Wondering what funk is all about lately, or why so many things are slipping and sliding simultaneously? For one thing this month of August starts off with the three outer planets (Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto) and one personal planet in Retrograde – our dear friend Mercury. Notable and quite noticeable in its Retrograde effects, Mercury, named after the Roman prankster god has over time captured the attention and imagination of people of all casts, creeds, and colors. Presiding over messages, media, merchandise, and a little bit of mayhem, Mercury doesn’t play favorites, but he certainly loves to play games. Some goofy examples are when your shoelaces both become untied right after you’ve tied them and begin to walk, or being delivered 2 CDs that you did not order, instead of the one you did. Or a perfectly legible document that you downloaded became encrypted when you tried to view it. You ask for a side of rice and receive a glass filled with ice. You get the idea. It goes on and on – for approximately three weeks.

The Bright Side of Mercury Retrograde

• When this planet goes into “Retrograde” we get to review and redo some of what we’ve been up to for the past three months.

• We get to reconnect with whom and what has great meaning and value in our lives. Sometimes friends and loved ones from the past reappear.

• We have to opportunities to make favorable second impressions

• Releasing, remembering, realizing, and all of those “Re” things that bring us a sense of relief.

This Mercury Retrograding will officially occur between August 2^nd and August 26^th, but many people have been noticing mercurial quirks for the past couple of weeks. That’s the way of this cycle, so allowing a week or so after Mercury goes Direct on the 26^th for things to mellow out or return to so-called normal can also be helpful and wise. Mercury will begin Retrograding in Virgo on the 2nd and then back into Leo on the 8^th, highlighting creative communications and endeavors.

On August 30^th Jupiter will go Retrograde from ten to zero degrees of Taurus until Christmas Day, the 25^th of December – just in time to cheer us up and onward for the winter season. As with Mercury, the change of energy, climate, and situations relevant to the planet begin taking place a couple of weeks before the actual Retrograde motion. The expansive, risk-taking, jubilant, and ceremonial nature of Jupiter will take on a more serious role, similar to Saturn’s, somewhere in the middle of August. Getting down to basics, down to business, or back down to Earth will be a priority for many. It’s a Retrogradey sort of month, so we may as well get ready and enjoy the ride if possible.

Horoscopes

To view the new horoscope column that I wrote for August see page 23 of the Upbeat Times which can also be read online.

Rune for August 2011 – Othila

 

Othila is showing up a second time this year, the first being in March, preceding a major turn of events for the earth including the enormous tsunami in Japan that shifted the axis of the earth. I will quote some of what I wrote for the March newsletter:

“Othila as a rune for the world in general signifies the importance of group order and harmonization. It implies that collectively we will be drawn to creating a greater sense of safety and comfort for each other, and that many will be called back for some specific reason to their original homelands whether spiritually or through physical journeys. Othila is the rune of radical severance and parting of ways with people, things, or situations that no longer reflect who we are. It is also known as the rune of inheritance. How severance and inheritance relate to each other can be related to the eighth house of the zodiac used in astrology. In a material sense, we often only “inherit” something of value when someone before us has passed away. In a spiritual sense, when we undergo a process of transformation, we die to our old selves and are reborn in some way, “inheriting” the gifts of spirit that serve completely different functions than before in our lives. This is a time to solidify plans for the future and then to be patient and flexible as these plans find their own rhythms, appropriate places, and outlets for actualization.”

8/13/11 Full Moon in Aquarius

The Full Moon falls at 20 degrees of Aquarius opposite of Venus, bringing people together for fun and festivities. Venus in Leo opposite of the Moon helps to soften any of the negative effects that this Full Moon may have with her beauty, charm, and grace. Essentially people want to de-stress and just have a good time right now, partially because a lot of tension has been building and partially because it’s the weekend. If you like to drink or are around those who do, beware of people who forget themselves and over-imbibe on alcohol. Romantic connections may seem strong and so surreal, but double check before investing too much energy and credibility upon any new ones. The close presence of Neptune means that people and love connections may not be at all what they seem on the surface, or that they are karmically complex, or on a positive note that they are spiritually inclined.

The Moon’s opposition to Mercury and the asteroid Pandora might make it tempting for many to get into fights, but it’s important for all fighting “parties” to remember that what’s coming out into the open was/is bound to come out at some point anyway. We can either resist what is revealed or reconsider our relationship to the whole, meaning the whole of one’s community, and the whole of creation. When Pandora of Greek mythology, whose name translates as “all-gifted”, opened that legendary forbidden box, all hell broke loose, leaving nothing behind but Hope. The curses of the gods went flying across the earth, wreaking havoc everywhere they touched.

Pandora, by John Waterhouse

With Mercury Retrograde in the sign of Leo and conjoined to Pandora, it appears that many of those who are in public eye may be especially affected by this Full Moon, no pun intended. It may also be that children are revealing upsetting facts or things to their parents – things that they weren’t supposed to even know about. Creative endeavors can go in many surprising directions and take on some rather out-of-control expressions. What this possibly means is that there are so many different energies desiring expression at this time that the expressions may take on lives of their own and forget the desires of those who were originally creating or intending to create something. The effect may resemble something like a pack of domesticated dogs in jumpsuits “walking” and “running” their half naked humans up and down the block. Pretty ridiculous, right? The most frequently troubling aspect of a time like this is the resistance that humans have to change. If things are all going “that way” when you are trying to go “this way”, stop for a minute. Doesn’t mean you’re supposed to go “that way”, but it could. Maybe it’s just time to pause and stretch your mind along with your limbs, before the next road opens up. If something isn’t setting right, no matter how hard we try to pound it into place, then…why don’t we stop trying to pound it into place before we pound ourselves into the ground?

