the guns of august

the august 2003 forecast

contact me at terry@terrylamb.net if you would like to have my latest forecasts sent to you automatically via email as they are published, free of charge.

go to past forecasts.

mars, chiron, uranus, neptune, and pluto are retrograde.

sun opposes neptune	11°48' leo/aquarius	august 4
sun trines pluto	17°20' leo/sagittarius	august 10
full moon	19°05' leo/aquarius	august 11
mars trines saturn (2nd pass)	8°44' pisces/cancer	august 12
mercury squares pluto	17°18' virgo/sagittarius	august 12
venus conjoins sun	25°45' leo	august 18
venus conjoins jupiter	28°37' leo	august 21
sun conjoins jupiter	28°50' leo	august 22
venus enters virgo	0°00' virgo	august 22
venus opposes uranus	0°53' virgo/pisces	august 22
sun enters virgo	0°00' virgo	august 23
sun opposes uranus	0°51' virgo/pisces	august 24
venus opposes mars	5°29' virgo/pisces	august 26
jupiter enters virgo	0°00' virgo	august 27
moon conjoins jupiter, opposes uranus, conjoins sun (new moon), opposes mars, conjoins venus	0°01' – 6°50' virgo/pisces new moon at 4°02' virgo	august 27
mercury turns stationary retrograde	26°19' virgo	august 28
moon squares pluto	17°14' virgo/sagittarius	august 28
sun opposes mars	5°01' virgo/pisces	august 28
pluto turns stationary direct	17°14' sagittarius	august 28
moon conjoins mercury	26°18' virgo	august 29
jupiter opposes uranus	0°37' virgo/pisces	august 29

all dates are based on pacific time.

if you look at the planets and their interactions for the month, you’ll see a sparse offering early on, but some of them have a date with fate at the end of the month. from the 22^nd through the end of the month, there is a great collection of planets in the early degrees of virgo and pisces, opposing mutable signs. the way they interact is both unusual and suggestive of particular themes and types of events, ones that may stand out in our personal experiences as well as history.

mars and uranus interact.

this combination is very volatile because it involves mars and uranus together in one place. in addition, they are both retrograde. to understand the real power of this contact, we must explore the timing of their interaction and how retrogrades work. each of the planets beyond the earth (mars, jupiter, saturn, chiron, uranus, neptune, pluto) retrogrades regularly. all of them do so once yearly with the exception of mars, which does so once in about two years. in the middle of their retrograde period, a culmination point is reached as the sun opposes its position. much like a full moon, this peak often signals a watershed event symbolically related to the planet.

what is unique about this convergence of energies is that both uranus and mars reach their culmination point — their opposition to the sun — at nearly the same time, on the 24^th and 28^th. although mars and uranus ultimately do not conjoin each other as we might expect, their energies are brought together through translation of light. translation of light occurs when a faster moving planet makes contact with two slower moving ones, effectively carrying the energy of one to the other.

what light through yonder window breaks?

this principle is constantly in operation among the planets, and it accounts for many of the events which occur that seem to be “off” from the exact timing of the planetary contacts which seem to correlate with them. what it does for us in our personal, self-actualizing experiences is to increase the windows of opportunity that are constantly available to us. translations tell us that opportunity exists if we make use of a third party or intermediary situation (stepping stone) to achieve our goals.

so any planets moving faster than mars and uranus can translate light, and the planets that do so are the moon, sun, and venus. during 22^nd through the 28^th, all three of these planets translate light between mars and uranus, as well as between each other.

three more players add intensity.

even more incredible is the fact that three more planets are involved in the pattern: mercury, jupiter, and pluto. jupiter enters virgo on the 27^th, in range of the mars-uranus interactions, which occur between 0 and 5 degrees of pisces (virgo’s opposite sign). mercury and pluto are strictly speaking out of range (orb) of these planets, but they both make their “stations” during this week, both on the 28^th, and in signs that tie into this pattern, virgo and sagittarius (respectively). a station occurs when a planet “stands still” because it is changing directions; in this case, mercury is turning retrograde, while pluto has reached the end of its retrograde period, now turning direct.

stations are also critical or sensitive points in the cycles of the planets. milestone events may also occur at the times of the stations (whether retrograde or direct). the attack on the waco compound of david koresh occurred on the pluto retrograde station of that year, a fact that was unknown to the government at the time. even though these planets are out of range by degree, they are not in terms of timing. what’s more, they are contacted by the moon on a weekly basis and by the sun and venus in september, solidifying their tie-in to the pattern.

confused?

