Forecast: Late Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, October 31-November 2, 2012

Sun in Scorpio and Moon in Gemini, 2012

Beginning Wednesday 31 October at 11:41a PT|2:41p ET|6:41p UT

through Thursday 1 November

/moon goes void-of-course Friday 2 at 2:23a PT|5:23a ET|9:23a UT

until Luna enters Cancer Saturday 3 at 12:44a PT|3:44a ET|7:44a UT

}Enhanced Readiness as a Way of Life{

As I write on Monday (two days before the beginning of this report) everyone is concerned about Hurricane Sandy. I noted in the last forecast how its period of threat corresponds exactly to the |difficult third of this week| which I have been pointing out here for years with no applause from anyone. I am not going to repeat the exact times; they have already been posted; they include Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday until 6:24 p.m. Eastern Time. Not only are the subways, schools, and so on in New York expected to be closed through Tuesday, also the stock exchanges, which is very rare. That is affecting world markets far beyond New York. You might ask yourself why, if astrology is a delusion, the method Cosmic Piper (and he alone) has discovered for |the difficult third of each week| which I have been pointing out here for years happened to pick the exact two days all these things would happen? The same is true every week, but not as dramatically. As I have said for years, there are more arrests, crises, and problems of every kind during this |third| of each week which is why I waste my breath pointing it out every time. If you heed it and watch, you will find your own way of dealing with it.

Further, if you think the moon's void-of-course times are a delusion, consider this: Monday morning when Mayor Bloomberg gave his press conference, he pointed out that the hardest time of the day, with the biggest threat from winds, would be around 8 p.m Eastern Time. Now consider: In this forecast I pointed out that on Monday the moon would go void-of-course at 5:02 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday, three hours before this most-difficult period of the storm according to non-astrological meteorologists. Hey guys, maybe something real is going on with those void-of-course times?

Further yet, all this is happening in a Dark Hermetic Epoch which, again, I have pointed out here until my breath was giving out, is the two-month period out of every four months in which the most disasters and difficulties occur. The events of 9/11/2001 occurred during (a) a Dark Hermetic Epoch, in fact the first day of one, (b) a |difficult third of the week|, and (c) a moon-void-of-course period. Now, eleven years later, we have the "worst ever" hurricane hitting New York on a day when these same three conditions prevail. Astrology is not a lot of insubstantial malarkey, but a partially substantiated and waiting-to-be-further-substantiated science.

I am not predicting how much damage the storm will do. Preparation for it has already disrupted millions of lives. My guess is that damage to persons as well as real estate will not be extremely bad, but of course such an estimate is relative to each individual situation.

This period, beginning Wednesday afternoon through Thursday and Friday, does not look extremely difficult but has its uncertainties. Wednesday evening could be a good social time, the best of the period, if people give up their worries enough to enjoy being together. Happy Halloween! Thursday looks active and serious but not depressing. For some it could be a time of hard work dealing with the aftermath of the storm; for others in other areas something parallel, such as reorganizing one's home for one reason or another. I would guess that some in low-lying Eastern coastal areas will be reconsidering their location and some will be ready to sell. Others will be ready to buy those dangerous but enticing homes. Something similar might be going on in your own mind wherever you live, as if you were reconsidering a change of location. Or it might be a friend who is doing this while it affects you indirectly.

You want to get things moving. This can be done Wednesday afternoon and Thursday; Friday with less certainty because of the void-of-course moon. (We have had longer v-of-c periods for a couple weeks because of planetary positions, but they will be decreasing over the coming month. Monday afternoon and all of Tuesday up to Wednesday noon were v-of-c. New Yorkers and East Coasters probably were feeling "What can I do first? Would this work? No. This? Probably not. Maybe I will just have to punt.")  And so Friday again could be, apart from necessary routine work, a rest day, toward which I probably need not urge you.

Something about drawing, painting, or writing is significant. You might want to sketch on a piece of paper something in your mind which gets to you and inspires you. A drawing, no matter how crude, could be helpful, showing you something about what you are thinking and feeling subconsciously, and how to direct that wisely. You do not have to show it to anyone. Others who work in the visual arts may create  more complex designs.

You can be watchful and careful without being fearful. You can work at tasks which seem imposed on you, which you did not choose, while realizing there are going to be inevitable rewards for that. This requires faith. Yet perhaps even more, insight into the why and wherefore of your labors could help. What seems imposed on you must have been some choice of your soul, if viewed from a high enough perspective (covering perhaps past and future lifetimes as well as this). If you do that well, you will be ready for a more ambitious frontier which you are itching to explore. Most likely that will be further ahead, but you are preparing for it in ways lucky and pleasing.

{Late Wednesday, Thursday, Friday} {Enhanced Readiness as a Way of Life}

Cosmic Piper

Forecast: Monday, Tuesday, early Wednesday, October 29-31, 2012

Sun in Scorpio and Moon in Taurus, 2012

Beginning Sunday-Monday 28-29
at 11:16p(Su) PT | 2:16a(M) ET | 6:16a(M) UT
through Monday 29 and Tuesday 30
/moon goes void-of-course Monday at 2:02p PT|5:02p ET|9:02p UT
until Luna enters Sagittarius Wednesday 31
at 11:41a PT | 2:41p ET | 6:41p UT

Full Moon of Scorpio-Taurus is exact Monday 29
at 12:51p PT | 3:51p ET | 7:51p UT

|The difficult or stressful third of this week| ends
Tuesday 30 at 3:24p PT | 6:24p ET | 10:24p UT

\Implicit Solidarity/

Some of the trends are: (1) The Dark Hermetic Epoch (October 18 through December 13), wherein we tend to drift into deep thoughts, past glories, reliving memories and re-experiencing the present in new surprising ways; (2) the sun's conjunction with Saturn in Sccorpio, now fading but still with us, a very sober aspect inclining to caution in business, spending, and social life; (3) more encouraging, Venus's entrance into Libra, gradually beginning a trine with Jupiter in Gemini (exact November 8-9), suggesting basic well-being and opportunities for happy times and fulfillment. Venus in Virgo, since October 3, has been a tendency to stick to routines and refine or improve them, focusing on expected results as they can be anticipated and maneuvered. That has been helpful. You have probably set up better ways of handling diet, work methods and daily routines. Now, with Venus in Libra as of Sunday (until November 22), you could rely on that foundation while moving toward more exciting social developments, consummations enjoyed with others in varied locales and situations. People feel the world is theirs when Venus is in Libra, and that love in multifarious unserious and serious forms surrounds them. The delusion or illusion, if such it be, is a welcome delusion or illusion while it lasts, indulged with a smile on two or more faces.

