We all handle our finances in different ways. Some of us are savers, some of us are spenders, some of us are misers, and some of us are generous. Our approach to money can be seen through the sign on our 2nd house cusp (the house of money) and our Venus sign (who naturally rules the 2nd house), to get you started. So check out where you may fall below: Fire: Aries - Leo - Sagittarius
The fire signs are the spenders. Money can burn a hole in the pocket! Gotta do something with it as soon as you get your hands on some. If you’re smart, you make sure that you do something smart with it, and instead of spending it all, you work on investing and making your money make you money.
Fire energy can have the easiest time making money, so you just have to make sure you’re making smart choices with it. Otherwise that’s when you get into trouble! Earth: Taurus - Virgo - Capricorn
The earth signs are the savers. You can think about how you want to make sure you’re prepared for the future, for any difficulties that may arise, so when you’re in a low period for making money, you’re still okay. But this can make you a little paranoid with money, and you might have a hard time using money to enjoy your life or enrich the lives of others.
Earth energy needs to learn that money can be used to help you live your life to the fullest and make the world better. You can’t take it with you when you croak! Air: Gemini - Libra - Aquarius
The air signs can be a hybrid of the fire and earth signs. You can plan for the future but still understand how to spend for the present. You can come up with financial plans and can spend time gathering financial information and seeking financial advice.
Air energy may benefit most from plans and advice, having a financial planner or investor you work with. The only issue is, you need to make sure you’re listening to people who actually know what they’re talking about, otherwise bad decisions follow! Water: Cancer - Scorpio - Pisces
The water signs are the most generous with their money. You can see how money can be used to benefit people, and you can give a lot. The problem is, you can give too much! And with water energy, keeping track of money can also be a problem.
You benefit most from taking in a little grounded earth energy and holding enough money for your own needs, and then taking in some air energy to make plans. Then you’ve just gotta stick with them! Suggested Reading: Jupiter-Pluto & Wealth 
October’s new moon comes on the 8th at 11:47PM ET in Libra. Libra is the sign of others, so we can focus on each other, our relationships and partnerships, and try to come together in the middle. We can work on compromises, negotiate, mediate, and try to be diplomatic and charming. Keep everything peaceful and harmonious. We can strive to be better balanced and focus on what we’ve been neglecting lately, and the more balanced we are, the more decisive we can be. We may be more open to commitment, and want to reach out to others and make connections. We may work best with partners, when we come together, and when we’re not just thinking of ourselves. This may be a time when we see deals being worked on or entities merging, especially if they’ve tried to before. The ruler of Libra, Venus, will have just turned retrograde (appearing to move backward) a few days before this new moon on October 5th. So we may be feeling a little extra off, and energy may be best focused on some second chances, especially in our relationships, working with the people in our lives, and keeping the peace. This new moon is widely square (hard aspect, 3 signs away) Pluto in Capricorn. This might make working to keep the peace even more important, and we may butt heads more and struggle for power/control. Try not to be dominating or let others dominate you. Find some middle ground, keep a cool head, and let’s all move forward together! This new moon occurs at 15 degrees 48 minutes Libra. The aspects to this new moon are: Conjunction: 13 degrees 48 minutes - 17 degrees 48 minutes Libra Sextile: 13 degrees 48 minutes - 17 degrees 48 minutes Leo or Sagittarius Square: 13 degrees 48 minutes - 17 degrees 48 minutes Cancer or Capricorn Trine: 13 degrees 48 minutes - 17 degrees 