The hot days of August have started out with a bang as Mars, the God of War, collides with Saturn, the disciplinarian, in a square that occurred first on Tuesday, the 31st of July, and again on the 1st of August and today, the 2nd of August. We are seeing this play out on the world stage with escalated violence in Iraq, and the collapse last night of the bridge in Minneapolis. (Mars rules steel) On an individual level tempers flare along with the heat, and you may find yourself in a frustrating situation, or an unexpected augment with a friend, spouse or co-worker, or you could end up in a situation seething in silence. Better to walk away for a few
days, or take time to think things through before making snap decisions, quitting your job, or saying something you may regret tomorrow. The energy will be generally restrictive. with a feeling of repressiveness, that can build into an explosion,
internally or externally, but particularly externally. Bear in mind, the person who is frustrating you, is also experiencing the same frustration as you on some level. Help comes today, August 2nd, in the form of a trine between the Sun and Jupiter. It will give us optimism, and generosity of spirit, and it will make us more inclined to help each other, and look to the bigger picture. So, just when you're ready to explode, look deeper at the situation,and expand the possibilities of what can be. By the 3rd the God of War starts to move on, and the mood of things will start to change, and people will relax more. The Mars-Saturn energy will be felt the most by Leo's born on the 18th, 19th, and 20th of August, Tauruans, born on the 14th, 15th,16th, of May, and Aquarians born on the 14th, 15th and 16th of February, or anyone who has personal planets being effected by this square.
Venus, the Goddess of Love, is retrograde all month, giving everyone a chance to reflect upon their love life. On the 8th of August, Venus enters Leo, the most romantic of signs, where it will stay until early October. Venus in Leo brings a more aggressive period regarding love, especially for women, but when it is retrograde, our values may start to shift, and our alliances may get re-evaluated. Old loves can enter out life and become new again, or, current loves that have been floundering for a while may finally fade into the sunset. Our personal values come to the forefront with a retrograde Venus, or we may learn that what we thought were our values have actually changed. Or, someone else's values have changed. Meeting someone new during the time that Venus is retrograde throughout August, can prove a little tricky as the relationship will have to be reevaluated again when Venus goes direct in early September. You could have a hot and heavy romance this month, that fizzles out when Venus goes direct next month, or vice versa. New romances will have to stand the test of time! During August communication relating to love can be
misconstrued, and people tend to become more insecure in love. Additionally, Venus will conjunct Saturn on the 13th and 14th of the month, days that may coincide with endings for some, or a desire to seriously re-think things through, and it will certainly feel like a serious time. Responsibilities, rather than free flowing love will be
heightened. During the Venus retrograde period, finances may be delayed or slowed, love is harder to express or receive, investments in art, beauty products, or plastic surgery are not recommended, and I would never advise getting married!
Jupiter finally goes direct on Monday August 6 after being retrograde since April 6. Jupiter is the planet of growth. Jupiter rules money, men, pleasure, travel, and all forms of expansion, to name a few. Projects that have been put on the back burner may start to move forward now.
Finally, the dog days of August bring us the last of a 2 year cycle of Saturn in Leo. Saturn in Leo has been about responsibility in the area of romance, love and friendships, children well as parenting, since mid-July of 2005. For many, this has brought about delays, problems, frustrations relating to the above situations. It has also been a time of reevaluating our own ego's, and in many cases, putting our ego's on the 'back burner.' Through a series of lessons, some of us have had to develop a sense of values in dealing with matters of creative self-expression, romantic relationships, parenthood, and social life, and for other's these things have been harder, if not impossible to come by, and more difficult to deal with. As Saturn leaves Leo for roughly another 30 years, we will make way for a different day, as Saturn enters Virgo on September 3rd, where it will stay until July of 2010. During this time the focus will shift to issues involving work, health and service.
We end the month with a lunar eclipse at 4 degrees in Pisces on the 28th. I will write more about this, and Saturn in Virgo next....Leslie