October Horoscopes From Galactic Rabbit

by Gala Mukomolova

Dear Fall Bunnies,

I might have mentioned before that I love fall. I love the birth and death of it. The harvest reaped in the midst of thinning trees, the slow and steady slide into winter’s blankets and cool gray skies. I must also mention that October is a hard month for me. That I spend it and the month that follows oscillating between deep gratitude and soft depression. That this is primarily due to a personal wound I carry, but I think there’s more. I think that as Adrienne Rich (oh my Taurus moon-heart aches) once wrote, we lack a language for talking about personal pain as communal.

In these horoscopes, I am not trying to lend you my sadness. In fact, if I am to be honest, I must tell you that I hoard my sadness; hold is tight against myself. I am trying, instead, to reach into a soft fall spot inside each of you. This month, loves rules above all. This month, we can choose to be swept up in the intensity of what fate folds for us or square our shoulders up in the name of free will.

I believe there is something in between: a wave that pulls us into her current then lets us swim out farther or back to safe depths. That is the wave I’m riding and the wave I offer you.

love and dead leaves — -GR

Aquarius
From “Advice for the Lovelorn” by Michelle Tea:

Some people/don’t need obsessive love affairs to get by/ some people/ do not feel compelled/ to push their heart onto a stick/ and roast it over someone’s fire./ well those people suck, i said./ what kind of passionless monsters/live their lives like that?

Not you, Aquarius. Despite your best poker face, which looks a lot like a still lake, you are all wind and wave in the face of love, swept up and crashing madly. What risks have you taken in the name of your deep heart’s truths? How does that translate to your relationships? Your every day? Have you been pulling the same tiny boat out everyday, just trying to ride out as far as you can, so that you might see something: a constellation, an animal from the depths, anything? This month, in the face of Mercury retrograde in air and water, I encourage you to pull that boat to shore. Imagine yourself as the lighthouse, the light. You are not the boat or the inhabitant of the boat at the mercy of your windy emotions. You direct your own journey; you illuminate your own night.

Pisces
Hey sweet fishes, October is upon us and the water is cold on this side of the pond. Still, I can’t help but wish I were there with you, swimming against whirling currents, threading through coral, everything you do to keep going — -I want to keep going with you. I know that sometimes you’re afraid of how you must look to others, if they might see how weak you feel, how tired. I wish I could tell you that it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks, but we both know that isn’t so. You, Pisces, are a social creature, and you thrive on the love and care the world offers. Lately it might feel like the world has been giving you the bare minimum, and you have reacted in kind, turning inward and stepping into whatever shadow you can find. I want to encourage you to fight against that this month. I want you to imagine that you are the first step towards beauty; that each step you take into the light is a light that has been gifted you. If you are afraid of empty pockets, then find something light and sweet to fill them. If your heart is broken, throw a stitch or two and offer it up anyway.

Aries:
Imagine the October 8th Total Lunar Eclipse. The Sun (her burn and powerful orbit) and Moon (her unyielding light and strong tides) aligned. The Earth (animal animal animal) in the middle. Three planets making sweet love in the house of Aries, house of fire. If that’s not enough, imagine two more guests arriving. Venus ties the Sun to the bed. Uranus, god of rebellion, looks on and sends his radical blessing. Cue Bonnie Tyler because this is a “Total Eclipse of the Heart”, a dramatic feature, a kinky late night special and you’re the star. Not to mention the Grand Fire Trine and what it could mean for you: inner revelation and profound liberation. Listen, maybe you’ve been hiding a love affair, maybe you’ve been hiding a project near and dear to your heart, afraid it would mess up whatever safe things you’ve got going. Maybe you’ve been keeping some very vulnerable desires hidden in the deepest shadows of yourself. This is the month the stars unfold a silky safe (and latex-free!) place to lay those desires out and have a really (really) good time.

