‘Everything, everywhere, all at once’ is an apt way to describe the pace of world events over the last month, whose intense astrological alignments were capped by a pair of eclipses. The celestial pace promises to slow a little in October as major planets (Saturn, Prometheus, Neptune) are all in retreat, sliding back into signs they have occupied for two, seven and thirteen years respectively, while also losing their alignment with spooky Pluto.
It’s a little early to be breathing sighs of relief, however. Early 2026 will see much the same planetary configurations as September 2025, including a total lunar eclipse in March to match the pair we had this year, in March and September.
For those hungry for more drama to fuel their social media accounts, this month’s Mars in Scorpio looks the best bet. The planet of war is ‘in dignity’ as astrologers like to say – therefore more powerful – though not making obvious clashes with other heavenly bodies.
In the second half of the month another planet moves into its own sign when Venus, peace to Mars’ war, moves into Libra, so perhaps there will be accord rather than conflict. The problem with ‘Peace and Love’ as a slogan is that it implies a certain passivity that is at odds with human behaviour, whereas’Peace’ should encompass liveliness, vigour, the frank exchange of views, and plenty of laughter along the way.
Celestial Timetable
- The Sun is in Libra until October 23 and thereafter in Scorpio.
- The full Moon in Aries is October 7 at 14.08 GMT.
- The new Moon is on October 21 at 12.26 GMT.
- Mercury is in Libra until October 6th, in Scorpio until 29th, then Sagittarius.
- Venus is in Virgo until October 13th, thereafter in Libra.
- Mars is Scorpio all month.
- Jupiter is in Cancer all month.
- Saturn is retrograde in Pisces all month.
- Prometheus is retrograde is Gemini all month.
- Neptune is retrograde at the end of Aries.
- Pluto is retrograde in Aquarius until the 14 October, when the distant planet turns to forwards motion.
Libra and Libra rising
For a sign so concerned with relationships (not necessarily romantic), actual partners can cause Librans an inordinate amount of bother. September birthdays especially may agree, given the recent opposition of Saturn and Neptune. With the former planet gone and the latter about to go, you have four months to rearrange your life/attitude before those two re-arrive.
In the meantime, here comes another opposition, a full Moon in Aries in October 7th – of short-lived duration (a mere couple of days) but long enough to press a few of your buttons better left unpressed. Otherwise, your birthday month looks hugely encouraging. Ruler Venus arrives in your skies on the 13th to enhance your charms and enrich your enviably giddy lifestyle – time to be seen about – and a new Moon on the 21st that brings good news financially and a reminder that with Jupiter high overhead, your career path is ongoingly promising. No slacking please. Happy Birthday.
Scorpio and Scorpio rising
Routine advice for October would be to rest up and address the Scorpio within while awaiting the upbeat delights of your birthday month. However, ruler Mars in your skies, joined by Mercury from the 6th, demands a different – or perhaps concurrent – approach, whereby you tell your story/make your pitch with zest and passion. Alternately, you can just play the party animal, but that would be a waste of a tremendous transit.
Mars energy can, of course, be tricky to handle. Avoid using too much force or being manipulative when you can be the seductive siren/dashing chap. Your two kindred water signs – Cancer and Pisces – are both active now, giving you access to what one might call ‘soft power’. Jupiter in Cancer represents the desire/chance to escape and explore. Saturn In Pisces is trickier, and it may be that one particular romance proves unworthy of the title.
Once the mighty Sun reaches your skies, of course, the outlook changes and with Mars forming a triangle with Jupiter and Saturn – a grand trine in astro speak – the last week of October looks like a ticket to ride. Don’t waste it.
Sagittarius and Sagittarius rising
The season of Libra – air for your fire – pushes you towards the collective, to teamwork, charity and putting others if not first, then certainly on an equal footing. Now is the time for all good members to come to the aid of the party and all that. The Sun will also be squaring your totem planet, Jupiter, which is a cue for action stations where close relationships have gone squiffy, likewise with money matters, where security should come before speculation. In other words, don’t gamble the farm!
Venus transiting the roof of your chart favours career matters and offers you don’t feel you can refuse, though you may wish to leave it until after the 13th to come to any decision. Planets in Scorpio, including the Sun from the 23rd, favour more introvert moods and reflection, but mercury the messenger reaches your skies on the 29th, if only to turn retrograde a dozen days later. Glean all the information you can before mid-November.