The Sabian symbol for the Sun opposite of the Moon is:

“Intoxicated Chickens Dizzily Flap Their Wings Trying To Fly”

This symbol evocative of a silly cartoon was actually intended to address the collective conditioned mind (of a limited scope) being subjected to timeless teachings of a spiritual nature. The first reaction is like “Duhhh….what’s going on here?! “Reincarnation!? Really!?” and “OMG, the colors…the colors!” What happens when certain drugs take certain people a little too high too fast is that God steps down and says “Alright now, don’t get carried away! Keep your pants on! This is just the tip of the iceberg!”

There’s nothing wrong with taking spiritual teachings a bit slow, in order to fully integrate them into our lives. Sometimes, less is more. The bottom line here is that much of what we see before us right now in particular doesn’t matter. We have a choice on whether to continue to navigate by our instincts for survival and material pleasures, or to transcend the limitations of our current understanding in order embrace what is truly meaningful, evolutionary, and eternal in our lives. This doesn’t mean to stop eating food or paying bills. It means to drop the struggle for trivial aspects of mundane existence that only travel in circles rather than transforming. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain in this process.

The Sabian symbol for this Full Moon in Aquarius is:

“A Disappointed And Disillusioned Woman Courageously Faces A Seemingly Empty Life”

As we come to terms with what has lost meaning and/or what has discontinued rewarding us in some way, we go through a mini death. If we try to ignore our grief by filling it up with distractions, we may not move past – or through – that little glitch that causes the grief to sink even deeper into our beings, eventually sapping the life out of us. The symbol of a courageous woman facing her grief indicates the opportunity that we have collectively to face our challenges and let-downs with integrity, honesty, and the willingness to grow. How can we apply this to our relationship to the Earth, at a time in which rainforests are still daily being burned down, and the oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico has not magically “vanished” despite that we have moved on to other topics? We may not be able to physically attend what’s going on in the ocean, but we can attend to our own inner oceans by being gentler with ourselves and our environments.

8/26/11 Mercury Direct & Women’s Equality Day

Mercury goes Direct at 19 degrees of Leo today. Due to the highly feminine energies of the upcoming New Moon it seems significant that Mercury goes Direct on Women’s Equality Day. Whether or not we observe this special day, many of us may be more inclined to honor and connect with the special women in our lives.

8/28/11 New Moon in Virgo

The New Moon is at 5 degrees of Virgo, making an exact degree conjunction with the asteroid Isis, greatly highlighting the theme of healing and the potential for wholeness on all levels. One of Virgo’s highest expressions is that of the healer, seeking to help in whatever ways she can, usually through natural methods, using natural substances such as herbs. She often helps to prepare and provide nourishing food, or supplies people with the physical resources that will better enable them to take care of themselves.

The Egyptian mother goddess Isis is associated with fertility, childbirth, healing, magic, and has come to be revered as the patron saint of all women. Since Virgo is a feminine earth sign, even though ruled by Mercury, it may be a time when women in particular can give and receive great healing, including healing that relates to their sense of image. Venus is conjoined with the New Moon and Isis at 8 degrees of Virgo, enhancing our relationships to ourselves as well as to others. Although Venus often finds Virgo a difficult place to be, we can help her out by loving ourselves more, since her discomfort is mainly a reflection or our own self-loathing and sabotage, whether conscious or unconscious.

This New Moon is helping to highlight our good qualities and bring painful issues under a compassionate light of understanding. An opposition to comet Chiron in Pisces may also make us vulnerable in some way that we did not anticipate, and gives us a chance to find forgiveness or trust in another, even if that other is of the realm of spirit.

The New Moon’s trine to Jupiter in Taurus encourages us to look past the foibles and shortcomings of others and our selves, and to move toward the future without all that unnecessary baggage. The earthiness of the connection helps us to become more practical and disciplined about things we’ve been procrastinating on. Enjoy the jovial Jupiter vibes, before he turns Retrograde on the 30^th, which will just cause him to become a bit serious for awhile.

A trine to Pluto in Capricorn which also trines Jupiter means that we have a Grand Earth Trine with this New Moon, truly enabling us to physically move some big boulders out of our way in order to move forward. With Pluto involved this may not be all peaches and cream, but we will be aided in accomplishing what we set out to do and with what we have the integrity to follow through with.

With Mercury now direct we can breathe a sigh of relief and resume some of the projects we began during the Spring and Summer that got interrupted throughout August!

The Sabian symbol for this New Moon is:

“A Merry-Go-Round”

The merrry-go-round is commonly seen as a childrens’ symbol. The circular shape, bright colors and animals that often come together to form one contain many different symbols in and of themselves that speak of a coming together of many aspects of life toward an initiation into a new life, or a “turn of the wheel” in some way. Some people take movement of the merry-go-round to have sexual connotations, with the horse in particular representing both erotic and vital life force energy that propels one forward, whether to reproduce or literally to travel and move in a new direction. However we choose to view this Sabian symbol, it clearly contains many deep as well as superficial meanings that can be applied to many life situations. A sense of adventure also seems to be in the air this time around the ‘go-round’. A question arises for us, in where we would like to be in life, in whatever way, shape, location, or form comes to mind, for as the saying goes “wherever you go, there you are”.