True to the nature of any Full Moon, looking ahead even a few days currently seems to be speculative at best. Consistent with the context of tomorrow’s Full Moon in the midst of Pisces, circumstances would appear to support adaptation and adjustment. Yet, lest it escape notice, it is worth mentioning that this season is winding down.

It’s been a busy sky above you since the Leo New Moon and total solar eclipse on Aug 21. Less than two hours later, the Moon moved on to Virgo. The Sun followed suit the next day. It was a trend continued by the planets.

Since the Moon traced a nearly unprecedented shadow across the U.S., three sign-ruling planets (Mercury, Venus and Mars) have changed signs. Saturn and Mercury have also changed directions (coming out of retrograde), albeit almost imperceptibly so far.

As if in concordance, a lot in the world has also changed either context or direction in the past few weeks. It would not be too much of a stretch to surmise that you are somehow participating in a similar pattern. Even so, there is nothing quite like the advent of a new season.

No matter if your hands are as full as the Moon. It would almost certainly be a good idea to pause sometime soon for conscious anticipation of the Sun’s next big shift. Even if it means taking some time you don’t have, one of your best choices right now could very well be to contemplate your relationship with the Sun.

For nearly six months, the Sun has been directly overhead somewhere north of the equator. Now that situation is within weeks of flipping. In spite of the fact that most of us no longer live an agrarian lifestyle, an equinox is nothing to underestimate.

That’s because the Sun is a reference point beyond estimation. With its risings and settings, your daily life is at least affected, if not governed. More subtle, but no less impactful, is the relationship between your life and where on the east and west horizons the Sun rises and sets.

At the very least (and weather permitting) watch the Moon tonight. It will be the last full phase before the Sun enters Libra on Sept. 22. It’s not too soon to think about how the weather and rhythms of your life will change thereafter, even if any and all such eventualities seem impossibly far in the future.

Granted, being in the moment is often of paramount importance — especially when you are busier than ants swarming over the remains of a picnic. No instant stands alone, however. Indeed, even a rapid succession of demanding or prominent events is little more than chaos without context.

As with few other celestial events, equinoxes provide context — provided you do not let them pass you by. Take it from an experienced sky watcher: you will not want to notice the Sun’s ingress to Libra after it happens. You will want to see it coming; and, as result, allow yourself to savor every minute beforehand (as well as the event itself) all the more.

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Like many of astrology’s symbols, Neptune is complex. Yet, there are some salient features. The mythology of its name evokes water, especially the seas. There is also a quality that combines what is evident with the elusive. For instance, it was first sighted by Galileo over 400 years ago, but he knew not what it was.

Only with the Libra equinox of 1846 was Neptune at long last knowingly located by telescope and identified as a planet in our solar system. At the time, it was moving through late Aquarius.

In April of 1847, Neptune made its first tentative foray into Pisces. Shortly after, an annual retrograde took it back to the sign of its discovery. As 1848 drew to a close, the back-and-forth concluded. Neptune then traversed Pisces (the sign it is now said to co-rule, along with Jupiter) continuously until a another drawn-out transition to Aries initiated in 1861 and ended in 1862.

Nobody now living was alive from 1847 to 1862, but we do have a lot of information from the period. As the first half of the 19th century transitioned into its second 50 years, both the world as a whole and the U.S. in particular went through a lot of changes that still ripple through to this day.

Thus, when Neptune returned to Pisces in 2011-12, astrologers could reasonably expect an eventful tenure. Having Chiron lead the way this time around did nothing to dispel anticipations that Neptune would flex in ways both evident and otherwise. That being said, correspondence to events from other outer planets (Uranus, Pluto and Eris especially) has been far more obvious over the past five years or so.

Even if similar displays of correlation to Neptune in Pisces have not been clear for you before, recent days have strongly implied that Neptune’s signature is no longer exclusively written in disappearing ink.

Obviously, an unprecedented hurricane implies a rather muscular representation of Neptune’s nominal archetype. The principle extends to how everything (including hurricanes) is now subject to a pervasive climate in which authentic data is only with some effort sorted out from audaciously promulgated misinformation.