Mixed with this is the |hard third of the week| lasting until Tuesday afternoon, and the long void-of-course period from Monday afternoon until the period's end early Wednesday afternoon. (Times above.) Probably it is better not to expect much, and then you will be pleasantly surprised by what turns out to your liking. Big plans in business are likely to be changeable, meeting with checks and needing to be reformulated. Good things which turn up outside of, or as a side effect of, your diligent plans are likely. They point toward prosperity.

Sharing what one gains by good fortune with the world which has granted it, through projects which make things better for people, is an ideal most of us share and you may become more conscious of ways it can be done.

Your mind sees into and beyond deceptions, schemes, and confusions. If someone you like seems bewildered or taken in by something unreal or deceptive, you see that this is causing him or her needless labor to no good end. What can you do? That could be different in each situation. You appeal to or awaken insight in people in pleasant esthetic settings such as a restaurant, well-appointed home or place of enjoyment. When guards come down, better thinking emanates.

The spiritual, religious, or seeking side of people is evident. It is interesting that each of us does this in a different way, so to the "other" each one's way of seeking seems strange or melancholic, almost crazy. This one is crazy because a Scientologist, that because a Mormon, that because a strict Catholic or devotee of a strange guru or an atheist, and so on. So we have to appreciate somehow one another's spiritual crazinesses. Perhaps the world is learning how to do this. Perhaps what seems crazy to one is valid as a temporary path to another. When we are impatient, we have to realize that "temporary" can mean "through a given lifetime."

The leap of faith toward rebirth in humanity as a whole, regardless of individual and group beliefs, is one we can take, each in his or her own way. If we have to believe that ultimately all will come around to our own viewpoint, well, that is natural, and who knows, maybe some of us are right. (Although I remain a Christian, I believe that Sri Aurobindo struggled harder and with better results than anyone toward reconciling all paths in a spiritually philosophic mountain of joining paths, a detailed and definite yet all-embracing Yoga.)

Our feet remain on the ground. During this period you may sense that many things are "taken out of your hands"--and that thankfully! That is, you can drop worry and concern because in many cases you have done what you can, set things up as best you know how, and only have to continue on your carefully constructed path, making modifications as necessary, and trust that somehow the cosmos will bow to you and bless you with prosperity needed for your next advance, whenever and wherever that may be.

{Monday, Tuesday, early Wednesday} /Implicit Solidarity\

Cosmic Piper

Forecast: Late Friday, Saturday, Sunday, October 26-28, 2012

Sun in Scorpio and Moon in Aries, 2012

Beginning Friday 26 October at 12:32p PT|3:32p ET|7:32p UT
through Saturday 27 and Sunday 28
/moon goes void-of-course late Saturday
/at 6:33p PT | 9:33p ET | 1:33a(Su) UT
until Luna enters Taurus late Sunday-early Monday
at 11:16p(Su) PT | 2:16a(M) ET | 6:16a(M) UT

|The difficult or emotionally stressful third of this week| runs from
Saturday evening at 6:55p PT | 9:55p ET | 1:55a(Su) UT
until Tuesday 30 at 3:24p PT | 6:24p ET | 10:24p UT

*From Willful Chaos to Reassurance*

As we approach the Full Moon, intelligence seems to increase. You are able to comprehend a vast number of things all at once and feel you are on top of them. King of the world! But take care that you do not go too far in a conceit that you are able to do anything you want because of this savvy. You could feel that now you are able to triumph over enemies, take the world by storm, impose your wise will upon the masses or anyone who has been in your way. Maybe! Since this is not certain, you look for reassurance. That is intelligent. Then a problem could be that you follow an errant path in this search, get lost in inward musings, weighing endless possibilities, becoming reclusive and melancholy. Chaos in your thinking is a danger. The desire to grasp what you can for yourself could make you overeager and then mistake the false for the true.

Sunday is likely the hardest day, when you may feel adrift. Saturday (before the v-of-c time) should be good for intelligent thought and action. [After writing this I note this from the Wall Street Journal: "Government forecasters on Thursday increased the odds of a major weather mess, now saying there is a 90% chance that the East will get steady gale-force winds, heavy rain, flooding and maybe snow starting Sunday and stretching past Halloween on Wednesday." Please note how closely this fits with the |difficult third of this week| as pointed out above. As I have mentioned, but nobody seems to notice, these third-of-the-week periods often coincide with difficult physical weather as well as difficult emotional weather.]

A major clue could come from answering the question: What really will benefit yourself and people around you? With whom can you cooperate to benefit the community, those you love, and those you don't love but with whom your lot is cast? Trying to push in that direction will stabilize your thinking and make it realistic, for the real is a shared reality, not just your own. There is nothing annoying or disheartening in that fact when it is understood and appreciated.

You get reassurance when you look at what has worked in the past and what seems to be working now, and open your perceptions to clues which sail on every breeze. Somehow the universe is giving you the information and signposts you need for wise choices. Your GPS system was not built by a human programmer, but by the beneficent cosmos, and it is inside you as well as around you.

