October optimism

GET ready for a flurry of new and exciting activity in your life in October. An extraordinary number of positive celestial alignments grace the skies this month, making it an excellent time to implement ideas you have been nurturing inside you. Positive celestial aspects guarantee positive results for endeavors you initiate at this time.

The month of October opened with the brilliant light of the Harvest Moon, the Moon that rises closest to the horizon, on October 2. The light of the Harvest Moon in Libra and Aries will affect you until the next Full Moon in Scorpio and Taurus on November 1. This Harvest Moon will illuminate your positive aspirations and give you the energy to go ahead with plans that you have been considering for a long time.

Jupiter, the planet of good luck, is the motivating force behind the positive celestial energy at this time. Jupiter is in Cancer, which is a most auspicious placement for this fortunate planet. Jupiter will remain in Cancer until August 1, 2002. Jupiter forms many angles, called squares and oppositions, to other planets in October. This will magnify positive energy. Squares and oppositions intensify the energy expressed by each planet involved in the geometric configurations in the sky. Jupiter brings luck, expansion, optimism and idealism to the planet on piter twice, once on October 19 and again on October 27. These celestial transits will sharpen your mental acuity and help you think of solutions you had not previously considered. The energy of Jupiter will then help you quickly manifest your ideas. When Jupiter squares Mercury again on October 27, you will have the opportunity to refine and refocus your plans so that you can move ahead to translate your dreams into reality.

Venus, the planet of love, squares Jupiter on October 26. This transit will activate your desire for relationship and will attract people to you - and you to people - with whom you can have harmonious and balanced contact.

October's frenetic pace also will be partially tempered by several counterbalancing celestial weights. Mercury, the planet of communications, is retrograde from October 1 to October 23. Mercury will apply the brakes and make you stop and reconsider your choices as you go through this active month. Mercury retrograde also will conjoin the Sun and square Mars on October 14. This combination will help you confront a long-standing thought pattern that has been standing in the way of your progress. Venus will enter Libra on October 15. This transition will help you make more balanced decisions that will bring more peace and harmony into your life. Next, Neptune, retrograde since mid-May, will return to direct motion on October 18. This outer planet reversal will raise your awareness of the discrepancy between your expectations and reality. Where there is a disparity between what you want and what is possible, you will have the opportunity to scale back your expectations to healthy proportions. The result of this attitude readjustment will be more realistic expectations and less frustration. You will become most aware of inflated expectations when the Sun squares Neptune on October 29.

The Sun moves into Scorpio on October 23. This will bring an intensification of your willpower so that you can bring the plans you most care about to fruition. Then, Mars moves into Aquarius on October 27. This transition will heighten your idealism and drive you to connect with groups of likeminded others. Uranus, the planet of radical change and upheaval, then turns direct on October 30 after being in retrograde motion since late May. This transition will give you the energy to make a change you have been contemplating for the last five months or longer. Mercury also conjoins Venus on October 30.

This alignment will help you give a positive and diplomatic touch to any negotiations you undertake. If you've been putting off making a change, this is the month to take concrete steps to realise your goals. It's up to you to take advantage of this special time.

LAURIE BAUM

The author is not available for personal predictions.

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