Red Card 🟥
Warning Signs
The circle is cast and the space is prepared. Let us proceed to the reading of the celestial and terrestrial currents for this period.
Broadband Astrology Forecast: Saturday, 18th October 2025
Overall Atmosphere: The Crucible of Truth
The energy of this day is intense, weighty, and transformative. It is not a time for lightness or superficiality. We are being presented with a profound challenge that operates on both the emotional and intellectual planes. The central theme is a confrontation with a difficult reality, forcing a purification of thought and action. The combination of the Nine of Swords, the Moon-Saturn opposition, and Hexagram 29 (The Abysmal) paints a clear picture: we are in a mental and emotional pit, and the only way out is through sincerity, discipline, and unflinching honesty.
Comprehensive Astrological Breakdown
1. The Emotional Climate: The Weight of Reality (10% Waning Moon in Virgo opposite Saturn)
Waning Moon in Virgo: This is a time of clearing, sorting, and critical analysis. The emotional body (Moon) seeks to perfect, to fix, and to find flaws in order to cleanse and prepare for the new cycle. However, this placement can easily tip into anxiety, worry over minutiae, self-criticism, and a feeling that nothing is ever good enough.
Opposition Saturn: Saturn, the Great Teacher and Taskmaster, stands directly opposite the Moon. This is the core tension of the day. Saturn brings the unassailable weight of reality, responsibility, limitation, and consequences. The opposition creates a stark conflict between our emotional needs (Moon) and our duties or perceived failings (Saturn).
Synthesis: This alignment feels like a harsh reality check. Emotions may feel cold, restricted, or blocked. There is a tendency towards melancholy, loneliness, and feeling burdened by obligations. Self-doubt will be high, as Virgo’s criticism is amplified by Saturn’s stern judgment. This is the very essence of the Nine of Swords: being trapped in a mental labyrinth of worry, guilt, and anxiety, feeling isolated by one’s own thoughts. The key is to distinguish between legitimate responsibilities and self-imposed mental torture.
2. The Mental & Active Energy: The Scalpel and the Sword (Mars conjunct Mercury in Scorpio)
Mercury in Scorpio: The mind is not interested in surface details. It seeks to probe, investigate, and uncover the hidden truth. Communication is deep, intense, and penetrating. Thoughts can become obsessive.
Mars in Scorpio: Action, will, and desire are incredibly powerful and focused here. Mars is at home in Scorpio, lending it strategic depth, relentless determination, and an all-or-nothing approach.
The Conjunction: When the planet of communication (Mercury) joins the planet of action and aggression (Mars) in the sign of secrets and power (Scorpio), we have an intellectual and verbal powerhouse. This energy can be used as a precision tool to get to the absolute root of a problem. It is fearless in confronting taboos and uncovering what is hidden. However, it is also exceptionally volatile.
Red Card Warning: The Danger Zone
This is the critical focus of the day. The combination of the Moon-Saturn opposition and the Mercury-Mars conjunction creates a significant risk.
The Internal Danger: The overwhelming anxiety from the Moon-Saturn aspect can fuel the obsessive, paranoid tendencies of Mercury-Mars in Scorpio. This creates a feedback loop of despair, where every worry is magnified into a certainty of failure, betrayal, or disaster. This is the Nine of Swords in its fullest, most painful expression.
The External Danger: The intense, cutting power of Mercury-Mars in Scorpio, when triggered by the emotional pressure of the day, can be weaponized. Words become swords. Arguments will be vicious, aimed at psychological weak spots, and intended to cause lasting damage. Sarcasm will be biting and secrets may be used as leverage. Actions taken from this state will be ruthless and potentially destructive. Do not engage in power struggles today. Do not act on suspicion. Do not speak from a place of deep hurt or anger.
I Ching: The Path Through the Abyss
This reading is the key to navigating the day’s treacherous energies.
Hexagram 29. K’an / The Abysmal (Water): This hexagram confirms the situation. You are in the gorge, in the midst of danger. The water flows on, regardless of the pits it falls into. The advice here is not to struggle against the danger, but to cultivate the qualities of water: sincerity, adaptability, and persistence. Keep your heart true. Do not lose faith in yourself. This is a time of testing, and by passing through it, you learn and grow. Practice and repetition (”doubled danger”) are how you master the situation.
