The Monthly Nerd

The Sky for October 2026

We start October with the Sun in Libra. Happy birthday, Libra friends! On the 23rd, the Sun will move into Scorpio and then it will be "happy birthday, Scorpio friends." If you have the Sun from 8° to 29° Libra, you'll be having your solar return soon. Anyone with the Sun in 0° to 7° Scorpio will have their solar return this month, too.

Mercury starts the month at 0° Scorpio and moves to 20° Scorpio before turning retrograde on the 23rd. This will most affect people with planets from about 0°-20° of Scorpio (conjunction), Taurus (opposition), Leo (square) and Aquarius (square). These transits will enhance (Scorpio) or complicate (Taurus, Leo, and Aquarius) your ability to communicate clearly.

Venus turns retrograde on October 2nd or 3rd, depending on your time zone, and is at 08° Scorpio-26° Libra this month. Retrograde Venus often cools relationships. If you're in a stable, well-functioning relationship, this retrograde shouldn't be a problem. Perhaps you and your parter will get some temporary alone time while Venus is retrograde. If, on the other hand, you're in a relationship already on shaky grounds, Venus retrograde could add extra stress to it, since it cools feelings. If the relationship survives Venus retrograde, it will be stronger. If not, it probably wasn't a very healthy relationship to begin with.

Those you have planets from 26° Libra to 08° of Scorpio (conjunction), Taurus (opposition), or Leo or Aquarius (square) will be most affected by this retrograde. The conjunction could put a spotlight on the area the conjunction is highlighting. A conjunction to natal Mars, for example, could soften the sex drive or cool anger, especially if Mars is in or ruling your 7th house.

The opposition will likely bring about some sort of challenge from the outside, especially via another person. An opposition to natal Uranus, for example, may bring some sort of unexpected disruption. For Uranus in the 11th, it might be a challenge to a friendship or group affiliation.

Squares from transiting Venus, on the other hand, often indicate taking on too much or going overboard in some way. A square to natal Mercury, for instance, might coincide with a time when you're verbally overconfident and accidentally say something you shouldn't have. Oops. Prepare to apologize if that happens.

Mars moves from about 2°-18° Leo this month. Those with planets from 02°-18° Leo may get an energy boost or sense of urgency. If you have the Sun in Leo, expect the energy boost. Mercury in Leo could experience a racing mind, while those with Venus in Leo might feel love in the air.

If you have planets in Aquarius, however, you could, instead, attract someone's aggression, especially those with the Sun in Aquarius. Those with planets in Taurus or Scorpio may also have some fights on their hands, though hopefully only verbal sparring.

Jupiter spends October from 19°-24° Leo. If you have your natal Jupiter from 13°-19° Leo, then hello, Jupiter Return! This should be a lucky time for you. If you have other planets from 13°-19° Leo, benevolent and expansive Jupiter will smile on them, too. For example, Jupiter contacting your Mercury could give you BIG ideas, whereas Jupiter-Venus contacts can be good for money.

If you have Aquarius placements, you may attract good luck from another person. For example, Jupiter opposite an Aquarius Mercury may bring someone into your life who expands your thinking, whereas those of you with natal Venus from 19°-24° Aquarius might attract people who just give you things this month.

Those with planets in Taurus and Scorpio will experience Jupiter squaring those planets. Coming from Jupiter, squares aren't so scary as when they come from, say, Saturn. Usually, squares from transiting Jupiter to natal planets indicate the possibility of maybe overdoing something. A Jupiter square to natal Mercury, for example, may indicate talking or thinking too much. You might write or say something you didn't intend to. Oops. A Jupiter square to your Mars, however, could give you so much extra energy and enthusiasm that you try to do too much at once and then run out of steam soon after. Again, look for planets from 19°-24° of these signs.

Retrograde Saturn starts September at 11° Aries and moves back to 09° Aries by the end of the month. If you have planets from 09°-11° Aries, this could be a frustrating time. Saturn conjoining an Aries Sun may mean you have to take on extra responsibility. You might also feel like your ego expressions are all put on hold at this time.

Those with planets at 09°-11° of Libra may have someone come into their lives who plays the part of oppressive and disciplined Saturn in some way. If it's the Sun in Libra, all of your ego expressions will likely be challenged or blocked by this person playing the part of Saturn in your life. Saturn opposing your Mars might bring in a person or situation that makes you feel like everything has just stopped for you, like someone is physically preventing you from doing anything, or you’re only able to do it after tremendous effort.

