The sky of October 22, 2025 is ruled entirely by the invisible elements Water and Air. There is no Fire, no Earth, leaving the heavens suspended, fluid, and intangible
I. Descriptive
The immediate cause is Neptune’s retrograde return to Pisces, the mutable Water sign, strengthening the liquid realm. There it joins Saturn retrograde and the North Node, all ruled by Jupiter, which is exalted in the cardinal Water of Cancer.
At the same time, the luminaries are in transition: the Sun stands at the final, anaretic degree of Libra, its sign of fall, preparing to cross into Scorpio; the recent New Moon is already there, passing through the fixed Water of its own fall. Mercury also occupies Scorpio, and Mars, ruler of the sign, is likewise present. The result is a stellium of four planets in Scorpio, a constellation traditionally tied to the eighth house, the realm of death, loss, initiation, and regeneration.
No planets occupy the Fire or Earth signs. Solidity and combustion are replaced by moisture and motion. This condition will persist until October 24, when the Moon enters Sagittarius, bringing the first flicker of Fire back into the firmament.
II. Symbolic
When Fire and Earth withdraw, creation loses its principle of ignition (Fire) and its principle of coagulation (Earth). What remains are the principles of dissolution (Water) and circulation (Air). In Hebrew terms, from the Sefer Yetzirah, this is a sky governed by מ (Mem) (the letter of Water), followed by א (Aleph), the letter of Air, while ש (Shin), the letter of Fire, is completely absent.
Earth, although not one of the primordial creative letters, is represented by the repeated ה (He) in the Tetragrammaton, the symbol of material manifestation through which reintegration into the One becomes possible. Its absence now mirrors the suspension of form and substance: the world is without ignition and without ground, sustained only by emotional flow and thought.
The cosmos becomes a vapour-filled alembic, where what was once solid now melts, and ardour gives way to reflection. Neptune’s return to Pisces – the mutable Water of the collective unconscious – points to a re-immersion in the oceanic psyche, a regression to the prenatal matrix where forms dissolve before renewal.
With the Sun, Moon, Mercury, and Mars all under Scorpio’s rulership tomorrow, consciousness (Sun), instinct (Moon), and word (Mercury) are drawn downward into the Martian depths. The airy equilibrium of Libra is giving way to the humid intensity of Scorpio.
Jupiter, currently exalted in Cancer and ruling Neptune, Saturn, and the Node, provides a maternal undertone to this collective descent. The water that corrodes also nourishes from the Nadir. The absence of Fire (Spirit) and Earth (Form) indicates that the manifest world is in a state of gestation, a hidden incubation of life before the next ignition of divine flame.
III. Operative
This sky calls for containment rather than conquest. It is a time to dissolve, to dream, to purge, not to build or to burn. External structures (Earth) and creative impulses (Fire) are dormant, making outward action ineffective and premature.
The true work is now inward. With Mars domiciled in Scorpio, the energy available is surgical, transformative, fit for confronting inner shadows, not external enemies. Emotional honesty is the sharpest tool under this atmosphere. When Mercury enters Sagittarius on October 29, the first sustained trace of Fire returns to the sky. But it will do so under tension, since Sagittarius is Mercury’s sign of exile. Thought becomes broader but less precise and communication may lose focus in favour of vision. This influence will be temporary, since Mercury will then turn retrograde and return to Scorpio, bringing the reflection process back to depth and analysis.
Until then, it is wiser to accept the current uncertainty, give ambiguity time to unfold, and avoid forcing clarity before it matures. Practically, this means: letting emotions speak before words, postponing material decisions, cleansing habits and spaces, resting from the compulsion to define direction. All that dissolves now does so to make room for the Fire’s return, when Mars reawakens the realm of Atziluth in Sagittarius, on November 4. Four days later, Uranus will also bring back the element of Earth into the sky, as he retrogrades into the fixed earth of Taurus.
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