Star Stories: October 2020

strology for October 2020

Note for October: October will be an extra special month this year. A spooky Mercury Retrograde starts on October 13th (which also just happens to be mah birthday!) and the month opens and closes with Full Moons making the second Full Moon (on Halloween no less!) a Blue Moon. A couple of square with the Sun make things tricky but a sweet Jupiter Venus trine smooths things out. It is a balance of tricks and treats and an excellent time to remember to care for our Ancestors!

10/1: Full Moon at 9 degrees Aries at 4:05 PM. Some ideas for how to work with the Full Moon can be found here: https://brianasaussy.com/how-to-honor-the-full-moon/ and here: https://brianasaussy.com/six-months-of-magic-every-full-moon/
Ask: What core aspects of myself do I wish to honor?

10/2: Venus enters Virgo. Now is the time to be devoted to what matters most. Check the perfectionist tendencies and choose instead to put your efforts into wholeness and health!
Ask: What devotion is calling my name?

10/4: Pluto Direct!!!

10/7: Mercury opposed to Uranus. Anxiety and tension are at an all-time high and an unexpected surprise may add to the excitement.
Ask: What calms me now?

10/9: Waning Quarter Moon at 27 degrees Cancer, 7:40 PM. A reminder that this is a great time to banish: https://brianasaussy.com/what-are-you-really-banishing/
Ask: What family/tribal ties am I ready to sever?

10/9: Mars square Pluto. This square creates tension and possible aggression. Stay safe and be smart.
Ask: Where do I need to exercise more caution?

10/10: Venus trine Uranus. Expect favorable news and surprises in the areas of love and money.
Ask: What surprise would I welcome in the area of relationships or finances?

10/11: Sun square Jupiter. This day reminds us to go for the gold but also to keep realistic expectations about what we (and others) can be expected to achieve.
Ask: Where would my dream benefit from a reality check?

10/13: Mercury Retrograde begins. Retrograde starts at 8:05 PM in Scorpio, moves into Libra on October 27th and ends on the 3rd at 11:50 AM.
Ask: What elements of my lineage are ready to be re-balanced?

10/13: Sun opposed to Mars. Disagreements, disappointments, and difficulties surface on this day and competitions can turn nasty.
Ask: How can I collaborate instead of competing?

10/15: Sun square Pluto. This leads to power trips, personal crises, and behaviors that are not supportive, to say the least. Instead, let the sun illuminate the shadows.
Ask: What do my depths want me to see about myself?

10/16: New Moon at 23 degrees Libra at 2:31 PM. Here are Four Ways to Honor the New Moon just in case you missed them: https://brianasaussy.com/4-ways-honor-new-moon/
Ask: What new relationship am I ready to form?

10/18: Sun square Saturn has us once again worried about time, aging, and generally being afraid. Instead, work with the energy to supercharge your discipline.
Ask: What does my pursuit of excellence teach me?

10/19: Mars square Jupiter. Fantastic day for luck, business, and seizing an opportunity.
Ask: What opportunity am I ready to seize?

10/19: Mercury opposed Uranus. Expect flashes of brilliance and the inability to stop thinking. Carry a notebook and write those ideas down.
Ask: What thoughts are asking for my attention now?

10/19: Venus trine Jupiter. This is a blessed day full of good luck, cheer, and abundance – especially in the areas of love and money.
Ask: What blessings am I ready to receive?

10/21: Venus trine Pluto brings deep intimacy and/or romantic obsessions.
Ask: What relationship do I want to take deeper?

10/22: Sun enters Scorpio 6:00 PM
Ask: What are the blessings from my broken places?

10/23: Waxing Quarter at 0 degrees Aquarius, 8:23 AM. This is the perfect time to brush up on your divination practice! https://brianasaussy.com/teaching/20-question-tarot/
Ask: What message am I ready to amplify?

10/24: Venus trine Saturn. This aspect is all about commitments and being involved for the long haul in both matters of love and money. Good day to make an investment or a marriage proposal!
Ask: Where am I ready to invest?

10/27: Venus moves into Libra. Love, relationships, marriage, and partnerships of all kinds take center stage for the next few weeks.
Ask: Who and what am I partners with?

10/31: Full Moon at 8 degrees Taurus at 9:49 PM – Halloween/Samhain/Blue Moon. Some ideas for how to work with the Full Moon can be found here: https://brianasaussy.com/how-to-honor-the-full-moon/ and here: https://brianasaussy.com/six-months-of-magic-every-full-moon/
Ask: What brings me stability?

10/31: Sun opposed to Uranus. Expect a pleasant surprise – hopefully, all treats and no tricks!
Ask: Where are things ready to be shaken up? October

magic, miracles: receive my lunar letters

ARRIVING on full moons each month.