If you have planets from 09°-11° Cancer or Capricorn, you'll be experiencing a square from Saturn. If Saturn is square your Venus, this could be a difficult time for relationships. Saturn square Mercury may block your ability to communicate effectively, or at least make that very difficult. Saturn square a Cancer or Capricorn Sun might be trying to teach you patience. Whenever we think Saturn is saying "no", he is often really saying "not yet".

Retrograde Uranus moves from 5°-4° Gemini this month. If you happen to have a natal planet at 4° or 5° Gemini, this will be the conjunction. Uranus conjunct a Gemini Sun can indicate sudden change to your sense of self. Whoever you thought you were, now you're not so sure. This could be either exciting or disruptive depending on your comfort with change. A conjunction from Uranus to your Mercury, on the other hand, will likely bring you exciting new, and probably very unconventional, ideas. Whatever you thought your thoughts were, now you're not so sure. As with the Sun, this could be either exhilarating or terribly disruptive, depending on how flexible your mind is, though Mercury in Gemini would probably find it more exciting than disruptive.

Planets in Sagittarius will bring someone who acts as a disruptor because this is the opposition. Uranus opposite a Sagittarius Sun brings what you might call a "shit disturber" into your life. I hope you didn't have plans. Your disruptor could ruin them all. Really, Uranus is trying to shake you out of a rut. Whenever we can't or won't make creative change for ourselves, that's when Uranus comes along and does it for us.

If you have planets at 4° or 5° Virgo or Pisces, this will be the square. There will still be a disturbance of some sort, but with the square you're less likely to experience the wanton destruction of Uranus coming like a tornado through your life and more like something unexpected that makes you feel stuck. It's like the disruption leaves you with very little, if any, wiggle room. It's enough to make you say, "Uh. Okay. Now what?"

Retrograde Neptune is at 2° Aries for the entire month. If you are unfortunate enough to have planets at 2° Aries, prepare for confusion and dissolution. Those with the Sun at 2° Aries will have their ego boundaries dissolved. You thought you were this separate individual with your own thoughts and feelings, but under this transit, you'll likely start to find out this is not an accurate representation of reality. You may realize that you are a part of everything and everyone else and that all the separation you saw before was just an illusion. This could result in becoming more spiritual or maybe just more kind and compassionate toward others. You might let go of all the silly things that used to annoy you and go do something for someone else, like volunteering at a soup kitchen, for example.

Do you have any planets at 2° Libra? That's the opposition. If you have the Sun at 2° Libra, you might learn, through others, to strengthen your ego boundaries. You do not owe everyone your time and energy. A Virgo friend of mine had this experience when Neptune was still in Pisces. If you have planets at 2° of Cancer or Capricorn, this transit will be the square. A square from Neptune will challenge your attachments. Is there something, or someone, you need to let go of before you can move on in your life? Neptune will help you do this, though it probably won't be comfortable. In fact, squares tend to make us decidedly uncomfortable. Because it's only when we're uncomfortable that growth occurs.

And finally, Pluto starts October retrograde but then turns direct on the 15th. It will be at 3°Aquarius for the entire month. Do you have any planets at 3° Aquarius? Well, Pluto is about to start a transformation, if that hasn't begun already. Pluto is the planet of death and rebirth, and transits from him tend to force some sort of metamorphosis. Pluto conjunct the Sun? You will be unrecognizable by the time this is over. If Pluto conjoins your Mercury at 3° Aquarius, the way you think will be completely transformed. Pluto on Venus will transform your relationships.

Do you, instead, have a planet at 3° Leo? Then Pluto will oppose that planet. This will bring the transformation from the outside. A person or situation will occur that begins the metaphorical death and rebirth.

If you have any planets at 3° of Taurus or Scorpio, you'll be experiencing Pluto square that planet. The square may temporarily put your life on hold until the transformation is complete.

Monthly Article: Astrology Is All About Cycles

Quick, where is Mars in your birth chart? What are your big three? What’s the sign on your midheaven (MC)? When we learn astrology, we’re usually left with the impression that the horoscope is a collection of permanent facts. Mars is here. Venus is there. Saturn is in such-and-such a house.

But the planets aren't actually sitting still. They're moving constantly, going through cycles that repeat over and over again. The birth chart is simply a snapshot of those cycles at one particular moment in time. And once you start looking at astrology this way, predictive astrology starts to make a lot more sense.

The Solar Cycle

Let's start with the simplest cycle of all: the Sun.

The Sun takes one year, or 365 ¼ days, to travel through the zodiac and return to the place where it started. That's why we have the solar return every year, which is the moment the Sun has completed one cycle and returned to its natal position.

But we can divide that year into quarters.

At approximately three months, the transiting Sun forms a square to its starting position. At six months, it reaches the opposition. At nine months, it forms the next square. Twelve months brings us back to the conjunction.

