Tuesday 8/15/2023: Late Sneak Peek at a Dramatic Week: Sun-Uranus Square; the Latest Indictment and More…

Alllllrighty then!

Still more buzz, buzz, buzz in the air, especially in the early part of the week. We have:

• Sun squares Uranus on Tuesday
• New Moon in Leo on Wednesday
• Mars trines Uranus on Wednesday

Meanwhile, Mercury is already in its shadow stage, as it prepares to go retrograde next Wednesday, August 23rd. There will be NO WHINGING about these essential opportunities for review, reorganization, and relaxation. Just make a note that your fine actions this week may be up for a second look later this month. Don’t panic!

It goes like this:

• MONDAY: Moon entered Leo at 6:36 AM ET, driving the next few days with a need for creative play, royal edicts, and love, love, love. It travels without interference for the entire day. This may have one of several effects, including 1) a sense that time is moving slower than usual; or 2) a building of intensity not unlike a snowball getting larger and larger as it rolls down a mountain…only instead of snow, it’s made of fire. Leo is a fire sign, after all. What happens with that fireball makes contact with something else? That’s what we’ll find out.
• TUESDAY: We are in the dark of the Moon — and perhaps feeling listless or restless, sensing that something new is around the corner, but we don’t know what it is. The buzz in the air intensifies, courtesy of the Leo Sun’s square to rebel Uranus, exact at 10:34 PM ET. Sun refers to leaders of state and business; energy resources. Uranus refers to aviation, astrology, tech geniuses and genetic mutations — anything deemed rebellious or outside “the norm.” Watch the headlines…and here are a few from a past Sun-Uranus square — February 2023.   Meanwhile, some of that building fireball may grow even bigger, as Moon squares Jupiter at 12:44 PM ET. A burst of optimism or bombast, perhaps. Evening looks warm and possibly sweet, as Moon meets up with Venus at 8:43 PM ET. Oh, but Venus is retrograde…dancing backwards in heels, like Ginger Rogers. Maybe it’s hell on heels, if Venus retrograde forgets her manners. Mind the potential for excitement or a surprise twist, given this evening’s Uranus-Sun square.
• WEDNESDAY: Another surprise in store, as Moon squares Uranus at 5:04 AM ET. That’s the energy that propels us into the New Moon in Leo, exact at 5:38 AM ET…followed by a nearly 14-hour Moon void. Whatever the crisis of the moment is, the response may be an innovative flow of perfection-driven action, reflecting the trine between Mars (in Virgo) and Uranus, exact at 9:53 AM ET. Meanwhile, you know the Moon-void drill: roll with the surprise twists, and don’t make a mountain out of a molehill. Crises have an odd way of dissipating once the Moon regains its focus, which it will do at 7:14 PM ET, when it enters Virgo, armed with a broom and dustpan.  CHILL!

A pause, while we look at the chart for this New Moon in Leo, set in Washington, D.C.:

Observations:

• In this New Moon chart, the need for the Leo Sun and Moon to shine seeks an especially innovative or rebellious expression, as both luminaries are still buzzed by their recent squares to maverick Uranus. That’s what I wrote about the New Moon in Leo in 2021, and it applies to this one, too.
• This also still applies: “A New Moon offers us an opportunity to re-set intentions and goals for the next lunar cycle. Make a list; light a candle; pause for station identification. Expressing your authentic self just for the fun of it is readily facilitated by Moon in Leo….creative self-expression, a sense of play, and romantic love are Leo’s trademarks. So are royal entitlement and ego aggrandizement. Leo is born to rule; there’s no need to prove its case, and the sooner everyone in the room recognizes and honors it, the happier everyone will be. Why is that so hard for non-Leos to understand?”
• The Sabian Symbol for this New Moon is “a untidy, unkempt man.” Did you know that “unkempt” means “not combed?” Thanks to astrologer Blain Bovee for that fun fact, and for reminding us that “untidy” suggests something that may not be in flow…as in…the flow and rhythm of the tides. Whoever could this untidy, unkempt man be? Possibly someone with planets in their horoscope around 24 degrees of Leo, Taurus, Scorpio, and Aquarius, and whoever they turn out to be, they are likely to be a focus in this lunar cycle. And given that the New Moon is in the 1st House of the chart set in the United States, this person or persons is likely to make an impact on how this nation sees itself…or is seen by others. Bovee suggests we apply this Symbol with a mind to “being true to oneself in the midst of current conventions. Astrologer James Burgess seems to interpret this Sabian Symbol as permission to focus only on what matters — and what matters may not be appearances.