20 Question
Tarot

Hearth and Home Vol. 21: Being Seen

Alchemy and Magic

appy New Moon in Leo!

I’ve been feeling that Leo vibe this year, more than usual. Necessity, the old proverb goes, is the mother of invention. Challenges to our social habits have forced so many of us to look to images in a fresh way as means of communication, in ways perhaps more pronounced than other years.

My grandfather was a Leo and when I think about the best qualities of the amazing, stellar, lion, I always think about him. Right now, I’m thinking about him a lot.

He showed up fully himself wherever he was. He loved a good party, loved the spotlight, loved drama and excitement. When there wasn’t any drama to be had, he was happy to create it himself!

For me, Leo is all about showing up and letting yourself be seen. If we can’t show up in person, we are forced to find and create other ways to show up. This year I have taken that literally, and I am sharing a lot more on Insta. If you don’t follow me there, you should!

The power of videos and visual storytelling was brought home to me earlier this month when Jasper, our 9 year old, tried out for the Youth Orchestras of San Antonio. This year, auditions couldn’t be held in the usual way, and so every performer needed to make a video – with no pauses or cuts – introducing themselves and performing scales plus 3 different prepared pieces of music.

It was a lot for a 9 year old cello player. On the first day of taping, we had to get the giggles out, but on the second day, he rocked it, and soon after we learned he had been accepted!

What will the city-wide Youth Orchestra look like this year? Who knows! But kids who love music showed up and played their hearts out. In one form or another, the show will go on, and I am fully confident they are going to learn oh-so-much on their journey together. Also, major props to my beloved husband David for making the video happen and for handling ALL music practices at our house…it is a lot of work, and he brings so much excellence to it just holding that space for Jasper.

I have even more exciting visual news. My publishing team and I have decided on a cover for my upcoming book Star Child: Joyful Parenting Through Astrology and I CANNOT WAIT to share it with you all – soon, soon!

Our family has settled into a solid routine. Since school is beginning virtually, we will be able to maintain it, more or less. Jasper is excited to launch into 3rd grade and Heath is delighted to be home and speeding through the neighborhood on his Strider balance bike. He collects little treasures on his walks and delights in harvesting tomatoes and trying to sit on the (very patient) dog.

The boys go for long walks and bring home all kinds of magical goodies. They found the bird’s nest (pictured above for me) and arranged items in it for me too. I love that they put an eye milagro in the nest. It was as if they knew mommy has been contemplating vision and visibility.

I’ve been busy making fall plans for the gardens and for courses and classes I want to teach, including a free call on the upcoming Mercury Retrograde (I’ll probably talk about the Mars retrograde a little bit too) and a brand new offering steeped in magic and story that I am thrilled to share with all of you.

Many of you especially loved receiving a prompt in last month’s Hearth and Home, so here is one for this month:

What am I seeing right now and how am I letting myself be seen?

(The Leos in your life approve of this question, promise!)

As always, from our family to yours, we wish you a beautiful and magical month full of goodness!

magic, miracles: receive my lunar letters

ARRIVING on full moons each month.

20 Question
Tarot

Star Stories: September 2020

Ceremony and Ritual

strology for September 2020

Note for September: The social season will start buzzing in September. There are a few oppositions this month that will create some problems and static but also sign changes – including Venus’ movement into Leo that bring a good deal of blessings and opportunity. Jupiter also brings us one of the luckiest days of the year!

9/1: Mercury trine Pluto. This is a time when communication gets deep.
Ask: Where do my words need to go deeper?

9/2: Full Moon at 10 degrees Pisces, 12:22 AM. Some ideas for how to work with the Full Moon can be found here: https://brianasaussy.com/how-to-honor-the-full-moon/ and here: https://brianasaussy.com/six-months-of-magic-every-full-moon/
Ask: What am I ready to heal?

9/2: Venus opposed to Saturn. This is a tough aspect that can have us focusing on love gone wrong and sad stories. You can align with this in a more positive way by affirming or re-affirming your commitment to healthy romantic and financial habits.
Ask: Where would I like to recommit myself?

9/3: Mercury trine Saturn. This is good astrology for thinking through serious or difficult problems and arriving at elegant conclusions.
Ask: What needs to be carefully thought through?

9/4: Venus square Mars. Tough day for love and matters of the heart. This aspect can lead us all to pick fights and be extra aggressive.
Ask: Where can I practice kindness?

9/5: Mercury moves into Libra. Communication becomes fair, balanced, and has a helpful dose of charm and flirtation thrown in to boot!
Ask: Where can my words brings more balance?

