Insights for the Month of Leo
July / August 2020
July 22
Sun enters Leo: 4:36 AM EDT
Mercury sextile Uranus
I am in the habit of watching the Sun rise. Lately I see the Earth bowing, head bent, skirts collected, soft knees, less like a curtsy, more like at the end of qigong when we honor the teachers and the teachings. Her arms outstretched as She, the Earth, offers her life to Life. Maybe this is the human problem. We don’t bow to the Sun. We lack the humility that should be innate in us as a life form born of a body into a body. As the Earth makes her offerings to the Sun for the next month we do well to consider the difference between self-important, narcissistic engagement with the world (all the rage at the moment it seems) and self-confident engagement which arises out of self-esteem. What is required of a true king? Nobility, and a deep devotion in service to the people. Possibly the time of kings is coming to an end, but there will always be the Sun.
This month the Sun will encounter Chiron, Mars, Uranus Mercury and of course, as always the Moon at New and Full.
Today in particular is also a day for clever solutions. A good day to allow yourself to learn something practical. Maybe you are the 100th monkey.
July 27
Jupiter sextile Neptune
Venus square Neptune
Mercury square Mars
Grace isn’t something you can count on. It springs up or showers down in ways and at times when we expect nothing. Often we are oblivious to it, which is why it’s so useful to cultivate a habit of gratitude. Human beings can be unaccountably mean to one another as well as kind and concerned. We are collectively riveted to horrible events, less so to the good. If we were aliens, studying these things from afar they might be fascinating. As it stands, however, we are each and every one of us challenged to awaken from the delusion that allows us to believe that life is not precious as well as to be kind, even when we are scared.
July 30
Mercury opposite Jupiter
Mercury square Neptune
Refrain if possible from harsh judgments and assumptions but don’t lose the ability to discriminate. For example it isn’t necessary to be contemptuous of people who eat KFC although you might not eat it yourself. It’s so easy to spread contempt across the things you disdain, more difficult to allow for all sorts of differences.
July 31
Sun trine Chiron
Yesterday’s observation was based on feelings (water). Today the message might be the same bit it’s coming from the heart of wisdom – fire.
August 1
Mercury opposite Pluto
Investigate. Take nothing and no one at face value. Which isn’t the same as not trusting. You are simply choosing to put your trust in your own ability to know what you feel. Feelings aren’t always the best guide to action but they are always true in that they are how we feel.
August 2
Sun square Uranus
Let go of all attachments (ha!) if only for a split second. Like a blinding flash of light or a child returning home after a day of vigorous play.
August 3
Full Moon: 11 degrees Aquarius: 11:59 AM EDTMercury opposite Saturn
The sometimes full Moon rises as the always full Sun sets. Drama in the heavens: Spectacle in fact: A dance humans have been contemplating for eons. Does the Sun choose to make room for the Moon so she can illuminate the night? Has the Moon vanquished the Sun and claimed dominion over the night sky (if only for a few days)? Have they simply come to the part of the dance where one rises as the other sets? Do they miss each other but understand? The world is constantly changing. Nothing lasts forever. You tell yourself the story of what you see, based on your conditioning which becomes your perspective. As you look around and see a whole planet telling itself a story, it might be a good time to consider which story you would like to use to guide your way through the changes.
August 4
Mars square Jupiter
Mercury enters Leo
This manic struggle for progress as well as dominance exhausts us all. Where you notice an over-the-top kind of energy, see if it’s possible to turn reactions to responses and be more strategic than impulsive. Such is the challenge for the next 4 months. Think creatively, act with forethought.
August 7
Venus enters Cancer
Venus is done with Gemini and all that happened during the retrograde period (May 13 – June 25). It’s up to us to see if we can even remember what we learned about the way grief can turn to rage and how acknowledgment of that becomes determination. Consider the murder of George Floyd and all that erupted from it. There are so many ways to offer nourishment to the world: something of value. Your own way, of course.
August 9
Mercury trine Chiron
Could it be that we are meant to learn that the overt or covert violence we do to others we also do to ourselves? And conversely every act of kindness is a healing for all?
August 10
Mercury square Uranus
If you learned something yesterday, apply it today by staying connected to your heart even as the world tilts and careens down roads of chaotic change. Chaos is (just) change moving too fast.
August 13
Mars square Pluto
Today or thereabouts could be the second most tense day of August (The first being August 4th when Mars squared Jupiter). Awakening to outrage against or at those who have so mismanaged our world is painful and activates response or reaction in each one of us. Step away from the pressure cooker but not before you turn down the heat.
August 15
Uranus stationery retrograde
We know – we all know – that change is inevitable. People grow up, grow old, die. So does everything else. Seasons change. Some call it impermanence. To have real presence, to exist in the Here! and the Now! is like standing in the middle of a flowing river, a place where movement and stillness are one. Meanwhile, humans don’t seem to like change, especially the kind they don’t think they chose. What Uranus does is turn on the lights. Some get the still point at the center of the wheel, others spin out on the rim. Same wheel.
August 16
Sun trine Mars
Venus square Chiron
“Courage is not about changing anything or grasping for some better state. It’s the valor of being truly present.” Jospeh Goldstein
August 17
Mercury trine Mars
Mercury conjunct Sun
If you were born today you would most likely have an innate ability to listen to your heart’s truest desire and have it propel your actions. For the rest of us the day offers the very same possibility, to let love itself propel our actions, if only for a fleeting moment.
August 18
New Moon: 26 degrees of Leo 10:41 PM EDT
Venus sextile Uranus
Everywhere there is this thing called suffering which we must bear – for ourselves as well as others. On our way, back to that garden we imagine and long for we encounter endless, innumerable opportunities to alleviate this suffering in small and bigger ways. Might as well… If you’re awake after 10:41 PM even if you awaken in the night – make an affirmation to use your heart to turn your will toward love, every chance you get.
August 19
Mercury enters Virgo
Mercury is well placed in Virgo and will encourage us as it travels through Virgo to see horses not zebras Which is to say that we will understand best that which we see as it presents itself, rather than how it makes us feel or what we think it should or could be. The more practical and grounded our understanding, the better the outcome.