> ## 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 3, the Architect (Capricorn rising) - URL: https://the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io/week-2026-10-24-capricorn/ - Published: 2026-10-24T15:50:03.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-24T15:50:15.000Z - Author: Flow Flower # The Flow State Herald 24 to 31 October 2026 · Edition 3 · Vol. I · No. 3 The Architect's edition, for Capricorn rising [](https://clevelandart.org/art/1953.126?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io) Streams and Mountains without End, 1100–1150, China, late Northern Song dynasty (960-1127) - Jin dynasty (1115-1234), handscroll; ink and slight color on silk, The Cleveland Museum of Art. [Museum page](https://clevelandart.org/art/1953.126?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io). A handscroll in ink and slight color on silk, made to be unrolled one stretch at a time. Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore, / So do our minutes hasten to their end; / Each changing place with that which goes before, / In sequent toil all forwards do contend. Shakespeare, Sonnet 60 (1609) Read this first - **The week:** Venus backs into your 10th house Sunday, the Sun squares Pluto Monday, Mercury squares Mars Friday. - **For you:** The Throne Room, 10th house: Venus goes back through it, so title, rate and reputation get a second look. - **Dates:** Sun 25 Oct, 5:09 am ET; Mon 26 Oct, 8:11 am ET; Fri 30 Oct, 1:20 pm ET. New here? Your chart is a castle of twelve rooms, 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](#museum)[The long read](#long)[This week's calendar](#calendar)[Take this with you](#take) [](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/40526?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io) ## Album of the week **Worlds Within Worlds, Pts. 1-2**, Basil Kirchin, 1971\. Two parts on one LP. [Listen on Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/album/7M0whB08YFuJXCrrgQ6oPj?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io). [Wikipedia: Basil Kirchin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basil%5FKirchin?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io). Kirchin, a British bandleader and film composer, built it from field recordings he slowed down, with improvising musicians added on top. EMI's Columbia label released it in 1971. ## The Survey: your sky this week You are the Architect, and Venus is going back over the plans for your public work. Venus, retrograde, slips back from Scorpio into Libra, your 10th house of work and reputation, on Sun 25 Oct, 5:09 am ET, and stays in it for the rest of the week. On Mon 26 Oct, 8:11 am ET, the Sun in your 11th house of groups squares Pluto in your 2nd house of money, so what a team or network wants runs into what you earn and hold. On Fri 30 Oct, 1:20 pm ET, Mercury, retrograde in the 11th, squares Mars in your 8th house of shared money and debts. Group messages get blunt that day, and old balances from earlier projects come back up. Which group you belong to costs you the most in money or hours? Sat24 Sun25♀︎ Venus to Libra Mon26☉︎ Sun sq Pluto Tue27 Wed28 Thu29 Fri30☿︎ Mercury sq Mars Sun 25 Oct ### Venus backs into your 10th house · Sun 25 Oct, 5:09 am ET (09:09 UTC) **THE THRONE ROOM** · 10th house · work, reputation and what you are known for Your 10th house covers work, reputation and what you are known for, and Venus, retrograde, re-enters it from Scorpio into Libra. Venus here rules how colleagues, clients and superiors rate your work and what you accept as pay. In the Throne Room, Venus reopens a title, a rate, an old client or a colleague whose opinion of your work has shifted. References and fees are back on the desk for the week, and so is the question of who vouches for you. ♀︎ Venus (retrograde) in Libra, your 10th house Mon 26 Oct ### The Sun squares Pluto · Mon 26 Oct, 8:11 am ET (12:11 UTC) **THE COURTYARD** · 11th house · friends, groups and shared hopes **THE TREASURY AND PANTRY** · 2nd house · money, food, what you value A square links the Sun and Pluto, both at the same point: the Sun in Scorpio falls in your 11th house of friends, groups and shared hopes, Pluto in Aquarius, in your 2nd house of money, food and what you value. In the Courtyard a team, committee or friend group wants something, and in the Treasury and Pantry it would come out of your pocket or your hours. A club subscription, a shared project or a whip-round for a gift: the sum shows up in the group chat on Monday. ☉︎ Sun in Scorpio, your 11th house, square ♇︎ Pluto in Aquarius, your 2nd house Fri 30 Oct ### Mercury squares Mars · Fri 30 Oct, 1:20 pm ET (17:20 UTC) **THE COURTYARD** · 11th house **THE VAULT** · 8th house · shared resources, debts, endings and what is hidden Group messages meet money owed jointly. Mercury, retrograde in Scorpio, works through your 11th house of groups and squares Mars in Leo, in your 8th house of shared money, debts and endings. In the Courtyard a group thread turns sharp, and the argument turns out to be about the Vault: a joint account, a split cost or a debt someone thought was settled. Check the figures before you answer. ☿︎ Mercury (retrograde) in Scorpio, your 11th house, square ♂︎ Mars in Leo, your 8th house Group messages get blunt that day, and old balances from earlier projects come back up. ## Tarot What are you laying down? Four of Pentacles, reversed **Loosening grip, letting go, insecurity.