"It is the flash which appears, the thunderbolt will follow."

—Voltaire

The strong initiatory power of last Friday night's Virgo New Moon (11:06 PM PDT 0° Virgo) is precipitously extended into the first couple of days of this week, culminating with the arrival of Venus in Leo, ruling Monday's Libra Moon — as well as Mars in Libra. Venus really takes charge this week in Leo, encouraging plenty of dramatic 'flair', 'flash', and even some amazing 'razzle-dazzle'. Action heats up through increased (and 'flashy') creative energy and steady, willpower-driven determination. The Moon activates another Grand Air trine with [...]

"A society should never become like a pond with stagnant water, without movement. That's the most important thing."

—Mikhail Gorbachev

This week's direct station of Mercury on Monday comes under a waning, VOC Moon. Although we might like to 'hit the ground running' by using the improving intellect offered by Mercury's direct station, we will need to take it slow this week. Mercury won't actually escape the shadow phase of the current retrograde cycle until a couple of days after the Virgo New Moon (11:06 PM PDT 0° Virgo) coming up on August 22nd. We can expect an extended 'clean up' imperative under the next lunar cycle when Virgo's processing abilities will [...]

"Who am I anyway?
Am I my resume?
That is a picture of a person I don't know

— Who Am I Anyway - A Chorus Line
Marvin Hamlisch & Edward Kleban

The creative, individual self-expression of the Leo Sun drives a powerful 'will to action' this week. Nonetheless, last Thursday's Leo New Moon (12:10 PM PDT 2° Leo) was tightly connected to the broad, global shifts that are underway. As the Moon waxes in light, we are working extremely hard to find our individual voice within a much larger framework. The power struggles initiated at the New Moon seem to simmer in the background this week. As Mercury retrogrades back through [...]