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   Number 1: The Moth and the Fire

   Before We Dive In Writing and Recording this on September 10th — the day of the new moon, in the dark. I have absolutely no get-up-and-go. The aspects this week are going to pick that up. But right now: very on-brand for the dark moon that I am recording in it. A few important things before we get to a week that is genuinely significant. Venus Retrograde: Heroine’s Journey — I need to say something I’ve been sitting with. This is the seventh time I’ve run this class since 2017. Seven Saturn squares, seven chakras. It feels like a completion cycle, and there’s a real possibility this is the last time I run it in this form. I feel immense shifts happening within me and within my work. If you have been thinking about joining, please do not wait. This one is particularly potent. I am working on the slides right now. The last time we had a Retrograde in Scorpio was 2028. That was my second class and I remember it as life changing for me and attendees. louiseedington.com/VenusRetrograde2026 What you get: seven weeks, eight calls (all recorded), a course portal with pre-work videos, slides in color and black-and-white, materials you can keep. And the class itself is not just astrology — it’s a heroine’s journey, guided meditations that retrieve lost parts of yourself, a regeneration journey, healing tools. We follow the myth of Persephone, Demeter, and Hades, alongside Inanna, through the Venus cycle. This is the last Scorpio Venus Star Point in our lifetimes. We start October 1st. Dragon Rider tier adds a year’s membership in my Spiral Codex community (beginning after the class), a 30-minute one-on-one session with me, and a personalized gift from Otter Spirit chosen based on your chart energy. Price stays at $397. I had been considering raising it — I’m not. For other presentations please see the end of the email. The Overall Energy We are in the week following the Virgo New Moon, the Venus sign change, the Mercury sign change, and Uranus stationing retrograde — all of which happened on September 10th. The nodes are still parked at 29° Leo/Aquarius until October 9th. The entire Aries stellium remains retrograde: Neptune, Manwë, Saturn, Pallas Athena, Eris, and Vesta. And Chiron — who has been visiting Taurus — returns to Aries on Thursday. Venus has passed the Star Point degree of 0° Scorpio that she will return to at the Cazimi on October 23rd. She is heading into the underworld, and this week’s occultation — the last Moon-Venus gate before she goes retrograde — is the pivotal moment. The Cards — A First Glance From the Red Seeds Tarot by Linda Hill (Etsy, UK) and the Witch Oracle by Angie Sullins: Death (I Am Transition), Three of Torches, Seer of Torches reversed, and Lady of Perpetual Rebirth. The Death card and the Lady of Perpetual Rebirth bookending the week, with the Three of Torches (enthusiasm picking up) and the Seer reversed (not yet feeling your inner divinity, but the reminder to look) in between. Perfect for a week whose centrepiece is a Venus occultation at 2° Scorpio conjunct Haumea. More at the end. Day by Day Sunday, September 13 — Moon in Libra. Air Grand Trine. Pallas Athena and Asteroid Lilith Square Off. We open the week with the Moon in Libra — balance, justice, how we relate, the scales. The Moon sextiles Jupiter in Leo. Jupiter was occulted by the Moon just last week at 15° Leo — the king hidden behind closed doors for transformation. Now the Moon, having moved all the way to Libra, reaches back with this fire-and-air sextile. A few more leaders with overblown egos will fall. It’s time to rule from the heart. Jupiter will go retrograde in Leo and pass back over that territory. The transformation of what Jupiter represents is ongoing. The Moon squares Asteroid Lilith — who is being overtaken by Mars (in Cancer, moving forward) but is not finished. She is saying clearly: we are not going back. We are starting to move into the new paradigm. Things are starting to change. The Moon opposes Pallas Athena — the pattern-seer, the wise strategist, whose grey eyes see everything and nothing escapes them. We are starting to see the patterns more clearly now. And then Pallas Athena squares Asteroid Lilith directly — these two warriors in conversation. Pallas Athena with her strategy, Asteroid Lilith with her original equality: I was created from the same dirt. Equal. And it’s time we worked from that. Restore balance. The Moon squares Mars in Cancer (more things falling or collapsing, the Libra Moon pressing for action and balance through cardinal signs) and then Ceres is opposed by Black Moon Lilith — the Great Mother and the shamed, hidden, elemental feminine in tension. Ceres is saying: move within. Take care of all your needs, met and unmet. Find what genuinely feeds you. Restore wholeness. And from that wholeness, you are more able to help create the new paradigm we’re moving into. The Moon then makes a beautiful air grand trine to Hekate and Chariklo in Aquarius — the torchbearer and the cosmic doula, the way-shower and the grace-spinner, both in the sign of the future, the collective, the innovative. Ideas, new patterns, communication, social interaction — all of these weaving the new story. The path forward is through integration, through the Aquarian future, through humanitarianism and genuine care for each other. The Moon squares Juno (about to station direct — more on that Wednesday) and opposes Eris and Vesta — table-flipping and inner flame in tension with the scales of balance. Flip the inner tables first. And finally: Mars in Cancer trines Nessus — a water trine, leaching out the ancestral poisons, the old toxic patterns. Like bloodletting: get rid of them. They are holding us back. Mercury in Libra trines Uranus — an air trine at degrees very close to the first basket peak in July. Innovative new ideas. New thought, new inventions, aha moments. We are having collective awakenings in multiple ways simultaneously. I’ve been reading Nietzsche — Thus Spoke Zarathustra. His “God is dead” was not triumphalism; he meant that we, collectively, have killed the concept. And I find I’m glad we’re moving away from the monotheistic, external, patriarchal God toward finding divinity within — moving away from intercessories. Which connects directly to the Hierophant reversed we had last week. The contracting is happening at every level. Monday, September 14 — The Venus Occultation. The Last Gate. The House-Raising Party. This is the day I most want to give space to. The Moon enters Scorpio and first opposes Chiron in Taurus before Chiron returns to Aries on Thursday. Scorpio digs deep; Chiron shows where the light gets in — the wounds around greed, materialism, our severed relationship with the senses and the earth. What does it mean to restore that balance? This is an ongoing excavation. The Sun in Virgo sextiles Mars in Cancer — Earth and water together, an opportunity for the guardian energy, the protective energy, the slow-and-meaningful energy to align with the Sun’s call to purposeful, humble, stewardship-oriented action. And then: the Moon occults Venus. An occultation is like an eclipse — the Moon passes directly across the face of a planet, hiding it from view. We had the Jupiter occultation last week. Now Venus. And this is the last Moon-Venus conjunction (gate) before Venus goes retrograde — the last gate of this descent cycle. It happens at 2° Scorpio. Two is the number of the divine feminine: grace, cooperation, the receptive, the relational, the most powerful intuitive energy. Venus is conjunct Haumea — the Hawaiian creatrix goddess, the handle of Barbault’s Basket, pure regeneration and rebirth. The Death card arrived in the cards this week. This is why. Venus is also square Pluto — death and rebirth energy, the shadow excavated for the buried treasure — and quincunx Neptune retrograde in Aries, making an aspect of adjustment: how have we lost connection with something essential in this long Martian-dominated era? That last point matters. The last Venus Star Point was at 2° Aries. This one is at 0° Scorpio. These are both Mars signs. And after this Scorpio Star Point — the last in our lifetimes — the Venus Star Point moves into Libra for over a hundred years, and then Pisces. Both Venusian signs. We are genuinely leaving a Martian era and entering a Venusian one. This occultation is a massive reset right at that threshold. The occultation runs from approximately 9:26am to 1:42pm Universal Time — check your local time equivalent, or simply look for when Moon and Venus are conjunct in your app. The Sabian symbol for 3° Scorpio (rounding up from 2°): A house-raising party in a small village. The village gathers not for entertainment but for the practical work of creating shelter. Many hands apply themselves to a single essential task, and the structure rises through coordinated effort. The image is purposeful and warm — a portrait of community focused on something that genuinely matters. The theme of this degree is collaborative intensity. The capacity to mobilize shared energy around a genuine need. The recognition that some structures require more than one person to build. There is a maturity here — in accepting support, and in offering it — so that what gets made is sturdy enough to last. Think of that in collective terms. Think of the Venus class. Think of community and what we’re building together. The Omega symbol (Sandbach): A mysterious food, a small piece of which will satisfy hunger for days. Governed by the angel Rochel — lost and found, restitution. This degree possesses innate knowledge of what is needed to sustain life, versus what may be desired based on fantasies or addictive needs. There is something highly concentrated about this energy, so that what it may seem to be at first may be quite different from how it’s experienced as it unfolds over time. It’s hard to get to know, hard to assimilate, but any attempts to do so are well worth the effort. The Chandra symbol: Pigs being fed. Scorpio is the sign of desire. Overeating is often an attempt to fill what has been denied in other areas. At its best, this degree revels in what is taken in — love, a beautiful painting, a sunset, a bowl of mac and cheese. If not in deep and sincere touch with its true soul desires, it may binge chronically in an attempt to get something it never quite gets. This is the invitation of this occultation: what do you truly desire? What genuinely feeds your deepest needs? Not the addictive filling, not the binge seeking what it never quite gets — but the mysterious food, a small piece of which satisfies for days. I’ve been speaking with a friend about integrating Internal Family Systems work with astrology. The 8 C’s of the Self: compassion, creativity, curiosity, confidence, courage, calm, connectedness, and clarity. And 5 P’s: presence, persistence, perspective, playfulness, and patience. All of these are about coming into the Self — understanding yourself, accepting yourself, loving yourself — and from that place, bringing a completely different energy into the world. Rather than filling the hole. Rather than seeking from the outside what can only be found inside. After the occultation: the Moon conjuncts Haumea and squares Pluto. Then Venus conjuncts Haumea directly — the goddess of love meeting the goddess of regeneration at this threshold degree, in the deep water sign. We are being reborn. Tuesday, September 15 — Moon Gaining Light. Water Grand Trine. Neptune-Pluto Sextile. The Moon in Scorpio is gaining light now — we are past the new moon and entering the action phase. The Moon makes a water trine to Ceres — feeling our deepest needs, going very deep into our emotional world. Intense, but real. Venus at 3° Scorpio squares Pluto — she is moving into the underworld journey now. This is exactly what we’ll track together in the class: Venus descending, confronting the shadow, finding the inner gold. A water grand trine forms: Moon in Scorpio, Asteroid Lilith in Cancer, Mars in Cancer, and Nessus in Pisces all in flowing conversation. Step into the interconnectedness. Wash away the old toxic patterns. These inherited poisons have been holding us back, and the water is dissolving them. Neptune and Pluto perfect another exact sextile — this ongoing aspect of collective transformation toward something more spiritual and interconnected. The building of something genuinely different is happening at the largest possible timescale, whether or not it’s visible from inside the noise. The Moon squares Chariklo (helping write the new story) and sextiles the Sun — the first major Moon-Sun aspect since the new moon on the 10th. Earth and water. Creative energy coming from the depths. Wednesday, September 16 — Juno Stations Direct. Moon into Sagittarius. Hekate at the Crossroads. Venus is sextiled by Black Moon Lilith — the goddess of love and desire receiving support from the energy of the shamed and hidden wild feminine. Do the shame-and-vulnerability work. Brené Brown territory. What has been hidden in you? What has been shamed? That’s what we’re starting to surface as Venus approaches her retrograde. The Moon in Scorpio squares Hekate — so much retrograde energy in Aries, Hekate saying: we’re not quite ready yet. The path forward involves the retrogrades. Venus and Mercury are both about to go retrograde through the same territory. After that, things will start to change in a big way — next year. But this is quite the process. The Moon reaches the anaretic 29° Scorpio and squares the Nodes at 11:48am Eastern — activating both eclipse points simultaneously. Purging more of the old attachments: to rules, to people, places, things, to the way things were. We cannot create the new until we’ve let go of a lot of the old. And then: the Moon enters Sagittarius. You may start to feel the shift — a little more get-up-and-go, a little more vision, a little more optimism. About time. The Sagittarius Moon shoots its arrows toward the future. Right after the ingress: Mercury in Libra squares Pholus — more things being revealed, the Pandora’s box of our institutions still open. All the infighting globally, all the extremes — I genuinely believe we had to see all of this before we could create the new. The new is coming up underneath. It’s just not visible from inside the chaos. The Sagittarius Moon opposes Sedna in Gemini (adapt or transform; communities renegotiating