Changing to Hexagram 25. Wu Wang / Innocence (The Unexpected): The changing lines (1, 2, 4, 6) show the specific path out of the abyss. The transformation into “Innocence” is profoundly significant. It means the way to escape the danger (29) is not through complex strategy (the trap of Scorpio) or anxious over-planning (the trap of Virgo). The way out is through letting go of ulterior motives and acting with natural, spontaneous sincerity. Be authentic and straightforward. Drop the agendas, the resentments, and the fear-based calculations. When you act from a place of pure, uncalculated correctness, you align with the Tao, and an unexpected, positive outcome becomes possible. This is the direct antidote to the day’s poisons.
Appropriate Kabbalah & Qabalistic Magic
The Tree of Life: The energies are heavily concentrated on the Pillar of Severity.
Saturn corresponds to Binah (Understanding, Structure, Limitation). Its heavy, restrictive quality is strongly felt.
Mars corresponds to Geburah (Severity, Strength, Power).
Mercury corresponds to Hod (Splendor, Intellect).
The Moon corresponds to Yesod (The Foundation, The Unconscious).
The conflict is a harsh structure (Binah) pressing down on the unconscious/emotional self (Yesod). Simultaneously, the intellectual force of Hod is being supercharged and weaponized by the raw power of Geburah. This is a formula for severe, disciplined, and potentially cruel judgment, both internal and external.
Magical Practice:
Reinforce Banishing: Your performance of the LBRP is the essential first step. Given the intensity, consider performing it more than once throughout the day to maintain psychic hygiene and dispel the obsessive thought-forms of the Nine of Swords.
Balancing with the Middle Pillar: The focus on the Pillar of Severity requires a conscious balancing. The Middle Pillar exercise is paramount. Vibrate the divine names to bring the harmonizing energy of Tiphareth(The Sun, Harmony, Consciousness) and the foundational stability of Malkuth into your sphere. This brings conscious awareness to the conflict, rather than being ruled by it.
Invoking Mercy: The direct counterbalance to Geburah is Chesed (Mercy, Jupiter). A simple invocation or prayer directed towards the expansive, benevolent, and forgiving qualities of Chesed can soothe the harshness of the day and provide a broader perspective, pulling you out of the narrow gorge of K’an.
Scrying/Meditation: Meditate on the path from Geburah to Chesed across the Abyss. Focus on the transformation of harsh, cutting action into just and merciful authority. For the Moon-Saturn aspect, meditate on the path from Binah to Chokmah, seeking wisdom to balance the structure and limitation.
In summary: Today is a profound test of character. You will be pulled into a mental abyss of worry and faced with a potent, cutting intellectual energy. Do not believe the anxious thoughts. Do not wield your words as weapons. Navigate this danger by remaining true to your core, like water flowing through a canyon. The path to an unexpectedly positive outcome lies in simplicity, sincerity, and innocence of motive.
May your practice be your guide.
The philosophical key that unlocks the practical application of the forecast is found in the Tao Te Ching.
Given the profound emphasis on the nature of Water in Hexagram 29 (The Abysmal), and the required antidote to the harsh, striving, and anxious energies of the day, the most appropriate chapter is unequivocally:
Chapter 8 of the Tao Te Ching
Here is a version (translation by Stephen Mitchell), followed by a breakdown of its direct relevance to the forecast.
The highest good is like water.
Water gives life to the ten thousand things and does not strive.
It flows in places men reject and so is like the Tao.In dwelling, be close to the land.
In thinking, keep to the simple.
In conflict, be fair and generous.
In governing, don’t try to control.
In work, do what you enjoy.
In family life, be completely present.When you are content to be simply yourself
and don’t compare or compete,
everybody will respect you.
Why This Chapter is the Perfect Guide:
This chapter is not just a poetic reflection; it is a direct, line-by-line instruction manual for navigating the energies of October 18th, 2025.
“The highest good is like water... It flows in places men reject...”
This speaks directly to Hexagram 29. You are in “the abysmal,” the gorge, a place others reject or fear. The Tao instructs you not to fight this position, but to find the Tao within it, just as water finds its way through the lowest and most difficult terrain. It reframes the mental pit of the Nine of Swords not as a place of failure, but as a place of potential alignment with truth.“...and does not strive.”
