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COSMIC WEATHER REPORT JULY, 2008 The sign Mars is in gives a clue to how we tend to use our energy and assertiveness. Mars is in hard-working Virgo all month. Plunge into projects that put your life in good working order. You may find you have more patience and attention to detail than usual. Just don't get bogged down in details. Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are all in the down to earth, practical earth signs, helping us to make this a productive period. July over all appears to have a lot of positive potential for enjoying life and for accomplishment. There are no remarkable challenging astrological influences. Mercury has recently turned direct* and will return to the point where it turned retrograde, on July 4. We should be back on track and moving forward in our daily affairs. Four of the outer planets are retrograde all month, and this may mean that we tend to be somewhat introspective. WEEK BY WEEK: Week of June 29-July 6: At week's beginning we are in the quiet time before New Moon, time to finish projects, rest and plan the next cycle of activity. On Monday Mars is trine Pluto, an excellent time to direct concentrated effort to regenerate some stagnant area of your life. On Tuesday morning Mars enters Virgo; for the next two months we will thrive on detail work, cleaning, organizing and repairing anything in our path. Summer projects, look out! New Moon arrives Wednesday evening, 8:19 p.m. MDT. Sun, Moon and Venus are in Cancer, with Venus exactly opposite expansive, generous Jupiter. Give some thought to home and family, linger in the garden, cook dinner in, ring up friends or relatives you don't see enough of. Reaffirm nurturing connections. The Moon goes v.o.c. for the rest of the day at 2:13 p.m. on Thursday, July 3. You might as well start the long weekend then. It looks like a pleasant weekend, with perhaps an element of the unexpected on Friday-Saturday, and a thoroughly pleasant day on Sunday. Week of July 6-12: The Moon is on the increase all week, making this a good time to initiate new projects and move forward with ongoing activities. Sunday is especially benign, with sensitive and insightful communication enhanced by a trine of Mercury to Neptune, and fresh relating and new connections supported by a trine of Venus to Uranus. On Tuesday and Wednesday the Sun is opposite expansive Jupiter. This can be a good time to step out and live a little larger than usual. You're likely to feel positive and optimistic and find that your timing is right on and outcomes are good. Delays and misunderstandings tend to crop up Wednesday evening and Thursday. If that happens, be patient as you work things through. Reality checks are a part of life. The communication planet Mercury moves from airy Gemini to sensitive, vulnerable Cancer Thursday afternoon. We will tend to be more sensitive the next two weeks or so, until Mercury enters Leo on July 26. As this week draws to an end Venus, planet of relationship and esthetics, is at the end of sensitive Cancer. You or others may be particularly sentimental or clingy. Venus enters Leo early Saturday. We might expect to be more expressive of our feelings, more confident and outgoing, more dramatic and dashing. Week of July 13-19: We are building toward Full Moon on Friday, and energy levels and emotions are rising. Mercury aligns with Saturn and Mars from Sunday through Tuesday, supporting active, practical thought and discussion; at the same time the Sun is aligning with Uranus, supporting easy, unexpected change and innovation. The remainder of the week is colored by the Full Moon, exact at 1:59 a.m. MDT on Friday. This Full Moon looks pretty stressful as calculated for Washington, D.C. Pluto will be just setting, and Saturn will be directly underfoot, at the bottom of the chart. Security concerns and politics will be intensified, and evident in the news. Storms or forest fires may also be part of the national news; the "Sabian Symbol" for the degree the Sun is occupying is, "A furious storm rages through a residential canyon." The chart for the Full Moon in Albuquerque, where this forecast originates, also has an edge; the star Algol will be exactly on the eastern horizon. By far the most positive interpretation of Algol I've seen is "female passion and intensity." Think Medusa, for persons of either sex. This will probably merely show up on the 10:00 p.m. news for most of us. Still, do your best not to be on the 10:00 news, and keep your passion and intensity in a desirable and positive expression. This Full Moon has positive features, too, including the possibility of easy and unexpected breakthroughs and innovations. Focus on bringing this to fruition. Saturday brings the possibility of expanded communication, or lots and lots of talk and exaggeration, depending on what you do with the Mercury-Jupiter opposition occurring in early afternoon. Week of July 20-26: We are at the very end of the Sun's transit through Cancer as this week begins. Many of us will be unusually sensitive, perhaps sentimental and nurturing, possibly vulnerable and defensive. Channel that feeling into warmth and caring toward loved ones, and cooking or other domestic pursuits to make your nest and those in it comfortable and secure. The Sun enters sunny, confident Leo at 4:55 a.m. MDT Tuesday morning. It's time to play! We're headed into the last month of high summer, and it is time to take vacations, play in the sun, relax and enjoy life. Communication flows really well on Tuesday; Mercury is in positive alignment with Uranus. The Cancerian moodiness and sensitivity comes forward a bit later in the week as Mercury reaches the end of Cancer, before entering Leo before dawn Saturday. At that point the Sun, Mercury and Venus will all be in Leo. We may be a bit much in our confidence and expressiveness and creative flow, but we won't be shrinking violets! With four placements in fire and three in earth, we'll probably be experiencing a time of hard work and creativity. Go for it! On Saturday Mars in Virgo is trine Jupiter in Capricorn. You can really get a lot of practical accomplishment, channeling your boundless energy to material pursuits. Week of July 27-August 2: We are in the "dark of Moon" period, winding down the current lunar cycle as we come to New Moon and new cycle early Friday morning. This New Moon is also a Solar Eclipse. Eclipses are good for shifts in consciousness and for endings and new beginnings. Spend some time in introspection this week. In fact, this New Moon/Eclipse is just about the only noteworthy astrological influence going on this week. The Sun, Moon, Mercury and Venus are in Leo. With Pluto in Sagittarius, five of the ten bodies in the chart are in fire signs. Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are in earth signs. Fire and earth predominant make for sustained energy and high productivity. Be practical and flexible and collaborative. With all those Leo planets, everyone feels their kingly or queenly qualities. In Washington, the Sun and Moon will be exactly on the eastern horizon at the moment of Eclipse/New Moon. That falls very close to the President's Ascendant, Mercury and Pluto. It's probably nothing serious for him, and we'll probably not learn what insights he might enjoy, but we may just witness some powerful communication on his part. There may be some impatience and breaking out of routine patterns for all of us, for Mars is opposing Uranus. Venus opposite Neptune indicates some idealism in the mix. The Sabian Symbol for the Eclipse/New Moon degree is "Early morning dew sparkles as sunlight floods the field." Dane Rudhyar's keynote explanation continues, "The exalted feeling that rises within the soul of the individual who has successfully passed through the long night which has tested his strength and his faith." I sincerely hope that we might all feel that triumph and relief, including our President. August Preview: We begin the month with a preponderance of placements in fire and earth signs, a combination noted for its potential for sustained energy, action and productivity. By August 10, Mercury, Venus, Mars and Saturn will be in meticulous Virgo, with Jupiter in Capricorn bringing the total to five earth placements. This brings attention to our physical world, even while the Sun continues in creative, expressive, playful Leo. What a perfect time to balance work and play, including putting some aspect of your life in order. Work hard, play hard! The August 1 Solar Eclipse is followed by a Lunar Eclipse on August 16, which will not be visible in the United States. At first glance, this appears to be a fairly mild month. Enjoy the summer! *Regular readers of this column and others familiar with astrology know that all the planets occasionally appear to backtrack or "retrograde" in their orbits. A planet will slow down, appear stationary, and then appear to slip backward for a period of a few weeks or months before again appearing stationary and then resuming apparent forward motion. Of course the planet is not actually reversing direction but only appears to do so due to its motion relative to Earth's. Nonetheless, we do feel the effects of these shifts. When a planet is at its "station" or stationary point, the planet's energies are emphasized; when retrograde, its energies are more internalized. The cycle looks like this. The planet is going forward, and affairs of the planet are moving forward normally. As the planet slows and turns stationary, those matters related to the planet become emphasized in our lives, and significant developments may take place. Then those matters ebb in our outer lives for a while, as we internally digest those developments and realizations and integrate them into our lives during the retrograde. Later, the planet again goes stationary, coming back to the forefront of our awareness, and then "turns direct," resuming apparent forward motion as we again move forward with those matters related to the planet. Mercury takes a little three-week retrograde cycle approximately every four months. Our daily affairs slow down and get complicated. Communications get tangled, computers flake out, automobiles break down and travel arrangements fall into disarray, a comedy of scheduling mishaps occur, and things pretty much slow to a crawl. It's really a great time to slow down and regroup, to finish projects and catch up on unfinished business. Just try not to launch your big project, or sign on the dotted line for a new contract, job, car, or whatever unless you really need to. Try to get those things moving before the retrograde, and shepherd things patiently along during the retro cycle, knowing that some things may not completely come together until Mercury turns direct. If you are making significant moves during the Mercury retrograde period, just know that some things will have to be straightened out after the direct. **Moon void of course occurs when the Moon has made all the aspects or alignments it will make while in the sign it's in, and is just "marking time" without real momentum. The Moon goes through a sign in 2 to 2 ? days, so consequently it also goes v.o.c. every couple of days as well, sometimes for only a few minutes or more likely hours, but sometimes for more than a day. Things initiated during a v.o.c. tend to meander off and arrive at a destination other than what was planned. Void of course periods are well used in completing tasks or doing routine chores, or in resting, meditating, and planning for future activities. I teach astrology classes in Albuquerque (available by tape if you're out of town) and will be starting a beginning class soon. I am available for personal consultations and forecasts, either in person or by telephone. I also offer comprehensive computer chart services, providing charts, transit calendars, and computer interpretations. I invite your feedback on this column and am available to answer simple astrology questions. Be in touch! Please feel free to share this forecast with your friends. Just be sure to include my name and contact information: Sandy Bryan, Astrologer (505) 255-5001 Happy Life! | |
