The Flow State Herald: Edition 1
The Flow State Herald
10 to 17 October 2026 · Edition 1 · Vol. I · No. 1
The edition for everyone
Read this first
- The week: The Libra New Moon opens the week on Sat 10 Oct, Venus squares Mars the same day, and Pluto turns direct on Thu 15 Oct.
- Dates: Sat 10 Oct and Thu 15 Oct.
Your birth chart is a castle: twelve rooms for twelve areas of life. Each week the planets open different doors, and this paper tells you which rooms are worth entering.
New to the rooms? They are explained on the castle page.
The sky this week
With the Libra New Moon and Pluto turning direct, what have you been carrying that deserves a second look?
Pluto stations direct in Aquarius on Thu 15 Oct at 10:40 pm ET.
This week in the sky
- Sat 10 Oct, 11:50 am ET (15:50 UTC): New Moon in Libra.
- Sat 10 Oct, 5:31 pm ET (21:31 UTC): Venus, retrograde in Scorpio, squares Mars in Leo.
- Thu 15 Oct, 4:22 am ET (08:22 UTC): The Sun in Libra makes a sextile to Jupiter in Leo.
- Thu 15 Oct, 10:40 pm ET (Fri 16 Oct, 02:40 UTC): Pluto stations direct in Aquarius.
- Fri 16 Oct, 4:32 am ET (08:32 UTC): Mars in Leo makes a trine to Saturn, retrograde in Aries.
Tarot
Three cards for the whole kingdom. Look at each picture for a minute before you read anything.
Look. A figure in a red robe with a triple-cross staff sits between two grey pillars.
Ask yourself. The figure sits between two pillars; which old rule of yours deserves questioning?
Show the reading
Then read. The Hierophant, reversed, is the rulebook no longer obeyed out of habit and starting to be questioned. That agrees with the Libra New Moon: weigh fairly before you begin.
Look. Four tall wooden wands carry a garland of leaves and flowers, with tiny figures and a castle behind them.
Ask yourself. This garland waits on its wands; whose welcome are you still holding back?
Show the reading
Then read. Four of Wands, reversed, is a celebration postponed or a welcome not yet arranged. With Venus walking backwards, look again at the welcome you have put off.
Look. A figure in red shoes carries a bundle of swords away, leaving two standing upright behind him.
Ask yourself. He slips away with the swords; what are you carrying that is not yours?
Show the reading
Then read. Seven of Swords, reversed, is a plan that unravels or a confession on its way. With Pluto turning direct, honesty may cost less than the carrying did.
The thread. Question old rules. Notice the welcome. Say what you carry.
Cards: Pamela Colman Smith, Rider-Waite-Smith tarot, 1909. Drawn at random from one shuffle.
Planet of the week
In your chart. Which house Pluto is in depends on your rising sign; your own edition names it.
This week. Pluto stations direct in Aquarius on Thu 15 Oct at 10:40 pm ET, ending a retrograde that began in May. It is the planet of deep change, power, buried material, endings and rebirth; modern astrologers treat it as a co-ruler of Scorpio, and these meanings date from after its discovery in 1930.
Greek. Hades was the Greek god of the dead. People often avoided his name and called him Plouton, 'the rich one'; the philosopher Plato says in the Cratylus that the name Hades frightened them.
Egyptian. Osiris was the Egyptian god of the dead. He presided as each dead person's heart was weighed against the feather of Maat, the goddess of truth.
Norse. Hel is the Norse goddess who rules Helheim, the land of the dead. When the god Baldr died, she agreed to free him only if every creature wept for him, and one giantess refused.
Correspondences
Colour: black
Modern sources give black for Pluto and dark red or maroon for Scorpio, which Pluto co-rules. These are modern attributions, not ancient ones.
Metal: plutonium
The metal was named after the planet, after its discovery in 1940 and 1941, so the link is a modern tradition.
Gems: obsidian, garnet, spinel
Modern gem sellers pair Pluto with obsidian, dark garnet, red spinel and black tourmaline. There is no classical use behind it.
Plant: pomegranate
In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Hades gives Persephone pomegranate seed, which binds her to the underworld for part of each year. The link comes from myth, not astrology.
Foods: onions, leeks, mushrooms
Modern astrology sources link these to Scorpio, Pluto's sign. They are folk correspondences, not doctrine.
Body: elimination and renewal
Astrologers assign the reproductive organs and the processes of elimination to Scorpio, with Pluto as its modern co-ruler. This is a symbolic reading, not a health statement.
Altar suggestions
Ideas, not rules:
- A black cloth
- A garnet and a piece of obsidian
- A pomegranate
- One black candle
- A small dish of mushrooms
- A cypress or pine twig
Vedic difference: no Pluto
Classical Vedic astrology uses nine grahas, the Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu, and has no place for Pluto.
A line to keep
If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day.
Psalm 139:11-12, King James Version (1611)
Your rising sign is the zodiac sign that was rising on the eastern horizon when you were born, and it decides which sign is the first room of your castle. If you already know it, choose your edition here.
This is the sky everyone shares. Your own rooms are in your rising sign edition.
How this was made. The sky is calculated with the Swiss Ephemeris, tropical zodiac, whole-sign houses from the rising sign. Times are ET with UTC in brackets, for the window from Saturday 10 October 11:50 am ET (15:50 UTC) to Saturday 17 October 11:50 am ET. Tarot cards are drawn at random from one shuffle.
Pictures are public domain or CC0 from museum open access collections (cma:111653, cma:145181, cma:94032); the mother of pearl band is cropped from The Met object 40526.
The paper is for reflection and enjoyment and is not medical, financial or legal advice.
