> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # The Flow State Herald: Edition 2, Taurus the Farmer - URL: https://the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io/week-2026-10-17-taurus/ - Published: 2026-10-17T15:50:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-20T17:38:48.000Z - Author: Flow Flower # The Flow State Herald 17 to 24 October 2026 · Edition 2 · Vol. I · No. 2 The Farmer's edition, for Taurus rising [](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436305?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io) Still Life, probably ca. 1625–30, Oil on wood, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. [Museum page](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436305?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io). A German still life of bread, a halved lemon, a glass of wine and a small blue tit on a dark table, painted around 1625 to 1630. Read this first - **The week:** Venus lines up with the Sun late on Fri 23 Oct, and Mercury turns retrograde early on Sat 24 Oct. - **For you:** THE GREAT HALL · 7th house: settle terms with one person at a time. - **Do this:** Tue 20 Oct: write down what one close partner or client expects of you, marking agreed and assumed parts. - **Dates:** Tue 20 Oct, 2:56 am ET, Venus square Pluto. Fri 23 Oct, 5:38 am ET, Sun enters Scorpio. Fri 23 Oct, 11:44 pm ET, Venus meets the Sun. Sat 24 Oct, 3:12 am ET, Mercury retrograde. 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 busy this week. New to the rooms? They are explained on the [castle page](https://the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io/castle/). [Album of the week](#album)[Your sky](#sky)[Tarot](#tarot)[Planet of the week](#planet)[Museum object](#cabinet)[The deep dive](#deep)[This week's calendar](#holy)[A line to keep](#line) [](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/40526?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io) ## Album of the week **Sakura**, Susumu Yokota, 1999\. About 50 minutes. [Listen on Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/album/4Lx8daXjNFODMthnNcRQUp?utm%5Fsource=anthropic&utm%5Fmedium=claude&go=1&nap%5Fweb=1&request%5Fid=1a1b02e0-8492-438c-b563-6278571a8c69). [Album history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakura%5F%28Susumu%5FYokota%5Falbum%29?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io). Yokota's album came out in Japan in 1999 on Skintone Records, then in the UK on The Leaf Label on 11 September 2000\. Some tracks sample elements of Harold Budd's album The Pavilion of Dreams. ## The Farmer's Ledger: your sky this week You are the Farmer, and this week Venus, then the Sun, then Mercury all arrive in your Great Hall. Which agreement with one other person is worth keeping as it stands, and which needs its terms said aloud again? ### Venus squares Pluto · Tue 20 Oct, 2:56 am ET (06:56 UTC) **THE GREAT HALL** · 7th house · partners, close one-to-one relationships **THE THRONE ROOM** · 10th house · work, reputation and what you are known for Venus, retrograde in Scorpio, sits in your 7th house of partners and close one-to-one relationships. Pluto, moving forward again in Aquarius, sits in your 10th house of work and reputation. Their square is a point of friction: what a close partner expects of you collides with how you are seen at work. **Try this** - Tue 20 Oct: Write down what one close partner or client expects of you, then mark which parts you agreed to and which you only assumed. ♀︎ Venus, Scorpio, 7th house, square ♇︎ Pluto, Aquarius, 10th house. Exact Tue 20 Oct, 2:56 am ET (06:56 UTC). ### Venus meets the Sun · Fri 23 Oct, 11:44 pm ET (Sat 24 Oct, 03:44 UTC) **THE GREAT HALL** · 7th house The Sun entered Scorpio earlier that day and joins Venus, which is retrograde there, in your 7th house. Venus is in the middle of a backward loop through this room, and the Sun joining it puts one close relationship in full view. What you value in someone becomes easier to name. **Try this** - Fri 23 Oct: Cook something simple for two, a soup or a loaf, and eat it together, saying aloud one thing you want to keep. ☉︎ Sun and ♀︎ Venus, Scorpio, 7th house, conjunction. Exact Fri 23 Oct, 11:44 pm ET (Sat 24 Oct, 03:44 UTC). The Sun entered Scorpio Fri 23 Oct, 5:38 am ET (09:38 UTC). ### Mercury turns retrograde · Sat 24 Oct, 3:12 am ET (07:12 UTC) **THE GREAT HALL** · 7th house Mercury turns retrograde in Scorpio, in your 7th house of partners and close one-to-one relationships, and stays retrograde for the rest of the week. Messages, plans and agreements with one person are likely to be reread, reworded or delayed, so small misunderstandings are worth catching early. **Try this** - Fri 23 Oct: Reread one shared agreement, such as a lease, a booking or a split of costs, and note one line you would word differently. ☿︎ Mercury, Scorpio, 7th house, turns retrograde. Exact Sat 24 Oct, 3:12 am ET (07:12 UTC). Venus is in the middle of a backward loop through this room, and the Sun joining it puts one close relationship in full view. ## Tarot 1\. What to plant when Venus squares Pluto The Empress, upright **Look.