The Astrology Blog 5 August July 2019
Your Astrology Fast Guide to the next Fortnight
“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”
Winston Churchill, b 30 November 1874, Sun Sagittarius, Moon Leo
“Choose to be optimistic, it feels better.”
Dalai Lama XIV, b 6 July 1935, Sun 13 Cancer trine Jupiter 13 Scorpio
One of the hallmarks of this fortnight is that the planets now in Leo (the Sun and Venus) have both squared up to Uranus in Taurus and are now both making quinqunx aspects to Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn, and to Neptune in Pisces. The quinqunx is a minor aspect but as I’ve been saying recently is awkward by name and awkward by nature. They are a misalliance as they have nothing in common – they don’t share an element or a mode or a gender –
- Leo is fire/fixed/masculine
- Capricorn is earth/cardinal/feminine
- Pisces is water/mutable/feminine
Mars is ahead of the Sun and Venus, so he has already been treading this path –
- Mars square Uranus – 11 July
- Mars quinqunx Saturn – 27 July
- Mars quinqunx Neptune – 30 July
- Mars quinqunx Pluto – 4 August
The aspect is also associated with blind spots and mishaps, the thing you can’t see coming or the things you can’t change. The finale of the Mars (god of war) sequence with Pluto (destruction by difficult aspect) was the applying aspect for the horrific shootings in the US.
What I haven’t pointed out before is also that these aspects have been forming a recognized aspect pattern. If you put the 12 signs of the zodiac on the outer ring of a wheel you’ll see that Leo is five signs away from Capricorn going one way, and five signs away from Pisces going the other way. If you then join these signs together you’ll find that they create an isosceles triangle. This is known as a YOD – also called Finger of Fate. The “pointing finger” bit of the pattern is considered to be the most important bit, in this example Leo.
These are very difficult to interpret as they are already about hidden, obscured or fated issues. Probably the most helpful way to look at the sequences now playing out is to look at these aspects as a separate list, and to bear in mind those themes within this 6 day period –
Thursday 8 August
- Sun 15 Leo quinqunx Saturn 15 Capricorn 01.26 BST
Friday 9 August
- Venus 15 Leo quinqunx Saturn 15 Capricorn 09.25 BST
Sunday 11 August
- Sun 18 Leo quinqunx Neptune 18 Pisces 01.46 BST
- Venus 18 Leo quinqunx Neptune 18 Pisces 18.45 BST
Wednesday 14 August
- Sun 21 Leo quinqunx Pluto 21 Capricorn 07.06 BST
- Venus 21 Leo quinqunx Pluto 21 Capricorn 07.06 BST
If you have planets or angles at 15 – 21 degrees of any of these signs then this sequence will be especially applicable to your own life. This doesn’t mean that you’re going to get gunned down. Let’s not do alarmism. But this formation will be triggering and reflecting something that you find difficult to deal with or over which you have no control, and which possibly carries hidden factors, such as someone else making plans that you know nothing about and which may affect your own life or wishes. Bit like Brexit.
Okay, that’s the difficult bit. The rest of the picture, and the more important as these are the major aspects and astrological features of this fortnight, is fiery and rather glorious as lucky Jupiter is making his importance felt. Here’s a reminder of the main Jupiter concerns –
Jupiter – main principle is Expansion, anything that makes our life bigger and better. Known in traditional astrology as the Greater Benefic, he brings the things or the people into our lives that are good for us or who can help us. Planet of optimism, opportunity, luck, liberation, good fortune, abundance, generosity both giving and receiving, learning, publishing, truth and justice/all legal concerns. Long distance travel is also part of Jupiter’s domain so all things and all people related to overseas are part of his domain.
Venus is catching up with the Sun in the fire sign of Leo and along the way they both make trines, harmonious aspects, to Jupiter, super powerful in his own fire sign of Sagittarius and poised to turn direct at 14 degrees. Looking back, Jupiter turned retrograde 10 April at 24 Sagittarius so he’s backtracked 10 degrees over the last four months. This doesn’t mean that all of Jupiter’s concerns have ground to a screaming halt, but there have been noticeable “go slow” themes, like delaying tactics from lawyers, and the need to put in a lot of effort to make things good.
Jupiter’s flipside can also be over exuberance, getting carried away with an idea or feelings, overdoing things and not recognizing our physical or mental limitations, taking on too much, misplacing our trust or not knowing our rights. But Jupiter doesn’t do bitterness. Look at strong Jupiter types such as the Dalai Lama quoted at the top for lessons in optimism and trust in the essential beauty of life. If you’ve made mistakes or been through a disappointment now is the time to clock the lesson learned and then to let it all go.
Jupiter can work in disguise in the classic “clouds with silver linings” way. Even a rock bottom moment can actually turn out to be a liberation, the thing that makes us wake up and decide on change for the better. In terms of progress and results, and getting things back into manageable proportions, we can expect to see definite movement this week –
Wednesday 7 August
- Sun 14 Leo trine Jupiter 14 Sagittarius 08.33 BST
Thursday 8 August
- Venus 14 Leo trine Jupiter 14 Sagittarius 21.29 BST
Saturday 10 August
- Moon conjunct Jupiter 14.30 Sagittarius 00.26 BST
Sunday 11 August
- Jupiter turns direct at 14.30 Sagittarius 14.39 BST
- Mercury ingress Leo 20.47 BST
Wednesday 14 August
- Sun conjunct Venus 21 Leo 07.08 BST
Note that I’ve also included the monthly Moon – Jupiter conjunction which is beautiful to behold if you have clear skies – look up for it on Friday night. It’s an extra bonus that the Moon is uniting with Jupiter just as he’s turning direct. The Sun – Venus conjunction is an annual event and if you have planets or angles at or close to 21 Leo this is a real blessing, but it may come with a difficult price tag of some kind as this conjunction forms literally two minutes after both Venus and the Sun have made the quinqunx to Pluto (see first list above).
What Else is Happening?
Moving into the second week things go a bit nutty again as unpredictable Uranus dominates the picture, turning retrograde (and won’t turn direct again until next January at 2 Taurus) and clashing with Mercury who will have just changed sign. Moving into Leo, Mercury will now follow in the footsteps of Mars, Sun and Venus, so however all those quinqunx aspects have been showing for you or for someone close to you, or in events going on around you, Mercury’s journey will be the final leg.
For starters though Mercury entering Leo is a bit bossy and usually some kind of fanfare (archetype of the speech maker, those with big bold ideas, natal placing for Barack Obama, Nelson Mandela, Richard Branson). Mercury is news, the square to Uranus is shock, the unexpected or drama. If you or anyone close to you have an announcement to make, get ready for a lot of eyebrow raising. Also look out for all the themes that are pronounced during Mercury’s retrograde periods as a difficult aspect to an outer planet amounts to the same thing. Assume nothing. It’s also followed a few days later by the Full Moon which is also of course associated with lunacy and life going a bit crazy –
Monday 12 August
- Uranus turns retrograde at 6.37 Taurus 03.27 BST
Thursday 15 August
- Full Moon 22 Aquarius 13.30 BST
Friday 16 August
- Mercury 6 Leo square Uranus 6 Taurus 18.08 BST
Sunday 18 August
- Mars ingress Virgo 06.19
The last event of the fortnight is Mars changing sign and I’ll talk about in two weeks.
With love from Greece
Joanna