Astrologically speaking, the Full Moon at 2° Taurus/2° Scorpio this month is very significant for the United States, and not for the better. This full Moon promises protracted violence, strife, and financial insolvency for the nation. The horoscope for the Full Moon, set for Washington, D.C., is below:

The stationary Mars in Cancer (in the sign of its fall, so quite malefic) is conjunct the Midheaven of the preceding solar eclipse of September 11, 2007, and opposite the Moon in Capricorn in the Grand Conjunction chart of 1762. Finally, this full Moon is exactly on the cusp of the crucial 10th house of the King, when set for Washington, D.C.. This establishes the importance of this particular full Moon, which we can expect to trigger some fairly disturbing events. Note that this malefic Mars is aspecting Saturn on the malefic South node, which is conjunct the second house of money.

To round out this parade of horribles, William Ramesey (citing the Arab astrologers) writes that Mars in the 12th house means “the people shall be much terrified and troubled by their enemies, from whence shall proceed slaughter and effusion of blood.” While I believe we should hope for the best, this is not an auspicious chart, connecting slaughter and financial insolvency. It is not a far leap to make the connection between these testimonies, the Iraq war, and the current financial troubles of the United States. The dollar may well plumb new depths.

As lunation charts also have everything to do with the weather, with the Full Moon so prominent in the sky, the week starting on October 26th may be a somewhat wet/cloudy week for the nation’s capital.

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Horary Astrology Question:

I work for myself so my income is variable. The facade of my house is collapsing. The builder is in the process of preparing yet another estimate because my husband will not finance the work. Therefore I must try and borrow the money. I don’t know to what extent the bank is prepared to lend me the money, as I am self-employed. I am British and have lived in France for 25 years. My husband is French. This is important to know as the bank is French. Will I get the money to renovate my house?

—J.

Nina Gryphon:

Dear J.,

A person much smarter than myself once told me that bankers only lend you money when they are convinced that you don’t need it. That said, it may be possible for you to squeeze water out of a rock; let’s see what the horary chart says. The horoscope for your question is below:

The façade of your house does not appear to be in the best of shape: the ruler of your fourth house of real estate is Mars, which has recently entered its fall, the sign of Cancer. You can see how horary can be very literal — the house itself is falling. Mars is moving very slowly, as it prepares to enter first station before turning retrograde: your house is falling, though slowly. However, help may be on the way. Mars is about to sextile Saturn in Virgo, and since Saturn rules braces and reinforcements of all sorts, then the remedial measures should hold back the ravages of time.

So this is helpful; since we have evidence of the work being done, the money will come from somewhere. Let us take a look at the bank, and more specifically, its money. You will get some money from the bank, and I would expect this to happen very very shortly. The bank’s money is ruled by the Sun, which will very soon sextile your significator, Jupiter. How is the Sun? It is in the sign of its fall, though it is very strongly placed on the Midheaven. There may not be as much money as you had hoped. Perhaps at least in the short term, you may choose just to maintain the façade as it is, as opposed to going for a complete repair.

The Sun is also in detriment of Mars, the house, so the bank’s money harms the house. It may be that you will have to raise more money in the future to do a complete renovation of the façade and truly fix the problem, as opposed to just arresting further deterioration.

The good news is that the bank is willing to give you the money, as they believe that you have more money than you really do. Note that the Sun exalts Saturn, ruler of your second house of assets. It will be some time before you can truly renovate the house, but at least this first phase will be paid for.

—Readers who wish to get a horary reading from Nina Gryphon may purchase one at top left, or learn more at the Gryphon Astrology Readings page.

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As you may have noticed, the Gryphon Astrology blog has been moved from its original home on WordPress.com, and will continue here. All the old posts, charts, and graphics are now here as well, so you can search the archive as before.

Best wishes,

Nina

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Horary Astrology Question:

I’m a college student and I’m hopefully getting a job that I actually want in October but not completely sure. If I can’t, I have to go live with my Mom in a town where I would know no one. I’ve fallen in love with this town and I would like to know if I’m going to be able to somehow make ends meet and stick it here.