** A crowned woman in a flowered gown sits on cushions before ripe wheat, tall trees and a waterfall. **Ask yourself.** Which growing thing in this picture would you want nearest your own door? Show the reading **Then read.** The Empress, upright. Things that are fed and looked after hold up under pressure. Venus squares Pluto on Tuesday, and slow tending beats a quick repair. 2\. What to tend as Venus meets the Sun The Star, reversed **Look.** A kneeling woman pours water from two jugs, beneath one large star and seven small ones. **Ask yourself.** Where is the water going, back into the pool or onto the ground? Show the reading **Then read.** The Star, reversed. Hope runs low, like a relationship under review. Venus, retrograde, meets the Sun late Friday, so don't rush to a verdict. 3\. What to enjoy while Mercury turns back Four of Wands, upright **Look.** Four tall posts hold a garland of fruit and flowers while two figures raise bouquets before a castle. **Ask yourself.** Who would you invite to stand under this garland with you? Show the reading **Then read.** Four of Wands, upright. A gathering at a settled home. Mercury retrograde crosses messages from Saturday, and a shared meal smooths that over. Invite people. Cards: Pamela Colman Smith, Rider-Waite-Smith tarot, 1909. ## Planet of the week **In your chart.** Mercury is in your 7th house, the Great Hall, where partners and close one-to-one relationships live. In ordinary life that means conversations with one person at a time: what was said, what was meant and what was agreed. **This week.** Mercury, direct in Scorpio until then, turns retrograde on Sat 24 Oct, 3:12 am ET (07:12 UTC) and stays retrograde for the rest of the week. **Hindu.** Hindu tradition gives Mercury the name Budha and a tangled parentage: his father is Soma, the Moon god, and his mother Tara, wife of Brihaspati, teacher of the gods. After Soma took Tara away, Brahma ended the war that followed, and her son was called Budha, "the wise". ([Tara](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tara%5F%28Hindu%5Fgoddess%29?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io)) **Norse.** Wednesday is Woden's day, a translation of the Latin "Mercury's day", because Roman writers matched Mercury with Odin. Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda tells how Odin won the mead of poetry from the giant Suttungr, then flew it back to the gods in eagle shape. ([Wednesday](https://www.wiktionary.com/wiki/Wednesday?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io)) **Chinese.** Mercury is Chenxing, the planet of Water, which belongs to the north and to the Black Tortoise, a tortoise wound with a snake. ([Water](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water%5F%28wuxing%29?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io)) [](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/815074?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io) Daoist deity Zhenwu, 15th century, China, Stoneware with overglaze enamel decoration (Cizhou ware), The Metropolitan Museum of Art. [Museum page](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/815074?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io). Zhenwu, a Daoist god of the north, sits above a tortoise and a snake, the pairing Chinese star lore calls the Black Tortoise. [](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/546195?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io) Ibis, 664–30 BCE, Egypt, Cupreous metal, wood, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. [Museum page](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/546195?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io). The ibis was a sacred bird of Thoth, the Egyptian god of writing, whom Greeks matched with Hermes. ## The Curio Shelf: the museum object [](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/42323?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io) Teapot in the Shape of a Plum Blossom, early 17th century, China, Stoneware (Yixing ware), The Metropolitan Museum of Art. [Museum page](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/42323?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io). **Look first.** A small round teapot of reddish-brown clay sits on a pale ground. Its body is ribbed into rounded petals like a flower, and the lid, curved handle and short spout are all of the same plain clay. **Context.