STARGAZING—Week of Aug. 17th through Aug. 23rd. 2020

Monday is the dark before the New Moon and is normally a quiet time; however, the Sun aligns with restless Mercury to keep you moving quickly from project to project, person to person. On the same day Mercury trines Mars the – day before the Leo New Moon. It’s time to start making plans for the fall months and into 2021. Mercury and Mars are both in fire signs, so the conversations are quick witted and sharp. If you’re ever going to take a risk or bet on yourself, this is the week to do it.

The New Moon is on Tuesday August 18^th, and this fiery summer energy brings us new and dramatic adventures, especially with both political conventions happening through the end of August. This New Moon has all of the right stuff for planting seeds for any type of new beginning.

The double Sun/Moon Leo energy is a time to indulge in some royal treatments for your body. By opening your heart you can become a leader on your own “kingdom,” and become a legend in your own area.

A sacred Sabian Symbol for 27 degrees Leo is “The luminescence of dawn in the eastern sky.” Mediate on this symbol for personal meaning, Perhaps this is a symbol of a bright new day coming forth through this new beginnings moon.

Leo is the sign of opening hearts, creativity, remembering the child within, and fun. After the last several months, everyone could use a little fun. The challenge is that Mars is making a difficult aspect to Jupiter, Pluto and Saturn in Capricorn. This further activates anger in the streets and doesn’t help the fire season. A positive use of this energy is to get motivated to restructure the core foundation of your life. This has been going on for months now.

The day after the New Moon Mercury exits Leo and slides into earthy Virgo, where it enjoys a home-sign advantage. When Mercury is in Virgo, the communication becomes humble, down=to=earth, and focused on useful and practical information.

Mercury in Virgo loves details and prefers facts and figures to Leo’s drama queen energy and need to impress.  Communications will trend towards detailed analysis for the next three weeks, when the Sun leaves the bright and sunny Leo energies behind and joins Mercury in Virgo on Saturday, August 22^nd. This brings us to a time of caring for ourselves as well an helping others who are also in need.

The message is to pick up the pace but not to the extent that you are forcing square pegs into round holes. And, it is really important to get playtime in because September has Mars retrograde across these three planets in Capricorn that are being activated now. Everyone is beginning a process to revise and renew their ambitions and priorities and it will go through the end of this year.

Rest now so you can pace yourself later. This is a long-distance hike, not a sprint. Combine this rest and play with projects that really need your attention before autumn. Mix work and play. With so much fire element energy going on now, make certain your heart is engaged in the play and work activities suggested here. The Sun’s willpower moves from being grandiose in Leo to being humble and modest in Virgo. Projects that require attention to detail and the ability to analyze data, (such as a Covid-19 vaccine) and pay attention to detail, can be very successful now. Virgo rules the 6^th House in Astrology; the House of health, work, and your pets.

The Moon and Mercury both move into Virgo on Wednesday, August 19th. Get organized over the next two days and eat healthy. Mercury remains in Virgo until September 5th, so have a garage sale, reduce clutter, and consider a body cleanse.

The downside of the Virgo energies is a tendency towards perfectionism that can stop you cold in your tracks if you fail. If a Virgo falls off a horse it doesn’t usually climb back on because it’s too busy self-blaming and cataloging all the reasons that created the fall. Be sure to stay away from the dark side of Virgo for the next four weeks, and you can definitely be highly productive.

The Moon moves into Libra for Friday and Saturday to improve your social life or do cosmetic fix-ups around the house. Time to  join with your sweetie for some romantic fun.

The Moon moves into deep-feeling Scorpio on Sunday. Some people will want to share their emotions on an intimate and vulnerable level; others will just want private, quiet time. Scorpio is great for intense focus and research projects as well as unearthing deep, dark, secrets. Let’s see what comes out in the News.