Well, the first thing you might notice is that this forecast is a day late. I blame retrograde Mercury!

Before I talk about that, though, let’s welcome the Sun in Libra, also known as the fall equinox. I have to admit that I’m not feeling it all that much, not with Mercury, Mars, and Venus all in Libra since August 30. We’ve had a good dose of Libra energy since then, so the Sun’s passage through the sign of balance is somewhat anticlimactic, except for the Libra and Aries lunations, which Neith will have more on shortly.

It is “officially” the first day of fall, though, and that has a psychological effect. The process of harvesting, gathering, and preservation is programmed into our DNA, as are the shorter days and longer, chillier nights. We are aware that winter is on the way.

Venus leaves Libra and enters Scorpio on Tuesday. Venus is in her fall in Scorpio, and while many astrologers consider this a sexy and even psychic placement of Venus, she also can be obsessive and manipulative, neither of which help foster honest and open communications with those you love. We will all have to mindful of giving up control over situations and other people.

This will be all the more important with Mercury conjoining Mars in Libra earlier Tuesday. Difficult Mercury-Mars aspects are notorious for heated words. Because Libra is a more balanced sign, those words might be disguised as “nice” when they are meant to inflict pain or to express anger.

The Messenger goes into “reverse” on Wednesday at nearly 23 degrees Libra and will retrograde back to about 7 degrees Libra before returning direct on October 15. Relationship issues will be vulnerable to revisiting and rehashing, especially those that come up on Tuesday or Wednesday of this week. There’s almost no point in trying to figure out where you stand, because that could change in the next three weeks, and more than once. Just try to remain as open-minded and as open-hearted as possible, and look inward to your desires and motivations. If you don’t feel ready to admit them to others, at least be honest with yourself.

The rest of the week is fairly low-key, with no aspects between major planets Thursday through Saturday. On Sunday, retrograde Mercury trines Neptune, marking the first opportunity to have a healing discussion. Don’t expect much from this, though, and if you can’t get your message through, step back and wait for a couple of weeks, difficult as that may be. Trying to force discussions while Mercury is retrograde can get us in trouble even deeper, and Neptune is known for clouding the issues.

By this weekend, we’ll start feeling the New Moon in Libra on Monday. Other than occurring during Mercury retrograde, this should be a fairly easy lunation. Look for Neith’s post tomorrow.

Until then, love and blessings,
Pat

P.S. For more information on the upcoming Mercury retrograde, see my recent Saturday Extra post.

Image: The Cadence of Autumn, by Evelyn De Morgan, 1905.