A national epidemic of premature and unnatural death due to alcohol and prescription drug abuse in the U.S. does not exactly seem incidental either.

If the mid-19th century is to be taken as an example, however, Neptune is also operating on levels beyond the obvious. The greatest legacy of its 21st-century tour through Pisces may just as well be you (or something or somebody in your life) as any famous, powerful or prosperous entity.

Whaling, for example, was a huge business during Neptune’s previous period in Pisces. Now, the hunting and killing of whales is nearly as vestigial as cetacean legs.

Traveling medicine shows, on the other hand, were not exactly considered to be harbingers of the future in the 1800s. Yet, from such beginnings sprang the means and methods of three of the largest corporate forces of our time: the indisputably Neptunian petroleum, pharmaceutical and entertainment media industries.

Now, the long-overshadowed, 21st-century flexing of Neptune in Pisces is finally becoming more prominent and recognizable. Unfortunately, many of the indications are as troubling as the mass slaughter of whales. Even so, the dissolute is not all there is to Neptune.

Also intrinsic to Neptune is the phenomenon of emergence. From below the surface of dominant realities will come what could be an entirely different future. What is even now rising from just under to just above the level of your conscious awareness are almost certainly some unprecedented ways of perceiving, living, loving and evolving that could very well continue to ripple through other lives in other centuries.

Perhaps most of all, Neptune represents what is hidden in plain sight. Therefore, should you perceive yourself being treated as invisible anytime soon, do not despair. Those who refuse to acknowledge you are not doing themselves any favors. In addition, they are according you a greater power than they could possibly understand: to operate on Neptune’s elevated ‘see level’. If ever there were a time to begin using that power for the good of everybody involved, it is now.

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Apologies are extended for this column’s prolonged absence, and for my own. My sojourn to the path of eclipse totality was longer than anticipated. Some probabiy predictable delays played a part. A possibly preventable bout with illness further postponed a return here until today’s first quarter Moon in Sagittarius.

The week following a New Moon and total solar eclipse in late Leo has been more than simply interesting for more than just yours truly. No doubt you have observed what goes with emergence from what one may plausibly call a celestial rabbit hole.

Speaking of rabbits, the name of a certain hurricane is worthy of note. Way back in 1945, American playwright Mary Chase received the Pulitzer Prize for a little play named after its imaginary character, Harvey.

As conceived of by Ms. Chase, Harvey was a very tall, talented bunny ostensibly existing only in imagination — at first. Artfully, the development of both the human characters and plot ultimately leaves it to the audience to draw its own conclusions regarding the nature of and relationship between supposed delusion and observed reality.

Some may be inclined to dismiss the timing of hurricane Harvey out of hand. It would be entirely rational to do so. Yet, as none other than Emmanuel Kant took pains to point out, even reason is subject to critique.

Indeed, one thing that distinguished another great thinker (Albert Einstein) was how he embraced imagination to overcome reason’s limits. It would even be fair to trace much of your present-day tangible reality back to ideas which (at first) were every bit as dubious as an outsized cottontail.

All of this is not to minimize and detract from the genuine hardship inflicted on real people by hurricane Harvey. The purpose here is to explore how coinciding events fit into a bigger picture.

With the Virgo Sun now approaching an opposition to astrology’s ambivalent emblem of both destructive delusion and creative imagination (Neptune), it is simply implicit to do as Mary Chase did.

It would be appropriate for all of us to be creative. Furthermore, it could even be imperative to eschew easy conclusions and judgments in favor of cultivating an open mind or two.

Just because a tropical storm became a major hurricane overnight immediately following a set of eclipses does not necessarily mean anything. The serendipity of the hurricane’s name alone does not support any solid conclusion or judgments either.

Neither, however, is it an appropriate time to dismiss any perception outright. No two of us have had exactly the same experience over the past week. Nonetheless, all of us were present for a precise cosmic alignment that preceded it all. In that common experience we have a reference point.

In your consideration of both events and people between now and the Full Moon on Sept. 6, take that reference point into account.

For a brief moment all of us were there, standing under an extraordinary eclipse together. Would it not be a literally wonderful thing if we could all do our part to leverage that instant to support greater understanding?

