Astrology of July 18-24, 2022: What It’s Like to Be You
Dates and times are given for U.S. Pacific Time zone.
What Lies Beneath
As Mercury and the Sun oppose Pluto this week (July 18, 12:01 am and July 19, 2022, 6:38 pm PDT, respectively), the belief that we alone control our destinies is challenged by the awareness of outside forces that can’t be bargained with. If last week’s trine from the Sun to Neptune was like a restful trip to beach, these aspects hint, Jaws-like, at the dangers that lie beneath the surface of still waters.
One of those dangers is our diminished sense of community. Pluto has been spending a lot of time recently on the Sabian Symbol 28 Capricorn, A large aviary, hinting at the fact that we’re more or less stuck with each other in our shared habitat. If the last couple of years have taught us anything, it’s the importance of nurturing our connections with one another in the face of stark personal differences and uncontrollable situations. These Sun/Mercury oppositions to Pluto are a reminder that any hope of collective harmony for our little flock lies in our willingness to set aside the need to be right and make each other wrong, and the insistence on being heard without listening in return.
All the Facts
When Mercury is in Leo (July 19, 5:35 am PDT, through August 4), it struggles a bit to do its best work. On the face of it, that’s counter-intuitive; surely Mercury’s focus on communication would benefit from Leo’s creativity and sense of fun?
And it does – but self-expression is only part of Mercury’s job. It’s also charged, to the best of its ability, with gathering and processing ALL facts and information – not just the ones that flatter us.
Enjoy Mercury’s brief journey through Leo. Play games. Read entertaining books. Tell stories. Make people laugh. But save research and analysis for Mercury in Virgo; it’s too easy now to see only what we want to see.
Here and Now
This week’s Last Quarter Moon is in Aries (July 20, 2022, 7:19 am PDT, 27º51’ Aries). Aries’ job, its superpower, is taking action – dwelling neither in the past nor the distant future, but responding to the most urgent considerations in the here and now.
But the Last Quarter Moon is a serious, reflective phase. Why did we do what we did, say what we said? Do we need to make amends, or just be more conscious moving forward? Throw in the Moon’s square to the sensitive Sun in Cancer and to self-critical Pluto, and you’ve got an extremely inhospitable environment for Aries.
The Moon is on the Sabian Symbol, A large, disappointed audience. None of us likes a bad review, but avoiding criticism or letting people down in the future requires that we do some soul-searching now. Each of us, from time to time, has been guilty of the worst excesses of Aries – too self-centered, too impatient, too insensitive. (Look to the Aries house of your chart to find where you’re likely to fall into these patterns.) At the Aries Last Quarter phase, root them out, face them with the legendary courage of Aries, and balance them out with a bit more awareness of what others are going through.
What It’s Like to Be You
This week also marks the Sun’s ingress into Leo (July 22, 2022, 1:07 PM PDT), which is often described as a sign of creativity; but that’s somewhat misleading. It evokes visions of a child’s playroom, filled with bright plastic toys, or a crafts room filled with construction paper and Elmer’s glue. But Leo’s desire for creative self-expression transcends the tools we use to express it. Leo symbolizes pursuits that open the heart and make you feel completely alive, to the extent that you don’t even question whether you’re doing it well, just whether you’re doing it exactly as you like. That can be a challenge for adults, who have responsibilities and full schedules, and who lack a child’s luxurious surfeit of empty hours for seemingly idle pursuits.
But throwing yourself into a creative passion is worth the investment of time, because the benefits spill over into every part of your life, making everything—your job, your relationships—more distinctive and satisfying.
We all have something inside us that wants to be engaged and needs to be shared and noticed. Something that says, “This is what it’s like to be me. This is how I see the world.” That’s Leo’s destination, and practically any road can take us there. You may enjoy quilting, cooking, or designing video games; you may be called to play pickleball, mandolin, or Lady Macbeth.
You’ll know the right tools for you. They’re the ones that make you lose all track of time and keep you from getting a decent night’s sleep.
Words Have Wings
This week, Mercury in Leo meets Jupiter in Aries in a fiery, enthusiastic trine (July 23, 2022, 10:52 am PDT). Your words have wings, the gift of inspiration, and possibly even prophecy (Jupiter is on the Sabian Symbol 9º Aries, A crystal gazer.) To have Mercury, the wordsmith, working in the service of Jupiter, keeper of the Big Picture, is the best of all possible worlds. It’s easier just now to put grand concepts into easy-to-understand, usable language.
A word of caution, though: Mercury in Leo and Jupiter in Aries both like to promise the Moon and are endlessly optimistic about their ability to make good on those promises. Beware of guaranteeing more than you can deliver.
Seeing
Venus makes a square aspect to Jupiter (July 24, 2022, 11:13 pm PDT) on a pair of Sabian symbols that reference seeing. Venus is on 9° Cancer, A tiny nude miss reaching in the water for a fish, and Jupiter on 9° Aries, A crystal gazer. Venus is the innocent little girl who spies a fish through the clear waters and instinctively grabs for it, while Jupiter’s gaze is directed at faraway visions that could someday become a reality.
Venus is that part of us that desires something simply because it pleases us. But Jupiter represents the bigger picture – what we believe about the way the world works and what everything means. Here, the two are at odds, and the question might be, is this thing that I want right now going to benefit me in the long run? It’s not wrong to enjoy having nice things, but it’s important to ask whether you’re going to enjoy it a month or a year from now. Will satisfying this immediate desire support you in your long-term goals or make them harder to reach?
Think twice about making a major purchase or investment this week, because as much as Venus says, “I want it and I’m going to take it,” Jupiter replies, “I don’t know whether you’re seeing the big picture here.”
Writing and collages © 2019-2022 April Elliott Kent
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