We enter October under an energetic shift as Venus stations retrograde in Scorpio on October 3rd. While Mercury retrogrades arrive like clockwork every 3 ½  months, Venus only turns backward once every 1 ½ years. This month, their cycles intertwine: Mercury begins its retrograde on October 24th, setting up a rare, potent period where both inner planets are moving backward simultaneously through the final week of October and into mid-November.

Mercury Retrograde is always a time to slow down, look within, and create space in our lives so we can hear our inner guidance. This particular retrograde is split between Sagittarius and Scorpio, two signs that share a quest for truth, but approach it in vastly different ways: one through outward expansion, the other through internal probing.

We have had another mass shooting here in the U.S., the worst in our country’s history. This comes after a month of devastating events. The hurricanes: Harvey, Irma, and Maria.