If you were expecting some kind of sun sign nonsense, forget about it. This is real astrology for the real world. If it's real astrology for yourself that you want, you can get it by phone or in print. And if you need help deciphering the astrological glyphs in the graphics accompanying this article, see Astroglyphs: Astrological Symbols Guide. Please note: this forecast is expressed in terms of Universal Time (UT). Also please be aware that, while I never change a forecast once it's published, I do post errata to acknowledge typographical errors and the like.
The distinction between past, present and future is only an illusion, if a stubborn one.
-- Albert Einstein
 

It’s a good thing there’s nothing new under the Sun this month, because I’m under the gun with so many client consultations the past couple of weeks. Who can write a world forecast for the month, when the phone won’t stop ringing? Clients first!

The fact of the matter is that there isn’t one single major planetary alignment in all of October. I can’t remember when there’s been such a listless month in our little corner of the cosmos. Oh sure, there are some square arcs, semi-squares, trines and the like. But those are mere footnotes to the really significant alignments; namely the conjunctions and oppositions. Only one such notable graces the heavens this month: a Mercury-Sun superior conjunction, as the little Sun-grazer passes between us and Sol. (No, I’m not counting asteroids, minor – let alone hypothetical - planets, Obi-Wan Kenobis, GPS satellites or what-have-you.) No SuperMoon, no eclipses, no major aspects . . . you might think it adds up to an uneventful October. I don’t think so.

For one thing, Mercury remains in its intersolar phase until October 22, when it reaches its greatest elongation west of the Sun (its morning star phase), at which point the little planet is headed toward the far side of our parent star. So the better part of the month, right up until the 22nd, is well and truly right in the midst of the Mercury intersolar cycle; which is likely especially notable within a few days of the 6th (Mercury’s superior conjunction with the Sun) and the 15th (the day Mercury’s direct station ends the retrograde portion of this cycle). If you don’t already know what to expect when Mercury is in its intersolar phase, see the relevant paragraphs in last month’s forecast.

There’s a spotty sprinkling of geophysical stress factors this month, although nothing that rises to the level of an eclipse or SuperMoon. I figure the greatest risk for notable storm and seismic activity (magnitude 5 quakes and notable volcanic eruptions) comes to pass around October 1-2, 4-6, 11-21, and from the 25th on into November. These would be the times to have your emergency supplies and plans in good order, and to figure that weather delays can play havoc with travel plans, transportation and communication networks, etc.

The big news this month, as in September, will continue to be the oscillating waves of fear and greed in the financial and equity markets. It’s not as if there’s anything new in this regard, just a snowball effect of what’s already in progress as we approach the November 4 US elections and Saturn-Uranus opposition, as described in my 2008 World Forecast Highlights. Saturn and Uranus remain within a few degrees of their exact November opposition all month, and Pluto likewise doesn’t get outside a degree of its September direct station until after the election.) Lurching from one crisis to the next in a process that continues on and off into 2010 (the last of the current set of Saturn-Uranus alignments), these are times to reduce debt and cut spending wherever possible – and, of course, to buy precious metals on the dips. But you know all this already, having read my forecast for the year.

Don’t think this doesn’t apply to you if you happen to live outside the US. I’ve already explained why the crisis as a whole is global and requires an international solution that will be huge and slow to emerge. Remember: all the blame is merely scape-goating, because the problem is systemic and fundamental. (It’s true that more than a few people have fraudulently gamed the system, and should be pursued criminally and civilly in the interests of justice. But the system itself is fraudulent, and that’s the bigger crime.) By the same token, each successive fix the central bankers, treasury secretaries and politicians announce is only temporary, until the fundamental issues are tackled and resolved – and that takes years. Don’t be fooled.

Last and quite possibly least, I keep hearing and reading widespread speculation concerning a military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities by the US or Israel this month, a pre-election October surprise of the first order. I’ve been looking into the heavens, and I just don’t see it. A New Year’s Eve or early January surprise, maybe. But if there’s to be an October surprise, I must be missing something. Mea culpa? We’ll see.

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