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Not so long ago, there was no such thing as sunscreen. Even after an emollient protection from sunburn was developed, it took a while for its use to become a measure of common sense akin to coming in out of the rain. With both rain and sunshine, however, the idea is to protect yourself from the harmful effects rather than avoid them altogether.

Solar eclipses take place a lot less often than rain and sunshine. Still, the idea of protection rather than total avoidance still applies.

So, let this be clear: Do not look directly at Monday’s total eclipse without using adequate and appropriate protection for your eyes. (A list of resources is available here, but note: virtually all eclipse eyewear vendors are now sold out. If you find yourself without eye protection, look up how to make a pinhole camera for safe indirect viewing.)

That being said, there is no need to deprive yourself of the experience of living with awareness in the time of what (by any definition) will be an extraordinary event. Regardless of where you are at the moment the Moon casts its shadow across the U.S., Monday’s very special solar eclipse will be part of your experience. In addition, the same can be said for everybody and anybody else in the world.

It would, therefore, be appropriate to say “yes” to the Great American Eclipse. It would be a lot more healthy to acknowledge it is happening than to deny or ignore it. The same is true regarding all that is occurring in simultaneity with the event.

It is not insubstantial that you are here on Earth at this time. Whatever goes on Monday (other than the New Moon and total eclipse in Leo) will not be random or even merely coincidental. It’s all part of a larger picture you will have the choice either to ignore or behold (and even participate with).

That being said, just as it would be harmful to to look at the eclipsed Sun without eye protection, it would be at least equally unhelpful to turn a blind eye to its fact and all that goes with it.

What might be useful is simply to say “yes” as much as possible on Monday, so long as doing so would not cause harm to you or anybody else. Affirm what’s in front of you, as well as what’s above. Be mindful of and helpful to others insofar as you can manage without violating boundaries (either yours or theirs). Do what you can so that everybody involved remembers both you and the moment fondly.

Be aware that your existence is part of all that will go with the eclipse. What you choose to do (or not) and say (or not) will affect how others perceive and interpret what it all means. Hence, more any astrologer, it will be up to you to determine and impart the definition of an event which will certainly be remembered.

The only real question is how it will be remembered. It would not be unreasonable to say that part of the reason you are here is to provide an answer.

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With the Moon now in Gemini until Thursday, we are into the last week prior to a Leo New Moon and total solar eclipse on Monday. A waning Gemini Moon tends to support talking about things so as to resolve issues. With Mercury only a few days into a retrograde that will last until Sept. 5, however, communication could be a challenge.

The theme of challenge is echoed by Venus as it continues to move through the middle third of Cancer. Earlier today, Venus opposed Pluto in Capricorn. Thursday, Venus will move to within 90 degrees (a square aspect) of Jupiter in Libra.

As with most experiences, the outcome of a challenge largely depends on one’s point of view in response. Getting discouraged does not support resolution. Action is important. Nonetheless, the type of action you take is also crucial.

With the Leo Sun now moving into a fire trine (a separation of 120 degrees on the zodiac) with Eris in the latter third of Aries, an intemperate confrontation may easily escalate to make any solution problematic. Unfortunately, there are already some examples of violent tragedies in the news. As the Sun moves towards a similar trine with Uranus (also in Aries) just hours before the total eclipse, it seems clear that having things out once and for all will only extend conditions that do not help the causes of peace, love or understanding.

If one is to assume that you do not revel in violent confrontation, the question now being posed by the sky as a whole is how you should handle challenging situations. The answer is almost certainly not doing nothing at all. To refrain from all action would only cede the coming days to those whose only purpose is to achieve their ends through intimidation.

To begin with, it might be helpful for your own personal evolution to exercise some conscious control over what, where and when you decide to confront. Given how Mercury’s retrograde (moving through Virgo until the end of this month) can make communications with others dicey, it may be advisable to start with yourself.

If you are stuck in cynicism, acting to work beyond it would be a good place to start. If anger is rising within you, simply squelching it will probably not make you feel any better. Searching within and getting clear on the origins of your rage, on the other hand, could entail the first step of understanding where others are coming from. Then, you could go even further by finding a way to put your inner fire to some sort of constructive use.

