The month of August begins on a high note. We are feeling the impetus of the Leo New Moon on the 29th – 30th of July. Fun, fun, fun can be the keyword for this fortnight period and accentuated on the 1st of August with Venus trine Uranus, the Sun square Jupiter.
We are in FUN mode and willing to enjoy ourselves no matter the cost. And costs there can be. We may be indulgent, take our eyes off our budget, all with the idea of ‘let’s live for today’ as captured in the 1967 classic song by The Grass Roots.
The 2nd of August has Mercury turning retrograde, this retrograde cycle continuing into the 26th of the month, with Mercury tracing back through early Virgo and back into Leo on the 8th. Our ability to analyze and reason could become lost to our desires and our focus on summertime fun. Due diligence might go out the window, as we embrace whatever appeals to us with little satiation.
The first week of August may prove the case for ‘let the good times roll’.
Mars moves into Cancer trines Neptune on the 3rd. Neptune exits Pisces and moves back into Aquarius on the 4th, a day when Mercury also sextiles Mars. And the 5th has Venus square Jupiter and the Sun sextile Saturn, followed up by Venus sextile Saturn on the 7th.
This first week of August can highlight our summer re-creational plans. Getting to the beach, staying down by the pool, reconnecting with old friends can all play a part of our first week of August. This would be a good time for us to take a breather, recharge our batteries and just enjoy ourselves.
But the volatility of these times can become evident as we move from the first week of August into the second week of August. The energy shifts from highly pleasurable events to begin the month to some real pushes and pulls during the second week of the month.
This second week could be extreme with liabilities towards poor judgment, impulsive actions even to the point of accidents and explosions. Mercury exits its own Sign of Virgo and goes back into Leo on the 8th, where it opposes Neptune. Mars transiting Cancer triggers the Cardinal Climax with Mars square Uranus on the 9th and Mars opposed Pluto on the 11th. The Leo Full Moon is on the 13th.
Nothing may be done in half measure during this second week of August. Actions taken may be miscalculations with a tendency to push the envelope and go overboard. People may be on edge and we might witness explosive events. Now is a time for us not to react to any situation without taking the time to have full disclosure regarding what is really going on. We might feel confused, hoodwinked and with little information, even false information, leap forward without considering the circumstances or the conditions.
The second week of August could prove the most volatile of the month, for things seem to start to level out as we come into mid-month. The third week of August could have us licking our wounds, and taking the time to focus on our personal interests that give us pleasure and prove a nice antidote to the extremes of these times.
To assume that directions in place will last a lifetime, a season, a month or even more than a moment’s shift and change would be setting ourselves for grave disappointment and a liability to one of those whacks on the side of the head [can we call it the universe’s way of giving us a wakeup call?].
The 16th of August ramps our desire for good times as the Sun, Mercury and Venus all come together in Leo to emphasize: PARTY!
Whether a party of one or a gaggle of many, this mid-August period entices us to focus on having fun, doing our own thing and quite possibly engaging a certain narcissism whereby we expect the world to revolve around ourselves. Seems to me like a potential set-up for a greater fall [not Autumn but the fall of the ego and the fall from grace].
This sense of entitlement can be reinforced on the 18th when Mars sextiles Jupiter. We may look to spend, spend, spend with some of our expenses associated with our home, family matters, a personal makeover, all with the justification that we are preparing for the return of routine as we come towards the Autumn period.
Unfortunately, clarity may be lacking, or not engaged during this time. Whatever we want, we may feel we richly deserve. The richly, however, could come with a hefty price tag and, if we are not careful, we can find ourselves digging a bigger hole of debt. Let’s not go there!
While the third week of August could be something of a Summer respite, reminiscent of summertimes past when we frolicked and played without a care in the world, the fourth week of August ratchets the energy up severalfold. Perhaps we are back to school or certainly in preparation mode to get back into our normal routine. But the energy from the 21st into the 28th could keep us hopping, at times confused, other times following the yellow brick road.
The potential for tricksters appearing could loom large on the 21st and 22nd, as Venus opposes Neptune on the 21st and the Sun opposes Neptune on the 22nd. Whether the trickster is someone we like and trust or our own delusions and grand expectations, we could be vulnerable to specious promises and possibilities that seem too good to be true and are too good to be true. These configurations occur just as both Venus and the Sun are about to exit Leo and before entering Virgo, Venus on the 21st, the Sun on the 23rd.
Our appetites could get the better of us and we might feel deceived or tricked into believing something that has little basis in reality. We may not be especially clear at this time and, if in deed something does occur whereby we feel victimized and taken advantage of, we could find ourselves pulling the plug on certain contacts and relationships.
Mars squares Saturn and Venus trines Pluto on the 25th, a day before Mercury ends its retrograde cycle to turn direct on the 26th. While there might be pulls on us regarding other people’s needs, or demands, we are ready, willing and able to focus on what we need and what we want.
The Venus trine Pluto is a brief introduction to the Virgo New Moon on the 28th – 29th when the New Moon configuration creates a Grand Trine in the Earth Element with the Virgo New Moon trine Pluto in Capricorn and also trine Jupiter in Taurus. Impacting the fortnight, these next two weeks could see us highly productive, back on the fast track, and focusing on the most significant aspects of our lives. We want to cut to the core, be expeditious in the way we do things and concentrate on getting things done.
Although we get quite a thrust of energy from this New Moon, we do have to be wary of feeling invincible and overloading ourselves assuming that we are Superman or Superwoman.
Venus trines Jupiter on the 30th, just as Jupiter is turning retrograde. Excess could be strong and especially in regard to our shopping for what we believe our needs to be for the new school year or for our getting back into our regular routine.
August continues with the ups and downs of these times, the volatility of dynamic changes with highs and lows engaging the extremes. While we can carom between opposite polarities in our moods and in our actions, we are being asked to find a balancing point in a constantly changing and energetically challenging phase of transformation, the alchemical process necessary to adjust to the paradigm shift.
August… naked unto the world, the emperor with no clothes…