—K.

Nina Gryphon:

Dear K.,

I know how you must feel; I have a few places in the world where I would like to live, but our desires and reality are not always the same thing. I cast a horary astrological chart for the time of your question, and the horoscope for that is below:

I’m afraid that you may not be able to stay where you are. The Lord of the first house of self, Mars, is about to change signs, which is one testimony of an impending move. The fact that Mars is about to move into the sign of its fall, Cancer, makes me think that you are going to be in a situation you don’t like. The Moon, your co-significator, is in the double sign Pisces, which also is a hint that you may not be able to stay were you want.

This makes me wonder about the job that you are expecting. Mercury, ruler of the 10th house of work, is in the detriment of Mars, and will shortly trine Mars. If Mercury was not so badly disposed toward Mars, I would say you will get the job. However, because the job seems to dislike you, you will either not get the job, or the job will simply not be very good and you will not keep it.

Either way, as far as the job goes, good riddance. The 10th house cusp of career is extremely afflicted, telling us that there is something seriously wrong with this job. Saturn is on the 10th house cusp, as is the South node, both of which are highly malefic influences, and you give discouraging testimony regarding this job prospect.

—Readers who wish to get a horary reading from Nina Gryphon may purchase one at top left, or learn more at the Gryphon Astrology Readings page.

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Mercury will enter the sign of Scorpio, and it will spend more time there than usual, as Mercury will turn retrograde at 9° Scorpio. Scorpio is not an entirely uncongenial sign for Mercury, though there are distinct differences between the qualities of Mercury and those of Scorpio. Mercury is Peregrine (without essential dignity) through most of Scorpio, with the exception of a few degrees toward the end, where Mercury is in its own term.

Mercury is a cold and dry planet, associated with the melancholic (earthy) temperament. Scorpio is cold and moist, because it is a water sign. So there is some similarity between Mercury and Scorpio, in that both are cold; but the emotional moisture of Scorpio is somewhat alien to the cerebral cogitation of Mercury. Beyond this, Mercury is the planet of communication, whereas Scorpio is a mute sign.

Even at the time of this writing, Mercury is starting to slow down, until he grinds to a complete halt at the point of retrogradation. Generally, it is not considered auspicious to have a slow moving planet signifying our work, which may be in danger of becoming interminably long, so it is probably best to wait until early November to do major mercurial tasks, such as applications, written works, and so forth.

Mercury in the Natal Horoscope

The famed Pablo Picasso had Mercury in Scorpio. Picasso’s horoscope is below:

Throughout his life, Picasso had difficulty reconciling his spiritual faith with his day-to-day behavior. Though he was officially married to his first wife in the Eastern Orthodox faith, he was not able to reconcile this faith to his actions. This is very clearly seen in the opposition between Jupiter, the ruler of the ninth house of religion, and Mercury, the ruler of the third house, which shows how we really act.

I suspect that Picasso was born a couple of minutes earlier than the official time of 11:15 p.m., which would make Mars in Cancer in the 12th house as the ruler of the fifth house of sex. If Mercury is Picasso’s behavior, its ruler being Mars in Cancer and the 12th house might indicate frequent and secret affairs. So Picasso might want to be good, but Mercury is far more interested in Mars than in Jupiter.

Mercury also points to the intensely emotional nature of Picasso’s art. If, as I think, the 5^th house cusp is in Scorpio, Mercury would be on the 5^th house cusp, indicating the profound emotional depth of his paintings. Jupiter’s opposition shows the sheer volume of Picasso’s work; he is known to have worked constantly.

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Horary Astrology Question:

C. and I were together for a considerable amount of time and spoke of marriage in the future. We broke up because he said he needed time. This is the man that I believe in my heart I am to marry but I’m also obviously having a big moment of doubt due to the breakup. Will we be married?

—R.