Taurus:
You’ve been thinking a lot about your relationship life, haven’t you, Taurus? We all know love is work, but it is a work of salvation, not toil. And when I say salvation, I mean the way loving can make us feel bigger than human — can make us feel like a point of light. Loving does not depend on being loved back; it can’t be qualified in comparison. We choose to love because there is no other choice. Adrienne Rich, Taurus and love magician, writes: Take what’s still given: in a room’s rich shadow/ a woman’s breasts swinging lightly as she bends./ Early now the pearl of dusk dissolves./ Late, you sit weighing the evening news,/ fast-food miracles, ghostly revolutions,/ the rest of your heart. In the light of all this, and under the influence of each eclipse this month, pulling you in and in again (through Venus, who rules you and rules love), I want you to ask yourself what kind of lover you would most like to be. Where do you bank your desires and how can you direct your steadfast ardor in a direction that is most true to your heart?

Gemini:
Gemini, it’s that time again: Mercury is ready to slip into retrograde and she’s taking you along for the ride. As a star ruled by Mercury, you must be used to the planet’s backward dance through the sky. Still, I think it fair to warn you, with Mercury retrograding in Libra until the 25th, you will have a lot of relationship work ahead of you. Libra’s soft and steady gaze followed by Scorpio’s intense probing one can be disorienting and can leave you tongue-tied. I encourage you to sit with those emotions, to let them stir you rather than fight against them. This retrograde is also deeply tied to the solar eclipse, the moon’s dark shadow and all the things that can only be seen in a certain kind of darkness. When Mercury retrogrades in any sign, it is a good time to retrospect, to ask ourselves not what we want but why it is we want it. This retrograde is all about air, which is what you are. Be careful and precise with your words this October, Gemini, especially when they are directed to those you love. Sometimes it is better to err on the side of restraint, to say no when you are not 100 percent sure you mean yes.

Cancer:
Can I tell you a secret? (LOL, internet secret) I’ve never been good with Cancers. I mean “some of my best friends are Cancers,” but I am often saying the wrong thing to them, striking a bad chord. Maybe I was rough with you last month, maybe my sharp tongue made you feel backed into a corner or a big decision you weren’t and aren’t ready to make. Here’s what I’m thinking: there is a great deal of space and compromise between our expectations and our realities. Often, we want everything to fall into place when everything can only fall just shy. The moon is your goddess and this October is all about her. She opens the month with a lunar eclipse and closes with a solar eclipse. The lunar eclipse will cover you in a red light, shadowed by the desires charged between the Sun and Earth. The solar eclipse, on the other hand, will lend you a powerful hand. Here, you will “occult” the Sun, a glamour of darkness. Under this mystic cloak, use the end of this month to shift what you need in your direction. It’s an open banquet and everyone is looking somewhere else. Don’t ask. Just take.

Leo:
Hey Leo. I’m thinking about you and all your symbols. How you are both the wild lion and the Strength Tarot card: the lion tame. There is a balance in you few see: the desire to wield intense power with your own paws, and the will to hold space for the powers of others. I wonder now how do you choose to stride out and roar? Oh. I know you must be careful. I know that sometimes your direct gaze and steady walk forward can alienate those that move in more subtle ways. I know, too, that you may find yourself alienated by those around you who find power through emotional manipulation, through the gesture of giving too much of themselves away. During this grand fire trine, in the company of rebellious lovers, as the sun sits in Libra (which is also the location of retrograde), maybe you could lay the balancing act down in favor of loving more. I encourage you to take October as a time to roar, even if that roar is a secret roar. Create widely: invent songs, stories, loverships, a new way of asking for what you want. Invent a new way to get from here to there. Listen to this song by Leo Shira E. Clutch your own stars then throw them as wide as you want.

Virgo:
Something in me has stopped pretending, something in me has stopped trying so hard so hard so… That’s Virgo Meshell Ndegeocello singing in “Comet, Come to Me.” I am thinking about the year you’ve had, Virgo, as we say goodbye to the autumn equinox. The farmer’s markets are still singing their harvest, some tomatoes still fresh from the vine, heads of cabbage, and gourds galore. What does your own harvest look like? What can you eat now and what can be preserved to sustain you in the coming colder months? Virgo, as Mercury shifts into retrograde, touching Libra and Scorpio, I encourage you to spend some time thinking hard on the relationships you’ve made this year. Which ones have lent you strength? Which left you feeling exhausted and drained? You’re a social creature, sweetheart, but being social doesn’t have to mean a balancing act between depletion and depleting. Spend this retrograde month holding yourself accountable for the kinds of connections you want to have, show up when you promise to show up, respect your own boundaries and the boundaries of those around you. Piece by piece, each interaction and connection can create a reserve of support for you, support you deserve and need.