** The Four of Pentacles is the card of holding on tight: security, possession, control. Reversed, the grip is loosening, whether by choice or by loss. When Venus returns to Libra on Sunday, what you lay down is the money or status you have been guarding, and it gets lighter once you do. What are you bearing? Eight of Cups, upright **Walking away, seeking more, departure.** The Eight of Cups is the card of walking away from something that looks complete but no longer feeds you. Upright, it is a deliberate departure. On Monday, when the Sun squares Pluto, what you bear is the cost of leaving, and the cost is real. What is nearly complete? Seven of Pentacles, upright **Patience, the long view, assessing the harvest.** The Seven of Pentacles is the card of patient work: a long investment, a pause to assess what has grown. Upright, it is slow reward. With Mercury squaring Mars on Friday, what is nearly complete wants one more honest look, and then it is done. Cards: Pamela Colman Smith, Rider-Waite-Smith tarot, 1909. ## Planet of the week Venus is retrograde and backs into the sign it had just left on Sunday. Babylonian scribes kept a record of Venus as a matter of state. Tablet 63 of Enuma Anu Enlil, the great omen series, lists the first and last appearances of Venus before sunrise and after sunset, each dated by lunar month and day, over about 21 years of the reign of King Ammisaduqa, the fourth king after Hammurabi. Each appearance carries a forecast for the land. The earliest surviving copies are from the 7th century BCE, so the Old Babylonian origin is a scholars' reconstruction. Reiner and Pingree's 1975 edition is the standard, and scholars still argue over whether the tablet can fix a date for Hammurabi's dynasty. Source: [Wikipedia, Venus tablet of Ammisaduqa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus%5Ftablet%5Fof%5FAmmisaduqa?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io). The Maya Dresden Codex tabulates a 584-day Venus cycle across several pages ([source](https://mayan.org/myths/dresden-codex-astronomy/?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io)). [](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/321621?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io) Cuneiform tablet: fragment of an astronomical table (?), ca. late 1st millennium BCE, Mesopotamia, Clay, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. [Museum page](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/321621?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io). Two fragments of a Mesopotamian clay tablet that the Met's record lists as perhaps an astronomical table; it is not the Venus tablet. ## Museum object [](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/193609?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io) Mirror clock, ca. 1565–70, Case: gilded brass and gilded copper; Dial: gilded brass; Movement: plated frame of iron, iron wheels, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. [Museum page](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/193609?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io). A thick gilded disc stands on a tall stem, with a second, smaller dial perched on top under a knob. On the large face, Roman numerals ring a pierced centre with a single hand, and bands of engraved scales and tables fill the disc out to its rim. The stem is cast with a lion mask and small figures, and curling creatures wrap the joint under the disc. The base is a domed openwork cap on a wide, leafy foot. The Met's record titles it a mirror clock, dates it to about 1565 to 1570 and gives the maker as Master CR. It lists gilded brass and gilded copper for the case, gilded brass for the dial, and iron wheels in a plated iron frame for the movement. The small upper dial has a hand of its own; the record does not say what it shows. ## The long read In 1507 priests climbed the hill Huixachtlan, now Cerro de la Estrella in Mexico City's Iztapalapa district, to light a fire. It was the last Toxiuhmolpilia, the 'Binding of the Years', held under Motecuhzoma II; earlier ones are recorded for 1351, 1403 and 1455 ([World History Encyclopedia](https://www.worldhistory.org/article/866/the-aztec-new-fire-ceremony/?