Monday, August 9, 2010

New Moon in Leo - August 9, 2010

Current Moon Activity:

New Moon – August 9 – 8:08 pm PDT
Next Full Moon - August 24 - 10:05 am PDT
Next New Moon - September 8 - 3:30 am PDT


Transformation, new beginnings, passion and drama are key words that best describe the overall picture on the seed packet presentation by the exact time and date of this New Moon. Before I lead you into a deeper understanding of the details and implications of the planetary positions and alignments for our times, here are a few important announcements.

First, I will be in Victoria from September 3 to 7. I am offering Personal Readings and an Evening Presentation on Friday, September 3rd from 7-9:30 pm at the Church of Truth. "Astrology, Era 2012 and the Great Awakening". This slide show offers a cosmic perspective on the subject of Astrology itself as a basis for current culminating cycles and illustrated in both Mayan and Western systems of Astrology and how these together indicate a great awakening; truly a renaissance rebirth in consciousness active now in our times.

From September 8 to 13, I will be visiting Salt Spring Island. I will be offering the same as above with the Evening Presentation on Friday, September 10th at Lion’s Hall.

To book a Personal Reading for either location, please send me an email to sunstarastrology@gmail.com or call Toll Free 1.888.352.2936

From September 24-26 I will be in Penticton at the Body, Soul & Spirit Expo. At the Expo I will be offering 30-60 minute Readings and three Lectures. Follow this Link to learn more.

I am still taking Personal Readings now and am available in Nelson, BC or I also do sessions by phone which are recorded for you and include your charts. I can do Readings over the phone almost anytime, but during the time periods like above when I am travelling and doing Readings and Presentations, there is less time but sometimes there are some openings.

On a final note, please feel free to send me an email with any comments you may have on anything I write in the Newsletter. A simple hi or cheers feels good too!

Now I will more fully explain both a bit how Astrology works and what is going on now. As usual, I provide a variety of links for you to follow if you would like additional insights and details on the themes and events covered below. I finish the Newsletter with a listing of key dates when exact powerful planetary alignments will occur over the course of the current Lunation Cycle or 29.5 days. So, if you are really curious you can go there first.

The exact date and time of the New Moon ‘was’ Monday, August 9 at 8:08 pm PDT. Leo is the Zodiac sign that is ruled by the Sun. When it is a New Moon, the Sun and Moon share the same place in the sky. Occasionally, this produces an eclipse, like last month. So, within a new Moon is the archetypal symbol of the Moon eclipsing or in front of the Sun. It can also be seen as a conjunction aspect, which occurs when two planets share the same position in the sky, from the Earth’s perspective. A conjunction marks the beginning of a new cycle between any two ‘planets’. In the case of the Sun and Moon, which are technically referred to as the “Luminaries”, (and there are only two luminaries), a special cycle called a “Lunation Cycle” begins. Read more about the New Moon and the Lunation Cycle here: Part I and Part II.

In fact, I have posted a series of articles in the Library of my site in Top 20 Tips that offer useful insights to better understand the importance of the cycles of the Sun and Moon. Also, I teach 2 webinars designed to quickly educate people in a user friendly manner how to work with the Sun/Moon cycle and the basic cycles in their life – culturally uplifting and practical too! I have posted various articles about it in this section of the Library on my website.

You can also read some interesting background on Leo in the Library of my website in Articles or simply click HERE. (Simply scroll down until you see the title, “The Sun is the Single Most Important Factor in Astrology”. There are about 5 or 6 articles there with a few extras in between.)

Now, the really big news for this particular cycle is the powerful aspect pattern called a T-Square. Such an aspect occurs when two or more planets are in close Opposition Aspect (180 degrees apart or directly across from each other), and then a third planet sits 90 degrees away or Square from both ends of the Opposition. T-Squares are considered one of the most powerful aspects in Astrology, whether they are found in a person’s birth chart or whether they are current and actual in the sky, like now!

