If you were expecting some kind of sun sign nonsense, forget it. This is real astrology. See the section above. Please note: this forecast is expressed in terms of Universal Time (UT). Current UT date and time appear at the top of this page. (To update display, use your browser's reload/refresh button.) 

AQUARIUS STATION: ALL ABOARD!

October features a couple of heavy planet stations in Aquarius, and a heavy planet square alignment also involving this sign. (In this context, 'heavy planet' refers to the massive gas giants of the outer solar system: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.) It's a theme that gets underway with the Jupiter-Neptune square on the 11th, as these two planets line up 90 degrees apart from Taurus to Aquarius respectively. Two days later, Neptune comes to its apparent standstill in the heavens at 2 Aquarius on the 13th, turning direct to end the retrograde it began on May 6. And then on the 23rd Uranus makes a direct station as well (at 13 Aquarius, ending the retrograde that started May 21). It all adds up to a lot of emphasis on Aquarius and Taurus, a prelude to the Saturn-Uranus square that happens November 14 - but which will already be making its mark as October draws to a close and Saturn slips to within a degree of its square to Uranus.

So much Aquarius-Taurus emphasis involving all four of the heavy planets strongly suggests that money and technology are in the global spotlight this month. The unintended consequences of technological advances will be much in the news . . . progress versus humanity, a kind of anti-technological backlash. (Holy Latter Day Luddites!) From bio-engineered crop scares to agri-business food scares to hacker attacks to computer crashes, people's confidence in the world of the future wears a bit thin in October. And it's not just a few days of the month, either. While the exact event dates - the 11th, 13th and 23rd - are apt to be focal points in time, the fact is that Uranus and Neptune remain within a degree of their station points throughout October. Likewise, Jupiter stays within a degree of its square to Neptune from the 2nd through the 18th. Not to mention trigger aspects, like Mercury's square to Neptune and opposition to Jupiter on the 6th, the Mercury square and opposition to Saturn and Venus' Pluto square at mid-month, or the solar opposition to Jupiter and square to Neptune in the last week of October . . . So this is not a sometime thing: it's a month-long thing. Probably not a good time to be holding a portfolio heavy in high-tech, unless you're comfortable waiting out the downdrafts. (And if you're Boris Yeltsin, you're not likely to be feeling on top of the world.)

JUPITER-NEPTUNE

Finance ministers everywhere, take note: adjustment mechanisms that helped keep the gross national product humming along in the past - and the basket of currencies from coming unraveled - are prone to breakdown at times like this. Alignments of this sort tend to mean bubbles bursting, illusions deflating, currency exchange rates going nuts. The last waxing Jupiter-Neptune square - the type happening this year - occurred in 1987. The last Jupiter-Neptune square with Jupiter in Taurus - again, like this year's - occurred in 1929. It all seems to fit into and extend the pattern that led me to predict a top in major equity markets, and the beginning of a correction in the area of 20%, to coincide with Saturn's retrograde station as noted in my July forecast:

"Saturn remains within a degree of its August 30 retrograde station from July 26 through October 19. That pretty well stakes out the interval during which this year's most significant correction in the equity markets should begin. Since the station is exact on August 30, odds are good that the correction - which I expect will be at least 15-20 percent - will begin around that date."

So far, that forecast is looking fairly good. For example, the Dow average hit a record peak for the year to date on August 25, and by September 21 the closely-watched index had declined more than 600 points. If I'm right, the correction has begun, and will continue - the usual daily ups and downs notwithstanding - until early December '99 at the earliest or mid-February 2000 at the latest. And again, if I'm right, this month should contribute more than its share to that decline.

Uranus and Neptune stationing in Aquarius, with squares from Jupiter (followed quickly by Saturn): sounds like lightning, thunderstorms, fog . . . ideas too good to be true coming up short . . . smart but not wise. Well, at least the quake- and storm-prone cycle of the last couple months seems to be on the wane in October.

