What a difference a day makes. In your own personal world, did you notice the shift between the charging forward  Moon in Aries and the comparatively calm, material comfort-oriented, “let’s not make any drastic changes” Moon in Taurus? The change happened at 2:57PM ET on Tuesday, and the Taurus Moon continues today. It goes void of course at 6:44AM ET on Thursday, and won’t shift into Gemini until 4:03PM ET. So if you must ship, get it off your desk today and focus on routine concerns during the Moon void portion of tomorrow.

A Taurus Moon facilitates our enjoyment of sensual pleasures: good food and drink, music and a snuggle with your sweetie. Indulge. Taurus also facilitates earthly concerns such as material security, organization and making tangible forms out of fiery ideas.

Today — right as I’m typing — we even have a brief Grand Trine happening, as the Taurus Moon makes harmonious connections between Mars-Jupiter in discerning Virgo and Pluto in status-seeking Capricorn. Grand Trines suggest self-sufficiency and an easy flow of energy that some label luck and/or abundance. Markets are up across the board this morning.   Coincidence or conspiracy? Who remembers the easy flow we experienced during a much longer-lasting Earth Grand Trine in March of 2012?

When the Moon enters Gemini at 4:03PM ET on Thursday, the drive of the day becomes one of information-sharing and communication. Some of what is circulated around 5:53PM ET may be experienced as a wet blanket, as the Moon is opposed by controlling Saturn. An argument over details and perfection may well be part of your experience around 11:30PM, as the Gemini Moon is challenged by Mars (action) in Virgo.

Note your dreams upon waking on Friday, as the Moon makes contact with visionary Neptune at 4:56AM ET. The last day of the work week offers an easy flow of expression in the morning hours (ET), followed by an expansive, expensive or exuberant release around 11:06AM ET, as the Moon is challenged by Jupiter.  Get the word out — but double check the details. Mercury is still retrograde!

Speaking of Mercury retrograde, it is an excellent time to finally screw up the courage to book that personal astrological consultation you’ve been contemplating for the past few months. You’ll learn where you are at now in the planetary cycles of life. Plus you’ll gain confidence, clarity and validation for whatever you’re wrestling with right now.

And now, the news.

Update: Kim Davis, whose horoscope suggests she’ll be feeling loved, loved, loved now and in the near-term future, went to Washington and met with Pope Francis, who reportedly advised her to “stay strong”. Ms. Davis also has a personal “above the law” Grand Trine. I wrote about her horoscope here and here.

Meanwhile, Ralph Lauren is stepping down as head of his empire.  With transiting Uranus having made the first opposition to his Libra Sun, we would expect him to be seeking greater independence and freedom of expression through 2016. At his stage in life, we can appreciate why he would choose to lighten his load.

With John Boehner also stepping down, two names have been bandied about as potential successors. Kevin McCarthy is the current House Majority Leader. He’s also an Aquarius with Moon in either Sagittarius or Scorpio – we do not have a birth time & time does not permit me to labor over his potential exact horoscope. But how interesting to see that Rep. McCarthy has an Earth Grand Trine — among Jupiter, Uranus-Pluto in Virgo and an exact conjunction between Mercury-Venus in Capricorn.

How lucky is he? When he was 19, he won $5000 in a lottery and he used that cash to start a business. What’s notable in his horoscope now is that transiting Uranus is exactly square to his fiercely idealistic Mercury-Venus conjunction. When he speaks now, people take notice! Other measurements of note: one between Mars and Neptune suggesting pixie-dust,  and another between the Sun and the Aries Point — this one gaining in strength over the next two years, suggesting prominence.

But what about Trey Gowdy?  And what was he thinking when he chose that garish tie for his official portrait? “With my Moon in Aquarius, I need to be appreciated for being unique?” Rep. Gowdy was elected during the Venus retrograde in November 2010, when we were alerted to the higher probability of aesthetic choices made that would later prove regrettable. He is a Tea Party Republican, and currently chairs the House Select Committee on Benghazi, which perhaps explains why, of the 11 bills he’s sponsored in his Congressional career, one of them was to “prohibit Libyan nationals from engaging in aviation maintenance, flight operations, or nuclear-related studies or training inside the United States,” a top legislative priority for his South Carolina constituents, I’m sure.

Anyhoo. Turns out that yesterday’s buzz about his potential leadership expansion was a Moon-void much ado about nothing, even though it did reflect the windfall potential of transiting Jupiter to Gowdy’s Uranus.  Interesting to note that like, Rep. McCarthy, he also has a self-sufficient, “law unto himself” Grand Trine — but in water signs: Venus-Mars in Cancer, Neptune in Scorpio and Chiron (the wounded healer) in Pisces.

Gowdy’s  Venus-Mars conjunction at 14-15 Cancer has been supercharged by Uranus and Pluto over the past couple of years, and focused on matters of homeland security, perhaps most visibly in the form of Benghazi. The shock value and disruptive potential Uranus might have added has passed, but Pluto’s power and persuasiveness will continue to amplify Gowdy’s social expression (Venus) and actions (Mars) through November 2016. Currently, transiting Saturn to his Sun and possibly his Moon suggests ambition or advance, but one which is streamlined and focused, not necessarily expansive. He’s staying put and staying focused.

Now there are rumors that Rep. Gowdy may leave Congress in 2016. They are unconfirmed, but they are being published anyway. I bring this to your attention because during Mercury retrograde, we note a higher probability of rumors garnering attention. Thus we are advised to slow down and VERIFY before rushing to conclusions….

…which has made writing this forecast today particularly challenging. For some reason I opted to write about the potential candidates for a new Speaker of the House, and this story just won’t stand still. Now Kevin McCarthy has — as anticipated — said something disruptive in an interview this morning — and certain people are howling that what Mr. McCarthy did was admit to what seems screamingly obvious to Those Howling: that the true purpose of the Benghazi committee –established in May of 2014 — was to derail Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, spending millions at taxpayer expense.

With regard to Hillary Clinton’s campaign, we do not have an exact birth time and thus can’t be sure of her horoscope. There are two in circulation — one at 8:02AM and another after 8PM.  Astrologers disagree about which one is correct. Regardless, in both horoscopes under consideration, significant disruptions to the status quo impacting public status are strongly suggested in March and September.

The House will vote on a new Speaker next Thursday. If it happens before 3:50PM ET, the Moon will be void. Regardless, Mercury will be stationary direct (it moves forward on Friday, October 9th). Sounds like politics as usual.

I’m throwing in the towel for the day. Out of curiosity, I searched my archives to see if I’d tagged anything else about Benghazi in past forecasts. I found one reference — curiously written on another day with a Grand Trine. Remind me not to write about anything remotely involving this morass ever again.

Thank you for reading this forecast!