{Late Friday, Saturday, Sunday} *From Willful Chaos to Reassurance*

Cosmic Piper

Forecast: Wednesday, Thursday, early Friday, October 24-26, 2012

Sun in Scorpio and Moon in Pisces, 2012

Beginning Wednesday 24 October at 4:01a PT|7:01a ET|11:01a UT
through Thursday 25
/moon goes void-of-course Friday 26 at 8:05a PT|11:05a ET|3:05p UT
until Luna enters Aries Friday at 12:32p PT|3:32p ET|7:32p UT

~Mysteries of Spiritual Continuity~

It's a somewhat drifting time, when you might turn to self-indulgence, pleasure, entertainment, games, fun, anything counting as freedom to be yourself. Frankly, it does not look good for business or high-flying accomplishment, but good of course for normal necessary labor. You might feel awkward and aware of mistakes you have made or new ones you make despite yourself. Computer or technological errors are likely at times like this; be sure everything is saved. As for your own mistakes, self-forgiveness would help, and then "just carrying on"--one of the lessons we constantly have to re-learn.

Your environment is interesting. It is redolent of the past. That is, wherever you go you get hints of old events, people, loves, feelings, interests. This is reassuring, and nostalgic. Autumn has such a flavor, and other indications reinforce it during these days.

Your thoughts can turn to fascinating mysteries. Indian sages, the Vedanta, the Upanishads, and Western philosophers such as Plato and Plotinus (even Aristotle at times) remind us that the world is evanescent, changeful, and we need to go deep into ourselves, in profound contemplation, to be cognizant of Reality, however our feeble intellects try to define That. You are fit for such contemplation or meditation at this time. Autumn leaves might be a fit focus of concentration. Just sit where you can look at them and focus on them. If they swirl, they swirl; if they stay, they stay. If red, yellow, and green, thrilling; if brown, comfortable. This might go better if you remember that there will be fresh green leaves in six months, and a new crop of colorful decaying ones in a year. But those thoughts should not take your mind off the leaves themselves and whatever they intimate. They are speaking.

The "things" you have to do of necessity may seem hard, and harder than usual. The ones you have to do you have to do and that is right. Then you may just want to forget them and go into that blunt mood or attitude where you don't care much about getting anything done. For a time, that is good and refreshing.

Those who have a taste for such things may get into occult studies, theories or speculations. It could be astrology, Theosophy, psychic studies or experiments, perhaps awareness of the deep past as in Pyramidology or the Mayan mysteries (but please let us not let their calendar spook us). We find certification for ourselves and our ideas in the speculations and ideas of the past, and this can be one path of enlightenment, up to a point. Symbolic or evocative art objects and architecture, ancient or pseudo-ancient, can speak to us. If not in a museum or shop, this could be through a book or film.

Those who have passed from this world might also be in your consciousness. They are not you, but they, their memory or living presence, helps define who you are. They pick you up and dust you off; by recalling them and what they have meant, you recover something deep beyond words. Nothing is lost. These memories, or living spiritual connections, give another meaning to time, space, the fourth and higher dimensions, for the contiguity and continuity of all become a living reality. Your memories may be autumn leaves, but something permeating them will some day (or century) be green again.

If they magically link you with someone present and accessible on this plane, that too could be your good fortune.

{Wednesday, Thursday, early Friday} ~Mysteries of Spiritual Continuity~

Cosmic Piper

Forecast: Monday and Tuesday, October 22-23, 2012

Sun in Libra and Moon in Aquarius, 2012

Beginning Sunday 21 October at 10:03p PT|1:03a(M) ET|5:03a(M) UT
through Monday 22 and Tuesday 23
/moon goes void-of-course Tuesday at 6:28p PT|9:28p ET|1:28a(W) UT
until Luna enters Pisces Wednesday at 4:01a PT|7:01a ET|11:01a UT

|Difficult or emotionally stressful third of this week| ends
Tuesday 23 at 4:29a PT | 7:29a ET | 11:29a UT

}Simple Attempts Make Everything Better{

Sharp and clear cogitation about business and money is possible. This could be both optimistic and shrewd, so that (a) you do not get lost in wishful thinking but also (b) you refuse to think so negatively that you lock yourself out of opportunities.

Those interested in publishing, or other kinds of promotion, may feel the path is blocked, yet this is not entirely true. The Dark Hermetic Epoch (through December 13) is good for at least considering multiple possibilities, although not being in a hurry to inaugurate any one of them unless it is so utterly clear and straightforward that you can hardly resist it. No need to rush, yet no reason not to consider possibilities.

During this two-day period there are dangers from being indifferent. You might feel there is no reason to fret about anything and then give up too soon on what you need to accomplish for your security and well-being. It's important to finish something useful before giving yourself a reward. If you take the reward first you may drift into misfortune.

Loneliness is more than possible. Everyone wonders why he or she is lonely, when it happens, and the first answer is usually self-blame. That is natural. It is hard to break the ice with anyone new and the attempt can be frustrating. Does it end in failure? Maybe neither is to blame. It's the way things are for that moment. Probably doing your regular or self-assigned work will bring you good human connections better than anything else at this point. At least it will set you up for a frame of mind which is more sociable.

You can keep on presenting yourself as you wish to present yourself. Are you doing that with an image of yourself which others can appreciate, understand, or respect? Perhaps that is something you could work on. The question "What do you do?" is frightening sometimes to those who do not feel they are doing anything very impressive. Maybe you could practice answering that question in your mind, until you come up with answers which make you feel good about yourself.

It's a good time to adjust your way of thinking about yourself and your life to (a) the real situation and (b) your ideals. By keeping a balance between the two you will fly ahead with the real situation, winged by your ideals.

Peace in your community is possible. People have anxieties now, as much as or more than you do, but cooperating with them on the simplest little things lightens the gloom. Sometimes that is all that is needed.