how they survive), trines Neptune, sextiles Pluto — the big agents of change, activated again. Juno stations direct. Her retrograde back into Capricorn has been reviewing our contracts with man-made laws, institutions, and structures — looking at what’s out of balance, what needs to change. Now she starts moving back into Aquarius. New contracts. More meaningful ones. This is actually a significant shift. Thursday, September 17 — Chiron Returns to Aries. Moon Gains Light. Few Aspects. A quieter day in terms of number of aspects — but not in weight. Asteroid Lilith activates the water grand trine that has been building through the week — still washing out, still leaching the poisons, still saying we are not going back. The Moon in Sagittarius sextiles Mercury — opportunity for new ideas, new ways of thinking and communicating. The Moon is gaining light fast now. The Moon trines Saturn retrograde in Aries — what more old structures and self-limiting beliefs need to be released? And then, at 9:52pm Eastern: Chiron goes back into Aries. He’ll be there until early 2027, revisiting territory he needs to complete before returning to Taurus for the longer stay. What does Chiron in Aries re-excavate? Wounds around the individual self, around identity, around who we are in ourselves. The message we received from the culture about what strength and individuality mean — rugged, power-over, domination — and the medicine of finding what genuine individual power actually looks like: coming from within, not over. We’ve been starting to find it. Chiron is going back to gather whatever bits need to be dug out before Taurus calls him back. Friday, September 18 — Venus Day. Ceres Squares Saturn. First Quarter Moon. Venus at the Basket Degree. Venus Day. And it delivers. Black Moon Lilith oscillates back into Sagittarius — freedom-restriction-freedom. The oscillating tension between the institutions’ grip on us and the wild elemental self. Mercury in Libra squares Ceres in Cancer — what genuinely feeds us? What are our needs, and how do we take responsibility for meeting them? Not waiting for others to do it. This is the thesis of my Ceres book. Vesta and Eris meet again — devotion and focus meeting the original table-flipper. The most important place to flip the tables first is within. Those attachments to old rules, to needing someone else to tell you what to do or what to believe. You can have support. But being told what to think is different from being helped to understand. Mercury opposes Saturn — words and thoughts facing the structures and rules. The mythology of rugged individualism, manifest destiny, the hero’s journey as the only journey. Write something new. Something more harmonious for everyone. Ceres squares Saturn at 13° Aries/Cancer — and this is an echo worth noting. When Ceres was discovered on January 1st, 1801, she was square Saturn in Leo — the sign of kings. I have always felt that her discovery chart encoded the eventual fall of kings and dominant leaders: Ceres, the Great Mother, at odds with the rules of the king. Now they square each other again, in cardinal signs. Ceres in Cancer: family, home, ancestors, the needs of the people. Saturn in Aries: rugged individualism, the old rules. Cardinals square: initiating something new. You may see another fall from grace around this day. The echo aspects are potent. The Sun in Virgo trines Juno at her station point — the Virgo Sun, wanting to do the right thing, in flowing conversation with our sacred contracts. More meaningful contracts are possible. This is the energy of building something sturdy. And: Venus is at 4° Scorpio — the first peak degree of Barbault’s Basket. She is exactly at the degree where all four outer planets gathered in July. Venus leading the way, as always, into what’s next. The day closes with the First Quarter Moon at 25° Sagittarius, squaring the Sun in Virgo. The action phase beginning in earnest. The crossroads. The Sabian symbol (26° Sagittarius): A flag-bearer in battle. This degree represents courageous dedication to principles bigger than yourself. The flag is not a tool of devastation — it’s a symbol of shared values. Immutable signs with the Sun in Virgo: what is more meaningful? What is more useful? How do we create the future together around these bigger principles? Courage under pressure. Commitment to values. And the oxygen-mask wisdom: put yours on first, then put some personal wants aside for the greater good. The Omega symbol: A candle mysteriously undisturbed by wind. Sandbach titles this degree Beyond Mind. Thoughts are like wind — they push against everything and create turbulence. When you gain the power to detach from busy mind, there is an increasing steadiness that brings you closer to spiritual clarity. This degree carries a creative vision that is impervious to the agitations of inner voices. The Chandra symbol: Climbing the steps of the Pyramid of the Sun. To ascend — not by flying, but in a more substantial way, with something solid under your feet. This is about finding meaning and purpose and following the highest and clearest vision of it. Getting beyond what is shallow, superficial, and trivial can be arduous — but this meets the challenge with steadiness and purpose. Steadiness. Solid ground. A vision impervious to wind. A commitment to something bigger than yourself. That is your First Quarter Moon. Saturday, September 19 — Moon into Capricorn. Venus Receives the Moon’s Grace. The Week Closes. The Moon moves into Capricorn overnight and closes the week with its early morning aspects. After the First Quarter, the Moon makes a fire trine to Chiron in Aries — just returned. Visionary, purposeful, the Sagittarius spirit meeting the medicine. What medicine do you need to create this vision? What healing is required for the steadfast purpose beginning to form? Juno has moved exactly one minute forward from her station — barely, but she’s moving. New contracts are beginning. The Moon squares Eris and Vesta early — the tables are being flipped again, the inner flame is being tended. We are creating new structures. More revelations may surface today, including possibly the Epstein files re-emerging. In Capricorn, the Moon squares Neptune (retrograde in Aries) early in the morning — Neptune saying let go of the me-first attitude, the power-over energy. Create something genuinely new from here. And then the Moon makes a lovely unbroken flow trine to Venus — the Moon and Venus in earth and water, in gentle supportive conversation. All of this moving toward the retrograde. All of it connected. The Cards in Detail Death — I Am Transition: A time of endings. Old lives, shared and beloved, are changing or gone. There may be some loss and pain this week — personally, culturally, collectively. Death and mourning is a process. Acceptance builds slowly as we lament and grieve for what was. But transformation beckons. Soon, you will start to feel the blood in your veins, and know that you are alive and have this big life journey to complete. In these extraordinary times that we are in. The Death card arrived at the same time as the Venus occultation conjunct Haumea. Regeneration, rebirth, the creatrix goddess. One cannot be separated from the other. Three of Torches (Wands) — I Am Enthusiasm: The Sagittarius energy is coming. You can feel it building from Wednesday onward — the arrow being drawn back, the vision beginning to form. The Three of Torches is that moment: enthusiasm. Grabbing it by the horns. You may feel less like lying on the mat in a quiet room — the life force returning. Seer of Torches, reversed — Reminder of Inner Radiance: Upright, the Seer of Torches is I Am Divine — the knowing that you are a divine being having a human experience, the natural inner radiance that doesn’t need external validation. Reversed this week: you’re probably not quite feeling this inner selfhood yet. You’re not quite there yet with that inner divinity. That’s okay. This is just a reminder: it’s there. Look within. Notice your inner radiance, even just briefly. It hasn’t gone anywhere. Lady of Perpetual Rebirth (Witch Oracle by Angie Sullins): Death comes for all of us — but this isn’t a death card. It’s a rebirth card. It’s an invitation to clean and clear what needs to end, in order to welcome the new. What ideas or beliefs have become weighty, overwhelming, outdated? What thoughts no longer fit you? What convictions cause exhaustion or even illness when you embody them? Our Lady of Perpetual Rebirth is here to usher out the old and midwife the new. Pay special attention to your dreams. There are signs and symbols showing themselves to you right now that will indicate what wants to be loosened and released. The new vision, new awareness, new life that is circling you will also send out strong signals. Pay attention. Listen. Watch. Observe. This is the time to let go of what no longer serves. A witch can welcome death with the same enthusiasm a moth displays when flying into fire. She hurls herself towards her own endings, knowing her next beginnings live inside the fire of her passion — the heat of longing, calling her forward. Summing Up The last Venus Gate before the retrograde — an occultation at 2° Scorpio, the divine feminine number, conjunct Haumea the regeneratrix, square Pluto, adjustment to Neptune. A house-raising party. A mysterious food that satisfies for days. Pigs being fed, or not, depending on whether they’re in touch with their true soul desires. Juno stations direct. Chiron returns to Aries. Ceres and Saturn square at the echo of her discovery chart. The First Quarter Moon at the flag-bearer degree, the candle undisturbed by wind, the climbing of the pyramid with solid ground underfoot. And four cards that say: something is ending. The enthusiasm is coming back. Your inner radiance is there, even if you can’t feel it yet. And the witch hurls herself toward her own endings, because she knows her next beginnings are already inside the fire. See you at the retrograde. Join me in the Heroine’s Journey. You will not regret it. https://www.louiseedington.com/VenusRetrograde2026 — Louise Atlanta Astrology Association (MAAS) — September 17th: I’m presenting on Ceres and my book. First-time attendees can come free. Email me at [email protected] if you’d like to attend. OPA Live — September 20th: A panel of three astrologers on the Venus retrograde. A wonderful preview if you’re deciding whether to join the class. London School of Astrology Chiron Weekend — October 17th–18th: On Zoom, $99 (mostly to charity), recommended by Melanie Reinhart and Brian Clarke. I’ll be covering Chariklo as part of my Chiron presentation. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cosmicowlastrology.substack.com/subscribe

   September 13, 2026·59min
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   Number 2: The Drill, the Ice Tower, the Sinkhole

   Venus Retrograde Heroine's Journey 2026 https://www.louiseedington.com/VenusRetrograde2026Astrotheoros.com○ Use the code COSMICOWL at checkout for■ 1 free month if you select the monthly plan■ OR 1 extra month off of the already discounted yearly planRed Seeds Tarot https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/TheRedSeedsW.I.T.C.H. Oracle Deck https://a.co/d/0bOgiJsrthedeckofcharacter.com A Lot to Catch Up On I am back from Chicago — and there is a lot I want to share before we dive into a week that honestly deserves its own documentary. Bear with me; Louise asked me to keep most of this in. The Chicago/UAC trip: I ran an OPA peer group for four wonderful people over four days in an Airbnb — deeply immersive, deeply draining, deeply wonderful. I gave everything I had and came out the other side genuinely moved. Then I went to the United Astrology Conference hotel, attended an OPA dinner where I got to see so many people I love, and recorded the Kepler College Book Club live from UAC with my friend Mary Gatterudz about my series book. That’s on the Kepler College YouTube channel if you want a lively discussion. I also attended a pre-workshop run by Mark Jones — an English astrologer and former psychotherapist whose work I love — and finally got to meet him in person after Zoom-only connection. I didn’t stay for the whole conference. 1,500 astrologers in a hotel is a little too peoply for me. But I learned something: I can go to the hotel, meet the people I want to see, and skip most of the lectures. The lectures are available to buy by recording anyway. The connection is the irreplaceable part. The OPA and The Professional Astrologer: If you’re interested in becoming a more professional astrologer, I genuinely recommend OPA — the Organization for Professional Astrology. They run peer groups and mentorships, a consulting skills course, and an Astronomy for Astrologers course. What I love about their certification is that it’s not a test of your techniques and knowledge — it’s about how you actually work with clients. That’s the whole thing. The new revised and expanded edition of The Professional Astrologer is out, and I have a chapter in it about writing for astrology. It covers everything from the power of peer groups to the pros and cons of practicing as both astrologer and psychotherapist, to the nuts and bolts of being financially viable. Worth getting a copy. Sphere and Sundry: In my gift bag from the pre-workshop was something I want to share: an essential oil by Sphere and Sundry — sphereandsundry.com. She makes what she calls talismanic materia — remedial-grade astrological elections using organic, wild-crafted ingredients and natural oils. She describes them as a good transit in a bottle. The one I received is Venus in Taurus 3, Amatory — and I genuinely feel this was meant for the Venus Retrograde class, given Venus is heading toward Scorpio and opposing Chiron in Taurus. I’ll be using it. Worth checking out. Upcoming presentations: Atlanta Astrology Association, September 17th — I’m presenting on Ceres, and apparently first-time attendees can come free. Email me at [email protected] if you’d like the invitation details. I believe it’s at 7:30pm Eastern. OPA Live, September 20th — a panel of three astrologers on the Venus retrograde. A great way to hear more about the retrograde and decide if you’d like to join the class. London School of Astrology, Chiron Weekend, October 17th–18th — on Zoom, $99, and most of the proceeds go to charity. I’ve been recommended by Melanie Reinhart and Brian Clarke, which