Insights for Leo
July 22
Sun enters Leo: 04:06 PM EDT
Who can say? Maybe God really was a Leo. Maybe the world was created in the Age of Leo. Maybe history really began when humans discovered the golden light of the Sun buried deep within the earth. Fanciful speculations: As useful as angels on the head of a pin.
Leo reminds us of the power of heat and light, the unique gift of fire which humans may have indeed stolen from the gods and used for our own ends. Fire cooks and burns. Warms and destroys. Leo reminds us, at best, of courage, confidence and the great gold of a loving heart. We believe that ‘love’s the only engine of survival’ .
Leo is also the will. That part of us that wants ‘absolute control over every living soul’. This love that we believe in doesn’t keep bombs from falling or children from starving. It hasn’t kept the climatic thermostat from rising. It hasn’t protected the trees. There are an infinite number of possible futures, they say. Yet we feel the closing of options. It’s impossible to sort. We could keep it simple and explore more graspable Leo things such as creativity, self-expression and the way the Sun radiates light and heat no matter what we get up to down below. We might even offer gratitude to the beauty of Sun rises and sets. We could do something to help the children.
As the Sun journeys through Leo it will square Uranus and oppose Saturn (10th – 14th of August), reminding us of the ‘rock and the hard place’ theme of 2021- 2022. Standing in our frustrations we might also consider the wisdom that ‘this too shall pass’ as the Sun trines Jupiter and Chiron (July 30 – August 8) promising change and the possibility of the kind of joy that comes from wisdom. (see specific dates below)
July 23
Mercury trine Jupiter
Have a little fun. Be creative. Play your favorite sport. Take a risk. Fall in love. Seize the day! Live forever if only for a moment.
July 25
Venus square Jupiter
If there can be too much of a good thing it would be today. Exceeding good fortune can easily slip through your fingers. Enough is as good as a feast.
July 26
Mercury square Mars
That which refuses to move or change is best regarded with curiosity. Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and only annoys the pig.
July 27
Mercury trine Chiron
The wisdom of the benefits of not biting the hook is obvious today.
July 28
New Moon: 05 degrees Leo: 01:55 PM EDT
Jupiter stationery retrograde
Mercury square Uranus
Today’s we could practice getting out of our own way by accepting our glorious uniqueness without making ourselves out to be more precious than another living thing. It’s an idea whose time has come and it’s a lot easier to agree with it than it is to actually live it. To make this our point of origin for all intentions this month helps us live with true self-esteem and confidence.
July 31
Mercury opposite Saturn
Venus square Chiron
Sun trine Jupiter
What happened to time? Some days it seems to be consumed by an unfriendly and invisible force. We all have our theories, no doubt. Meet this challenge with an open heart with confidence in your intuition. The practice of radical self-acceptance makes it possible even when it isn’t easy!
August 1
Mars conjunct Uranus
Explosive tensions can be chaotic but the possibility of real change is up close and personal as well.
August 2
Venus sextile Mars and Uranus
The opportunity that knocks may be a one-time offer. You can tell if it’s good if it’s grounded and sustains (your) life.
August 4
Mercury enters Virgo
Time to put newly aquired skills into practice. If the markets are full of food consider how you might preserve some for winter. You might dry or freeze things. If you’re more adventuresome you could learn how to preserve things in jars. If you’ve never done this before, all the better. You have so much to learn! Mercury isn’t always a trickster. In Virgo it loves us to be clever in ways that keep us healthy.
August 7
Venus trine Neptune
Mars square Saturn
Dreams take us to a world of possibility: A beautiful and just world which we believe, deep inside, is possible. Reality offers circumstances which require that we work hard for what we want. It presents us with a shovel and demands that we dig. Dreams uplift, reality grounds. Grace and gravity are a perfect pair just like above and below. Some see them as contrasting others as complementing, which is to say they perfect each other. Your choice.
August 8
Sun trine Chiron
In your exact situation, what would a wise person do? The greatest wisdom generally comes from direct experience. We don’t forget these lessons. Life is the teacher, we are the students. One person’s wisdom can be another person’s frustration. Stay in your own lane, on your own path for this one.
August 9
Venus opposite Pluto
The painful clash between what we want and the consequences of having it are clear. The ‘us and them-ness’ of trying to work this out is all too familiar and needs to transform. It falls to those of us, alive and aware, to do the work of this necessary shift in perspective. If we refuse the ‘us and them’ position how can we manage our challenges? Start where you are. Remind yourself of all that you value. Listen to the body. Accept what you hear. Respect the power of Life in all its diverse forms. The Great Mother loves all her children equally. The Crown of Creation belongs to Her, not us.
August 10-11
Full Moon: 19 degrees Aquarius 09:35 PM EDT
Sun square Uranus
Venus enters Leo
Mars sextile Neptune
The frustration of a willing heart in a time of overwhelming change is felt by many. We are living in a time when ‘things seem to slide in all directions’ and the center isn’t quite holding. The wisdom of our poet who said, “Love’s the only engine of survival” makes more, not less sense. Doing what love requires can’t be wrong.
August 14
Sun opposite Saturn
Mars trine Pluto
If we’ve learned one thing in these years of the rock and the hard places as well as ‘real things’, it might be this: If it’s in the way, it is the way. Saturn likes that. Circumstance is the most powerful teacher especially if the student is willing. That’s us. To be empowered by this kind of wisdom equips us for the situations we encounter. These are our times.
August 16
Mercury trine Uranus
There are times that call for innovation which is not the same as the relentless pressure of progress. We won’t get where we are going by simply leaning in and pushing through. A wiser approach might be to use our tool making abilities and repurpose as much as we can in an effort to inhabit the world in an embodied way. We are physical beings.
August 18
Venus trine Jupiter
Inspiration, creativity: Head first. Every creative risk is a birth.
August 20
Mars enters Gemini
Later this year Mars will journey through its retrograde phases. This will take place in the sign of Gemini. Mars is the warrior as well as the terrorist. Mars is vitality as well as belligerence. Living as we do in the Great Round of Being, inhabiting the cycles of seasons and planets, we will be reminded again and again that actions speak louder than words even as we know that the pen (or the font) is mightier than the sword. Gemini loves a paradox. We might start looking for indications of this even now.
August 21
Mercury opposite Neptune
If you are confused by a sense that there is more to your embodied, mundane existence; if you are longing to find meaning in beauty, in nature, in time, you are resonating with today’s aspect. Be still, right where you are, close your eyes and listen to the hum of everyday existence: The beat of your heart, the songs of birds, the clatter and clang of the city surrounding you. Open your eyes and see the flutter of wings, the to and fro of squirrels, maybe the wind in the trees. It’s alive. Just like you. Life itself is full of meaning, of beauty, of everything and nothing.