{Monday and Tuesday} {Simple Attempts Make Everything Better}

Cosmic Piper

Forecast: Late Friday, Saturday, Sunday, October 19-21, 2012

Sun in Libra and Moon in Capricorn, 2012

Beginning Friday 19 October at 6:42p PT|9:42p ET|1:42a(Sa) UT
through Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 October
/moon goes void-of-course Sunday at 8:33p PT|11:33p ET|3:33a(M) UT
until Luna enters Aquarius late Sunday-early Monday
at 10:03p(Su) PT | 1:03a(M) ET | 5:03a(M) UT


|Difficult or stressful third of this week| runs from
Sunday 21 at 12:13a PT | 3:13a ET | 7:13a UT, through Monday,
until Tuesday 23 at 4:29a PT | 7:29a ET | 11:29a UT


\Cosmic and Personal Economy/


Friday evening has tensions, but is okay for a social time especially if you are patient with the peculiarities of all. Saturday looks fairly good from some perspectives; it might be wise to loosen up and let yourself spend for a good time. Sunday is more difficult, with thoughts devoted to work, mission, or what you are trying to get done in this world.

One part of you is content with your lot, realistic enough to see that you have to keep plodding, the lot of the workingman or workingwoman. Bob Dylan's "Gotta serve somebody" comes to mind. There is no real reason to resent this. You know there are millions all around the world far worse off. 

Another part of you is anticipating huge gains, wanting to cash in somehow. It wants to be careful and not spend too much, but also speculate so as to gain more rapidly. The two sides of you in these two paragraphs do not have to be at war but you may have to do some fancy footwork to keep them in harmony.  

We have to expand our altruistic muscles sometimes. This could be through working with a church or other group to build community. This always requires subordination of the ego, which is what makes it distasteful at first. The very concept of charitableness involves overlooking the faults of those one is trying to help, as well as those with whom one works.  

The idea of easy rewards is not necessarily out of step with efforts to work for the world in accord with conscience. Many of the very rich are philanthropists. Many who get involved in charitable or community work receive surprising rewards in their jobs, careers, or businesses.

Yes, you want to look out for yourself, and you sense opportunities during this period, although they are not likely to be effective immediately. The slow, plodding tasks of every week are what you can continue to perform contentedly. They are what the cosmos, yourself, or human society has assigned for now.

Perhaps the above is what we need to be thinking about in the U. S. during this election season. I am not going to preach from the Left or the Right, but suggest that both could rethink their positions in connection with laws of karma, personal responsibility, and the mystery of Divine Grace. To receive mercy one must grant mercy. Then one's conscience may help one to expect and receive stupendous gains. 

{Late Friday, Saturday, Sunday} /Cosmic and Personal Economy\

Cosmic Piper

Forecast: Late Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, October 17-19, 2012

Sun in Libra and Moon in Sagittarius, 2012

Beginning Wednesday 17 October at 5:27p PT|8:27p ET|12:27a(Th) UT
through Thursday 18
/moon goes void-of-course Friday 19 at 1:28p PT|4:28p ET|8:28p UTuntil Luna enters Capricorn Friday at 6:42p PT|9:42p ET|1:42a(Sa) UT

*The Welcome of Shared Energies*

Much is upbeat about this period. However, as pointed out frequently, the Dark Hermetic Epoch of two months begins Thursday until the middle of December. This has nothing to do with physical darkness (although it happens that the days are declining in our Northern Hemisphere) but with Mercury's cycle in its relation to the sun and earth. It's a time more for internal than external progress, as it were, as are evenings by analogy, but of course that means different things to different people and on different days within the Epoch. I will be trying to adjust the forecasts to it as we go along, usually without mentioning it directly.

Up to the time the moon goes void-of-course (Friday afternoon-evening depending on zone), this is a good period for ordinary progress with business, purchases, and social life. It is unlikely you will be inclined to anything radically new or dangerous, and you have good instincts. As for Friday, if you set something good in motion before the v-of-c, it can continue with pleasing momentum afterward. But if you are with someone, remember that people's attention spans can be short, or they can be easily diverted, and you should not take this too personally.

Some aspects of your work seem suave and easy, and this is worth noting. You have arrived at a way of doing things which smooths the rough edges of your labor so that it seems almost effortless. 

Peacefulness, calm, and good will are manifest. People feel relatively benevolent toward one another. Whether or not you actually offer shelter or hospitality to anyone, you feel sheltering and hospitable. Others may offer these benefits to you. Also there is a touch of ruggedness. Humor may be rough, or perhaps someone to whom you are attracted displays his more masculine and assertive side. People may want to control or manipulate each other, but in good humor, as if in a game of "meeting kinglinesses" as Sri Aurobindo put it.  

Any awkwardness can be finessed patiently. We all reveal more of ourselves than we expect to, and this could be either embarrassing or hindering. Patience with oneself and the other through any awkwardness leads to expanded insight into both, plus better friendship and mutual understanding.

Immaturity grows toward maturity. The various brands of immaturity each lead to a differing and interesting variety of maturity. This is evident not only in children but adults, who, if they continue to grow, continue to become more interesting children as well as more responsible adults. I insist on the best of both worlds. An adult who cannot be childlike much of the time has grown stale.

Wisdom too increases as the sun joins Saturn. He may be the planet of age, but because both these trine Neptune we may feel such wisdom as ageless: ineffably liberating. To give up illusions is liberating because it reduces worry. Real hopes are not illusions. You particular brand of wisdom is your own, but partly derived from ancient sources if it has value. 

In dealing with immaturity in others, and ourselves, we can be either harsh or kindly, or alternate between the two. You may notice this happening. Do you spank with the rod, or embrace with kindly understanding? A little of both may be going on, but the kindly understanding has to predominate if the receptive, welcoming benevolence of the period is to prevail and grant happiness.

{Late Wednesday, Thursday, Friday} *The Welcome of Shared Energies*

Cosmic Piper

Forecast: Late Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, October 15-17, 2012

Sun in Libra and Moon in Scorpio, 2012

Beginning Monday 15 October at 5:07p PT|8:07p ET|12:07a(T) UT
through Tuesday 16 October
/moon goes void-of-course Tuesday at 7:24p PT|10:24p ET|2:24a(W) UT
until Luna enters Sagittarius Wednesday
at 5:27p PT | 8:27p ET | 12:27a(Th) UT

~Intermingling Lightens Emotions and Liberates~
Essentially, we have a situation which in which our moon is void-of-course Monday and Wednesday, but not Tuesday. This suggests Tuesday as the best of the three for arriving at important choices or decisions and setting them in motion.

