November MMXXI | A.W. Clovenhopf

Just as those of us looking to lurk in isolation thought we could catch some peace, the month of November rattles us with cosmic agitation. On November 4th, the Sun opposes Uranus during the new moon. Though this is only a one-day event, the reverberations wobble through the following two weeks. Themes of financial instability, emotional woe, and frustration with social institutions abound. The tension between the Sun and Uranus is egged on by Saturn in Aquarius, encouraging a tendency to pit individual responsibility spitefully against the social/political sphere. Isolated, political animals, we gnaw at those who share our cages, restless for any sort of intensity. Venus shifts into the cold and calculating sign of Capricorn on the 5th. Gathering her skirts around her, she prepares for the graveyard shift, when she enters an upcoming retrograde phase in December. The retrograde shadow begins on the 17th – this date can posit some clues as to what we will be busy excavating during the bleak months of December and January.

On November 10th, Mercury conjoins Mars, perhaps putting finishing touches on a fight we picked in mid-October. Despite our best efforts to bury the hatchet, Saturn points a boney finger at our reprehensible deeds. Like a tell-tale heart, Mercury’s opposition to Uranus on the 13th thumps out our guilt, which now beats in rhythm with predicaments hinted at during the new moon. The bitter and solitary consolation now is if we can truly believe that we have done the best we could. Often, we haven’t, and are haunted by our own lazy undoing.

On the 16th, the Sun in Scorpio sextiles the modern ruler of the sign, Pluto. Our daydreams veer towards the lightly tyrannical, while we consider our relationship to power. Embrace your position thoughtfully, if you catch people giving you sideways glances and scurrying away you may be taking this whole control thing a bit too far. On the 17th, Mars joins the cavalcade of planets in Scorpio opposing Uranus in Taurus. This promises dynamism, and forward movement, but also potential belligerence, or a surprise usurpation.

The 19th continues to keep us moving with a partial eclipse, visible in Asia, Australia and the Americas. The moon is both close to its own nodes (hence the eclipse) but also near apogee, or the furthest it can pull away from the earth. The combination of distance from our geocentric vantage point and proximity to the south node find us feeling winnowed out. Like wind howling through the branches of a leafless tree, whatever belief has kept you tied to an outmoded and outdated behavior is now exhausted from your being. Helpful aspects to Pluto promise regeneration, and Venus working with Uranus assures fresh insights, though this doesn’t mean the process will be painless. Give things a few days to settle in, as the Sun and Mercury move in aspect to the nodes on the 23rd and 25th. Mercury then bounds forward into Sagittarius, lightening the mood. The burden we must carry may not become any lighter, but perhaps the weight shifted towards a fresh foot makes all the difference.

HOROSCOPIC PERSPECTIVE SEPTEMBER 1-15

ARIES: One of the biggest dangers for you at month’s start is overreacting and overdoing it. The generally unsettled feeling may urge you to act in order to avoid the discomfort of dealing with slow moving and confusing issues. If in doubt, take a page from our dear Frank Herbert, and follow the incantation of the Bene Gesserit!

TAURUS: With a new moon in your house of partnership, it’s time to get things moving in a fresh direction. To expect something impossible, like infallible stability in a relationship between two people, is setting yourself up for disappointment. Get real, Bully, and accept that a fairytale ending is not a happy one if it equates to terminal boredom.

GEMINI: With Mercury finally out of it’s “shadow zone” at the start of the month you may be feeling like you’re able to make some progress on recent goals. However, heed the astral warning: intentions set in the spirit of ruthlessness, captivating as they may be, can land you in dangerous territory for which you are ill prepared.

CANCER: The new moon can find you suddenly steaming about an issue you thought was dead and done. Perhaps it has something to do with how you deal with enjoyment in close relationships. It doesn’t necessarily take the fun out of something to schedule it in advance – and that way you know you are yours are on the same page before there are more sour feelings.

LEO: Are things getting cozy, or are you burning down the village? With the very Martial vibes of the new moon in Scorpio settling into your family sector, the line between love and hate is very thin right now. If you’re sleeping in the doghouse more than you’d like, consider carefully what you did to get yourself there.

VIRGO: These are the last few months of hosting the north node in your career sector, Virgo. It has sure been a wild ride as a professional Virgo since May 2020, hasn’t it? Ample reflection will serve your interests now, as the new moon on the fourth allows a chance to find an audience who appreciates some of the wisdom you’ve gleaned and progress you’ve made over the past year and a half.

LIBRA: Mars is acting like a hole in your pocket or a stab to the pocket book in early November. Take a closer peek at your finances and see what you could do to better manage your situation – it’s boring, but budgeting can help you at least get clear on what’s incoming and outgoing. Scorpio is not a sign to take things at face value, so consider what your recent purchases are telling you about your inner life.

SCORPIO: The nice thing about your birthday season is that for a small while, everyone starts to get what makes you “tick.” If only rather than take it as a passing phase, we could appreciate and honor the differences! The current introspective mood suits you, but also provides you the opportunity to teach others how to handle emotionally complex situations wisely and with less drama. Only if they deserve the help, of course.

SAGITTARIUS: Like your sister sign, Gemini, year’s end is also the end of the line for your visit from the South Node. If you’ve felt like you’ve been struggling to keep up with the pace of the changes since May 2020, relief is now within view. We don’t know what we don’t know, Sag, and making some time to catch up with yourself now is a worthwhile pursuit.

