Happily Ever After
A young couple has just exchanged vows in a beautiful wedding ceremony. It’s just after sunset on a hot summer evening as their guests spill out onto a vast lawn. Rows of tables are set for a formal reception dinner, and the Aquarius Full Moon begins to rise, its reflection glowing in a small pond. Before they’re seated, waiters circulate with glasses of wine and hors d’oeuvres. The stage is set for an enchanting party.
In one corner, a wide flight of stairs leads to a patio. While the newly minted married couple wanders around greeting guests – co-workers of their parents, extended family members they hardly know – they notice that their friends have taken their drinks over to the stairs. They’re seated at all levels, kicking off their shoes, making themselves comfortable and laughing.
And just like that, the newlyweds confront their new level of adulthood. They long to shake off their formal clothes and have a beer with their friends, but they’re the stars of the show, with serious social obligations.
After dinner and speeches, it’s time for the first dance. Exhausted, they look at each other and, without a word, they kick off their shoes, loosen their clothes, and start running. Hand-in-hand, they jump into the nearby pond, with their friends close behind.
This is the midpoint in the New Moon cycle that began on July 17, in the familial sign of Cancer, so family obligations must be met. And with the Sun in Leo, there must be pageantry. But when all has been said and done, the Aquarius Full Moon (Aug. 1, 2023, 11:32 am PDT) has to have its freedom.
And so begins their happily ever after.
Family Tree
This week, Mars in diligent Virgo makes a trine aspect to Jupiter in easy-going Taurus (Aug. 1, 2023, 1:44 pm PDT, 13º46’ Virgo and Taurus). Mars is on the Sabian symbol 14 Virgo, A family tree. My own family tree is dominated by hardworking farmers, people who didn’t know the meaning of a day off, and that ethos continues along my generation’s branch. We’re not farmers, most of us, but we do tend to keep similar hours.
Like all virtues, hard work can be taken too far, into the realm of obsessive attention to detail and zero work-life balance. At some point, it’s important to ask whether more hours of work really yield that much better of a result?
Mars’ trine to Jupiter in Taurus, on the symbol 14 Taurus, Shellfish groping and children playing, is a reminder to take a break now and again, to spend a little time playing hooky. August, Leo’s month, is a time of vacation and festivities, where we play and engage in re-creation. Aided by Jupiter in contented Taurus, it’s time to relax a bit and enjoy the gifts of nature and everyday pleasures. Reassure Mercury in Virgo that stepping back a little can actually make us more productive in the long run!
Merry-Go-Round
It’s been many years since I held a day job, but boy, I have no trouble remembering what I disliked about it. As a secretary for a large government agency, every day had a crushing sameness about it.
This week, Mercury opposes Saturn (Aug. 1, 2023, 7:18 pm PDT, 5º38’ Virgo-Pisces) from the Sabian symbol 6 Virgo, A merry-go-round. Mercury in Virgo can definitely be an up-and-down, around and around in circles influence of getting lost in details and losing sight of the big picture. It might also point to a tendency to support others at the expense of pursuing your own ambitions.
Meanwhile, Saturn is on 6 Pisces, Officers on dress parade. This is a Saturn who knows that however competent you are, you’ll get ahead more quickly by “looking the part” of the job you want to get. Saturn in Pisces doesn’t always look the way we expect Saturn to look, but it does know how to play the game.
Our Saturn in Pisces ambitions are softer, more altruistic and devoted to finding meaning in our work than many Saturn signs. They arise in the heart of an underused worker, or even the business owner who is constantly distracted and overwhelmed by tedious matters, as an insistent whisper: “Is this all there is?”
There is nothing demeaning about being the person who organizes information, sets up systems, and makes things run smoothly behind the scenes. But it’s a lot easier to find satisfaction and to escape the merry-go-round if you feel that your work supports something you care about deeply and that can really improve the world.
A Matter of Style
This week, the Sun in Leo squares Jupiter in Taurus (Aug. 6, 2023, 5:03 pm PDT, 14º16’ Leo and Taurus). We’re used to thinking of Taurus as a dependable, salt-of-the-earth building block of the zodiac. But don’t sell its fellow fixed sign, Leo, short as a reliable influence. Both are signs you can depend upon, partially because of their tenacity – which, on a challenging day, can show up looking a lot like stubbornness.
As the two engage in a square aspect this week, their forcefulness can be energizing, aggravating, or some mixture of the two. The difference between them is largely one of style; we see it even in their Sabian symbols. The Sun is on 15 Leo, A pageant, and Jupiter is on 15 Taurus, A man muffled up with a rakish silk hat. Leo believes in leading with an inspiring example – a “pageant,” if you will. Taurus, on the other hand, attends to practicalities first. Yes, the man in the Sabian symbol wears a rakish, fashionable silk hat – but first and foremost, he’s muffled up to stay warm.
When the Sun aspects Jupiter, it’s time to think big and to enlist others to join in your quest. Faced with a leadership challenge, Leo’s solution is to jump up and deliver an inspiring address to the troops. But as practical Taurus might say to Leo, “Someone’s going to have to build that stage before you can leap up onto it!” Both are right – and both are necessary to lead others on to success.
Writing and images © 2017-23 by April Elliott Kent
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