Have you ever wondered why relationships seem to go through tests every three months? Let’s say the Sun is in Aries when your relationship begins. That’s your relationship chart. After three months, the Sun is in Cancer. That’s the first square. A square is a test. Is the relationship going well? Do you want it to continue? This is why some relationships only last three months, because they don’t pass that first test.

Another three months go by, and the Sun is in Libra. This is the opposition. An opposition is a direct challenge, often through another person or outside circumstance. If the relationship can’t withstand the challenge, then it likely ends at the opposition.

After another three, quiet months, the Sun is in Capricorn. This is the final square of the cycle, another test. Does the relationship pass this test? Or does it fall apart right here? If it passes this test, in another three months, the Sun is back in Aries. This is the relationship’s solar return. You’ve made it through a complete cycle.

Saturn and the Angles

The cycle of Saturn through the houses of the horoscope, and past each of the four angles of the chart, shows the seasons of one’s life with respect to career and recognition.

Saturn takes approximately 29½ years to make one complete trip around the zodiac. As it crosses the ascendant, nadir, descendent, and then midheaven, it tests us every seven years.

As Saturn crosses the ascendant, a period of turning inward begins. You can liken this to autumn, as the leaves change colors and fall off the trees. It’s a season when things are winding down. Now, that does not necessarily mean seven years of treading water and getting nowhere, but if you’re in this part of the Saturn cycle, you should not expect to make any great career headway.

Saturn moves through the first, second, and third houses and finally reaches the nadir, the lowest point of the chart. This is where the Sun would be at local midnight. As Saturn crosses this point and into the 4^th house, you can think of this as the beginning of winter. Winter is cold and baren, but the winter solstice is when the days slowly start getting longer. Now you’re on your way up again, but you have to start from the bottom. 

Seven years later, Saturn crosses the descendent. It is now back above the horizon. You are on your way up. You can think of this as Spring. It’s often a time when you are working really hard but not necessarily getting the recognition you would like. 

And finally, when Saturn reaches the midheaven seven years later, this is the peak. You can think of this as summer. Saturn is now at the highest point in your chart. 

If you have prepared well, not taken shortcuts and did everything on the up-and-up, this often coincides with a period where your professional life becomes more serious, demanding, or consequential. Sometimes it corresponds with taking on greater responsibility. Sometimes it marks a career milestone, a promotion, increased authority, or greater public recognition.

For those who have not prepared well, taken shortcuts, or did things dishonestly, this time can, instead, be a fall from grace. Sometimes, a career ends at this point. But if Saturn is satisfied you’ve done everything right, you will most likely enjoy a career peak during this season of your life.

Jupiter and Mercury: A Cycle of Ideas

Now let's look at another kind of cycle: Jupiter moving in relation to natal Mercury.

Jupiter takes approximately 12 years to travel around the zodiac. So, every 12 years, Jupiter returns to the place it occupied when we were born. But we can also watch Jupiter's relationship with a particular natal planet unfold through that cycle.

Suppose Jupiter conjoins your natal Mercury. Mercury describes the mind, communication, learning, and the way we process information. Jupiter expands whatever it touches.

So, a Jupiter–Mercury conjunction can coincide with a period when the mind seems to open up. We encounter new ideas and become interested in subjects we hadn't considered before. We may discover new philosophies, new ways of understanding the world, or possibilities we simply hadn't seen before. It's as though someone opened a window in a room you didn't realize was there. But the cycle doesn't stop at the conjunction.

About three years later, Jupiter reaches its first square to natal Mercury. Now that new perspective encounters its first test. The ideas we discovered at the conjunction have to contend with reality. Are they actually useful? Do they hold up? What happens when we try to apply them?

About three years after that, roughly six years after the original conjunction, Jupiter reaches its opposition to your natal Mercury. This often brings another person into the picture, someone whose beliefs, opinions, knowledge, or perspective directly challenges your own. And that's important because sometimes we don't discover the limitations of an idea by thinking about it ourselves. Sometime, someone else shows us.

Three years later, Jupiter reaches the second square. We're once again forced to examine what we've learned and how our thinking has changed.

And then, three years after that, approximately 12 years after the original conjunction, Jupiter returns to natal Mercury. We're back where we started. Except we're not the same person who was standing there 12 years earlier. We've completed the cycle. And perhaps we're ready to see something that wasn't visible the first time around.

The Birth Chart Is a Snapshot of Many Cycles

This is why I think of the birth chart as a collection of cycles frozen in time.

At the moment you were born, the Sun was at a particular point in its cycle. The Moon was at a particular point in its cycle. Mercury was somewhere in its cycle with respect to the other planets. Jupiter was somewhere in its 12-year cycle. Saturn was somewhere in its 29½-year cycle.