still makes me catch my breath. If you’re interested in Chiron and what his first return to his discovery degree means, this is the weekend for you. Venus Retrograde: Heroine’s Journey — we start October 1st. Three weeks and three days from when I’m recording this, and I still have slides to finish. The price remains at $397 for the basic seven-week, eight-call course. Dragon Rider adds a year of Spiral Codex membership, a 30-minute one-on-one reading with me, and a personally chosen gift I’ll mail to you — all for $500 added on. First run since 2017, and it’s grown considerably since then. This is not just an astrology class — it’s a guided inner journey with meditations, healing tools, and more than a little magic. louiseedington.com/VenusRetrograde2026 AstroTheoros has added a lot since I last mentioned them: * Terms and decans (multiple systems), zodiacal releasing, dasha (Vedic), perfections * Fixed stars, minor aspects, vertex, lots of fortune and spirit * Additional asteroids including Ceres and Haumea and Chariklo (yes!) * True/mean/oscillating Black Moon Lilith options, White Moon * Show and hide aspect lines * A way to add your own external AI assistants — they’ve made a conscious choice not to incorporate AI themselves, but for those who want to, they show you how * Chart copy as image in one click; lock chart; time travel Cloud-based, works on any device. Code COSMICOWL at astrotheoros.com — one free month on the monthly plan, or one extra month off the yearly plan. And: Cathy and I are recording on Friday — we’ll be talking about the six-hour Elon Musk documentary premiering at what I believe is the Venice Film Festival, which focuses on his involvement in the 2024 elections. I think it might be a little bit explosive. Watch for it. The Cards — A First Glance From the Red Seeds Tarot, the Witch Oracle, and the Deck of Character (available to buy again — links in the description): The Hierophant reversed. The Fall. Eight of Torches reversed. The Story Keeper. The Shield. That set of five says everything about this week: the guru structure collapsing, the descent into the depths, the delays and darkness of the no-moon phase, the call to rewrite the story, and a practical shield for the extraordinary amount of information that’s incoming. More at the end. The Astrology at a Glance This is possibly the biggest week since the basket peaked in July. On September 10th alone: * Venus enters Scorpio at 0° — the exact degree of her Cazimi/Star Point on October 23rd * Mercury enters Libra — swapping signs with Venus, both heading toward retrograde in Scorpio * Uranus stations retrograde at 5°41’ Gemini * The Virgo New Moon is exact at 11:27pm Eastern (separate video — go watch it) Before that: the Moon occults Jupiter on September 8th at 15° Leo — a world point. An occultation is like an eclipse of Jupiter: the Moon literally passes across the face of the planet, hiding it. This is relatively rare, and what it passes over matters. It passes over Alaska, Canada, the USA, and Greenland. The nodes remain at 29° until October 9th. Hekate has moved back past the North Node. Venus reaches the anaretic degree of Libra. Uranus barely moves all week — it’s standing still. The news will be off the charts. That’s not hyperbole. Day by Day Sunday, September 6 (the first day of the week) The Moon is out of bounds in Cancer — way out of bounds — and there aren’t many major aspects, which makes the day quieter than what follows. Moon conjuncts Ceres — the Moon in its own sign, the Great Mother in the Moon’s sign, saying together: self-care, nurture, family. I chose to come home early from Chicago rather than stay through the whole conference. The Moon conjunct Ceres was opposing my Saturn, and I listened. My second daughter got engaged this month (both daughters in August — family, family, family). Venus opposes Vesta in Aries — your inner flame, your focus and commitment, your devotion to your own identity in the world. Pay attention to what comes up around that. The Moon squares Saturn retrograde (letting go of more self-limiting beliefs), sextiles the Sun at 14° Virgo (past South Node and Regulus — we are moving, even if it doesn’t feel that way yet), then crosses Asteroid Lilith and Mars in Cancer — talk to the hand; what aligned, protective, guardian action are we taking now? The Moon then squares Pallas Athena and trines Nessus — seeing the poisons more clearly, with strategy and pattern-recognition behind the seeing. Monday, September 7 The Moon is still in Cancer, starting to come back in bounds but not quite there. Moon sextiles Mercury — emotions and mind integrating, coming into conversation. As we move into the dark of the moon, this is an invitation: bring your feeling and your thinking together. Let them inform each other. Moon squares Eris — more inner table-flipping. What old beliefs, assumptions, and perceptions need to be overturned within you? The outer tables are turning everywhere. The inner ones matter too. Moon opposes Juno in Capricorn — our sacred contracts with the structures we live under. What have we been living by? What new structures do we want to birth? Conservative in sign, but the opposition is pushing for something different. The Moon then makes a T-square to Vesta and Venus — everything pointing inward. What are you devoted to? What are you creating? And pay attention to what comes up around Venus territory (values, relationships, desires, justice) — she goes retrograde to 22° Libra, and you’re walking that ground now. At 12:49pm Eastern, the Moon enters Leo — and immediately squares Chiron in Taurus. What medicine are you bringing into your heart and into your body? The Moon then opposes Pluto (the shadow to the surface, and then the buried treasure), trines Neptune (spiritual warrior energy, the felt sense of interconnection), and sextiles Uranus — which is almost at a complete standstill. Uranus barely moves all week. It’s concentrating its energy at 5° Gemini. Tuesday, September 8 — The Jupiter Occultation at 15° Leo I need to give this one proper space. At 2:36pm Eastern, the Moon occults Jupiter at 15° Leo. Fifteen degrees of a fixed sign is a world point — a degree of collective significance, felt beyond the personal into the global. And an occultation is like an eclipse: the Moon literally passes directly across Jupiter, blocking it from view. Jupiter’s expansive energy — the king, the expander, the judge, the natural law — is being hidden. Absorbed. Transformed. What does this mean? Some delay in expansion. Some pause in the opportunities that have been opening. But more than that: a transformative phase. The energy of Jupiter goes underground and re-emerges with new qualities. This is the king being taken behind closed doors for a reckoning. The path of this occultation passes over Alaska, Canada, the United States, and Greenland — countries that have presented themselves, historically, as the dominant voices in global affairs. And here is what I genuinely cannot make up: the day before, the UN voted to adopt the Equal Earth Map — a new global projection that more accurately represents the actual size of the world’s continents. On this map, Africa is significantly larger than we’ve been taught. South America is bigger. The USA, Canada, Greenland, and Russia are smaller — a more truthful picture. The USA was the only country in the UN to vote against it. Jupiter is expansion. The occultation tracks over the countries whose mapped expansion has exceeded their actual size. The timing is extraordinary. Jupiter will meet the South Node in Leo three times as it heads toward it — the fall of kings, of superpowers, of the power-over paradigm that has organized so much of modern history. Things are evening out. We’re watching it happen. After the occultation, the Moon trines Pallas Athena — the strategic warrior and pattern-seer. The Moon is back in bounds. The patterns are becoming visible. The Moon starts the day at 6° Leo — the discovery degree of Chariklo. Note that. And Mercury in Virgo trines Juno — sacred contracts looked at through the lens of stewardship, meaningful work, the humble desire to do the right thing rather than the right thing as performance. Wednesday, September 9 — Dark Moon. Moon at the Eclipse Degree. Moon Conjuncts South Node. We are entering the dark of the moon — the three-day no-moon phase before the Virgo New Moon on Thursday night. The Moon is in Leo, moving toward the Sun, getting within 30° of it. And it starts the day at 20° Leo — the exact degree of the August 12th Solar Eclipse. The Moon conjuncts Hygieia at that eclipse degree — holistic, preventative health. Then trines Pallas Athena, trines Vesta, sextiles Venus at the anaretic 29° Libra. Everything pressing toward the border crossing. At 3:17pm Eastern, the Moon conjuncts the South Node at 29° — the nodes holding that eclipse degree until October 9th, charged with everything that’s unfolded since August 12th. The Moon — the people, the collective emotional body — meeting the drain of the old paradigm. Having just occulted Jupiter the king. Having just been at the eclipse degree. Having just moved through all those aspects. Fall of kings. Fall of leaders. Fall of the power-over paradigm. The Moon and the people conjunct the South Node at the degree of the eclipse. You literally cannot make this up. After the South Node conjunction, the Moon moves into Virgo and conjuncts Regulus — which happens every month now, as the Moon cycles through, but this month it carries the full weight of what’s been building. And Venus, still at the anaretic 29°, simultaneously sextiles the South Node and trines the North Node — releasing and building simultaneously. She is leading. After her retrograde, she is heading for the Aquarius North Node. She already knows the destination. Hekate has moved back beyond the North Node into Aquarius, going back over the ground she needs to integrate before moving forward again. Thursday, September 10 — Sign Changes and a New Moon What a day. Honestly, what a day. At 4:06am Eastern, Venus enters Scorpio. At 0° Scorpio — the exact degree of her Cazimi/Star Point on October 23rd, the heart of her retrograde. She is stepping into the territory she will descend through, previewing the deepest point of her underworld journey. And this Star Point at 0° Scorpio is the last Scorpio Venus Star Point in our lifetimes — I believe the next isn’t until 2177. It is also the star point return for the USA. Make of that what you will. The underground river of the Venus retrograde is flowing. You can feel it if you listen. The Virgo Moon squares Uranus — which is barely moving, preparing to station. Ceres opposes Pholus — where have our needs not been met? The lid is off. Pandora’s box, again. Seeing what we needed to see so we can finally move forward. At 12:20pm Eastern, Mercury enters Libra — swapping with Venus in a kind of cosmic dance. Venus has left Libra; Mercury enters. Both are heading for Scorpio and retrograde. Both will station direct on November 13th — the same day. This is rare, and I’ll go deep on what it means in the Venus retrograde class. Venus at 0° Scorpio opposes Chiron in Taurus — the axis of the entire retrograde. The wound and the medicine. What is our medicine for becoming fully human in a world that has forgotten it? At 2:27pm Eastern, Uranus stations retrograde at 5°41’ Gemini. Five degrees — the number of change. Gemini — media, news, communication, information. Mercury at 0° Libra (a world point) as Mercury’s own sign stations into retrograde. The news is going to be off the charts. The Sabian symbol for 6° Gemini (rounding up): Workmen drilling for oil. James Burgess says: an insatiable questing for knowledge and information that can take us deep into emotional process and the uncovering of dark secrets. A zealous appetite for knowledge and understanding. The Omega symbol (Sandbach): In the far north, an ancient tower carved of ice. The degree angel is Manakel — accountability and knowledge of good and evil. He says: you have so many thoughts and perceive so many ideas that it can become difficult to decide where to focus. Don’t let this overwhelm you. Keep focused on the flow. There is a spiritual rightness at work beneath all things. The simple intent to stay attuned to it is your magic. The Chandra symbol: A claw foot holding a ball. The attempt to grasp wholeness, to overcome Gemini’s fragmented quality — fixing the liquid into a substantial form from which you can ascend to see the surrounding territory. The struggle is not in trying to put things together. It’s to resist the distractions of lesser and trivial things. The Pleiadian symbol: A sinkhole opens up in the earth. Things are collapsing. The Azoth symbol: A book of formulas. Astrology is a symbolic language, just as mathematics is, just as alphabets are. We are writing new stories. Which brings us to the Story Keeper arriving in the cards. At 11:27pm Eastern, the Virgo New Moon — exactly nine hours after Uranus stations retrograde. I’ve done a full separate video and post for this. Please watch it. But know that the new moon landing nine hours after Uranus’s retrograde station, with Venus and Mercury both freshly in new signs, with the basket energy still active — this is not a quiet new moon. The seeds you plant tonight carry all of this. Friday, September 11 — 25th Anniversary. Venus Day. Rest in peace all who were lost on this day. The Moon is in Virgo, just minutes past the new moon, still in the no-moon phase. New lunar cycle beginning. The Moon sextiles Mars — what aligned action are we taking now? Not the push-push-push of unchecked ambition, but the stewardship energy, the guardian energy, the action that comes from genuinely wanting to be of service. The Moon opposes Nessus — still more poisons to be named and seen. But I don’t think we’re much longer in this. I really don’t. Mars in Cancer squares Pallas Athena in Aries — they’re moving apart, but Mars is still learning: less attack, more guardian. Less force, more protection. From within, this means the same. Talk to your inner Mars. The Moon trines Juno and then moves into Libra at 7:51pm Eastern. Saturday, September 12 — Moon Conjuncts Mercury. Air Kite. Cardinal Grand Cross. The Libra Moon conjuncts Mercury at 2°31’ Libra — and note the degree: 2°31’ Libra directly opposes the last Venus Star Point at 2° Aries (March 22, 2025). The previous Venus retrograde’s deepest point, directly