Nina Gryphon:

Dear R.,

I am sorry to hear of your relationship problems. I cast a horary chart for the time I understood your question. The horoscope is below:

You are represented by the ruler of the first house of self, Mars in Gemini in the eighth house. Planets in the eighth house can show a person is afraid or deeply worried about the situation; this has obviously been weighing heavily on your mind. Your emotions are shown by the Moon in Pisces, and the fourth house. The fourth house rules endings, so you have been deeply emotionally affected by the breakup.

We seeing is that the Moon is in the exaltation of Venus; so you think very highly of whatever Venus represents. Venus is your boyfriend’s significator, as it rules the seventh house of partners. Unfortunately, Venus does not reciprocate your high regard. It is in Leo, the sign and triplicity of the Sun. Given that the Sun represents your boyfriends urge to find a mate, or physical attraction, we get the sense that he is most interested in fulfilling those needs at this time. Nor does he appear to be lusting after you: the Sun is in Libra, where it is ruled by Venus. The fact that the Sun is in the sign of its fall, hints at the possibility that he is in no condition to get married.

With the Moon in the house of endings about to oppose Saturn, and no applying aspects between your planets and his, I am afraid that the two of you will not get married. The interest from his side just isn’t there.

There is one thing in this chart that caught my attention, and perhaps you can explain it to me. We see Mercury in Libra in your 12th house of secrets, trine Mars, receiving Mars into its detriment, and conjunct the Moon by antiscion. This would indicate three possibilities; there is someone in your life that you’re not mentioning, somebody in his life that you don’t know about, or a false friend who has been causing trouble in your relationship. In any case, things are not as they seem, and not necessarily to your benefit.

—Readers who wish to get a horary reading from Nina Gryphon may purchase one at top left, or learn more at the Gryphon Astrology Readings page.

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Horary Astrology Question:

Just last week I resigned from my going nowhere administrative job and now am unemployed. I am at a crossroads and my mind is flying in many different directions. One conventional path is steering me to pursue a Master’s degree in Education near my home town, but the thought is boring, yet responsible.

The other path I am considering is moving overseas to England, which sounds more appealing and especially exciting. Am I kidding myself or could this move prove beneficial?

—L.

Nina Gryphon:

Dear L.,

Thanks for writing to me. These types of questions are interesting; it never occurred to me until I started doing horary astrology, that most of the time there isn’t much of a difference between here and there. The vast majority of the time, the chart shows that circumstances will be similar whether we make the change or not. I suppose this is because we take our natal horoscope wherever we go, and its inherent luck or lack thereof travels with us. Below is a horary chart set for the time I understood your question:

The first house shows what happens if you stay where you are, and we see that its ruler is Saturn in the eighth house. Saturn’s recent transition into Virgo indicates you leaving your job; the fact that Leo is the sign of Saturn’s detriment shows that the change was likely positive. However, the fact remains that Saturn is in the malefic eighth House, and it will shortly conjoin the malefic South node. So there are definite problems if you stay, possibly stemming from financial issues, as the eighth represents other people’s money.

The seven house, representing England, looks more problematic. It is shown by the Moon, which is currently in Sagittarius, but will very shortly enter Capricorn, the sign of its detriment. More than this, the seventh house cusp is afflicted by the antiscion of Mars. This is not good either. The interesting thing is that both planets (Saturn and the Moon) are fine where they are at the moment, but they will soon run into trouble. This tells me that in the very short term, whatever you choose will be fine, but you may experience difficulties later.

As far as the Master’s in education, this could be beneficial, though I would exercise some caution, again related to finances. We see that the ruler of the ninth house of higher knowledge is Mercury in Libra, the exaltation of Saturn. So this degree program could really help you. I don’t like the fact that if we hypothetically drop Saturn just inside the ninth house to see how you will do at school, it is combust. This is a major debility for planet. So it may be worthwhile investigating other programs, degrees, or schools, before deciding on this one.

I wish the news were better, L., but I hope this at least gives you some sense of what to expect – better to be prepared.

—Readers who wish to get a horary reading from Nina Gryphon may purchase one at top left, or learn more at http://www.gryphonastrology.com/astrologyreadings.html.

