Astrology Forecast For Creatives | Week of August 6th - change is an inside job, casting out the projection, a world on fire, anxious to get going but sit with it, pride, money/love gets serious, back to the future, NEWS from the past, sudden shake-ups and abrupt opportunities, the final ECLIPSE of the season

"Life's splendor forever lies in wait about each one of us in all its fullness, but veiled from view, deep down, invisible, far off. It is there, though, not hostile, not reluctant, not deaf. If you summon it by the right word, by its right name, it will come."
- Franz Kafka

I Can Hear You Call by Martin Stranka

MONDAY - Venus home to Libra, Sun square Jupiter
TUESDAY - Uranus stations retrograde
WEDNESDAY - Sun conjunct Mercury retrograde
THURSDAY - Venus square Saturn
SATURDAY - Leo Full Moon Solar Eclipse (18 degrees)
SUNDAY - Retrograde Mars backs into Capricorn

This week's chart is challenging me because I skipped last week (due to having my family in town for a visit), so let's take a peek backwards first.

We had the second (of three) squares between Mars and Uranus LAST WEEK - that could have shown up as a disruption, a break-up, breakdown, breakthrough, break for freedom, accident or a fight (and with Mars retrograde we wouldn't have really been fighting over what it looked like we were fighting over - this would have really been about something from the past, maybe  a very long ago past). With Mars retrograde in "center-stage" Leo we are all grappling with how to express ourselves so we get what we want. The square could have had us dealing with a situation involving children or romance or something that took the "fun" (yes, Leo rules fun and games) out of whatever we were doing.

This square is part of a series. We had the first square May 16th with both planets direct, the second on August 1st with Mars retrograde and Uranus direct and the final square on September 18th with Mars direct and Uranus retrograde.  

However this energy shows up - it is ultimately about breaking/disrupting (Uranus) past patterns (the retrograde energy) through our actions/anger/passion (Mars).

We also had Juno opposing Jupiter last week - tension within partnerships, who/what we have committed ourselves to. Maybe the reality of some situation/partnership/commitment was in our face or there was/is a power imbalance we needed to deal with - Juno and Jupiter were married Gods, with her playing the ever-faithful wife and him the philandering hubby. What are we willing to put up with? With Jupiter in Scorpio probably not very much!

Keep in mind we have alot of retrograde energy, AND Mercury is retrograde and that is hugely impactful - everything right now is an inside job, everything happening outside is a projection! We are always meeting ourselves through outside people and situations, but now is a time we need to sit with what we see/feel. This is where we get to see how the stuff happening to us is actually being created through us.

It's August - take a breath. And a vacation! Re-lax is a "re" word, too.

OK - let's unpack the week ahead, because it is all leading us to another ECLIPSE!

On MONDAY we have Venus, bags packed efficiently from her weeks in Virgo, moving home to Libra - a space she rules, at 7:28PM EDT. After being cramped up in tidy Virgo, she can breathe again and there is room for other people. Venus in Libra is about love and partnership, collaboration and compromise. Venus in Libra is about balance.  

The relationship adjustments and nit-picking should begin to smooth out now. As we continue to wade through this summer's muck at least we now have Venus in Libra!

This transit (until September 9th - note with her upcoming retrograde in Scorpio she will be back in Libra from October 31st to December 2nd - I will give you a heads up when she starts walking degrees she will walk again) makes Libra Suns and Risings, who are already naturally attractive - oh yes, they are!, even more so - both physically attractive and more able to attract what they want/need.

Everyone's Libra house gets more attractive, too - where was Libra when you were born?

We will be attracted to what we find 'beautiful'. We will be attracted to what we find 'just'. We will be attracted to what we find 'peaceful'. And these are the qualities people will find attractive in us and our work in the world. These are the qualities we'll want to bring to the table (and yes, flowers that would be a good thing to bring to the table now, too) to attract whatever we are wanting to attract now, particularly in the area of life housing our natal Libra.

The potential for peace increases as we (the collective) move from critic (Virgo) to diplomat (Libra).

The potential for people pleasing increases, too. Balance is the key now. Making life too much about the other person is Libra's shadow side. It's easier, or I should say, lazier, to just give in to something to have "harmony" than to work out the win-wins. We need to honor ourselves as well as the other person. It's simple, but not easy. If we think balance is easy we should stand on one leg for a while!

The downside is we have a T-Square between Venus and Saturn and Chiron from around August 3rd to August 14th that is challenging our relationships/finances/what we value, our self-esteem. This T-square will be especially potent this week. With the T-Square focusing us on Saturn (our Capricorn house) stepping into our responsibility, doing the work, living up to our commitments - in some area of life we just have to KEEP GOING. It's winter even though it is 100 degrees outside. I hope you have some green beans in the pantry.

The empty space here is our Cancer house - so here is a fix. Taking care of ourselves physically and emotionally, eating well, mothering ourselves, a focus on home and family, a watering of the roots for what we want to grow. The theme of our natal Cancer house needs our attention, too. The good news is while Venus opposes Chiron and squares Saturn - she will be trining (brakes off) Mars, so there is assistance available from our Aquarius house (and collectively from stepping back from the situation, from detaching, from being uniquely ourselves, from giving something some space).

