Girl: Heal Thyself

If I could have one super power, it would be to erase evil events before they occur. 

My work as an astrologer is to guide and uplift where possible.  So as a human being but particularly as an astrologer, I am discouraged by the violent global events of June and July.   There is just no accounting for human behavior.  Energy may be directed either positively or negatively.    And if we focus our energy toward positively, this summer may be a truly transformative time. 

Transformative possibilities continue into August as it opens with Motivating Mars finishing its tour in deep and intense Scorpio.  There is significantly more planetary activity this month than last, the trickiest part of which finds Mars shifting from psychic Scorpio into adventuresome Sagittarius where it will join Saturn later this month.   Our attention shifts away from attention-getting crises toward how to manage the gravity of philosophical differences driving said crises (often violent).

First, though, let’s look at the energies building up to this climax later in August.  To begin with, Messenger Mercury entered health/work-minded Virgo on July 31.  For the next two months, all through September and even into the beginning of October, Mercury draws our thoughts toward planning, perfection and acute detail.  Mercury is at home here in the sign it rules and commands a tremendous work ethic.

The first week of the month the Messenger planet tangles with Motivating Mars and Saturn which demand freedom rather than planning or details.  Sagittarius is big picture energy; if anything, we are directed to honor our truth no matter whom it offends.  Mercury in Virgo pulls the other way:  So you’re unsatisfied with your job/home/partner/finances?   Get down to business and make a plan.  Pull out some paper and pen, your laptop and calendar and chart a course.  Change does not happen without effort says Virgo.  Elbow grease and using your head are the only way to get things done.  Shift, change, move forward.  Step by step. Plan. Step by step. Rest. Repeat.

Our motivation is directed by Mars and as it moves into Sagittarius on August 3, pushing toward Saturn,  Mars drives our efforts while Saturn sets the agenda; meanwhile Mercury tells us how to think, what to do and in what order.  With Mercury rabidly discerning every detail as Mars/Saturn look at the global landscape, things can get dicey.  The most effective way to manage these contrarian forces is to take turns with your efforts.  Like a painter, step back from the picture you are working on and see it in full, its entirety:  where you need to add, delete, edit, re-do…then, go to it, attend to the details in that sector of your life.

With the New Moon on August 2-3, if we align our thoughts and actions carefully, we are afforded an excellent opportunity to set the course and reap rewards over the next month.  This New Moon is wildly creative as it forms tremendous alliances with Saturn.  Think of it:  your creative urges and will (the Moon and Sun) are underscored by fiery Sagittarian Saturn responsibility to honor your truth, to do that which you believe in wholeheartedly.  At its core, that is Sagittarian energy:  philosophy, personal truth, belief, and understanding.  Joining creativity and personal philosophy is very powerful stuff.  Combine that with Messenger Mercury and Generous Jupiter in planner Virgo and you’ve got yourself super potent forces to work with.

This force is strengthened and highlighted as relationship-oriented Venus enters Virgo on August 6^th, the same day Mercury conjoins the Lunar North Node pulling us toward our goal. Mars/Saturn push us to dream BIG while Mercury/Venus/Jupiter/North Node in Virgo tell us exactly how to make that dream come true.  How to make it real.  This energy can feel daunting.  And, Virgo, because it sees every single detail in how much work there really is to fulfilling the dream, you can be riddled with self doubt or second guessing.  A word of advice here:  Don’t.   Just don’t.  Do not go down the path of doubt.  Remember, if you are aligned with positive action and know that you are given ideas and dreams for a reason, whether for self-improvement, positive life change, growth and development, only good can result.  The great news is that the Sun cycles through creative Leo well into August.  So it roars right back at all those naysayers, needling self-doubting thoughts and Negative Nellies dancing in your head.  The Leo Sun is can-do energy like no other.  It tells us to go ahead, step out into the world in a great big way and take up space.  This desire is particularly strong from August 10-18 when the Sun aligns beautifully with Radical Uranus.  Our ingenuity and creative engine is running full speed in whatever sector of your chart this alignment occurs.  Truly, breakthroughs are truly possible now; and with careful application of your will, change naturally follows.  

