“Somebody said they saw me swinging the world by the tail.”
— Rowland Salley

Up in the sky things keep moving. Celestial cycles never stop. Nor do they ever exactly repeat. Fortunately, there never has been, and never will be, an end-all. Sometimes tragically, the same can be said for be-all. Something always follows. Often, you can play a part in determining what that something is.

If you have been up before dawn lately, you might have seen Venus shining for all it’s worth in the East. It’s so beautiful. It seems so right. You could not be blamed for wanting it to be there always — rising to illuminate the proverbial darkest hour.

Perhaps it is because Venus has been in Gemini since July 4. Gemini is where the ascending heliocentric node of Venus is located. It is therefore, as astrologer Phil Sedgwick puts it, the sign where the “mission statement” of Venus is defined.

If you are reading these words, you were alive (and probably quite aware) when the mission statement of Venus manifested as a visible event. In both 2004 and 2012, Venus, its node and the Sun all lined up perfectly in Gemini so that we could witness Venus transiting the face of the Sun.

Essentially, the Venus transits were eclipses. They were rare, irreplaceable and thrilling experiences that left any astrologer (or astronomer, for that matter) with passion for their work wanting more.

Then, things moved on. The world will not see another Venus transit until more than a century has passed. Among other things, however, the experience taught us how to detect planets transiting the face of distant stars. That is not chopped liver.

Yes, you and the rest of us were compelled to move on as well, but we were left with something more than just a memory. The Venus transits of this century gave us at least one gift that made it possible for us to do for ourselves what we were not capable of doing before.

Now, as Venus moves through the final few days of its 2017 tenure in Gemini, you would do well to remember that mission statements are only beginnings. No matter how inspiring it may be, a discovery of purpose is only a start. In the long run, what really counts is what follows.

After Venus enters Cancer on Monday, all the sign-rulers save the Moon will be set in the signs they will occupy during the upcoming lunar and solar eclipses.

The solar eclipse on Aug. 21, especially, has already inspired and excited the imaginations of millions. No doubt, the actual experience of viewing it will also be enthralling. But it will not be the end-all.

When the sky grows dark for a precious few minutes, a bigger picture will become apparent. Just west of the eclipsed Sun, Venus will appear — not to presage dawn, but as part of a continuum, a whole, a work in progress that you are here to be a part of.

But you can’t be a part of all that the Leo solar eclipse will reveal if you stay in one place after the Moon moves on to allow daylight once again. You can’t move with the universe if you cling to an experience rather than retain its lesson.

Whether you actually see the Great American Eclipse doesn’t really matter. What will matter is what you do after having been (along with the rest of our world) aligned with the Moon and Sun as part of it.

You can prepare yourself for the big event beginning this weekend. Watch, or at least remember, Venus. Should you become wistful, embrace the feeling, but don’t let it hold you back. You have things to do with the gifts these days will provide.

Offered In Service

Mars is not visible in the sky right now. Nor are any of the robotic devices that are on or orbiting Mars currently in communication with Earth. All that is because Mars is currently moving on the other side of the Sun relative to Earth. For astronomers and scientists, it is almost as though Mars is not there. Not so for astrologers.

When the Sun is precisely between Earth and Mars, the alignment is called a conjunction. It is not what you would call a rare event (taking place approximately once every two years), but is also uncommon enough to be something less than familiar.

On the zodiac, the Sun conjoins Mars when both objects occupy the same degree of the same sign. Shortly before 9 pm EDT tomorrow (00:56:51 UTC Thursday) the meeting will be exact in Leo’s fifth degree. For all practical purposes, however, the alignment is functional all this week.

Just in case you don’t have a clear memory of June 14, 2015 (when the previous merger of the Sun and Mars happened in late Gemini), here are some astrological guidelines to keep in mind as you observe and navigate your life.

First, think of Mars broadly as having to do with energy. Next, take a similarly wide and simple view of the Sun. The astronomical Sun is an external source of day and light that allows you to see what’s going on in the world. The astrological Sun is likewise a source of illumination, but from within, corresponding to being conscious, and aware of your surroundings.

