A few hours ahead of today’s Virgo New Moon, Venus entered Scorpio. Venus is moving slowly these days, working up to its retrograde on Oct. 5.

Scorpio is one of the signs associated with earthly power. Venus is the planet associated with Taurus, Libra and Pisces, the more pleasure-seeking energy fields of the zodiac. In classical astrology, Venus is said to be in detriment in Scorpio. Before we get into explaining ‘detriment’, let’s consider this mix of energies from a worldly standpoint.

A visitor looks at ‘L’Origine du Monde, 1866’ (The Origin Of The World) by French Realist painter Gustave Courbet (1819-1877) at the Musee d’Orsay in Paris (Reuters). See the full painting here.

The association between Scorpio and sex is an ancient one. All of the signs are associated with body parts, and in classical astrology, Scorpio rules the genitals.

Even people who are not into astrology know there’s a little something extra about Scorpio, in terms of its emotional depth, intensity, and something about sex and sexuality. In our times, this whole range of feelings is in the verboten category. While at the moment anyone who admits to desire can come under siege, from time immemorial it has been women who have borne the brunt of sexuality and its consequences.

Women have, as well, been bound to chastity in ways that men have not, largely due to the fact that patriarchy and tracking lineage through the father’s line require a female body to create the next generation. Under this organization of society, this is why women and their sexuality have faced extreme control measures.

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We have just lived through Martian Summer, and are about to experience Venusian Autumn.

It would seem like for about half the population or more, this has been a particularly rough summer. We have some pieces to pick up, some damage to assess and repair, and maybe some issues to settle. Mars retrograde in Aquarius will help teach you who your true friends really are. Remember the people who showed up for you, who were loyal to you, and who treated you with respect. They are the real thing.

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By the time you read this, the Pisces Full Moon will have already peaked earlier in the day. Yet even if you can feel a situation resolving or softening in one regard, you might still be experiencing a little agitation: tomorrow, at 10:05 am EDT (14:04:52 UTC), Mars finally stations direct after having been retrograde for two full months.

This May 11, 2016, self-portrait of NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover shows the vehicle at the “Okoruso” drilling site on lower Mount Sharp’s “Naukluft Plateau” in a mosaic of multiple images. Photo by NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS.

Only you can say whether you felt this dramatically or barely at all; whether you felt thwarted at every turn, or just a little less gung-ho than usual. And of course, with three eclipses and Mercury’s own retrograde mixed in, it can be hard to tease out the themes specific to Mars.

Yet, for the last week, Mercury has been direct in Leo; the eclipses finished up just over two weeks ago. It’s possible you’ve been able to discern a little better the meaning of this particular Mars retrograde in your own life during the last week or two. You might ponder these questions if you need a hand tapping into it:

Has this past season helped you to understand certain desires better?

Do you have a sharper grasp of the ways you stand out from — or even oppose outright — a particular group or social trend?

Have you reached deeper insights about particular past actions, and how they’ve gotten you to where you are now?

It could help to consider the Sabian symbol for the degree where Mars is stationing direct, 29 Capricorn. (The Sabian symbols are a set of images that were channeled to correspond to each degree of the zodiac; Dane Rudhyar’s version is perhaps the most popular.) The Sabian symbol for 29 Capricorn reads: “A woman reading tea leaves.” It comes with the keynote: “The ability to see the Signature of hidden meaning in every occurrence drawing one’s attention.”

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You might think of this week under the header of “transition.” Of course, we’re always in some kind of transition or another. But consider this: Mercury just stationed direct early this morning; we’re entering the final week of Mars retrograde, which has characterized the entire season; and on Thursday, the Sun enters Virgo: the final sign of summer here in the Northern Hemisphere.

Photo by Amanda Painter.

All of those events carry a distinct flavor of transitioning from one mode of interacting and perceiving into another.

The mutable signs — Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces — all come at the end of their respective seasons. They herald a kind of energetic loosening to make way for the next season, and that gets reflected in our consciousness.

