In this week of the Ephemeris series we explore this week’s skies which are full of generosity. With friendly aspects to Jupiter and Saturn, we get structure to our drive. We focus on Saturn’s aspects to Mars and Athena, so we go to Saturnalia: the Roman festival when Saturn’s wool-bound feet were untied and the household hierarchy flipped for a week. Was that ritual a memory of a golden age, or a pressure valve that kept an enslaving empire running? We follow the Roman telling where Saturn, overthrown by Jupiter, builds a world without hierarchy from exile. Then we ask what it would take to schedule our own disruptions, by our bodies and the land instead of the state’s calendar.

Astrology for Oct 12–18: a rough Scorpio Moon, Vesta square Ceres, the Sun-Jupiter sextile, Pluto stationing direct in Aquarius, Mars trine Saturn and Athena, Chiron square Juno, Saturn conjunct Athena, the First Quarter Moon in Capricorn, and Venus retrograde sextile Black Moon Lilith.

Content warning: brief mentions of slavery, sexual violence, and mythological violence (castration, child-eating).

Keywords astrology, weekly horoscope, Saturnalia, Saturn mythology, golden age, Roman religion, Jupiter, Rhea, Titanomachy, Athena, Mars trine Saturn, Saturn conjunct Athena, Pluto direct, Pluto in Aquarius, Sun sextile Jupiter, cazimi, Vesta square Ceres, Chiron square Juno, First Quarter Moon in Capricorn, Venus retrograde in Scorpio, Black Moon Lilith, liberation, collective care, resistance, desire, evolutionary astrology, queer astrology

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Music by Charmie Chandler - https://www.instagram.com/charmie_chandler/

Our favorite audio editor ever Chantal Defelice - https://chantaldefelice.com/ + ig @chantaldefelice

References

Saturnalia (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturnalia Macrobius’ Saturnalia, Book One (free, Internet Archive): https://archive.org/details/macrobius-saturnalia-book-01-english-1969 Virgil, Aeneid Book VIII (free, Poetry in Translation): https://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Latin/VirgilAeneidVIII.php Hesiod, Theogony (free, Theoi): https://www.theoi.com/Text/HesiodTheogony.html Apollodorus, The Library, Book 1 (free, Theoi): https://www.theoi.com/Text/Apollodorus1.html

Chapter markers

00:00 Liberation The Imagination Has To Stretch Fore 01:45 Welcome & Grounding Ritual 03:52 Monday: Knives, Whetstones, and Moody Molecules 05:13 Tuesday: Respect the Goo 06:28 Wednesday: Turn the Burner Down to a Simmer 07:41 Thursday: The First Green Shoot 09:36 Pluto Is Done Reviewing 11:08 Friday: Fertile Saturn Action 11:51 A God With His Feet Tied Up in Wool 15:10 The Golden Age Was Built in Exile 16:29 Planting When the Frost Has Passed, Not When a King Says So 18:00 Just Enough Reprieve 19:17 Stop Waiting for the Empire to Unbind Your Feet 20:43 Plan to Be a Bitch! 21:41 Saturday: Reviewing the Seeds We Planted While Starving 22:37 Sunday: Liberation Across Generations 25:14 Put Your Weight Behind Your Words 26:34 Summary + Reflection Questions for the Week Ahead

Venus stationed retrograde in Scorpio on October 3. This week we tell, in full and from a translation of the primary text, the Sumerian myth astrologers have come to pair with Venus retrograde: the Descent of Inanna. Inanna crashes her grieving sister's underworld in full regalia, grabs her throne, and dies. Two gender-nonconforming professional grievers made from fingernail dirt bring her back, not by fixing anything, but by mirroring her sister's pain. We follow how the story sorts everyone by how well they grieve, then turn that lens on the AI panic and how civilization tends to send things to the underworld so it doesn't have to grieve.

Astrology for October 5–11, 2026: Mercury conjunct Venus retrograde in Scorpio, a Leo Moon on Jupiter and the South Node, the Libra New Moon with Venus square Mars, and the Sun square Ceres. Grief is a full-bodied skill. This week, we’re remembering to practice.

Content warning: death and grief, ritual self-laceration in mourning, references to eugenics and racism, discussion of AI extinction risk, explicit language.

Keywords

Venus retrograde, Venus retrograde in Scorpio, Inanna, Descent of Inanna, Ereshkigal, Sumerian mythology, grief, grief work, mourning, gala priests, kurgarra, third gender, queer mythology, trans history, Libra New Moon, Venus square Mars, Mercury conjunct Venus, Ceres, evolutionary astrology, weekly astrology, AI panic, AI and race, eugenics, scapegoat, shadow work, parts work, This Erotic Timeline, Ephemeris Series

References

The myth

• Inana's Descent to the Nether World (ETCSL, Oxford)
• Inana and Iddin-Dagan (ETCSL, Oxford)

Gala, kurgarra, and third gender

• Masculinities and Third Gender, Ilan Peled (free open-access book)
• The powerful gender-diverse courtiers and religious leaders of ancient Mesopotamia
• Evidence for Trans Lives in Sumer

The AI news

• Anthropic researcher resigns, warns AI companies are "gambling with our lives" (Fortune)
• Anthropic researcher's resignation sends warning about the dangers of AI development (PBS NewsHour)

Intelligence and eugenics

• Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: Eugenics (Frontiers in Public Health)

Nuanced conversations about AI

• Why I Don't Panic About AI, Shae O.
• AI, Humanities, and the Future of Work, Shae O.'s Substack
• AI Expert Reveals The Exploitation Behind AI
• Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR)

Chapter markers

00:00 Hungry Ghosts Walking Around 01:48 Welcome + Grounding 02:15 Intro to the Ephemeris Series 04:34 Great Excuses For Mythology 05:16 Monday: The Crown’s First Fitting 06:12 Tuesday: Drenched in Desire 08:49 The Descent of Inanna: She Set Her Mind on the Great Below 11:15 Let a Man Come, Let Him Come 13:43 Seven Gates, Seven Garments 16:11 A Coup in Hell 17:43 Fingernail Dirt, Professional Grievers 19:05 Oh, Your Heart 20:24 Sending A Substitute Down 22:44 Unpacking How The Story Sorts Us by Grief 26:52 The Monster We Make: Unpacking the AI Panic 34:07 Wednesday: Genius Isn't IQ 34:29 Thursday: The Exile Needs a Mirror 35:04 Friday: Dark Moon Hush 35:12 Saturday: Libra New Moon’s Two Mirrors 37:05 Venus Square Mars: Stink Eyes and Efficient Fighting 39:58 Sunday: What You Hand Over at the Gates 41:05 Summary and Reflection Questions