Weekly Energy Forecast: October 13 - 19, 2025 “Truth Rising From the Depths”

This week begins with a tremor in the underworld. On October 13, Pluto stations direct in Aquarius after spending months in retrograde, and the air hums with the weight of endings and beginnings that cannot be ignored. Pluto has been retrograde since early May, pulling us down into the cavern of truth, dismantling facades, unearthing what we’d rather not see. Retrogrades are review periods, and Pluto’s review is never light. It has been excavating the bones of our lives, scraping away false power, exposing the hidden mechanics of control, obsession, fear, and shadow.

This retrograde was not a punishment. It was a mirror, one that turned us inward and backward so we could reckon with what still held sway over us. Where we were bound to patterns of survival rather than creation. Where our hunger for control disguised itself as protection. Where the collective clung to systems long past their expiration. In Aquarius, Pluto has been asking not just about the self, but about the collective body — how we wield power together, how technology and community shape our future, how liberation can only come when the old scaffolding collapses.

Now, as Pluto stations direct, the underworld breath exhales. What was stripped bare in the retrograde is ready to move. This is tectonic energy, not the light shuffle of daily choices. It is the shift of plates that redefines landscapes. We may not see it all at once, but we feel it in the body... the tension in the chest, the drop in the gut, the instinct to end what no longer sustains life. Pluto’s direct motion does not erase the work we have done; it demands that we act on it.

And yet, the journey is not complete. Pluto remains in its post-retrograde shadow until November 19, slowly retracing the exact degrees it moved over these past five months. This means the same themes may resurface, the same crossroads appear again — but now we hold the power of choice. The shadow period is a testing ground, asking whether we will collapse back into the patterns that once held us or step into the new integrity we’ve been carving. These weeks are not just about reflection; they are about embodiment, about living the truth we claimed in the underworld.

Into this intensity comes Venus slipping into Libra, reminding us that balance is not a luxury but a necessity. Mars continues his steady burn in Scorpio, lending courage to look where we fear to look and to move from instinct rather than illusion. Mercury is still traveling through Libra, lending words to truths that must be spoken. Yet it is Pluto who roars the loudest this week, even in stillness.

The 7 of Cups rises as our guide this week, reflecting this exact energy. This card holds up a mirror to our desires, fantasies, and illusions. It shows us a table full of choices, but not all are nourishing. Some are distractions, some are projections, some are empty promises that glitter just enough to keep us reaching. And yet, among them, there is always a cup that holds what is real. The question is: will we see it? Pluto’s station presses this choice into the body. The same patterns may reappear, the same temptations may shimmer, but the 7 of Cups asks: are you ready to choose differently? Are you willing to notice where longing is a loop, and where it is a holy invitation?

This week is not about clarity arriving neatly packaged. It is about recognizing the gravity of choice. It is about admitting what is illusion and daring to reach for what is real, even if it scares you. Pluto demands depth. The 7 of Cups reminds us that depth requires discernment. Together, they make this week a threshold where nothing false can last... where honesty becomes the compass... where we must look beyond the shimmer and into the substance.

Current Energetic Climate

This week begins under the weight of Pluto’s station, and the air itself feels charged, like standing in a room where something has just shifted but the echo has not yet faded. Pluto has been retrograde since early May, pulling us into the cavern of shadow, asking us to confront what has lived too long in silence. Retrogrades always turn us inward, but Pluto’s backward gaze is seismic. It has unearthed control patterns, fear patterns, survival scripts, both in our private lives and in the collective body. In Aquarius, it has been shaking the bones of community, technology, and power itself, asking what kind of future can truly hold us.

Now Pluto stations direct and what has been stirred within begins pressing outward. This is not a sudden eruption, but a slow tectonic shift, the kind that redefines landscapes. What lived in review now demands action. What haunted us in the dark insists on being addressed in the light. It can feel heavy, like carrying stones in the chest, but there is also a current of liberation here, a deep exhale of knowing that what we have faced cannot be unfaced.

And yet Pluto does not leave us free of its grip all at once. Until November 19, Pluto lingers in its post-retrograde shadow, retracing the degrees it moved since May. This shadow period is a test, a proving ground. The themes that have surfaced over the past months will return, not to punish but to ask: will you choose differently this time? Will you embody the clarity you fought so hard to claim? This is the liminal stretch where we either slip back into old cycles or step forward into the integrity that has been slowly carved into us. The choice is not abstract; it will live in our bodies, in our instincts, in the way we move through power, intimacy, and truth.