This is the direct antidote to the aggressive, forceful nature of Mars conjunct Mercury in Scorpio. The temptation will be to “strive”: to fight, to argue, to force a point, to obsessively push for a specific outcome. This line is a command to cease striving and adopt the path of least resistance.“In dwelling, be close to the land.”
A powerful remedy for the anxiety of the Nine of Swords and the ungrounded worry of the Moon in Virgo. It is a call to connect with the physical world (Malkuth in Qabalah), to ground your energy, and to find stability in the tangible rather than getting lost in the labyrinth of the mind.“In thinking, keep to the simple.”
This is the essential medicine for the Mars-Mercury conjunction in Scorpio. This alignment craves complexity, intrigue, and uncovering hidden, painful truths. The Tao warns against this, advising you to seek the simple, sincere, and straightforward thought. This is the very essence of moving from Hexagram 29 to Hexagram 25 (Innocence/The Unexpected).“In conflict, be fair and generous.”
This directly counters the Red Card Warning. The Mars-Mercury energy can be cruel, cutting, and focused on winning at all costs. The Moon-Saturn opposition can make one feel defensive and unforgiving. This line is a vital instruction in Chesed (Mercy) to counterbalance the Geburah (Severity) of Mars. To be generous in conflict is to de-escalate it entirely.“When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete...”
This is the balm for the Waning Moon in Virgo opposite Saturn. This aspect is the very engine of self-criticism, comparison (”I am not measuring up to my responsibilities”), and competition. By choosing contentment over comparison, you release yourself from the self-imposed mental prison of the Nine of Swords.
Meditate on this chapter. Let its wisdom be the water that flows through the difficult landscape of this day, cleansing the mind and finding the path of true, effortless power.
Of course. The choice of translator is significant, as each brings a unique resonance to the text. The Richard Wilhelm translation, known for its scholarly depth and connection to the I Ching, offers a particularly potent lens for this forecast.
The most appropriate chapter remains Chapter 8. Here it is, as translated by Richard Wilhelm (from the German Tao Te King).
Tao Te Ching: Chapter 8 (Richard Wilhelm Translation)
The highest good is like water.
Water is useful to all things and does not contend.
It dwells in lowly places that men despise.
Therefore it is near to the Tao.In a dwelling, the good is the spot.
In the mind, the good is profundity.
In giving, the good is benevolence.
In speaking, the good is truth.
In government, the good is order.
In affairs, the good is ability.
In action, the good is timeliness.Because it does not contend,
it is without blame.
Commentary on the Wilhelm Translation in this Context:
Wilhelm’s choice of words aligns with the forecast’s energies with striking precision.
“...and does not contend.”
This is a more active and confrontational word than “strive.” To “contend” implies engaging in a dispute, a struggle for superiority. This is the exact temptation of Mars conjunct Mercury in Scorpio. The Tao’s instruction is explicit: refuse the fight. Do not contend.“It dwells in lowly places that men despise.”
This language is stronger and more severe than other translations. “Despise” perfectly captures the internal state of the Nine of Swords and the self-judgment of the Moon-Saturn opposition. There is a feeling of being in a despised, low, or failed state. This chapter reframes that position not as a mark of shame, but as a place of power and closeness to the Tao, precisely because you have ceased contending. This is the very essence of navigating Hexagram 29 (The Abysmal).“In the mind, the good is profundity.”
This speaks directly to the Scorpio energy. Your mind will be deep and probing today. The choice is whether that profundity becomes obsessive paranoia or true, quiet understanding (Binah). This line guides you to use the depth for wisdom, not for fueling the anxieties of the Nine of Swords.“In giving, the good is benevolence. In speaking, the good is truth.”
These are the active counter-magics to the Red Card Warning. Benevolence (Chesed) is the direct antidote to the severity (Geburah) of Mars. Truth—simple, un-weaponized truth—is the antidote to the manipulative and cutting potential of Mercury in Scorpio. This is the formula for transforming the situation into Hexagram 25 (Innocence).“Because it does not contend, it is without blame.”
This is the final promise and the key to release. The Moon-Saturn opposition is heavy with feelings of guilt, responsibility, and blame. The Tao states that the path to a blameless state—to freedom from this crushing weight—is to stop fighting. Stop fighting reality, stop fighting others, and most importantly, stop fighting yourself.