It's evident that autumn is in the air. As I write on Sunday, the moon is declining toward the New (early Monday morning), together with the sun in Libra, the autumnal sign. I feel it in my bones, and the weather reflects it. There is something comforting about thinking of evening as a time for relaxing around firelight or lamplight with a drink in one's hand, enjoying a cozy internal perspective rather than a picnic-y outward one. Each has its place; but the autumnal feels right because it is now.

Often there is lack of energy near the New Moon. I feel it, and it often continues a day or two into the New because still very early in the cycle. That means, take your time; maybe Tuesday will see you perking up with a sense of where you are going next.

Although Monday and Tuesday are the |harsh or emotionally difficult third| of this week (exact times given in the previous forecast), you may feel this as normal, and rise above it to some degree, since many other factors look heartening. Financial worries of the weekend and Monday will seem less pressing Tuesday; you lighten up because in the midst of activities the intense concerns dissipate.

Life goes on, and you need not succumb to dark thoughts though the days darken. You have developed pride in your home, your family, your sense of belonging somewhere and to someone (or Someone). If there appear threats to your status, you need not despair, even if some regard you with enmity. This is what the Saviour went through for us, and those who know Him know they can remain strong as He was.

To be strong through love is a familiar idea, but you may be realizing some of what it can mean. By all means don't be shy, but let yourself experience your neighbors, co-workers, any and all, in a way which tries to overlook suspicions and find the best in them. Or, at least, you can find peace in letting them be, as you want to be let be. Human life is colorful. Looking for the color and artistic value in human beings, even at their worst, is a subjective art form. It leads to happier socialization. You may see something funny in someone, for example, but hide your amusement to be nice; yet it can evoke a friendly feeling, as a child will take to a funny animal doll. This is not condescending, if you realize also that others might be seeing something funny in you.

In having fun together, and letting personalities shine forth, some may fumble and "let the cat out of the bag" or reveal something embarrassing about themselves. Ah well. It happens. It humbles us.

Some are alluring to each other. In the "fall," people fall toward each other. It is often inexplicable, and often temporary. Assuming that an attraction might be mutual is better than assuming the opposite and being too shy. It might last a day, an hour or a second but has meaning while it lasts. And has value after it ends, in memory and experience.

Your neighbors are not your enemies. It might be good to take up with one or more of them in a friendly way to see what you have in common, or don't, and be more at ease around each other.

It seems that behind pride, and worry about status, or about "enemies," there is a sense of security, because you know that somewhere, somehow, you are safe from unjust opinions about you and need not truck to them or think about them.

Rather, secret wisdom--secret because you learn it in your own way and could not explain to anyone exactly how, or even all it means--is your entree into a happier life of association with people, whether you seek that directly, indirectly, or not at all. This secret wisdom is partly from the past, from ancient teachers as they have handed it down through more recent ones, and partly your unique internal heritage. It gives you poise and freedom to interact with people in a way which is mutually respectful yet light and liberating.

~Intermingling Lightens Emotions and Liberates~

Cosmic Piper

Forecast: Late Saturday, Sunday, Monday, October 13-15, 2012

Sun in Libra and Moon in Libra, 2012

Beginning Saturday 13 October at 4:03p PT | 7:03p ET | 11:03p UT
through Sunday 14 October
/moon goes void-of-course Monday 15 at 5:04a PT|8:04a ET|12:04p UT
until Luna enters Scorpio Monday at 5:07p PT|8:07p ET|12:07a(T) UT

The New Moon of Libra occurs exactly when Luna goes void-of-course (above)

|The difficult or emotionally stressful third of this week| runs from
Sunday 14 at 2:16p PT | 5:16p ET | 9:16p UT, through Monday,
until Tuesday 16-Wednesday 17 at 9:39p(T) PT|12:39a(W) ET|4:39a(W) UT

}Mysteries of Losses, Gains and Games{

The period begins on a Saturday evening when you may wonder exactly what you are doing, continues through a Sunday which has many good, uplifting potentials, and ends on a Monday when you may feel defeated or discontented. So Sunday, at least until early evening, appears best for positive action or decision.

In fact, not to disturb you, it could be the best day for that for a couple of months, for the Dark Hermetic Epoch begins next week on Thursday. We often fumble in the darkness, but also have good dreams. It is not to be feared; but putting things in order before then, and deciding on a regular routine schedule for those two months (October 18 through December 13), would be wise. It is harder to take control of things during a Dark Epoch, so better to put as many as possible in a sensible holding pattern beforehand.

This soli-lunar period may feel like a time of rest (moon shrinking until the New) but also of work. The work is just what you "must" do, for we all have such duties of service, and it would do no good to complain about them. Regular workers are the salt of the earth, often underpaid, carrying the rest of the population on their shoulders. We do not have to restrict our respect for and appreciation of them  to Labor Day. We owe or collect karmic debts based on how much or how little we contribute to the Whole.

Meanwhile, one may feel that "others" are getting all the rewards, that CEOs and celebrities have all the money, luck, and fulfillment, while all one can do is hold ends together. This is a feeling we have to get over. I am not a harsh Republican work-ethic type who blames people for their economic condition. There are reasons for everything. Justice, good working conditions, and reasonable pay are important social goals. But I realize that mooning over or complaining about the "rich" goes nowhere but toward self-defeat.

While doing that, or otherwise wasting your time, you could spill or dissipate your abilities and powers. It is well to make sure you are not throwing your "wad" away. Without self-control, resources and powers diminish.

Seeing things as games might help. Situations in life which seem harsh have their game-like aspect. Even when one feels defeated in the "money game" or the "love game" one can feel one is a winner in the "self-respect" game and perhaps a champion in the "humor" game. People who can make fun of themselves first, and others second, are generally beloved. Self-mockery can be a sign of self-respect, rather than the reverse, for if one feels confident enough to make fun of oneself, one probably understands and appreciates oneself.

