. I asked for their hand in marriage again,
I begged—I begged to wed every object
and creature, and when they accepted,
God was ever present in my arms.
And He did not say,
“Where have you
been?” For then I knew my soul—every soul—
has always held
Him. –Meister Eckhart (1260 – 1328) | 
