Mercurial Messages through the Zodiac
At the heart of Leo season, it’s time to express our heart’s bounty and express ourselves in our full glory. Summer romances, music festivals, and braggadocio abound as the Sun and Mars run conjunct in Leo for the first three weeks of August, turning up the amplifier on all expression.
This month brings a lunar eclipse on the August 7 Full Moon at 15° of Aquarius, and an unusual visible complete solar eclipse on the August 21 New Moon at 28° of Leo. Eclipses occur when the sun, moon and Earth all line up exactly, creating a focused energy, like an acupuncture point. If we have been avoiding a truth, or ripening some fresh understanding, but have not yet manifest the decision, or if we have been holding on to some illusion tenaciously, we might be surprised. Like ripened fruit that falls from the tree, eclipses precipitate action that is long overdue, whether we like it or not.
Eclipse meditation: How can we shine in our own light while still respecting the needs of our community? What has felt stuck in our lives and where would we like to open the flow?
Aries (Mar. 21-Apr. 19)…Share your heart, shine with unbridled self-expression, as long as you don’t ride roughshod over the needs of others. You have the right to ask no one to cramp your style. Be ready to heroically help around lunar eclipse. Later, express, but with safety; produce art without juggling chainsaws.
Taurus (Apr. 20-May 20)…Deal with some wake-up calls or tectonic plate shifts in family dynamics as the solar eclipse occurs in your natural fourth House of home. Tend to foundational issues, both practical foundations in your basement, and fundamental understandings at work and in the family psyche. Incorporate new truths as a liberating event.
Gemini (May 21-June 20)…Take every opportunity to shine in your neighborhood. Places of untruths, either yours or theirs, between you and your siblings or sibling-like friends, or unspoken tension in your neighborhood, may come to a head and need clearing and healing. Practice real honesty and deep listening with your witty repartee.
Cancer (June 21-July 22)…Build up resources and reserves, take care of your body, and invest in projects that grow corn for you this month. It’s time for you to create new honesty with yourself about what you have to work with, and what you need to do to fertilize the fields of your life.
Leo (July 23-Aug. 22)…There will be times when it really is all about you. Share the spotlight generously so others are happy for you, and give you the help you need. The more authentically you share your natural soul abundance and legitimate needs, the more loving reflection returns to you.
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)…Look at your long-term health, and be honest about your need for a deep, private, introspective world within. Find a healthy balance between this and the bubbling activity around you. Animals have particular significance for you, whether you wander across them in the woods or cuddle them at home.
Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)…You may be the calm one, the diplomat, while others act out around you. Don’t try to fix the situation. Let people’s true colors show for better or worse; just mediate the fall-out. Feed positive changes with your attention, and bear witness through the struggles of your friends.
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)…Relax, but stay on point with your work and work connections. Be willing to carry the ball when others flake out. Don’t get caught up in a storm of difficult bombast around you; do what you can to shine on specific solutions.
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)…Life is your university, but you can learn from others. You don’t always have to learn the hard way, honestly. Let bravery shine and be a hero who helps others connect local action with global action. But listen to healthy advice coming your way to bypass a tough lesson.
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan.19)…You may need moments of solitude or quiet intimate times with those closest to you, just when everyone else is at the summer party. Look for new understandings about power dynamics between you and those who affect your resources, and act judiciously. Undermine difficult interactions with calm honesty.
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)…Your needs are best met when you care for, but do not enable, those close to you. Be honest about how their demands and excitements affect you, for better or worse. Be prepared to help a dear one, or a work associate, through an identity crisis or emergency.
Pisces (Feb. 19-Mar. 20)…Tend your health, your animals, your tender moments this month. Some untenable factor in your life becomes obvious, so take the hint and create a more sustainable ecology out of life. Build up vitality and resilience with a can-do attitude, combined with subtle perceptions of what is needed to thrive.
