Go on, be self-indulgent. Expect feelings to be over the top today. Pronouncements and reactions can be grand-scale operatic, but time will tell if the feelings are results-producing substantial or just colorful stage props. Since we have to get back to work soon, today’s New Moon in Leo can shine as a high-point of summer. Find some wonderful way to savor and celebrate.
Over the weekend our thoughts turn toward fall and all the work we need to do in the months ahead as the Moon enters industrious Virgo. Although some tough new information can shake our complacency and inspire us, our mind is brought fresh to the work and is ready to plan with ingenuity as Mercury quincunx Pluto and trines Uranus. If we tend to worry, we can put this to good use and focus on what can actually be worked rather than let the mind just run its hamster-wheel in endless circles. Rather than pick at one another, use an ambient critical edge to think about the past season, critique efforts and begin to plan ahead. It’s time to finish up one cycle and prepare for another, so let’s firm up contacts we’ve nurtured in the last few months. Indulge in a sudden interest for school supplies or other organizational tools.
Relationships need a little TLC as the week begins. People tend to be friendly but competitive, touchy, but worse if avoided. If we can smooth out wrinkles and appreciate what each one brings to the table we can work together better. We need to be wary of snap decisions, particularly one that would have us jettison people or opportunities before we really think it through.
Our spiritual path may have work for us as the week progresses. Life can feel like a mythic story in miniature with highly symbolic interactions that call us to look at the significance of all we do. Early in the week we may be called to look at the cast of characters in our personal story and make adjustments. New people arrive on the scene and a few fade away. All relationships we want to keep may need a little nurturing.
Later in the week the mood shifts inwards, we become more introspective and productive, if a bit more difficult, as the Sun enters industrious Virgo while the Moon and Mars enter focused, snarky Scorpio. To help with a sudden irritable self-consciousness, it can help to focus on the work at hand and rather than the human interactions; deal with people more tangentially, knowing they too may be feeling the pull inside.
Expect some karmic payback towards the end of the week, for good or ill, what has gone around now comes around. We can easily be triggered in to resentment. With Mars in Scorpio, thoughts of jealousy or revenge are not to be trifled with; they can hit critical mass quickly. But we don’t have to go there, we can choose to claim our power and focus and tap into Scorpio’s potential to transform instead. Moves made now are decisive and will have an effect. We’re no longer kidding around, so let’s make those moves carefully, and watch what others do for clues to this fall’s storyline.
Friday, Aug 17: What a great day for a birthday, job interview, or to meet strangers at a new school, a new Moon in extroverted Leo midday helps us all shine, our hearts fill up, spill over with generosity and emotions of all kind. If we’re in the middle of a personal drama, maybe we need to make it even louder and act out to work it out. If not, it’s a day to make grandiose pronouncements and ooze hyperbole. We can celebrate some personal successes as the Sun and Moon sextile Saturn or stomp off in a narcissistic haze. It’s all up to us. Just don’t expect us to get out of our own perspective to see yours. Midday shines but has a lazy streak; give someone an audience and they can become inspired, otherwise not much manual work gets done. The mood shifts around dinnertime, becomes more thoughtful and analytical, less party-central as the Moon enters Virgo and squares the lunar nodes. Make careful judgment calls late tonight as the Moon conjuncts Neptune. Dreams may give us healing clues tonight.
Saturday, Aug 18; Morning is fuzzy, dreamy with guilty undertones; we may feel like we should be doing something important but have trouble kicking into gear as Mercury quincunx Pluto. A certain ambient mental intensity needs a constructive problem to solve or we easily become depressed, frustrated, or ornery. Be curious rather than cynical. A change of scenery helps, so try something completely different. The day softens as it progresses, the mood more experimental and adventurous, less critical as Mercury trines Uranus.
Sunday, Aug 19: Let the day be an exercise in gratitude and watch how the mood shifts and the self-consciousness melts. Faultfinding may be tempting, but is just stress relief. Be health-conscious, not guilty, encouraging, not nagging. If in a new situation, just get organized. Evening grows more sociable and connected, more romantic as the Moon enters aesthetic Libra.
Monday, Aug 20: The mood may be pleasant, positive, with competitive undertones, loving with an unsettled possessive streak. Some urgency nudges us and we’ll hate to lose as the Sun sextiles Mars and Mars sesqui-squares Jupiter. Diplomatic debate brings out showmanship rather than honesty, as people tend to say what they think will provoke the reaction they want; if we want the truth we have to stay curious. Competing with our own personal best can help us reach our own goals and ease us past a lazy streak. Cooperation will ease the workload; find solutions that are win-win instead of win-lose and we find ways to work together.
Tuesday, Aug 21: Today may be sweet on the surface but laced with tough moments for no definable reason as the friendly Libra Moon makes a series of minor but difficult aspects, then conjuncts taskmaster Saturn. Comfy luxury may sing to us but the stars want us to grow up and deal, and take our responsibilities seriously. Even so, we need to prioritize the team over individual accomplishments. Don’t take minor glitches personally or as a sign of incompetence, instead use them to practice working together. Aesthetic discontent can bug us as we shop or create but it also encourages better work. Tonight we don’t want to take risks but are willing to consider possibilities. Tiredness may be existential, not personal.
Wednesday, Aug 22: It’s time to get to work. Check morning news and memos, decisive aspects overnight may have changed this morning’s agenda. Avoid making requests; we’re more prone to saying no than yes unless we see others doing their end of the work first as the Scorpio Moon trines Neptune and Sun enter Virgo. People are a bit paranoid, can say crazy things midday, but lighten their perspective tonight as Mercury sextiles Jupiter. Some load is lifted and a corner is turned. Give and take space but let important people know they’re valued.
Thursday, Aug 23: Teamwork may be essential as the Sun squares the nodes, but we are just not in the Mood as Mars joins the Moon in intense Scorpio. Although we’re not feeling flexible, some adjustments need to be implemented and a situation corrected. Attitude thickens; a difficult, unforgiving, even sullen undertone encourages us to avoid touchy situations but can sharpen our concentration. If someone’s tail is twitching, neither engage in dueling defenses nor let the guards down; instead stay openhearted but guarded, and know when to back away. We may need to step away from the crowd and follow our path, but still need to know our beloveds accept our transient eccentricities.
Starcodes 