Monthly Medicine | October is The Transformation

Cast by Lindsay Mack with Spirit Speak’s Tarot Deck and Iris Oracle Deck.

October is a sacred death month. We can see this seasonally, no? The trees show their colors, the weather gets cooler, the veil gets thinner. In terms of astrology, we transition from Libra into Scorpio in October. So much has already changed. Eclipse season is winding down, we made it out of Mercury Retrograde, and we are continuing to evolve in this potent time. This month will present opportunity after opportunity to level up and prepare for that “sacred death”; the energies of both Libra and Scorpio are focused on clearing us out of old structures that no longer serve so that we can be elevated and leveled up. If you are living in a way that is not aligned with your soul path, prepare to upgrade or to have those aspects of your life removed so that you can be. It’s all for our good. All we need to do is be courageous enough to speak our truth, and allow the organic unfolding to occur.

I want to also offer this: October can be a very difficult month for the sensitive and the empathic. So can March and April. These two points of the year are the birth/death portals, and the intensity of them can be extreme for some of us. This is not to offer a fatalistic view — quite the opposite: it is to reassure you. It’s to offer the expanded view of this time for those of you who get funky in the fall — it’s because you are feeling the power of this season, the invitation to release all that doesn’t serve. You can help make the energy lighter for yourself by upping your self care in a new way. Live seasonally, both in your food choices and with your way through the world. Extra time at your altar, ritual baths, sound baths, time outside, working with your tools and with magic can help enormously, too. That’s another way that we can live and communicate our truth: when we honor our sensitivity as human beings and give ourselves what we need, we become available to be aligned with what is perfect for us. All else falls away.

LIBRA, which is represented by the JUSTICE card in the top left corner of the monthly spread, is the astrological sign we begin October in. The first thing to understand is that, in Justice, we are already in a clean slate. Everything is happening as it is meant to; there has already been a balance restored, now it’s coming to fruit. With this energy of Libra, we want to focus on balance, internally and externally. Where do we rush to fix our lives? Where do we run away from things that bother us? Where do we assume that our life is imbalanced? Again, when we are in Justice, everything is happening exactly as it is meant to. Really sit with that for a moment. Everything. Your struggles, your patterns, your choices, good and bad — everything. Once we understand and accept this, we become free for change to come in and organically rebalance the areas that are not serving us. The tree doesn’t force the leaves off; they just ripen, dry, and fall — they have a colorful ride on the way down, too! Let the leaves be your teacher this month. How can you honor the transition into trusting in what’s meant to be?

OCTOBER 1 – 21

The teaching of Libra is KING OF SWORDS; the cycle it is moving us through is THE TOWER. We are master communicators in this time, so speak what’s true for you. Whatever is in your heart. This is the time to ask for what you want, to call on what you need, to speak from truth. King of Swords is a kind of magical being in that way — what we speak comes into reality under his influence. Trust yourself and keep connecting your heart to your words. THE TOWER is the perfect energy for this transit. Whatever does not serve us, any false structures we have created out of wanting to look, seem, live in a way that is not our authentic truth are all getting destroyed. It’s not a destruction that is terrible and in service of creating pain for us — it is all good and for our expansion. You can trust in the medicine of The Tower. In that way, the truth is literally setting us free.

The transition from LIBRA to SCORPIO on October 21st is ruled by TEMPERANCE reversed and CAN’T BE CAUGHT, as seen in the middle of the spread. Temperance is a potent transformation energy, one that comes in when we have released enough control to surrender to whatever is in highest for us. It is, in many ways, a deeply invisible transition, one that can and will change our lives if we bow over to it. In order to surrender into Scorpio, into death, we must observe all the protective mental mechanisms that come into play when we are transitioning into that void space. We are so often so much more afraid of the light than the dark, of the good than the bad. This transition is marked by an invitation to look into where that pattern comes up for you. Can’t be Caught is a sacred energy surrounding this transition, reminding you that, despite how it might feel, you are free — made of love, light and liberation. Nothing can hold you back.

SCORPIO is ruled by the DEATH card. We are in a rebirth cycle, the season is shifting, we are preparing to transform, for a sacred death. This is why October is called THE TRANSFORMATION. There is a literal shift, from full to empty, light to dark. This is the time when stuff literally leaves our life, all that The Tower has been preparing us for.

OCTOBER 21 – 31

TEN OF CUPS reversed is what we are learning in this cycle; THE MAGICIAN is what is dying away; TWO OF WANDS is what is being birthed in its place. Ten of Cups reversed is a deeply important energy — it’s helping us to identify where we are getting caught in old dead end patterns. You know the ex that always hurts you but you call them anyway? You know how gluten always messes up your mental and physical state but you eat it anyway? How you never feel great after hanging out with that friend but someone you keep trying? Drop it all and move on without the cycle having to unfold again and again. That is what this time is cleaning up. Intentionally agree to release at least one old cycle in this season. It will be an amazing liberation.

The Magician reversed is about forcing or strategizing some aspect of our manifestation or our lives. Magic is not flowing organically, the time is not exactly perfect, yet we are pushing anyway. It’s not an evil or negative placement; more an example of where there’s a lack of trust in the Universe within us. This lack of trust is what is dying. No more posturing, posing or trying to curate. This is a raw season. One of power, truth, vulnerability and alignment with Divine on another level. Welcome this, bow out control. It’s going to be intense, but intensely freeing. It’s all making way for trust.

Two of Wands is what is being birthed from this work within the month of October. This is a beautiful energy, one that holds so much promise for us! Two of Wands is a spark of energy, potential and creativity. We are filled with energy and ready to move, ready to bring into the world all that we have learned and gained. Sexuality gets sparked, new ideas get sparked, intuition gets sparked. If you allow all that is meant to die this month to die gracefully, there will be a well of usable energy at your fingertips, all guiding you toward the next level of your work, creative manifestation, and alignment. Once we stop pushing and forcing, there is a space created for an organic flow. The Transformative will have begun.