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A quick note: Hello friends, I hope this month is finding you all in good spirits. I am testing out a new format for the monthly reports in hopes of making them easier to write and navigate. If you like it (or if you don't!) or if you have any other feedback to share about how you use these reports or what you'd like to see more or less of, please feel free to email me at 9livesastrology@gmail.com.
This month's cycle is all about Leo and about changing, shifting, morphing and mutating in ways that serve radiant new visions of ourselves. There are several great moments, especially early in the month before Mercury stations retrograde, that would be well-used for reclaiming or generating power.
Check your natal chart (or get one made, here) to see which house is ruled by Leo. Chances are, the topics associated with this house are areas of your life that will receive some special attention and will be subject to the month's enduring Venus Retrograde there. Ruled by the Sun, Leo is a fiery, cardinal sign and the sign's inherent traits will inform the ways the stars' activities will play out in your life.
☐ 1 August at 13:31 - Full Moon in Aquarius (chart)
The month begins with a Full Moon in Aquarius. For this lunation, the Sun & Venus will be in a sign-based conjunction in Leo (as they have been since late July and will remain throughout much of August) supercharging the stakes of the Venus retrograde. This full moon implicates Aquarian emotions which encourage us to step back, zoom out, and consider the bigger picture or how our actions fit into the larger collective. We may need to start off our month by gaining an impartial, unbiased understanding of the current state of affairs in our lives—especially in the topical realms governed by the Leo area of our chart.
On this same day, Jupiter in Taurus is involved in an overcoming trine to Mars in Virgo (chart). Saturn in Pisces is opposing Mercury in Virgo by degree and will form a sign-based opposition with Mars in Virgo, too (chart).
Put it all together and this lunation will be great for a long-lasting shift in our sense of self, boundaries, and priorities. Try to think dispassionately and zoom out from your life: what do you really deserve? How would you feel about the situation in question if it was happening to a family member or someone you loved? There are moments later in the month for showier, louder workings meant to declare, but this moon looks great for receiving information and gathering one's own power.
This moon will be good for:
Ceremonial workings in service of reclaiming or recalling power
Private workings meant to serve the self
Divinatory, spirit, or deity-based work meant to help you get a fuller understanding of your situation(s)
☐ 6 August at 19:02 - Jupiter in Taurus Square Sun in Leo (chart)
☐ 9 August at 19:47 - Jupiter in Taurus Trining Mercury in Virgo (chart)
☐ 13 August at 6:15 - Venus(Rx) Conjunct Sun (chart)
This Venus Cazimi comes roughly at the halfway marker through Venus' Retrograde station. At this time, Venus will be "in the heart of the Sun"—conjunct the Sun exactly within 0°.
Also on this day, Jupiter will form a number of supportive minor aspects bringing a sense of softness and rounding out the harsh edges you may have experienced at the start of this Venus Retrograde back on 22-27 July. Because Uranus is forming a sign-based conjunction with Jupiter, it will share these aspects, perhaps bringing something surprising (though, not unpleasant) along with it.
Conjunctions are extremely powerful moments in the astro-magickal tradition and this sole Venus conjunction with the Sun of 2023 is no exception. Use this lunation—especially at the time it is exact, indicated above—for:
Workings related to Venus Retrograde in Leo topics. That is, anything that has come up during this station that you're working through!
Workings related to the topics governed by the Leo area of your chart
Recalling or reclaiming power
Creating a radiant new magickal or mundane persona
Anything relating to aesthetics like art, music, fashion, and/or creativity
If you'd like some help adapting these dates and transits to your own chart (or some insights on what the heck you're supposed to be learning), book a totally free 30 minute Venus Retrograde reading with me and I can help you sort it all out.
☐ 16 August at 4:37 - New Moon in Leo (chart)
This strong lunation is the best this month for a powerful "new beginning" especially if used early in the morning before the Sun rises above the Ascendent (between 5:04 - 6:54 CT for a Texas location).
Much like the Full Moon that begins August, this lunation features the same host of supportive aspects from Jupiter, including a supportive, applying square to Venus—now separating from an exact conjunction with the Sun. All said, the astrology of the later month is looking much softer than the way that Venus Retrograde started.
This lunation will be good for those bolder, louder workings in service of a radiant new version of ourselves. Whatever boundaries we know we deserve, rewards we know we've earned, progress we know we've made should be celebrated fully and serve a radical new vision we have for ourselves in the year(s) to come.