9/6: Venus moves into Leo. The focus now is on luxury, fun, good times, and creative work!
Ask: What creative projects are in need of love?

9/9: Mars Retrograde begins at 5:22 PM in Aries and stations direct on November 13th at 6:36 PM. Review your energy levels, fitness habits, and health routines.
Ask: Where do I need to optimize my independence?

9/9: Sun trine Jupiter. This is a wonderful day for good luck, fortune, and general blessings. Asking for a favor or seeking a promotion gets a thumbs up on this day!
Ask: Where am I ready to take a chance?

9/10: Waning Quarter Moon at 18 degrees Gemini, 4:26 AM. A reminder that this is a great time to banish: https://brianasaussy.com/what-are-you-really-banishing/
Ask: What distractions do I need to remove?

9/11: Sun opposed to Neptune. Thinking and feeling can be fuzzy on this day. Letting yourself rest and especially watching your immune system are good ideas.
Ask: Where am I ready to rest?

9/12: Jupiter Direct!!!

9/15: Venus square Uranus can bring surprises in the areas of love and money so be on the lookout for those.
Ask: Where has my money gotten stagnant?

9/17: New Moon at 25 degrees Virgo at 6:00 AM. Here are Four Ways to Honor the New Moon just in case you missed them: https://brianasaussy.com/4-ways-honor-new-moon/
Ask: What do I want to plan for?

9/20: Mercury square Pluto. This aspect brings out the sting in all conversations. Watch out for overtly or passive-aggressive behaviors in yourselves and others.
Ask: How can I say it with kindness?

9/22: Sun enters Libra (Fall Equinox) 8:31 AM — Fall Equinox
Ask: What relationships am I devoted to?

9/23: Waxing First Quarter at 1 degree Capricorn, 8:55 PM. This is the perfect time to brush up on your divination practice! https://brianasaussy.com/teaching/20-question-tarot/
Ask: Where am I ready to build mastery and expertise?

9/27: Mercury enters Scorpio. Conversations get deeper, more raw, and have potentially more bite to them when Mercury hangs out in Scorpio.
Ask: What words are able to heal?

9/29: Saturn Direct!!!

magic, miracles: receive my lunar letters

ARRIVING on full moons each month.

20 Question
Tarot

Venus as Holy Helper

Foundations

he is the morning and evening star, the five-pointed pentacle, the sweet bite of an apple, and the heady scent of rose. Venus is the tang of salt on your tongue and the song of sensual pleasure thrumming through our bodies.

She is Venus but behind her stands Aphrodite, behind her we find Ishtar, Isis, and Inana – to name only a very few. She preceded all of the Olympian Gods and Titans in her form as Aphrodite Urania, heavenly Aphrodite, as she sprang from the blood and seed soaked waves in the wake of Uranus’ sacrifice.

She is lust, desire, and love in all of its many forms embodied. She is the ripening fig, the rich red wine, the golden honey, and the decadent cream, but she is also the sacred spring and the wind through her beloved Cypress trees, trees that like her, know something of the Underworld and Shadow.

She shows us that it is possible for Love to vanquish War, for beauty and harmony to outsmart perfect strategy and pure power. She has bewitched the most powerful of witches and spurred on fierce battles.

Most often we think of her as a rather conventional beauty, full hips, and breasts, slender waist, nubile position, forgetting that in some of her greatest statues she could easily be mistaken for Athena, appearing as she does in full battle armor. The teaching of course is that no force knows how to battle the way that Love does.

Traditionally she was petitioned to bring a lover, keep a lover, and deepen a current love relationship. Her blessing was sought on all marriages and unions of all kinds, her provenance extended to bring beauty, music, laughter, dance, and joy into the hearts of mankind. She is both a breaker and healer of hearts, the desire that can set us on the right course or drive us mad. She is often perceived as the weakest and flightiest of the Divine, but anywhere depth happens, she is present. Hekate, Titaness of the Underworld, and Guardian of all Thresholds is her protector because Love is the most precious of all.

magic, miracles: receive my lunar letters

ARRIVING on full moons each month.

20 Question
Tarot

Uranus as a Holy Helper

Foundations

e is so ancient that his presence pre-dates both Gods and Titans seen less a God-like figure and understood more clearly as the Sky itself, the realm of heaven which is exactly what his name means – heavenly. As such, Uranus is the Holy Helper most capable of seeing the whole, of knowing all that is under the sky, cultivating the bird’s eye view.

He fell in love with Gaia, Earth herself, and as a result, he is called on even today when the Earth needs protection and defense. With his love, he had children, the first of the Titans, the beginning of a divine legacy. In this way, he helps us see our own legacy as well and he is especially helpful when we need to cultivate both vision of the future and the actions that make it possible. He was castrated by his children in a clear need to ancient sacrificial practices around kingship, reminding us that claiming our future requires we leave certain parts of our selves in the past.