activated as the Moon and Mercury meet in the sign of balance and justice. Venus is reaching back through time, reminding us of what was seeded then, and asking: what has been growing since? What is ready to be harvested — or released? Balance, harmony, justice, scales — the Mercury-Moon conjunction in Libra is a fertile meeting of heart and mind in the sign that seeks fairness. There could be some genuinely good news today. The Moon trines Pluto (more shadows illuminated, more buried treasure found), opposes Neptune forming a kite, and trines Uranus still at its station point. Fire and air kite pointing at Neptune in Aries — the spirit of new beginning, the dissolution of the old, the love-thy-neighbor energy as the basis for everything we’re trying to build. Juno squares Pallas Athena — our sacred contracts pressing against the wise strategy. For me, this is the table-flipping energy of Eris in a longer arc: where unfettered power-over and greed have caused harm to people, the contracts that maintained that are collapsing. And we can have something better. The form of things that’s collapsing — in politics, in institutions, in how we organize society — was always imperfect. What we build next doesn’t have to be. Mercury trines Pluto, then opposes Neptune, then trines Sedna and Uranus — an air kite closing the week. Rational understanding, shadow revealed, adapting to what needs to change, the breakthrough aha moments. Stay with it all. Let it sift. The week closes with the Moon squaring Pholus and Ceres and then opposing Saturn — a brief Cardinal Grand Cross, initiating. New things beginning. Something that was seeded at the new moon is putting out its first tentative root. The Cards in Detail The Hierophant, reversed: The original Hierophant — one who reveals sacred things — was from the Eleusinian Mysteries. There was one male Hierophant and two female Hierophantides, appointed for life, who revealed divine knowledge to the initiates and welcomed them with the laws of the Mysteries: only those with pure hands and hearts could enter the rites. But in the last quarter of the Great Wheel — as the patriarchy rose, as the rites were co-opted, as direct access to the sacred was replaced by institutional intermediaries — the Hierophant became the one who stood between you and the divine. This card, reversed, is saying clearly: you have access to divine knowledge yourself. You do not need an intercessory. Let go of the attachment to gurus and external teachers as the gatekeepers of truth. You can challenge the tradition. Everyone — everyone — has access to the sacred within them. This arrives in the week that Jupiter is occulted, that the South Node continues its fall of kings, that the astrology community continues reckoning with its own pedestals. Make no mistake: the Hierophant reversed is speaking directly to all of it. The Fall: In this deck, this is Persephone going into the underworld — and that descent is what the rites at the Eleusinian Mysteries were really about: the fall of the soul into the orbit of the Moon, not as punishment, but as initiation. The patriarchy reframed the fall as shame — the fall from grace, the fall from perfection, the original sin. The real fall, as I understand it, was the descent into the patriarchal paradigm itself. And that is what’s falling now. Persephone descending is Venus descending. The Venus retrograde is coming. The underground journey — done consciously, with guides, with courage — is not the fall from grace. It is the fall toward grace. Eight of Torches (Wands), reversed: In the dark of the moon, with Uranus at a standstill and so many signs changing simultaneously — yes, you may feel like you lack momentum. Delays, obstacles, nothing quite moving forward. That’s the reversal. But here’s what’s actually happening: knowledge is being revealed to you. There is so much coming in this week — the occultation, the sign changes, the station, the new moon, the news. The work is to let it in without being overwhelmed. Receive it. Let it settle. When the moon starts to gain light — which it will, very shortly — you will be able to see more clearly. The Story Keeper (Witch Oracle): “You are made of moonlight and stories. The night and the trees know this. Which is why, when you need a change in your narrative, you would do well to seek their counsel. Some stories lift us up and encourage our potential, our inherent magic. Other stories limit, diminish, or destroy our worth. You are being asked right now to consider which stories you are listening to, and which ones you are telling. Telling yourself a story of empowerment will bring a surge of energy to you. Notice how your shoulders drop, your breath deepens, your heart warms. Telling yourself a story of scarcity or disempowerment leaves you tight, small, and cramped. While we are very selective about the books we read and the stories we watch on film, we are far less selective about the stories we tell ourselves. Now is the time to question the narratives you are allowing into the ear of your spirit. Are they helpful or hurtful? A witch acknowledges her stories of lack and frustration, but she chooses to focus on the ones that nurture her vitality.” This is the Azoth symbol of the week — the book of formulas. We are writing new stories. The Story Keeper asks: which one are you writing? The Shield (Deck of Character): This is an extra card this week, from a deck I love that’s available to buy again — link in the description. It’s the dark of the moon. A lot of information is incoming — the news around the Uranus station and the new moon is going to be significant. The Shield says: energetically, protect yourself. Not to deflect the knowledge — we need that — but to deflect the inconsequential things. Create a boundary so you can collect what matters, and let it sift in its own time. This is a big week. You don’t have to process all of it in real time. Summing Up The Jupiter occultation at a world point, tracking over countries whose global dominance is being rebalanced on the new world map. The Moon conjuncting the South Node at the eclipse degree, the people meeting the drain, having just occulted the king. Venus entering the exact degree of her coming Star Point in Scorpio — the last Scorpio Star Point in our lifetimes. Mercury entering Libra as Venus leaves, both heading toward their retrogrades and their simultaneous direct stations. Uranus stationing at the number of change in the sign of media and news. The Virgo New Moon nine hours later. A cardinal Grand Cross to close. The Hierophant reversed says: you have always had access to the sacred. You don’t need anyone between you and it. The Fall says: Persephone’s descent is not a punishment. It is an initiation. The Eight of Torches says: let the knowledge land. It’s doing that right now. The Story Keeper says: question the narratives you’re allowing into the ear of your spirit. And the Shield says: you are going to need good energetic boundaries this week. There is a spiritual rightness at work beneath all of this. Stay attuned to it. That is your magic. — Louise Venus Retrograde: Heroine’s Journey — starts October 1st. $397 for the full journey (payment plan available). Dragon Rider adds Spiral Codex year, one-on-one, and gift. louiseedington.com/VenusRetrograde2026 Atlanta Astrology Association, September 17th — email [email protected] for the invite to attend free as a first-timer. OPA Live panel on Venus retrograde, September 20th. London School of Astrology, Chiron Weekend — October 17th–18th on Zoom, $99, most to charity. AstroTheoros — code COSMICOWL at astrotheoros.com. Chariklo, Ceres, and Haumea now added! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cosmicowlastrology.substack.com/subscribe

   September 08, 2026·1h 3min
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3. 3
   Number 3: PATIENT ZERO AT 0˚ SCORPIO

   Before We Dive In I’m writing and recording this on September 23rd, because I’m heading to Seattle tomorrow to visit my two daughters — both of whom got engaged last month. Two engagements in August. Very Cancer season. I am very much the Great Mother right now. Which means I will not be doing a political video this week. Back Sunday. Normal service resumed next week. But this is the week I have been building toward all year — and the cards (which I’ll read at the end) are, I am not even joking, telling you to join the Venus class. So let me say it plainly before we get into what is a genuinely extraordinary week: The Venus Retrograde: Heroine’s Journey class starts October 1st at 10am Mountain Time. The morning of October 1st is the absolute last chance to register — I won’t accept late joiners, because this is a group journey into the underworld, and the group needs to begin together. Two tiers: The Journey — $397. Seven weeks, eight calls, all recordings, full course portal with pre-work videos, slides in colour and black-and-white, and materials you keep. We go really deep. Dragon Rider — $897 total. Everything above, plus: a private 30-minute one-on-one with me (starts after the class), a full year’s membership in the Spiral Codex private community ($600 value, weekly calls and great discounts), and a personalized gift — I’ll be asking Dragon Riders for their addresses to mail those out. The one-on-one and membership both begin after the class finishes. I have to mention: the first call starts at 10am Mountain Time on October 1st, and Venus is right on the Ascendant at that exact moment. I did not plan that. It is just the way my life seems to work. louiseedington.com/VenusRetrograde2026 The Evolving Astrologer — my Venus retrograde article has been published in OPA’s free online magazine. I’m on page 21. If you missed the OPA Live panel last weekend, it’s available at opaastrology.org — Merridith Cassels also did a wonderful piece on asteroids you’ll want to catch. And yes — I made t-shirts from one of the Venus class slides. You truly cannot make this stuff up. Also: Taylor Swift is releasing new music from her Life of the Showgirl albums this Friday, including a single called Patient Zero. I’ll just leave that there, alongside everything that’s happening at 0° Scorpio this week. She knows astrology. I happen to know she’s consulted someone. I’ll say no more. The Week at a Glance This is arguably one of the most significant week of 2026 for the inner life. The sky patterns: * A Cardinal Grand Cross pressing hard for change throughout * A Fixed Grand Cross building as Mars enters Leo and Mercury enters Scorpio * An Air Grand Trine forming a kite — ideas, information, big awakenings * Mars moves into Leo at the end of Sunday * Mercury enters Scorpio on Wednesday September 30th — the 10th Pluto-Haumea exact square happens the same day at 3:15pm Eastern * October 1st: the Venus class begins * October 3rd, 3:15am Eastern: Venus stations retrograde at 8°29’ Scorpio * Last Quarter Moon also on October 3rd — a cardinal Grand Cross with Saturn, Moon, Sun, Pholus Waning moon all week. Going within. These cards are about recalibration, not momentum. The nodes are still at 29°. Still holding eclipse charge until October 9th. The Cards — A First Glance From the Red Seeds Tarot (Linda Hill, Etsy UK) and the Witch Oracle by Angie Sullins: The Hermit reversed, Three of Torches reversed, Five of Seeds reversed, and The Selkie. Three reversals and a Selkie. The first three say: withdraw, feel the stall, then begin to see a way through. And the Selkie says: shed the good girl pelt and dive into the soul home. Keep reading. These cards are saying something specific. Day by Day Sunday, September 27 — Cardinal Grand Cross. Mars at the Threshold. Last Day of the Waning Aries Moon. We open the week post-Aries Full Moon, waning. The Moon is still in Aries and still carrying the full moon’s illumination — but it’s releasing now, not building. Mercury in Libra squares Asteroid Lilith to open the day — talking and fighting for justice, for the marginalized, for everyone who has been othered by the power-over paradigm. Asteroid Lilith says: nobody puts baby back in the corner. The Mercury square is a push. More people speaking out. Particularly, in my reading, those who have been most excluded. At the same time, Mercury opposes Eris — completing the formation of a Cardinal Grand Cross with Juno (sacred contracts; none of this is working) — which forces things to change. Initiating. Cardinal energy doesn’t wait. Heading into the midterms, the voices are getting louder: we can’t keep doing this. The tools exist. We just have to use them. The Aries Moon conjuncts Saturn — reality check, brakes applied, feeling held back. You might feel stalled. That is appropriate. The waning cycle is the releasing cycle. The Moon trines Black Moon Lilith — the wild, elemental feminine speaking clearly. There is real female rage alive this week, in the best sense. Female Rage: The Musical would be right at home. Mars at the anaretic 29° Cancer squares Chiron in Aries — the guardian energy looking at the wound of the toxic masculine. All of us carry this, regardless of gender, because we were raised in this culture. Mars in Cancer has been learning: I am a protector, not an attacker. I am a firefighter in the IFS sense — I want to put out fires, but that doesn’t mean I have to attack everything. And now Mars is about to move into Leo. The Moon squares Ceres in Cancer — how are we mothering ourselves? How are we nurturing each other, in a genuinely healthy way? The Moon meets Pallas Athena — the wise warrior seeing the patterns. Oh. I see it now. We’ve got to change how we do this. The Moon trines Jupiter — a big fire trine, burning things down and creating differently. And then, at the very end of the day: Mars enters Leo. Mars in Leo is fire and heart and creative self-expression. Mars is not just war, and I want to be clear about this. Mars is our will, our drive, our energy. It’s a firefighter in the internal family systems sense — highly protective. And Mars in Leo, heading toward the South Node and Regulus, is going to help take down more of what needs to come down. Because Mars in Leo will square 0° Scorpio — the exact point of the Venus Star Point. You want to be in the class when that happens. Week one slides are already done. The Moon closes the day conjuncting Vesta — what are you focused and committed to? What lights your inner flame? Here is the invitation this Venus retrograde is about to offer you. Monday, September 