As the editor of the Astrology Arizona newsletter, I compose an overview of each month. Today we take a look at the primary factors for the month.

Before we jump into the overview of the month, I want to welcome all to drop by our Astrology Arizona Facebook page and join the social media initiative going on there. Please feel free to contribute a topic, ask about a topic, or anything else related to our new group! See you over there!

I also highly recommend coming to our zoom presentations, since we have some of the best astrologers anywhere giving talks about all kinds of great astrological topics. We’ve had “Evolutionary Configurations,” “America at the Crossroads,” “Using Planetary Hours in Charts,” “Escaping the Twelfth House,” “Outer Planet Cycles and How The Past Affects the Present,” and others.

Our coming August 21 zoominar will feature Bill Nastasiak leading us in an exploration of “Understanding the Three Part Self” and the follow up two weeks later, “Egotism, Narcissism, Identity, and Self.” I’ll be doing a talk on September 25 combining “Looking at House Rulers in Chart Readings” with “How Our Chart Expresses Our Spiritual Potential.” As it’s a huge topic I may give another session on it in October, and tentatively, November will feature a discussion on “The Cell Salts and Astrology,” where we’ll explore how our chart tells us which cell salts we need for optimum health. Please consider coming to the party! You can find out more at the FB page, our website, or by writing me.

The Overview for August

This year the month of August is the second part of a two-step “pulse” that began in July. This month Mercury and the Sun will make all the aspects Venus and Mars made in July, allowing us to take the loving heart strength of July and make it manifest in August. Of course, all the quincunxes and Yods (Fingers of God) made by Venus and Mars with Neptune and Pluto will also be revisited this month, so expect lots of “expansion through sacrifice” squeezing us into a more precise spiritual focus wherever we have late Leo in our charts!

In August, Uranus goes retrograde, and begins to retrace its steps through its shadow zone through the end of the year. As Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, and Pluto continue their retrogrades, our review in those areas continues. So the inner planets are moving forward while the outer planets are all slow.

This month kicks off with the Superior Conjunction of Mercury with the Sun at 10 Leo, and many of us will begin to feel a sense of relief that we’ve “made it through the night which has tested our faith and our strength.” When we add Jupiter retrograding back through the Transfiguration Zone in the last two degrees of Aquarius, it’s obvious that we are in a heavy time of spiritual and egoic transformation, with polarization and greater awareness both in play. We’re in a season of dealing with “the Tension of Opposites” created by oppositions from Leo to Aquarius and from Virgo to Pisces, so take every opportunity to turn the push-pull of the oppositions to find a larger view encompassing both energies of the polarity.

As Leo/Aquarius is the axis of the King/Queen, or ruling noble, be generous in shining your light on the greatest good for the greatest number. As Virgo/Pisces is the axis of the Priest(ess), Healer, and Shaman, prepare to learn whatever needs to be learned to refine your evolutionary process using Divine Discrimination and the ability to know the relative importance of things.

Saturn continues to give us retrograde reflections after going stationary retrograde on a degree offering us techniques of direct accomplishment and an acceleration of our evolutionary potential once we have a vision, a plan, and a good time to execute the procedure. As Saturn rules Capricorn and Aquarius, those parts of our chart are where we’re reflecting on past Saturn lessons and experiences and are offered a new understanding from different perspectives based in a holistic view. This month may find us pulling back from some old projections, or planning anew in some way as we redirect our focus to the emerging greater group work within the process of global transfiguration.

May 2020 initiated a “graduation into a new realm of Being” for all of us. How we’ve responded since then was tested in May 2021, which brought us the first of three radical transformation periods this year. The second transit of Jupiter through “the Transfiguration Zone” at the end of Aquarius is happening right now through the first half of August, helping us take a second look at the larger transfiguration process going on in our lives, and the third pass in December will finish the process of expansion to be vitalized between the middle of February and the middle of April 2022. All three transfiguration periods this year hold the promise of great opportunities, vision, and understanding!

Planets Slowing Down and Shifting Signs

So this month we continue to have Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, and Pluto retrograde, with Uranus going retrograde in the middle of the month. As all of these work out in the spiritual realms of existence, it indicates that field is leading us through reflections and reviews as we go inward to re-examine our 2021 process of purification, connectedness, discipline, and sense of vision. All retrogrades represent a review, or a time when we get a different angle of understanding about what that planet brought us when direct.