Strengthening this passage is Saturn turning direct motion on August 13.  We get a gigantic kick in the pants, telling us to get going with our Responsibility to fulfill our potential.  Our dharma and karma.  What we came to earth to accomplish.  All of these forces increasingly build up to the Full Moon on August 18^th.    This Full Moon bears a lot of helpful energy with it as North Node/Venus align with Pluto (transforming our relationships and what we focus on) and Messenger Mercury’s pairing with Jupiter (masterful touches to our work and projects).   The cautionary angle here is Mars/Saturn’s continuing conflict with illusory Neptune.   Mars/Saturn are hell bent searching for truth(s) we must face while Neptune reaches for the escape hatch.  There is a lot of disillusionment, wanting something else instead of what we have, refusal to accept the present moment in favor of wishful thinking.   Again, allow this conflicting energy to take turns:  continue to dream and work for the ideal (Neptune) but face the truth you are dealt with honesty.  Resisting or pushing against the flow is wholly a waste of time and energy.  If you do, you'll find yourself further and further behind in the game.

A note of warning here is global events.  As we know, we have free will and may direct our thoughts and energy anyway we want.  So it must be said that darker drives continue this month, driven by beliefs and personal philosophy (Mars/Saturn in Sagittarius).  Some such as ISIL clearly think their beliefs are right, correct, Holy, and the only path to embrace.  It is my sincere hope that the darker choices and paths are contained, this month and in the future.  Humanity is really being shown light and dark, goodness and evil in stark contrast now.  At few times in our history has there been such an increasing emphasis for the individual (and thus collective) to choose sides; and that one side is the correct side to stand on, stand up for.  This is dramatically playing out on the US political front.

As the days of August unfold, we are squeezed to make our choice.  If you are uncertain, be still, turn off the phone, listen to your heart; act in good faith and conscience.  Ask yourself which path leads to love, health, healing, grace, unity.  And which path divides, separates and leads to disconnection?   This is truly an auspicious time.  No hyperbole here.  As we face collective choices as a nation and world, so do we also on an individual level.  Will you stand up for yourself, your child, your employees, your community?

Enormously helping us all month long is a series of key planetary alignments in earthy Virgo with transformer Pluto in pragmatic Capricorn.  It keeps our feet on the ground and our minds and hearts realistic.  Given the times we live in, that is a very good thing.  First, on August 11, the Lunar North Node (our directional calling) and Messenger Mercury align with Pluto.  Our thoughts match our desires.  Next at mid-month, August 15-19, the North Node and Venus align with Pluto, fostering our relationships and desires, perfecting these, building healthy relations, whether to loved ones, work colleagues or ourselves.  This is highly useful energy, especially in sequence.  Use it to your full advantage.  It is a terrific time to plan anything:  travel, personal or work projects, self improvement goals.

Right around the Full Moon, Mercury/Jupiter oppose healer Chiron.  There is an emphasis on what we need to cleanse and release from our lives in order to heal, and in many cases, heal really old wounds such as toxic relationships, thought processes/traps, poor eating or exercise habits, finances and spending patterns.  With all of the Virgo planning energy, map out exactly how to revise areas of your life that do not work efficiently. 

By August 23, the Sun joins the troika in Virgo, aligning our will to our efforts.  We will need this very pragmatic, earthy energy focus as the Sun/North Node challenges Mars/Saturn squaring off with Neptune/South Node the last week of the month.  You may feel off–balance or thrown off-kilter by people and life events as August closes.   The point of this conflicting energy is to ground us, really push us to focus on what is real and what is most definitely not real.  With Mars/Saturn in the middle of the other two pairings, we are driven to find the truth of the matter, and of ourselves.  There is a whole lot of disillusionment and delusion to cut through here…a sorting through, gutting out and focused discerning to determine what is smoke and mirrors versus what is actual and factual. 