28 — Moon Into Taurus. The Fixed T-Square Begins. The Aries Moon finishes its journey by sextiling Hekate — the torchbearer at the crossroads, at this big turning point we’re entering. I’m here. I’m lighting the way. We’re going into the depths. This is not dark as in “oh my god.” It’s dark as in depth. Personal and collective transformation happening at a profound level. The Moon conjuncts Eris (more table-turning within — the outer mirror of inner work), then aspects Asteroid Lilith, Juno, and Mercury — joining that Cardinal Grand Cross and saying collectively: we have to be the change we want to see in the world. Then the Moon meets Chiron — another look at the wounded masculine energy in all of us. Mars is now in Leo; the lesson keeps arriving from different angles. At 10:40am Eastern, the Moon enters Taurus. And immediately — a Fixed T-Square with 0° Scorpio. The Moon squares Mars in Leo. Mars in Leo squaring 0° Scorpio. This is gnarly energy, and it will activate on and off right through Venus and Mercury’s retrogrades. What it’s asking: dig into your deepest attachments. Your values. Your power dynamics and manipulation patterns — those you’ve been subjected to and those you’ve participated in. And find your way to acting from the heart. From Leo’s highest. The Sun in Libra trines Uranus — a beautiful air trine bringing downloads, flashing insights, radical change of perception. Grace. When you know better, you do better. No beating yourself up for what’s happened in the past. Manwë (the Law of Grace) is part of this cluster — the Sun opposes it exactly. Juno exactly opposes Asteroid Lilith — the Queen of Gods (who represented women, children, and the marginalized) facing the original equal. The fight for genuine equality is being activated at every level. The Moon opposes Haumea — and here’s what to know: Pluto and Haumea are only 5 minutes apart at this point. They are about to have their next exact square. The Moon activating both of them simultaneously is a preview. Tuesday, September 29 — Moon Opposes Venus. Okyrhoe the Seer. The Looking Glass. The Taurus Moon opposes Venus in Scorpio while conjuncting Okyrhoe — the daughter of Chiron and Chariklo, the prophetess, the seer. This conjunction gives the Moon/Venus opposition a oracular quality: you may start to receive foresight around what you need to let go of. What attachments. What values. What old stories about who you are. The Venus class guides you through exactly this. And I will guide you through shamanic journeys that work precisely in this territory — going through the looking glass, seeing things in non-ordinary reality, pulling the pieces and patterns together. Pallas Athena (retrograde) squares Ceres today — the wise strategist looking at what feeds us and what doesn’t, with that Alice-in-Wonderland capacity to see through the distortion to the pattern underneath. The Moon trines Pholus — Pandora’s box is open. We can’t look away anymore. Whatever has been sealed behind those lids: it’s out. The Moon squares Jupiter — big emotions about what we’re seeing. Jupiter in Leo can be the overblown king energy, the my way or the highway energy — and we’re starting to see it clearly. The Moon aspects Nessus — the toxins, the poisons. But look: alongside that, heart-led expansion is available. The antidote to what we’ve been seeing is leading from the heart. Mercury opposes Chiron — the voice meeting the wounded masculine. Speak out. Do this differently. Language has power here. Mercury also makes its final aspects to the North Node — the strongest pull is toward where we’re going: the Aquarian future. More humanitarian. More egalitarian. The question being asked everywhere from politics to tech: why are we letting four people — the owners of the AI companies — dictate what our collective future looks like? Why are we allowing it? Go and listen to the Politics Girl podcast this week; the author Ahmi Fields Meyer makes this case compellingly. We need to come together across our differences and use the tools we have. Wednesday, September 30 — Mercury Enters Scorpio. Pluto-Haumea Square Exact. The 10th. The Taurus Moon squares Chariklo and Hekate in Aquarius — both retrograde, both quiet, both holding the torch and spinning the new story from the wreckage. We’re here. We’re still holding space. Come with us. The Moon finishes its Taurus journey by squaring the Nodes at 29° — one more push. Change has got to come. At 7:44am Eastern, Mercury enters Scorpio — joining Venus in the deep waters. The voice, the mind, the communication descends. Mercury is, by the way, non-binary — and deeply at home in Scorpio’s investigative, truth-seeking, depths-penetrating energy. More hearing and speaking about manipulation and power games. More going into the deep interior. Like the last Venus retrograde when Venus went through Aries and Mercury followed — now they’re both in Scorpio, and they’ll station direct on the same day: November 13th. At 1:26pm Eastern, the Moon enters Gemini. And then, at 3:15pm Eastern: Pluto exactly squares Haumea at 3° Aquarius/Scorpio. This is the 10th of 13 exact squares between these two, running from 2022 to spring 2028. Three more to go. I wrote an article on the Pluto-Haumea square — here The number 3° is worth sitting with. From The Numerology and the Divine Triangle (a wonderful book): 3 combines the qualities of 1 and 2. It carries the qualities of manifestation and self-expression. The ion which sprang into existence from zero sought to assert its individuality, then felt the attraction of others, and now awakens to its need for social interaction. 3 is the need to communicate and become involved in the pure joy of living. Keywords: expansive, dramatic, communicative, diversified, creative. Lovely number. Haumea is the great mother goddess of the Hawaiian pantheon — pure regeneration and rebirth. Pluto pressing on her at the number of creative manifestation, with Venus 3 days from stationing retrograde. This adds extraordinary potency to what we’re entering. The Gemini Moon conjuncts Uranus at end of day — the whole air grand trine kite is activated. Big ideas. Speaking out. Court cases. Revelations. And all of it happening within, too. Thursday, October 1 — The First Call. Venus on the Ascendant. Last Chance to Join. The Venus Retrograde: Heroine’s Journey begins at 10am Mountain Time. And at 10am Mountain Time, Venus is right on the Ascendant. I did not plan this. I never do. It just works for me. The morning of October 1st is the absolute last chance to register. I will not accept late joiners — this is a group journey into the underworld, and the container needs to hold everyone together from the beginning. If you’ve been saying I’m not sure, I don’t know — this is the moment. louiseedington.com/VenusRetrograde2026 Astrologically, the Gemini Moon trines the Sun — the first major Moon-Sun aspect after the Aries Full Moon. Activates the air grand trine. Speaking out, new ideas, diving deeper. A beautiful day to begin. The Moon sextiles Saturn (opportunity to release more self-limiting beliefs — and there will be many to release in this class), sextiles Pallas Athena (turning that steely, pattern-seeing gaze inward — exactly what we’ll do), and sextiles Jupiter (expansion, big ideas, the heart opening toward what’s possible). The Moon opposes Black Moon Lilith — I always associate Black Moon Lilith with Scorpio, and she’s pointing directly into where we’re about to descend. Quiet day, astrologically. Good for beginning something deep. Friday, October 2 — Mercury-Mars-Pluto. The Fixed Grand Cross Tightens. Cancer Moon Out of Bounds. The Gemini Moon squares Nessus at 21° — another look at the toxins, the poisons, what’s been coming out. Then Mars aspects Sedna — we know we have to change. We know it. The question is what action we’re going to take. Mercury in Scorpio squares Mars in Leo — and squares Pluto in Aquarius — completing the Fixed Grand Cross in earnest now. Mercury’s voice and mind in the depths, Mars’s will and drive in the heart, Pluto’s excavation of shadow in the collective — all pressing on each other. Everything speaking truth. Everything connected. Think about what action is required. The Gemini Moon trines Chariklo and Hekate, sextiles Eris (opportunity to flip the inner tables), aspects Chiron (wound and medicine) — then at 3:54pm Eastern, the Moon enters Cancer — her own sign. And she is way out of bounds. Mercury in Scorpio squares Pluto and conjuncts Haumea — the total period of deep regeneration from the inside out. Soul detective. Corruption detective. Scorpio investigates what’s hidden. Mars in Leo trines Neptune in Aries — Mars in Leo, Neptune in Aries, both Mars’s signs in harmonious conversation. The lesson Mars keeps getting, from every angle: you are a protector, not an attacker. You don’t have to stomp on others. You have to find different ways to do this. The Sun squares Pholus — Pandora’s box, still open. More coming to light. The lid has been off too long to go back on. The Moon makes a water trine to Mercury and Haumea — deep, feeling, regenerative, creative. The inner detective work is happening. Saturday, October 3 — Venus Stations Retrograde. Last Quarter Moon. The Descent Begins. At 3:15am Eastern, Venus stations retrograde at 8°29’ Scorpio. She will be retrograde through November 13th, when she stations direct alongside Mercury. The descent into the underworld begins. Where is 8° Scorpio in your chart? What about 22° Libra — the degree where Venus will station direct? The path between those two degrees is the territory of this retrograde. And if you were born under a prenatal Scorpio Venus Star Point, this is your star point cycle, and it will be extraordinarily personal. Even if you’re not a Scorpio star point: look back 8 years to 2018. And 8 years before that. And 8 years before that. Venus has been going retrograde through Scorpio on this 8-year cycle. Not for exact events — but for feelings, themes, the part of your chart activated. What echoes are you hearing? The out-of-bounds Cancer Moon (deeply emotional, operating beyond the normal range) makes a water trine to Venus at 6:15am Eastern — this moment feels significant. A deep tide turning. We’re going to feel it. Then: Mars in Leo opposes Pluto, squares Mercury, and squares Haumea — the Fixed Grand Cross at full force. Take action to dig deep. Go into your own heart and shadows. Transform from the inside out. This is not comfortable. It is the work. The Moon opposes Pholus (Pandora’s box wide open as we descend). And then the Last Quarter Moon — the Moon reaches 10° Cancer, squaring the Sun in Libra, with Saturn and Pholus completing another Cardinal Grand Cross. Forcing change from within. Dane Rudhyar called Last Quarter Moons a “crisis in consciousness.” This one, with Venus having just stationed retrograde hours before, with a Fixed Grand Cross also activated, with Mercury in Scorpio and Mars pressing on Pluto — this is not a gentle crisis. Mars squares Haumea — the divine masculine learning, still, that the rebirth requires depth not domination. The Moon meets Ceres — and I want to end there, because Ceres is about our needs and our attachments. In my Ceres book, I write about her connection to attachment style: what we’re attached to, who we’re attached to, what ideas and stories we’re clinging to. The Venus retrograde class begins peeling all of this back. And Ceres at the end of this intense day is saying: look at what you’re attached to. You don’t have to carry all of it. The Cards in Detail The Hermit, reversed: You may start this week wanting to withdraw from the world. Feeling antisocial. Feeling like you want to hibernate. And you know what? That’s okay. The waning cycle is the releasing cycle, and this is a big week of going inward. The caution of the reversal: don’t let the going-within become “woe is me” with no movement. The Hermit reversed can be too much navel-gazing without the intentional “okay, and now what do I do with what I’ve found?” The invitation is solitude with purpose — even if that purpose is just let me feel this before I act on it. Three of Torches (Wands), reversed — Roadblocks and Recalibration: Venus grinding to a halt. Cardinal and Fixed Grand Crosses. Waning moon. Everything going within. You may feel delays, roadblocks, a loss of momentum and confidence this week. Your drive is going underground. This is not failure. This is the Three of Torches asking for recalibration — and it is pointing directly at the class. Recalibrate in community. Recalibrate in the underworld, with a guide and a map and seven weeks to find your feet. Five of Seeds (Pentacles), reversed — I Have My Own Back: This one lands at the end of the week, as Venus stations retrograde. You will start to feel that you can overcome hardship. You will start to see that the difficult times could be over. But here is the core message: you’ve got to have your own back. For better or worse. Through the descent and the return. You matter. And your actions matter. The Selkie (Witch Oracle by Angie Sullins): When I read this card, I said out loud: This is what I do in the Venus class. And I wasn’t joking. “Legend tells of the Selkie — a shape-shifting woman-seal, often seen off the coast of northern Scotland, who can shed her skin by moonlight and dance upon the shores. Fishermen were known to catch the seal maid’s skin in order to keep her pinned to the land, captured as bride, preventing her return to her true skin and soul home. To reclaim your soul skin in the current legend you’re living, you must let go of the good girl pelt you were raised to wear. This means getting comfortable with letting people have their own ideas about who you are, so that you can develop the freedom to be what is most natural to you. Toss off all that no longer fits you, and dive deep into the places where your soul feels most at home. Let go of old demands you put yourself under to be that good girl, good friend, good daughter, good wife, good mother. Shed the pelt of expectation, demand, and approval, including your own. The woman in total control of herself you are becoming will cost you relationships, spaces, comfort, security, and convenience. Choose her over everything.” The Venus class is the place where we do this work — consciously, guided, over seven weeks. Where the shamanic journeys help you find your soul skin. Where the descent into Scorpio’s underworld is not random suffering but initiated transformation. This is why these cards were telling you to join. The Selkie arrived at the week Venus goes retrograde. She is looking you directly in the eyes. Choose her over everything. Summing Up A Cardinal Grand Cross pressing and pressing for change. A Fixed Grand Cross building as Mars enters Leo and Mercury dives into Scorpio. The 10th Pluto-Haumea exact square at the number of creative manifestation. Mercury in Scorpio. Venus stationing retrograde at 3:15am on Saturday. The Last Quarter Moon adding its cardinal pressure. And Ceres closing the week by asking about our attachments. The Hermit reversed says: withdraw with intention, not despair. The Three of Torches reversed says: this stalling is a recalibration. The Five of Seeds reversed says: you can overcome the hardship — you have your own back. And the Selkie says: shed the good girl pelt. Dive deep into where your soul feels most at home. If you’re in the class: welcome. We start October 1st. If you’re still deciding: this is the last weekend. Enrollment closes the morning of October 1st. The underworld is waiting. Hekate has her torch. — Louise Venus Retrograde: Heroine’s Journey — last chance to register is the morning of October 1st. louiseedington.com/VenusRetrograde2026 My article in The Evolving Astrologer (OPA’s free magazine) — page 21. OPA Live panel: opaastrology.org. https://opaastrology.org/magazine/OPA-TEA-2026-September-Equinox.pdf?mc_cid=98ab9f9e71&mc_eid=d5af1effe0 Pluto-Haumea “Aspect of the Decade” article — here on Substack. Code COSMICOWL20 (20% off) or COSMICOWL30 (30% off $99+) at Otter Spirit. Spiral Weave / Spiral Codex — $10/month or $90/year. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cosmicowlastrology.substack.com/subscribe