** Shi Dabin, a potter, made it in Yixing, China, in the early 17th century. Yixing teapots are made of unglazed stoneware and are small, for brewing tea. **Notice.** Look at the lid, where the petal ridges continue across the top, and at the surface, which is left unglazed so the clay shows. ## The deep dive This is the story of how a Greek manuscript of Hermetic texts was taken for ancient Egyptian wisdom, and how one scholar's close reading of its Greek in 1614 overturned that. A manuscript carrying an incomplete Greek Corpus Hermeticum arrived in Florence around 1460\. Cosimo de' Medici set Marsilio Ficino to translate it straight away, ahead of his Plato, and the Latin version is dated 1463. Ficino held that "Hermes Trismegistus", Hermes the Thrice-Greatest, was a wise Egyptian priest older than Plato and a source for him. The name merges the Greek god Hermes with the Egyptian god Thoth. The belief rested on a misdating. In 1614 Isaac Casaubon, a Swiss-born scholar, argued from the Greek style and content that the texts were not ancient Egyptian but belonged to the first centuries CE. He tested the words, and the old title and the binding did not count. Interpretation differs on what followed. Frances Yates called Casaubon's redating a blow to Hermetic natural theology, while Jan Assmann and others note that belief in an older origin continued. [](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/466568?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io) Printed Book with Silva Nuptialis Bonis Referta Non Modicis, 1521, French, Printed on paper, brown calf leather binding (tooled), The Metropolitan Museum of Art. [Museum page](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/466568?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io). A French printed book of 1521 in tooled brown calf. It is not a Hermetic work, only an example of how a book of this era was bound. **To think about:** How old does a book feel before anyone checks its words? Go further: [Isaac Casaubon in the Ficino encyclopedia](https://ficino.sourcelibrary.org/encyclopedia/Isaac%20Casaubon?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io) Sources: [Encyclopedia.com, Hermeticism](https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/hermeticism?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io); [Bryn Mawr Classical Review](https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/?p=25498&ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io); [Hermes Trismegistus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermes%5FTrismegistus?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io). ## This week's calendar - **Sat 17 Oct:** **Jewish:** Shabbat Noach, the Sabbath when the Torah portion about Noah, the flood, the ark and the rainbow is read. [Source](https://download.hebcal.com/v2/h/YW1wPSZjPW9mZiZtYWo9b24mbWY9b24mbWluPW9uJm1vZD1vbiZtb250aD0xMCZueD1vbiZzPW9uJnNzPW9uJnY9MSZ5ZWFyPTIwMjY/hebcal%5F2026%5Foct.pdf?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io). - **Mon 19 Oct:** **Hindu:** Maha Navami closes Navratri's ninth day with Ayudha Puja, honouring the tools and instruments people work with. [Source](https://www.smartpuja.com/blog/dussehra-vijayadashami-2026-date-muhurat-puja/?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io). - **Tue 20 Oct:** **Hindu:** Vijayadashami, also called Dussehra, is the tenth day and the end of Navratri, marked in many places by burning effigies of Ravana. [Source](https://www.smartpuja.com/blog/dussehra-vijayadashami-2026-date-muhurat-puja/?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io). - **Fri 23 Oct:** **Chinese:** Shuangjiang, Frost's Descent, starts at 5:38 am ET (09:38 UTC) and is the final solar term of autumn. [Source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuangjiang%5F%28solar%5Fterm%29?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io). [](https://clevelandart.org/art/2025.9?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io) Battle between monkeys and demons, from the “Shangri” Ramayana, c. 1700, Northern India, Pahari kingdoms, Gum tempera and ink on paper, The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Museum page](https://clevelandart.org/art/2025.9?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io). A page from a Ramayana, the epic in which Rama's allies fight Ravana's demon army, the story Dussehra recalls. ## A line to keep Whoso keepeth the fig tree shall eat the fruit thereof. Proverbs 27:18, King James Bible. [](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/40526?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io) ## How this was made Times are Eastern (ET), with UTC in brackets. The sky is calculated with the Swiss Ephemeris. Pictures come from museum open access collections and are credited in each caption. For reflection and enjoyment, not medical, financial or legal advice.