Substantiating action

So it is that time again, October is upon us, which means an augury.

Unwavering, gripping the sword and cutting through the obstacles that bar the way. More than cutting, it is also about substantiating this action, making concrete a goal and taking the steps towards building the scaffolding that will provide the interim space wherein the solid foundation is built. It is about stroking the fires and letting the heat burn away what is unnecessary. In contrast to this passing month of September, where we were asked to choose, October is about moving onward, keeping the momentum.

Also, what has to die? What has to be put into the blazing fires? What has to be purged in the flames? We should consider these things moving forward as we cut, cut, cut.

I notice there is a sense of progression being played out in these auguries. A progression that is constantly guiding us to look in the mirror, to look at our actions, with the questions of, is there more that can be brought to the table? Is there more to be extracted here? More, more, more. Can we do better? And I don’t mean better just in a material sense, but in all senses of the word.

Curiously, I am reminded in the cards of two things. One is of poison, the dose makes the poison, for all things have poisonous qualities, a Paracelsian phrase reworded. Here the cards ask, “How to transmute that which is failure into the steps for a foundation?” Secondly, there is Venus Cloacina, which Austin Coppock eloquently elaborates on in this month’s horoscope.* October is about navigating in this darkened landscape. Learning to throw into the fires without regret nor hesitation. Just as last month called us to seize, so we must seize now the decisive moment of metamorphosis.

What we do in this landscape, as the discarded skin of what is thrown in the fire slips from the body, is best embodied in the saying of chopping wood and carrying water. Strength is continued movement, resilience, and endurance. In this case, it is not about being soft and supple but about being sturdy, upright, and irrepressible.

With all this cutting and all this walking and doing, avoid demarcating the trajectory in a way that circumscribes the limits of your vision. This is not the moment for all-encompassing master narratives that define the journey we are on. This is the moment for action, cutting and building in the now. The end goal is undefined because we merely look  on with clouded eyes into the distance ahead.

Stay sharp and keep walking.

~~~

*I am not an astrologer and it is good to keep the starry heavens in mind when looking ahead. Read Austin’s work here: “The Black Honey of Venus Cloacina.”