Back to the daily Forecast:

• THURSDAY: If your morning begins on a note of gravitas, credit the Virgo Moon’s opposition to Saturn, possibly asking for empathy, given that Saturn is in Pisces. Getting all the details in order is the order of the day.
• FRIDAY: A day for organization in action, at the Virgo Moon is well-supported by Jupiter, Mercury, and Uranus, at 1:48 AM ET, 1:08 PM ET and 5:51 PM ET. Assertive focus is suggested by the Moon’s meet-up with Mars at 8:57 PM ET. Some enchantment may mark the evening, reflecting the Moon-Neptune opposition, exact at 2:00 AM ET on…
• SATURDAY…with depth added by Moon’s trine to Pluto at 4:50 AM ET. Chill during the three-hour Moon void. At 7:53 AM ET, Moon shifts gears into Libra, now seeking fairness and balance in relationship. Once again, we have another lonnnnnng stretch of the Moon traveling without interference in a sign. This time, the snowball rolling down a hill may be turbulent, as the Moon is in an Air Sign. High winds and tumbleweed? Thoughts in a tizzy? Plenty of hot air? It goes and goes and goes like this until….
• SUNDAY…at 4:07 PM ET, when cooperative input from Venus may turn the mental gyrations into a coherent message.

No sleeping in on Monday, if you’re working next week. The Libra Moon will not be void.

And now, the news.

I salute Beth Owl’s Daughter, whose Tarot Card of the Week for August 7th  — the 9 of Swords — zeroed right in on the potential for sorrow and loss. While the headline of my Forecast anticipated that fire would be a major theme, beginning over the weekend of August 4th (“Burn, Baby, Burn”), I did not think too deeply about how precious a resource might go up in flames. Turns out it wasn’t just precious. It was paradise.

• “Hawaii residents fear losing Lahaina as fires make housing crisis worse”
• “Hawaii’s lethal fires: lessons to learn from a catastrophe”
• “Lahaina banyan tree’s survival would be ‘an absolutely amazing symbol'” — and via this link you’ll find a truckload of other stories of the devastating Hawaii fires on the reported by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser
• “This Maui center houses some of the world’s rarest birds. Staff saved it from the flames.”

The bird sanctuary is in Makawao, Maui, one of my favorite places. If you’ve been a guest in my New York Zoom room, you’ve seen Makawao — and the road to that bird sanctuary — in the painting on the wall behind me. I have many pieces of art from Hawaii. I have sat under Lahaina’s 150-year-old banyan tree.

We do have start times for the first fire reported on Maui (12:15 AM local time on 8/8/23 in Kula),  and later, in Lahaina (6:37 AM local time).  The charts look like what you’d expect: the Venus (in fiery Leo) – Uranus square falls on the angles. We know these events are shockers. Not only that, but in the chart for the Full Moon in Aquarius sets in Lahaina, we see Mars right on the Ascendant. Mars refers to action and attack. It is fascinating that the Sabian Symbol for Mars at 14 Virgo is “a family tree.” Yes, “the branching roots of heritage,” says Blain Bovee. Much has been written about the historic significance of Lahaina, once the capital of the Hawaiian kingdom. And then there is that banyan tree.

Perhaps meteorologists and astrologers will work together one day…

Meanwhile…

…there is hope. We have a ruling in a case discussed in Episode 4o of Off the Charts: A Stellar Newscast, and if memory serves, the ruling is as anticipated:

• “Federal judge in Montana sides with young activists in first-of-its-kind climate change trial”.  I think co-host Whitney McKnight and I may have discussed the horoscope of the state of Montana in that episode, too. Not surprisingly, it’s hot. Heather Cox Richardson covers this story in her latest Letter from an American.