An analogy for the direct to retrograde to direct process would be that the first direct movement through the Shadow Zone (the span of degrees between where a planet goes stationary retrograde and where it goes stationary direct) is when we “toss the stone into the pond.” The retrograde period is when the ripples, having hit the far edge of the pond, return to center. The third transit of the Shadow Zone happens after the retrograde, and indicates a time when we can be clear about how to use that planetary function effectively within the conditions we’re in. So right now we’re getting the “karmic returns” of Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, and Pluto, and are about to begin experiencing “karmic returns” from Uranus!

As Mercury, Venus, and the Sun change signs this month, it indicates that the rulers of 6 of our houses and signs will experience a distinctive change in those areas of our chart. Mercury will give us three sign experiences (Leo, Virgo, and Libra), Venus will give us two (Virgo and Libra), and the Sun will give us two (Leo and Virgo). This clearly indicates a lot of activity in our Leo, Virgo, and early Libra sectors of our chart!

Mars

Mars in Virgo is methodical, organized, practical, and efficient. It does well in that sign, since the Earth quality is a factor in Mars’ exaltation. We should see highly effective functioning when Mars is in the Capricorn decan of Virgo between August 14 and August 30. Virgo’s mutability actually helps Mars to be more adaptable and flexible, while encouraging practicality and precision of expression.

Mars is moving fast and continues to speed up, transiting between 2 and 21 Virgo this month. That means Mars is ruled by Mercury, so expect three different Mars expressions this month! The first 11 days, Mercury in Leo gives a Leo backdrop to Mars. From August 11 to 29, Mercury in Virgo gives a huge boost to the energies in play, creating an edge of volatility but also an ability to be precise and highly effective using a variety of tools. Once Mercury slips into Libra at the end of the month, it will soften Mars a bit, and prepare us for when Mars enters Libra in September when Venus is in ultra-intense Scorpio!

This month Mars isn’t very stressed, as it makes some very favorable aspects throughout the month. The month begins with Mars tredecile Uranus, moving into the trine during the second, third, and fourth weeks of August. The first week of the month shows Mars triseptile Saturn, bringing all of us to another “fork in the road of destiny” related to planning anew after realizing something needs to change to keep it fresh. The only real friction to/from Mars is when it is quincunx Saturn in mid-August.

As I’ve offered before, when Mars is within a degree of forming or separating while making an aspect with a planet, slow down and show deliberation and caution in how you use force, with an eye to moderating or antidoting impulsiveness and impatience. The nature of the triseptile is cooperative, interactive, and nonrational, and the quincunx is an aspect of adjustment, and “expansion through sacrifice.” So whatever interesting twists and turns are promised by the triseptile, we’ll need to make the adjustments accompanying the quincunxes just after the triseptiles.

Sign Focus

August is a month when the first half multi-sign influences are different than they are the second half. We begin the month with Mercury and the Sun in Leo and Venus and Mars in Virgo, showing those signs predominate that period. This puts a heavy emphasis on those parts of our chart.

The second half of the month Leo begins to leave and Libra shows up when Venus enters that sign in the third week of the month. That begins a period of several planetary shifts in a short time, with the Sun entering Virgo and then Mercury entering Libra, so that by the end of the month the emphasis is entirely on Virgo and Libra taking center stage.

The Aquarius-Taurus Tension This Year

In January and February, Jupiter transited the first half of Aquarius, heralding what will be crystallized by Saturn throughout 2021. What Jupiter opens, Saturn will structure as it rumbles through the first half of Aquarius this entire year. Jupiter’s transit of 17-24 Aquarius in March opened what Saturn will secure in 2022, and Jupiter’s transit of 25-29 Aquarius in April opened what Saturn will secure initially between May and July 2022, and fully crystallize in January, February, and early March 2023.

Because Saturn is now retrograde and Uranus will go retrograde on August 19, the second square between Saturn and Uranus is now out of orb. However, we’ll begin to re-experience it again as Uranus retrograde resumes its approach to their third square which will be exact in December and early January. (The final square happens September, October, and November 2022).

This square shows the need to stay focused on what’s really pertinent while disregarding older or unimportant interference. As Saturn will be square Uranus all year, this friction will last through February 2022, and is heavily activated by transits in fixed signs!

