Astrology is an interpretive art. The sky usually speaks to us subtly, symbolically, with nuances and shades of gray. But this week, as of August 7, SIX planets will be retrograde, with Uranus joining Mercury, Mars, Saturn, Neptune, and Pluto. This is not a whisper. It’s a shout. And the message is, SLOW DOWN.
Through August, retrace your steps. Take it easy. There will be a time, soon enough, for breaking new ground in your life; this is not that time.
Last night, in the western sky, Venus was shouting at me, too. She was so bright, so vivid, that at first I thought she must be a plane. But no, it was just sweet Venus – in Virgo, still, the sign of her fall. We think of planets in their detriment or fall as being weaker in influence, but I think that actually they are even more vibrant, because they have to work double-time to express themselves. In Virgo, Venus has to work hard to accept the imperfections of self and others. But on Monday the 6th, Venus slips into Libra, where she’s strong. She no longer has to work so hard to be seen and appreciated. And relationships, ruled by Venus, may begin to settle down a little bit as well. Not entirely easy, yet – Venus squares Saturn on the 9th, so there’s work to be done – but at least there is the sense of being in the right place in your relationships.
On Aug. 7, the Moon enters her monthly Balsamic (waning crescent) phase. We tend to call this the dark, quiet time of the month, the time for resting, and that is true enough. But it’s also a time for wandering, when the borders of our lives get blurry. This time 21 years ago, my husband and I were on our way to lunch when we detoured to look at an open house. We had no plans whatsoever to buy a house; this one was a mess. But it called to us, and we still live here. The happy outcome of an afternoon’s wandering.
It’s like this: Without letting go of your current path, you can’t create a new thing. And the critical decision at the New Moon/Solar Eclipse in Leo, on August 11, is exactly that: will you keep doing what pleases others and gains you applause and approval, or will you do the thing that makes your heart come to life? This eclipse point is square to daring Jupiter – are you ready to make a bold leap, not in action necessarily, but in consciousness? This eclipse revisits the Lunar Eclipse of Feb. 11, 2017, at 22 Leo, the first Leo eclipse in the current Leo/Aquarius eclipse cycle; are you living truer to yourself than you were eighteen months ago?
Friends, this has been a fraught summer for me personally, and perhaps for some of you as well. But as I contemplate the week ahead, I find it noteworthy that of the seven planets that do turn retrograde, only two – Venus and Jupiter – are direct right now. So it’s true that it’s not the best time to move forward with many things – but we can still love, and we can still hope.
© 2018 April Elliott Kent
