Portals in the October Night Sky: Seeing Possibility

Coastal Night Skies, Clear and Full of Beauty

Those of us who live along the coast line of North America, often find our summer nights shrouded in fog or low cloud cover. Autumn is the time the night sky tends to clear making the night sky perfect for star gazing.  The temperatures are higher than they have been for a while on the Central and Southern California coastlines, and skies here in the Pacific Northwest are clearer than usual as well (in between fog coming and rolling out).  We have had some beautiful views of the night sky. The waning Gibbous Moon rises after dark, and will becoming dimmer and dimmer until the New Moon in early November. That makes the sky darker and better for stargazing.  Living along the river at the mouth near the ocean, makes for a constant change of weather. As the spiders weave their glorious webs, in a non-stop effort to capture their food, the wind blows, the leaves begin to fall, trees change color.  As the colors deepen and grow richer as each day passes, the changes in the light deepen even the blue of the river waters and the mountains to the north.  This morning as I rose before dawn, I watched as ruddy Mars rose in the Eastern sky. October is a wonderful month for stargazing.


In October Jupiter is dominating the night sky. Jupiter rises early on the eastern horizon. Pegasus,the constellation named after the mythical unicorn, is formed, the stars known as the Great Square, its legs composed of other stars lined out like the horses legs.   You can locate Pegasus by locating the stars that form what is known as the Great Square. Pegasus  is the 1st star to host an extrasolar planet, 51 Pegasi. Just to the southwest of Pegasus, you can locate a bright star cluster

During late October, an interesting meteor shower happens. If you look to the East, you may be able to see the remnants of Halley’s Comet as it makes its closest approach in many years, to the Earth.  Every few minutes you may spot a tiny remnant of Halley’s comet burning up high in the atmosphere. This is known at the Orion  meteor shower. You can look for the meteor shower from your backyard.
In the middle of the east side of the Great Square, you will find the brightest star in the constellation.  This star points you in the direction of the constellation Andromeda. In mythology, Andromeda was a woman changed to stone in order to appease a jealous and angry god. In the middle of the constellation Andromeda is what appears to be a blur of light. This is a galaxy island of billions of stars, spinning and devouring another gallaxy. Approximately 2.5 million light-years away, this  is the closest spiral galaxy to our own Milky Way galaxy. Get out your binoculars or your telescope, and make a date with Jupiter, the Orian Meteor Showers, Andromeda, or the early-morning Mars.

I highly recommend the Hubble Space Telescope website and NASA’s Hubblesite.

The Sun in Libra is moving through the final degrees of Libra. Mercury is in 7 degrees of Scorpio,   the event 16° Scorpio, Jupiter  is early degrees Taurus Mars is in 17  degrees of Leo.  Uranus, the planet of sudden, unexpected changes, is in the early degrees of Aries. New beginnings happen suddenly for some who are ready; and perhaps for some who are not ready.  Ready or not, here comes something new, and how are you going to greet this new experience?  Doorways, gates, even walls and bridges, can be used for time to stop and ponder, ways to move across to a new experience, or for reasons to wonder what in the heck you're doing. Courage! Enjoy the opening for something worthy of you. 

Jupiter in the early degrees of Taurus, continues to be the brightest heavenly body in the early night sky. The Moon's entry into Cancer moves into opposition to Pluto in Capricorn, making us more aware of unexpressed fears and desires, dreams and visions.  Pluto, the great transformer, represents the energy of digging deeper and connecting our earthly being to our divine nature. Facing the truth of what we desire and what we fear, enable us to quell the fears with focus, action, and movement toward living more in alignment with developing our gifts and putting our energy, time, and resources into creating and acting on our dreams. No time for wishful thinking; time to take steps to ground ourselves in the reality of what we have to work with and how we are best to use our talents, resources, and vision. 

This morning, the Moon formed a sextile to Jupiter encouraging optimistic thinking and practical application in the that which we do to direct our work, time, and creative energies.  Step into acts with a sense of confidence and positive intention. Later in the evening when the Moon first trines Mercury, the planet that represents communications on all levels, and later Venus, the planet representing our feminine energies, our female friends, and the gifts, talents, and nature of the Divine Feminine within each of us and within the Universal makeup.  What we think, what we do, what we say, what we love, and what we create --all our being, actions, and intentions enable us to connect with one another, with ourselves, and with the Divine action that is revealed on the path when we are willing to listen, accept, and identify (name) clearly as the Truth of our being. 

This morning when I prayed and meditated on divine truth, I asked for a sense of alignment to take hold, connecting me to my Divine Creator, directly from within my Divine nature. Word came to listen to how the sacred was alive the quiet and calm. To watch and see. To wait and give thanks. To be and let be. There are signs all around. They appear in the call from a friend who is suffering, in the bird in flight that appears unexpectedly, in the dream, the fleeting thought or the nagging sensation. In the crisis that erupts, in the birth that takes place, and in the sense of overwhelming blessings that rise up when we least expect it.  Give thanks and be grateful for what you are, what you have, and what you can do.  Be a blessing to yourself; take care of yourself so you can be present and attentive to others when they need it, not just when it's convenient.  Move beyond the ordinary, the humdrum, the usual, and open your eyes to being at peace wherever you are. 

The Moon in Cancer, reminds us that home is where the heart is, and when we are struggling with our sense of feeling at home, it is a reminder that where we are is the right and perfect place to be now. We seem to get so caught up in the energetic movement of our lives, that being still, resting in place, and being at peace in the middle of the storms of life may seem counter intuitive. With the racing of our planet through the energetic tides of shifting and transforming movement, we are called to stand still and be at peace with who we are, where we are.  Connect with those who need to be reminded of your love and devotion; find stillness in your thoughts, actions, even you inner churnings. Let things unfold, and live in trust that the right and perfect movement includes you but doesn't depend on what you do or don't do, where you are or aren't, or what you think you should do or not. Be at peace today. Listen and watch for reminders, affirmations, and signs that all is well.