October 2015 Overview

Planting by the signs and moon phases

Here’s October’s information about the phases of the moon and signs of the zodiac.

The moon

October begins and ends with the moon in the dark phase. The full moon rules until 8:06 p.m. Oct. 1 2when the new moon – or no moon visible in the sky – comes to rule.

The light moon is then in force until the full moon returns at 8:05 a.m. Oct. 27. It will continue to rule until the new moon returns at 12:47 p.m. Nov. 11.

 “General Tips” for dark- and light-moon activities are below and if you are planting veggies anywhere that can be protected or is indoors, it’s above-ground producers in the light moon and below-ground producers when the dark phase is in.

The signs

Remember: Again, check to see if the moon is in the light or dark phase (information above) before proceeding with planting, or other activities, indoors or out.

Gemini days: Gemini kicks off the month and shows up again at the end. It rules the arms and is in force Oct. 1-2 and Oct. 29-30. During the growing season Gemini is best suited for planting peas early in the cool season and beans when all danger of frost has passed. There are four Gemini days in October.

Fertile signs: The most fertile signs in the zodiac rule these days: Cancer (the breast), Oct. 3-5 and 31; Scorpio (the secrets), Oct. 13-15; Pisces (the feet), Oct. 22-23; and Taurus (the neck), Oct. 27-28. There are 10 days this month ruled by the fertile signs — Scorpio, Pisces, Taurus and Cancer – and they are scattered during the dark and light of the moon. Too bad it’s not May or June!

Killing signs: No planting, transplanting, or dealing with things you want to thrive should occur on these days. Reserve them for cultivating, cleaning out fencerows — anything but planting: Leo (the heart), Oct. 6-7; and Aries (the head), Oct. 25-26. There are just four killing days this month ruled by either Aries or Leo – the absolute minimum.

So-so days: These aren’t particularly fertile nor destructive, just so-so: Sagittarius (the thighs), Oct. 16-17; Capricorn (the knees), Oct. 18-19; and Aquarius (the legs), Oct. 20-22. There are seven days this month by the three so-so signs, Sagittarius, Capricorn and Aquarius.

Flowering days: These are “bloom days” and well suited for planting flowers. Virgo (the bowels), Oct. 8-10 and Libra (the reins), Oct. 11-12. There are five flowering days this month.

General tips

Again, here are a few general tips for activities other than planting:

>If you have gravel to pour on a drive or roadway, do that when the light moon rules. The same applies for stones on a garden path: Place them when the moon is in the light phase so they don’t sink.

>If you’re setting fence posts, do that in the light of the moon so the posts don’t sink.

>If you’re putting on a new shingle roof, do that when the moon’s in the dark phase so that the shingles stick down and don’t curl up on the ends.

>There are no perfect days this month for making changes when the moon is in the dark phase and the signs are going out of the body past anything that functions.

So, if you have changes to make like weaning babies or small animals, scheduling elective surgery – not emergency surgery since that usually can’t be “scheduled,” stopping smoking, starting a diet or exercise program then I would suggest picking one half of the formula or the other – dark phase of the moon or when the signs are going out of the body past anything that functions – Sagittarius through Pisces/legs through feet.

In a couple of months the phases of the moon and signs of the zodiac will get back in sync with regard to making changes and we’ll have more days that perfectly fit the formula.