Planet Weather for the Week of July 30, 2006

SkyWatch – Moon phase of the week: 8/2 -- The Moon enters her First Quarter phase at 4:46 AM EDT, at 9 degrees of Scorpio.  Skywatching event of the week: 7/31 -- The nearly First Quarter Moon passes less than half a degree from the bright star Spica in the constellation Virgo in the Southwest, with their closest approach coming about 9 PM EDT. (Planetary King Jupiter will be shining majestically a few degrees to the East.) In fact, the Moon actually occults (passes in front of) Spica as viewed from parts of the Southern Hemisphere. Related sky factoid of the week: The Moon is currently traversing what traditional astrologers called "the Burning Way" -- the interval from 15 degrees Libra to 15 Scorpio -- because it represents a position near the Celestial Equator, not supposedly the best placement for the coolness-inclined Moon. Space news of the week: Discovery has landed! Early last week, Discovery touched down on the Cape Canaveral runway after a highly successful mission that paved the way for resumption of more or less regularly scheduled Space Shuttle flights, as well as completion of the International Space Station. For NASA, it looks once more like all systems are go! Go out! Look up!

Mercury turned Direct @ 21 Cancer on 7/28/06 @ 8:40PM EDT.  Well, we can all breathe easier with Mercury running forward again – less chance of things going kaflooey! By now, however, you should know that not all Mercury retrogrades (Rx) are created equal. The quality of a particular Rx depends on two important factors – the aspects it makes to other planets in the sky at the time of the Rx, and, the aspects it makes to your chart. If Merc Rx (or any planet) makes tight aspects, particularly challenging ones, the Rx becomes much more personal for you and possibly troublesome.

We have now entered the Mercury Rx shadow 7/28/06 - 8/12/06, as Mercury goes over the degrees 21Cancer to 1 Leo for the last time – and then moves past 1 Leo, where it turned Rx. The cycle is complete after that, and actions/decisions are typically more fully “digested” or processed. Thinking and conclusions seem clearer with forward momentum.

Venus in cardinal, watery Cancer trines (120deg.) Uranus in mutable, watery Pisces @ 14deg. on Sunday, July30, 2006 @ 2:20PM EDT. This aspect completes the water grand trine (3 planets, each 120 degrees equidistant from each other) that was approaching when Venus entered Cancer on 7/18/06. Venus trined Jupiter/Scorpio first on 7/26/06. This aspect expands our influence and compassion for friendships and relationships, as well as our desire for beauty, harmony, and intelligent answers to disharmony. On the global level, it has caused a different kind of spread and expansion. There is mourning, sorrow and concern for the wider explosion (Jupiter/Uranus) of fighting and discord.

Monday, Wednesday and Friday, of this week hold the most productive energy available for you to harness.

The Sun in fixed, fiery Leo squares (90deg.) Jupiter in fixed, watery Scorpio @ 10deg. on Wednesday, August 2, 2006. A struggle of leadership and bold political risks describe this aspect, in part. Also indicated is more determined and deadly expansion of strife already in progress. Jupiter/Scorpio can be relentless in pursuit of something, as well as territorial. Add the pride and fiery nature of a Leo Sun (leaders) and you could have a stand-off and digging-in to hold ground. Given the state of the Middle-East, this aspect definitely does not help. On the positive side, if one can be brutally honest and more evolved, then this could be the recognition of such a patterns and the willingness to let go of a non-productive, self-perpetuating stance.

News Bits:
Full Blown Middle East War! With Israel’s invasion of Lebanon, the stakes are very high indeed! This astrologer is not surprised, especially based on the information imparted in the previous Planet Weather. Mars is now in Virgo, and the warring sides are building up arms and gathering forces, which is very typical of Mars/Virgo – to be prepared and to organize the armies. Virgo is the sign of the “workers.” As mentioned in the last issue of PW, Lebanon and Syria have the same birthdate (1/1/44 Beruit and Damascus). My sense of this is that they are intertwined. What one experiences the other feels too! We know that Syria is taking Lebanese refugees, and that it is most likely helping Lebanon militarily as well. Isn’t it time for a new paradigm? The old lex talonis, or law of “an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth,” just doesn’t cut it in today’s world. It simply makes the resentment deeper and stronger. We need fresh ideas that meet the needs of today’s global environment and we desperately need the leaders who have the courage to put them forth. Because both Lebanon and Syria have the Moon @ 14 Pisces, Mars in Virgo, by transit, is aggravating the lives of the people (Moon) and in general, making their lives very uncomfortable and violent. The bombings have, of course, created intense havoc. One has to wonder what will happen when Mars/Virgo reaches the exact opposition to the Moon/Pisces – in range between 8/11-16/06. The situation is extremely intense and volatile and ready to spread even further into other Middle-East countries and even, ultimately beyond the Middle-East itself.

One aspect I did not mention last week, is that both Lebanon and Syria have exact Mars/Uranus conjunctions in Gemini and this placement is also being actively stimulated by Mars/Virgo square (90deg.). The conjunction is fierce in its independence and often erratic. At the same time, it is one that would respond to new methodologies and honest approaches to the ancient enmities that exist in this region. As it stands now, this energy is being used to gather new and better missiles to strike at its enemy, Israel, which is gathering missiles of its own, mainly from the US to continue the conflict. International pressure for cease-fire has so far been unsuccessful.