OMG Stars is an astrology column written by queer astrologer Amelia Ehrhardt (@soft_aspects). Every two weeks, on the new and full moons, Amelia interprets the upcoming astrology with a focus on how to navigate current events (astrological and global). Book an appointment with Amelia here.
New Moon in Libra, Friday October 16th
Mercury retrograde in Scorpio, until November 3rd
The golden light of Libra season is one of the ways that I best understand this sign. Where I am now writing this, I’m north of the city in a cabin, the sunset is brilliantly orange on yellow trees: it’s almost offensively pretty. This feels so apt for me for Libra season, a sign I’ve often described as The Carrie Bradshaw of the Zodiac.
On the one hand: Aesthetics! Pretty! Harmony! On the other hand: Indecision! Dependency! Surface level! The beauty of Libra season in this part of the world quickly gives way to Scorpio season death time and I love the way that Libra shows us that the skin between beauty and transformation is always very fragile.
The new moon this past Friday brought the moon into a pattern with the big players of 2020 – Mars, Pluto, Saturn, and Jupiter – meaning feelings (the sun) and our center (the sun) were implicated in the big patterns of the year. The way that patterns of anger, defensiveness, destruction and fear have been playing out throughout this year on the global stage has been reflected in our personal lives since Mars entered Aries in June, and anytime the Sun and the Moon have joined the conversation, these dynamics have increased.
Meanwhile, Mercury stationed retrograde in Scorpio last week. The ways the Internet describes Mercury retrograde are forever a gift to me: Mercury is rollerblading; Mercury is doing the renegade. The urgency of Mercury retrogrades mean that this backwards dance is always so palpable – I think especially lately given that Mercury rules communication and technology (i.e. the Internet) so when it is retrograde and the Internet becomes unreliable it’s particularly stressful.
In the sign of Scorpio, Mercury retrograde will absolutely intensify conversations. Disagreement will be so possible, misunderstanding will feel like a personal affront. As best you can, work to not take disagreements personally, and remember to take everything as a learning opportunity.
Scorpio is here to teach you the depths of possibility, and if you resist it, those depths feel like a cold plunge instead of a cleansing bath.
Find your horoscopes after the jump!
Horoscopes are written using whole house calculations and are meant as inspiration and affirmation of what you already know. They are written for both sun and rising signs, but specific information is calculated for the rising signs. You can also read the horoscope for your moon sign for extra emotional information. You can access your birth chart at www.astro.com or many other apps and websites using your birth date, time, and location. If you’re interested in getting a reading, you can book one with Amelia here.
Aries and Aries rising
While your ruling planet Mars continues its 2020 Retrograde of Anger, Mercury has come along for the ride and is adding the element of disagreement to the present energy of no talk me I’m angy. Keep working to make sure that you are giving adequate space to listen so that disagreements don’t turn into disengagements.
Aries rising people have this Mercury retrograde in your eighth house of intimacy and entanglement, so the next three weeks could be a particularly spicy time. This isn’t the best moment to try to have the hard conversations: however if you do, they can lead to much more truth and understanding than they normally would if you put in the work. Being in intimacy right now will be harder than usual but the level of connection that can emerge will be particularly transformative. Stick with it and give yourself time to breathe.
Taurus and Taurus rising
During these weeks Mercury is in retrograde, it’s also in Taurus’ opposite sign of Scorpio. For all the ways that Taurus loves comfort, Scorpio loves the deeps of talking it out that are so truly uncomfortable. Talking through our biggest feelings is not cozy. Having a minor disagreement that brings out a very major old wound is not safe.
Scorpio season is a tough time for the Taurean part of ourselves. but on the other hand, this time of year is about going inside, getting warm, putting on sweaters, which can also be so comfortable. Try to focus on the warmth of getting cozy as these days bring you to some edges. Taurus rising readers have this Mercury retrograde in your seventh house of one-on-one relationships, so if ever there was a time I would recommend some basic couples therapy skills, this is it.