To gain some overview on the powerful Opposition Aspects of our times, go HERE. The Saturn/Uranus Opposition (July 27) and the Saturn/Jupiter Opposition (August 16) are two of the most important aspects of our times.

That the planets involved are the bigger players in the Astrological pantheon naturally indicates a big theme. That all the planets are in action-oriented Cardinal signs implies that the entire aspect is even more potent in terms of action, than it would otherwise be if the planets were in one of the other two modes – Fixed or Mutable. Cardinal signs are those that begin the seasons and so the exact Solstice and Equinox dates indicates that the Sun has just entered one of the four Cardinal Signs – Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn. In other words, the beginning of each Cardinal Sign occurs at the Solstice and Equinox event dates – usually on the 21st day of December, March, June and September. These are all reflections of the turning points in the cycle of the Sun’s light on the planet. How important do you suppose the light cast by ‘our own’ star onto our planet is to us, practically, psychologically and spiritually? After all, we are speaking about the Sun’s LIGHT. The Sun is the Single Most important factor in Astrology. On the other hand, the mapping of the planets onto an Astrological Mandala presents the more esoteric part of the story yet. The planetary positions and even the Sun’s light are reflective of our relationship with the cosmic reality and is in many respects an exoteric reality, albeit one that is subject to our collective perceptions of time and space from the perspective of the Earth, the fact that the Sun is actually at the center of the Solar System aside... Yet, it is the geometry and the geometric Mandala and aspects and the plotting of the planets in symbolic code that connect with the esoteric and archetypal reality.
All too often, people overlook the metaphysical aspect of Astrology. Some even romantically allude to our relationship to the stars or our lost connection to the stars in some form of criticism to how and why Astrology works or that because Astrologers in the West in particular pay special attention on the sunlight, as though dismissing the movement of the stars, though they do not really. In other words, few people seem to understand the esoteric side of Astrology and many critics, even published authors embarrass themselves with thinking they know what they are talking about when they criticize the validity of Astrology. I will bring more attention to this theme in the New Moon in Virgo Newsletter.

Namely, the planets involved in the T-Square are Jupiter and Uranus closely aligned in Aries, in Opposition to Saturn conjunct Venus in Libra and powerful and transformational Pluto is 90 degrees away, or in Square aspect to both. In other words, Pluto is the Apex Planet between two pairs of planets each closely aligned and opposing each other.

Whatever planet is at the apex determines how the other energies will be ‘channeled’ or directed, (in the sense of energetic current and not in the sense of mediumship.) So, since Pluto, which is better understood as Pluto/Charon now since Pluto was re-classified and given its own special designation, is at the apex, we can expect nothing other than change, transformation and regeneration. How this will occur depends on how the exact position of Pluto and the entire T-Square itself activates the birth charts of the various countries, cities, companies and other ‘individuals’.

Here in British Columbia we now have the HST; as a strong synchronistic example of the impact of this aspect. From a wider perspective, the entire global economy is undergoing massive change and this process will continue for some time yet, even as much as five years, before the full measure of this change has occurred and a new economic reality is established. Just pay attention and you will see that the higher taxes will eventually sweep our entire country, step by step. More immediately, watch for noticeable changes on economic fronts over the course of this New Moon or ‘Lunation Cycle’.

The other big news for this time is that Venus is also closely aligned to Mars, both of which are now in Libra. Since Venus is the faster of the two planets, it is customary that she appears to be chasing Mars or catching-up to ‘him’ about every 9 to 11 months, depending on the particulars of each planet in their respective retrograde cycles. So this time Venus will conjunct or catch Mars on August 20th. Libra is the sign of relationships and can therefore be seen as one, of if not the most romantic signs of the Zodiac, next to Leo and Pisces which are pretty romantic as well. Since Venus is in ‘her’ own sign, the emphasis on creating harmonious connections will be higher yet. Currently however, Venus is conjunct Saturn which has the tendency to dampen, restrict and/or delay the otherwise passionate desire nature of Venus. So, once she is free of Saturn’s grip by mid August, the heat of her chase to catch and embrace Mars will ensue. It is a little like the young lovers enjoying the chase encountered some official who tends to want law and order over fun and games, causing them to slow the pace and even coyly pretend that it is not even happening. Then once far enough away to be seen or stopped by the official, the chase begins again. The ‘official’ in this story is an example of the nature of Saturn.

