Astro-logical Forecast for Monday 8/8/2016: Sneak Peek at the Week; Big News Round-Up
Good Morning!
The Libra Moon goes void at 1:41PM ET, on its weekly disruptive clash with rebel Uranus. That’s the only exact planetary action on a day driven by a need for social graces, fairness in relationships, and appreciation from partners and peers. Stick to routine matters during the void and roll with whatever twists or flakes crop up in your efforts to move forward in a straight line.
Moon enters Scorpio at 12:51AM ET on TUESDAY, driving the following 48 hours with a need for depth and substance. It’s aided by a happily investigative alignment between Mercury and Pluto, exact at 7:22PM ET on WEDNESDAY. Dirt-diggers, unite!
The only other Moon void during the work week happens on Thursday at 1:22AM ET until 1:24PM ET. As we get closer to the end of the week, we’ll have Venus (money, women, social expression) following in Mercury’s footsteps (refer to last week’s lengthy post about the astrology of August). Venus squares Saturn on SATURDAY at 10:31PM ET, suggesting a hard-lined approach in matters related to Venus. Look for “women of steel” to make headlines. On SUNDAY, Venus is opposed by Neptune, blurring lines and inviting us to See the Softer Side of Sears, along with the strictly practical.
The biggest shift this week is Saturn turning direct at 9 degrees of Sagittarius, exact on SATURDAY at 5:51AM ET. Saturn refers to structure, authority, ambition and necessary control (among other keywords). If you’ve been having trouble getting a project off the ground in the past four months, take heart. Moving those plans forward is now in sync with planetary patterns, especially if those plans involve getting real about your belief system and expanding your reach. You’ll feel the release and/or push to advance more personally if you have a planet or angle around 9 degrees of Sagittarius, Pisces, Virgo and Gemini. Onward!
And now, the news.
First, news received two weeks ago from Avid Reader Margaret:
Elisabeth Grace, I tried to donate, but was taken to a generic PayPal site and I need your phone number or email address to send money to you. This may be an obstacle for others, too.
Isn’t Margaret kind and thoughtful to take the time to send me that note? Thank you, Margaret! I wrote her back right away and sent her this link, which PayPal claims is foolproof: https://www.paypal.me/GraceAstrology
…though I’m not convinced PayPal’s claims are accurate. Margaret, please let me know if that link didn’t work — with much gratitude to you for your appreciation and support.
News and more news, reflecting the hardcore dizziness of mental Mercury’s recent engagement with Saturn, Neptune and now Pluto. Add a war between the sexes and you have it all on the cover of the NYT Sunday Magazine: “The Untold Story of the Fight Over the Brain of ‘H.M.’ — the Patient Who Revolutionized the Science of Memory.” On the NYT home page: “Researchers or Corporate Allies? Think Tanks Blur the Lines.” Plus, a seriously wiggy profile of the ex-priest whose assault on an Olympic runner in 2004 led to that runner, Vanderlei de Lima, being chosen to light the caldron last week in Rio. Meanwhile, who remembers the ad campaign, “This is your brain on drugs,” — the one with the egg sizzling in a pan? What a perfect week to read that it’s coming baaaaaaaaaack.
Honestly, the wheels have been flying off the bus in the news — and I’m just grateful to have an understanding of the planetary patterns suggesting a world gone temporarily insane. The NYT threw up its hands two days ago and declared this the meme for the entire year:
Right?
UPDATE: on Edward Snowden. Last fall I anticipated that he would be making a move in January, June and/or October. He did make headlines in January — but I see the potential for something more ambitious. What’s going on in his horoscope? How about a 12 degree Gemini Ascendant with Mercury sitting on it at 10 degrees Gemini, both currently under pressure from Saturn, Neptune and all of the other mutable planets, as noted in my last post? We can expect an idealistic/ambitious communication impacting his relationship to the public, his personal projection and creative expression. We may see a move, a wipeout or separation. I’ll be interested to see what’s happening in the first weeks of September and October. Meanwhile, this week he created a buzz with a tweet inviting former colleagues to reconnect with him, saying, “it’s time.” Another cryptic tweet had some wondering if he had indeed been wiped out. Not so, say people who claim to Know Such Things.
Elsewhere, Madeleine L’Engle, the author of the children’s classic, A Wrinkle in Time is no longer among the living. But her book sales are skyrocketing since Chelsea Clinton mentioned A Wrinkle in Time in her DNC speech last month. Would it surprise you to learn that Ms. L’Engle has a 10 Virgo Ascendant and is thus also being energized by transiting Saturn, Neptune and all of the other planets in Virgo? Her chart has some other things going on now, too. The horoscope lives forever!
Meanwhile, Barbra Streisand’s PR efforts to promote an upcoming memoir and a new album are in sync with planetary patterns in her horoscope. Her love love-me-do Leo Moon is at 10 degrees, energized by last week’s New Moon at — 10 degrees Leo. Her Moon is in the 5th house of creative self-expression; transiting Mars, which rules her pioneering me-me-me Aries Ascendant just squared Saturn, ruler of her 10th house of career and 11th house of love/appreciation received. Engage! Her upcoming solar arc between Jupiter, ruling her 9th house of publishing, and her Ascendant suggests expansive and rewarding potential. Huzzah!