48 minutes Gemini or Aquarius Opposition: 13 degrees 48 minutes - 17 degrees 48 minutes Aries October’s full moon comes on the 24th at 12:45PM ET in Taurus. In Taurus, we can be extra indulgent, especially when we’re emotional or upset. We may just want to kick back, relax, let things slide, and not rush into anything. We can focus on slowing down and enjoying the moment more. But we may be so lazy that we don’t get much of anything done! Taurus rules finances, so we may see some financial developments with this full moon, with some getting rewarded for smart, responsible choices, and others being punished for bad behavior. Taurus also rules our values, so we may focus more on what our values are and how we can live up to them better. We may crave more stability and security, and we can work to get better grounded. The more grounded we are, the more stable and secure we feel, the more confident we can be. Otherwise, we may listen to much to what other people say or think, and that can make us insecure. This full moon is widely trine (positive aspect, 4 signs away) Saturn in Capricorn, so we can have a little extra discipline, focus, and try to keep on the right track. We may make some progress with something we’ve done right, and try to take on responsibilities with greater ease. This full moon is also opposite Venus, who is retrograde at this time in Scorpio, and Venus is the ruler of Taurus, so both Moon’s this month have their ruler retrograde. Oh my! So we can focus a lot on things that are coming back around for another go at it, and we may have difficulty getting along, have to work harder to see eye-to-eye, and we can be crazy stubborn, selfish, or stuck. Everyone needs to stay calm and try to see other perspectives. Don’t get stuck in your own view. This full moon occurs at 1 degree 13 minutes Taurus. The aspects to this full moon are: Conjunction: 0 degrees 0 minutes - 3 degrees 13 minutes Taurus Sextile: 0 degrees 0 minutes - 3 degrees 13 minutes Cancer or Pisces Square: 0 degrees 0 minutes - 3 degrees 13 minutes Leo or Aquarius Trine: 0 degrees 0 minutes - 3 degrees 13 minutes Virgo or Capricorn Opposition: 0 degrees 0 minutes - 3 degrees 13 minutes Scorpio * Since the full moon is early in Taurus, aspects may also be felt out-of-sign at 29 degrees 13 minutes or later in Aries (conjunction), Gemini or Aquarius (sextile), Cancer or Capricorn (square), Leo or Sagittarius (trine), and Libra (opposition). Suggested Reading: The New & Full Moons page for general interpretations 
In a standard natal chart, there are 12 houses, each ruling different aspects of our lives and personalities. It often comes as frustrating to many astrology students once they start moving through their astrology learning to find that there are actually many different ways of calculating the houses. Of course, astrology just can’t be simple! Probably the most common question I get asked by intermediate students is, “Which house systems should I use?” Which house system do I think you should use?
My answer is always the same - Use the house system you feel most comfortable with. Many people think there is only one right house system to use, but that’s hogwash. Anyone who tries to tell you that is probably a know-it-all, ultra controlling, or needs to get their head out of their you-know-what!
There is no right or wrong answer for which house system to use in astrology. I encourage experimentation with the different house systems to see which you connect with most. But in truth, I find most of us end up using the house system we first started with. Maybe that’s pure laziness, maybe it’s just the most familiar since it’s the one we began with, or maybe it’s the one we were meant to use and so it’s the one that found us first. Who knows? My one recommendation is to not experiment right out of the gates, just because it'll get confusing fast. Wait a little bit until you understand charts better, and then experiment to your heart's content. House Systems Most Commonly Used
The most commonly used house system in Western astrology is Placidus, but I find that the most commonly used house system among astrologers tends to be Koch. It seems to be a “fancier” version of Placidus.
