harvest time begins
the august 2002 forecast
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all dates and times are based on pacific time.
chiron, uranus, neptune, and pluto are retrograde.
jupiter enters leo |
0°00' leo |
august 1 |
sun opposes neptune |
9°36' leo/aquarius |
august 1 |
venus squares saturn |
25°02' virgo/sagittarius |
august 2 |
mercury opposes uranus |
27°27' leo/aquarius |
august 4 |
mercury enters virgo |
0°00' virgo |
august 6 |
venus enters libra |
0°00' libra |
august 7 |
new moon |
16°04' leo |
august 8 |
sun conjoins mars |
18°00' leo |
august 10 |
mercury squares pluto |
14°56' virgo/sagittarius |
august 15 |
sun opposes uranus |
26°51' leo/aquarius |
august 19 |
saturn trine uranus |
26°48' gemini/aquarius |
august 21 |
full moon |
29°39' leo/aquarius |
august 22 |
sun enters virgo |
0°00' virgo |
august 23 |
mars opposes uranus |
26°41' leo/aquarius |
august 24 |
mercury squares saturn |
27°04' virgo/gemini |
august 24 |
pluto turns stationary direct |
14°54' sagittarius |
august 26 |
mars enters virgo |
0°00' virgo |
august 29 |
all dates are based on pacific time.
august begins the harvest time of each year, both literally and symbolically, in the northern hemisphere. (in the southern half of the globe, august corresponds to the north’s february, when light is palpably returning after the dark of winter.) as one by one the fast-moving planets move through virgo, we will have the opportunity to experience the great generosity of the goddess of the harvest: demeter in greece, bride in celtic britain, and ceres in roman italy.
what will we harvest?
this year is certain to bring a happier harvest than last: the saturn-pluto opposition, the energy which was misused by terrorists, is waning. surely this means that the worst has past. however, we have to honestly and responsibly assess if any of the conditions which were present last year have changed. yes — in the u.s., we have lost some of our civil liberties, and a new, flagrant administrative secrecy has gutted the freedom of information act. the ins, fbi and cia seem to be on the same page now — actually reading their reports and alert to red-flag situations. the terrorist threat has not abated in the sense that the reasons for muslim extremist animosity have dissipated. this will take decades, if not centuries, to overcome. we must endure their noisy revolution as they deal with their ambivalence about being a part of the modern world.
another set of titans — those of big business — have also clashed. even (p)resident bush has admitted that his cronies have gone too far. this is quite typical of saturn (government, regulation, business and economics) and pluto (big business — multi-national corporations). the fact is, the mega-corporations have been ramrodding the public since the infrastructure of western civilization permitted them to exist and grow from the end of the 19th century. now they, in their primary business of finding loopholes in the laws and regulations, have been publically exposed. unfortunately, many loyal, hard-working people are suffering for these companies’ careless disregard.
so the revelation of the rot within is both the good news and the bad news. it is unfortunate that it is happening, but if it is, it is better that we know about it so we can take action to overcome the problem.
jupiter enters leo
the big news of the month, which could go unnoticed until later in the yearly cycle, is that jupiter enters leo on the 1st. once it does, watch the price of gold! it could be the new mecca for bruised investors. once jupiter leaves cancer, the new government office of homeland security may fall out of favor. already the debate rages as to how it will mesh with other security agencies — agencies which were already charged with most of the responsibilities which would be assigned to tom ridge’s new unit.
jupiter will now trine pluto in sagittarius by sign and sextile saturn for a while. it’s hard to know if that means that we will be able to ease the conflicts and difficulties that we now face, or if it will only make it easier, through the ease and flow of the trine, for the “bad guys” to win. some volatility still exists as long as saturn remains in gemini, until next june. however, saturn and pluto have separated for good (until 36 years from now), and that means that new difficulties are not likely to arise. we’ve got quite enough on our plates with our current difficulties, thank you very much!
the planets in virgo are key.
we will be able to tell just what the next 10 months have in store by our experiences during august, september, and october, while the various planets are in virgo. we start the month with venus in virgo, where it has been since july 10. although it is not know as a major triggering influence, i have seen it carry a lot of weight in this regard. its square to pluto on july 24 coincided with market volatility and emotional volatility on a personal level. its square to saturn on august 2nd will “translate light”, carrying pluto’s energy to saturn once again, bringing a revisitation of their opposition.
this is by no means likely to be as powerful as the events of the actual opposition, but we will notice more than a blip on the scale of life. it’s good to pay attention to these events, because they will serve as harbingers of the ones to come as mercury, then the sun, and finally mars trigger these planets from a position in virgo over the next 2 ½ months.
so this is a time to be cautiously optimistic. it’s not that there won’t be challenging events, but we can expect them to fit in the frame of the experiences we’ve already had. it is good that we have made it through the “wounding time” of the actual saturn-pluto opposition. now we can heal, even if there are ups and downs in the process.
healing our wounds
the healing process will take the rest of this saturn-pluto cycle, which we are halfway through, or 18 years. clearly, this is a long-term process, and the issues we face suggest that only long-term solutions will suffice. however, it is human nature to want to hide from such daunting difficulties; for this reason, we are unlikely to completely resolve anything during that time — as with all traumas, the pain fades away, both blessing and curse.
on a political level, some people will retain the resolve to uproot the problems we face. on a personal level, however, we may also forget, but it is completely within our power to remain mindful of what we have faced and not cave in when the pressure is off, persisting in pursuing our goals and the removal of the obstacles that stand in our way. the power of saturn-pluto contacts is that we can see what the real problem is — in fact, we’re hard-pressed to avoid it. in seeing clearly, we can respond clearly and work toward real, deep solutions instead of palliatives.
saturn-pluto contacts also increase our “shit-detectors”, at least by transit. (those with saturn-pluto in their natal charts may find that they suffered from an unusually high level of s— in their early years and are forever detecting it over the rest of their lives.) this is a good, even if sometimes painful, thing.
one more pattern to deal with
there’s another pattern which we will need to deal with during august, one whose rhythm and pattern was established in july. it’s in the fixed signs, most emphasized in leo and aquarius. we encountered the first of these contacts in an onslaught july 21-28. this also contributed to the volatility in the stock market, spurred in part by the bankruptcy of worldcom but also by the growing awareness that this would not be the last of the companies to reveal shady accounting practices. venus also foreshadowed these events at the end of june and the first half of july.
hot spots in august
with two sets of planets cooking the books in august, we can anticipate lots of tension, perhaps even action. the fixed cross signs (taurus, leo, scorpio, aquarius) are activated august 1-2, 7-8, 10, 13-15, 19-22, and 24. this pattern is relieved, perhaps augmented, by a saturn trine to uranus, the first of three over the 9 months. this aspect last occurred in 1957 (making this a potent time for those born in this year). it offers the opportunity of release from limitation or oppression, but it could also be ease in imposing greater restrictions if the power is placed in the wrong hands.
the mutable cross signs (gemini, virgo, sagittarius, pisces) are triggered by the second set of planets on august 4, 9-11, 15-17, 23-26, and 30-31. this is the pattern i’ve been discussing for most of this article.
what can i do?
we can be observant on these days and look for the thread of continuity that flows through our lives at these times. an awareness of these “themes” (one for each pattern) will help us make the right choices and decisions at each juncture. if we can look at each day as a blank slate, with no mistakes in it, refreshed and determined to carry on yet responsive to what the world communicates to us, we will get the best out of this time.