The "gaming" side of the period can come out in more direct ways, such as being a spectator of sporting events; or playing games of skill of either the active (touch football) or the sedentary type (chess or cards). Games remind us that it is not a tragedy to lose. Somebody has to. And so what is "losing" in a spiritual sense? Worth thinking about.

Meanwhile, whether active or passive, one can participate in the "wisdom game." Those who are successful sportsmen often have private notions or beliefs which hold them up, keep them going, and make them winners. Sometimes these might be superstitious, in appearance, and sometimes genuinely religious in the good sense. Devotion to and reverence for the Highest leads to the highest wisdom. Then one either loses games graciously, without worry or complaint, or wins with awed gratitude.

{Late Saturday, Sunday, most of Monday} {Mysteries of Losses, Gains and Games}

Cosmic Piper

Forecast: Late Thursday, Friday, early Saturday, October 11-13, 2012

Sun in Libra and Moon in Virgo, 2012

Beginning Thursday 11 October at 12:25p PT | 3:25p ET | 7:25p UT
through Friday 12 October
/moon goes void-of-course Friday at 4:49p PT|7:49p ET|11:49P UT
until Luna enters Libra Saturday 13 at 4:03p PT|7:03p ET|11:03p UT

\Becoming your own Normality/

From the above it's clear that we have a little more than a day of "progressive" time and then almost a day of void-of-course, from Friday evening to Saturday evening. The "progressive" time however, in accord also with its being at the end of the week, looks astrologically good for very routine things, putting all in shape before the weekend in an ordinary way. Then the late-Friday-to-late-Saturday void-of-course time is good for relaxing, letting yourself recover, explore, be yourself with as little pressure as possible. That does not mean, of course, that there should be no inward aspiration.

A time of letting-go is sometimes advisable. I am often encouraging you, and myself, to keep going, pushing, achieving. Perhaps that advice should be almost the reverse during this period, although the moon in Virgo is good for getting routine things accomplished, such as taking care of your body and household. However it seems like a time for giving yourself relief, and perhaps connecting with friends in a casual, non-pressured manner. People have to recover sometimes. If you feel some of your projects, or career objectives, have collapsed, or are not working out in any definite manner, you do not have to give up, but might take this time for working some of the future out in your consciousness, with hope, rather than pressuring yourself to do much in any objective sense for now. It is a good time for insight into past failures and future potentials. Perhaps you feel you are not qualified for something you have been wanting to accomplish. That is most likely a temporary feeling, although looking into ways you might improve your approach could help, as long as you are not overly anxious. Some answers may come now, others later.

Perhaps you are in, or have one foot in, a seemingly peculiar relationship. This Other is hard to comprehend, perhaps subservient to you in some ways, seductive; leading you on in ways of which you are suspicious although you appreciate the attention. Who is in control here? Or does this connection get tangled like an electrical cord with another cord, nobody knowing where it should be plugged in? Maybe the one seemingly in control is really the one being led. Or maybe he or she leads the Other in a direction which pleases for a while but then turns out pointless. Pardon me for being pessimistic. Perhaps there is a way to work through this with patience and, yes, love, if you can summon some which cares as much for the Other's welfare as your own. Perhaps the fact that neither seems to know what is happening is not a detriment but a necessary temporary eclipse. While you are groping in the darkness, as it were, something good is developing.

Whatever losses you have felt, financially or otherwise, can stimulate you to re-think your position, and perhaps find a better spiritual orientation as well as a better practical one. This, in both cases, takes time.

A sort of normality of perception is wonderful. This is a resting on yourself, your inherited and learned wisdom or perspicacity, trusting yourself to observe, from a high position, what is going on, and then adjusting yourself to it painlessly. "Oh, I am seeing how to deal with all this without tears. All is coming into view so I can direct it faultlessly before long." You can put yourself inwardly on a platform from which this is possible.

You may think I preach too much, but I have to say that recognizing one's dependence on the Supreme Lord and being submissive to His direction, often through scriptural or spiritual study, is essential, at this and every point. If I did not say that I would not be true to the Reality I have seen, thanks to divine grace.

Respecting that One is the best way of respecting oneself. Then with such a solid assurance, difficult connections with people, and slow reconstituting progress toward hopes, become smoother and easier in an ineluctable fashion. Perhaps the simplicity of it all is what disguises it.

{Late Thursday, Friday, early Saturday} /Becoming your own Normality\

Cosmic Piper

Forecast: Tuesday, Wednesday, early Thursday, October 9-11, 2012

Sun in Libra and Moon in Leo, 2012

Beginning Tuesday 9 October at 4:56a PT|7:56a ET|11:56a UT
through Wednesday 10
/moon goes void-of-course Wednesday
/at 2:41p PT | 5:41p ET | 9:41p UT
until Luna enters Virgo Thursday 11
at 12:25p PT | 3:25p ET | 7:25p UT

|Difficult or emotional stressful third| of this week
ends Wednesday 10 October at 10:13a PT | 1:13p ET | 5:13p UT

*The Friendly Game Continues*

At a practical level, using your abilities to further your purposes is well-emphasized and favored, up to the time the moon goes void-of-course in the middle of Wednesday (depending on your time zone). Systems are "go" for careful, well-thought-out moves until then. You care about your standing, reputation, career: what people think of you. The best way to further that is in a non-nonsense way. Dramatization is not necessary directly--but may happen indirectly since the moon in Leo.

Emotional matters, both before and after that, are something else, with a likelihood of facing glum moods and glum thoughts about someone who does not seem able or likely to respond to you in the way you wish. There is probably misunderstanding on both sides. You cannot rely on this person to help you with or understand your practical business or career decisions. Therefore you need to make those on your own and try to be patient with whatever reactions you get from anyone. Perhaps you have postponed something beyond the point where it makes any sense to continue with it in its once-planned form. This might look and feel like stagnation. Still you can continue with other things which make sense in your immediate context.