if you’re confused, it’s no wonder. there’s more than enough here to boggle the mind of the best chess player. so, here’s a recap of the highlights:

            mars and uranus are both retrograde in the early degrees of pisces.

the sun opposes them within 4 days of each other, bringing the culmination of each cycle and translating light between them.

            jupiter enters virgo at the same time, adding planetary juice.

the moon and venus add joy to the party, translating light between jupiter, mars, and uranus.

            both mercury and pluto make a station on the 28^th in affected signs.

if you’re still not following this, just know that there’s something significant happening and the end of august and skip to the next section

what it all means

as with all planetary peaks, there are warnings and mitigations. we got several earlier this year, because when a planet retrogrades it retraces its path over a few degrees of the zodiac, effectively covering that territory three times. when mars and uranus contacted the degrees they will be in at the end of august, we got a signal, however subtle, about the nature of what’s about to come up. the first of these occurred when uranus reached 0°51' pisces, on march 26^th; there would also be a clue on the day that uranus turned retrograde, june 7th. mars conjoined uranus on june 23^rd and reached its culmination point, 5° pisces, on june 30^th. other clues occur(red) on july 29^th and 31^st, as well as august 6^th and 12^th. in addition, whenever the moon goes into a mutable sign (gemini, virgo, sagittarius, pisces) for 2 ½ days each week, there’s an opportunity for more insight as related events occur.

these clues occur in national and international affairs as well as in our personal lives.

so the first question we can ask ourselves to find meaning is what has occurred on or around these dates. in the news, we have seen an escalation of threats from al q’aeda, as well as increasing pressure on both us president bush and uk pm tony blair to come clean about pre-iraq war propaganda. in israel, there’s been a hullabaloo about the wall that the israelis are building to separate the palestinians from israelis which nevertheless splits some palestinian communities in half.

there is so much planetary symbology represented in this configuration that it is difficult to sort out its significance. however, one thing that strikes me is how the planets align themselves. warrior mars and explosive uranus are retrograde on one side of the heavens, two “malefic” planets (ones that humans do not use particularly well); meanwhile, the two benefics (ones that humans tend to use well or find pleasant), venus and jupiter, are conjoined with the sun. so, it can seem like the good guys versus the bad guys. mars and uranus conjoined often correlate with volatile situations and events. explosions, as well as random violent acts, are symbolized by their blend. it’s not that they can’t be used differently, it’s just that, among the human population, some are prone to succumb to such urges. because they are coming close to each other at the time of their culmination, the potential for explosive actions may be augmented.

i don’t want to be alarmist, but this is a time when terrorist threats may be at a peak. however, there is one ray of light: mars and uranus never actually come back into contact with each other. uranus backs into aquarius before mars can catch it, then mars turns around at 0° pisces, a process called refranation in astrology — mars refrains from reaching uranus. classically, refranation means that the expected effects of this planetary combination will not occur. however, since there is translation, we may get a softened or muted effect. it is possible that the “good guys” may catch the “bad guys”.

it is also likely that the truth will come out. mercury does catch pluto, and something will be revealed when that occurs, on september 11^th, whose significance we might guess at because of the anniversary that comes on this date. the pattern continues into september, and there is a chance of related actions then, but the storm clouds that gather at the end of august dissipate for the most part by september’s end.

what can this mean in our lives?

there are likely to be major headline events around the end of august, and some people will be affected directly by them, of course. for those of us who are not, we may still experience personal situations which impact us strongly. certainly change is a part of whatever occurs, because the planets that are involved are dynamic and bring sudden and unexpected events. however, these can be miraculous as well as disastrous. some of us will experience loss in some way, challenging us to adjust our reality to fit a new routine. we may learn to perceive loss in a different way, or we may perceive our loss as just a change in form and pattern. for instance, my oldest son is leaving for college at that time for his freshman year. he will not be living at home, and when he is home, the old patterns of familial intimacy will not be there in the same way. all the same, we will adjust our relationship and adapt to a new routine.

we can make the most of this pattern by attuning ourselves to the spiritual aspects of our life, for that is the aim of uranus, if a planetary energy can be said to have one. when viewed from this perspective, we find it easier to adapt to loss, perhaps even experiencing rich inner realities. there is the potential for spiritual experiences as well, for jupiter and uranus often herald enlightenment or awakening experiences, while the moon, venus, sun and mars act as triggers. so this is a good time to increase our inner awareness through whatever means we find comfortable — prayer, meditation, chanting, song, dance, ritual, affirmation, or simply mindfulness.

may your august be filled with love, joy, peace, and good health!