Mars in Scorpio intensifies this atmosphere. His fire here is not wild or scattered; it is focused, surgical, unrelenting. If Pluto exposes the root, Mars gives us the courage to cut it cleanly. He brings instinct into the body, the gut pull that says this is alive, this is dead, this is where energy belongs. Together, Pluto and Mars forge a climate where avoidance is no longer possible. Transformation is already underway, and to resist it is only to be dragged deeper into what we already know must end.

Venus’s entry into Libra on October 13 softens the field, not by diluting the depth, but by weaving threads of harmony through it. Where Pluto strips and Mars severs, Venus asks us to rebuild connection with balance, fairness, and reciprocity. She whispers that relationships can be medicine, that love is not only passion or rupture but also the gentle tending that restores trust. She asks us to imagine what harmony could look like when it is honest rather than performed, how beauty and connection can anchor us as the ground beneath us shifts.

Mercury in Libra gives voice to these questions. Under Pluto’s weight, words feel heavier. A single sentence can shift the entire dynamic, a single truth spoken can rewrite a story that has lived in shadow for too long. This is not the week for empty phrases. It is the week for words that carry the charge of integrity, for conversations that build bridges rather than walls.

The climate overall is one of integration and decisive choice. Pluto pushes us to act on what has been revealed, Mars offers the courage to move, Venus restores balance, and Mercury carries language as a bridge between them. We stand inside the threshold of change, and the question is not whether we will transform... the question is how willingly, how honestly, and how fully we will step into what is already unfolding.

Key Astrological Influences

Pluto stations direct in Aquarius (October 13) - Pluto stationed retrograde on May 2, 2025, and has been pulling us into the underworld for over five months. Retrogrades are reviews, and Pluto’s review is never casual. It has stripped illusions of control, exposed shadow motives, and demanded that we look at power dynamics that run beneath both our private lives and the collective. In Aquarius, Pluto’s lens has been fixed on the structures that shape our future: technology, community, freedom, and the collective body. What have we built our belonging on? Where do systems hold us and where do they suffocate?

On October 13, Pluto stations direct at 1° Aquarius, shifting that inward excavation outward. What has been unearthed will now demand expression. It will not be immediate... Pluto moves slowly, tectonically... but the direction changes everything. What was contemplation becomes decision. What was shadow work becomes external action. The underworld exhales and we begin to feel the pressure to live the truths we uncovered in the dark.

And yet the retrograde is not fully behind us. Pluto remains in its post-retrograde shadow until November 19, 2025, retracing the ground it covered since May. This shadow is a testing ground: will we repeat the patterns, or will we embody the transformation? The same themes may re-emerge, but this time the choice is ours. The lesson is not finished, but the momentum has changed.

Venus enters Libra (October 13) - As Pluto turns direct, Venus slips into her home sign of Libra, reminding us that even in times of seismic change, balance and harmony are not luxuries... they are necessities. Venus in Libra brings focus to relationships, reciprocity, and fairness. This is not surface-level beauty but the deeper work of creating connections that truly reflect balance. Venus in Libra asks: are our relationships medicine, or are they performance? Do they restore us, or do they drain us? She invites repair, justice, and the soft grace of mutual care, threading love into the intensity of Pluto’s shift.

Mars continues through Scorpio - Mars has been moving through Scorpio, and his presence here keeps the field charged with intensity. Mars in Scorpio is fire turned inward and sharpened into instinct. It is not explosive; it is precise, surgical, relentless. Pluto has revealed the roots of what is broken, and Mars now supplies the courage to cut cleanly. In Scorpio, Mars strips away what no longer belongs and directs energy into what is undeniably alive. The body feels this as instinct... the gut pull that says yes, or the quiet knowing that says no. This influence makes it impossible to keep feeding what is already dead.

Mercury in Libra - Mercury continues its passage through Libra, weaving words into the search for balance. This is language as architecture... every phrase either a brick in the foundation of trust or a crack in the wall. Under Pluto’s heavy station, words are weighted. They can heal, clarify, and align, or they can fracture if used to avoid truth. Mercury in Libra asks us to risk honesty, to allow dialogue to be the bridge that steadies us as the ground beneath continues to shift.