Most of all, perspective would seem to be important. Any challenges facing you now are not likely to be of recent origin. Logically, what has been building up for a long time would also take some time to address.

The idea is to see beyond the moment, even (or especially) when the immediate intensity is so severe. Somewhere beyond what the Sun, Moon, Venus and other planets are now doing is a different set of conditions. Even the most severe series of challenges is never interminable.

Therefore, persist. Persevere with yourself so as to assure that the fires of this moment ultimately forge you into a person you want to be and can sustain.

With others, don’t push. Rather, pull. After working to pull yourself together, look for ways to support community and cooperation with those closest to you. Then, work out into the world. Just a few people pulling in the same direction can prevail over frictions and currents that no one person could overcome.

Finally, as you move through the days leading up to the Great American Eclipse, be kind. Be kind to yourself, especially if you feel as though you have fallen short.

As for others, be as gentle with them as you would have them be to you. It’s quite likely that any person you meet is feeling challenged right now, and one kind word could very well be the beginning of an outcome nearly everybody can live (and let live) with.

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Much as with eclipses, simple awareness helps to make Mercury retrogrades into a better experience. It’s also helpful if each case of Mercury’s reversal on the zodiac can be individually distinguished. Sometimes, it’s even possible identify a particular Mercury retrograde with as little as one word. Often, the appropriate word (in English, at least) will begin with the two-letter prefix ‘re-‘.

Of course, a lot about how you experience anything depends on you. Personal astrology is a factor. So is your point of view. If, in your perspective, you can make even a small difference, it would then behoove you to find out how.

To start with, knowing the timeframe is a vital part of effective participation in a Mercury retrograde. Mercury’s forward motion on the zodiac has been slowing down for several weeks. If you have noticed anything unusual about the immediate past, it’s possible you already have some useful information.

The actual retrograde begins tomorrow (Saturday, Aug. 12) only seconds after 9 pm EDT, or 01:00:26 UTC on Sunday. Mercury will begin its retreat from Virgo’s 12th degree, and return to Leo on Aug. 31.

When a planet changes signs, whether in direct motion or in backpedal mode, its role in the context of everything else also tends to change. Hence, in addition to having a timeframe, you now also know something else that could come in handy beginning next month.

On Sept. 5, the best known of all retrogrades will come to an end when Mercury begins moving forward again in Leo’s 29th degree. (This is the same degree of the same sign where the Sun and Moon will come together to foment a total solar eclipse on Aug. 21).

Mercury will then return to Virgo by Sept. 9 (or Sept. 10, depending on your time zone). By Sept. 19 it will move past the degree where its retrograde is now about to initiate, to leave it all behind.

Now that you have some temporal awareness for Mercury’s key movements in your near future, you also have a question to answer: do you want to do anything with it?

What you can do begins on what you give yourself credit for being able to do. In order to work effectively with astrology, you must first grant that you have the free will with which to make choices. Only after assuming that you have the capacity to choose can you proceed.

Once you do indeed accept (and recognize the boundaries of) your free will, it would probably be best to keep things simple to start off with. That’s because astrology is complicated by more than just Mercury right now.

First, Mercury retrogrades in general are an appropriate time to slow down and think before taking action.

Before you spend a lot of money on one item, think on it. Prior to sending off that tweet, e-mail or other form of missive, anticipate. Should you find yourself being delayed, take the opportunity to contemplate. Or, to use some of those ‘re-‘ prefix words, focus and direct your mind (one of the things versatile Mercury corresponds to) by reviewing, revising and maybe even consciously refraining from action until an appropriate moment.

For this particular retrograde, start with three premises. First, the period of retrograde will overlap with the timeframe between eclipses from tomorrow (Aug. 12) to Aug 21. If there are to be any complications that require extra thought before you choose between reaction and restraint (to cite just one example), that’s when you can probably expect them.

The second thing that will help you to get a leg up beginning tomorrow has to do with how Mercury will be moving back and forth between signs; and hence roles.

