During all of August, Pluto is in the 13th degree of Sagittarius. One important facet of this degree is that it has to do with the realms of existence beyond the earth plane. August is a time when those of us who are ready can have a clearer contact with spirit guides and with those who have passed on from this world. If we can allow this contact to happen, it can be life enhancing and can be a source of strength, energy and inspiration that can help us deal with the challenges of the physical world.
I have come to understand that contact with spirit guides and angels is in no way difficult — it is simply a process of listening and trusting. We don’t need to “learn” how to listen to our guides. We need to unlearn the editing process that has been instilled in most of us since birth, and we need to let ourselves trust our instincts.
On another level, the 13th degree of Sagittarius signifies the tendency to not be able to let go of things, and as Pluto is the planet of ultimate confrontation, during August we need to relax and let go of the past, as well as anything we no longer need. If we aren’t able to do this, then we may find that the circles of boredom, frustration and confinement in which we have become wrapped become tighter and tighter. This is happening so that eventually we will react to them and burst forth from these cocoons of repetitive and meaningless involvement.
It’s important now to be sensitive to the intuitive urges we are receiving and to focus on the impulses moving through us. Many of these impulses are urgings from spirit guides who are attempting to work with us to bring greater energy, harmony and clarity into our lives. Saturn is now going through Gemini, and wherever Saturn is, it attempts to clear negative karma. The negative karma of Gemini has to do with difficulty in focusing, and a tendency to flit from thing to thing in a random, meaningless fashion. Gemini can have difficulty sorting, organizing and prioritizing all the information that it loves to collect.
Our world has fallen in love with information, and computers and science have become the ultimate vehicle for this love affair. We need to realize, though, that information is not innately good — or bad. Information can be used as a weapon. Useless information can be used to conceal or take attention away from important information. Information can be twisted and distorted. Many people have developed the art of talking without ever saying anything. Saturn in Gemini (4/21/01-6/5/03) is a time when information needs to be clarified and when we need to develop the ability to communicate more deeply and meaningfully with ourselves. This means that if there are issues we have avoided or areas of ourselves we have cut ourselves off from — maybe because they have been too painful to deal with — now is the time to climb over the barbed wire fences we have set up and to explore those inner areas we have ignored and avoided.
From July 7 to August 13, Neptune is in the 8th degree of Aquarius, a placement that greatly promotes changes, the rewriting of karmic contracts and starting all over again. This is a good time for overcoming dogma and rigidity and for outwitting your own dry, stuck places by generating innovative and radical currents. Neptune now makes it easier to let go of old ways of seeing yourself and to wipe out old cycles — in ways that sneak up on you and which may be totally unexpected.
From August 14 to October 12, Neptune is in the 7th degree of Aquarius. What a wonderful place for it! Now liabilities can be turned into assets and there can be openings to many new experiences and awareness of a very wide variety of things. These are times of great discovery and zest for living. The focus now is not on balance and coherence. It’s not time to be putting the pieces together, rather, it is the time for collecting them — and so many strange and interesting pieces can be found now.
With both Venus and Jupiter moving through Cancer during August, you can beautify your home, enjoy being in it and improve your relationship with your family. This is a good period for strengthening your foundations and for being generous in both giving and receiving love. The nurturing energies of Cancer abound during August; we can create much healing and support if we allow them to flow.
The New Moon on August 19 is in Leo, and it enhances the process of people connecting with each other and spreading good will. It’s a time (August 14-24) when we can see through a lot of things, for illusions are more transparent now.
As you can see, there is a wide array of energies at work during August. I hope all of you have fun working and growing with them.