Capricorn and Capricorn rising
Capricorns are not customarily idlers which is just as well since October’s horoscope comes with duties and opportunities as well as stuff you just enjoy doing. The full Moon of the 7th pertains to your home life and any recent developments with your property – as reported last month, there are incoming issues there in the new year once you ruler Saturn returns to the root of your ‘scope. Preparation would be no bad idea, even if it is only pruning the wisteria (taking care not to remove any second flowers).
At the same time the Sun is traversing the roof of your ‘scope. your career zone. The Sun here implies a greater workload while the arrival of Venus from the 13th may bring a feminine touch to the boardroom and/or require some charm and schmoozing from you. You appear to have a strong team around you in October, with a powerful Mars cruising your eleventh house, the place where you find fellow travellers and colleagues with an ounce or two of empathy. That theme continues onwards as the Sun arrives in Scorpio.
Then there is Jupiter. The giant planet is slowing down ready for its retrograde cycle next month and is therefore extra strong and focused in particular on birthdays 13/14/15 January. Jupiter in opposition is an ambiguous affair, on the one hand suggesting that a partner of some kind is breaking free, on the other suggesting that you have attention of someone special, perhaps a bigwig as mighty as yourself.
Aquarius and Aquarius rising
I recently read a headline offering ‘seven tips to make your workload lighter’, to which your astrologer would add ‘Have Jupiter transiting your sixth solar house’. The giant planet, currently at full strength, is concentrated on mundane tasks rather than grand career manoeuvres, but in October it is aligned to both Mars and Saturn to ensure your contributions are noticed, and that you get paid in full for your efforts.
Larger movements in the career zone are provided by a super strength Mars transiting the roof of your ‘scope; a cue for a scrap or two at work perhaps, but also a force for forging your path boldly onwards. A lighter touch is provided by Venus moving into fellow air sign Libra from the 13th – a splendid day for you – which together with a new Moon on the 21st, highlights long distance love and romance, or an intellectual affair.
Pisces and Pisces rising
For those of you caught up in the mayhem of September’s eclipses – mid-March birthdays principally – it may take time for the dust to settle. October presents you all with a predominantly upbeat picture, although some Pisceans are sure to feel they are stuck back where they were a few months ago. Alas, Saturn has not finished with you until your next birthday, until when you still ‘owe’ said planet hard work and poor wages. Damn! Expect a reminder of as much around the eleventh, when Mercury (news) opposes Saturn.
Let’s get onto the good stuff, which with your ruling planet, Jupiter sited in full glory this month and next, reweds creative and romantic spirits – that will be most of you. Then with Mars completing a vast cosmic triangle of water signs later in the month, you should embrace the spit of adventure.
Aries and Aries rising
You won’t need an astrologer point out that you are halfway through your Aries year, six months after and before your birthday. Accordingly, you get an Aries full Moon on October 7th, which you can use to celebrate or make a fool of yourself as you see fit. That Moon may also mean saying sayonara to a partnership that has recently gone sour.
Relationships are writ large in your horoscope just now. You just swapped Mars in opposition for the Sun – a more malleable presence – and on the 13th Venus arrives in Libra to smooth things out with troubled friends and lovers and/or to introduce you to a potential new partner. Feel free to call on others for support.
The new Moon (October 21st) is therefore fortuitous for your love life while also aligning sweetly to Jupiter to give your living arrangements a boost, a new lodger, an expansion.
Taurus and Taurus rising
Get your meetings done early. Mercury joins a supercharged Mars in opposition on the 6th for most of the month, a perfect recipe for bickering and downright hostility. Of course, it’s possible to see Mars in a different light; as a dashing sportsman for instance, but Mercury in Scorpio is often a poison pen or sour speech. You may have to wait until November 4th to right any falling outs.
Your ruling planet, fair Venus, is happily in a position to ameliorate any bad vibes, at least until the 13th, when she swaps Virgo for Libra and pleasure for work. Venus here is all for romantic adventure if you are!
Your career, meanwhile, looks like a case of one step forwards one back. Saturn slipping back into Pisces is no bad thing for the Bull, putting you on the team, while Pluto, sitting enigmatically at the peak of your ‘scope, is powerfully, if briefly aspected by Neptune and Prometheus; a trio that can bring overnight fame and fortune, especially for April birthdays. If you don’t the jackpot now, there is always next spring.
