Taurus Horoscope for October 2023

This is a month of consolidation, Taurus, following weeks of research and internal examination. You have been, to one degree or another, exploring your alternatives in a largely unconscious process that comes more clearly into light when you reflect upon where your life is leading you this time around. There is something beyond your more obvious horizon that is calling and that you eventually must answer, with its own timing yet to be determined. The recent and quite potent retrograde of Venus, your ruler, through your home and family sector, has had you questioning familial dynamics and, more importantly, your own inner workings. Practical results are in store although it might be too early to know the form that they will take. Your creative self-expression is on the line and partakes of profound matters that have been coming up lately. Deep diving into your own ultimate source within you provides better answers in the long run than consensus thinking or your own early conditioning. The New Moon and Solar Eclipse of October 14th provides powerful stimulation for a more engaged stance, along with new ways to see the world around you beginning to come into better focus as you edge into fall.


The following was written by our guest columnist Alea Balzer. You can write her at alea.balzer@gmail.com


October dawns mid-way through the cycle of the Virgo New Moon from September 14 that planted a new seed in the sector of your chart related to creativity, pleasure, and children. The 1st of the month arrives on the heels of the Aries Full Moon in your sphere of the unconscious; and no matter how much you feel like breaking out of certain situations and entering new territory, this lunation could have pointed you back inward. The impact of Trickster Uranus in your sign cannot be over-emphasized. It has been highlighted in many recent New Moon configurations and is likewise imprinted into your current Virgo cycle, which may give this otherwise stabilizing lunation in your fellow earth sign related to your identity expression a brilliant and defiant quality. Perhaps you are waking up to parts of yourself that you are excited to express.

October also begins under the influence of a conjunction between Mars and the South Node in Libra, which announces your sector of daily work, routines, and health as a major activation point in the first half of the month, building to a solar eclipse on the 14th. This transit could exaggerate habits, behaviors, and relational dynamics with a significant history that require rebalancing or release. Be it caregiving or division of labor, resentments around fairness may be a sign you need to pull back and focus on yourself – even simply prioritizing a small amount of time in your day to be completely alone.

The first three days of October can serve creative visioning and imagination better than mental clarity; this courtesy of an opposition from Mercury in Virgo to Neptune in Pisces as it moves into a trine with Pluto in Capricorn. Pluto is powerful this month, barely moving in the sky as it slows to turn direct on the 10th, suggesting that healing and moving forward on new paths of understanding will likely require confrontations with the past. These outer planet encounters connect transformation related to your life philosophies, foreign lands, and education with that of your long-term dreams and social ecosystem. With all inner planets finally in direct motion, including your ruling planet Venus, you could feel an emerging sense of momentum. While change is indeed on the way, Neptune's highlighted presence at the very outset of the month offers an approach to the type of course correction that the eclipses later on may additionally bring, that of both self-responsibility and an alliance with those invisible forces that seek to move through you.

Mercury joins the planetary build-up in Libra, or your communications sector, on the 4th, and the next day a square between Mars and Pluto in Capricorn is activated, which remains in aspect until the 9th. You might be thinking about your communication patterns, particularly around anger and expressing your desires, needs, or love for others. The Messenger Planet could help harmonize conflict and aid in diplomatic communications, particularly as the Mars-Pluto square can be volatile. Regular exercise helps release pent-up frustration. This transit could also provide a thrust of energy for daily work and implementing new health routines and habits.

The need for specificity and diplomacy within relational dialogues is further indicated by Venus entering Virgo on the 8th. Venus in this area of your chart blesses artistic pursuits, romance, and social enjoyment. However, as your ruling planet moves into new territory for the first time since late July, it comes into an immediate opposition with Saturn in Pisces; the consequences of what was revealed to you over the Venus retrograde period may now emerge, possibly requiring a difficult reorientation connected to your social identity, friendships, or evolving life goals. This might relate to a process of reconciliation and accountability or matters concerning the home, family, or children.

From the 9th to the 11th as well, an opposition from the Sun in Libra to Chiron in Aries could raise issues around embodiment and health, so that having a private space to retreat to will be supportive at this time.

Mars moving into Scorpio on the 11th may aid in severing bonds or outdated modes of relating within one-on-one partnerships or stoke the fires of passion. The ongoing square between Scorpio's co-rulers Mars and Pluto, combined with Mars' trine to Saturn in Pisces, could have you considering structures of defense you have built around and within yourself that exile more authentic modes of connecting to others and the wider world. Going deep into matters concerning relational power dynamics, desires, and shared life philosophies could lay the foundation for authentic relationships that are in integrity with your evolving dreams and values.

The Libra New Moon and Solar Eclipse on the 14th heralds a new era of rebalancing related to your health, work, daily rituals, and the service you give to others. This eclipse has the power of time at its back, opening a new cycle that will play out over the next half year. Both eclipses this month, including the Taurus Full Moon near its end, are ruled by Venus, which remains for the month in your Virgo sector of children, creative self-expression, and romance. As your ruling planet, Venus serves as a reminder that whatever you have an affinity for is a crucial signpost to your unfolding life path! Venus’ presence in Virgo also suggests that being in touch with beauty, joy, and sensual enjoyment in your daily life is integral to your well-being.

While topics stimulated in this area of your life will continue to evolve over the next year and a half, Mercury's conjunction with the Libra Sun on the 19th represents the closing act to the considerable focus on your Libra sector of day-to-day activities and health regimens for the current month. A regular journaling practice could help you keep track of any insights that come to you in the inspiration or news connected to Libra house topics. Both Mercury and the Sun square Pluto from the 18th to the 21st, indicating situations or conversations around this time may illuminate unconscious biases and beliefs, offering that structural transformation around life philosophies, spirituality, or learning might filter down to the mundane realities of your day-to-day experience.

Mercury ingresses into Scorpio on the 21st, closely followed by the Sun on the 23rd, shifting the focus to your sphere of partnership, marriage, and contractual one-on-one relationships. Both planets form at this timing a trine to Saturn in Pisces, indicating that strategic use of the passion, energy, and focus at your disposal could effectively serve shared long-term goals or that you have allies to support you.

The final eclipse of the year takes place in your sign on the 28th. The Full Moon and Lunar Eclipse is a culmination of a cycle of eclipses across the axis of Taurus and Scorpio – you might look back to late 2021 and consider the series of changes that have been going on within your identity, ambitions, and partnerships. As the energy closes out, certain attitudes towards life, modes of presenting, or ways of relating your body may also reach a conclusion. This potent lunation across your Sun sign axis with its opposite sign highlights issues of self and other.

The influence of Mercury's conjunction with Mars in your relationship sector in this eclipse could heighten emotions at this lunation, possibly related to partnerships drawing to an end or entering a new phase. Both planets form an opposition to Jupiter in Taurus, which may inflate tensions or prompt difficult conversations around individual needs for freedom and growth. Exaggeration can be helpful for fixed signs, including Taurus and Scorpio, as it can mobilize action to address an issue.

While Uranus in Taurus continues until 2026, reflecting his somewhat unpredictable presence there, whatever takes place that shakes you up will also likely support your growth. This shift may give rise to a stronger sense of your own volition related to your purpose, self-understanding, and the way that, in your heart of hearts, you want to live.