"You have to start with the truth. The truth is the only way that we can get anywhere. Because any decision-making that is based upon lies or ignorance can't lead to a good conclusion."

— Julian Assange

The fog and confusion of the past few weeks begins to clear this week, despite the Sun's opposition to Neptune. The uncertainty and self-doubt of the mutable Virgo-Pisces axis (the Sun-Neptune opposition) begins to give way to the increasing focus on the action oriented Cardinal Lunar Node Axis — Aries-Libra. The Sun's arrival in Libra (the Autumnal Equinox) on Friday evening, following the Moon's arrival in Cardinal Capricorn, marks the powerful shift towards attempts at decisive action. But the shift isn't easy and is full of questions, skepticism, self-doubt, and varied perspectives — all of which need to be sorted through, analyzed and dispatched in some way this week. Although the obstacles may [...]

"Sometimes there is a greater lack of communication in facile talking than in silence."

— Faith Baldwin

There is a significant amount of confusion this week, carried over from last week, but without the generally altruistic focus. Venus finally turns direct this week but Jupiter turns retrograde the following day. The end of Venus' '40 days & 40 nights' retrograde period will slowly allow the glow of Venusian beauty to begin to once more filter into our perspective. Venus' direct station is square Jupiter and the effect may increase laziness, self-indulgence or just encourage us to slow the pace significantly. However, the retrograding Mercury may produce a significant amount of self-recrimination and self-criticism. We are prone to being a bit too [...]

"Grace, respect, reserve, and empathetic listening are qualities sorely missing from the public discourse now."

— Meryl Streep

The ongoing 'cleanup', initiated by last week's Leo New Moon continues this week. By the end of the week, there will be no less than six retrograde bodies: Pluto, Saturn, Neptune, Chiron, Venus, and Mercury. Uranus will station retrograde next Monday and when Venus turns direct on September 3rd, Jupiter will station retrograde the very next day, on September 4th. This extraordinary retrograde activity emphasizes the "profound reordering" underway in the current lunar cycle. This is a realignment with long term implications and offers important opportunities to prepare for Pluto's next ingress into Aquarius early next year. Mars opposes Neptune on Tuesday, which might sometimes suggest a great deal of creativity but [...]