The first half of August sets the stage for two wild lunations that demand change. The Aquarian full moon that ushers in the month, on August 1, points out all the ways we need to innovate and evolve. It balks at the thought of maintaining the status quo and simply will not tolerate inflated egos. The new moon that follows two weeks later in the sign of Leo, on the 16th, has us feeling bold enough to make radical changes. With the new moon in a square aspect to pattern-breaking Uranus, we may also be on the receiving end of demands for change from others.
Then all goes quiet. We’re in the middle of our yearly summer retrogrades, which signal a lull or sense of suspended animation. Then, very surreptitiously, Mercury in Virgo joins the retrograde brigade on the 23rd, just as the sun enters the sign of Virgo. We may feel like there was no real transition from the sparks of Leo season to the studiousness of Virgo season. This could feel like celebrating a creative triumph, and then your boss shows up mid-champagne toast with schedules, edits, and redactions. Who invited them?!
Adding to the temperance of Virgo season is Mars’s entrance into Libra on the 27th. In Libra, Mars is tasked with thinking before it acts and considering the needs of others. These are often things worth doing—it’s just not within Mars’s purview, and the result may be a time of strained politeness. As we head toward the end of August, the need for sensitivity continues with the second full moon of the month in Pisces on the 30th. When there are two full moons inside of one calendar month, it’s called a “blue moon.” This one marks a definitive, teary-eyed end.
This article appears in August 2023.
