AstroCast: Midsummer Night’s Dream Edition, July 22 - August 2, 2015

Where does projection end and reality begin?  Who am I and what is an Other are questions to be asked at every crossroad of choice.  Compelling energies beaming down from the heavens correlate to an innate push to reach the next level of growth, wherever that may be in each of our individual lives.  Whether we’re just trying to get a handle on managing day-to-day affairs including meeting work, financial and relationship commitments or in fact making real commitments in these arenas for the first time, or we’ve done that already and are now concentrating on increasing velocity to take on even more responsibilities and broaden not only our capacity to manage (think evolving from mail room clerk to CEO), or internally working on expanding our current level of consciousness towards gaining the ability to be in a constant state of love (of the galactic consciousness kind).  Do we choose to accept our part in the game of life and what we have come here to do – the philosophy of most high level spiritual practitioners and organizations including this Mystery School, is that we are here to learn how to relate to Other in a meaningful, loving way. In very practical, earthly terms, that is what it means to live at a higher state of consciousness, where two or more individuals reach the point of a Mutually Agreed Reality (MAR).  Communication in all its forms is an essential tool for reaching MAR, as is a deep and abiding compassion for our fellow travellers.  Communicating at this level does not mean simply to give and receive data, but more importantly to reveal who we are and what is an Other to us.  Ironically, open, honest communication has a multifaceted purpose.  Not only is it for the benefit of the Other who is receiving us to come to clarity, but for us to see who we are, how we think, what all our considerations are, how we’ve been programmed to think a certain way, what our fears are and how we react to the slightest triggers that with each encounter breaths new life into and perpetuates those fears.  We get to see how much we’ve projected our own perceptions, which are often simply fantasies, onto Other, refusing to believe that Other couldn’t possibly see them any other way.  How can we awaken from our slumbering remote dreams to live the life the present moment presents to us?  Do we have the courage to reveal all of ourselves to an Other in this lifetime?  Can we be fearless in revealing our fears?  Can we be compassionately neutral enough to allow the Other in our life to reveal their dark side to us without experiencing from us all forms of separating reactions from judgment to abject rejection?

As the Sun makes his grand entrance into Leo on July 22nd, may we celebrate the fearless light that is the core of our being, expressing creatively, courageously, majestically.  The Sun rules Leo so is in his natural element, his mode, his home, and his voice here taps into our joy center – the heart, which Leo also rules – as well as our ability to create, the activity of which is probably the source of the most genuine fun imaginable, something Leo is also known for.  Yes, Leo can be prideful, prone to a sense of entitlement (it’s a bitch being born with that symbolic silver spoon in your mouth), and can want excessive amounts of attention bestowed upon them.  But the high road of Leo is genuine warmth and affection, playfulness and an approach to life that is in love with the self.  How many of us can say we love ourselves, or at least acknowledge how long it took to get to that place of total acceptance of who we are in this moment?  This is what Leo teaches us, to find our inner truth.  Without all the crusty considerations, fears and self-deprecating thoughts allowed any breath of life, we just might find that we are most definitely lovable!  Coming off a stabilizing trine to Saturn in late Scorpio (see last AstroCast) before his ingress to home base, the Sun is primed to accept the discipline necessary to put up the stop sign to negative mentalizing that only serves to dim our light.  Mercury, in late Cancer and catching up to the Sun, reiterates the message of disciplined thinking when he trines Saturn in Scorpio’s underworld shortly before the solar ingress.  This harmonious aspect in intuitive water signs, coupled with the Sun in lion-hearted Leo, may allow us to find the courage and the compassion to face our deepest fears.

Should we embark on that path of discovery, aid comes in the way of the continuing planetary movements.  On July 23rd, Mercury leaps onto Leo’s stage and joins the unfolding play with a chorus of communication that creatively articulates his journey with Saturn into Scorpio’s depths.  Perhaps with Saturn’s influence still in effect, Mercury will find just the right words, dramatic in their utter simplicity, to express the shadow side of the light within.  Hours after his Leo ingress, Mercury catches up to the Sun in the Superior Conjunction, a point in the Mercury cycle where cognitions generally take place and even the slightest change in perspective can occur.  With new insights, our personal scripts re-write themselves as the process of transformation is initiated.

