"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 [...]

"Painting is the passage from the chaos of the emotions to the order of the possible."

— Balthus

Venus retrogrades back to square Uranus for the second of three times this week, producing incredibly strong will-power. The waning lunar cycle is still offering potentialities and possibilities for creative self-expression through innovation. There are waves of inspiration and enthusiasm. Nonetheless, obstacles abound, along with significant amounts of confusion and chaos. There are few 'handles' for us to grab onto that would keep us stabilized enough to pursue a steady line of progress. The main challenge is [...]