On the whole, oscillating between mutable, earthy Virgo (ruled by Mercury) and fixed, fiery Leo (ruled by the Sun) indicates a role for instinct in your life. Among the most important of human instincts is cooperation as a means to achieve a mutually advantageous result for everybody concerned. Were you to make such a thing your primary objective for the remainder of this season, you would be in reasonable harmony with the sky.

Finally, if you were to pick just one of those ‘re-‘ words most likely to apply during the Mercury retrograde beginning tomorrow, ‘recovery’ would be a good candidate.

Recovery can be defined in many ways. It could pertain to your health. It might mean covering the same ground more than once in order to be thorough. But if instinct is factored in, the most likely form of recovery you might want to seek in the coming weeks has to do with regaining something previously lost or misplaced.

In order to be somehow more whole when entering the next season (beginning on Sept. 22 this year) than you were coming into this one, it could very well be that some sort of recovery will need to happen first. Provided you can manage to do something like that while also being thoughtful and (ideally) cooperative, the astrology of the rest of this season will almost certainly be put to its best use.

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The Aquarius Full Moon and lunar eclipse are behind us. Today, the waning Moon moves on to Pisces. The Leo Sun is moving closer towards its conjunction with the ascending lunar node. We are in the eclipse zone, a temporal period when events tend to open, close and compress into a higher frequency more than is usual.

The eclipse zone also has a spatial component. If you are not aware eclipses are happening (and when), it can be a challenging space to occupy. Simply having an awareness of the timeframe involved cannot help but empower your understanding.

Your cognizance of a given eclipse zone can conceivably be enhanced if you also comprehend what distinguishes the two eclipses that usually boundary the time and space within (sometimes there are three eclipses). In this column on Friday, one correlation was already revealed: yesterday’s lunar eclipse was a very exact astrological duplicate of the one that took place precisely 19 years earlier.

In addition, the closing event ostensibly leading us out of our current zone (the total solar eclipse coming up in less than two weeks) will take place on exactly the same date, and in precisely the same degree of Leo, as the solar eclipse of Aug. 21, 1998.

Of course, the context is different this time, with exception for the Sun’s proximity to a lunar node (the essential requisite for eclipses), and its rhythm with the Moon. The planets and other points on the zodiac now are significantly different from how they were in 1998.

For example, Donald Trump is now President of the United States. Context is a factor when you consider that the Great American Eclipse on Aug. 21 of this year will closely conjoin The Donald’s documented natal ascendant.

You also have reason to raise an eyebrow. This Aug. 21 will also be the 110th birth anniversary of the late John George Trump.

John G. Trump was Donald’s uncle, the younger brother to the president’s father, Frederick. Now, in addition to the Sun, Moon and Donald’s ascendant we have yet another point merging in the penultimate degree of Leo on Aug. 21: Uncle John’s natal Sun.

Uncle John was something beyond an interesting fellow. After failing to get along with his older brother in a real estate venture, John decided to go to college. Fred (who was not exactly known for such generous deeds) paid the tuition in full, all the way to a doctorate.

After getting his PhD, John proceeded to become something more than just your usual electrical engineer. He became a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), among the most elite academic institutions in the world. During the second World War, he worked in MIT’s top-secret “Rad Lab” (“Rad” for “radiation”). John was also a trusted liaison of the U.S. Government.

In addition to working with the U.S. military and its allies in the development of radar and other technologies, John G. Trump was tasked with interviewing German radar technicians after the war. That’s right, he was part of what some have called Operation Paperclip.

Perhaps most interestingly, it was Uncle John who was assigned to review and analyze private papers confiscated from Nikola Tesla’s New York hotel room after Dr. Tesla’s death.

The Sun is now returning to the same degree of Leo it occupied when Dr. J.G. Trump was born. On that day the New Moon will be so precisely aligned with the Sun as to cast a shadow across the U.S. And it will all take place on one of the most distinguishing degrees of the U.S. president’s natal chart.

If history proves anything, it is that prediction is perhaps the worst application of astrology. Therefore you will not read anything here about a remarkably well-preserved Uncle John showing up in a highly modified DeLorean on Aug. 21, looking for his nephew.

