Get printer-friendly version (opens new window)
Planetary
highlights:
This month the major focus on the planetary cycles is on the inner planets,
namely the Sun, Mercury, Venus and Mars; the 5th inner planet is the
Moon.
• Sun in Leo
• Mercury in Virgo 67 days plus retrograde - August 28-September 20
• Venus becomes the Evening Star
• Mars Retrograde in Pisces
The Sun is in the sign of Leo from July 22, 2003 at 23:04 PDT to August 23 at 6:08 PDT, when it moves into Virgo. The typical dates given in horoscopes match these quite well, the Sun position in a horoscope is calculated using the time of birth and location of birth, for example kids born in our time zone in the last hour of the 22nd this year will have their Sun in Leo.
Leo is the natural home of the Sun, this year I once again opted for Lions to provide the image of Leo the Lion, however, this time the picture is called the kiss and shows a mother lion with her cub. Last year the image was a kingly looking Male Lion. Leo is associated with children, playfulness and fun; romance and love affairs. We also talk about sports, performing and creativity in the same breath. Leo is recognized for liking recognition and applause and taking chances.
Leo is a fixed fire sign. Aries and Sagittarius are the two other fire signs. This element is associated with passion, inspiration, and vitality. Leo is loyal but like all fire signs needs his/her freedom. Leo makes a loving mate with a special soft spot for children and animals alike, as Leo always remains child-like and loves to play and have fun. Fixed signs (the other three are Taurus, Scorpio and Aquarius) do not like change, but prefer to keep status quo. All of these four signs can be stubborn and inflexible, Leo is the one that can at times be placated with praise, but remember the older they get the harder it is to find words that the Leo can still be ‘conned' with.
I have always thought of Leos like great big pussycats, the snarl and the hiss can be there (fire signs , but if you pet them and compliment them (keep it sincere mind you) and be their mate (either romantic or just a buddy-both equally important to Leo) they will mostly purr. They like to be appreciated, and when they feel that way, even if you ask for the Moon they'll like fetch it for you. There are numerous studies and research projects which show that people with cats (and dogs) live more content, longer and healthier lives. Think of what human beings will do for their pets.
Your typical Leo is good at taking the centre stage at a party, or a leadership role with a group and they are fun to be around, gregarious to a fault. Behind the boisterous facade there is a lot of insecurity and a strong innate need for emotional stability, and a bit of reaffirmation to help them realize that they are great just the way they are.
While the Sun is in Leo we here in British Columbia typically get our hot, sultry weather. It is a perfect holiday month. The sign and natural house of Leo are associated with fun and play time. Our statutory holiday for BC Day falls in August, that is when our province celebrates its birth. The first boats brought people a shore in Fort Langley at 5 AM on July 31, 1827 according to the Hudson Bay Company log. That would make us a Leo province, the actual declaration took place at noon on July 19, 1871 forty-four years later in Victoria according to some sources, but I believe New Westminster to be the actual location, as Victoria was not founded then yet. I have always used the landing chart for British Columbia. It gives us a Leo Sun conjunct Mars and square a Scorpio Moon.
So for those of us who reside in this beautiful province, it is our moment in the Sun but also when we like to cut loose and go hide in the many little villages and towns. The Sun at 5 AM in our birth chart puts that Sun in the 12th house, so we are used to being invisible in terms of the Federal Government. Jupiter is currently in our 1st house, and we won the Olympic Bid for the 2010 games. Such a Jupiterian stroke of good luck. We also have a Mercury retrograde in our chart, it is in Leo, and how often do the words delivered by our politicians appear to fall on deaf ears. Read more about Leo.
Jupiter is spending his last month in Leo, which started last August. During the final degrees in a sign, the planet, tends to deliver bigger and better. We also need to remember that many of us born in 1954-1957 have prominent generational configurations in the late degrees of Leo. Born then you will notice this a little more. Jupiter moves into Virgo August 27 mere hours before a New Moon in early degrees of Virgo. In August-September 1999 we had a powerful Venus Station at this point, so look for connections with that time frame. In the actual horoscope this translates to planets at 0-5° Virgo, and mutable signs.
