Your Stars at Work from the Autumn Equinox to the Winter Solstice 2026

The season runs from the autumn equinox at 1.05am BST on Wednesday 23 September to the winter solstice at 8.50pm GMT on Monday 21 December, and in the middle of it Venus and Mercury are both retrograde, both turning direct on the same Sunday, 15 November.

Venus, the planet astrology gives to what we want and whom we love, stands still on 4 October and appears to move backwards until 15 November. Mercury, the planet of talking and signing, does the same from 25 October to that same Sunday. Saturn, the planet of patience and limits, is at opposition on 5 October, up all night at its brightest, and the clocks go back on the 25th. None of this makes anything happen to you. It is a timetable and a set of pictures, and this autumn the pictures are of planets turning back on their path while Saturn stands bright in a long night.

If you are carrying something heavy this season, a diagnosis, a separation, a parent who needs more of you than you have, this column is written for you. Read the season sections for the dates, then find your sign. Each entry names one strength you already have and one practice tied to a date. Choose one.