You do have, however, some interesting material to share around a campfire with other astrologers. Who knows, the eclipse zone we are now entering may very well represent a New Age very unlike what some astrologers have predicted.

Now could be the beginning of a space and time defined by the best shaggy-dog and ghost stories you have ever heard. Pay attention. Before this is all over, you might be living a bestselling novel. It would be a shame if you were too spooked to enjoy the ride.

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It might be useful to compare the astrological components of eclipses to the elements of a telescope. You could say the Sun and Moon are like lenses (or even mirrors). The lunar nodes work like the tube, providing alignment. Finally, Earth (and you) would correspond to the eyepiece, or possibly the telescope’s operator.

Telescopes are great tools. With one, astronomers can spot something (such as a comet) coming. A telescope can also be used to look back in time by taking in the radiant emissions sent out by distant stars and galaxies billions of years in the past.

Ideally, eclipses can function in the same way: as useful tools that provide perspective on both where you have been and what may lie ahead. The partial lunar eclipse coming up on Monday will be taking place with the Sun precisely (to the degree) in the middle of the fixed astrological sign Leo. At the same time, the eclipsed Full Moon will be in the middle of the fixed sign that opposes Leo: Aquarius.

When the Sun occupies the middle degree of a fixed sign, it is the midpoint of a season. Events correlating with such “cross-quarter” points are considered by multiple cultural traditions to provide an excellent perspective on both the past and future.

Even in our modern age, there are vestigial commemorations of mid-season such as Groundhog Day (with the Sun approaching the middle of Aquarius), May Day (with the Sun moving close to the midpoint of Taurus), and Halloween (when the Sun is in mid-Scorpio).

Interestingly, the cross-quarter days corresponding to the Sun at Leo’s midpoint have not been co-opted into commercially or politically oriented culture like the other three have. That’s good news. There will be no contrived artifice to obscure your perceptions when the Sun, precisely at the midpoint of this season, exactly opposes the Moon just as precisely at the midpoint of its monthly cycle during a lunar eclipse. All you have to do is remember just one thing.

It would be helpful for you to recall how many of the best astronomers in history did not (at least at first) understand what they were seeing when they first spotted something through a telescope. Galileo recorded what he thought to be either a star or a moon of Jupiter. In fact it was Neptune, unwittingly sighted more than two centuries before it was recognized to be a planet.

Likewise, William Herschel originally thought Uranus to be something other than a planet. Similarly, galaxies were seen long before they were fully understood to be as we now know them.

So, if you do detect something coming through the compound lens of a cross-quarter day concurrent with the lunar eclipse on Monday, give yourself a pat on the back and appreciate such a special moment. Simply understand that what you have sensed may not yet be fully defined. Be careful not to draw hasty conclusions or make summary judgments about the specifics. Give yourself credit, but allow for later observations and other points of view to determine exactly what you have discovered.

As regards to seeing into and understanding the past (and how we got from then to now), Monday’s lunar eclipse will conceivably function as a telescope in that way too. That’s because the Sun and Moon’s positions on the zodiac will exactly (to the degree) duplicate where they were for a lunar eclipse on Aug. 7, 1998. What’s more, the total solar eclipse coming up on Aug. 21 of this year will see the Sun and Moon merge in precisely the same degree of Leo as the solar eclipse on Aug. 21, 1998.

In other words, what started 19 years ago this month is now (at least symbolically) about to come full circle in some way. Of course, many other parts of the equation will be different. The Aug. 21, 1998 solar eclipse, for example, did not cast its shadow across the same path the Great American Eclipse will trace.

What an extraordinarily precise correlation between past and nearly present events on the zodiac is likely to offer is information. Just as the light only now arriving from ancient stars tells us something about how things got to be the way they are, so will the metaphorical telescope this upcoming set of eclipses will provide.

Hence, starting on Monday, begin looking ahead — but not with any illusions of absolute certainty or clarity. The details will come later, but that’s no reason to dismiss the importance of any discoveries you may make. Also, do not neglect to commence looking back — not in the expectation of repetition, but to gain a greater appreciation of the role rhythm and rhyme play in the song of your life.

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