In the first 7 days of August, Mercury and then the Sun oppose Saturn on August 1, and then square Uranus on August 3 and 6 respectively. This creates slightly offset T-squares with Saturn and Uranus, showing a powerful period for integration of some pretty intense energies with a need for good Scorpio responses, with major friction promised by the Moon in Taurus on July 31 squaring Saturn and the Sun while conjuncting Uranus.

Remember, the oppositions provide the awareness of what must be integrated, and the third planet making the square drives the integrative process via the void. In all these cases, the void in mid-Scorpio provides the integrative focus.

Obviously this puts pressure on planets or points we have between 9 and 15 Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius, as well as the last 5 degrees of Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces. The Fixed sign squares represent turning points and braking actions necessary for us to get our wisdom aligned with our understanding. These points of tension occur off and on the entire year as Saturn “makes real” all which Jupiter promised by its transit the last half of January and first half of February.

The first square in February was from 8 Aquarius to 8 Taurus; the second was in June, with Saturn retrograde at 14 Aquarius square Uranus at 14 Taurus; the third happens just after the December Solstice with Saturn direct at 12 Aquarius and Uranus retrograde at 12 Taurus. These waning (upper) squares between Saturn in Aquarius and Uranus in Taurus mark the culmination of the cycle of these power planets which was set into motion when Saturn conjuncted Uranus in 1988. Interestingly, in 1999-2000 Saturn in Taurus made its waxing (lower) square to Uranus in Aquarius, so this year activates conflicts dating back 20 years.

We’re Actors On A New Stage With A New Set

2020 was momentous because it began a new 20 year Aquarian Era which initiated a long term wave form at the Grand Mutation last December. That Jupiter conjunction with Saturn also set a new 200 year Era into motion, moving global energies out of Earth and into Air. That implies we’re moving out of the materialism of the past 200 years, and have entered two centuries of the qualities of Air, with the associated qualities of relatedness, receptivity, versatility, movability, lightness, and cooperative ideas, visions, and ideals.

The 2020 Summer Solstice Solar eclipse is still facilitating a grand reorientation in our lives, including an acceptance of new allegiances and life directions, and the December 2020 Solar eclipse at 24 Sagittarius is still helping us remove blocks to our happiness. The recent Solar eclipse at 20 Gemini is already removing irrelevant and extraneous ideas and considerations from our decision making process.

We’re still "under the beams" of the Solar Eclipses we experienced in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021, and these “cosmic recyclers” continue to remove all that we no longer need in our lives. Take note of where you have 1 Cancer, 24 Sagittarius, and 20 Gemini, since we’re aligning ourselves with a larger reality in the first, finding happiness in the second, and removing what cannot be assimilated or communicated in the third.

We also recently had a Total Lunar Eclipse in late May at 6 Sagittarius/Gemini affecting us all for 5 months, and mid-June brought the Solar Eclipse at 20 Gemini, shutting down parts of our lives in that sector for 5 years to come. These eclipses are removing old ideas, old perspectives, old truths, and old futures, creating voids for new manifestations of these to come forth at the right time in our lives.

As we study how successive Eclipses have affected various areas of our charts and lives, we can get a sense of the utility of these “Cosmic Recyclers” in removing what we no longer needed in those areas, creating a void which attracted new life experiences. They invite us to look back, and then forward, to see the continuity of “letting go, taking in, letting go, taking in” across the years.

The Grand Irrationality

In August the 7-pointed “Star of Destiny" I’ve termed The Grand Irrationality is activated the second week of the month when Mercury triseptiles Pluto the first week of the month, and then biseptiles Uranus and triseptiles Neptune during the second week of the month. This is followed by the Sun triseptile Pluto in the second week of August, and biseptile Uranus and triseptile Neptune during the third week of the month. All of the constant 7th harmonic aspects to the outer spiritual planets represent the hard edge of revolutionary change we’ve been going through for a while, and it’s also activated every time a planet or the Moon moves through one of the seven “hot zones” of this evolutionary configuration.

All the septile-series aspects trigger crucial choices and changes at “forks in the road of destiny.” I have written extensively about “The Grand Irrationality” which has been active for many years at this site and why all of humanity is forging its future destiny at this time. If you have a planet or point near any of the seven zones, your life is sure to be affected. In August these zones are around 29 Capricorn – 3 Aquarius, 21-25 Pisces, 13-17 Taurus, 4-8 Cancer, 25-29 Leo, 16-20 Libra, and 8-12 Sagittarius.

