Insights for the month of Leo
July 22nd
Sun enters Leo 06:01 AM
Jupiter sextile Uranus
Mercury sextile Mars
There were those who believed that the world was created when the Sun was in Leo. Undoubtedly they were Leos. There are those who have big hearts and loud voices. They love it when you pay attention to them. There are also the cowardly lions and the ones who hide their light wishing someone would find it. What are we to learn from Leo? Possibly the greatest lesson here is the difference between true pride and narcissistic self aggrandizement. It’s all about full heart: the Sun above; the very heart of our solar system. Love itself. Too much and we burn too little and we freeze.
Today is loaded with opportunity to act on your thoughts and aspire to great things. The more heart, the better.
July 24th
Mercury (retrograde) sextile Jupiter
Creative thinking wins the day. It’s really OK to be honest and clever. If you have something to advertise or promote today is great for supremely clever ideas. A little introspection before sharing such brilliance goes a long way.
July 25th
Mercury (retrograde) trine Uranus
Stuff happens and the stuff that happens becomes the thread with which we weave the tapestry of our lives. You can’t keep stuff from happening but you can decide how you want the tapestry to look. Be bold and think outside the prescribed design, no matter what the circumstances. All change starts with ideas.
July 28th
Mercury (retrograde) conjunct the Sun
A day of mystery; the kind that hides in plain sight. Powerful minds centered in the heart can create huge change. Be fearless when it comes to the heart/mind connection.
July 31st
Sun Trine Uranus
Venus trine Saturn
Do the heart math and while you’re at it don’t waste time on distractions. Aim thoughts at what has true value. Making an effort with your intellect might impress someone; even yourself.
August 1st
Full Moon: 11:28 PM EDT 10 degrees Aquarius
Summer is in full force. We have sunlight and moonlight for 24 hours straight today. Although you may not be aware of it this week is midway between the longest day and the equinox when the night and day are perfectly equal. From here to there the Sun begins to lose strength. Day is still longer than night but each and every day this becomes a little less. Lughnasadh is time to celebrate the harvest as you prepare to work with all you have to bring it in for the winter. A full moon at this time increases the need for celebration. Let us appreciate the harvest; the actual one that will feed us through winter and the symbolic one that will do a similar task for our spiritual selves. There is true magic when we can hold the notion of winter in summer.
The full moon encourages us to open our hearts to each other and allow our expectation to be for love and friendship.
August 2nd
Sun sextile Jupiter
Take every opportunity to share your good fortune with someone. If you feel you are bereft of fortune consider this little poem:
“If thou of fortune be bereft,
and in thy store there be but left
two loaves, sell one, and with the
dole, buy hyacinths to feed thy soul.”
August 7th
Venus enters Cancer
At last Venus leaves the mercurial territory of Gemini and enters Cancer. Usually Venus commonly doesn’t spend much time in one sign but all things common are suspended when Venus goes retrograde. She was in Gemini from April 3rd until today. In that time we had the Transit of Venus; the descent and transformation of the Queen of Heaven from evening to morning star. Now, as she enters Cancer we can look back over what this was all about from a safe distance and with a different perspective. Life is more like a kaleidoscope than a story with a relatively predictable plot line. Everything changes depending on where you are standing or when you turn the eyepiece. Venus in Cancer nudges us to be proactive regarding the security of ourselves and those we care about and for. It’s a time when pleasure is often found in the simple comforts of life. Even so we are not meant to take these comforts for granted. We may not be aware of Venus in Cancer themes until she interacts with another planet – for example on the 9th.
August 8th
Mercury stationery direct: 1:40 AM EDT
Silence goes faster backwards and so does time when we don’t speak. Silence plus Mercury retrograde is a powerful recipe for the surfacing of strong memories. But now the little trickster of the solar system appears to be standing still and getting ready to burn like a fire through your creative process. It is more or less up to you how that fire burns. We might say that memory is the fuel that feeds the fire. What have you remembered or felt nostalgic about since July 14th? How can you use these thoughts and feelings to move forward? Let the show begin!
August 9th
Venus trine Neptune
The Gods are at it. You can almost taste it (whatever “it” is). You deeply believe it is possible although you have no proof. No one can prove it in fact. But you know, deep inside where things are known that this is true (whatever “this” is). It must be. It has to be. Actually, it is. It is totally true on the feeling level: Which is different than image or action. The truth facing you today does not need to be proven nor acted upon. It simply cries out to be known.
August 15th
Venus opposite Pluto
Mars conjunct Saturn
You may go down the 20,000 roads * and they will all take you to the same place. You may think you don’t want ‘that’ place (this place). Maybe it’s not about what you want or don’t want. Maybe it’s just about the work. Get out the tools. Do what has to get done. Salute the Grievous Angel.
*(sorry about the short ad at the beginning…)
August 16th
Venus square Uranus
When love is too soft; too sweet; too secure along comes a wave to crash on the shore and spray sea foam or, even worse, pull you under. Do not waste time bemoaning love’s akimbo manifestation. It’s simply the storyline. You can’t always get what you want and sometimes it just doesn’t matter what you need either.
August 17th
New Moon 11:56 AM EDT 25 degrees of Leo
Sun sextile Saturn
A new day, a new cycle begins. Our intentions are always important but even more so is the energetic field we inhabit as we state those intentions. Open the heart to this world and everything in it. Practice making affirmative statements. Whether you like it or know it, you exist in the field.
August 18th
Mercury trine Uranus
You made it through the Mercury retrograde period during which you sorted out something about your creative impulses (and possibly what blocks them). Now it’s time to follow the impulse; to boldly go where no man or woman has gone before. One of the things astrology is quite clear about is that each and every moment is unique in its particular identity. So is your creative inclination; truly no one can do it the way you do.
August 20th
Sun sextile Mars
The will is an amazing thing: Today put will in service to your big, kind, compassionate heart. Only good can come of such actions.