Also at 7:28PM EDT (that's interesting!), the Sun (in Leo) moves into a square with Jupiter (in Scorpio). We could take things too far, things could look better than they actually are, we could overestimate what is possible or take on too much. This might be a good night to be out and about and socializing though!

It will be hard to keep a lid on a boiling pot now - secrets can come out into the light, too.

On TUESDAY Uranus stations retrograde at 2 degrees Taurus at 12:49PM EDT.  

There could be sudden shake-ups and unexpected opportunities now as this major player shifts gears. He will move back over whatever he has been shaking up in our life since mid-May and move back into Aries, to totally finish up the chapter that has been hanging since that time and by the time he gets back into Taurus on March 6, 2019 - that Aries story will be complete (we have Chiron here to heal the damage) and our Uranus/Taurus story, through July 7, 2025 - will be full steam ahead. If this retrograde period means Uranus is moving away from your natal planets and points, things will smooth out now. If he is moving back over them there could be more disruptions.

Keep in mind what is happening here - Uranus (the ruler of Aquarius and planet of chaos and disruption) has made his entry into our Taurus house - since mid-May - this has given us a taste of what is to come. Now he retreats back over the ground he has covered to smooth things out a bit, moves back into Aries to finish up that story (before mid-may he was in Aries for seven years) and remember Aries has changed since Uranus left and Chiron arrived! Then he will reverse course and head back into Taurus for the long haul. Uranus will be back to today's degree in May 2019 though, so keep this in mind.

By 2025 so much will have changed (not just through Uranus, but he is playing a major part) we will be living in a totally different world.

As a collective, our Taurean structures will be shaken over the next few years - our values will change, the ways we use and earn money will change, the Earth will change, the way we value beauty and what we consider beautiful, the way we value our possessions, our self-esteem, the connections between self-esteem and money/resources will be evident, our stale habits will get a kick in the ass, anything boxing us in will be broken open - the more comfortable our comfort zone, the more uncomfortable we may need to get. Whatever this is in our life we have probably had a preview since mid-May.

At 8:23PM EDT, Venus will trine Mars. This is good for men and women getting along - what we want and what we have to do to get what we want working together. We talked about this on Monday as part of that Venus T-Square.  This is a good aspect for business. Money moves. 

We also have the Sun hooking up with Pallas at 14 degrees Leo - this is about shining a spotlight on our plans and strategies. Good energy for presenting ideas (Leo loves an audience) and for recognizing - cue one of Oprah's lightbulb moments - patterns.

NOTE the Moon is void all day Tuesday until she moves home to Cancer at midnight. This is not a good day to start something new or launch anything into the world we want "something to come of".

On WEDNESDAY, the Moon is in Cancer turning our emotional focus to Cancerian themes for the next couple days - home, family, our roots, nurturing, structure, safety, country, patriotism, mom and apple pie. We might find we, and other people, are more sensitive, emotional and moody while the Moon is in Cancer.

The Sun (in Leo) hooks up with a retrograde Mercury at 10:06PM EDT. Here is the mid-way point in this season's Mercury retrograde story.

Information comes in, the light shines on what we need to know/hear/say.  

The "news" will figure into this week's Leo eclipse.

This eclipse takes us back to August 1999. What was going on in our life at that time? Is there any connection to what is happening now?

This is normally a good aspect to start something new (Mercury starts a new story with the Sun) but with Mercury retrograde this time around - it isn't such good energy for totally new beginnings right now.

This could also show up for us as a person from our past, maybe with a BIG story to tell. So pay attention.

On THURSDAY, we wake up with the Moon (in Cancer) opposing Pluto (in Capricorn). The air is ripe for power plays, jealousy, compulsive behavior and competition. Things finish. People can be ruthless. Avoid over-reacting. The Moon goes Void until tonight, so this is another day you don't want to start something new.

At 9:34PM EDT Venus squares Saturn. This is part of the T-Square I wrote about for Monday. People might be less flexible and harder to please. Relationship/money/values issues get serious. Belts tighten. We feel our age (or we feel our mother's age!). We could be feeling depressed about our creative projects or abilities. This would not be the best energy to throw a party! Maybe career/responsibilities (Capricorn) is hindering a relationship (Libra) or vice versa. However the cards fall remember this is a transit. It is transitory. We are playing the long game now.

A bit after midnight the Moon enters Leo turning our emotional focus toward Leo themes (our heart, creative projects. romance, children, fun, our natural spotlight) and getting us primed for Saturday's New Moon Solar Eclipse in Leo - when the Moon meets the Sun.

On FRIDAY the Moon has been moving through a mixed-bag of energies while we slept so we could be dealing with unexpected and disruptive situations in the A.M. (Moon square Uranus) or more pleasant opportunities (Moon sextile Venus).

We will talk about the rest of the weekend including Saturday's New Moon Solar ECLIPSE in the next post - the final eclipse of this summer's eclipse season it is in forceful LEO's "do it BIG" style - a FIERY one with a challenging Yod - so brace for drama and challenges as we move "all in" and our collective karma plays out!

Things will get clearer when Mercury stations direct next week and in the days that follow that.

 xo all

Note - the New Moon Solar Eclipse begins a long Void Moon, so it could feel like the Void Moon lasts until the next New Moon in September! Void month? Nothing started amounts to anything? Um,  I'm not sure, but did I already say "take a vacation?!".

And BTW another heads up - September will take off right out of the gate.