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Horary Astrology Question:

The car is a classic, it’s orange, and it was originally purchased at the beginning of a 14 year relationship which ended 1.5 years ago. So it is dense with sentimental symbolism and it needs repair. When people in my neighbourhood see the car, they cheer up. The ol’ girl, I call “Hussy,” smacks of authenticity and vibes freedom. But hey, it’s heavy on the pocket and requires a lot of attention. I feel attached to the car. Would I regret selling it?

—M.

Nina Gryphon:

Dear M.,

Thank you for writing to me. This is probably my favorite kind of horary chart, and not only because it has to do with classic cars. Horary is excellent at showing what will happen when we take a certain course of action, so it can be quite empowering. The chart for your question is below:

The car is definitely a beauty! It is shown by your 2^nd house of moveable possessions, and its ruler, Jupiter in Sagittarius. Sagittarius rules the color yellow (not sure what sign rules orange), so this seems like a good description of your car. Since Jupiter is in its own sign, we see that the car is quite lovely and even awe-inspiring, as is fitting for Jupiter.

So how do you feel about the car? Mars, the ruler of the 1^st house of self, is in the detriment of Jupiter (Gemini), in the 8^th house of other people’s money. You are thinking about the money you could get for it, and so rationally know that selling it would be financially beneficial. But your heart says something different: the Moon (your emotions) is in the sign of Jupiter, so you really, really ♥ this car, and your head and heart are at odds.

Here’s the thing; I believe that you will sell it regardless (i.e.: your head will prevail). The Moon’s next aspect is to the 7^th house of a potential buyer, connecting Jupiter to Venus, the buyer. What happens then? Mars enters Cancer, the exaltation of Jupiter; you will start idolizing the car, and thinking about how great it was. So, yes, I do believe you will regret selling it.

—Readers who wish to get a horary reading from Nina Gryphon may purchase one at top left.

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The Full Moon will occur at 3° Aries this month, and the full Moon opposition falls in the second and eighth houses in Washington, DC. The second and eighth house emphasis indicates a strong focus on money this month, on the national and political level. Of course, money has been in the news very often for the last several years, both in terms of the expenditures on the war in Iraq, and more recently, the subprime mortgage meltdown.

However, I do not expect major changes in either of these areas this month. Certain issues will present nagging problems to the government, and to the president specifically, as indicated by Mercury’s trine to Mars, ruler of the 10th house of the King. Mercury rules the eighth house of the enemy’s money, as well as deaths of US individuals, and Mercury is also in the detriment of Mars, harming whatever Mars represents.

How is the nation doing throughout all of this? The people of this country are ruled by the first house, and its ruler, Saturn. Saturn is about to conjoin the South node on the cusp of the eighth house. So the same issues that are posing a problem to the president are causing trouble to the people, with the additional emphasis on a fearful attitude. William Lilly says that the eighth house rules fear, and that certainly seems to be the mood for the upcoming month.

I noticed that the seventh house cusp of the nation’s open enemies is conjunct the Royal fixed star Pollux. This star is of a Mars nature, and Robson says that it indicates “dignified malevolence,” so we can expect new challenges from the country’s enemies, who may well become ever bolder.

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For Autumn on the West Coast, the long-term weather forecast is wet and windy. The two most prominent planets in the Libra ingress horoscope are the Moon and Mercury, signifying moisture and wind, respectively.

With the Moon in the seventh house (no, Jupiter does not align with Mars!) in an air sign, we will likely have rain or snow, though this will be rather tempered by Jupiter’s close sextile. This is good news for much of California, where last winter and spring have been rather dry, and our water stores are starting to run low.

In the all-important fourth house, we have Mercury in an air sign trine Mars. This indicates vigorous, fast winds from the West. This combination can also give rain and humidity, though not unpleasantly cold temperatures. Mercury in the fourth house can indicate earthquakes.

The horoscope for the Libra ingress set for San Francisco, California, is below:

More weather predictions for specific dates in the West are included in the free Gryphon Astrology Newsletter, as are long-term weather forecasts for locations worldwide.

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