"With time and patience the mulberry leaf becomes a silk gown."

— Chinese Proverb

This week begins with a powerfully grounding and stabilizing Pisces/Virgo Full Moon and a Grand Earth Trine involving the Sun, Saturn and Uranus. Just after the Full Moon, Mars turns direct, having been retrograde since June 26th. The retrograde Mars journey can yield extraordinary frustration so, once direct, we can feel a slingshot effect as the energy begins to be released quite quickly. However, the Full Moon helps to stabilize the energy and keep us focused on honing and developing the powerful inspiration that is coming to us through the Jupiter-Neptune trine. [...]

"I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free."

— Michelangelo

The shifts and turns are subtle this week — important but potentially imperceptible if we don't know what to look for. By the end of the week, Mercury will turn direct. Mars moves back into practical Capricorn ahead of the end of it's retrograde motion on August 27th. Although the tension of the Mars-Uranus square dissipates somewhat, Mercury stationary direct squares Jupiter, keeping our heads swirling with a multitude of ideas and very little support to actually put them into action. Nonetheless, there are plenty of opportunities for organization and planning, providing room to prepare for the time, very soon, when [...]

"You see, ya can't please everyone, so ya got to please yourself"

— Rick Nelson

We turn a remarkable corner this week and — if we pay attention — we can suddenly begin to see an entirely new way forward. As Mars retrogrades, Mercury's retrograde motion in Leo is leading us on an extended review of what we've claimed to know and who we've claimed to be. Last week's nonsensical attempts at ego defense may have taken quite a serious toll. However, this week, we may suddenly realize that the audience we've been playing to isn't as important as the audience we see when we look in the mirror. [...]