on your own terms
At the New Moon, tradition advises us to plant the seeds of intention in specific areas of our lives. this New Moon in Libra (October 21, 2025 at 5:25 AM PDT, 28°21′ Libra) Marks the beginning of a new 12-month relationship cycle. Whether you are hoping to find a romantic relationship, trying to reconcile with a relative, negotiating a business connection, or hoping to renew your marital commitments, the new moon is the time to plant those seeds.
However, this new moon is marked by a square to Jupiter, a quincunx to Saturn, and a dramatic square to Pluto, so don’t expect these seeds to flourish without careful nurturing, compromise, and honesty. While all relationships encounter conflict, the relationship seeds of this new moon may contain more of what we want. Still, any aspect to Jupiter, even a square, gives you reason to hope that your seeds will flourish.
During this new moon, let your intention be this: I am willing to expose my true self for the sake of a healthy relationship, and I am willing to compromise on some things…but never everything. With Venus, the ruler of the new moon, forming a loving trine to Uranus and Pluto, you will have the opportunity to make important and lasting changes in your relationships – but these changes must come on your own terms.
Dreams and alarm bells
Neptune reenters Pisces This week (October 22, 2025 at 2:51 a.m. PDT), we will transit this constellation for the last time in our lifetimes. Neptune first entered Pisces in 2011-2012, briefly entered Aries earlier this year, and will leave Pisces for good on January 26, 2026, beginning a new era that will last until 2038. But before moving on, Neptune offers some final lessons about faith, compassion, and fantasy.
Neptune in Pisces dreams of a world of peace, healing, and unity of spiritual understanding—but the shadow side reveals denial, disillusionment, and a culture that often turns away from painful truths. Its Sabian symbol, 30 Pisces, A majestic rock formation like a face was idealized by a boy who adopted it as his ideal of greatness and as he grew older began to look like it, Talks about the importance of choosing our ideals carefully and consciously. There is no single “right” way to live or believe, only the way we create meaning through imagination and empathy. As Neptune completes its long stay in Pisces, we are asked to integrate its dreams and its wake-up calls and decide what ideals we will bring to Neptune in Aries.
under layers
We enter This week in Scorpio season, the sun enters this shadowy sign (October 22, 2025, 8:51 PM PDT) through November 22. During Scorpio season in the northern hemisphere, the dull autumn light is unforgiving, and if we look in the mirror, we’ll see every flaw. The nights are longer, and it’s easier to find our mistakes and weaknesses, our fears and sorrows in the darkness. But sharing them is a little difficult because it means we have to acknowledge them first.
I don’t think we change as we age. I think we’re just becoming more comfortable being who we’ve always been. We don’t feel the need to be fake—to be happier and more accepting than we feel—in order to make those around us more comfortable. We become our Scorpio selves, stripped of the skills and comforting fantasies of youth.
The Scorpio journey is all about peeling back the layers year after year and getting to the essence of who we are. We may not be able to count on good genes or good luck, and some bad decisions are irreversible. We may lose loved ones. We may lose some health. But we never lose the person beneath our clothes, beneath our skin.
course correction
this Sun square Pluto This week (October 24, 2025 at 6:24 a.m. PDT), this is one of two annual Sun-Pluto squares. When Pluto aspects the Sun, it can make us feel unimportant. Anything we really want to do may also suddenly feel like it’s trivial, a little silly, and generally not worth doing. But when the Sun is conjunct Pluto, this discouraging influence must be resisted. The Sun’s commitment is that we all matter, including you.
If you’ve been putting others first over the past month with the Sun in Libra, it’s time to make some adjustments. If you don’t stand up for yourself against seemingly aloof Pluto, no one will do it for you.
Make a promise to the moon
today, Mercury in Scorpio forms a loving trine to Jupiter in Cancer (October 24, 2025, 8:08 AM PDT, 24 degrees 37 minutes). Your perceptions are sharp in this trine, and Mercury, the master of words, is in perceptive Scorpio (at Sabi sign 25 Scorpio, X-ray) Serving Jupiter, the guardian of the greater good, is the best of all possible worlds. It’s now easier to translate Jupiter’s grand concepts into understandable, usable language and fly them out into the world.
Be warned, though: Mercury and Jupiter are a combination that loves to make promises to the Moon, and we can be infinitely optimistic about our ability to deliver on those promises. Be careful not to promise more than you can offer – with Mercury squaring Saturn the next day, you could quickly find yourself in a situation you can’t afford.
Insight and intuition
Whenever a planet is conjunct Saturn—a strict planet, even in gentle Pisces, impatient with mediocrity—it develops a cold edge and an over-the-top work ethic. These are not endearing qualities, but on the other hand, hard work can also lead to brilliant results. although Mercury, the planet of wisdom, trines Saturn (Exact time: October 25, 2025, 2:17 PM PDT), focus your attention and intelligence on good, useful work.
With Mercury in Scorpio, deep insights and intuition will guide your efforts. Now is the time to finalize what you drafted, sign on the dotted line, and take on those projects that are too demanding to be true. You now have enough mental stamina to accomplish impressive things. But be careful about the language you use with yourself and others; in an effort to dig deep and tell the hard, unvarnished truth, Mercury in Scorpio can get a little rough at times.
Text and images © 2012-2025 April Elliott Kent
