If you love gothic melodrama, dark wave music, and espionage stories, October will not disappoint. Glamorized expressions of angst and yearning, and some rather savage actions in the name of power and passion are on the menu too. It's all introduced right up front with a solar eclipse in Libra on the 2nd of the month. Typically, a Libra eclipse would indicate new beginnings that are sweet, judicious, and balanced, but this particular one has a stained history and is ruled by Venus in the sign of its antithesis. Venus in Scorpio can do many wonderful things, but balance is not one of them. Scorpio is a Mars-ruled water sign, which turns Venus toward the beauty of darkness and extremity. It's not here to make friends, it's here to possess, obsess, and dig deep.
On the heels of that eclipse, Mars enters its retrograde shadow on October 5. The story lines that present themselves now will be revisited during the actual retrograde. Mars's condition is also important because it's in a tense alignment with the full Moon in Aries that takes place on the 17th. It also rules this lunation. This full Moon mirrors the situation with the Libra eclipse in that its ruler is compromised (again in the sign of its antithesis). Mars cannot cut as cleanly or move as directly in this water sign because it gets bogged down with feeling. But, the sign of Cancer can turn Mars into a ferocious agent of change and defense on behalf of family, home, and security. Emotions are both target and weapon with this combination. Traditions could come under attack.
The atmosphere lightens up a bit as Venus moves into high-spirited Sagittarius on October 17. However, with the Sun's and Mercury's entrance into Scorpio mid-month, we can't escape the cauldron.