   September 24, 2026·54min
   Play
4. 4
   Number 4: Put Yourself in the Way of Magic

   Written version below.Venus Retrograde: Heroine’s Journey — I’m keeping the price as it is. I was going to raise it, and then I listened to my intuition, which said no. Start date is October 1st, and Venus stations retrograde on October 3rd — there was a timezone error on my sales page that said the 2nd; the 3rd is correct. I’ve already started uploading new content to the portal — video guides, aspect breakdowns for the lead-in to the retrograde. And I want to say something I’ve been sitting with: I called this possibly my last run, and I don’t know that’s true. It’s my favourite thing I do. Things are changing in my life and work, and I don’t know exactly what form future iterations will take. But this one — this one — is ready, and I’m genuinely excited about it. Two tiers: the basic Journey at $397 (seven weeks, eight calls, all recorded, full course portal, pre-work videos, slides in colour and black-and-white), and the Dragon Rider add-on (an extra $500) which includes a private 30-minute one-on-one ($175 value), a year’s membership in the Spiral Codex community ($600 value, beginning after the class), and a personalized gift I’ll mail to you. louiseedington.com/VenusRetrograde2026 Before We Dive In Coming up: Cathy and I are recording on Friday, likely looking at the Aries Full Moon chart alongside the US Sibley chart — the DC chart for the full moon has exactly the same angles as the Sibley. We’ll see what that means. Subscribe free on Substack for weekly posts and everything else. Spiral Weave on my website louiseedington.com — $10/month or $90/year. The Week at a Glance This is a week of building intensity, heading toward the Aries Full Moon on Saturday September 26th at 12:49pm Eastern. I’ve done a full separate video on that — go watch it for the depth. The week is the lead-in. The cards open at the end of your tether and build to fire. The astrology opens with a grinding cardinal T-square and builds to a kite configuration pointing at justice and transformation. By Saturday, the pieces come together. Key events: * Equinox — Sun enters 0° Libra — September 22nd * Pholus stations direct at 9° Capricorn — Friday September 25th * Aries Full Moon at 3° — Saturday September 26th at 12:49pm Eastern One note to carry all week: only Venus, the Sun, and Mercury have crossed the South Node and Regulus at 0° Virgo. The rest are still coming. Mars, Jupiter, Juno, Hygieia — all heading there eventually. For now, the direction is set, but the journey is ongoing. The Cards — A First Glance From the Red Seeds Tarot (Linda Hill, Etsy UK) and the Witch Oracle by Angie Sullins: Seven of Torches reversed, King of Torches, Ace of Torches reversed, She of the Invisible Ally. Three fire cards and one water card — and all of them, in their different ways, saying the same thing: the answer is within. The fire is within. The magic is within. The allies you’ve forgotten about are within. More at the end. But hold that thread. Day by Day Sunday, September 20 — Moon in Capricorn. Cardinal T-Square. The Goddess Archetypes Are Screaming. We open the week with the Moon out of bounds in Capricorn — and Pluto also out of bounds, as it will be until early December each year through 2035. More erratic, more beyond the pale, more heightened. The usual advice: more self-care than you think you need, more boundaries, more kindness to yourself. The Moon squares Saturn retrograde (the guide for Capricorn, going back over the structures and rules) and opposes Ceres in Cancer — forming a cardinal T-square at 12°–13°. Cardinals push for action. This T-square is asking, again, loudly: how are our needs being met? How are the people’s needs being met? How are the needs of the most vulnerable people being met? The outer expression of this energy keeps showing up in the news. Congress being sent home until November 9th — after the midterms, before Venus and Mercury station direct — while essential legislation is pending. A building in Gaza that had been bombed collapsed further, killing twenty people and trapping nearly a hundred. These are the literal expressions of the Moon opposing Ceres: needs not being met, structures not holding, the people saying enough. Mars in Cancer squares Vesta and Eris — both in Aries, both retrograde. Mars and Eris are siblings in the mythology, and this square is in some ways the two of them working together despite the friction. Mars (assertive drive, protective instincts, cooling its jets in Cancer) squares Eris (the truth-teller for the outsiders, sharply aware of exclusion and hierarchy). Together: there’s a push to assert and claim space. And there’s a deep fear of being controlled or sidelined. But the square is a cardinal square — initiating. Things have to change, and Mars is moving forward toward them. Mars then opposes Juno — now direct and heading back into Aquarius. The sacred contracts of our collective life are being confronted: none of this is working. We’re seeing it everywhere. The Moon opposes Asteroid Lilith — and every goddess archetype in the chart this week seems to be screaming: we need to be heard. The Divine Feminine — not just women, but that whole energy of care, reciprocity, interconnection — needs to be heard. Black Moon Lilith at 25° Sagittarius makes a fire trine to the whole Aries retrograde cluster and to Hygieia and the South Node. The answer is to burn off the old, rise up, create the new. Tune into the spirit of fire — which I experience as the fire of inspiration. That whooshing feeling when something unlocks. The Moon closes the day by trining the Sun (last major Ptolemaic aspect before the full moon, Earth-to-Earth saying we are going to build a more meaningful world) while simultaneously squaring Chiron back in Aries. There is still work to finish. Every one of us is playing a part in building what comes next — in tight community, in broader collectives, in the most private inner work. All of it matters. Jupiter in Leo trines Pallas Athena — the expander meeting the wise strategist and pattern-seer. Strategies to rise up like phoenixes. To lead from the heart rather than from the throne. Monday, September 21 — Moon Into Aquarius. Mercury Opposes Pallas Athena. Hygieia and Hekate. The Moon finishes its Capricorn passage still carrying all those T-square themes, then enters Aquarius at 1:14pm Eastern — the sign of the people, the future, the collective. Things shift slightly: from the weight of structures collapsing to the vision of what we want to build instead. Mercury in Libra opposes Pallas Athena in Aries — big new ideas for justice. New strategies being assembled. In what feels like a surreal indicator of the astrology: Steve Bannon and Bernie Sanders were reported on the same stage (not at the same time) making the same argument: the future of AI must be decided by the people, not the oligarchs. I had to read that twice. Mercury opposing Pallas Athena in the sign of justice, pulling pieces together from unexpected places, finding new strategies to challenge concentrated power. AI is part of this week’s conversation. The founders are fighting amongst themselves. Companies are finding that replacing workers with AI is not delivering what was promised. The data centre heat problem remains unsolved. And amid all of it, the argument about who gets to decide the future of this technology — whether it’s the few or the many — is getting louder. Hekate has her torch. The way forward is being shown. Hygieia opposes Hekate in this same cluster — holistic, preventative health in all its forms (not just physical; the health of our collective mind and leadership) facing the torchbearer at the crossroads. Which way do we go? Hekate knows. The answers are within. Mercury forms a sextile to Jupiter in Leo — big new ideas, big new plans, a real expansiveness in how we speak and think about what’s possible. Tuesday, September 22 — Equinox. Sun Enters 0° Libra. The People Are Rising. The Autumn Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere, Spring in the Southern — the Sun enters 0° Libra, a world point, beginning a new season and seeding new things. I took a quick look at the equinox chart set for Washington DC, and a few things caught my eye. Venus retrograde is in the 7th house of others and open enemies. The Aries retrograde cluster is in the 12th house of hidden enemies. Uranus is in the 2nd house of values, waking people up to what isn’t feeding them. Ceres sits at the base of the chart — the IC, the foundation — and she is saying: this system is not working for the people’s needs. Jupiter is moving into the 5th house of joy, creativity, self-expression, and the inner child — people beginning to find that. And the Aquarius Moon is on the cusp of the 11th house — the house of causes, politics, humanitarian concerns, and the collective voice. The Moon is the people. And the people are rising. Happy equinox. The Aquarius Moon meanwhile squares Haumea (regeneration at 2° Scorpio, the exact degree where Venus and the Moon met in their occultation gate), then sextiles Neptune (let go of who you thought you were; step into interconnection), then trines Uranus — ahas, pattern-shifts, those head-explodey moments of seeing things differently. We’re going to have quite a few of those this week as we build toward the full moon. The Moon squares Venus in Scorpio — digging into the shared values and power relationships that Venus is about to take us through in her retrograde. Who has power over us? Who have we given our power away to? These are not rhetorical questions this week. Hygieia trines Vesta and Eris — the holistic health of the collective in flowing conversation with the inner flame and the truth-teller. The answers are within. Tune in. The Moon closes the day by conjuncting Pluto — the shadow to the light, the buried treasure beginning to emerge. Pluto and Haumea are heading toward another of their 13 squares (which run 2022–2028), and the Moon is activating that approach. Three more squares after this one. The transformation is not done. Wednesday, September 23 — Moon Opposes Jupiter. Moon Meets Hekate and Chariklo. Moon Into Pisces. The Aquarius Moon opposes Jupiter in Leo — the people looking directly at the expanded king energy and saying: your time is limited. Jupiter is heading toward the South Node in Leo. Leaders, in the astrology world and in the wider world, are being taken down or called to account. Not necessarily the ones we want yet — but the motion is real. The Moon trines Mercury (air to air: the collective mind, speaking out, ideas flowing) and then makes what I find genuinely beautiful: the Moon meets Hekate and Chariklo, both retrograde in Aquarius, both quietly holding space and weaving the new story from the pieces that are simultaneously falling apart and falling into place. The Moon opposes Hygieia — everything heading down the South Node drain that is not for our genuine holistic flourishing, individually and collectively. Circling the drain of what’s not working. And the Moon conjuncts the North Node at 29° — still that eclipse charge, still that pull toward the future. Still at the threshold. Change is coming. 