Practice “I” statements, work on listening, and speak with honesty at all times. This will keep any of those minor disagreements from bringing you into deep discomfort.
Gemini and Gemini rising
With your ruling planet retrograde, Gemini is at a particular disadvantage as all of your beloved communication becomes fantastically unreliable. I often feel that being a Gemini person during a Mercury retrograde must be like being lost at sea. Surrounded by water but can’t drink any of it; surrounded by information but can’t trust an ounce of it.
Gemini and Scorpio are two signs that can really get together to talk shit, so with a Mercury retrograde in Scorpio the capacity for ~gossip~ is high. Be wary of secrets coming out. Gemini rising readers have this retrograde in your sixth house of everyday life: watch for scheduling mishaps or miscommunications at work. Those secrets I mentioned might be coming out in your daily life, so be prepared to be as impartial as possible and remain vigilant in your honesty.
Cancer and Cancer rising
This Mercury retrograde is in a fellow water sign, so the level of intensity in conversations right now might be making your lot feel extra sensitive. The depth of conversations that occur when Mercury is in Scorpio can make Cancer folks feel a bit tender, so give yourself lots of alone time when interpersonal dynamics become a bit too much.
Cancer rising readers have this retrograde in your fifth house, which has to do with fun, your creative practice, falling in love…from personal experience, I will also note that the fifth house has to do with pets, and this Cancer rising baby has already had a a very mercury retrograde pet mishap, so the force is strong this time. On the plus side this is a great time, Cancer rising, to get into the depths on your creative self. Dive deep into old projects to see what they have to show you and don’t be afraid of the intensity you find.
Leo and Leo rising
Leo is a sign well prepared to roll with the punches in some ways, because Leo is up for a good time, but when those punches start to pull in directions you don’t like, the claws can start to come out. People are not necessarily at their best for listening with Mercury stationed retrograde, so your desire to share might be falling on unwilling (or at least incapable) ears. Try to consider how you can connect with people in spite of disagreement.
Leo rising readers have this retrograde in your fourth house of home. On the downside, things have the potential to go wrong in your literal house, so if there’s anything wrong with your appliances this is a moment to investigate. On the plus side, this can be a good moment to reflect on your relationship with your family of origin, as past issues come to the forefront.
Nostalgia is strong during Mercury retrogrades, and in Scorpio (a nostalgic sign) and your fourth house, childhood nostalgia might really come up. Use these next few weeks to reflect, journal, and otherwise go over your relationship to the idea of “home,” and ways that relationship can develop in the future.
Virgo and Virgo rising
As Venus continues to remind us of the pleasures of daily life while she transits your sign, the Mercury retrograde in Scorpio can be a good opportunity for ornery Virgo energy to clarify detail. Mercury in this sign asks: what didn’t you think of in the past? What past mistakes have not been dealt with? What could have been minor that will become major if you don’t address it?
Thankfully, Virgo thrives in dealing with detail, so take up the opportunity. Virgo rising readers have this retrograde in your third house of communication: your already passionate communication style can really hit the deep end right now.
Try to not get too overwhelmed in conversations where disagreement is a major thematic. In Scorpio, these disagreements could be intense, heated, and passionate, so work on self-regulating in conversations to keep your head above these deep dark waters.
Libra and Libra rising
Happy new moon in your sign! This is a time for Libras to set your intentions for the year moving forward, and begin projects that you want to see culminate when the full moon arrives in your sign next March. Wherever you have Libra in your chart, use this lunation to begin planting the seeds of some kind of work that you want to see moving forwards.
Libra rising readers have the Mercury retrograde in your second house of resources, and ouch, this one could sting if you’re not extra prudent. Scorpio rules debt, so be cautious of any financial mishaps that causes you to sink into the red. Be careful with your budgeting, and also with your resources in general – which includes your energy. Consider thinking of these things the same way you would your money, and develop a sense of budgeting with your personal energetic space (it’s called “boundaries”).