The following is a listing of the most powerful generic aspects that will occur over the course of the current lunation cycle. Again, these are generic aspects meaning that they are active now yet how they will specifically affect any person, place or institution depends on the birth date of any such ‘person’. Yet, we can still see the synchronistic flow of the affect of the current planetary alignments. If you are more into the flow mood and feel of the aspects, it is the aspects the Moon is making to mthe Sun and all the planets that you want to follow. As there at an average of about 4 per day there is too many to list in a Newsltter. Learning to effectively follow the aspects the Moon makes each day, week and month is what my webinar is all about. The next one begins October 13, please let me know if you are interested. You can also learn more about learning how to read an Astrology calndar and effectively Learn How to Live In-Tune with the Sun and Moon Here.

Friday, August 13 Uranus in its retrograde motion will re-enter Pisces after just over 2 months in Aries. Uranus will remain in Pisces until April 2011. I will be bringing more attention to Uranus in Pisces especially since it will form two conjunction aspects with Jupiter over the course of the next 4 months. This stands to spark mass spiritual awakenings…

Monday, August 16 - Jupiter and Saturn will form an exact Opposition Aspect. The cycles of Jupiter and Saturn are directly linked to the economy. This aspect will spark many changes and endings of our current economic status quo over the course of the next 2-3 years.

Friday, August 20 - Venus will conjunct Mars and Mercury will turn retrograde, both on the same day. Relationships in general and especially those that begin in accordance with these aspects will involve deeper communication themes and potentially a good deal of confusion in that area as well. As always, every case must be approached on its own ground and with awareness we can overcome more than when we proceed blindly, as is often the case.

Saturday, August 21 - Saturn and Pluto will form a powerful exact Square Aspect (see Chart here). This is another major indication of change in the economy and the laws surrounding it, and global civilization in general. This is especially so since the Square is an Upper Square verses a Lower Square, which implies that the cycle is coming to a close and the impact it was destined to make is now in affect or in the final stages of the evolutionary changes to be consolidated and brought to their next effective level of expression. (In a cycle there are two possible 90 degree square aspects. The first occurs after the conjunction of the two planets – the Saturn Pluto Conjunction, which indicates the core themes of the entire cycle and which occurred in November of 1982 (see Chart here).

The 1st Square afterward, which reveals the fruit, like a pregnant woman occurred in March 1993 – the year the WWW became public domain (see Chart here). This event was critical in terms of how our entire planet now does business and increasingly has done so since. The chart reveals that the World Wide Web is the key to a more balanced and just economy on our planet. The Opposition, which follows the 1st Square Aspect between these two power players, occurred in May 2002. Does that year, and the few that followed, ring a bell in terms of key events and turning points in the economy? Wasn’t that when the .com economic bubble burst? I am receptive to any input on this matter. This current Square aspect is the 2nd of two or the Upper Square which reveals the final outcome of processes sparked by the first Square aspect, and specifically of new relationships and especially of new priorities and social rhythmic patterns. In other words, look for changes in the social scene for new interests and priorities especially in terms of what people choose to spend their money on.

August 22, 2010 – The Sun enters Tropical Virgo.

September 4, 2010 – Venus Trines Neptune. This will bring a sensual and romantic influence to this year’s Labor Day Weekend. (that is the weekend I do my Evening presentation in Victoria)

Next New Moon in Virgo is September 8 and on that very day, Venus will enter Scorpio and Jupiter will re-enter Pisces due to its retrograde movement.

Thank you for being here and your interest!

I look forward to connecting with and/or Reading for you personally in the near future.

Michael O’Connor