And all of those planets were forming relationships with one another. The birth chart captures that particular moment. But the planets didn't stop moving when we were born. They kept going. And that's where predictive astrology comes in.

When we use transits, we're watching the planets continue through their cycles in relation to the birth chart.

When we use secondary progressions, we're watching the symbolic unfolding of the birth chart according to another clock.

When we use solar arcs, we're advancing the planets by approximately the Sun's daily motion and watching those relationships develop over the course of a lifetime.

Different predictive techniques use different clocks. But they're all clocks. And that's the part that I think is easy to miss when astrology is taught as a collection of meanings to memorize.

We're not really asking, “What does Saturn mean?” We're asking, where is Saturn in its cycle? What part of the birth chart is it moving through? What is it activating? What cycle is beginning? What cycle is reaching a turning point? And what cycle is coming back around?

Once you start looking at astrology this way, a horoscope stops looking like a static collection of symbols and starts looking more like a map of intersecting cycles. And there aren't just a few cycles, either. There are dozens and dozens of them operating simultaneously.

The planets have their own cycles. They have cycles relative to one another. They move through the signs and houses of the natal chart. They cross the angles. They form conjunctions, squares, oppositions, trines, and other aspects to natal planets. There are lunar cycles, solar cycles, Jupiter cycles, Saturn cycles, eclipse cycles, progressed cycles, solar-arc cycles, annual cycles, and smaller cycles nested inside larger ones. All of them are happening at the same time.

That's astrology. We're watching a constantly moving celestial clock. The birth chart tells us where the hands were when we were born. Predictive astrology watches those hands continue to move. And every once in a while, they come back around to a place they've visited before. Only now, we're different.

Celebrity Spotlight: Carrie Fisher

Carrie Fisher (1956–2016) is best known as Princess Leia in Star Wars, but her career extended far beyond acting. She was also a novelist, screenwriter, memoirist, and an outspoken advocate for mental-health and addiction awareness.

Her chart has a striking emphasis on the public sphere: the Sun in Libra is conjunct the Midheaven, placing identity and self-expression directly on one of the chart’s most visible points. The Sun is also conjunct Venus, which is especially intriguing because Venus rules both her 5th house of creativity and 10th house of career. Venus is in its own sign of Libra and sits close to the MC, making the connection between creativity, beauty, performance, and public life particularly strong. Carrie herself famously struggled with feeling beautiful when she was young, but millions of people clearly saw something very different—including a certain Princess Leia outfit that probably generated a few crushes along the way.

Saturn in the 3rd house, meanwhile, gives us a very different story about the intellect. Saturn rules her Capricorn Ascendant, so it carries considerable weight in the chart, and Carrie developed a serious relationship with reading and writing from an early age. She was known as a bookworm, wanted to impress her father intellectually, and eventually established herself as a writer in her own right. She was also the oldest of her siblings, giving Saturn in the 3rd a wonderfully literal expression through the traditional association of the 3rd house with siblings.

Sometimes Saturn in the 3rd house can indicate learning disabilities or difficulties with early schooling. In Fisher's case, however, we instead see a serious mind that worked hard to develop mastery. As her acting career took off, her schooling was interrupted, and delays and interruptions are very much Saturn.

Mercury conjunct Neptune in Scorpio in the 11th gives her a penetrating and imaginative mind capable of turning difficult personal experiences into stories, humor, and insight. Her Mercury–Neptune conjunction is sextile Venus, linking that imagination and verbal talent directly to her creativity and public career. Her Aquarius Moon and 11th-house Mercury also fit beautifully with her later use of her voice to connect with and advocate for people dealing with mental illness and addiction.

Carrie Fisher was talented, witty, sarcastic, and well-loved by the public. I think her chart shows this very well. Between her Sun-Venus conjunction in Libra in the 10th house, her Mercury in probing Scorpio conjunct imaginative Neptune giving her that vulnerability she showed in "Wishful Drinking," and her chart-ruler, Saturn, lending her the tenacity to master whatever she wanted to be good at, it is no wonder that Carrie Fisher left such a profound and lasting mark on the world.

Rest in peace, Carrie. You will always be my princess.

A Handy Astrology Cheat Sheet

Still getting your head around the 12 houses? I've put together a handy cheat sheet explaining what each house represents and how to use them when reading a chart. [Get the Houses Cheat Sheet]

Have a wonderful month! And if no one has told you yet today, you are important and the world needs you.

Bye for now.

Shea (The Astrology Nerd)

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This publication may be shared but not sold or altered in any way. Written by Shea Ballard.