If October wasn't exciting enough for you, there's always November.  This is a very mysterious time of year, isn't it?  The feeling of existing in the vast cosmos really seems to vibrate from eternity in these weeks.  This month's column is based on the chart for the November 12 New Moon in Scorpio.  But I've kept in mind the rather strange series of planetary occultations that occur the week before.  Here's the scoop, since I know some of my stargazing/Wicca friends and other nature freaks are out there reading.  An occultation is when the Moon makes an exact conjunction to a planet - kind of like an eclipse.  We had two eclipses and two occultations between October 13 and October 28; now there are four more occultations on the way: Moon to Jupiter on the 9th, Moon to Venus on the 10th, Moon to Mars on the 11th, and Moon to Mercury on the 14th.  Interesting, yes?

I would greatly appreciate your sharing with me some of what you see coming or, afterwards, what you experienced during these events.  Drop me a note at francis@planetwaves.net.  Enjoy the season; it's rich, particularly in the Hudson Valley, my favorite patch of Earth in the known world.

Aries (March 20 - April 19)
It's been said that sex and death are the two great equalizers.  No matter what we may think, feel, do, or believe, these are inevitable experiences in the lives we share on Earth.  The world is now moving through a portion of the cosmos where, for many centuries, there have been rituals and celebrations involving ancestors, the transience of life, and the final harvest - from ancient Egypt to Mexico.  I suggest you take these rituals personally.  The planets are sending you a direct request to hold open the door between the worlds, for yourself and those you love the most dearly.

Taurus (April 19 - May 20)
Is there such a thing as perfect happiness?  I don't think so, unless you define that as living in balance with life's many possibilities for pleasure and pain, loss and surrender, beginnings and endings.  Above all else, astrology points to a state of constant change.  Right now that change is coming in the form of renewal and rebirth.  You may notice, in the days and weeks approaching the November 12 Scorpio New Moon, that many old stories, long-gone episodes, and lingering situations suddenly resolve themselves, or disappear as if they were never there.  Clear away the old, and leave the space open.

Gemini (May 20 - June 21)
Recent months have brought enormous changes into your most private life and your home, changes that may have seemed out of control at the time, or too big to conceive of.  I think by now you can see that there was a cosmic plan in place, and that it reaches back more than 12 months.  I suggest you make a simple chronology of those seasons.  More happened than you remember.  You have set more things right in your life than you ever thought probable, and the result is likely to be that you can actually feel secure and safe on the planet for the first time in a very long while.

Cancer (June 21 - July 22)
Jupiter is now in Libra, your 4th solar house, a one-year transit that offers a dependable clue that you'll be making major improvements to your living situation.  There's nothing too big or complicated for Jupiter to handle.  If there's someplace you want to live, near or far, begin making plans to get there.  If you want to own property for the first time, start looking for a place you like.  This is likely to work whether you follow astrology or not, but having knowledge of this transit gives you time to plan, an occasion to dream, and a sense of what is possible.

Leo (July 22 - August 23)
The New Moon on November 12 is a truly magnificent astrological event that ripples through your 4th house, Scorpio.  Here we have a fine example of why Leos are so bright and clear on the outside, but so deeply attuned to their emotions and instincts on the other.  Scorpio gives depth, and it's located in the deepest angle of your chart.  This is a passionate and emotional time for you, a time when only large things should matter.  I see a moment to appreciate both your awesome strength as well as the delicate path you tread in life.

Virgo (August 23 - September 22)
Our homes contain our family patterns, even if our parents have never set foot inside the door.  Whether you're talking about brand loyalty to Comet or Ajax cleanser, doing subtle things the way we were taught as children, or actually living in an ancestral home, echoes of these patterns can be painted all over the walls.  Now is the time to see this phenomenon for what it is.  If astrology means anything at all, the patterns are going to reveal themselves as vividly as pictures in a book this month, which will have the odd effect of setting your spirit a little more free.