Libra:
Libra, let me tell you something about my process. I just sat down to write you this love-note and I thought: hey, lemme turn that Pandora on. I decided my hip hop/pop station was a little intense for my Libra sensor so I switched stations, and who should pop up but PJ Harvey, Libra witch and broody crooner! I don’t really have a song of hers for you, although I’m listening to “The Garden” right now and PJ is singing there was trouble taking place, trouble taking place. I don’t think you have a lot of trouble. In fact, I think you have worked very hard this summer to smooth trouble out. But, as a fall baby you must know, new seasons bring their own shifts, their own ingredients for magic or disaster. Whether you are a cusp (Virgo/Libra, Libra/Scorpio) or you fall right in to the boundaries of Libra, this October’s planetary lineup has a heavy pull on you. With Virgo’s mercury retrograding in Libra and Scorpio, with Scorpio’s Mars dancing in the grand fire trine, there are some intense vibes heading your way. Don’t shy away from tough conversations this month, Libra, even if you feel unfairly judged. Don’t look away when you have all the power in you to look ahead and be your best.

Scorpio:
What a fucking year, am I right? And it’s not even over! Not that you’d want that since so many of your fears are attached to time, to the way it slips so swiftly away from you and leaves you powerless to What Comes Next. But, you’re not powerless. In fact, if I had to imagine any less apt word than powerless for you, I wouldn’t be able to. Scorpio, I know you, and not only because we live in the same house You are every witch sister I have loved and carried with me, every phoenix I seen rise, burning up, into the sky. O firebird, there is a great wound in there that refuses to close completely. I know, too, that Venus is dancing around you this month, that Mars (your god, your furious god) is her partner. Maybe it all sounds like more disaster, the last dance at a bad party where no one has noticed you desperately trying to swallow your heart back down your throat. Or, maybe Jupiter’s beautiful lucky hands will play the song you’ve been waiting all year to hear and it will sweep you up. Maybe this song will remind you that even at your most vulnerable you’re still strong, maybe it will let you let go.

Sagittarius:
Hey archer, I have some questions for you. Have you been feeling a little angry lately? A little frustrated, a little under siege? Have small attempts at communication sparked misfires? Perhaps Mars has something to do with it, hanging out in your house and indulging in war games, shifting things for the sake of shake up. Maybe you’re immune to his meddling. Maybe what you have felt instead is a sort of aching stagnancy, like a plant with aerial roots extended everywhere with no earth or water to dip in. What is to be done? Work, for you, cannot just be about getting by. Love, for you, cannot be about what you are comfortable doing. This October, the grand fire trine pulls you in. Jupiter, Mars, Uranus create an intense force, burning on invention and rejection of old habbits, old ideas. Where will you place yourself inside the light of such a fire? I suspect it might be somewhere to the side, but I must tell you that you belong right in the middle. Sagittarius, yours is a star that has been turned down for too long.

Capricorn:
Since 2011, your ruling planet has haunted the house of Libra and now the last month of that specific meditation is upon us. Saturn, like you, believes in dedication, in work for the honor of the work, so don’t expect this month to feel lighter than the months proceeding. Whatever lessons have yet to be learned will come to you again. Take note, then, of mercury moving retrograde in Libra and Scorpio (the house Saturn moves into on Nov 2nd). What has Libra left to teach you about balance, about perceiving truth and creating beauty for beauty’s sake? What has Libra taught you already about putting pleasure first? As you wait to enter Scorpio’s shadow, ask yourself if you are prepared to hold yourself accountable to your deepest desires. This October, place value on your capabilities and your limitations. When, in the past few years, have you pushed yourself (in work or in love) beyond your limits? Was it worth it? Remember there is always room for rest. Having said that, sometimes the best we can do is be brave and move forward, even if we feel lonely, even if we are tired of being brave.

Gala Mukomolova is a poet ruled by Pluto, a planet in our hearts.