With the conjunction from the Sun to Mars, then, it is less than likely that your consciousness (or that of any other) will be blocking energy. Instead, anything with an energetic component (whither tangible or metaphorical) is more than probably being expressed through, and unavoidably influenced by, a consciousness. In other words, perspective currently counts for a lot.

In general, two objects conjoining on the zodiac represents the end of one mutual cycle and the beginning of another. If perspective is difficult to come by for you this week, you can always start with that one principle. If you don’t absolutely have to align yourself with another point of view immediately, consider the merits of being patient and allowing your own perception to develop.

Another thing about conjunctions is that the corresponding earthly qualities of the two objects in question will tend to merge — but only temporarily. In this case, it’s a good idea to remember that energy and consciousness are not one and the same, even though it may sometimes seem that way.

If somebody is being more than unusually assertive, take what they are expressing with a grain of salt. It could very well be that emphasis does not, and will not, function to confer either veracity or authenticity.

The same goes for you. Keep tabs on yourself. If you hear your voice raise, or witness either your desires or efforts ramp up, check for what’s appropriate and proportional to any given situation.

Finally, even though Mars is not astrologically absent at this time, all conjunctions do tend to correspond with something not easily seen until later. Allow a healthy respect for what you don’t know now to be part of your own consciousness.

With Mercury now slowing down in Virgo, where it will commence its next retrograde on Aug. 12 (or Aug. 13, depending on your time zone), your consciousness and your mind will eventually catch up with each other to sort things out. In the meantime, you would be well advised not to jump to conclusions that might need (with some embarrassment) to be reversed later.

Mars may be out of sight, but it is not out of mind. If you can remember only that one thing this week, you will not be giving trouble a helping hand.

Offered In Service

The Sun leaves Cancer to enter Leo today (Saturday, July 22). Tomorrow, the Moon will do the same. Minutes after its ingress, the Moon will meet up with the Sun in the first degree of Leo for their monthly conjunction aptly called a New Moon.

Based on astrological events to follow, tomorrow’s New Moon will initiate more than just a new lunar cycle. Implied by the context for the first of two Leo New Moons in a row is the beginning of a new era for one of your best traits.

One characteristic common to most New Moons is that the Moon is not clearly evident in the sky while conjoined with the Sun on the zodiac. The exception is a solar eclipse. Interestingly, a truly exceptional and total solar eclipse is what next month’s New Moon will also be.

Based on what the two luminaries (Sun and Moon) will be doing, this weekend will begin a unique journey through time. Specific details of your own traversal through the near future will, to a significant degree, depend on what makes you different from others. Implicitly, however, most of those particulars will not be important enough to remember.

What you will retain from the weeks to come will almost certainly not be only about you. Instead, the most salient and lasting impressions formed by all that’s currently getting underway in the sky will probably develop during a temporal voyage of discovery in common with everybody who also possesses one of your greatest assets: mind.

In addition to travels over land, water or through the air; there are other ways to explore. One means of discovery available to nearly everybody is to pay closer attention to what’s familiar.

Even among the people and places you know best is that which is not always (or even usually) apparent. No doubt you have had at least one occasion in the past to wish you had not overlooked something which, in retrospect, was plain to see.

This weekend, the astrology will symbolically begin indicating that such needless oversight need not be repeated. The Sun (corresponding to conscious awareness) and the Moon (correlating with other, less than fully conscious forms of awareness) are proceeding to give you a heads up regarding some exceptional things about to emerge from the ordinary.

Mercury (which, among other things, is astrologically representative of the mind) will be playing an important role too. Further emphasizing what the luminaries will subtly be getting started this weekend is how and where Mercury will be moving immediately after.

On Monday, Mercury will be in the the penultimate degree of Leo — the same degree of the same sign in which the Sun and Moon will get together on August 21 for a total solar eclipse. It is also precisely in that same (next-to-last) degree of Leo where Mercury’s next retrograde will conclude on Sept. 5.

