August 2012

Early August continues with some wonderful surprises and good times. We may feel like we are on a carousel of fun get-togethers with old friends and new friends alike. We are certainly up for social interactions and exciting fun events.

We begin the month of August with the Aquarius Full Moon on the 1st, followed on the 2nd with the Sun sextile Jupiter. We are upbeat, confident, loving life, exuberant, enthusiastic, optimistic and… maybe a little too high on life.

But it’s summer and despite the print and media ads hawking back to school supplies, we want to enjoy ourselves, have fun, take downtime, swig back a few beers or sip on sweet tea [a southern thing I’ve become aware of], and watch the Olympics or participate in our own Olympic-style recreational activities, even if that just means lying back at the seashore or strolling by the lakefront.

To borrow from two popular songs of yore [at least in my memory banks if not yours], ‘nothing is too good for my baby’ [the 1956 song sung by Louis Prima and Keely Smith] ‘and nuttin’s plenty for me’ [song by George and Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward for their 1935 opera Porgy and Bess]. If we don’t have to do much, except possibly feel regal, then that is likely to be our flavor for the early part of August.

We may be chatting up a storm with all the Air in place and we could be considering a wide range of future prospects. We might feel invincible or, at least, on the lucky side of the street [all the while that we are walking on the sunny side of the street].

Yeah, life is grand and so are we in this early part of August.

On the 7th of August, Venus exits Gemini to enter Cancer. Our interests may become more focused on home and family. Perhaps we have been mesmerized by the print and television ads with their back to school ringing the bell and making us aware that autumn is fast approaching. We could decide to start putting together our autumn wardrobe, sprucing up our home and taking care of family needs.

On the 8th, Mercury ends its retrograde cycle. Can we get a hallelujah? This Mercury retrograde has created for some, even many, various hiccups with disruptions to travel plans, miscommunications, misunderstandings and possibly having us even making some bone-headed decisions and actions. If we haven’t addressed any miscommunications or heated exchanges and unintended slights that might have occurred during this Mercury retrograde cycle, then the first few days of Mercury direct could provide us the energy to do so.

On the 9th, Venus trines Neptune. We may feel as though our life is idyllic. We might decide to spend time around our home, creating a sanctuary and just enjoying the comforts of our living space. Everything and everyone can take on a rose-colored hue. We might even question whether what we see is clear reality or the glasses we are wearing that illuminates everything in such a perfect light. Although we could feel as though everything is right in our world, that we have encountered the princes and princesses of the world, and that everything is going our way, it would be wise for us to maintain some semblance of connection with reality. Let’s remember that during these volatile times, things can shift quickly and dramatically. And we may not have to wait too long for a shift in how we perceive our relationships.

The mid-August period could prove dicey as Venus transiting through Cancer trips off the Cardinal Sign T-Square with Venus opposed Pluto on the 15th, the same day that Mars conjuncts Saturn, and Venus square Uranus on the 16th. These days are days when we might choose to walk softly, not ruffle any feathers, yet still with a recognition that even our best efforts of diplomacy could go for naught. People may have an edge on, feel overtired and sense that the summer is fast drawing to a close. As if everyone is walking around with a chip on their shoulder, pleasantries can be lost to intensities and well thought out moves could give way to knee-jerk reactions. The idolization of a week before is lost as everyone is seen with feet of clay. We could be a little jaded and that energy might continue on through much of the rest of the month.

The Leo New Moon on the 17th of August can prove the last gasp of summertime, as we straddle recreational activities with the getting back to work impulse. With the New Moon configuration of Sun Moon conjunction sextile both Saturn and Mars, we may be energized for late summer parties and get-togethers. Romance might be in the air and we are looking to put our best foot forward to all those with whom we come into contact. Fun may be on our mind and especially with our loved ones and that special person, or those special people, in our lives.

This New Moon also feels the Mercury trine Uranus exact on the 18th, and we may be open for exciting adventures and extolling our virtues to any receptive audience. Insights and revelations might flood our mind and make us aware of options and alternatives we had yet to consider.

With the Leo New Moon, however, we also have the influence of the Cardinal Sign T-Square with Venus opposed Pluto and Venus square Uranus. Although we are looking toward the last gasps of summer before we have to get back on the track of our regular routine, plans may go awry. We may enjoy some of our interactions, but others might seem just too much work with people chopping and changing their intentions, possibly hanging us up and certainly creating a minefield of irritation.

Social gatherings committed to long before can seem more an obligation than something we are looking forward to. We would far prefer to be footloose and fancy free and engage whatever captures our fancy. We could even justify blowing off some long planned engagement with the idea that we are being very zen-like and ‘in the moment’.

Certainly this two-week period between the Leo New Moon on the 17th and the Pisces Full Moon on the 31st can be a whipsaw between exciting adventures with fun times and demanding obligations that could be so easy to blow off.

Schools are starting and we may be more focused on getting back into harness of our regular routine.

The Sun moves into Virgo on the 22nd, and we might start to concentrate even more on our responsibilities and our usual obligations. We may feel summer drawing to a close as we prepare to return to our usual daily routine.

The 23rd of August has Mars entering its own Sign of Scorpio. Intensity can be ratcheted up again. There can be a sense of ‘take no prisoners’ with people doing whatever they can, and feel they need to, in order to achieve their desires. More things may be operating behind the scenes, in a secretive manner, than total transparency or things operating out in front.

Actions taken can be swift and brutal, but our focus may not be clear-headed due to the Sun Neptune opposition on the 24th. No matter whether we are clear-headed or confused, we may thrust ahead in whatever meets our fancy with the Mars Scorpio, Mars trine Neptune on the 26th and Sun trine Pluto on the 29th.

Waves of action – reaction can be strong at the end of August. We may be convinced of right action, whether right or not, and then launch forward with little regard to the conditions or circumstances but solely with regard to our intentions. It would be wise for us to be wary, take braking action, for otherwise we might be so singularly focused that we engage the sentiment ‘fools rush in where angels fear to tread’.

At the time of the Blue Moon, the Pisces Full Moon on the 31st of August, Mercury exits Leo to enter its own Sign of Virgo. Although our analytical and reasoning abilities would be strong with Mercury in Virgo, they are dulled by the Mercury opposed Neptune exact on the 1st of September.

The end of August may ratchet up the energy, engage our passion, stirrup our determination, but the energy could easily get ahead of us and then away from us. We might proceed forward with great intent but with no direction and a modest itinerary. We may be so wrapped up in movement that we forget where we are going. Excessive confidence and exuberant optimism can create a folly’s journey where we expend a great deal of energy but with few positive results.

Even though August is a full month of summer, we may feel the glow of summer recreational activities burns bright during the first half of the month and then flickers in the second half of the month, replaced by a strident intensity with an attitude of ‘get it done’.

August 2012… two different worlds…