About To…

10.18.06


We are about to cross a major astro-border—the one separating diplomatic Libra from down-and-dirty Scorpio—and this is our last week on the 'nice' side of the line. Whatever calm you may've spotted, please don't be fooled by appearances.

As I already reported, we're currently in the midst of a super-duper Libran moment. The Sun, Venus and Mars are all gathered in the sign of cordial cooperativeness. I'm not insinuating, however, that everything has flowed perfectly smoothly, without its fair share of bumps. But bumps are always to be expected, no matter the astro-forecast.

With Libra as the dominant energy, we've mostly navigated any turbulence with an approach that's both level-headed and deliberately considerate. A little bit of extra care shown in respect to other people's perspectives—or, at least, the performance of what we think they want us to show—goes a long way.

There's nothing wrong with playing along with the social games… as long as both parties are 'playing' each other, with benefit to all and harm to none. Sometimes, though, when the proceedings are so darn polite on the surface, it's difficult to get at the uncensored, unmitigated truth. We don't always tell each other what we're really thinking, if we're hoping to sweet-talk ourselves into agreement and assent. Why spoil a lovely supper with such unpleasantness?

Well, for starters, a good reason to dash the proverbial pleasantries is if we're only giving half the story. Or if we deeply desire something far less squeaky-clean, to make life seem more risky or risqué. Some passion, perhaps, with a hint of drama. A raw spurt of emotion, too unwieldy to stay within the bounds of safety. Anything that'll wipe the sparklingly genial grins off our faces and give us something meatier—even, dare we say it, slightly menacing—to chew on.

As quickly as this week gives way to the next, we can expect the civil protocols of Libra to decay into the nittier-grittier depths of Scorpio. Shortly following the New Moon on Saturday-to-Sunday (Oct 21-22), we'll witness the 1-2-3-4 punch of the Moon, the Sun, Mars and Venus all heading together into the sign of the scorpion.

Come next week, stay on watch for exposed stingers—whether they're aimed at us or protruding from our own underbellies toward others.

Under this upcoming concentration of Scorpio planets (quite exceptional, really), the stakes in all our interpersonal exchanges will be profoundly upped. Rather abruptly, it'll become do or die. Kill or be killed. Go for the whole gusto, or finally throw in the towel.

For another few days, though, we've still got Libra on our sides. So weigh your options. Pretty soon, you may have to quit straddling the fence and make some thorny choices…