July 25th to 26th may feel pretty intense, dynamic and potentially disruptive in the independence vs. relationship department.  Venus, the planet most concerned with relationships, has been practically motionless in the sky for the last couple of weeks preparing for her retrograde now happening at this moment.  Anytime a planet changes directions, so too do movements related to that planet’s archetypal character.  Going retrograde for Venus generally means any relationship could come under review: what’s working, what’s not working and needs adjusting, or simply what needs to undergo a complete reversal or separation.  Venus also rules what we value, including ourselves, so issues of self-worth not to mention finances may be the trigger factor in shift changes here on earth.  Not alone in her current state, outlier Uranus in ground-breaking Aries hasn’t moved more than a degree in the last month and turns retrograde the day after Venus.  Vastly different in their attitudes about Other, Venus and Uranus are not naturally in MAR with each other.  Whereas Uranus insists on independence, and the freedom to think and be how he wants with no strings attached, Venus puts high value on cooperation, collaboration and generally ensuring we all get along.  These conflicting forces to be reckoned with mean that here on earth, we’ll need an extra dose of awareness to navigate any tidal waves generated as a result of their about face.  Adding impulse to insurgency, Aries’ ruler Mars in Cancer enters into a tension-filled square with Uranus.  The Action planet and the Awakener aligning thusly may spark a personal revolution from anything that is perceived as confining the spirit from its God-given right to express.  Controlling, dysfunctional structures could crumble, probably without warning.  The nimble footed are likely to better fare any shocks that may be in store.

We have a week to integrate any upheavals before the Aquarius Full Moon on July 31st.  Appropriately detached, the Moon in Aquarius is able to take herself out of the equation in order to survey the landscape impersonally.  She’ll shine her culminating spotlight on the plot developments in progress and with her trademark neutrality will offer intelligent counsel on next steps. Opposing the Sun in Leo, she plays the observer to his actor, both absolutely necessary parts in the passion play of life.  The chart shape for this Full Moon is a “seesaw” wherein the personal planets Sun through Jupiter are in one hemisphere opposed by the outer planets Saturn through Pluto, ironically joined by the most personal of planets, the Moon.  In Aquarius, the Moon’s home is an outpost where she is able to sense emotional currents from a distant place and drama is minimized in favor of cool, clean, original forward thinking.  In this sign alone, she would be most comfortable collaborating in court with the transcendent planets because they empower her with their imperative to transition from the personal to the impersonal.  Any drama at this Full Moon may come from the Leo Sun who could attempt to steal the scene with his attention grabbing self-expression, which he favors over collaboration, unless it is of the kind where others reflect his own light.  His objective here is to draw out the Moon into participating in the self-expression play with gusto.  If they accept this lunar cycle’s challenge of being true to themselves while engaging with each other, together they can be the fire passionately burning within and the flame tender who ensures it never dies.

Underscoring the Full Moon’s theme of collaborative self-expression, shortly after the Full Moon peaks on July 31st retrograde Venus returns to Leo where she will remain through October 8th – outside the two weeks she just spent in Virgo, that amounts to nearly four months in this playful sign.  For the remainder of her retrograde period, her focus will be on reviewing how she expresses her light, especially in relationships.  She has the opportunity to re-evaluate, or review the value of, associations with others that either fuel or drain her joy engine: creative self-expression.

Boundary setting may be in order when Saturn becomes the third planet to change directions during this period.  Turning direct on August 1st after an 18-week retrograde period, Saturn’s position of authority is at his most powerfully discerning.  If he limits us, it is only to separate out what is truly unnecessary.  Saturn likes simplicity; in Scorpio he demands truth.  If we can honestly recognize that which we allow to distract us in life, perhaps we can begin to bring into focus our true purpose.

A fire trine between Mercury in Leo and Uranus in Aries on August 2th may spark visionary thoughts on how to manage Saturn’s directive to pare down to our essential creative self-expression.  Identifying and focusing on our unique gift, with a little help from our friends, should open the doors of our mind to the heart of our soul.

The colors of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky,

Are also on the faces of people going by.

I see friends shaking hands, sayin’, “How do you do?”

They’re really sayin’, “I love you.”

And, I think to myself

What a wonderful world

Lyrics from (What a) Wonderful World

By Louis Armstrong – Born:  August 4, 1901

Here’s the data (using Pacific Time and planetary positions rounded to the nearest whole degree, unless otherwise noted):

July 22nd – Mercury trine Saturn at 28° Cancer/Scorpio at 10:51 a.m.

July 22nd – Sun at 0° Leo at 8:31 p.m.

July 23rd – Mercury at 0° Leo at 5:15 a.m.

July 23rd – Sun conjunct Mercury at 1° Leo at 12:24 p.m.

July 25th – Venus station retrograde at 1° Virgo at 2:29 a.m.

July 25th – Mars square Uranus at 21° Leo/Aries at 2:42 a.m.

July 26th – Uranus station retrograde at 21° Aries at 3:38 a.m.

July 31st –  Moon opposite Sun (Full Moon) at 8° Aquarius at 3:43 a.m.

July 31st –  Venus at 29°29’ Leo at 8:27 a.m.

August 1st – Saturn station direct at 28° Scorpio at 10:53 p.m.

August 2nd – Mercury trine Uranus at 20° Leo/Aries at 7:50 a.m.