Ask:  where are others leading you on, deceiving you (at home, work, national politics).  Where are you misleading or kidding yourself?  Leading up to the Lunar eclipse on September 1, it feels like something really has to give, especially as Messenger Mercury turns retrograde on August 30.  For the first three weeks of September, we are offered a wonderful chance to review, revisit, repair and revise absolutely any part of our lives that is broken.  We are human and we make mistakes.  As much as Virgo quests for impossible perfection (chastising ourselves with full-blown self-flagellation as we go), it is also the Great Healer.  Tend to your wounds now, be they open and festering or old and scarred over.  It is time to get real.  Time to be healed.

All together now: Exhale.

Anxiety much?  Not typically a raucous month, June gave tension a whole new meaning.  Nothing you can exactly put your finger on either…so, what’s up?  Last month shoved a glaring light on all the kinks in our own lives as well as social ills plaguing humanity, manifesting in some truly ugly violence:  namely, the largest gun massacre in US history and even the UK with the murder of MP Jo Cox.  Underlying our efforts at civility and playing nicely, there are strong undercurrents tearing apart the fabric of our preferably neatly organized worlds.  Enough already we scream.

Fortunately, July eases us into love and healing.  The next four weeks softens a great deal of the anxiety we have felt building over the past two months.  First, Motivating Mars turned direct motion on the final day of June.  Have you been holding your breath since May, trying to get things done but spinning your wheels?  On July 1^st, exhale.   Breathe, baby, breathe.  All systems are go now.  Let it all out.  While some of the underlying tension still exists, three planets are now in nurturing Cancer, saying, go ahead, cry on my shoulder, relax on the beach, take a day or a week or two off and find out what feels good to you again.  As the Sun (our will), Venus (love and money) and Mercury (our thoughts and words) move through Cancer we find abundant TLC and compassion, and are encouraged toward much-needed self-care.  Lots of resources envelope us if we only look for them.  Cancer is crazy intuitive and the sentient power of this planetary troika is accentuated by its super helpful angle to Neptune and the Lunar South Node in psychic Pisces.  It’s like being guided by a gentle hand that knows exactly where you need to go.  NICE!

In addition, the first week of July, the same trio in Cancer make a beneficial alliance to Jupiter/Lunar North Node in Virgo.  That gentle hand guides us toward healing people, resources, projects that are just plain good for us.  Let the healing begin!  This energy is so needed after the hullabaloo and chaos of May and June.  We are given a plum opportunity for rest and body/mind/soul restoration during the first part of July.  Take advantage and make the most of this golden opportunity.  Water signs are terrific at tuning in, listening, diving deep.  Use this special time to quiet the voice in your head and truly hear what your soul is saying.  Hear what your loved ones are trying to tell you…for weeks or months.

July 4^th falls at the end of a long weekend in the United States and is especially advantageous as the New Moon occurs precisely on the national holiday.  Venus aligns beautifully with Mars as do Pluto and Jupiter/North Node, giving our relationships a boost of inner knowing and glow yet firmly and practically rooted in reality.  It is a New Moon with terrific potential for building the loving world we hope and long for, both individually and collectively.  Praying and setting intentions now are most powerful.

Now that Jupiter has shifted away from its challenging position to Serious Saturn in Sagittarius and Neptune/South Node in Pisces, there is less mental gymnastics, tension, worry and anxiety.  However, Saturn and Neptune are still dueling:  Saturn demands truth and justice while Neptune/South Node cleanse and clear away all disillusionment.  It’s like having your psyche run through a car wash.  Where we have misled ourselves or been led astray by others, honesty prevails now and insists on having its time through much of the fall.  Lies, even bare shading of the truth, are not tolerated now.  With our heightened intuition this month, we can feel the right thing to do, the next steps and wiser word choice to make.  Pay attention to your gut now as it is ringing with truth and showing you the way.  Jokesters and tricksters take note as your shenanigans will not get you very far.  The old rules are out, done with and done for.  Inhale a deep cleansing breath to clear away the cobwebs in your head.  Five planets in water signs during the first half of July offers us a delicious opportunity to wash away what doesn’t work, what we no longer need in our lives.