MARS & MAYHEM ON THE WANE

Also on the wane this month is Mars, figuratively speaking. After months of very strong hard aspects involving the Red Planet - in effect off and on all year until now - there isn't a single one in October. Is peace breaking out all over the world? Hardly. But we should see a reduction in the level of senseless violence and mayhem that has so characterized the year to date. To be sure, with the Saturn-Uranus square taking hold by month's end, revolutionary struggles and conflict between nations won't abate much - may even intensify as we move toward November. But at least the quotient of personal rather than political violence should show a welcome decline.

NEW MOON, FULL MOON & MORE

With no eclipses or SuperMoons to stir things up, October looks fairly quiet compared to months past when it comes to geophysical upheaval. The monster storms and quakes that so dominated headlines around the world of late should mostly be notable by their relative absence this month. That's not at all to say there won't be a few severe storms (with attendant flooding) and moderate to severe seismic activity (including Richter 5+ earthquakes and volcanic eruptions), mind you. Rather, the kind of "Mother Nature on a rampage" scenarios of last month will play a much smaller role in the headlines for October.

That said, there are several risk periods this month, times when seismic upheaval and meteorological messes can surge up from the normal background level. Of course the new moon at 16 Libra on the 9th will stir things around, from the 6th through the 12th - and especially on the very day of the lunation, when the Moon crosses the celestial equator from north to south. Another turbulent period falls within a day either way of the 16th, when the Moon reaches maximum declination south of the equator. As always, whoever travels during times like this is wise to allow for weather-related delays. And everyone would do well to keep an eye on the skies, the pantry well-stocked with emergency supplies just in case.

The full moon at 1 Taurus on the 24th comes two days before October's lunar perigee, and just a day after the sun opposes Jupiter and Luna crosses the celestial equator heading north - not to mention the Uranus station. For an ordinary full moon, the alignment on the 24th is particularly portentous. Apart from coming so close on the heels of the aforementioned celestial phenomena, this particular full moon happens to be the linchpin of a T-square involving Sun and Moon plus Jupiter and Neptune. And there's a simultaneous Saturn-Uranus square within a mere two degrees of exact at the same time. So even though it doesn't rise to the level of a SuperMoon or eclipse, this looks like the biggest seismic and meteorological risk period of the month, and it extends from the 21st through the 27th - and then some . . .

Speaking of eclipses, there's another element to the October 24 full moon: it comes just over a week prior to the November 1 solar square to the lunar nodes (8 degrees Scorpio to the 8 degree Leo-Aquarius nodal axis). This is the so-called "Moon wobble" time, the arcane delight of many astrologers. While I pay no attention to the "Moon wobble" per se, I see solar and lunar hard aspects to the nodes as noteworthy in their own right. (An eclipse is a special case of a solar and lunar hard aspect to the nodes.) And I have learned from experience that lunar declination maxima and celestial equator crossings are often accompanied by strong storms and moderate to severe seismic activity. (The devastating Taiwan earthquake of September struck within a day of the Moon's maximum southern declination.)

With this in mind, there's a sequence of events starting with the full moon on the 24th and extending throughout the last week of October that looks like a signal of turbulent times on the geophysical front. In the days following the full moon, we have the Moon reaching its monthly perigee on the 26th and the Sun within five degrees of squaring the lunar nodes from the 26th onward; plus Luna attaining its maximum northern declination on the 29th and squaring the nodes (and the Sun) on the 31st.

As always, we're dealing with events on a geocosmic scale here, so there's no place on Earth that can't be subject to the kind of storm and seismic potentials on tap during this period. Just to be on the safe side, I recommend planning for weather-related delays if you must travel at times like this. (And keeping up on the emergency supplies in your pantry, which should now be quite well stocked in anticipation of Y2K anyway.)

  

SPECIAL FEATURE: This month's birthdays of the famous and infamous (with astrological birth charts)