29°. The anaretic degree of the liminal space. And at the very end of the day, the Moon enters Pisces — things get very emotional as we build toward the full moon. But also: clouds clearing. The feeling quality of the coming days is going to be intense and also somehow clarifying. Thursday, September 24 — Quiet Build. Lightning Hitting Water. Not a huge number of aspects — a day to let things settle and integrate as the energy builds. The Pisces Moon squares Sedna (adapt; change is coming; mutable signs pressing) then trines Haumea (ready to create from our feelings and our right brain; intuition and balance coming together) and then squares Uranus — and Louise described this perfectly: lightning hitting water. Uranus in Gemini, all those electrical awakenings and flashing ideas, square the Pisces Moon’s deep emotionality and flow. Shocking. Potentially beautiful. Possibly a few jarring revelations. The Moon then trines Venus — seeing clearly about values, self-worth, how power has been given away. This is Venus retrograde territory, and we’re already starting to feel it from the outside in. Asteroid Lilith squares Vesta — the original equality and the inner flame in friction, both asking the same question from different angles: what are you devoted to at the deepest level of who you are? With Chiron back in Aries, this is about healing the core self — finding the medicine of genuine individuality (not rugged power-over, but power from within) and healing the inner masculine while we’re at it. Mercury trines Hekate and Chariklo — the messenger in flowing conversation with the torchbearer and the cosmic doula. The mind is starting to catch up with what the soul already knows. Friday, September 25 — Venus Day. Pholus Stations Direct. The Kite Forms. Sun Enters Libra Season Fully. Pholus stations direct at 9° Capricorn. Nine — the number of endings. Pholus is the Pandora’s Box centaur — the lid-comes-off energy, the things that get out that can’t be put back in. He has been retrograde in Capricorn for a long time, going back over what has been out of integrity in our institutions and structures. And now he stations direct. More things are going to come out of the box. More revelations about the structures we’ve been living under. More things that, once seen, cannot be unseen. This station coincides directly with the full moon approaching and the Sun making exact aspects to the basket/cradle planets. The Sun trines Pluto and Uranus, and opposes Neptune exactly — forming a kite in fire and air, with the Aries retrograde cluster as the focal point and Neptune (dissolving the old, birthing the spiritual warrior) as the tail. Big ideas for justice. New people rising up. New alliances forming in unexpected places. The Sun at 3°–4° Libra is now past the equinox and building power in the sign of balance, harmony, and — often forgotten — justice. Libra is also traditionally associated with war (as the scales of battle), and the resistance to injustice is very much Libran at its highest. New lawsuits. New strategies. New coalitions. Some of them surprising. Mercury in Libra opposes Vesta and Eris — speaking up for the inner flame, speaking up for the outsiders. Mercury past 22° Libra means it’s now in the territory where Venus will station direct on November 13th. The mercury mind is already walking the ground Venus will return to. Saturday, September 26 — The Aries Full Moon. 12:49pm Eastern. Go and watch the full moon video. It’s all there. What I’ll say here: the Moon in Pisces makes a water trine to Mars in Cancer (finally cooling its jets, the guardian energy settling into water) before entering Aries at 6:23am Eastern — and look at what it steps into. The whole retrograde Aries pileup. Chiron, Eris, Vesta, Pallas Athena, Saturn, Manwë, Neptune. The Moon as the focal point of this kite, as the people meeting all those planets going within, reviewing, reflecting. The Moon meets Neptune (spiritual warrior; releasing who we thought we were), sextiles Sedna (adapt), sextiles Pluto (transformation), sextiles Uranus (radical awakening) — the mini grand trine activated right at the full moon. Full Moon exact at 12:49pm Eastern at 3° Aries. Fulfillment. Illumination. Something completing. Right after the full moon, the Moon conjuncts Manwë — the Law of Grace. Spontaneous resolution through internal alignment and correct action. Without external intervention. This is what the class does: guide you to take that self-directed, inner journey. Then the Moon squares Pholus — facing what we see as the lid comes off, some people extending more grace to each other than before. And one date to hold: Venus and Mercury station direct on November 13th. Congress is due back on November 9th — four days before. Mars crosses the South Node the day after that, on November 14th, alongside Jupiter. Watch this space. The Cards in Detail Seven of Torches (Wands), reversed — Lacking Courage: You may start the week feeling this. A lack of faith in yourself. Like it’s all too much. Like quitting would be easier. The upright Seven of Torches is I Am Courage — and the reversal doesn’t remove the courage. It asks you to look within for it rather than expecting it to come from outside. The fire is in there. It always was. King of Torches — I Am Dynamic: The more you go within — even if you begin the week feeling defeated — the more this dynamism starts to build as the full moon approaches. Things are being ignited. The King of Torches doesn’t wait for permission. He knows he carries his fire within him. The full moon is the ignition point. Ace of Torches, reversed — I Am Inspired (from within): The Ace reversed is still the Ace — pure creative fire, the beginning of something. Reversed, the invitation is to find the inspiration within, not to look for the external spark. This is where the three fire cards are pointing together: defeat, then dynamism, then inspiration — all sourced from the interior. This is the Red Seeds Tarot, the deck of the Eleusinian Mysteries and the descent and return. Perfectly placed for the week Venus is about to take us underground. She of the Invisible Ally (Witch Oracle): “There are unseen forces guiding you right now. They rarely let themselves be seen, but that doesn’t mean they’re not there. While it’s true that you often name and number your resources, you forget about the unseen ones. The invisibles are available to you always, but they tend to dwell in the higher places — energies of wonder, curiosity, and hope. Petition them. A witch will reach into these energies and swim with them through the cosmos. This is a good time for dreaming and journeying. Take a walk in nature. Seek out a credible plant shaman who can help you access the gifts of the green world. Spend time in the liminal realm with active imagination. Put yourself in the way of magic. Helpful spirits are ready to guide you, and now is the time to summon them to show themselves.” We do exactly this in the Venus Retrograde class — the active imagination, the guided journeys, the liminal realm work. Not coincidentally. And: find your inner dragon. The planets don’t make anything happen. Everything is happening within you. Stuff happens, challenges happen — but how you respond to them, and how you work with them, is what matters. You are the cosmos. The invisible ally is you. Summing Up A cardinal T-square pressing on the structures that aren’t working. Mars and Eris, siblings, asserting and claiming space. The equinox — a new season, a world point, a chart that says the people are rising. Pholus stationing direct with more things coming out of the box. The fire and air kite forming as the Aries Full Moon approaches. Manwë, the Law of Grace, right after the full moon. And four cards — three of them fire — that move from defeat, through dynamism, to inner inspiration, held by the unseen allies that have never left. Start the week however you need to start it. Look within. Find the fire. It was always there. — Louise Venus Retrograde: Heroine’s Journey — starts October 1st, Venus retrogrades October 3rd. $397 basic Journey; Dragon Rider add-on $500 extra. louiseedington.com/VenusRetrograde2026 Cathy and I are recording on Friday — check the channel. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cosmicowlastrology.substack.com/subscribe

   September 17, 2026·43min
   Play
5. 5
   Number 5: Go Into the Woods: Astrology Week of August 30–September 5

   Before We Dive In Recording this on August 26th, and I want to say clearly at the start: I am feeling a bit low. The eclipse energy has been personally challenging in a number of ways, and also — Dolly Parton and Tim Curry have both passed, within days of each other. Both around 80 years old. I loved them both, for very different reasons, and I find their passing sitting in me in that particular way that celebrity deaths sometimes do, when someone has been part of the landscape of your whole life. I’m telling you this because it’s also very much the energy of this week. This is the come-down after eclipse season. If you’re feeling deflated, that’s appropriate. That’s the astrology. The cards are honest about it — but they end in a place of genuine hope. If you’re looking for that hopeful note right now, go and watch the September 10th Virgo New Moon video I just put up. That one has more light in it. This week: do your inner work. Go into the woods. Slow your roll. Subscribe free on Substack for all posts in your inbox. Spiral Weave / Spiral Codex membership — $10/month or $90/year. Venus Retrograde: Heroine’s Journey — I’ll decide on the final pricing when I’m back from Chicago. For now, it’s still open and I’ll let you know. Two tiers: the basic Venus Retrograde course, and Dragon Rider (adds a year of Spiral Codex membership, a 30-minute one-on-one with me, and a personal gift). louiseedington.com/VenusRetrograde2026 One more small thing: if you enjoy astrology AND music, Chris Brennan did an extraordinary interview with Roland Orzabal from Tears for Fears about his astrology memoir. It’s worth your time. I’ve listened twice and bought the hard copy. The Energy of This Week We come off the lunar eclipse on August 28th and begin to wane. The week opens with the Moon in Aries and ends with it in Cancer, waning all the while, heading toward the September 10th new moon. We are in the shedding phase. What makes this week distinctive — and why the message keeps being the same — is the sheer number of retrograde planets in Aries: Neptune, Manwë, Saturn, Pallas Athena, Eris, and Vesta, all moving backwards. When the Aries Moon moves through them, each conjunction or activation is saying: slow down. Go in. Revisit. Review. Do not charge forward. Aries likes action and speed; the retrogrades are applying the brakes. The overall prescription for this week: radical, extraordinary self-care. More than you normally would. The whole week is a churn of inner processing. Let it do its work. Three more things to note: Pluto is out of bounds until December 5th — as it will be for a few months around this time of year until 2035. Going out of bounds to the south, which Rosie Finn’s book Persephone’s Revolution associates with people rising up and more peaceful collective energy. We are in that window. Sedna stations retrograde this week (Thursday) — her 11,406-year orbit is so slow that her stations are gentler than most, but she’s still asking: dig deeper into your perceptions and adaptations. She was last in Gemini at the end of the Great Ice Ages. Venus is entering the shadow of her retrograde — she hits 21°50’ Libra at the start of the week, which is the point she’ll return to when she stations direct on November 13th. Start paying attention now to what comes up around your values, your relationships, your sense of justice and beauty, your desires. Everything that surfaces in the next few weeks will have something to say when Venus goes retrograde in October. Only Venus, Mercury, and the Sun have passed the South Node and Regulus so far. Everyone else is still coming. Gradually, one by one. The Cards — A First Glance From the Red Seeds Tarot and the Witch Oracle: Two of Bees, Eight of Seeds reversed, Ten of Bees, and The Witch. Tension. Disengagement. Then: revelation. And then the Witch herself — the one in total control of herself — to close. More at the end. Day by Day Sunday, August 30 — Moon in Aries. Slow Your Horses. Venus Enters Her Shadow. The Moon is freshly in Aries — and immediately hits all those retrograde planets. A sextile to Sedna (about to station), a sextile to Pluto activating the basket at 4°, then the Moon conjuncts Neptune — stop and smell the coffee. Tune in to your intuition. There is nothing to rush into right now. The Moon then sextiles Uranus — the aha question of this whole period: who am I in this new world we’re building? That’s worth sitting with. The Moon squares Ceres in Cancer — do your self-care. Take care of yourself first, and then you are able to care for and protect your loved ones. And squares Pholus — the lid is still coming off things. The Moon is being slowed at every turn. Neptune is particularly potent here: the retrograde Aries cluster, every one of them applying the brakes to the Aries Moon’s natural preference for speed. Slow your horses. We are not at full speed ahead yet. The Moon conjuncts Pallas Athena (revisiting strategy and pattern recognition), then conjuncts Eris (tables turning, but within — going in to see what you need to overturn in your own life), then squares Juno (renegotiating contracts), sextiles Hekate (the torchbearer is saying: the path forward is through your inner truths), and finally conjuncts Vesta (inner flame — what are you devoted to, really?). Before the day closes, the Moon conjuncts Saturn — a hard stop. Reality check. Put the brakes on. Venus at 21°50’ Libra directly opposes Pallas Athena retrograde — the strategist, the pattern-recognizer, looking keenly back at Venus. Slow down. Think through your relationships, your values, your sense of justice. See the patterns before you charge on. Venus is covering ground she will cover again during the retrograde. Pay attention to what surfaces. Black Moon Lilith makes a fire trine to Eris and Vesta, and sextiles Hekate — that inner feminine rage at injustice, in flowing conversation with the table-turners and the inner flame, with the way-shower lighting the path. And Mercury in Virgo trines Pholus — more information coming to light. More things being seen. Monday, August 31 — Saturn Squares Asteroid Lilith. Black Moon Lilith Enters Capricorn. Earth Grand Trine. Saturn at 13° Aries squares Asteroid Lilith in Cancer. Thirteen — the number of the goddess, the witch. Saturn in Aries retrograde is revisiting the rules, the structures, the identities we’ve been building. Asteroid Lilith — the talk-to-the-hand, we-were-created-equal, original divine feminine — is in the Moon’s sign, looking around and asking: how are all our needs being met? How are outsiders’ needs being met? It’s a hard look, again, before we do anything more. Saturn can bring the “shoulds” — and this week: don’t. It will still be there later. Black Moon Lilith reaches the end of Sagittarius and enters Capricorn — the sign of our institutions, structures, and the man-made rules we live under. And the moment she crosses into Capricorn, she trines Regulus at 0° Virgo and Chiron at 0° Taurus — an Earth Grand Trine. The exiled feminine energy, in flowing conversation with the Royal Star that now speaks of future stewards, and with the medicine man shining his light on wounds and healing. The way forward is this world. This experience. Being on this Earth, which is our home. Jupiter at 13° Leo trines Saturn at 13° Aries. Thirteen — the goddess number, the witch number, also a number of creation (Fibonacci, phi). This is the opening trine of the cycle that began at the Great Conjunction in December 2020 — Jupiter and Saturn at 0° Aquarius, the beginning