By Amanda Painter

It’s almost cliché for astrologers to talk about the dual nature of fire: how it can be warming, life giving and inspirational; yet, if mishandled, can burn metaphorical bridges and cause literal destruction. Despite the Sun now being in Virgo, there’s still a lot of fire in the sky involving key planets. How you feel it and how you use it may depend partly on personal circumstances, but what matters most is the awareness you bring to it.

Crescent Moon and beach bonfire at Dance New England late last week. Photo by Amanda Painter.

Here are the key players:

Today, Mercury re-enters Leo via the back door, thanks to its apparent retrograde motion. On Sunday, it will make an exact conjunction to Mars in Leo; notably, this happens in the same degree as last week’s total solar eclipse.

In between those events, Mars makes an exact trine to Uranus in Aries on Saturday.

Item number one to notice about this setup is the way it very directly rings the bell of the Aug. 21 eclipse. That immediately tells you that this astrology, and what it brings up for you, is related to that event. It’s connected to the patterns you were in the process of setting; to the goals and desires you focused your intentions on; and to any unexpected discoveries, encounters and opportunities that came your way around that time.

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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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By Amanda Painter

With the Great American Eclipse now behind you, how are you feeling? Do you notice anything different? Do you feel like things are pretty much business as usual, or has your life changed dramatically?

Photo by Amanda Painter

Due to previously made plans for this week, I’m actually writing this several days ahead of when you’re reading it; as I type, the eclipse is still about 24 hours away and fast approaching.

I just turned down an unexpected creative opportunity in favor of getting done all the things I’m obligated to complete, and (as sometimes happens around eclipses), I’m wondering if I’ve just ignored some kind of signal from the universe that I ought to have said ‘yes’ to.

Perhaps you can relate to that feeling of uncertainty and second-guessing. If so, you probably know it’s sometimes a tricky thing to shake.

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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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By Amanda Painter

I know a lot of people who are really excited about the total solar eclipse of the Sun on Monday; I also know a lot of people who are tied up in knots of outrage, fear and despair regarding last weekend’s white-supremacist attacks in Charlottesville, VA, and the President’s response to it. You may even count yourself in both categories (I suspect many people do), and be wondering how to deal with it all.

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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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