But you’ll also find a lot of astrologers who use Equal or Whole Sign houses, especially if they’re more old-school astrologers (because they’re the easiest to compute by hand; many of the house systems are time-consuming to do by hand, so Whole Sign and Equal houses were the most commonly used before computers and programs and sites like astro.com came along). Personally, I use Placidus as my first choice. It’s what I started with and what I feel most comfortable with. If the houses in a Placidus chart get too wonky, then I’ll try Koch. “Wonky” houses for me is when there are houses that are 2 signs or larger or under 20 degrees. This tends to occur with people born near the poles, so astrologers based in those areas tend to only use Equal, which is my last-resort if the Koch houses are also wonky. I have also used Whole Sign when requested by clients; I'm not such an astro snob to reject a house system someone else prefers when I'm reading their own chart! I haven't used any of the other house systems in readings, but I know other astrologers who use Campanus, Regiomantus - really, whatever you gravitate to, go with it. Listen to no one who tells you that you can only use one specific house system. Snob alert! If you want to go through the different house systems, Wikipedia actually has a good list: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_(astrology)#Systems_of_house_division And on astro.com, you can play around with the house systems in Extended Chart Selection; here they describe the different house systems you can use on astro.com: http://www.astro.com/faq/fq_fh_owhouse_e.htm Suggested Reading: Empty Houses in Astrology 
The basics: A retrograde occurs when a planet appears to be moving backwards from our vantage point here on Earth. It isn't actually moving backwards, it just appears that way. Venus retrogrades about every 1 ½ years for 1 ½ months at a time. When a planet retrogrades, what that planet rules tends to be thrown off, along with what the sign it's retrograding in rules. This Venus retrograde begins October 5th at 3:04AM ET and ends November 16th at 5:50AM ET. It starts at 10 degrees 50 minutes Scorpio and ends at 25 degrees 14 minutes Libra, entering Libra on October 31st (Halloween!) at 3:41PM ET. Venus madness! Here she comes. We’ve already dealt with two Mercury retrogrades and a Mars retrograde, so now Venus takes a turn. This retrograde starts in Scorpio, intense, secretive, controlling, manipulative, dominating Scorpio - so here comes the major relationship problems! Scorpio is passionate and intense in love, a little controlling and manipulative at times, and a lot clingy. Scorpio wants to share all. And so we may see a LOT being shared we don’t care to know! This retrograde likely brings out some secrets, some things that are hidden away in the murky depths, especially since Jupiter is in Scorpio while Venus is retrograde in Scorpio (though the two don’t meet up). Jupiter expands, so a lot of the retrograde issues may get worse in a hurry. Though Jupiter is also Mr. Happy, so he can help us to turn things around faster. BUT both Venus, especially while retrograde, and Jupiter can be prone to laziness, indulgence, and excess, so that is definitely going to be a problem! Rage, hatred, hostility can also be an issue that gets blown up quickly. We’re quick to fight and we want to force everyone to agree with us, or at least just do things our way and shut up. But that doesn’t work out too well, usually, so we may be creating a lot of unnecessary battles, and could end up losing the battles AND the war! Resist the urge to become violent, not matter how strong the urge is. We’ll need to work on being more open, and not as stuck as fixed Scorpio wants us to be. Since there can be so much emotionally intense and passionate energy, we’ll need to work on channeling that as productively as possible in positive ways. Take that energy and put it to some good use. Scorpio rules sex and intimacy, so we may come back around to some old lovers we felt strong physical and emotional connections to. At the same time, existing connections that lack that energy can lose our interest fast. Scorpio also rules other people’s money - taxes, debts, loans, inheritances, joint finances, business finances - and mutually beneficial projects/ventures, so we can see some financial issues arise in some countries or with some prominent people (hey maybe we finally get those pesky presidential tax returns! Someone’s gotta leak it . . .). We may become aware of some skunky financial dealings that really make us mad. And Scorpio governs transformations, which includes sex, pregnancy, and death. There could be the passing of a prominent person, the birth of a prominent person (though we may not know it), or we may focus on trying to transform. Transformations may be ones we’ve wanted to try before or failed at and want to try again; and we may try to make them positive, but need to be certain of our motives. Venus doesn’t spend the entire retrograde in Scorpio though, going back into Libra on October 31st - Halloween! Fitting? Venus naturally rules Libra, so it’s a double-punch for Librans (oh crap that’s me). Libra rules our relationships and connections, so that can get much more focus. We may have a hard time coming together, getting along, making compromising, playing fair, mediating and negotiating, keeping the peace. We have to work on trying to understand each other. We can see lots of couples breaking up, and lots of others getting back together. Retrogrades don’t often stick though, so they may break up and get back together later, or get back together now and break up