Dropping people or ignoring them for a long time could be an issue. Whether getting back with them right now is wise or not depends on the practicality of the question. If being with them would be sensible in a practical way, it is probably good. Otherwise you could be wasting your time. A friendly comment and then convenient temporary separation might be best. In other words, there are limits at this time to any dependent sort of connection with anyone and so it is better not to expect much in that regard.

Deeper wisdom has a way of curing worries about how much you are liked or appreciated.

Shared pleasures are favored. This could be at your place, with yourself being the host or hostess, or at someone else's home, or in a public place which serves as a temporary home. You would like to be hospitable, and will find others feeling the same way. Such a situation can help soothe feelings and separations mentioned above.

Games, or thinking of things as games, is possible in a constructive way. Perhaps a conversation is game-like, or you and someone sharpen wits together. Using your wits to solve money problems is possible, up to the void-of-course period. You make one move, the "opponent" or fellow-player makes a move, you make another and so on. Both can win, that is, there is more than one game; but also losing can be winning if something less tangible (but perhaps more important) than direct victory is gained in the process.

{Tuesday, Wednesday, early Thursday} *The Friendly Game Continues*

Cosmic Piper

Forecast: Late Saturday, Sunday, Monday, October 6-8, 2012

Sun in Libra and Moon in Cancer, 2012

Beginning Saturday 6 October at 5:46p PT | 8:46p ET | 12:46a(Su) UT
through Sunday 7 and Monday 8 October
/moon goes void-of-course Monday at 12:34a PT|3:34a ET|7:34a UT
until Luna enters Leo Tuesday at 4:56a PT | 7:56a ET | 11:56a UT

|Difficult or stressful third of this week| runs from
Monday 8 October at 12:18a PT | 3:18a ET | 7:18a UT
until Wednesday 10 October at 10:13a PT | 1:13p ET | 5:13p UT

~Onward, Enfolded by Shared and Recalled Happiness~

Much looks smooth and happy. There is interesting quest and search, especially late Saturday and all of Sunday. Monday is good for internal hopes and plans centered around career, not so good for making outward progress because the moon will be void-of-course all day and the |difficult third of this week| begins. It is good for regular, ordinary routines and for tentative motions toward progress but not for agreements and decisions. Probably the next period, Tuesday and most of Wednesday, would be better for that. The rest of the forecast is for the whole period, but you can modify its significance and application in accord with what was just said about the two sections (a) Saturday-Sunday and (b) Monday.


Oracle for Aspirants

Pleasures are available throughout the period. Your cup runneth over. There are subtle links with those at a distance and from your past. Memory comes into play in connection with current experiences, past and present blending in a fresh brew.

Your mind feels alive. You can perceive and penetrate into brilliant conclusions or tentative hypotheses. Those involved in any aspect of computer technology, or merely employment of that technology, may be rocked by surprising and useful developments. The same could apply to any area of science, including astrology. You might look at the sky, daytime or evening, for clues; it remains one of the best objects of contemplation when one is searching for understanding. Clouds, flights of birds, stars, all aerial phenomena and lighting can be intuitive guides.

Unusual developments in your home awaken you to new perspectives and bring freshness into your living.

Love might surprise you, popping up when you didn't expect it. It might be tentative and precarious, but thrilling while it lasts. Playfulness, joyfulness, and youth are not to be denied. Of course you will sense when things have gone far enough, as they do sooner or later. Monday, after the |difficult or stressful third of this week| begins, could make you feel less inclined to trust cheerful animal spirits.

Is there a science of things superphysical, of magic? If so, it is dependent upon a proper attitude, for all real magicians have counseled the utmost respect and veneration for ethics and for the Deity. They usually make scriptural study a prerequisite for their arcana.

Mirth is wonderful when emanating from self-confidence and trust. These build upon connections with family and friends which endure. You reminisce together. Shared smiles are links with immortality.

Late Saturday or Sunday you might establish or re-establish links with people, either directly or just in your consciousness, which make you feel secure and confident going into the future with solid support from your past. On Monday these remain with you although you do not have to fuss with or question them, just rely on them as you go about ordinarily successful business. If you let it a glow of shared happiness persists, enveloping you.

{Late Saturday, Sunday, Monday} ~Onward, Enfolded by Shared and Recalled Happiness~

Cosmic Piper

Forecast: Thursday, Friday, most of Saturday, October 4-6, 2012

Sun in Libra and Moon in Gemini, 2012

Beginning Thursday 4 October at 4:48a PT|7:48a ET|11:48a UT
through Friday 5 October
/moon goes void-of-course Friday at 2:09p PT|5:09p ET|9:09p UT
until Luna enters Cancer Saturday at 5:46p PT|8:46p ET|12:46a(Su) UT

}Satisfaction and Release{

Things look smoother than during the previous period. Effort continues, but more enjoyably. Real satisfaction is likely, and a chance for entertainment and pleasure in a big way.

Thursday and early Friday are good for business, transactions, and decisions. It is also a good social time. The void-of-course period shown above, from Friday afternoon until Saturday evening, could be a time to catch your breath, relax deeply, and follow your heart, rather than pre-established plans; or, if you have good plans for pleasure, be flexible as they unfold.


Oracle for Aspirants

There is an emphasis on theatrics, self-dramatization, humor, comedy, self-expression. Going to the theatre could be a good idea. The "legitimate" or stage theatre is not dead and I for one wish I would take the initiative to visit it more often. A movie is of course an alternative possibility, or a concert, or a sporting event for sports fans. If you do none of those, being with people where you can show off, be yourself, enjoy others' showing off and being themselves, would be excellent.

Prosperity is emphasized. Somehow you will feel flush. You will want to spend a little more than usual to demonstrate and appreciate your good fortune.

Those in the countryside close to the farming industry will see that production or income is better than they had been thinking. Those in the city will enjoy the fruits of the country in the form of cuisine and luxury.

