Stay Grounded
Dates and times are given for U.S. Pacific Time zone.
Lightning Rod
Our country farm house was equipped with a copper and iron lightning rod. During legendary Midwest summer thunder storms, lightning rods were meant to protect the house by attracting lightning strikes to it instead of the house itself, then discharging the electricity into a ground wire.
This is the image I like for Mars (the iron rod) conjunct Uranus (the electricity) in Taurus (Aug. 1, 2022, 4:53 pm PDT): Uranus is like a bolt of lightning, and unless we’re grounded, that kind of energy can be too much to handle.
Uranus came together with the North Node of the Moon on July 31. Picture static in the air, disrupting radio and tv signals. Now, here’s Mars conjoining first the North Node (Aug. 1, 11:05 am PDT), then Uranus. There’s a huge rush of electricity taking place in the house of your chart where 18.41 Taurus lies. That’s a lot of energy for even stalwart Taurus to absorb safely. Where is your grounding wire? Look to Scorpio’s house of your birth chart (this blog post and video might help you find it) for a safe haven during this unsteady week.
Lunch for a Road Trip
In the wake of the Mars-Uranus-North Node convergence, you might feel like a tin can that’s been tied to the bumper of a car and dragged along for a few miles. You know what you need? You need a little Venus. And on August 2, she arrives in a series of three sextiles: to the North Node (00:54 am PDT), Uranus (5:25 am PDT), and Mars (7:00 pm PDT).
Sextiles show up as invitations, meetings, correspondence, visitors – all of which offer opportunities. And when it’s magnetic Venus issuing the invitations, they’re all but impossible to refuse.
Venus in Cancer woos us with fresh baked cookies, a beautiful home, a warm pat on the hand and a comforting “there, there.” Just what a dented tin can of a person might need just now.
Mars, Uranus, and the North Node have given us a good shake and shown us the path forward. Venus’ sextiles fortify us for the journey with loving comfort, like Mom sending us off on a road trip with a care package filled with our favorite treats.
House in Order
Once a month or so, I sit and input all my financials into Quicken, catch up on my filing, replace books to the bookshelf. I practically purr as I devote myself to these humble practices; there’s something so satisfying about putting one’s house in order. When things are tidy and organized, when you can quickly lay your hand on whatever you need for a particular task in a given moment, you can be infinitely more productive. And being organized makes it a lot easier to analyze your numbers, stock up on supplies, and determine what you need to do to move farther and faster in whatever you do.
When Mercury is traveling through Virgo (Aug. 3, 2022, 11:58 pm PDT, through Aug. 24), the tasks that have been put aside for months – the piles of paperwork that need sorting out, the pantry that is disorganized, the refrigerator with science experiments tucked in the corners – are ready for you to take them on, and possibly even delight in doing it.
Wires Getting Crossed
Years ago, when I lived in a city where Neptune was precisely, to the minute, on the conjunction of my relocated ascendant, I discovered I had developed the ability to commune with spirits. It makes sense; my natal Sun is on the Sabian symbol 14 Leo, The human soul awaiting opportunity for expression. That’s the Sun’s Sabian symbol at this week’s First Quarter Moon (Aug. 5, 2022, 4:07 am PDT, with the Moon on 14 Scorpio, Telephone linesmen at work. Both are symbols of communication, but they’ve always seemed to me to be imbued with the yearning quality of failing to quite make the desired connection.
That’s the feeling of this Scorpio First Quarter Moon. The Sun and Moon are embroiled in a Grand Cross with Mars/Uranus/North Node in Taurus and Saturn in Aquarius; ordinarily, nothing is more stuck than a Grand Cross in fixed signs. And not even the jolt of Mars, Uranus and North Node has knocked us completely off balance. But it’s a week that’s a bit like the aftermath of an earthquake, when cell towers have toppled or gotten overloaded, leaving us struggling to connect with others. Where are you trying to express yourself, only to find that wires are getting crossed?
Home Fires
Venus in Cancer loves truly and deeply – but it can be a bit possessive. As it makes a trine to Neptune in Pisces this week (Aug. 7, 2022, 9:43 am PDT), remember that real love means letting your loved ones go their own way to dream their own dreams. Nurture with nourishment and comfort, and be the warm, loving presence that keeps the home fires burning. But don’t hold on too tight. After all, you, too, need caretaking and private time to think your own thoughts and move at your own pace. Remember that if your Cancerian claw is holding on tight to something, then it isn’t open to receiving something new that wants to come your way.
Uncovering
We have more gifts than we know, and the greatest is the honor of being one true, authentic, and utterly unique self. We get only one chance to be this person, with this body and this biography. It seems to me, now past my second Saturn return, that the entire process of living exists only to bring us closer to who we’ve really been all along. As T.S. Eliot wrote, “…And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started, and know the place for the first time.”
When we encounter bumps along the journey – hard transits, if you will – we’re given a chance to chip off more artifice. Take this week’s square from Mars to Saturn (Aug. 7, 2022, 12:57 pm PDT). Imagine Mars is the sculptor’s chisel, and Saturn is a huge block of marble. What’s inside that cool chunk of rock? The sculptor thinks he knows… and his mission is to undertake the hard work of uncovering it.
At this transit, something that feels pushy or cruel may in fact be the hand of an unseen sculptor, taking its first big whack at you, trying to release the beautiful figure it sees in you. As the sculptor removes the unnecessary rock and begins the fine carving, a truer and more beautiful you can emerge.
Writing and collages © 2019-2022 April Elliott Kent
For more of this week’s highlights, listen to my latest podcast episode!