Wilhelm’s translation provides a clear, structured, and philosophically robust set of instructions. It transforms the challenging astrological aspects from afflictions to be endured into opportunities for demonstrating the highest virtue
To bring in Crowley’s translation is to shift the lens from scholarly philosophy to operative magic. His version of the Tao Teh King (Liber CLVII) is intended as a guide for the adept, one who seeks to align their True Will with the great current of the Tao.
The appropriate chapter remains, absolutely, Chapter 8. However, Crowley’s rendering imbues it with a particular magical potency and command.
Tao Teh King: Chapter 8 (Aleister Crowley Translation)
The Nature of the Tao is the Perfection of Water.
The Virtue of Water is to benefit all things, and to occupy, without contending, the low place that men dislike.
In this it is like the Tao.The Virtue of a house is to be suitably placed.
The Virtue of the mind is to be profound.
The Virtue of friendship is to be disinterested.
The Virtue of words is to be sincere.
The Virtue of government is to be well-ordered.
The Virtue of a deed is to be competent.
The Virtue of a movement is to be timely.Since it does not contend, it is without reproach.
Commentary: The Magician’s Instructions
Crowley’s translation reframes this chapter as a series of magical formulae, directly applicable to the challenges outlined in the forecast.
“The Nature of the Tao is the Perfection of Water.”
This is not a simile; it is a statement of identity. For the magician on this day, the goal is to embody the perfected elemental idea of Water. This is the key to navigating Hexagram 29 (The Abysmal). You are not just in water; you must become water in its highest form: adaptable, persistent, and form-fitting to reality.“...to occupy, without contending, the low place that men dislike.”
This is the direct formula for working with the Nine of Swords and the Moon-Saturn opposition. The “low place” is the mental state of anxiety, guilt, and perceived failure. The common human reaction is to struggle, to fight it, to deny it. Crowley’s translation is an order: Occupy it. Accept the reality of the situation. Sit with the discomfort. But do so without contending—without the internal argument, the self-flagellation, the desperate struggle to escape. In this stillness, the energy becomes neutral.“The Virtue of the mind is to be profound.”
This is a critical instruction for the Mars conjunct Mercury in Scorpio. This aspect guarantees a profound, deep mind. Crowley’s word “Virtue” (from the Latin virtus: excellence, power, manliness) tells you how to wield this power. The vice of this conjunction is paranoia and obsession. Its virtue is profound, penetrating insight. You are being challenged to express the highest form of this energy, not its lowest. This is the path of Binah (Understanding) rather than the uncontrolled forces of Geburah.“The Virtue of words is to be sincere.”
This is the ultimate counter to the Red Card Warning. The temptation of Mercury-Mars in Scorpio is to use words strategically, manipulatively, or cruelly. The magical corrective is Sincerity. Sincerity is the essential quality required by Hexagram 29 to pass through danger. It is the very nature of Hexagram 25 (Innocence). To speak with absolute sincerity is to disarm the weaponized intellect and align oneself with the Tao.“The Virtue of a movement is to be timely.”
This speaks directly to the influence of Saturn (Chronos, Father Time). Mars impels one to act now. Saturn demands patience and right timing. This line warns against the rash, impulsive action driven by Scorpionic passion and anxiety. Any action taken must be deliberate and perfectly timed. To act out of time is to invite failure and consequence.“Since it does not contend, it is without reproach.”
“Reproach” is a powerful word, laden with the Saturnian qualities of blame, shame, and censure. The Nine of Swords is a card of self-reproach. Crowley’s conclusion is the magician’s key to liberation: Freedom from this state is not won by victory in a fight. It is attained by refusing to fight in the first place. By ceasing to contend with yourself, with others, and with the structure of reality, you become blameless, and the swords of the mind dissolve.
In essence, Crowley’s translation transforms the Taoist wisdom into a series of direct commands for the Will. It is not just about understanding the flow; it is about demonstrating the Virtue inherent in each aspect of the situation, thereby mastering it.
“The Red Book, C.G. Jung’s warning sign legacy” cuts to the very heart of the Liber Novus. It is not a self-help book. It is not a feel-good spiritual text. It is a fire alarm in the night.