Gemini and Gemini rising
Boredom is an enemy of the celestial Twins but unlikely to trouble you in October, when your horoscope is overflowing with tasks, suggestions, and temptation. Libra, a fellow air sign, is a social romp for you, with several peaks. The full Moon of 7th is one, bringing a strong individualist (or more than one) into your orbit, while Venus moving into Libra (her sign) on the 13th makes a stunning aspect to Prometheus in your skies, promising a stunning arrival at least for May 21st birthdays. With Venus in Libra until November 6th, and a new Moon here on October 21st, your creative powers and schmoozing skills are not in doubt.
You will have to graft as well. Mars in Scorpio insists, especially since the red planet is mixed up with your Mercury ruler before moving into opposition at the end of the month. In November Mercury continues to emphasise both partnerships and work – there is much to gain from your career path now that Saturn has retreated into Pisces. Saturn ends the month making a powerful aspect to Jupiter, a money planet in your cash zone. That means steady income – don’t get seduced into spending it all at once!
Cancer and Cancer rising
If you are one of those legendary home-loving Crabs one reads about in the textbooks (they do exist) then October should find you happily tucked up. A lunation (moon cycle) in your house of hearth and family promises shelter from any storms at your door. The full Moon of the 7th gives you licence for a bit of domestic argy bargy, the arrival of Venus at the root of your ‘scope on the 13th should bring peace in the valley( along with tasteful decor), while the new Moon of the 21st opens a new season of domestic bliss, with Luna allied to Jupiter in your skies.
Let’s face it, you ain’t going nowhere unless you choose to do so – which you might, given the adventurous omens elsewhere in your horoscope. A powerful Mars in your zone of pleasure, parties and creativity implies a lot of back-slapping and air kissing, plus its alignment with Saturn over October’s final week of the month could bring a pay-off/promotion in your career.
Leo and Leo rising
What’s going on with home sweet home? Not so sweet of a sudden? One asks only because your horoscope has a month of Mars transiting the zone of home, hearth and family; often a cue for choppy waters domestically, or for the mayhem that ensues when builders descend to do their work. October is followed by your Sun ruler also here alongside Venus and a Mercury in retrograde.
Perhaps the issue is not home but relatives, or another fundamental – career most obviously. In all cases, patience and attention to detail is called for. Elsewhere, October’s stars are encouraging. The season of Libra, with Venus in the Scales from mid-month, promises happy times socially with a streak of romance at work, especially around the full Moon of 7th. Just down the road a little the season of fiery Sagittarius flickers promisingly. Mercury arrives here on the 29th ready for action, but said planet’s retrograde in early November suggests all promises may not be kept.
Virgo and Virgo rising
How was it for you? Eclipse season that is. It’s important to draw lessons from whatever went down, and even if nothing much happened, to keep this birthday month in mind, since eclipses don’t always leave their message straightaway. You enter October on a handy raft of transits, most notably Venus in your skies until the 13th, trailing perfume, promises and refinement. If romance is involved (or something more savage!) then the 11th is the date when you find out what or who you are dealing with, as Venus and Saturn are in opposition.
That Saturn is back in opposition, as it was for two years prior to June this year, returns you to issues you thought were solved (property or relationships) for resolution. You will know that problems by now. Other planets are nicely aligned for social and business discourse, and with Jupiter so well sited and at maximum strength just now, your cohort of fellow travellers is a place you can look to for support. Be a team player.
At the very peak of your ‘scope beams planet Prometheus, about to vanish back into Taurus for a few months. This is a slow-moving planet with fast actions involved, meaning only 23-24 August birthdays are involved so far, but a dramatic shift in your career prospects, or choice of career are promised in 2026.
Astrology Consultations from Pam Carruthers
Readers often ask if I give personal readings. I don’t. My primary jobs remain journalist and writer. By contrast, Pam Carruthers, webmaster, fellow astrologer and long time friend, is a professional astrologer who uses both western and vedic systems for individual clients.
Pam, who is now based in Eastbourne in the UK, has an international clientele. She is a gifted astrologer and teacher and offers Astrology Life Coaching based on your birth chart.
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