Themes for the Week

Illusion versus clarity - The 7 of Cups arrives like a mirror to Pluto’s work. We stand surrounded by options, each one glittering, each one carrying its own weight of desire, fear, or fantasy. Some of these cups hold sustenance. Others are empty, or worse, toxic. The challenge this week is not simply choice... it is discernment. Pluto’s direct station insists that the illusions we have leaned on cannot be carried forward. In the post-shadow, we are tested: will we fall back into the old comforts of fantasy, or will we take what is real even if it unsettles us? This is not about choosing quickly, but about seeing clearly.

Living with the shadow still present - Though Pluto moves direct, the post-shadow until November 19 ensures we are not finished with the underworld. The same themes that haunted us since May may reappear, but this time they do so as tests. Have we learned? Have we shifted? The 7 of Cups warns against slipping back into the illusions that numbed us, the distractions that promised comfort but left us hollow. The work now is integration: holding what was revealed, even when the old escape routes call us back.

Courage to act, not just imagine - Mars in Scorpio pairs with Pluto’s direct station to push fantasy into action. This is not the time to keep staring at the cups as if they will choose for us. Mars insists on movement. The 7 of Cups warns against paralysis... the kind where we stare so long at possibilities that we end up choosing none, or we reach for the shiniest illusion instead of the quiet truth. Together, Mars and Pluto sharpen instinct. The gut knows what is alive. The body knows what is dead. This week, action taken from that depth will matter more than endless contemplation.

Balance in the midst of intensity - With Venus now in Libra and Mercury continuing through Libra, the scales of balance and fairness are never far. Pluto and Mars strip us to essentials, but Venus and Mercury remind us that relationships and communication are where we practice these truths. This week asks us to seek not only clarity for ourselves, but fairness in how we move with others. If a cup is not mutual, if a connection cannot sustain reciprocity, Pluto will make it clear. If a conversation is avoided, Mercury will sharpen the silence until it is unbearable. Balance is not gentle this week, but it is necessary.

Integration as devotion - The larger theme here is integration. Pluto’s retrograde was excavation. Now, with the direct motion and post-shadow, the integration must become devotion... lived choices, embodied changes. The 7 of Cups offers a thousand distractions, a thousand ways to slip back into what is familiar. But Pluto does not allow backsliding without consequence. This is the week to ask: what cup do I choose when I am honest with myself? What does my body say yes to? What does my soul know is real?

Tarot Insight: The 7 of Cups

The 7 of Cups is the card of choice, illusion, and discernment. At first glance, it can feel like a gift... so many possibilities glittering before us, so many pathways to take. But beneath the shimmer is a question: which of these options is real nourishment, and which is only smoke and mirrors?

In the wake of Pluto’s retrograde, this card takes on amplified weight. Pluto has spent months excavating our inner terrain, showing us the illusions we have clung to, the patterns we have repeated, the fantasies we have leaned on to avoid facing the truth. The 7 of Cups is the perfect mirror to this work. It shows us how easy it is to be dazzled by the surface of things, to mistake longing for fulfillment, to keep reaching for what drains us simply because it is familiar.

Now that Pluto stations direct, the illusions cannot hold. The choices before us are not neutral. Each one carries consequence. The post-shadow, stretching until November 19, ensures that these themes will repeat themselves until we finally act differently. If you reach for the same empty cup you have reached for before, you will see the same story play out again. The difference is that now you know. Pluto’s excavation has shown you what is hollow. The 7 of Cups asks: will you choose what is real, or will you keep drinking from illusions that never quench your thirst?

This card is also about the paralysis of choice. Sometimes, faced with so many possibilities, we freeze. We keep staring at the cups, imagining outcomes, getting lost in the fantasy of what could be, rather than making a move. Pluto does not allow this paralysis for long. Mars in Scorpio sharpens instinct, cuts through indecision, and says: trust the gut, act from truth. The 7 of Cups becomes a challenge here... not to choose blindly, but to choose with the clarity you already carry in your body.

In relationships, the 7 of Cups warns against mistaking illusion for intimacy. It asks us to notice where we are clinging rather than seeing what is in front of us. Venus in Libra balances this, reminding us that real connection is built on reciprocity and fairness, not projection. If a cup looks dazzling but leaves you empty, Pluto will strip it bare. If an option feels terrifying but alive, Pluto may be showing you the path of transformation.

In the body, this card shows up as that restless hum in the chest when you know something is off but cannot quite name it. It is the fog in the mind when too many options swirl without clarity. It is the ache in the gut that signals when something is not true for you, even if the surface looks appealing. The 7 of Cups teaches us to listen to those signals, to let the body discern what the mind gets tangled in.

