Today, October 4, 2026, Venus turned retrograde in the Evening Sky, marking the last days of its eight-month period as the Evening Star. The next Venus Cycle begins on Oct 23, 2026 when Venus makes its exact inferior conjunction with the sun at 00°♏45′ Rx.
Right now, we are in a kind of transition phase between the previous Venus Cycle and the next one. Although there is some disagreement in the astrological community about which exact dates mark the beginning and end of each cycle (read more about why I use these dates here), all of us agree that we’re in the window right now, between Venus’ turn retrograde and its heliacal rise as the Morning Star at the end of October. Read more about the heliacal rise here.
A Change in Course
What I find striking is that today, of all days, I am seriously considering changing tacks, and considering ways to integrate some of the more psycho-spiritual interests that I’ve set aside while I pursued ecology and native plants. This episode of the Telepathy Tapes, also discovered today (not the series, the episode), appears to marry the two in a way that I’ve been intuiting, though it appears I’ve really only been nibbling around the edges.
It’s an interview with Dr. Zach Bush about his work with children with autism and their families that points directly at the thing I’ve been nibbling at: the healing power of nature and the collective trauma we’re all experiencing in the dissociated state of our culture. The language he uses to articulate why children with autism are pointing us into the critical gap in our cultural understanding is so fresh, sharp, and specific, that I thought it worth sharing. There is quite a bit of nitwitism in there, disguised as cutting edge science, though. So listen with a critical mind!
Caveat
By the way, Zach Bush was the keynote speaker at the 2021 Blue Ridge Eco Fair, an event that had to be postponed due to Covid, and then was held online. I was part of that team, led by Sustain Floyd. I didn’t much care for Dr. Zach at the time. He seemed like yet another lightweight influencer making money off his charisma while not producing much of real value. I have somewhat changed my mind, though only because of certain passages in this episode. His critics decry his science most of all, and the expensive supplements he sells. In light of this, I wish he would stick with philosophy and poetry but ditch the science and personal profit centers. Sigh, it’s a strange world when our sources of inspiration are so checkered.
