Thomas Canfield
Kahlil Gibran once wrote a story about a Sultan who performed a dishonorable act of killing an innocent man. Instead of covering up the act, the Sultan bragged about it, thinking that as the Sultan he could get away with anything. At that point, all of the people in the land were shocked by the Sultan’s action. Rather than support it, everyone walked away from the Sultan, including all of his servants and guards. The Sultan was left alone in his palace with no one willing to obey him.
In November, we may see such a turnabout situation with both Mercury and Venus Retrograde. There may be attempts at gaslighting or shaming, but these actions might backfire on those performing them. Mercury and Venus will be retrograde until November 13, which is Friday the 13th. It may be a portent of ill fortune falling back on those who have been trying to create ill fortune. There have been threats that the election will be called a “fraud” if the Democrats win, but that phony tactic did not work in 2020. All false statements and false feelings may collapse on this day, when Mercury goes direct at 10:53 am, and Venus goes direct at 7:30 pm.
In the chart for Friday the 13th, Venus is in opposition to Eris and Chiron. With the planet of discord conjunct the wisdom of Chiron, there may be a lot of unwisdom spread around. Venus going direct in an opposition may lead to a powerful reveal that defuses the false feelings. At the same time, Venus is sextile Mars, the South Node, and Jupiter in Leo, which may ease the tensions found there. The South Node stands for carnal values, and with Mars representing the military and Jupiter representing legal power, those energies may be used for baser motives, which is what we have seen with Hegseth as Secretary of War.
On November 8, Jupiter will be in an exact trine with Eris. The last time Jupiter in Leo was trine Eris in Aries was in November, 2014. That was the year the Republican Party won its largest Midterm election victory, giving them a majority in Congress that they had not had since 1928. The Republicans had played upon attacks against President Obama and his “Obamacare” programs. However, this time the old tactics may not work. Venus in opposition to Eris may dampen the discord. Ceres squaring Eris may ease discord as well. Venus and Ceres versus Eris may see increased support and organization by women, and there may be women in authority who will stand up to the upheaval.
On Saturday, November 14, Mars and the South Node will be exactly trine Eris. The last time Mars in Leo was trine Eris in Aries (and conjunct Trump’s Mars) was in June, 2025, in the lead-up to Trump’s birthday military parade. That time was filled with chaos as the streets of Washington D.C had to be reinforced with metal plates so that tanks could be in the parade. When the parade took place, instead of goose-stepping like the troops of foreign dictators, the US troops shuffled down the road to Heavy Metal music. It was such a boring event that even Trump fell asleep during it. With a trine from Eris to Mars, any possible military coup may be just as boring. Troops ordered to seize Democratic Congressmen might end up shuffling down the road.
The last time Eris in Aries was trine the South Node in Leo was at the beginning of June, 2008. At that time, the rumblings of the banking collapse were audible when the CEO of Wachovia, the nation’s fourth largest bank, was fired because of losses in the subprime mortgage market. (At the time, Pluto had just entered Capricorn.) The Bank of England announced that mortgage approvals in April were at a record low. The financial malfeasance of the past several years was about to become visible. In November 2026, adding the South Node to the Discord trine mix with Mars and Jupiter may lead to more business chaos going into the Winter, and there may be more revelations about how corrupt and incompetent the people handling the money really were.
The power of Leo may be diminished by the Sun in Scorpio forming a square to Mars, the South Node, and Jupiter. The Scorpio Sun is also in a trine with Ceres. This may be a time for revealing more secrets, and what was thought to be buried may return to haunt. Aside from being nurturing, Ceres can also be domineering. Ceres stands at the focal point of the opposition between Eris and Venus. People in power may try to take control to keep events from becoming too chaotic. However, the Scorpio Sun trine Ceres might reveal ulterior motives and bring into question who should be running things. Decisions may be delayed until all facts are revealed, and a flood of more hidden facts may emerge.
Political intrigue may manifest with Mercury direct squaring Pluto and Juno in Aquarius.
Pluto has been the keeper of secrets, but with Mercury in Scorpio squaring Pluto the secrets may be pouring out. I have always regarded Juno as the asteroid of politics since old-time marriage was mainly used for gaining political power. Pluto and Juno are in the Eighth House of Other People’s Money. With Mercury in a square, there may be a final reckoning and accounting of what other people have been doing with the money they are supposed to be guarding. Neptune, Pallas, and Saturn are all retrograde and sextile Pluto and Juno. There may be some pettifogging and false narratives spread around. With Saturn, some of them might be old canards, such as blaming it all on “Communists.” Uranus trine Pluto and Juno might enable the talking heads to explain away the problems. Yet, Uranus and Pallas are forming a Yod with Mercury at the focal point. Mercury may be the great revealer who exposes everything, similar to Bugs Bunny’s role in the epic motion picture, “Coyote versus ACME.”
There may be side issues to contend with as well. The Moon in Capricorn is squaring Vesta in Aries. The asteroid of hearth and home may face examination regarding its values when the actions of those in power are exposed. For decades, the expression of “family values” has been used to beat down Gays, Lesbians, Transgenders, etc. The Moon in Capricorn in the Seventh House may reveal that fraudulent use of “family values” to cover up abuses by those in power, such as the Epstein pedophilia. There may be continued fallout over the Ramaswamy ad using Amy Acton’s mother to attack her daughter. The horror of the ad was that the mother was covering for her pedophile spouse who was molesting young Amy Acton. Acton’s younger brother has confirmed the molestation and exposed their mother as a protector of a pedophile. The fact that Ramaswamy and the Republicans promoted such an ad will lead to questions about their family values. Ramaswamy has complained that Democrats ran ads attacking his family, but no one has accused them of covering up pedophilia.
The Moon and Vesta are both at the lucky number 13, and there may be more revelations of the violations of family values. Those who have promoted patriotism, obedience to law, and subservience to religion may be revealed as the most emotionally and spiritually controlling. With the Moon sextile the Midheaven and Mercury trine the Cancer Ascendant, the big liberation might be in listening to the untold stories that have been kept hidden for so long. These revelations may lead people to question the nature of obedience and subservience, and like the followers of the Sultan, the people may just want to walk away.
