The Harvest Queen and the River Dragon

The week begins with the Sun in the last degrees of Leo, making an energetic but potentially irksome sextile with Mars.  Wednesday holds a very positive Mercury-Jupiter configuration and sees the Sun enter Virgo.  Here our angle on the Sun lines it up with the fixed star Regulus, the regal and benefic heart of the lion. On Thursday, red Mars enters intense Scorpio, where he’ll preside over the determined push to the Equinox.

This week’s changes transition us into the phase that will hold until the season changes.

 Mercury Sextile Jupiter: The Great and Secret Script

Mercury’s pleasant sextile sparkles over much of the week, bringing good news and supporting a more optimistic perspective.  This is actually the 3^rd and final in a series of sextiles between Mercury and Jupiter this summer.  The first occurred on June 29^th and the second on July 24^th.  In addition to providing a temporary boost to perspective and mental energy, this 3^rd and final sextile denotes the final step in a process.  Beneath the chaos of this summer there has been an opportunity to rewrite our plans and scripts to be more in accord with the dramatic changes occurring both within and without.   But approach any scripts written in your own blood with appropriate reverence, for they have the greatest power to bind and shape the life they describe.

Sun into Virgo: The Harvest Queen Commeth

The Sun enters Virgo Wednesday morning, haloing the rest of August and much of September in the warm light of the approaching harvest.  The Sun in Virgo asks us to inspect all that we have earned, gathered and stolen over the season and set to work sorting the wheat from the chaff.

After a season of so many changes, there is much to account for, many loose ends to tie up and much work that must be down before we can approach the year’s final quarter.  Fortunately, the Sun’s first few days in Virgo see it overlap with the royal fixed star Regulus and coincide with the Mercury-Jupiter sextile.  Take a regal moment to overlook the state of your kingdom and consider how you’re going to bridge the gap between its current status and what you dream it could be.  The Sun is also opposed to Neptune during these days, and the other blue planet offers tempting visions of what could be.  These visions can help anchor you to your dreams, but to fulfill them it will take a world of work.  There is little that fantasy and labor together cannot accomplish, but separated these twins become curses.  Fortunately,  we will have the power of Mars in Scorpio to fuel our push through the last month of the season.

Mars in Scorpio: The River Dragon

Mars enters the Scorpion’s den on Thursday, the day after the Sun’s ingress into Virgo.  In Scorpio, it’s traditional rulership, the red planet is ominously strong.  It is a crimson river of strength and resolve we can draw upon to accomplish what we will.  There is a current of vitality and courage waiting to be harnessed.   Yet it must treated with respect for its power,  lest the boiling waters overflow their proper banks.  The river dragon can fecundate a whole region or wipe out with floods.  So set your jaw and double check your turbines- you’ve got power to harness.