Happy Libra season, my loves!

Eclipse season is now finally behind us (though if you’re still feeling a certain eclipse hangover, don’t worry - you’re not alone!) and a new season has officially started.

Libra season makes us softer, more diplomatic and agreeable. Visual harmony becomes more important - it’s no coincidence that this is the time when everyone frantically starts to decorate their homes for autumn (or spring if you’re in the southern hemisphere) - and your entire social media feed becomes aesthetic AF.

Six months ago, when the Sun was on the opposite side of the zodiac and moving through Aries, it was all about taking bold action on our dreams and our goals. Now in Libra, the focus shifts towards balance and it’s a perfect opportunity to practice one of the most challenging aspects of our manifestation practice: Letting go, trusting and receiving.

Everything we manifest is a co-creation with the Universe/Source/God/Spirit/Higher Consciousness (pick your favourite!). That means that once we have defined our vision, set our intentions, done our rituals, our visualisations, our embodiment practices - at some point we have to give some space in the process for this higher power to come in and do its part. Otherwise we keep giving off an energy of wanting and desiring, which only attracts more situations that match the vibration of wanting and desiring. If there’s something you’ve been wanting to manifest for a while now which constantly feels like it’s just around the corner, but still out of reach, then this is exactly what’s happening!

It’s a very fine balance between making it clear that you want something, expressing a desire for it, yet also expressing that you don’t need it and can be perfectly happy without it. The tips, techniques and journal prompts in this and the next newsletter are designed to help you find exactly this balance.

If any of the tools in this newsletter resonate with you, I’d love to hear it! You can find me on Instagram under @apeaceofchrissy or email me directly under [email protected]

Happy manifesting!

October 1: Goddess asteroid Juno enters the adventurous sign of Sagittarius. It’s time to review commitments and ensure there is space for growth and freedom. My latest YouTube video offers a guide on doing just that. Mercury in Libra squares Jupiter in Cancer which could cause conflict between expressing our emotions authentically and wanting to keep the peace.

October 3: Mercury in Libra opposes Chiron in Aries. New insights or turning points are revealed regarding our ego wounds, likely through the influence of other people. They offer an opportunity to meet the upcoming Full Moon from a more healed and whole state of being.

October 4: Venus in Virgo opposes the North Node in Pisces and Pallas stations retrograde. It’s time to slow down the creation of new strategies and instead focus on reviewing and improving existing ones, especially anything related to technology. A balance needs to be found between the beautiful little details and the grand big picture.

October 6: Mercury moves into Scorpio. This is a time for deep introspection and profound conversations, especially about the things we’ve been avoiding.

October 7: A Full Moon in Aries while Mercury in Scorpio squares Pluto in Aquarius. Ego wounds could come up one more time offering you an opportunity to act differently based on what you learned on October 3rd and integrate your growth.

October 8: Venus in Virgo sextiles Jupiter in Cancer brings a promise of comfort after the previous day’s Full Moon intensity. The possibility of feeling emotionally safe presents itself.

October 11: Venus in Virgo opposes Saturn in Pisces create a risk of limiting our spiritual growth by being overly critical in our relationships. We could accidentally project too much of what we desire from ourselves onto others, or conversely end up being projected upon.

This month’s Aries Full Moon brings a plethora of beautiful gifts.

It offers us a chance to release old ego wounds or things we have been overly stubborn about, so that we can create space for more harmony in our lives.

A so-called Mystic Rectangle is created in the chart between Jupiter, Venus, Pluto and Neptune/Saturn. This pattern may stir things up initially, but also promises a happy resolution at the end. If you have a Sun or Moon in Aries or Libra, or at any of the four corners of this rectangle, you will probably feel this Full Moon more than others!

The positions of Uranus and Mercury indicate that we may end up changing our minds about something fundamental in an unexpected or surprising way.

Open yourself up to possibility and new options or opportunities for your manifestations could present themselves. Let’s look at some examples to illustrate this point:

By letting go of the need to be the best at everything, you learn to accept help from others and the resulting collaboration opens doors for your career or business.

By letting go of the belief that dating apps are cringey and stupid you open yourself up to new romantic possibilities.

By letting go of the feeling that you have to go it alone you finally agree to go to therapy or counselling and open yourself up to layers of healing which you previously couldn’t even imagine.