If things seem irrational and don’t make much sense, there’s always a septile-series aspect in the mix. During the periods these 7th harmonic aspects are in play, if things get a little weird or crazy, just go slow and be clear about the choices you’re making. While a lot won’t “make sense,” it doesn’t have to; all we must do is be clear about what we’re doing and why. Even though it may bring interactions with unreasonable or irrational people, we still have the power to respond in productive ways.

As with “hard” aspects to and from Mars, if that planet (or really any planet) is involved in any non-rational aspect, whether one to our natal Mars or transiting Mars making a non-rational aspect to one of our planets, it’s a time to be cautious during the period when the aspect is within a degree of forming or separating. Things have a way of getting strange during 7th harmonic aspects, so those are times to be especially deliberate and thoughtful in choosing our responses.

Primary Action Beats for the First Half of the Month

August begins with Mercury and the Sun opposed Saturn and square Uranus while also trine Chiron. As with last month, right heart action brings healing and/or mentoring. We move into mixed aspects on August 3 with Venus trine Uranus and Mercury square Uranus, showing we can build through Venus to release through Mercury. The Earth trine helps us keep it organized and on track as we learn to overcome mental heaviness and let go of lesser things while accepting what we must to fulfill our higher destiny.

The end of the first week shows Mercury making its quincunx to Neptune, beginning the Yod which culminates in the quincunx to Pluto on August 9 just as Venus opposes Neptune. As the New Moon falls during that Mercury Yod, expect the following four weeks to feature a lot of “expansion through sacrifice” leading us to a more focused spiritual effectiveness.

The second week is fairly intense, as Mercury opposes Jupiter in the Transfiguration Zone on August 10, promising some interesting realizations and ideas as we are “led to our Soul.” Then Mercury enters Virgo on the 11th when Venus trines Pluto, again opening up a lot of harmony for planets we may have in the late degrees of the Earth and Water signs. The Venusian opposition, sextile, and trine opens a favorable void in late Cancer, so it should be good for helping us secure what we need in that sector of our maps.

The second week ends with Mars in Virgo quincunx Saturn, heralding the Mercury quincunx on August 16 and the Solar quincunx on August 31. By the adjustments made in the second week, you’ll know what to do the second half of the month. August 14 also brings Venus quincunx Jupiter and Sun quincunx Neptune, beginning the fourth and final sets of Yods which originated in July when Venus and Mars made them with Neptune and Pluto.

Primary Action Beats for the Second Half of the Month

As noted, the second half of the month has a different energy than the first half, even if the New Moon’s influence will extend through the last 3 weeks of August into the 6 days of September. Mid-month kicks off with Venus entering its home sign of Libra, making it a major player as the final dispositor of Uranus in Taurus.

August 16 shows Mercury quincunx Saturn, giving us understanding about the adjustments and sacrifices required by Venus at the end of July and beginning of August. August 17 shows Sun quincunx Pluto, completing the Finger of God and bringing power and light to what these Yods are all about.

Of course this whole time Mercury is conjunct Mars, bringing more of an edge to the atmosphere and reminding us to slow down, take it easy, be a peacemaker, and don’t yield to impulsiveness. August 19 brings Uranus retrograde and Sun opposed Jupiter. The first promises a major “sea change” helping us build what we need to fulfill our transfiguration, and the opposition should help us get very clear about what we’re here to express and what to anticipate as a result of emerging from our “chrysalis” during the past 14 months of transfiguration.

The last 10 days of August kick off with Mercury and then Mars trine Uranus, which should be excellent for innovative yet practical thinking and the ability to follow through with precise actions. The Full Moon in the Transfiguration Zone promises the fulfillment of many things we’ve anticipated up to that point, with Venus trine Saturn providing ease, balance, and pleasing interactions.

The last week brings Mercury opposed Neptune and trine Pluto, bringing understanding and information related to the identical Venus aspects to Neptune and Pluto made in the second week of the month. The 27th begins more quincunxes with Mercury quincunx Jupiter and a day later, Venus quincunx Uranus. Then Mercury enters Libra on August 29, with Saturn finishing the month quincunx Saturn. If you want to know what those Saturn quincunxes are about take note of the Venus quincunx at the end of July and the Mars and Mercury quincunxes toward the middle of the month, and you should see how to handle the Solar quincunx at the end of August.