In many places, the solar month of Virgo happens to be associated with the end of a lengthy school break, and the need for parents and students to prepare themselves for a significant shift in daily rhythm and focus of activity. This particular transition phase is so deeply imprinted on us as kids, I get the sense many people carry its psychological echo well into adulthood — no matter how their work life is structured, and even if they don’t have children themselves.

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— with Amanda Painter

Now that we’ve come through the third and final eclipse of this season, how are you feeling? Have you passed through a distinct phase, or sense that you’re oriented differently? If you’re still sorting out what you’ve been through, taking that process gently might best suit the movements of Mercury and Mars for a little while.

We’re in the final week of the present Mercury retrograde, which has been almost concealed under the other unusual astrology surrounding it — the eclipses, which are now over; and Mars retrograde, still in place until Aug. 27. Mercury will station direct on Sunday, Aug. 19, at 12:25 am EDT (4:24:38 UTC).

Mercury in false color based on photos from Messenger. Image by NASA / JHU Applied Physics Lab / Carnegie Inst. Washington

The period when Mercury prepares to station direct is usually a time of revelations: of hidden truths emerging, and patterns coming together.

If this has been a productive and pleasant time for you, you’ll likely see your way through into the next stage of development, including what might need altering. If you’ve experienced challenges or struggles, you may well find a key to overcoming them, or at least understanding them better.

One signal feature of retrograde phases is the necessity of slowing down in some way, and making sure there is sufficient room to relax and recuperate.

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This week’s big event is Saturday’s partial solar eclipse in Leo, which concludes a three-part series set against the backdrop of Mars and Mercury both being retrograde.

Last year’s partial solar eclipse over Pittsburgh. Photo by Nick Amoscato

As ever, eclipses tend to induce a sense of compressed time and of everything being turned upside down.

For some, this can mean a breakthrough; others simply find themselves taking one day at a time until normal service is resumed. I’ll have more to say about this particular eclipse below. First up, though, is the astrological Lammas, or Lughnasadh, which occurs when the Sun reaches the midpoint of Leo: the height of the summer season. That’s coming up Tuesday morning ET.

Notably, when the Sun arrives it’s very tightly conjunct the asteroid Pallas, which represents politics, strategy and intelligence. It certainly does no harm to add an extra layer of forethought to just about everything at present, especially with two inner planets in reverse gear.

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Hopefully you’ve felt a sense of last week’s pressure easing some, now that the Full Moon and lunar eclipse has dissipated and Mercury is firmly retrograde in Leo. That said, this week’s astrology brings its own energetic peak — one that might give you a boost as you try to initiate any new patterns.

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The Sun entering Leo today begins the process of two eclipses on the Leo-Aquarius axis. The first takes place Friday: a total lunar eclipse in Aquarius, conjunct retrograde Mars — followed by a partial solar eclipse in Leo itself.

We’re also approaching the peak of the summer season, with the Sun in its sign of rulership; and one of the cross-quarter days, Lughnasadh (pronounced lunessa), celebrated by neo-Pagans the first week of August, as the Sun nears the Leo midpoint.

A total lunar eclipse in progress, in 2014, over Katmai, Alaska. Photo courtesy of Katmai National Park and Preserve.

Apart from the eclipses, the standout aspect of the week is retrograde Mars opposite Pallas, with both conjunct the nodes.

Pallas is the goddess of protection, law and diplomacy, placed on the cutting-edge North Node of the Moon. This shows a potential direction we might head in: trying to work things out. That might require letting go some of the “strong ego” quality for which Leo is famous.

Mars retrograde in Aquarius describes either a group dynamic, or one person expressing their individuality, pitted against a group of some kind. So we have two dynamics set up against one another, amplified by the nodes. The setup is more a question than an answer. Which dynamic rules? How does the group treat the individual? What is the relationship between the one and the many?

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