Read on to this week’s journal prompts to help you find what this something to let go of could be for you. They can be done anytime but will be most potent on the Full Moon. Make sure you check out the bonus ceremony at the end!

Something that often happens during our manifestation journey is that an option comes along, which almost fits our desires, but not quite. Some will call this a cosmic test, but I like to look at it more of an opportunity to see where we may be holding ourselves back. Where our beliefs are not yet 100% where they need to be. In this issue’s technique of the week we will examine what it means when you’re presented with this option, what you can learn from it and whether there is a time when you should be settling for almost good enough.

Pause and reflect for a moment. When in your life have you been faced with such a situation? Perhaps you were manifesting a new home with very specific requirements and finally settled for one that only fulfilled 4 out of your 5 non-negotiable criteria. Perhaps it was a job that sounded pretty much perfect for your skills, but didn’t offer the working hours that you desired. Or perhaps it was a romantic relationship with Mr or Ms Almost-right? When these situations present themselves, our ego mind will quickly whip out a whole number of reasons why we should settle. Here are a few examples:

1) I’ve already invested so much time in this and I’m tired of looking

Let’s use the example of the apartment that doesn’t quite fit all of your criteria. Perhaps you’ve been looking at dozens of houses or apartments already, sacrificing your weekends and free evenings to tour different neighbourhoods only to leave disappointed. It’s understandable that at some point you will get tired of searching and just want to have it over and done with already.

2) Perhaps what I want is just unrealistic

Our ego, or egoic mind has only one job: to keep us safe. It does this by keeping us within the boundaries of everything that is familiar. If it’s familiar then we’ve seen it or experienced it before, we’re still alive after seeing it and experiencing it, therefore it must be safe. This mechanism works great when it comes to eating random mushrooms or berries in the forest, but not so great when it comes to creating our dreams, because usually our dreams are something new, something creative and something we haven’t seen or been before. To your ego mind, anything unfamiliar must therefore be unrealistic and it jumps to this conclusion to protect you from harm. And it’s not just ourselves that we do this to - often times family members or friends will tell us to “be more realistic” in an effort to protect us from the same kind of disappointment.

3) If I pass up on this option and nothing better comes along, I’ll be stuck with something even worse

This is when the ego really fires up the big guns. A thought like that rarely comes on its own - it’s usually accompanied by sweaty palms, shallow breathing and a panting heart. The physiological fear we experience blocks us from thinking about the situation rationally and so we see ourselves forced to react as quickly as possible. Our egos are naturally loss-averse. It’s a cognitive bias where in the moment, the pain of losing an okay option feels a lot greater than the potential joy of discovering a great option. (The Decision Lab has an interesting article on this here if you want to dive deeper)

4) I didn’t care so much about it anyway

This is a sneaky one, because there are occasions where it can be true and we will explore how to spot them in the next section. Oftentimes, though, it’s an excuse. It’s a way of making ourselves and our desires small to fit what’s on offer instead of insisting that your reality matches your desires and your values.

5) I can fix this and make it fit

Another sneaky one because it can be true sometimes, but it’s easy to be unrealistic about what we can and cannot fix. If one of your requirements for your dream home is to have a brand new washer-dryer but the one you’re considering has an old one that’s seen better days, you may be able to negotiate with the landlord, or just invest in a new one yourself. But if one of your requirements is to have a beautiful view and you’re looking at concrete walls through three quarters of your windows, it doesn’t matter how much you decorate them, you won’t be able to fix the issue. Often we overestimate our own abilities to fix what we perceive as broken.

These can all make for pretty convincing arguments in the moment, but what happens on a metaphysical level when we settle for second-best?

Remember that we attract whatever we are a vibrational match to. Thoughts are one small part of that, but beliefs and emotions play an even bigger role. So while we may tell ourselves all sorts of things trying to justify our decision, the underlying belief and emotion is a fear that we are not deserving of the full extent of what we desire. By accepting second-best we are literally sending out a vibration of “I don’t believe that what I truly desire will ever come” - and then we keep attracting and manifesting the “almosts” and the “kind-of-what-I-wants”.