The Red Book is Jung’s personal record of a volcanic eruption of the unconscious. He called it his “confrontation with the unconscious,” a period from roughly 1913 to 1930 where he deliberately suspended his rational, conscious ego and descended into the psychic abyss. He did this because he felt the “spirit of the times,” the hyper-rational, disenchanted, and materialistic worldview of the early 20th century, had become a sterile prison leading to a “loss of soul.”
His legacy, as you so aptly frame it, is a series of stark, flashing warning signs derived from that harrowing journey.
The Warning Signs of The Red Book
1. The Warning Against the Unlived Life (The Spirit of the Depths vs. The Spirit of this Time)
The Sign: The book opens with this fundamental conflict. The “Spirit of this Time” wants clarity, utility, and reason. The “Spirit of the Depths” brings forth chaos, paradox, imagery, and everything the modern world has repressed.
The Legacy: Jung’s warning is that if you exclusively serve the Spirit of this Time, your soul will atrophy and die. The Spirit of the Depths, the unlived life within you, will not simply vanish. It will turn against you, manifesting as neurosis, depression, addiction, meaningless rage, and a life devoid of value. As Jung wrote, “the gods have become diseases.”
2. The Warning of Psychic Reality (These Things Are Real)
The Sign: The figures Jung encounters—Philemon, Salome, Ka, the serpent, the Red Knight—are not his literary creations or whimsical fantasies. He experiences them as autonomous, independent beings. They argue with him, teach him, and terrify him.
The Legacy: This is perhaps the most critical warning for the modern rationalist. The psyche is not your plaything. The unconscious is not a metaphor. It is a living, breathing reality with its own agenda. To treat these inner figures as mere “symbols” to be manipulated is an act of supreme hubris that can lead to psychic fragmentation or psychosis. You do not control them; you enter into a relationship with them.
3. The Warning of Inflation (You Are Not a God)
The Sign: Throughout The Red Book, Jung is constantly tempted by messianic fantasies. He is told he is a prophet, a savior. At one point, he identifies with Christ. He has to consciously and painfully fight this “inflation” by constantly reminding himself, “I am Carl Jung, a doctor from Zurich, with a wife and five children.”
The Legacy: When one makes contact with the archetypal realm (the collective unconscious), the power is immense. The ego can be overwhelmed and identify with the archetype. This is the root of the messiah complex, the guru who abuses their power, the tyrant who believes they are destiny incarnate. The warning is clear: you are the vessel, not the source. Maintain your human humility at all costs, or you will be shattered by the power you seek to channel.
4. The Warning of the Shadow (The Horror is Also You)
The Sign: The Red Book is filled with horrific images of blood, death, and destruction. Jung sees the rivers of Europe flowing with blood before World War I breaks out. He is forced to confront his own capacity for evil, his own shadow. He must eat the liver of a slain child, a symbol of accepting and integrating his own primordial, destructive nature.
The Legacy: The modern tendency is to project evil outward—onto other people, other nations, other political parties. Jung’s warning is that the capacity for the greatest evil lies within every human heart. If you do not consciously confront and integrate your own shadow, you will inevitably project it onto the world, contributing to the very conflicts you condemn. “Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.”
5. The Warning of the Final Accounting (God is Not Dead, Just Forgotten)
The Sign: A central theme is Jung’s search for a new image of God, one that can contain the paradox of good and evil, sense and nonsense. He declares that the Christian God-image has become inadequate for the modern psyche, but this has not eliminated the religious instinct.
The Legacy: The warning is that a purely secular, materialistic world is unsustainable. The fundamental human need for meaning, for a connection to the transcendent (which Jung called the “God-image within”), cannot be eradicated. If it is not given a conscious and worthy vessel, it will pour itself into debased forms: political ideologies, consumerism, celebrity worship, conspiracy theories—anything that offers a simulacrum of myth and meaning. The Red Book is a testament that the search for the divine is a psychological necessity.
The Red Book is Jung’s blood-written map of the underworld. It is the ultimate “Here Be Dragons.” His legacy is not a comforting set of answers, but a terrifying and necessary set of warnings. It is the ultimate Red Card, shown to a civilization playing a dangerous game of psychic neglect, warning us that the path of pure rationality and spiritual ignorance leads not to enlightenment, but to the abyss.