November is the month when the Sun moves from Scorpio to Sagittarius. As autumn develops, the theme evolves from the deepest emotional and sexual consciousness (flavored by Days of the Dead in early November) to the most etheric, global, and cosmic. Yet the concepts of these two signs contain one another. Scorpio and Sagittarius present us with an essential diagram of the human experience, representing the two seeming polarities of what we long for. Scorpio endorses desire, which we find within ourselves and ultimately fulfill within ourselves. Sagittarius reminds us that the most cosmic experiences are often the most grounded ones. We can find the truth of God contemplating the Galactic Core or gazing at a flower. What all of this has in common is how we experience our awareness. Whether we experience something as emotional, erotic, mysterious, or natural is all about how we experience ourselves—and this can change from moment to moment.

After a phase of experimenting with your expressive passions, you reach an inner fork in the road: you can direct your creativity into a focused project or vocation, or you can get lost in your doubts and self-criticism. While I'm not a big fan of dichotomies, this one seems to contain some truth, at least this far: you cannot be too self-critical and still be free to express your passions. Self-reflective is one thing. Self-aware is closely related. It's necessary to be able to critique your work without criticizing yourself. You seem determined to make some practical use of your passions, and to keep yourself busy with what actually matters to you. You can do that, though it's going to take a mix of effort and flow, thought and intuition, motivation and attention to detail.

You may feel like you're right near potential that you cannot quite access. This might be in the form of having limited options or feeling like you're boxed into the circumstances in your life. Yet there is something obvious you may be missing, which is that in any given moment, no matter what you're doing, you have the privilege and the ability to express your quest. You may not think you do; you may have the idea that you're not free till you make your great escape. That itself is a kind of trap. Your freedom of existence and creativity is contained in your daily activity. Yet to get there you have to make a decision to think of two things that usually seem separate or unrelated as the same thing, then explore how that feels.

You are in an unusual position to experience the world as the people who are close to you do. This is not the usual mirror effect of relationships but rather the sensation of a world opening. Remember to define the word “relationship” as broadly as you can, remembering that human encounters are as diverse as the people we have them with. Connecting with people is not about getting married or hooking up or doing business—it's vital to be open to any possibility, and greet the many people you encounter with a sense of potential and openness to adventure. That means keeping an open mind, and using your freedom to adapt to the people and circumstances that surround you. You don't need an agenda, though your authentic curiosity will come in handy every day.

You need a lot of freedom around your work, and this is the time to take it. You know you're not the type to sit in an office, so if you find yourself in one, do your best to get out as much as you can, on whatever excuse or project you can think of. If you're self-employed, experiment with the most creative aspects of what you do, and then as the month progresses, work out of the house as much as possible. Your mind will be happier and your ideas will flow better. This is the time of year when you can connect to your infinite source of creativity. Many have wondered where you get your energy, and whatever the answer to that question may be, these are the months when you connect to your source, refill your well, and guide the abundant activity of the month toward your highest vision.

Expression is the opposite of depression. Keep telling yourself that. You may not be depressed, but approximately two-thirds of the world seems to be—and it has a way of being contagious. At the moment you're especially empathic and absorbent. You can feel just about anything anyone else is feeling, which is good for them. But when the Sun enters your fellow fire sign Sagittarius in a few weeks, you're going to feel like a galaxy of ideas you want to share with the world. I suggest you start sooner rather than later. Clear a table, make space in your mind, and make space in your life as best you can in this busy world, because a wave of visionary creative passion is on its way. This is yours to explore and enjoy, however you can.

You need to learn the art of evaluation. All kinds of spiritual and psychological paths decry the toxin of judgment, but we don't get much information about what to do after that. Virgo is famous for its self-critical nature, and you're now beginning an extended phase of your life when you may be tempted to go there even more than usual. So I suggest that you create alternatives that give you a constructive use of that drive, giving you something useful to do with the energy. Along with this, I suggest you truly explore the concept of being open-minded. Like many things, it's easier said than done, but more valuable than you may realize. One cannot really think, unless they are open-minded. Since you'll be thinking a lot about yourself, it will help to do that in the gentlest, most self-supportive way.

Libra (September 22-October 23)

This has been a rather interesting few weeks in your experience of (and study of) your relationships. I trust that you've left one concept behind—grafting yourself permanently to another person for the rest of your life. Obviously you're someone to whom commitment is deeply important. You believe in fidelity and you thrive on trust. But that is different than the idea of absolute permanence. You have, at least, begun to ask yourself real questions about what it means to be an autonomous, independent person. I would suggest that only such a person is in a good position to relate to someone else in an authentic way. Now and for the foreseeable future, you could say that the theme of your relationships is “love is freedom.”

You're at your most magnetic right now. The Scorpiophobia of the world is melting away and most days it will be more obvious that you're the sensitive, passionate person you know yourself to be. That said, I suggest you remain picky about who your friends are. Fortunately, there will be a self-selection process working for you: the more authentic you are, the more you'll attract the right people and repel the ones you don't want. But don't be too harsh on others; they may not seem to have your sharp wits or your notorious insight into psychology, but there will be certain days when you are feeling especially judgmental of the people around you. Everyone has their positive attributes, and one of yours is being able to notice that.

This is the time of year when you feel the calling to the astonishing adventures for which you came to this Earth. As the Sun moves through your sign, you feel many of your deepest longings and sense of cosmic connection. If you cannot go on a worldly adventure now, make plans to do so. You're being called places; orient on them, collect information, make friends with people who live there. Make time in your schedule at the next possible moment. Set aside some money. Meanwhile, the deeper adventure involves the possibilities for your incarnation on our planet at this time. You came here with a purpose, whether it was to accomplish certain things, to learn, to have fun, or to serve. Connect with that mission now. Give yourself permission to let it be real.

You will get a lot further if you give up caring what other people think about you, but that's another way of saying that self-acceptance is the key to success and happiness. You tend to be a private person, but you must also live with a sense of transparency that can be unnerving. In truth all you can really do is be comfortable within your own skin, though that's a learned skill. Here is a clue: there are a number of people who factor prominently in your life right now, and you don't feel the same way about any of them. If you practice objectivity, which basically means accepting them for who they are without judgment, you're really offering yourself a space of belonging in the world at the same time. Said another way, the more freedom you give people to be themselves, the more you will feel to be yourself.

You may be on an odd emotional edge where what you desire as your greatest success also feels the most dangerous. As you approach an accomplishment or take on new responsibilities, you may have this lurking sense that disaster is looming. You won't be able to tell if it's your intuition or a bit of paranoia, but I would suggest that the closer you get to that feeling, the more effective you're being at working toward a deeply cherished goal. While this sensation is especially poignant for you now, many people experience this sensation—and in running from it, avoid actually accomplishing what they set out to do. Progress demands a measure of uncertainty, and if you can dance with that, you can do anything.

I'm not sure if you have an erotic vision—that is, a dream of how your sexuality would be ideally—but if you do, this is the month to take a real step toward making it real. It would help if you state your ideas outright. This may feel radical; you may have the sense that nobody else will understand. What matters most is that you understand what you want. Why you want it is not so important; I suggest you connect your desire to direct ideas and visualizations. Then, see who and what comes your way, and the influence this has on the relationship experiences you have. What's never said often enough about Pisces is that sex is your true religion, that is, where you seek your God-source. This idea is cosmologically and biologically accurate. It's only judgment that gets in the way.

Read Eric Francis daily at PlanetWaves.net.

Posted by Chris Hewitt on 8:38 AM. Filed under astrology . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0