The shadow of this card is obsession with what we cannot have, fixation on the unavailable, addiction to fantasy. The medicine is presence. To look at what is actually being offered and to recognize that often the thing that will nourish us most is not the one we expected. Pluto’s post-shadow will keep asking this question until November 19: will you keep chasing ghosts, or will you finally choose what is alive? The 7 of Cups is not punishment. It is possibility. But only if we are willing to see through illusion and pick up the cup that contains truth.

Ritual for the Week: Choosing the Real Cup

What you need

• Seven small cups, bowls, or glasses (they can be mismatched — imperfection carries the lesson)

• Water (to fill one of the cups, representing what truly nourishes)

• Symbols or objects to place in the other cups (paper slips with words, crystals, coins, herbs, small items — some meaningful, some arbitrary)

• A candle (to represent illumination, clarity, and The Sun’s reminder that truth reveals)

• A journal and pen

  
  

Step One - Arrange the seven cups in front of you. Place different items in six of them — things that can represent illusions, distractions, old patterns, or even just noise. In the seventh, pour water, keeping it simple and clear. Light the candle nearby so that the cups are bathed in its glow. This arrangement is the 7 of Cups embodied: choices before you, some nourishing, some not.

Step Two - Look at each of the six filled cups. Let them symbolize the things Pluto’s retrograde has revealed: the fantasies, habits, or relationships that looked dazzling but left you empty. One by one, say them aloud: “This is the illusion of control.” “This is the fantasy of being chosen by someone who cannot meet me.” “This is the distraction that drains my power.” As you name them, notice what happens in your body... tightness, relief, resistance. This is Pluto’s truth-telling.

Step Three - Now turn to the cup filled with water. Hold it in both hands. Whisper: “This is what nourishes me. This is what is real.” Close your eyes and notice how your body feels holding it. This cup represents the truth that may not sparkle but sustains. Drink from it slowly, letting the water become a physical act of integration. Feel it move through you, simple and undeniable.

Step Four - In your journal, write down the difference between what tempts you and what nourishes you. Make two lists:

• Illusions that drain me

• Truths that sustain me

Pluto’s post-shadow will keep testing these lists until November 19. By writing them down, you create a map you can return to when confusion rises again.

Step Five - Blow out the candle gently, watching the smoke rise. Say: “I release what deceives me. I choose what sustains me. My discernment is steady. My power is mine.” Leave the water cup on your altar or a visible place for the week as a reminder to keep choosing what is real.

This ritual is less about “banishing” and more about strengthening the muscle of discernment. Pluto ensures that what is false will eventually collapse, but the 7 of Cups asks us to participate... to notice, to choose, to act.

Affirmation for the Week

"I release the illusions that drain me and choose only what sustains. My discernment is steady, my power is rooted, and I trust myself to act on what is true."

Final Thought

This week closes not with ease but with clarity. Pluto’s station direct in Aquarius reverberates like a low hum beneath everything, reminding us that transformation does not happen in a single moment. It unfolds in stages, in echoes, in shadows that stretch until they finally dissolve. Though Pluto now moves forward, its post-shadow lingers until November 19. That means the lessons we’ve uncovered since May are not done with us yet. They continue to ripple outward, asking to be integrated, embodied, and lived in real time.

The 7 of Cups mirrors this process perfectly. It spreads options before us, some gleaming with possibility, others shimmering with illusion. The temptation is to stay fixated on what has never nourished us, to keep replaying the old fantasies because they are familiar. But Pluto does not allow us to cling to the past without cost. This is the week where discernment becomes non-negotiable. We are asked to feel the difference between what feeds our soul and what drains it, between what is alive and what is already gone.

The choice is not about perfection. It is about honesty. Pluto strips us until only truth remains.

The 7 of Cups asks us to trust that truth, even when it feels uncertain or frightening. Mars in Scorpio gives us the courage to cut away what no longer belongs. Venus in Libra reminds us that balance and reciprocity are not luxuries but foundations. Mercury in Libra helps us name what we see and what we need. All together, they create a landscape where the choices we make now will shape what survives this season and what falls away.

The final reminder is this: not all that glitters deserves our grasp, and not all endings are losses. The soil is richer now for what has been stripped away. The choice is ours to plant what will last. This week, listen closely to the truth that rises in your body. Let discernment, not illusion, be the compass. And trust that what is real will not require convincing... it will meet you with clarity, depth, and the steady power of transformation already underway.