Our friend Mercury goes retrograde this month on Oct. 18. This means that all of your new projects and plans have to be put in motion by Oct. 14. After that, you will be moving into a time of review. And it will be time to look at what you have been doing for the last four months and correct any problems that you find. Mercury will be retrograde until Nov. 7, but wait to start new endeavors after Nov. 11. Neptune goes direct this month on Oct. 15 along with Uranus on Oct. 26. These planets are going to have the most impact on the Leos, Aquarians, Scorpios, and Tauruses. For you, life gets a bit more complicated. Just what you needed!! The full Moon occurs on Friday the 13th (cue the spooky music) in the sign of Aries. It will be a Me time for everyone. You will be hard to find during the end of this week. The new Moon will be on Friday, Oct. 27 in Scorpio. This should really bring out the dark side during the festive Halloween time. We will all be on an MGM ride at a theme park-Freddie Meets the Creature From the Black Lagoon II.

Aries (March 21-April 19) Relationships are really emphasized for you this month, as you will be wanting to get down and dirty with your lover this month. You can expect electrical currents to charge up your life especially Oct. 7-8 and 18-19. Boredom will have no place in your life. Humdrum relationships will be tested thoroughly. They will be rejuvenated or sent to the scrap heap. Look for hidden emotions to come to the surface that trigger these events. Even financial problems can be a detonator. Take it easy on the 26th through the 28th. You will need it.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) Mercury is making you review your relationships this month. You will not be likely to give up on your relationship very easily. You like to drag it through the mud over hill and dell. You like durability in a relationship. You may be drawn to call those old lovers that you have listed in the back of your head. See, I told you that you don't give up. If you are a single cow or bull, you will be very interested in those other green pastures, sending out ìI'm availableî signals everywhere you go.

Gemini (May 21-June 21) Get that office and home into shape-you are into a real organizing mood, and want your life to be effective and efficient. The mood at work can really be erratic this month. You may try to start a lot of things only to find yourself back at square one. You are more serious than usual and others may wonder where your sense of humor has wandered off to. Home is a volatile place on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th as well as the 27th, 28th, and 29th. You could be remodeling, moving, or looking to buy. You will be better by next month.

Cancer (June 22-July 22) You are in the mood to entertain at home and express your creativity. Or to be very creative in an entertaining way at home. You certainly don't want to work as much. You are more likely wanting to be the center of attention. Your sexual energies are stronger and you will want to be creative and playful here, too. You have been in a very exploratory mode this entire year, and now you will want to up the ante. Or maybe dress up as your Auntie!!!

Leo (July 23-Aug. 22) The pressure this month will be emanating from the old home place. You will be getting things in order, straightening out the closet and looking for money behind the sofa pillows. You will be feeling pressure from your family-or the family that lives inside of you-to get some stability in your life. Your relationships are very distracting now. You are being pulled in two different directions. One is what you are supposed to do, and the other is what you want to do. This is an easy choice.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) Your ruling planet, Mercury, goes into review in your house of communications. You are going to be examining everything you ever said as far back as you can remember. And for the things you don't remember or had taken pains to forget, don't worry-all of your ex-lovers are going to come waltzing back to help remind you. Bury yourself in your work. Take a trip out of town to an herbal spa. Have a big cup of green tea or a margarita, whichever comes first. There is just too much stress for you.

Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) This month you are focused on your talents, your personal resources, and your money. If you have been avoiding a money problem in the past, this month you will be encountering that quandary. Your vast talents of diplomacy and schmoozing will be put to the test. You will not be taken for granted this month by anyone. You may appear a bit hypersensitive to those around you. Save your energies for next month when you go on a combat mission to retrieve those misplaced emotions.

Scorpio (Oct. 24-Nov. 21) You are a mixed receptacle of nuts this month. You are sensitive yet active. You are introspective yet vibrant. You are spiritual yet real. And, no, more Prozac won't help. Pay a lot of attention to your intuition this month and then follow that up with some action. Then these apparently separate pieces will act together as one. You won't feel so confused, and your fellow human beings will have to take responsibility for their mixed messages-goddess knows you don't need to spend your time trying to figure out which message is the truth. Be sure and get some rest this month. It will be easy to overdo it.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) This is a good month to fade into the background. Only spend time with people that you really like, and don't draw too much on your energy reserves. You will feel like putting some energy into some new projects at work, but be sure and get those done before Oct. 15. Watch your conflict with authority figures, especially at work: You may be right in principle, but if you aren't the boss, you may want to decide if your position is worth the fight. Consider the question, ìIs this the hill you want to die on?î It might be or it might not be.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) This is a good month to visit those friends from your past. You are really ready to renew old contacts in both business and social organizations. Take some time this month to do some planning for your next business moves. The time for action in that part of your life is next month. This is a great time to get your office into shape. Some of you are updating the equipment and systems in your office. Get this stuff done before Oct. 15. And you could do some cleaning as well. You may change locations by next summer.

Aquarius (Jan. 20- Feb. 18) The planets are spending a lot of time this month in the career and future-planning sector of your horoscope. Some people may confuse you for a Capricorn. With Mercury, planet of review and renew, moving through your career sector, you are in the mood for getting those old projects finished and putting those old boxes out for the trash. You will be more black-and-white than usual. Time seems shorter now, and you feel the urge to push forward. Even the new moon at the end of the month is in your career sector. Time to invest in your future. Onward through the fog!

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) Confrontation is your watchword this month. This is usually not your best personality trait, except when you are doing it for others. This will probably show up a lot in your relationships. You can put some excitement in your sex life or go 10 rounds in the ring. But the need for real interaction is there. You just are not as flexible as you used to be. Your boundaries are more well-defined. And your tolerance of other people's SAD STORIES is at an all-time low. You have stories of your own. Family continues to pull on you psyche-ly. Make that phone call even if they don't.

Lilly Roddy is a Houston-based astrologer. She can be reached at lillycath@aol.com or www.cybersim.com/hermes.