We learn by imitating one another, consciously or subconsciously picking up speech mannerisms, styles of expression, and interests from one another, all with good will and freshened camaraderie.

There is some danger of flubbing things in all this, going too far, getting carried away to the point that one does something awkward to mar the happy time.

Those who enjoy the fruits of their endeavors, their prosperity, might, if they are wise, give thanks, first of all, and secondly realize that their good fortune gives them a plateau from which they can reach to deeper reverence and devotion toward the Supreme, the Giver of all their gifts. To beg from Him in times of lack, and forget Him in times of prosperity, is despicable fickleness.

Let's have some fun. The time is ripe for it. Informality releases energies. Spontaneity in human contact allows us to expand into, through, and past one another so that we become more of ourselves; as others become more of themselves through us. The technical name for this is fun.

{Thursday, Friday, much of Saturday} {Satisfaction and Release}

Cosmic Piper

Forecast: Late Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, October 1-3, 2012

Sun in Libra and Moon in Taurus, 2012

Beginning Monday 1 October at 4:27p PT|7:27p ET|11:27p UT
through Tuesday and Wednesday, 2 and 3 October
/moon goes void-of-course Thursday 4
/at 12:45a PT | 3:45a ET | 7:45a UT
until Luna enters Gemini Thursday at 4:48a PT|7:48a ET|11:48a UT

|Difficult, stressful third of this week| ends Wednesday 3
at 1:50a PT | 4:50a ET | 8:50a UT

\From Indolence to Intrepidity/

The two T-squares already mentioned continue in full force. It is rare to have two of these at once. This could explain whatever unusual difficulties you may be facing. Rather than analyze them directly, I will let them influence in a major way what I say in the rest of the forecast.

Although the |specially difficult third of the week| continues through Tuesday and is ended by Wednesday, on that day Luna opposes Mars and squares Venus so there may be a realization of what is behind whatever has been bothering you about human relations, for one thing, and perhaps money matters also. This will not be easy but could be helpful. Other factors in the chart are certainly soothing. It would be interesting to know how many people are happy with their love lives or marriages while Venus has been square Mars (September 4 through October 17). I would guess not many, so if you are, you are among the lucky few. Those tensions continue especially because Neptune is added to the configuration as the male-female planets both hit it with hard aspects. A neat symbol of this could be, Two lovers are unhappy with each other and to escape their mood get inebriated together, then get into a harsh argument which nearly comes to blows. This could apply to same-sex friendships also. As for the better outcome, I leave it to you to imagine; it would require patience, love and a stretch of tolerance on both sides.

[View Ahead: The next period, covering Thursday, Friday, and most of Saturday, looks better in many ways, especially Thursday and early Friday, because the moon will be void-of-course from Friday afternoon until Saturday evening. After that, quite good again. Remember, the rest of this forecast is for late-Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.]


Oracle for Aspirants

How to escape might be your overweening question and motive. What do you want to escape from? It's for you to decide. "Life" is a little too broad an answer! Suicide is not an option. If you could put in words as clearly as possible what you want to escape from, this could do you good. Then a way of escape may become transparent.

Broader philosophic questions of human freedom--are we free or merely imagine ourselves so?--could be discussed, but have been already in millions of pages of carefully reasoned analysis. Is the world much the richer for all that? I myself think that 19th-century thinkers, not 20th or 21st, have faced the problem most effectively. Studying Hegel, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Dostoevsky and Tolstoy (the last two of course novelists rather than primarily philosophers, but philosophic novelists) might do more to answer the question than any of the very dull rational-analytic discussions of the topic in 20th-century philosophic journals. Nietzsche however was a madman, so reading him requires big doses of salt (or alcohol perhaps, but be careful). Hegel and Kierkegaard, opposites in so many ways, probably provide the best dialectic for understanding human freedom. Their answers were radically different but they shared an x factor I won't try to discuss here. There is obviously not a simple answer but the complex thoughts of these two are a sine qua non for anyone investigating the question on his own.

Then there is the answer of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky, sometimes called The Fourth Way, which has implicit interest and can be a partial (not a complete, in my estimation) path for some. Another Russian thinker, Berdyaev, was more philosophically sophisticated and in fact well-acquainted with authors I have just mentioned.

The occult answer involves the doctrines of reincarnation and karma, of course. Those who have the patience for that might find it the best answer of all. Then there are the salvationist answers, of which the most prominent is Christianity. (Berdyaev subscribed to this in his own way.) Yes, the Saviour gives us freedom: The Truth shall make you free. I myself do not find this to conflict with the reincarnation-karma teachings, if one understands both sides of the matter sufficiently. Hegel and Kiekegaard both understood the Saviour, each in his own way, one might say in almost opposite ways.

I don't believe the above is a digression from the forecast. These questions are likely to be afflicting you either consciously or beneath the surface. One thing you might ask yourself is, "Am I just going to sit here and complain and whine? Isn't there something better to do, and some other understanding which will enable me to do it?" Perhaps each of us has brought himself into prison by his or her own acts, in this and previous lives. And so the way of escape has to be by correcting those acts insofar as they were mistakes. Who can see his mistakes? "Cleanse thou me from secret faults" cried David in a Psalm.

Complaining and whining could bring one into a worse condition, by dropping the activities which might help. Fainting and failing is all too easy. A little bit of intrepidity can invoke divine wisdom. The man who says "I am going to do this because it seems right," and proceeds, is invoking divine wisdom to help him. He decides to be his own military commander, his own commanding officer, and proceed with a mission which makes his life more real to him. This is self-affirmation leading to something of worth. If one's powers seem inadequate to the goal, they become more adequate by pursuing it.

At some such pass we find ourselves. We don't have to be harsh with ourselves but it seems that to escape the confinement we have brought on ourselves we need to fire ourselves up to more strenuous acting. The way out of the prison is not marked with an open door. One has to carve the path, remove the obstacles, and proceed through quagmires and over fences. Each day and hour is a re-beginning.

{Late Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday} /From Indolence to Intrepidity\

Cosmic Piper