of the Age of Air. Now Jupiter has moved into Leo and this is the first flowering of that seed. We have to change these man-made rules that are not in alignment with the natural laws of the universe. That’s what this aspect is saying. In the number of the goddess, no less. The Moon in Aries moves through Pallas Athena (revisiting strategy), opposes Venus (emotions stirred around what Venus is covering in her pre-retrograde territory — feel it, don’t push it away), conjuncts Eris (more inner table-turning), squares Juno, sextiles Hekate, conjuncts Vesta. Tuesday, September 1 — Moon Into Taurus. Mars Squares Saturn. Mercury Meets Circe. The Brakes. The Moon finishes its Aries passage by aspecting the Nodes (still at 29° until October 9th — eclipse energy still reverberating) before moving into Taurus at 4:01am Eastern. Immediately, the Moon conjuncts Chiron — the shaman, the medicine man, hands-on healing. Earth. Body. Values. The wound and the medicine. Venus at 23° Libra makes a lovely unbroken flow aspect to Chariklo in Aquarius — the cosmic doula, Chiron’s consort, the grace-spinner, holding space for the new story we’re weaving. I am here with you. I am helping you weave it. Then the aspect that defines the day: Mars in Cancer squares Saturn in Aries. Mars in Cancer is already uncomfortable — fire in water, drive dampened by sensitivity. And Saturn in Aries is retrograde, in Mars’s own sign. One foot on the accelerator, one foot on the brake. Except this week: it is far more brake than accelerator. If you feel the shoulds pressing in — I should be doing this, I should be doing that — this week is not the time. What needs to be done will still be there after you’ve rested and gone in. The brakes are on for a reason. Mercury in Virgo meets Circe the Sorceress — Circe is also conjunct the upcoming Virgo New Moon, which feels intentional. Mercury saying: get into the details, go in and do some inner sorcery and magic. The craftsmanship here is interior. Mercury then sextiles Asteroid Lilith — she’s in there too, having a very good look at what she’s going to say no to. Not performing the no yet. Looking clearly. The Taurus Moon Earth-trines the Virgo Sun and Pholus at around 9-10° — a pull to earth, to the somatic, to the body, to roots. Get your bare feet on the ground. Do grounding meditations. Go into the woods. That’s why I chose the Red Riding Hood image for this week — the feminine going into the woods, into the inner world, is the heroine’s journey. Read those old fairy tales from a different lens. Wednesday, September 2 — Moon in Taurus. Everything Is Within. The Taurus Moon squares Jupiter at 13° Leo — the natural laws of the universe, in the sign of the heart, at the goddess number again. The pattern of all of these 13° aspects this week is unmistakable. Everything is pointing inward. Everything is saying: come into balance and harmony within your nervous system. These eclipses have been nerve-jangling. If you feel your nervous system a bit fried, that’s both appropriate and fixable. You have the tools. Use them. The Moon sextiles Mars (still cooling its jets, heading toward Asteroid Lilith), and the Sun trines Black Moon Lilith — with Okyrhoe the seer joining that aspect. This is about uncovering your inner seer. Going to the depth within that knows things before the mind catches up. The inner oracle. Thursday, September 3 — Sedna Stations Retrograde. Moon Into Gemini. Basket Activated. The Taurus Moon makes an Earth trine to Juno — our sacred contracts with each other, held in the flowing earth energy that’s been the backbone of this week. This Earth trine has been holding the whole week: pulling inward, pulling down to ground, pulling roots deeper. Sedna stations retrograde in Gemini. Her 11,406-year orbit means she was last in Gemini at the end of the Great Ice Ages. Her stations are slower-burning than closer-in planets, but this is still a turning point: dig deeper into your perceptions, your ideas, your words, your thinking. How do you need to shift? How do you need to adapt? Black Moon Lilith squares Saturn — now in his own sign Capricorn, pressing against the rules and structures of our institutions. More things being seen. More reality checks arriving. This is not the moment to rail at every little thing. It’s the moment to take it in, to see clearly, to know what you’re looking at before you act. The Taurus Moon reaches 27-29° — the Pleiades degrees. This may feel like a tender, even sad day. The Pleiades carry the grief of endings and the beauty of the in-between. With Dolly and Tim Curry’s passing this week, and with so much being released in the collective, let yourself feel what’s there. The Moon then squares Hekate, squares the Nodes, and begins moving toward the drain of the South Node. At 7:47am Eastern, the Moon enters Gemini and immediately meets Sedna — who just stationed retrograde, all that adapt-or-transform energy newly concentrated. The Moon then trines Pluto, sextiles Neptune, conjuncts Uranus — the basket, again. The cradle activated. The aha moment: something about letting go. Something about death and rebirth. Something about what’s trying to move through. Mars is opposed by Black Moon Lilith at 2:44pm Eastern — a question not about action but about wisdom. Is the action we’re taking coming from a wise place? Or are we just acting? Black Moon Lilith is a lunar point, not a physical body — she’s the inner voice, the interior knowing. Are we using her wisdom to shape what we do? Friday, September 4 — Last Quarter Moon. Venus Opposes Eris. Inner Tables Turning. The Gemini Moon (out of bounds since late Wednesday or Thursday) squares the Sun — Last Quarter Moon at approximately 11:48am Eastern. Eleven: the master number, the gateway. What are we letting go of before we step through this doorway? Not one big doorway — a series of doorways. That’s what this whole period is. Each week, another door. What are we releasing at this one? The Last Quarter Moon is always a crisis in consciousness — the moment of maximum tension before the letting go. In this context, coming off eclipse season, it’s the inner churn before the new moon plant. Venus at 25° Libra opposes Eris — more inner tables to turn. Not out there, not yet. Going within, looking at strategy and patterns, recognizing what needs to be overturned within your own relating and your own values before you bring a new version of yourself to the world. The Moon sextiles Saturn (opportunity to let go of self-limiting beliefs, old rules we were taught to live by) and sextiles Jupiter (the curious Gemini Moon trying to make sense of it all through the lens of the natural laws). Mars meets Asteroid Lilith at 15° Cancer — the midpoint of the degree, the middle of Cancer. Mars will move ahead of her after this. But she is right there with him, saying: you are more of a protector and a guardian than you have been portrayed. Right now, at this moment — using the language of internal family systems — you are my inner protector. You are here to help me move within, do more self-care, love myself more. You are the guardian of my interior, not just the warrior taking on the external world. If your inner Mars is feeling frustrated and angry (Mars doesn’t love Cancer), you can actually talk to that part of yourself: I know you’re here to help me. Right now your job is to protect my inner work, not to attack everything out there. The Moon squares Mercury — information, details, adjustments, what you think. All of it inside. Venus squares Juno — we are rewriting the contracts. With each other, and with ourselves. Saturday, September 5 — Moon Into Cancer. Venus and Hekate. One Last Look at the Toxins. The Gemini Moon finishes its journey — way out of bounds — making last aspects to the retrograde planets in Aries: Pallas Athena, Eris, Vesta. Fire and air. What do I need to burn off? What ideas need to be released? What does the inner flame actually want? Intense, but passing. At 10:30am Eastern, the Moon enters Cancer — her own sign — and sextiles Chiron. The wound and the medicine. The shaman. What’s the medicine I’ve become because of what I’ve been through? Venus makes a lovely unbroken flow aspect to Hekate — the way-shower, the torchbearer, the triple moon goddess at the crossroads. Venus and Hekate work together beautifully during Venus retrogrades (you’ll experience this directly in the class), and this pre-retrograde aspect is a preview: pay attention to your inner voice about which paths to choose. Which direction through the woods of your inner self is being illuminated? The Cancer Moon trines Haumea — pure regeneration, the Hawaiian creatrix, the handle of the basket. She hasn’t been aspected much this week, and here at the close she shows up to say: something new is being birthed from all of this. Something is regenerating. And the Moon squares Neptune — Haumea moving forward, Neptune moving back, an aspect of adjustment between the two Mars signs (Aries and Scorpio). We are moving into a more Venusian era. We cannot stay where we were. The last aspect of the week: one more look at the toxins, at what needs to be released, at what we’ve been carrying that belongs to the past. What more can I let go of to be a better ancestor? (If you want to go deeper on Nessus, there’s a beautiful blog post from the Amalthea website — search “Amalthea Nessus” — and the author contributed to Sideways from Saturn, the book on the centaurs that I wrote the foreword for.) The Cards in Detail Two of Bees (Swords) — I Am Tension: Proverbs: “Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.” This week suggests difficult choices and decisions. Your ideas and opinions may be questioned — by others and, perhaps more intensely, by yourself. You may feel mentally paralyzed as you try to navigate stress, uncertainty, and inner conflict. How do we move forward? Balance the tension of the opposites. Hold the tension of not knowing the outcome for a while. Clarity and a balanced view will make itself known. Positive choices and insightful decisions will arise from the centre of your being, once you’ve taken time to contemplate and listen to yourself before you act. And remember that quote when you speak to yourself this week: gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. Including when you are talking inside your own head. Eight of Seeds (Pentacles), reversed — I Am Disengaged: Upright, the Eight of Seeds is productive, diligent, sowing and harvesting. Reversed this week: I feel disengaged. I feel like I’ve never done enough, like I’m not good enough. The inner perfectionist shows up. This is an Earth card, and its very reversal is the prescription: self-development and inner work. Not productive outer work. The shadow of Virgo — the perfectionism, the not-enoughness — can come through here. Let it be acknowledged and then gently set aside. You don’t have to perform productivity right now. Ten of Bees (Swords) — I Am Revelation: Khalil Gibran: “For the bee, the flower is the fountain of life. For the flower, the bee is the messenger of love.” This is the card I was genuinely glad to see at the end of this challenging set. Here it is: We have tripped up and plummeted along the way, and now know what rock bottom feels like. It has challenged us. Self-pity, at times, has heightened our suffering. However, in reality, the rocks actually grounded us, and a relief and an understanding is starting to rise up within us. It is clear that we have been stung into waking up to some hard truths. Our ego may have been battered, and we may feel sore, vulnerable, as we reflect on what appear to be failures and endings that lie behind us. The good news is: the worst is over, for this week. The weight we have carried is finally lifting. We have survived, and our stings will heal. Our wings gently unfurl, and we start to ascend, breathing in the clear air, and dancing into a new beginning. By the end of the week, you will start to feel the call of the new moon. Not quite there yet. But coming. The Witch (Witch Oracle) — I Am Coordinating, Not Dominating: “Control. No woman alive today needs a dictionary to know what control means within a toxic patriarchy. She’s experienced it a thousand different ways. It is domination and restraint. But in a balanced psyche and in a balanced culture, control can mean something else entirely. A witch experiences control through cooperation rather than competition. She is engaged with all the parts of her psyche in an attempt to coordinate rather than dominate. You are being asked right now to embrace all the inhabitants of your inner realm, because each deserves respect and a place at the table. Even the unruly, the inconvenient, the ugly. Making space for all under the banner of wild inclusion — giving voice to the shame, malice, and anger, as well as every other outlawed part of the psyche — is the way we create integrity. When your intent is to create rather than compete, you don’t have to dominate. Your influence is enough. This is power with, rather than power over. Invite whatever is bothering you today into the realm of inclusion. Assert your inner authority.” Coordinate, don’t dominate. Including inside yourself. This is the whole week. This is the whole work. Summing Up Post-eclipse. Waning. Brakes firmly on. The Aries retrogrades slowing everything down, saying not yet, not yet. The Earth Grand Trine pulling us down to roots and soil and body. The 13s showing up everywhere — the goddess number, the witch number — at Saturn and Jupiter and the Moon’s aspects. Venus entering her pre-retrograde territory and asking us to start paying attention. Sedna stationing to dig deeper into how we adapt. The Last Quarter Moon at the gateway number, releasing before the new moon. The rocks grounded us. The wings are beginning to unfurl. Go into the woods. Slow your roll. Do the radical self-care. Talk to your inner Mars. Embrace all the inhabitants of your inner realm. And coordinate, don’t dominate — inside and out. The new moon is coming on September 10th. We’ll get there. — Louise Venus Retrograde: Heroine’s Journey — louiseedington.com/VenusRetrograde2026 Subscribe free on Substack. Spiral Weave / Spiral Codex — $10/month or $90/year. Code COSMICOWL20 (20% off) or COSMICOWL30 (30% off $99+) at Otter Spirit. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cosmicowlastrology.substack.com/subscribe

   August 28, 2026·53min
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