Romantic messages are very mixed this month. On the plus side you have the Sun in your charming sign until October 23. This lights up your 1st House of Personality, which should increase your confidence and your visibility. Another benefit of this transit is that you may be more capable of standing up for yourself instead of making too many compromises to keep other people happy.

Mental Mercury's entry into Libra on October 3 enhances your verbal skills, making for more clever conversations. The Libra New Moon on the 7th also puts wind in your sails for updating your appearance and initiating new connections.

However, an even bigger story this month is the retrograde cycle of the love planet Venus from October 8 until November 18. This is your key or ruling planet, so its backward period can represent a time when delays in advancing personal interests are more likely. In fact, old relationship issues will probably resurface. It's not wise, though, to get back together with someone from your past unless you are able to do things differently this time. Repeating patterns is not educational, so notice when you're getting bogged down with people, emotions or behavior that are familiar but not fun. That's where the knots are, the barriers that get in the way of the kind of companionship you desire. But if you're willing to be totally honest with yourself and are prepared to make some significant changes, this can be an extraordinary period of time for transforming your personal life.