☐ 22 August at 7:16 - Jupiter Square Venus (Rx) (chart)
☐ 23 August at 04:02 - Sun enters Virgo (chart)
☐ 23 August at 14:59 - Mercury stations Retrograde (until Sep 15) (chart)
As the Sun enters Virgo on 23 August, it will separate from a sign-based conjunction with Venus in Leo and move into a sign-based conjunction with Mars and Mercury in Virgo. This will bring us into a decidedly new chapter of the month (a period of rethinking, reflecting, and all the other re-words!). I wouldn't be surprised if people wake up on this day feeling a quite different sense of purpose.
Virgo is a mutable, earth sign and can bring a change of mind or pace—not like Gemini's mutability where many things are true all at once. More like a train switching tracks the moment compelling new information suggests the conductor needs to change course. The Sun in Virgo is determined and dead-set on their tasks. Sun in Virgo helps us stay comfortable calling out uncomfortable truths and this will help us stay on track as Venus' Retrograde station winds down.
Virgo is ruled by Mercury (now retrograde here) and is hosting the Sun who rules Leo (where Venus will remain retrograde for a few weeks more). This may feel for many like the introspective apex of the retrograde period. It may also shift focus away from the Leo-governed topics indicated by your natal chart and into the zones ruled by Virgo.
Natives with strong Virgo placements may feel a new sense of certitude, entitlement, and even an edge of superiority about a new path they've chosen and a new decision they've made.
Mercury's Retrograde through Virgo will be associated with the typical disruptions in our daily life, our routines, our communications, and a general impulse to rethink or revisit past decisions. Look to the Virgo area of your chart for clues as to which area of your life will be affected.
☐ 27 August at 3:27 - Saturn opposing Sun (chart)
☐ 27 August at 8:20 - Mars enters Libra (chart)
Mars' ingress into Libra will bring some relief to the end of Venus and Mercury's Retrograde seasons by ending its sign-based conjunction with Mercury and the Sun and sign-based opposition to Saturn. This day will also bring a grand trine formation into shape between Mercury in Virgo, Jupiter (and Uranus) in Taurus, and the Moon in Capricorn.
☐ 28 August at 21:39 - Uranus retrograde (until Jan 27, 2024) (chart)
☐ 30 August at 20:35 - Full Moon in Pisces (chart)
The month comes to a close with a so-called "Blue Moon" in Pisces. While the moniker is fitting for deep-sea, watery Pisces, the "Blue Moon" is a somewhat modern naming convention to refer to a season or month that features one more than the typical number of Full Moons.
As per Space.com: "A seasonal Blue Moon is the traditional definition of a Blue Moon and refers to the third full moon in a season that has four full moons according to NASA. Whilst the second definition — borne out of a misunderstanding of the first — is a monthly Blue Moon which refers to the second full moon within a single calendar month. The monthly Blue Moon is nowadays considered the second definition of a Blue Moon rather than a mistake, according to Time and Date."
This lunation looks to be a delayed emotional climax of the month and will be a natural foil to the aloof, impersonal Full Moon in Aquarius on 1 August. Especially as the Moon conjoins Saturn (separating by the time the lunation is fullest) in Pisces.
For some, this lunation will be a moment of grief and emotional loss associated with the full weight of the things we've let go this month. This is particularly common during retrograde season the Moon will form a sign-based conjunction with Mercury at this time.
My advice from the past: don't go back on your word! Don't go back on what you've chosen. Stay strong and have faith in yourself and what you know you deserve, but allow yourself a moment of mourning where you need to process the loss of your comfort zone. You'll need that energy for a new page in September.
Notes on process:
All referenced times are CST (but will be relevant within an hour or two for anyone in North America); Find exact times for your location by using a transit calendar like this.
I use traditional Hellenistic and modern techniques within a Western/Tropical astrological framework and calculate using Whole Sign Houses. For more info about my process, see here.
Astrologer Chani Nicholas has a fantastic and equitably made tool to generate your natal chart with the whole sign house system (different than most other apps) that is free to use here.
For more information about astrology, witchcraft, and other pagan paths, visit the Pathways of the Pagan discord channel here. Connect with me at my website here or via email at 9livesastrology@gmail.com. I love to hear from you!
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