The Jupiter in Leo sped past at lightning speed for me, did not even find the time to address it detail. Jupiter is the planet astrology calls the greater benefic. Bigger and better than the rest of the planets. It is known to have us expect more, but then on the same token typically we find the Jupiter return years at 12 year intervals from birth, more rewarding at least in hindsight. So if you are about to turn 24, 36, 48 or 60, you will experience your Jupiter return. Jupiter in Leo is associated with creativity, adulation, getting praise for the self and children. It is interesting to note that in the past few months I have printed an extraordinary amount of astrological baby reports. I have not seen any of these brand new souls, the closest I have come to a baby is our new puppy. From my perspective there seems to be a baby boom this year. Pluto in Leo generation is a huge one, Jupiter in Leo only lasts a year as opposed to the twenty years Pluto spent in Leo. Saturn in Leo will follow in about two years, and while Saturn is the planet of denial and shortages, I'd hazard to guess that those years the number of babies born will be high.
Jupiter is likely to deliver more goodies in the last month, particularly
if you happen to in one of the age groups listed above (12,24,36, etc.), Leo
Sun or one of the Pluto in Leo generation with personal points linked to Pluto.
The last week of this Leo month looks to be the most fun and a jovial mood
is contagious.
Mercury has been in Leo since July 13 and will move into Virgo on July 30 for a 67 day stay. Mercury will move retrograde for three weeks starting August 28. This year we have three and a half Mercury retrograde periods all in the element of practical earth. I keep talking about the importance of taking care of mundane chores, and getting the affairs associated with the house involved in your astrological chart (addressed from the Sun sign perspective). There is a separate updated article (July 20, 03) on these Mercury periods, with the individual sign write ups for the three periods.
Mercury is the busy-body planet of the zodiac, patience and caution are not his strong-suit, that really comes to the forefront during these three week periods that occur at 4-month intervals, during a typical year we experience three periods. Unless we take the time to plan and consider with care or even postpone things until a more opportune time, we invariably find ourselves re-doing, revising and revamping
The retrograde periods are good for any action that is preceded with the prefix re. That is to redo, rethink, revise, rewrite, realign, revamp, renovate, and my personal favourite repair (not a prefix word) especially things like cars, wiring and computer equipment. These are not good times for buying cars, computers or anything else with wiring. Neither are these good times for signing on the dotted line, as errors in thoughts, writing or plans will likely emerge. These are, however, excellent times for perfecting projects already in motion.
The day of the retrograde station (the first one) and the day preceding it are good for sending out promotional material, notices of sales to be launched with the direct station (the last day on the list). The day of the direct station is also good for mailing out advertising for increased results. The worry is that if material is prepared during the retrograde period, then it may come out with delightful typos, just make sure the monetary amounts at least are correct or you may be looking at a costly mistake.
There is a bigger theme at work behind these cycles, we get six in a row over a two year period and the elements switch backwards, Air preceded Earth 2001-2002, Fire will follow in 2005-06, and the fourth element Water will start in 2007, and round and round we go.
Click here to learn more about this review and learning period - (www.astrologicallyspeaking.com/Mercuryretro2003.htm). In 2004 we will have Venus Retrograde in Gemini to drive the message of - get real, get practical and learn to take care of mundane chores. Might as well work toward it now. The Venus Retrograde station at approx. 27°Gemini will coincide with the recent Saturn station at the same degree. The never ending cycles re-enforce the previous ones, our lives are incredibly cyclical.
