August is a big astrological month, with the full lunar eclipse back on August 7, in Aquarius, and a full solar eclipse today, the Great American Eclipse, in Leo. No one who started this month will be the same at its end, but don’t be alarmed. This is a month of cleansing and stabilizing, personally and in the community. The way out is through it.
The cosmos will apply pressure, but pressure isn’t evil. Sometimes things need rubbing to make them shine. The basic advice for August is to take care of yourself and relax every chance you get. Avoid giving your all for the cause, or because you feel obligated.
Everyone will be feeling the same way, so don’t make extraordinary demands of anyone and cool any temptations to argue. Also, with Saturn and Pluto in parallel all month, and after Mercury turning retrograde on the 13th, it’s important not to entertain yourself by shopping or spending. Money might be tight. It will loosen up again. The cosmos is all about cycles.
The Great American Solar Eclipse and its path of totality ran southeastward today, like a sash, across the “flyover” states from Washington to South Carolina. The U.S. hasn’t seen any total solar eclipse since 1979, and it was total only in the Pacific Northwest. Its result was an economic and population boom. (For a while it seemed that everyone I met wanted to move to Portland.) Could it mean a revival for the Rust Belt?
There’s plenty of online speculation about what this eclipse means for the U.S., but it occurs in the final degrees of Leo where traditionally it’s had the most impact on the ruling class. In the old days, solar eclipses were expressions of the divine will. Eclipses remind everyone that the Creator or Source is in charge. That shouldn’t distress you if you are spiritually outfitted with courage and virtue. That’s best done if you have, as advised for this month, tended to your own spiritual needs instead of everyone else’s. Yes, what is it that you really, really want? You can’t get what you want if you don’t know what it is.
Tomorrow, August 22, features a trine aspect between Mars and Saturn. This signifies positive contact between a younger man and an older one. Three days later Saturn halts and, after a long retrograde period, heads forward again, so a burden lifts and Friday the 25th is joyful. Saturn that day gets from the Moon an astrological kiss, so an opportunity opens to grow in wisdom and life experience. Maybe at work, as you all discuss the eclipse and the cosmos, bristly co-workers will like and respect each other more. August 27, a Sunday, is good for a company picnic or inviting a co-worker–one you can relax with–for dinner. Don’t stress about what to serve. Get a bucket of fried chicken and be done with it. Because Mercury is in retrograde, make sure you confirm the time and place.
Feelings are on a roller coaster Monday the 28th through Wednesday the 30th. Relax, work on your hobby or take a short road trip, and ride the wave. Don’t deplete yourself with worries. By midday on Wednesday you’ll have clarity. As Mercury in retrograde enters Leo on Thursday, August 31, it might help remind you that you are the emperor or empress of your own life.