Evolutionary Development

This is the sixteenth month of the North Node in Gemini era, showing that our line of greatest evolutionary development is through seeing the many ways to learn and communicate a given thing, especially with an eye to assimilating diverse ideas from diverse sources. The line of greatest growth is to open to themes related to focusing our aim based in our training, allowing our ego to be “repolarized,” and having faith that if we just do what we need to do we will find that which nourishes us.

Because we are in the thick of learning lessons associated with Saturn in Aquarius, keep showing patience as you lighten and brighten your life where you have Aquarius in your chart. As I’ve mentioned in past newsletters, this year we’re being tested to use the (almost) non-stop friction of the Taurus/Aquarius square to launch new visions, new models, new interactions, and new teamwork. We are now cruising through the middle of the year, with Leo, Virgo, and Libra energies making all kinds of aspects to the outer spiritual planets. We’re in a Summer of adaptation, adjustment, and getting clear as a prelude to the renewal of our spiritual quest, mutated by Spirit, in October.

Through transiting Jupiter and Saturn, we’ve begun to catch glimpses of how to shortcut certain processes, whether our own evolution or to accelerate some work we’re doing. Jupiter just threw the doors open to new spiritual realms, and during its preliminary stay in Pisces we experienced a deeper and vaster connection with self, others, and life beyond anything we’ve known in the past decade. Keep open to ways you can make a greater contribution to your society or the world while understanding 2022 will bring us radical new experiences which will be very different than 2021.

We’re definitely in a new era, with productive openings and realignments happening. Use the integrative power of the T-squares involving Leo, Aquarius, and Taurus to honor your strength, courage, determination, focus, and ability to attract your heart’s desire by being clear about what you want and what you don’t. As the T-squares involve the “Light and Mind” of Leo, show heart, take heart, trust the heart, strengthen the heart, and radiate the Love you ARE to your world. As Scorpio is the void of these squares, BE the power of your inner Spiritual Warrior who never fears and cannot be defeated.

While Leo is about finding what we can put our hearts into, Virgo helps us learn the “lessons of significant form,” and Libra helps us find a pleasing balanced perspective on things. The group work continues to expand, so please keep in mind that we're all more aware, capable, and stronger together than we are separately. Use the Sun in Leo to see the Light of how to radiate your loving heart to your world. Play when you need to play while remembering with so much Virgo, work when it’s time to work with precision and joyous creativity. We’ve all “graduated into a new realm of Being,” with new openings to all who know they are a unique spark of Light within infinite fields of Light.

As we’ve launched into a new 20 year and 200 year cycle, remember a new era has dawned, so have courage and take the initiative to leave the Earth and fly free into the Air of what’s opening as the Grand Mutation expands its promise into the burst of heart power in Leo and the Divine Discernment of a greater awareness and service in Virgo.

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Since I also include this in the newsletter, I’ll offer it to you here:

PLANETARY MOTIONS IN AUGUST 2021

SUN – 10 Leo to 9 Virgo
MERCURY – 9 Leo to 2 Libra
VENUS – 13 Virgo to 19 Libra
MARS – 2 Virgo to 21 Virgo
JUPITER –30 Aquarius to 26 Aquarius
SATURN – 11 Aquarius to 9 Aquarius
URANUS –15 Taurus (all month)
NEPTUNE –23 Pisces (all month)
PLUTO –26 Capricorn to 25 Capricorn
TRUE NORTH NODE –9 to 7 Gemini

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SIGNIFICANT ASTROLOGICAL OCCURRENCES IN AUGUST 2021

MERCURY SUPERIOR CONJUNCTION WITH SUN; August 1 at 10 Leo
NEW MOON – August 8; Sun and Moon at 17 Leo
MERCURY ENTERS VIRGO; August 11
VENUS ENTERS LIBRA; August 15
MERCURY CONJUNCT MARS; August 18 at 13 Virgo
URANUS STATIONARY RETROGRADE; August 19 at 15 Taurus
FULL MOON – August 22; Sun 30 Leo, Moon 30 Aquarius
SUN ENTERS VIRGO; August 22
MERCURY ENTERS LIBRA; August 29

Reprinted on crystalwind.ca with persmission from Robert Wilkinson.

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