CAPRICORN: The emphasis in November is on your business alliances. There is some whiff of a power play happening now, or perhaps a dubious plan that involves intrigue and manipulative plotting. Sounds enticing, but also terribly stupid. With Venus about to retrograde in your sign, think twice before you get involved in anything “under the table.”

AQUARIUS: The crummy thing about a fresh start in your career sector means that there is likely to be more work on the horizon. For someone who is hosting both Jupiter and Saturn in their sign, you aren’t likely to turn down opportunities to learn and grow, even if it means you cannot possibly handle any more obligations. Well, whatever, don’t say I didn’t warn you. Remember your magnesium supplements if you’re living on a diet of espresso and takeout.

PISCES: I hope that you have had the joy of experiencing culture shock at least once in your life, Pisces. An awareness of the feeling of being completely misunderstood, and endlessly grateful for the unique expressions of humanity available in this world serves you well in early November. It doesn’t necessarily take a trip around the globe to occur –you may find yourself meeting some of the less fanciful examples of this situation. If you are slack-jawed after a conversation with someone new in your social milieu, consider what social programming you may be outgrowing.

HOROSCOPIC PERSPECTIVE SEPTEMBER 16-30

ARIES: The second house represents finances and, with the advent of depth psychology, our values. But, as astrologer Donna Cunningham has astutely phrased it, “I don’t know many people who stay awake at night worrying about their values” (“Uranus in the Second - Radical Values” In Outer Planets and Inner Life, Vol. 1). With an eclipse cycle moving through your second house, maybe you’re one of those lucky people who is worried about their values. Or, you know, something about pressing financial insecurity and an increasingly feeble, aging, easily exhausted body?

TAURUS: Uranus has set up it’s hippie-dippie camp site in your sign since around 2018, and will be claiming squatters rights through 2025. This long-term festival puts you in an interesting position. Your typically demure demeanor is not working to the benefit of your long-term interests. Upcoming eclipses in your sign next year are echoing that sentiment with an annoyingly reverb heavy, repetitive modern psych-pop chorus. Deal with the earaches, Taurus - the only way out is to crowd surf through.

GEMINI: The eclipse mid-month is an odd one for you, Gemini. The north node is still in your sign, making an out-of-sign connection with the moon. The moon’s actions are being guided by Venus, who is in a retrograde shadow phase and an awkward, confrontational relationship to Black Moon Lilith. Hm. It’s like one hand doesn’t know what the other is doing. Or, do you have a situation in which you need to make amends?

CANCER: There is a feeling of dredging up some ancient sentiments with the eclipse on the 19th. Rather than avoid acknowledging any troubling discoveries, recognize the value and insight they bring to bear on your current situation. With your ruler parked in ‘the house of the future’, and in aspect with expansive Jupiter, a little elbow grease may reveal a mud-covered relic as a useful talisman.

LEO: The conflict simmering between your career choices and your home life comes to roiling boil with the eclipse on the 19th. With Jupiter trying to play a mediating role, it may be ultimately the needs or limitations of your partnership that calls the shots. Get in touch with those you care about and get their opinion while you weigh your options.

VIRGO: You are typically more aware of your responsibilities than most, but having Saturn in your house of service is not helping this situation. The eclipse on the 19th is begging for fresh air and new scenery, but would you allow yourself the opportunity? With a lot of action happening in your neighborhood sector of the chart, perhaps just a longer than usual spin around the block on the old steel frame horse will do the trick. I encourage you to consider indulging escapist fantasies, or even an escapist reality, at least for a little while, Virgo.

LIBRA: The eclipse is highlighting your temperamental, brooding eighth house. As they say, it’s the house of sex, death, magic, and taxes… or, things that change you and make you act right. Your shared ruler – Venus – looks over the moon’s actions and side-eyes Black Moon Lilith. Sometimes a lack can present a place of power, if you know how to make it work for you.

SCORPIO: There is no room for superficiality at mid-month. If your commitments aren’t willing to commit to soul searching, you just aren’t interested. In a world where most people just want to chill, it can be tough to be the one who is always pushing for more. Change is uncomfortable, but impatience doesn’t help the process. Don’t worry – it’ll be your turn to have the rug pulled out from under you soon enough.

SAGITTARIUS: This eclipse is a change of pace from last year’s set – though the nodes are still in your sign for a bit longer, they are forming an out-of-sign connection with the Sun and Moon. This suggests that information recently coming to light can finally help get you out of a stuck situation. Sometimes it’s just a change of perspective that can make all the difference.

CAPRICORN: Eclipses are inherently an unstable time, less like the mall-escalator vibe of a regular lunation and more like a revolving door leading onto the platform of a bullet train. Perseverance comes more easily to you than the other signs – but that can get in the way when you are being called to let go of something that no longer suits you. Don’t let your fortitude cause you to miss out on more ephemeral pleasures.

AQUARIUS: The moon is cozied up in your house of the hearth, but opposite Vesta, the asteroid representing the hearth. A conflict of interest arises – which way is home? Is it where the fire is burning, or that old familiar worn-in place? Big choices await you, Aquarius, but with Jupiter and Saturn holding out in your sign, betting on yourself, and not being afraid of the work, is a wise decision.

PISCES: Do you feel like you’re being heard when you attempt to communicate emotionally delicate matters? If not, keep working on it! It’s a skill that takes development, it doesn't mean that someone doesn’t care or isn’t interested. We all have different ways of letting others know what we expect, and being unapologetic about asking for it is a great place to start.

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