Scorpio and Scorpio rising
When Mercury is in your sign, suddenly everyone can speak with the same sting that you can. If Mercury is a Messenger, we can think of Mercury in Scorpio as being a secret Messenger in the night, carrying secrets in complicated interwoven plots. Retrograde, that Messenger is running into a lot of problems. The normally smooth plans that this cunning information runner carefully lays cannot be executed, and the secret information is lost. Since your lot are often included to hold deep information, be careful during this retrograde that you guard it with everything in you, even when everyone elses’ desires for secrets is strong.
Scorpio rising readers have this retrograde in your first house of identity: you might find that old identity issues that you thought you had gotten over are coming up. Worries about the way people see youth perhaps you thought you abandoned with adolescence come creeping back, and you get self-conscious about your style of dress. While it’s an excellent time to start revising your wardrobe, maybe think twice before actually throwing anything away. Start a “maybe” pile for clothes that feel outworn that you can revisit after Mercury stations direct on November 3rd.
Sagittarius and Sagittarius rising
Since Scorpio and Sagittarius are so close to each other in the sky, Scorpio/Sagittarius combinations in Astrology between the Sun, Mercury, and Venus are quite common. Sagittarian sun people all have Mercury in either Scorpio, Sagittarius, or Capricorn, and those of your Archers with Mercury in Scorpio have the fun combination of being both bluntly honest as Sag can be while as cuttingly incisive as Mercury is all the time. During this retrograde be sure not to reveal anything that, um, isn’t yours to reveal – and for all Sag people, maybe withhold that honesty until people are a bit less spicy.
Sag rising readers have this retrograde in your twelfth house of dreams, secrets, and solitude. Your dreams could be sending you all kinds of information right now, lots of it probably deep cuts from the past. Write down your dreams but don’t try to do much with them until Mercury stations direct on November 3rd, at which point you can start to dig in on what they’re trying to tell you with more accuracy.
Capricorn and Capricorn rising
Capricorns, you really are the straggling workers coming home after a brutal shift of 2020, as the astrology has battered your sign all year. This Mercury retrograde is in a sign that plays well with Capricorn, however, and Venus in Virgo has been trining the Capricorn planets so you’re getting a lil boost of sweetness. Take whatever you can get!
Capricorn readers have this Mercury retrograde in your 11th house of community. Capricorns love structure and organization, but any of the groups you belong to probably have some inconsistencies in their structures lately. If you work with or belong to an organization you could see confusion in how it is structured, or simply some deep misunderstandings among your friend groups.
Do your best, Capricorn, to try not to control them: listen as best you can, and use your natural skill to see from a mountain view and get a sense of the shifting landscape.
Aquarius and Aquarius rising
I always find something Aquarian in the energy of a Mercury retrograde, even though Mercury as a planet is not associated with the sign at all. The unpredictability and chaos is close to home for your bunch of the Zodiac, so I sometimes think it might hit you with a little less stress, even though your sign is about systems. What can you learn about a system when it’s not operating at peak? Mercury retrograde can teach this to you.
Aquarius rising readers have this retrograde in your tenth house of career, so although there could be some real forehead-banging-against-the-wall moments where you feel some minor setbacks in your career, these setbacks can teach you important lessons about things that didn’t get dealt with in the first place. Take these mistakes forward to tighten up your systems and thank Mercury for the lessons.
Pisces and Pisces rising
Mercury joins your ruling planet Neptune in retrograde motion right now, and both in water signs, so the swimming depths of confused information coming forth has some similarity to the deep level of mystery we’re all just living with right now. Pisces people can use your capacity for multiplicity and mutability of information to tread these murky waters: detail is always a little fuzzy for your lot, so what’s a few weeks of missed meetings?
Pisces rising readers have this retrograde in your ninth house of expansion. Thankfully there isn’t really so much travel happening these days so while normally I would say to take extra caution with trips, hopefully you don’t have to do this. If you are a student right now this retrograde might bring some major confusion at school, either with mundane technical problems or particularly muddy lessons.
Again, I offer you to sit in misunderstanding as best you can and avoid seeking answers until mercury stations direct on November 3rd.
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