Pause to contemplate that for a moment. One day after the Sun and Moon’s prosaic initiation of a new lunar cycle that could very well conclude in an epiphany, Mercury will be at the exact zodiac degree where the luminaries will next conjoin. It is as if Mercury on Monday will be telling you to think ahead.

As if that were not enough, Mercury will then return to that same degree of Leo a second time about two weeks after the eclipse.

With that return, a Mercury retrograde, which is now still weeks away from starting, will come to an end. It is as if looking ahead with anticipation on Monday will also confer occasion to look back with comprehension, even satisfaction by September. For all of that to happen, however, you will implicitly need to participate in a thoughtful manner.

That’s because intimations of what could very well manifest leading up to, during and following the Great American Eclipse will probably emerge where and when you are most likely to miss them – at least to begin with. A little thought, however, will just as probably go a long way towards helping you to find both your place and your way during what looks to be an extraordinary period.

Some such inklings, much like an ordinary New Moon, will not be readily available through direct observation. With some directed thinking, however, and you should be able to sufficiently infer general trends enough to make up for at least part of what you might otherwise miss.

Other clues will become apparent if you go beyond merely looking, to actually see the exceptional and indicative in familiar routines and surroundings. In order to do so, however, you will have to use your mind to inform your eyes, rather than just the other way around.

To some extent, consciousness and awareness are necessarily intrinsic for all beings interacting with their environment. The quality you might call mind is more rare, but there can be no doubt that you are endowed with it.

The mind’s ability to transcend the moment by both looking ahead and reflecting back is now about to come in handy. It would be fair to say that your mind’s time has come. The time has come for you to put your mind to an even fuller and better use than any which have come before. Implicitly you will not be called to do so alone, but in concert with others who also possess what must certainly be one of the greatest gifts the universe can offer.

Now the time has come to begin giving in return.

Offered In Service

Among the factors distinguishing the astrology of 2017 is two objects entering the same sign in quick succession. Along with at least one other repeating motif (that of significant events taking place in the penultimate degree of a sign) the theme of a rapidly emulated ingress will be part of the scenario for the total solar eclipse in the 29th degree of Leo on Aug 21.

Less than two hours after the Great American Eclipse, the Moon will move on to Virgo. The Sun will follow into Virgo the next day. To cite just one other amazingly timed example coming up, Saturn will enter Capricorn only about 36 hours before it is joined by the Sun in an extraordinary cardinal point solstice conjunction on Dec 21.

This week, the zodiac equivalent of two or more meaningful ingresses in a row will be initiated by Mars. On Thursday, Mars leaves Cancer behind to enter Leo. On Saturday, the Sun will follow suit.

Then, on Sunday, the Moon will enter Leo for an unusually resonant New Moon conjunction with the Sun a little more that one hour later. Needless to say, Mars will still be in the same zodiacal neighborhood.

There are many useful metaphors for how an ingress expresses. To cite just two, the object in question can be thought of as an actor changing costumes (and hence roles); or an athlete removing one uniform and putting on another (consequently moving on from one position to another, one sport to another, or even from one team to another).

If a famous professional athlete gets traded, it takes a while to get used to seeing her or him playing for another side. Imagine the same thing happening to several teammates at once, and it gives you an idea of what to expect after Mars enters Leo Thursday (and, by implication, what to expect in part for this entire year).

Should you find yourself a bit disoriented later this week, it might simply mean you are (on some level) paying attention. Wouldn’t that be better news than mistakenly assuming you are lost?

If your life seems to have been (and continues to be) one thing after another in rapid succession, it is not necessarily a bad sign at all. In fact, you should feel at least some reassurance if your existence is being distinguished by some of the same themes implicitly evident in how the solar system as a whole is moving and interrelating.

Of course, it helps to be aware. It is useful to know your physical location and what comes with the territory. Knowing what day or time it is comes in handy. The same goes for distinguishing themes, and the defining timeframes during which they are expected to take place.

Simply being present to at least some of the astrological tableaux which have been (and will continue to be) repeated during this calendar year could make a very big difference for you — especially if your life is evidently moving in parallel. That way, instead of wondering what’s wrong, you will have the perspective to see just how right things (and you) can be — even if some adjustment is occasionally required.

