As of last week’s New Moon in Libra, we’re heading into the eclipse zone, with a Full Moon lunar eclipse on October 18 and a powerful total eclipse of the Sun on November 3.

Libra is the sign of compromise, harmony, and balance, but the mood the world over is anything but harmonious. House Speaker John Boehner reportedly told fellow Republicans in a private meeting that they were “locked in an epic battle.” It’s interesting that he uses the language of war. Wars sometimes are fought for ideology, but usually it’s about who gets more land, more wealth, and more power. And in epic battles throughout history, the kings and generals cared about the people only insofar as there were enough troops to die for “their country.”

One thing emerging from this whole mess is that increasing numbers of people aren’t willing to sacrifice themselves for this corrupt and power-hungry bunch. People are starting to question long-held beliefs about their government. Many of our assumptions are long-outdated, ideas we learned in civics class that we continued to parrot without critical examination. And despite the polarization in Congress and heated debates on news forums, I see more and more people breaking out of party dogma. Many Democrats are disappointed in President Obama for not making good on his promise of change, for giving in to criminal financial interests, and for expanding the surveillance state. On the Republican side, many are embarrassed by the right-wing nut jobs who have hijacked their party. It seems that the epidemic of insanity is shocking some people into reason. If there’s common ground to be found, this may be where it is.

Although we’re heading into another band of turbulence, there is one bright spot this week. On Monday, Venus leaves Scorpio, the sign of her detriment, and enters sporty Sagittarius. Sagittarius still isn’t the best sign for Venus, and she makes an edgy square with Neptune on Thursday that could further mess with our grasp of reality for a couple of days. In general, though, she should help smooth out ideological debates, and some of the heaviness we’ve been feeling might lighten a little. Make time for some fun and games. If you’re into sports, get together with some friends and watch a game. I know that some people are very serious about their favorite teams, but for the most part, competition in sports is fun and friendly.

On Tuesday, the Moon and Venus conjoin in Sagittarius, which could help make the Mercury-Saturn conjunction on the same day more productive. Mercury and Saturn conjunct in Scorpio could be extremely effective in snapping people back to reality. That might even include enough members of Congress to get the government up and running again. However, stark reality can be too much, especially when we realize how bad we’ve allowed circumstances to get by stubbornly hanging onto political ideology. The same applies for any other beliefs that have prevented us from moving forward. Looking in the mirror can be hard. Venus and the Moon in truth-seeking Sagittarius can help bring optimism. After all, you can’t solve a problem when you refuse to admit it exists or don’t understand its source. If you’re in any circumstances that fit this description, try to get some insight on Tuesday, because it will be harder to see the reality by the middle of Wednesday.

On Saturday (October 12), the Sun squares Jupiter. I’m somewhat concerned about this jarring aspect. The T-square between Jupiter, Uranus, and Pluto in August corresponded to tragic turmoil, including the chemical weapons attack on the outskirts of Damascus. Even though Jupiter has moved well out of range of that configuration, the Sun “carries forward” energy from the Uranus-Pluto square to Jupiter. This is another pressure-cooker transit, although I’m hopeful that some of the issues that erupted in August can be addressed productively, perhaps because facts come to light.

While browsing the news headlines this morning, I found an interesting analysis about Arab Spring, which correlates perfectly to the Uranus-Pluto square and T-square with Jupiter. It included a quote by political scientist Shadi Hamid, director of research at the Brookings Doha Center. Speaking about the Middle East, he said, “Democracy is not a matter of principle or faith for most people. It is something they believe in to the extent that it brings good results. … If democracy does not bring those things, then people lose faith in the democratic process.”

“That’s part of the story in the past three years,” he said. “When push comes to shove, many say, democracy is fine in theory, but is not actually improving our lives. If the generals can promise us a greater degree of security and stability, we prefer that instead.”

Food for thought.

I do believe that good will come out of the global turmoil in that pressure transforms. I wrote a lot about that last week. If we look back at the transformational periods in world history, we see that the changes didn’t happen overnight but took many years. And I don’t know of any major shifts that occurred without violence and upheaval. In Earth time, three or five years or even a hundred years is insignificant. The human mind can’t grasp that reality, even if we understand it intellectually. However, we at least can ponder it in our attempt to understand how everything is connected, which is where we have to go, not just to resolve our differences, but to gain a greater awareness of dimensions beyond normal human perception.

Looking ahead, on October 18, we have an eclipse, the first in a new series in Aries and Libra. On October 14, we also have an alignment of Mars, Regulus, and comet ISON. You won’t be able to see the latter without a telescope, but I still think this is a major astrological event that could signal a change in leadership or political alignments, perhaps both.

We’ll know soon . . .

Much love and courage to you all,
Pat

About the image: Venus in Sagittarius is more about outdoor sports, but I still love this shot. I think of it as “adventurous balance.” Here’s how the show describes her act:
Descending gracefully from the heavens, her effortless beauty is part mortal, part Goddess; connecting the earth and sky.

Cirque du Soleil Mystère
Watch a breathtaking performance on YouTube.

© Pat Paquette, RealAstrologers.com, 2013.