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io)). Why every 52 years? Because that is when the Mexica's two calendars returned to their starting position together. One was a 260-day ritual count, the other a 365-day solar count. 52 times 365 is 18,980 days, and so is 73 times 260\. Think of two gear wheels with different tooth counts: after 18,980 days the first teeth meet again, and a new Calendar Round begins ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New%5FFire%5Fceremony?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io)). The arithmetic is certain; the details below come from Spanish-era accounts. The preparation was a clear-out. All fires were put out, old hearthstones and goods thrown away, houses swept, and bundles of 52 reeds tied, one reed for each year. Priests then watched for the Pleiades, called Tianquiztli, usually glossed as 'marketplace', to cross the meridian high in the sky. The fear was that the sun would not rise and star-demons, the Tzitzimime, would come down to eat people; Sahagún sets this out in Book 7 of the Florentine Codex, titled 'The Sun, Moon, and Stars, and the Binding of the Years' ([University of Utah Press](https://uofupress.lib.utah.edu/?p=62238&ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io)). Accounts say the fire was kindled on the chest of a sacrificed captive, and runners then carried burning pine torches to the Huitzilopochtli shrine at the Templo Mayor and on to every hearth in the city. Many accounts put the Pleiades at the zenith. At Mexico City's latitude they pass close to overhead but not exactly through it. The next fire was due in 1559\. Tenochtitlan fell in 1521. [](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/316873?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io) Temple Model, 1400–1521, Mexica (Aztec), Ceramic, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. [Museum page](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/316873?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io). A small ceramic temple model with a stepped base, a stair and a pointed roof, Mexica, 1400 to 1521; the Met's record does not link it to the ceremony. Go further: [Mexicolore: the New Fire ceremony](https://www.mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/stories/new-fire-ceremony?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io) ## This week's calendar - **Sat 24 Oct:** **Jewish: Shabbat Lech-Lecha:** Congregations read the passage in which Abram is told to leave his country for a land he will be shown (Genesis 12:1 to 17:27). [Source](https://hebcal.com/s/lechlecha?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io). - **Sun 25 Oct:** **Hindu: Sharad Purnima:** Families set out kheer under the full moon, eat it the next morning, light lamps and sing bhajans for Lakshmi. [Source](https://www.smartpuja.com/blog/sharad-purnima-2026-ashwin-purnima/?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io). - **Mon 26 Oct:** **Buddhist: Pavarana Day:** Monks end the rains retreat by inviting each other to name faults, and laypeople offer robes and light lamps. [Source](https://www.reonline.org.uk/festival%5Fevent/pavarana-day/?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io). - **Mon 26 Oct:** **Hindu: Valmiki Jayanti:** Devotees mark the birthday of the sage credited with the Ramayana with processions, recitation and charity. [Source](https://publicholidays.in/maharishi-valmiki-jayanti/?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io). - **Wed 28 Oct:** **Hindu: Karwa Chauth:** Married women fast from sunrise until they see the moon, after a pre-dawn meal called sargi. [Source](https://hindutone.com/festivals/karwa-chauth-2026-canada-moonrise-time-city-wise/?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io). [](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/38601?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io) Gaja Lakshmi, Goddess of Fortune, 6th century, India (Jammu and Kashmir, ancient kingdom of Kashmir), Stone, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. [Museum page](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/38601?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io). Gaja Lakshmi, 6th century, Kashmir: the goddess of fortune seated with elephants. Lakshmi is the goddess families honour at Sharad Purnima. ## Take this with you Which of your own renewals, a lease, a contract or a subscription, comes round next? [](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/40526?ref=the-flow-state-herald.ghost.io) Border: Box decorated with flowers and clouds, Korea, 18th century. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ## 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.