Cosmic Sway
This Lammas harvest festival begins on a bright, first quarter Moon. But this Moon in Scorpio has finished all its aspects in its current sign; this will be a Lammas season that is best experienced without a lot of expectation. If you have a fixed agenda in your head, things are not likely to go exactly as you had hoped, and you will be disappointed. But if you are willing to make room in your life for things to be what they want to be, truly magical surprises can come your way.
What are you harvesting during this Lammas season? For most of us, it has something to do with increased personal freedom and a true appreciation of ourselves. It’s not that any one of us is more important than anyone else, but all too often we are apt to make ourselves less important, and that’s not right either. Constantly giving in to others to avoid conflict is a common mistake that most of us have made at one time or another. And every time we do, we tell ourselves that we matter a little bit less than other people.
But this season, with its powerful eclipses and other strong celestial events, sends the message that relationships purchased at the expense of your self-respect can never bring real happiness.
Uranus turns retrograde on August 2, and the period between August 1 and 3 is when exasperation with the status quo reaches its peak. It’s always worth noting major aspects between the outer planets, and Jupiter’s square to Pluto on August 4 brings a moment of critical decision involving laws, power, and possibly relations among nations. This is an aspect that happens at least twice each year, however, so it will likely be an important catalyst for long-standing issues.
Full Moon/Lunar Eclipse in Aquarius—August 7, 2017
This Aquarius Full Moon brings a lunar eclipse, and eclipses always signal the need to make a change. That is doubly true of eclipses in the sign of Aquarius, a sign that has refined the art of getting unstuck. The chart for the Full Moon features a bright conjunction of the Sun and Mars in prideful Leo, reflecting the struggle to gain the appreciation and recognition we feel we deserve. Before you take up the battle, however, let this cool Aquarius eclipse give you a dispassionate perspective. Stand back and try to see yourself as others do. More importantly, try to get a clear picture of how you’d like to see yourself. Sometimes when we crave recognition from others, it’s because we lack appreciation for ourselves.
To fully appreciate what this eclipse will bring to your life, look back to previous years when eclipses fell near this point: Feb. 1981, Aug. 1990, Aug. 1998, Feb. 2000, Feb. 2008, and Aug. 2009.
Eclipse Wisdom Ritual: Getting Unstuck
The energy of eclipses is energy of change. Like sudden summer storms that erupt from still, inky skies and leave the landscape bright and freshly washed in their wake, eclipses in Aquarius bring forth a sense of personal revolution. But before you can change, you have to let yourself get unstuck from your current circumstances.
If you’re lucky enough to live in a place where summer lightning storms are common, use them by performing your ritual during one! Otherwise, an image of lightning propped up on your altar, or simply a good imagination, will do the trick.
For your altar, assemble tools of Aquarius: candles, stones, metals of purple or silver, a sheet of heavy aluminum foil, salt, something mechanical or electronic—a radio, cellphone, tiny model airplane made of metal, or similar gadget will work fine—and any of these herbs: dragonwort, frankincense, rue, china berry, or sage.
Use the aluminum foil to cover your altar. Scatter your salt and herbs, place stones and gadget, and light your candle while saying something like:
As lightning and electricity,
Change has the power
To animate me
Let me move toward the change that’s right,
With knowledge to improve my sight.
Mercury Retrograde—Aug. 12–Sep. 5, 2017
Mercury is especially strong in Virgo, so this retrograde is liable to be more aggravating than usual if you insist on pushing forward with new plans and projects. Instead, use this harvest season Mercury retrograde to gather together valuable insights and skills that may be languishing from disuse. In business, writing, or the arts, now is the time to rediscover half-finished projects or ideas and bring them to completion.
With Venus’s opposition aspect to Pluto on the fifteenth, old conflicts within relationships are apt to flare up. Instead of feeling a sense of failure because you have not overcome them, approach the other person with patience. See if you can talk things over, come to a better understanding, and bring new insights to old disagreements.
Leo New Moon/Solar Eclipse—August 21, 2017
This New Moon is a solar eclipse, with the Sun and Moon united with Mars and the Moon’s North Node, all in harmonious aspect with Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus. It is a hard New Moon chart for relationships, at least for the sorts of relationships that have been living on borrowed time. The awareness of the need for freedom that was awakened at the August 7 lunar eclipse in Aquarius is now realized—particularly around August 24, when Venus makes an exact square to freedom-loving Uranus. If you feel you aren’t being appreciated, this solar eclipse will give you the courage you need to move on to greener pastures.
You can often gain more personal insight into an eclipse by reviewing years when other eclipses fell near the degree (28.52 Leo) of this one. Many of the same issues that were important in your life around Feb. 1989, Aug. 1998, Feb. 1999, and Feb. 2008, could be awakened now.
Affirmations for the New Moon/Solar Eclipse in Leo
Writing affirmations at the New Moon focuses your mind toward a positive outcome. At the Leo New Moon, it’s appropriate to celebrate your unique qualities and joyful engagement in the world. Here are a few examples. Try writing them (or adapting them) and using them as part of your New Moon observance.
• I appreciate my talents, gifts, and contributions.
• I express myself with creativity and boldness for the sheer delight of sharing and connecting with others.
• I celebrate each day with joy, always looking for opportunities to laugh and open my heart.
Virgo Is for Lovers!
Mars (Sep. 5) and Venus (Sep. 19), which together symbolize romantic lovers, both enter Virgo during this Lammas season. Virgo is symbolized by a maiden, but don’t limit your interpretation of this sign’s “virginity” to the modern sense of having abstained from sexual activity. Rather, Virgo symbolizes virginity in the sense of being independent, self-sufficient, and complete to oneself. This is actually the best state for finding happiness in a relationship, because if you are satisfied with yourself and your life, you can happily and confidently share both with deserving others. (Not to mention Virgo is an earth sign, and earth signs are pretty darn sexy!)