When his sex was thrown into the sea, magic occurred, and among the beings called to life was Aphrodite herself, bringing to our attention the essence of vision, future building, care for the Earth, and life itself: Love. Uranus

magic, miracles: receive my lunar letters

ARRIVING on full moons each month.

20 Question
Tarot

Pluto as a Holy Helper

Ceremony and Ritual

is story begins, as so many creation do, with a game of chance – the drawing of lots. Jupiter received the realms of heaven and earth, Neptune claimed the Ocean’s depths and Pluto, Pluto received the realm beneath all that is hidden and unseen, all that belongs to the Dead.

Here then is his first teaching: he rules through service, not mastery. His fealty is to the dead and the fallen, his realm their place of safety and sanctuary. Call on him then when you would speak to your own beloved dead, he will aid you in coming to know your ancestors.

He serves what others fear, what the living cannot know or seem, and so we can ask for his favor when we are attempting to understand the unseen and the unknown. He reveals the hidden ways and hidden wealth.

Miners and those who love and work with minerals, metals and gems should know him, for they all fall under his custodianship. At the height of his influence he was understood to be so powerful that even saying his name was too much. Leave an offering of honeycomb under the cover of night and head back to your family.

He is best known as the abductor and rapist of Persephone but the oldest tales weave a different story – there was a forbidden love there, one that demanded its participants to partake of both worlds – that of the living and that of the Dead.

We must know when and make space for him if we are to inhabit our full power and potential for transformation. For it is only when we know of death that we are truly able to appreciate life.

magic, miracles: receive my lunar letters

ARRIVING on full moons each month.

20 Question
Tarot

Claiming Our Power ~ How to Work with Pluto Retrograde

Foundations

very year for at least half the year and sometimes more, the planet Pluto goes retrograde. Astrologers in the classical world interpreted a planet’s retrograde motion as a descent into the Underworld, but of course, this was long before the planet Pluto was discovered and we have an interesting quandary unique to Pluto’s retrograde which is this: what does it mean for the King of the Underworld to descend into the Underworld…or is something different happening when Pluto goes retrograde?

As a Pluto-sensitive person, I have paid close attention to how this planet’s retrograde periods show up in my life and in the lives of my clients and students. Contrary to the ways that many of the other retrogrades work, I do not find that Pluto retrograde makes us more introspective or interested in navigating our shadow sides (that’s what Pluto direct does). Rather, I find that Pluto retrograde places great emphasis on the areas of our life that need to be attended to in order for us to stand fully in our sovereignty and power…not only in the obvious and visible ways but also in the less visible and hidden realms as well.

Do’s

– Consider your lineage and what aspects of it currently support you and what aspects need to be re-evaluated or worked through
– Pay attention to any “mission critical areas” that get especially intense as the retrograde begins
– Identify the areas you need extra help or support in and then find that support/ask for help
– Work with your ancestors
– Learn about the place that you live and what underground resources are native to your area
– Avoid giving power to those who would try to manipulate you
– Make solid investments
– Get clear on when you feel most sovereign and what is happening that allows you to feel that way
– Make sure you have the proper support for financial health
– Determine what support you need for physical health and get that
– Release/banish anything that needs to be released or banished
– Amp up your banishing magic

Dont’s

– Engage in power plays or attempts and dominating those weaker than you
– Be passive aggressive or emotionally manipulative
– Ignore your needs
– Neglect taking care of the areas of your life that are crying out for attention
– Forget about your ancestors
– Refuse to look at your lineage and address any areas that need to be taken care of
– Lie
– Spill secrets
– Try to hold onto something that is on its way out
– Be afraid of death
– Overlook the places you are already empowered and sovereign

Pluto is the planet of creation and destruction, the God Pluto is the ruler of the Underworld, the sovereign of the realm of the Dead. All of this points to Pluto’s fundamental relationship to Necessity, and when Pluto goes retrograde we are also encouraged to see what is needed and necessary right now.

If you are Pluto-sensitive and concerned about the effects of the retrograde you may engage in the following acts of honoring and propitiating this intense powerhouse of a planet:

– Add the color black, bowls of honey, black earth, minerals or jewels, and water to your altar
– Burn black storax on Saturdays
– Donate to an organization protecting lands from unethical mining practices
– Clean a gravesite and dedicate the merits of your work to Pluto
– Donate money for people who do not have the means for proper burial
– Create an ancestor altar and begin working with your Ancestors
– Ensure your will and last testament are up to date
– Ask your elders for stories about your family history