But when you say no to these options, that’s when you embody a vibration of knowing your worth, of owning your desires authentically, of being unapologetically yourself. Making this statement to the universe is like rocket fuel for your manifestations! It’s no coincidence that the perfect option often comes along right after saying no to the almost-perfect one.

Saying no to “second-best” is the ultimate exercise in letting go and surrendering. It’s the polar opposite of that desperate grasping energy that can keep us away from what we want. If a close-but-not-quite option presents itself to you, this is a reason to celebrate because it offers you a way to let go of previous limitations that have kept you stuck, through your actions and decisions now.

Having said that, there are a few scenarios where you may want to consider settling for less-than-perfect:

1) If you are genuinely under time pressure

Moving into an apartment that’s a 6/10 is still better than being homeless. If you’re genuinely under time pressure and have to make a decision with limited options, you may have to settle for the best out of what’s available. The key is to look at it as a temporary solution. It doesn’t mean that you should abandon your desires and your wishes altogether. This is just another stepping stone on the way to them.

2) In personal relationships

Controversial opinion: In personal relationships you will often have to settle for less than perfect. Why? Because people are not perfect. Provided there are no obvious red flags, your long-term goals and values are aligned and that both parties in the relationship are committed to improving for themselves and for each other, that perfect something is usually something that you grow into together, not something that shows up right from the start.

3) When something even better presents itself

Sometimes we may think that we really want something, but that’s only because we hadn’t even considered that there may be an even better option available. Perhaps compromising on one thing gives you disproportionately huge trade-offs in another area. This is when you may genuinely feel that something that you thought you cared about suddenly doesn’t matter so much anymore. If the new option feels genuinely expansive, pivoting may actually be the better choice.

4) If it’s something that can be fixed

Sometimes the perfect option shows up in disguise with an invitation to push past our discomfort. If you get offered the perfect job but something is off, don’t fall into the trap of believing that you can fix the entire company. But if the issue is something like hours, holidays, or compensation, you may be able to negotiate. Can you push for the thing that’s missing? As long as you’re realistic about your own abilities and still willing to walk away if your criteria aren’t met, you may find that an option that started out as pretty average could turn into a golden ticket.

For this Full Moon, I invite you to reflect back: Where have you settled for “almost good enough” in the past? Perhaps you are even faced with such a choice now. What does it tell you about any limiting beliefs that could be holding you back? And are you willing to be courageous and say no when “second best” comes along next time?

Journal Prompts

These journal prompts are designed to help you figure out where your ego is holding you back from stepping into the new identity that already has all of your desires and is living the life of your dreams.

First, we will identify all of these outdated blocks and beliefs and at the end, we will ceremoniously release them to make them a thing of the past.

After journaling on these questions, close your eyes and stand up and take a step forward. Visualise the old ego still sitting there, where you’ve just been. Turn around and speak to your old ego. Thank it for doing its job and for keeping you safe. Explain that you don’t need it any longer and that you are now leaving it behind. Imagine it fading away, then open your eyes. Turn around again and walk away. Visualise yourself walking into your new ego, the one that is aligned with the version of you that is already living your dream. For the rest of the day, perform every action from this new version of you. Talk like her, walk like her, brush your teeth like her. Feel her in your entire body.

As a Capricorn Rising, this Full Moon lands in my 4th house of home and family, so I’m taking this opportunity to declutter my home and release all of those things that don’t suit the person I am stepping into. Does the highest and best version of me hold on to that ratty pair of Tesco shorts with a hole in the side? Probably not.

I’ve moved countries a few times over the past couple of years so I don’t have a huge amount of old possessions and yet it always amazes me how quickly stuff just seems to accumulate.

Interestingly, although decluttering means that we’re letting go of stuff, it often makes us feel like we have more. Things we love but have forgotten about because they got thrown in the back of a cupboard suddenly show up again. Places we’ve been avoiding become accessible and enjoyable to use again.

Astrology magic truly comes to life when we don’t just consider planetary movements, but also the houses and aspects they make to our own chart. Going through all of them in detail sadly far exceeds the scope of this newsletter, but if you are interested in an even more detailed personal analysis then don’t forget that I offer 1-on-1 consultations that you can conveniently book on my website.

I hope you enjoyed this issue of the Manifestology newsletter and will join me in a few of the practices suggested here.

Until next time, happy manifesting!