NMR ISSUE 21

Astrological Forecast 21
Concise Lexicon of the Occult
Cricket
Discipline
Editorial 21
Faerie Love
Firewalking and the New Age
Fitting In
Hallows Eve
Lazaris on Lazaris
Letters 21
Magickal Use of the Tarot
Man in a Woman's Religion
Nature's Truth
Pelican
Realigning the Sabbats
The Oldest Magick
Understanding Your Dreams
Wicca Craft Gerina Dunwich

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Astrological Forecast

September October, 1992

By Terry Lamb, M.A.

There is a mythical beast, conjured in Dr. Doolittle, called the Push-Me-Pull-You. It looks like a member of the goat family, except that it has a head at either end. It has a hard time getting anywhere because it is always at cross-purposes to itself. If we name one end of the Push-Me-Pull-You as Fear of Change and the other Need for Change, we have a metaphor for what the planets are depicting in the skies at this time. Saturn squaring Pluto represents the old, time-honored (worn-out) way of doing things; while Uranus-Neptune in Capricorn represents the idealistic and sometimes radical changes that are being proposed to replace traditional ways and means.

We can see this in the election process, with the silver spoon presidential incumbent opposing two baby-boomers born under the postwar/cold-war Saturn-Pluto conjunction in Leo. We probably can also see it in our own lives in some way. This energy and its release color the events of September and October of 1992.

SEPTEMBER: Is that a break we're getting for Labor Day, or is it my imagination? There is so much activity that we'll still be completing—or getting ready for—that we may not notice that the planets have taken a break!

On the 7th (Labor Day itself) there may be unusually wild, even violent activity. Stress is running high, the weather may be extreme, adding to the tensions of the back-to-school, let's-get-serious-about-life energies of this time of year.

This feeds into the Full Moon on the 11th, a culmination bringing relief and release. It's a time to celebrate the spirit within, the joy of the harvest—just don't get too carried away, since we may have a tendency to go to extremes at this time. Emotional energies may begin to run high now and for the next 7 months. This may turn to emotionally charged aggressiveness from mid-November to mid-February, which we can defuse now if we tune in to what we need to enact and how we need to enact it. The attunement must come from the instinctual or gut level. All too often, however, we don't understand just what we need to do until we're in the thick of the energy pattern we're trying to mitigate; that's what culminations are about—awareness. If this is the way it goes for you, accept it and know that we are (must be) in harmony with the universe. The proper course of action will reveal itself in its own time. It is best to take actions in times of clarity. We are being asked to handle our aggressive/assertive nature during the winter hot spot. If we have been in touch with our drives and survival needs (related to assertion/aggression) and have found ways to express them, we will do relatively well during this time. By the way, if you have placements in Aries, Cancer, Libra or Capricorn, you are likely to experience more eventfulness during this time. This will be especially true of people born between 1949 and 1956.

The remainder of September is full of climactic events (and maybe climatic too, for that matter). On the 17th, we begin a new yearly cycle related to expansion, growth, prosperity, relationships and justice. We reach a crossroads in how we are going to use these energies around the 21st, when we will have to decide whether we are going to pursue something universal in nature (the challenge) or stick with what is fragmented, scattered and familiar. Are we going to communicate indiscriminately, without regard for truth and integrity, or are we going to look for something higher, more moral and ethical in an inner sense? Understanding should abound during this time, and activation will put us where we need to be. Travel will be a key factor, whether actual or figurative.

The last week of September brings a release of energies pent up since mid-April. What did you start at the New Year, which came into focus in Mid-April, and climaxed in your awareness around July 7th to 9th? This is what will resolve now.

The Sun enters Libra on the 22nd. This is the Autumnal Equinox, when day and night are equal once again. It is time to celebrate the Great Harvest, to give thanks and get ready for the time of sleep that we enter during the yearly cycle. Now is the time to begin to withdraw a little in anticipation of the winter to come. We still have 45 more days before the fact, but we must be aware enough to put aside some of what we have harvested to last us through the winter's darkness.

While the Sun is in Libra, relationship becomes all-important, but it is not always human relationship that we are talking about. It can be relationship with soul/self, factions, political parties, governments, harmonic tones in a chord, or concepts. When the Sun is in Libra, these types of relationships become all important; and struggle to balance them can arise, especially considering the aspects being made to the Sun during the coming month (bringing into our awareness the issues of aggressiveness that we will be dealing with this winter). Accordingly, the factions involved in the upcoming elections will become maximally polarized during October, a process rooted in tradition due to the elections always coming soon after the Sun's transit through Libra.

OCTOBER: Don't forget to pay your monthly bills—events may be so mesmerizing that the change of month may go by unnoticed. The first part of October promises to be every bit as exciting as September was! Around the 3rd or 4th, you will understand what adjustment in plans you must make, but you may not be able to implement anything until after the 15th. Patience and objectivity will serve you well here, when emotionalism, even maudlin tendencies, may come out.

You will feel a great deal of pressure to act on the 9th, but whatever action you take, you will have a chance to reexamine around January 6th of next year. Keep this in mind, and then act if you feel that the action will stand the test of time. Actions taken now are likely to feel impulsive in January, but that does not mean that what you are doing now is not the right thing to do, even in January's context.

You will certainly see these pressures come out in world and national events as well, and there may be some campaign gaffs and subsequent shifting in popularity around October 4th to 9th. These are relatively bellicose times, by the way; and since it would be in the incumbent's best interest to start a war/police action, etc., something may be conjured in relation to, for instance, the UN inspectors in Iraq. No incumbent President has ever lost an election during a war/military conflict. We hope that no one would start a war just to ensure reelection, but we also know that Bush wants to win, perhaps at any cost. This would be good time to work in the light to defuse this energy pattern on the level of international conflict.

You may feel an energy shift on October 15th, as if the universe has suddenly become a kinder, gentler place. We now have the opportunity to resolve issues once and for all, which came up at the end of January and became challenging at the end of May, reaching a climax around August 7th. Ponder what you were dealing with at those times, because that is what you will be able to complete and put behind you; or you will at least be able to pick up the lost threads at this time.

As the Sun moves into Scorpio we become less relationship oriented, a bit more reclusive. We get a chance to dig deeply within ourselves and assess what we have accomplished during 1992 and begin to think about what 1993 will bring. Transformation—letting go of old ideas and patterns—is a strong theme during the coming month.

At the New Moon on the 25th, we can begin activating this month-long cycle of renewal. There has never been a better time for optimism in the face of difficulty. Just keep track of your actions—don't get carried away by your emotions, because you could experience some regrets after November 27th. Consider goals and needs, philosophy and instincts for a balanced perspective.

On the 31st, of course, we celebrate Samhain, or Hallowe'en. While the solar cross quarter occurs on November 7th, the traditional date stands for most as the Pagan New Year. Let the old cycle die, banish what you don't need, and take the seeds for next year's planting, which will begin with the ascending light of Yule.

The energy of the Push-Me-Pull-You will not be out of our lives by the end of October. We can look forward to frustrating dilemma strongly coloring 1993. Hopefully we can laugh at its comical appearance, at ourselves for the folly of taking ourselves so seriously. Laughter and patience (or, if you're a doctor, patients) will bring peace in the times to come.

Blessed Be!