UPDATE: on Melania Trump, whose natal horoscope I briefly sketched at the end of July. I did not discuss her upcoming Mars transits, as there are only so many hours in a day with so many other news stories to discuss. But when your horoscope is hot, you’re hot, so here goes. Last week Mrs. Trump’s website was taken down (under attack by those doubting the veracity of her asserted college degree) when transiting Mars was at 28 Scorpio, exactly opposing her earth goddess Venus in Taurus. Hours later, the New York Post published nude photos of Mrs. Trump and another woman that were taken in New York in 1995 and appeared in a European magazine (they’re one Google search away, if you simply must see them).
OK, so what — big deal — what model doesn’t have nude pictures in her portfolio? But then, when transiting Mars entered Sagittarius on August 3rd, it met up with her natal Neptune. Scandale! Mars-Neptune contacts do suggest scandal — and the nature of this particular scandal has to do with her status as a foreigner (Sagittarius). Because it is quite clear that Mrs. Trump has not been truthful about when she first came to New York, and statements she made about having a visa that would have allowed her to work legally in the U.S. are highly suspect.
Someone with empathy might say, “look, she wanted to live the American Dream and who can blame her, and look how well she’s done — so why make a fuss about a technicality.” Totally! Except that if Mrs. Trump were any other illegal immigrant, her husband — who is decidedly not an empathetic person — would want her deported immediately. I know, surreal, right? And perfectly in tune with the wiggy Saturn-Neptune patterns we’ve been living through for months.
Transiting Mars will oppose Mrs. Trump’s natal Mars on August 15th. This suggests provocative action. It’s taken me two days to get back into finishing this news round-up, and dirt continues to be dished, with “new evidence” suggesting that Mrs. Trump may have gained her 2001 green card by virtue of a marriage — four years before she met her current husband.
Will any of this matter to Trump supporters? Social scientists say it won’t and here’s why — add it to last week’s ginormous pile of bewildering Mercury-Neptune headlines, along with this palm reader’s take on Trump’s tiny hands.
Speaking of Mr. Trump, let the record show that transiting Jupiter was at 22and 23 godforsaken degrees of Virgo all last week. Why is this important? It is important because the planet associated with expansiveness — for better or worse — has been squaring his 22 Gemini Sun and 21 Sagittarius Moon since the end of July, reflecting a dominant status in the headlines akin to the proverbial Hindenburg.
23 Virgo was where Jupiter stood at a dead stop last January, before turning retrograde. This suggests that the potential for expansion was especially strong at the beginning of the year. Transiting Jupiter at 23 Virgo makes harmonious aspects to his potentially stingy social expression, suggested by his Venus conjunct stern Saturn at 23 and 25 Cancer. It also harmonizes with his 23 Taurus Midheaven (career/public status).
Thus it makes sense that we’d see a lengthy article detailing his generous contributions to charity, as well as others concerning his expansive behavior. Let’s keep an eye out for the week of September 11th, when transiting Mars will make contact with his Sun and Moon. Should be provocative.
But wait, there’s more: as with Barbra Streisand, Donald Trump horoscope is also directly affected by this month’s Leo New Moon. It happened right on his natal Pluto, buried in the 12th house of the self-undoing, ruling the 4th house of core personal foundation. What exactly is that foundation, many in the press and elsewhere are publicly wondering. Quicksand? In the 12th House a natal Pluto suggests, as astrologer Noel Tyl has written, someone who feels that “the world doesn’t understand me.” Sad!
On to general news about Jupiter turning retrograde at 23 Virgo in January. This is when Iran released four detained Americans. This is also when the U.S. sent Iran a plane full of cash, fulfilling a separate agreement to return money Iran paid the U.S. for weapons it never received back in 1979. It made headlines then, so why is this story back now? Some members of Congress are calling the cash payment a “ransom” paid in exchange for those who were detained, as you made have seen in the news. A friend of mine is calling it “blueberry pancakes,” which would be a much more entertaining headline. Though just to be clear, because he’s calling it “blueberry pancakes” doesn’t make it so. What’s relevant from an astro-logical point of view is that we see how a story that was hot when Jupiter (or any planet) turns retrograde can become hot again when — after its retrograde period, it turns direct and returns to the place it was when it stationed retrograde. Astrology is amazing.
Final note re: the combative potential of the recent clash between Venus and Mars, coupled with this week’s Venus square Saturn. I’m so pleased to see we do have an “Iron Lady” making headlines at the Olympics — Hungarian swimmer Katinka Hosszu. She is shattering records, even as a furious buzz erupted over the weekend when a hapless NBC announcer said that Ms. Hossku’s husband (who is also her coach) was “responsible” for her fabulous performance. Right-o.
OK. I believe that covers everything for the next few days, including the Big Cargo Short Controversy (Venus in prissy Virgo challenged by adventurous Mars in Sagittarius), which the linked article brilliantly explains.
To find out what all these planetary patterns mean for your horoscope, now is the time to schedule a personal consultation. We will have an excellent discussion together.
Thank you for reading this forecast, sharing it with friends and for supporting my efforts to write it over the past seven years. Onward!