August 9th ~ 16th

Hope is not blind optimism. It’s not ignoring the enormity of the task ahead or the roadblocks that stand in our path. It’s not sitting on the sidelines or shirking from a fight. Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it, and to work for it, and to fight for it. Hope is the belief that destiny will not be written for us, but by us, by the men and women who are not content to settle for the world as it is, who have the courage to remake the world as it should be. ~ Barack Obama

On December 21st, 2020, there was an epic Great Conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn at 0º of Aquarius. This began a new 20-year cycle between these two great giants. This particular conjunction was even more significant because it was launching an additional 200-year cycle of a particular sort of ‘Great Conjunctions’, changing the paradigm for generations to come. The conjunction at the first degree of Aquarius, was also a precedent for the gradual ingress of Pluto into Aquarius this year. 

On August 19th, Jupiter and Saturn will make the first of 3 open squares to one another, which is a time of activity and crisis in which we are being tested in our resolve to fulfill the Aquarius paradigm that was being seeded these past 4 years. 

In its highest expression, that Aquarius paradigm would most likely have to do with things like: 

Freedom and individualism; Equality; reforming outdated laws that are no longer valid or appropriate; Brotherhood and the sorts of humanitarian reforms that reflect that; discovery and invention; scientific breakthroughs; and coming to recognize that we don’t always have to keep doing things the way we always have in the past, and that there might be better alternatives. 

We’re not there yet. We are in a point of transition in which we are all being tested. And not in the usual ways. There seems to be a lot riding on this current set of Jupiter/Saturn squares, which begins with the square on August 19th with Jupiter square retrograde Saturn at 17º of Gemini and Pisces; followed by a square on December 24th at 14º of Gemini and Pisces. The last Jupiter/Saturn square will take place on June 15th, 2025, at 1º of Cancer and Aries.

This square as well as the one in December, also involve the planet Pluto, reminding us that there are consequences to the choices that we are making. Consequences that could even change the course of history. 

This week, Mars in Gemini will meet up with Jupiter forming a conjunction on August 14th. Before that Mars will make a minor sesquiquadrate aspect to Pluto on the 12th, and then will tie it all together with a square to Saturn on the 16th. Mars is known for being a catalyst. It is a planet of action, that motivates and urges us to do something, and/or say something. The expansive nature of Jupiter adds an optimistic and enthusiastic quality to Mars in Gemini, that will be hard to squelch, even with the afflictions from Saturn and Pluto.

Tying in with the Jupiter/Pluto sesquare last week, the upcoming Jupiter/Saturn square appears to be testing our moral fortitude. This will compel us to get back to our core beliefs. And when we connect in our heart of hearts with what we know to be morally and ethically right, and we are willing to stand up for that, even the most challenging of obstacles will not be able to sway that moral conviction. Pluto just makes it all that much more urgent to do so.  

Things have been moving pretty quickly with Mars in Gemini, so it could come as something of a shock, and a bit of frustration, when we are stopped in our tracks, or have to make some revisions later on next week.

Mars/Jupiter in the mutable sign of Gemini can have the tendency to be overly enthusiastic, to move too quickly. Saturn, the planet of caution, will push back. Whereas Mars/Jupiter is saying:  Go Go Go!  Do it now! Mars/Saturn says: Now hold on there! You’re not going anywhere! Jupiter is saying YES! while Saturn is saying NO. Jupiter wants to take risks, to expand, to grow, and to be free enough to do so. But Saturn is resistant, much more conservative, and wants to stick with the way things always were in the past. 

This is a time of transition in which forces both within and without are conflicting. In society it will be expressed in opposing factions, where one group is forward leaning, and wants to grow and expand; while another wants something more familiar, safe and conservative. In our own lives this will be expressed through some sort of inner conflict that we are going through in our lives. 

Therefore we might all want to ask ourselves or consider: 

• In what ways are you limiting yourself or holding yourself back out of fear? 
• In what ways are you procrastinating, or avoiding important decisions or actions that can affect the rest of your life? 
• Sometimes we have to move through difficulties and our own fear in order to grow, in order to thrive, in order to live our own best lives. 
• And conversely, sometimes we have to think more practically and strategically, in order to not over-extend ourselves, take on too much, or waste our time, energy and resources on losing battles. 

Just know that there is a stalwart determination that can come with Mars and Pluto in the picture. The sort of determination that does not give up no matter what. Even in the face of extraordinary odds. We have already been seeing records breaking, and remarkable achievements in Paris this past week! That’s the sort of determination and effort that can come when so much is at stake. And sometimes we just have no other choice but to keep on keeping on. No matter what. For a better world awaits.

We got 91 days. My god that’s easy. We’ll sleep when we’re dead. ~ Timothy Walz

For this week’s horoscopes, click below: 

HOROSCOPES

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