Also, the Venus-Sun-Mercury trio in Cancer draws our attention to home, family, food and mom.  With its alliances to Mars in Scorpio and Chiron in Pisces now, we can deep dive into family history/psychology to heal old wounds, do (significant and perhaps costly) repairs and renovations to our home, and develop new approaches to eating.  Our diet:  eating healthy (or not), regular and well-balanced meals, is one of the truths revealed to us now by the cosmic configurations.  Really, our bodies and minds are what we eat.  We must deal with it.  How much better would we feel if we consciously consumed healthfully prepared and proportioned platefuls instead of grab-n-go junk?

On July 12^th, our attention turns as Venus enters festive Leo, prompting us to find creative ways to make necessary changes to concerns raised in the first half of the month.  Two days later on the 14^th, Messenger Mercury joins Venus in Leo, adding a sense of humor to our thoughts and speech.  Leo is all about FUN, romance, taking chances we might not otherwise, and drama.  These next two weeks are great for going on vacation.  If you can’t take a whole week off, just a day will do a world of good now.  Go ahead and enjoy yourself.  Indulge.  Splurge on a new outfit (Leo is all about the clothes, hair and makeup) or new look.  Step outside your comfort zone.  You have cosmic permission. 

The Full Moon on July 19^th in pragmatic Capricorn lends a grounded realism to our inclinations.  It prods:  so you have an idea or two…well, how will you go about building that?  Creating the relationships you want?  Creating the self that you desire?  With the truth ripping off our rose-colored glasses, we see the bare bones of what it will take to create the life we desire.  This Full Moon shines a huge spotlight on your assets, greatest strengths and flaws/shadow to be turned into productive use.  Notice:  I did not say how to best hide your flaws or deal with your shadow.  There is no more of that now, says this Full Moon.  We are to use each last bit of our being, the good, bad and ugly, and apply it positively to heal ourselves, relationships and world.  It is high past time and so very, very needed.

By Friday, July 22^nd, the Sun moves into Leo, joining Venus and Messenger Mercury.  The party’s really hopping now.  For the next two weeks, all of the feelings and emotions churned up during the first part of the month turn externally, seeking creative outlets.  Use this energy wisely.  Now is the time to get inventive.  Your ideas take off now as the Leo planetary troika makes gorgeous angles to demanding Saturn.  Approach tasks adventurously.  Play.  Try something (or a strategy) you’ve never done before, individually, with family or friends.  We feel festive now.  Stir ideas for a creative project, taking all of those feelings provoked by the melee in May/June (possibly a lifetime of frustration) and channel smartly.  All systems are go now, so let the tiger out of its cage.  Paint, write, dance, cook, create your way to freedom and catharsis.

The final week of July finds Radical Uranus slowing down and preparing to turn retrograde on the 28^th.  In its groovy alliance with Messenger Mercury this last week of the month, we may find the answers we need to long-standing questions or problems, breakthroughs in relationships, work, science and the arts.  Creativity abounds heading into August.  We are so blessed with options, choices and solutions, and the courage to seize these.  So try them out and on unabashedly.  The last two-three weeks of July are truly a time to step out and strut.   The Pluto-Jupiter/North Node alliance provides enough practicality that we won’t take unnecessary or foolhardy risks.  Go ahead:  you can do it!  On the final days of the month, Messenger Mercury moves into Virgo, planning and preparing our future.  If nothing else, Virgo is efficiency personified.  Harness the creative engine and ideas you’ve developed then stand back and marvel out at your amazing results!   Yes, yes you can.