Offered In Service

We are now past the first Full Moon of the current season, which took place in Capricorn on Sunday. You might, then, logically perceive a theme of consolidation or elaboration to be setting in. With the Sun about to complete its third week in Cancer, the perception is being reinforced.

Trends that initiated since the Cancer solstice in June would now be expected to begin assuming some sort of recognizable form. One example would be length of days relative to nights compared to this time last month.

Trends, however, are subject to interruption. It is not unusual for a long spate of sunny weather to be occasionally, and temporarily, disrupted by clouds and rain. Looking ahead to the astrology for the remainder of this week, similar scenarios could well become evident.

As today’s Aquarius Moon wanes further into Pisces tomorrow, it will set up a water trine (a separation of 120 degrees on the zodiac) with the Sun on Thursday. If that aspect correlates with some emotional disruption, you should remember to keep a longer perspective in mind.

This is not to say that emotions (or intuitions) you experience this week are in any way without significance. How you feel, regardless of the time or context, is always an important matter. The idea is to integrate what is implicitly of ephemeral quality so as to make the more enduring nature of any continuum a more sustainable experience.

Rain absorbed in the ground keeps life going once the skies have cleared. By the same token, any inconveniences you encounter before the weekend will probably turn out to have a silver lining of their own.

This would therefore be a good week to experience everything to the fullest, come what may. Even if you encounter some interruptions of your own, engage with them as fully as you can. That way, when the Moon moves into Aries to begin the weekend, you could very well find yourself more refreshed and energized than you might otherwise be.

Of course, if you feel the need to take shelter, you should. There is something to be said for knowing and respecting your boundaries — especially as they differ from others.

To the extent that you can, however, it would probably be a good idea to take in all this week offers. With more than two months to go in our present season, the time to orient yourself with indications of a foreseeable future is drawing nigh.

Offered In Service

“And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.”
— Paul McCartney

It’s been a busy week for the sky. Venus left Taurus behind to ingress Gemini as Tuesday segued into Wednesday. Almost exactly 24 hours later Mercury departed Cancer to enter Leo. Now a Full Moon is coming up, and it’s time to do a loving turn.

For all but the easternmost time zone of North America, the Full Moon opposition from the Cancer Sun to the Capricorn Moon will be exact late Saturday. Farther eastward, it will happen sometime Sunday.

For consenting adult couples, you could not choose a better Full Moon for romantic weekend activity. For much of the world, it’s an optimal time of year to be outdoors and comfortable at night. Of course, not everybody is part of a loving couple.

Anybody reading these words, however, is part of the world. If there is no one person with whom you can cuddle, the world at large could use some love right now. A significant contribution might begin with loving the Earth.

All of us take from the Earth. There is nothing wrong with that. Some, however, are more careful than others. If you want a way to honor the Full Moon alignment this weekend, you could start with treating our planet a little better.

Perhaps this would be a good weekend to leave the car parked. Alternatively, you could plant a tree — or simply water one. Even if all you do is pick up a little carelessly discarded litter, it would help. It would be even better if you did not litter at all. A similar principle applies to showing love for your fellow inhabitants of Earth.

Showing love in a respectful way for other beings can sometimes mean simply leaving them alone. That’s nearly always true for animals in the wild, and often also true for people. At the very least, you can rarely do wrong by doing no harm.

Nearly every day presents you with the opportunity to refrain from doing harm. If another person is not currently receptive to so much as a kind word, you can still show your love by not writing or saying anything harsh to them. Indeed, perhaps the surest form of manifesting love in the world is to exercise restraint.

It is seldom, if ever, that any person can change the world (or even a single life) by themselves. Reality tends to be more complex than that. What you can realistically do is behave so as not to make things worse.

Even if you cannot improve a single person’s lot going into next week, it does not mean you are powerless to show love. Sometimes your most effective forms of caring and affection are not outwardly demonstrated at all. Restraint may not seem to count for much, but sometimes what you don’t do will be the best thing you could ever have done.

And in the end, taking some loving care of yourself could make the biggest difference of all.

Offered In Service