Venus moves into Leo July 28 and stays here until August 22. On August 18 we have the superior conjunction on the Sun and Venus, which marks the shift of Venus from a morning star to an evening star. The Morning Star phase started with the inferior conjunction on Halloween 2002 when Venus was retrograde in Scorpio, each Venus star phase lasts nine months. The significance of nine months is instantly apparent as it is the length of the human gestation period. Using the actual words doesn't make it sound pleasant, but in nature the actual event of carrying a child is both transforming for the mother and father to be. Nothing will stay the same when the child is born. Astrologically speaking when we talk about these ‘pregnant' cycles the birth is also taken figuratively, thus we talk about a brain-children and other products of our creative effort. Isn't it delightful how the astrological cycles support the efforts of each other. The Mercury cycle re-enforces this need to produce concrete results.
The morning star phase is linked to assertiveness and often associated with wars and battles for retaining or gaining rights. If Venus in your natal chart rises before the Sun you were born with the morning star phase. You can calculate your natal chart on this site click here and scroll to the bottom of the page. To determine which phase your Venus is in, find the Sun and rotate the chart so that the Sun is at the Ascendant position (nine o'clock). If Venus is in the bottom half from this perspective, it is an evening star. If Venus is above the horizon it is a morning star. For example Sun at 10°Aries and Venus at 15°Aries makes the phase relationship Evening Star, so later in longitude relates to this phase.
The Morning star Venus is linked to a strong desire nature toward getting materialistic needs met. It is more impulsive in nature. The Evening Star Venus is associated with appreciation of wisdom over possessions, and maturity. This is the old wise woman phase. Desires and needs are met after these have been earned.
During the transit morning star phase we figurative sow seeds, work with new ideas and concepts in order to realize these after the ‘birth'. During the evening star phase we reap the rewards of what we seeded. Until August 18 we need to finish tending to projects that we have worked with over the past nine months, in order to have something to sow.
Mars moved into Pisces June 16 and will move retrograde at 10°Pisces on July 28 for 61 days. Mars will be in Pisces until December 18, 2003. During the retrograde period it may feel as if for each step forward you get to take two steps back, or walking on flypaper.
Mars is the planet, that astrologically speaking, defines our actions. All the verbs we use in our speech are Martian in nature. Mars has a 26 month cycle through the zodiac, so it is not linked to the position of the Sun as is the case with Mercury and Venus who do not venture very far from the Sun. Mercury is within 28° of the Sun and Venus within 47° of the Sun. Mars can be in any sign.
Mars is the ruling planet of Aries and the traditional ruler of Scorpio, and exalted in Capricorn. It fairs less well in Taurus, Cancer and Libra. Mars spends 6 months in a sign out of the 26 months. During this six month he is retrograde for 61-69 days in that sign. The last time this cycle occurred in Pisces was 1956. All the planets have maverick behaviour once in a while. Mars spends part of this time travelling with the master maverick, Uranus. So we here on planet Earth, are going to learn to expect the unexpected. We will likely witness aggressive, hostile behaviour from the world at large. People are more likely to act out their frustrations not only in traffic but when they are frustrated or blocked from taking action. Anger management skills can come in handy during these time frames.
Retrograde planets are physically closer to Earth, and seem to have a more noticeable impact on our actions. Delays are the signature of planets positioned this way. So during the retrograde period (August -September) it is best to prepare for delays, obstacles and the need to take extra steps to get there, to keep frustration levels within control. These periods are catch up time, we all fall behind in some areas of life periodically and now have the opportunity to get caught up, slowly.
We also may feel more reluctant to take action, thus when we eventually opt to move ahead, it will be after contemplation, scrutiny and perhaps we having taken our time make better choices for ourselves. I wrote a more about Mars in the 2003 column, to read that material click here.
There is also a weekly column out on Wednesdays.
If you'd like a more detailed horoscope for the year, check out the Order Reports on line section. You can get a birthday report that covers your personal year in great detail. All the prices quoted are in US dollars. Mary Shea's solar return report is USD 9.95.
© Anne Massey 2003
Home - Basic Articles - Essays in Astrology - Monthly Column - Links - Relationships Section - Order Reports on-line - The Fraser Valley Astrological Guild - Personal Pages - Send E-mail