Oh, lookie…as I type, the former guy is being indicted again…as anticipated…in Georgia. Thirteen felonies, including RICO charges. RICO charges are very serious, carrying a mandatory sentence of five years, as Heather Cox Richardson explains. The Fulton County grand jury indicted TFG and 18 others for trying to overthrow 2020 Georgia election, reports Tamar Hallerman. The 18 others include Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, Jeffrey Clark, and Kenneth Cheseboro — all familiar names in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s four-count indictment recently filed in Washington DC. Not indicted — surprise, surprise — was Senator Lindsey Graham. Perhaps he is one of the 30 unnamed and as-yet unindicted co-conspirators. Meanwhile, karma finally caught up with Mark Meadows, in the form of transiting Saturn (karma) opposing his ruthless Mars-Pluto conjunction — in effect through the end of the year.  If you can’t remember who these alleged co-conspirators are, Greg Olear has prepared this helpful primer.

We do not have a birth time for Fani T. Willis, the DA who is prosecuting this massive case. She was born on October 27, 1971 in Inglewood, CA. Scorpio Sun, driven by Moon in Aquarius, suggesting high ideals, visionary ambition and lofty goals. As a Scorpio with Mercury and Venus also in Scorpio, Willis cuts to the quick. It is notable that she refers to the primary defendant as Donald John Trump rather than Donald J. Trump (his preference). The connection between Willis and TFG is obvious. Her Mars opposes his Mars and squares his Midheaven — his career and reputation. This is a provocative connection, and her assertive energy may be payback from a past life, if one believes in such things. Her South Node is conjunct TFG’s Pluto, suggesting a fated connection involving ruthless power plays.

You can read her 98-page indictment here.

So far, astrology has accurately anticipated a reckoning for TFG this summer, directly related to the extreme efforts made to overthrow our democracy in 2020. Looking ahead, we see potential for a significant disruption in matters of career and reputation, with potential for geographic relocation. That pattern — transiting Uranus conjunct Midheaven — starts in July 2024 and continues into early 2025.

In other news…

Stories reflecting last week’s squares between Sun-Jupiter (big!) and Venus-Uranus (unconventional women and others) were discussed in Episode 47 of Off the Charts: A Stellar Newscast.  Not discussed, but worth mentioning here are:

• “Wayne Brady comes out as pansexual” — worth mentioning because years of documenting stories about “gender benders” i.e., non-cisgendered persons, has shown that they are more likely to command attention in the headlines when Uranus is commanding attention in the cosmos. In what we know of Brady’s horoscope, we note a square between Uranus and Mars (action, assertion, desire).
• “Ohio voters reject ballot initiative intended to thwart abortion amendment”. The ballot initiative wasn’t about abortion. The issue was whether amendments to the Ohio constitution should require a 60% majority, rather than a simple majority, in order to pass. The initiative was defeated, with 57% voting against it. In Ohio, for now,  majority still rules, which means democracy still lives.

Meanwhile…

Sun’s square to Uranus (seismic action; aviation disruptions) sponsored this one…

• “Mt. Etna eruption leads to flight cancellations”

…and here are plenty of other disruptive headlines on homepage of the Guardian this morning:

In other news…

Paul Krugman is an economist who writes for the NYT. He gets it right more often than other pundits, and I wrote about his horoscope in 2011 (!). In his latest he explains “How (many) economists missed the big inflation.”  But since Krugman isn’t an astrologer, he can’t tell you that what economists also failed to consider was the June sextile between Jupiter in Taurus and Saturn in Pisces. This is a stable alignment between two planets whose Great Conjunctions every 20 years plant seeds for business cycles. With Jupiter in Taurus, the energy of expansion needs to preserve the status quo and calm things down. Saturn — the energy of contraction and structure — in Pisces must play by Jupiter’s rules, because in traditional astrology, Jupiter rules Pisces. Saturn is essentially a guest in Jupiter’s domain. Clear?

Elsewhere…

I’ve been expecting news about Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter this month, and sure enough, their grandson has provided an update. And because all of these patterns involving Uranus are full of surprises, it turns out that the update given by Hugo Wentzel (Amy Carter’s son) was in an exit interview on the game show Claim to Fame.

Here is Beth Owl’s Daughter’s Tarot Card for this week. I’m delighted to see that after taking several months off, she’s teaching classes again. Hooray!!

As for astrology, here’s the 411 on personal consultations. We will have a productive and enlightening discussion together.

Thank you for reading this forecast — and sharing it with friends.

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