later. Enjoy the ride while it lasts? We may feel out of balance, especially if things seem more chaotic. We may try to bring back peace, bring back diplomacy, bring back civility (we really need that!). The more we get it back, the more decisive we can be. Let’s stay calm and peaceful . . . Libra usually corresponds to women, so women can be more prominent now, focusing on women’s issues, a prominent woman in particular, or a women’s cause worldwide. (I do wonder how all of this impacts our elections here in the U.S.!) Libra is also often tied to justice and the law, and Jupiter is going to move into Sagittarius (ruler of the law) while Venus is retrograde in Libra. So we may see some important legal developments or developments impacting the justice system in some way. At the start of the retrograde, Venus will be square (hard aspect, 3 signs away) Mars in Aquarius (and this will be exact on October 10th at 10:29PM ET). This greatly increases the more hostile, violent energy at the start of the retrograde, and passions can run way too high. We need to make sure we’re listening, we’re being considerate, and we’re focusing passionate energy into something positive. Use it up, or get suuuper grumpy and frustrated! During the retrograde, Venus will oppose Uranus (October 31st at 4:45AM ET), sextile (positive aspect, 2 signs away) Saturn (October 24th at 8:52AM ET), conjunct (align with) Mercury (October 15th at 4:21PM ET), conjunct the Sun (October 26th at 10:16AM ET), and trine (positive aspect, 4 signs away) Mars (November 9th at 10:12AM ET). The opposition to Uranus can make for some unexpected and/or sudden changes in relationships and partnerships, and make us crave more independence in our lives and feel a bit restless or rebellious. The sextile to Saturn helps us to be more responsible with others, and we can work on being more considerate and doing things right. The conjunction to Mercury brings focus on our communications, on trying to be more diplomatic, compromising, charming, and fair, and we can say things over again or try to think things through in our relationships. The conjunction to the Sun can shine more of a light on the retrograde developments, and can be a good time for the second chances that retrogrades are often good for. The sextile to Mars can help us to focus passionate energy and take some initiative in more pleasant ways. Venus retrograde ends not making any aspects, but it ends on the same day Mercury retrograde starts in Sagittarius! Mercury retrograde starts about 2 ½ hours after Venus retrograde ends. Uh, can anyone say craaaaaaazy day??? I’m not sure if something important will happen around this day, but it sure seems possible! Hopefully nothing too crazy . . . During the retrograde, we’ll have a new moon in Libra (on September 8th) and a full moon in Taurus (on September 24th), which are the signs that Venus naturally rules, and the full moon will be opposite Venus retrograde. The new moon occurs near the start of the retrograde, so we may be more focused on the retrograde energy, and work on trying to make the best of whatever wonkiness we may be enduring. This can also be good energy for the second chance stuff. The full moon is likely much more challenging, and we can be a lot more emotional in relationships and with how we deal with one another, can see the breaking down of relationships, partnerships, negotiations, and compromises, and can lack tact and diplomacy. We can also be super uber extra stubborn and indulgent with the full moon in Taurus. We’ll need to make more of an effort to be flexible and not get stuck. The Moon is in the sign Venus is retrograde in October 10th (12:09AM ET) to October 12th (5:53AM ET) in Scorpio, and November 4th (4:01AM ET) to November 6th (8:02AM ET) in Libra. These are times when we can be extra focused on the retrograde energy, can feel even more off, and need to work harder at coming together. Venus is also going to be at a critical degree October 12th - 17th (8-9 degrees Scorpio), and November 6th - 10th (26 degrees Libra). These can be periods of critical energy, but the most important will likely be when Venus is anaretic in Libra October 31st - November 2nd. The anaretic degree is 29 degrees of any sign and a point of crisis energy, and retrogrades crossing over this point usually stimulate some serious challenges! (just look back to when Mars retrograde was anaretic in Capricorn in August). This is a time to watch during the retrograde. Thankfully it’s only a few days! The retrograde begins at 10 degrees Scorpio, so those of you Scorpions born October 31t - November 6th can feel the start of this retrograde most. The retrograde ends at 25 degrees Libra, so those of you Librans born October 16th - 22nd can feel the end of the retrograde most. For the rest of you, check the house(s) Venus will be retrograding in of your own natal chart, and any aspects Venus will make during its retrograde to your natal planets, to fully understand how it will impact you personally. If you’re a Taurus or Libra Sun, Moon, or Rising, you can feel off in a subtle way throughout the retrograde since Venus rules Taurus and Libra. If you have Venus retrograde in your natal or progressed chart, you may not feel the worst of this. Those individuals generally don't experience the difficulties of the retrograde because it feels more natural to them. Of course, chances are everyone else around them doesn't have the same aspect, so they can still experience difficulties brought on by others. Suggested Reading: The Mercury, Venus and Mars Retrogrades page for general interpretations |
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