Chiron Turns Retrograde

Chiron Turns Retrograde - Maverick Self-Expression

"Success is most often achieved by those who don't know that failure is inevitable.'"

— Coco Chanel,

Chiron turns retrograde in Aries at the beginning of this week, joining Saturn and Venus in something like a 'multi-pronged investigation' of our self-esteem and our self-image. Self-doubts and insecurities can quickly produce indecision and uncertainty this week. However, idealism is also growing. A Mars-Jupiter trine is forming all week and will complete at next week's Aquarius Full Moon (August 1st, 11:31 AM PDT 9° Aquarius/Leo) with a surge of enthusiasm and optimism. The bottom line in this week's environment is that many are likely to be looking for some kind of approval or reassurance. Our patience is thin and we may sometimes feel that we are 'running out of time' — which is a sign that self-doubt is overcoming faith. At times, we may be tempted to take short cuts in an effort to show quick results. Creativity and innovation will pay off under next week's Full Moon but it isn't easy to see how it will all work from this week's vantage point. Observation and patience will provide more clues than trying to 'push the river'. There may be waves of 'martyrdom' coming from some who run into skepticism, which is another sign that our self-esteem is not strong enough to field any questioning. In fact, some of this week's idealism may be ungrounded and in need of some 'tempering'. Of course, not everyone is drowning in self-doubt and insecurity. And when we can offer encouragement to those who are struggling, the rewards can be quite bountiful. But even those who are feeling unsteady will do better to offer reassurance to those around us, rather than wasting energy trying to please others in order to gain approval. Giving up on personal integrity in order to get a 'pat on the head' from others will inevitably produce a drop in self-esteem. Patience can be contagious. Our patience can help others to slow down enough to see the next step — ' the next right thing' — rather than focusing only on how to show off our progress. Fatalism is also of some concern this week. There is powerful sense of fate or destiny. Pluto's square to the lunar nodes increases the sense of mission, encouraging perseverance and determination. But with discouragement or slow progress, some may come to believe that what we do doesn't matter — that everything has already been decided. But, in fact, the opposite is true this week. In this environment, even small individual actions can have an outsized effect. Our individual power to create change is actually at a peak — but we need to dispense with self-doubt and learn to bolster faith in ourselves.

We are inclined to try to please others or sacrifice personal integrity for material gain on Sunday. With the right balance, however, great achievements are possible. We may try to bluff our way past stumbling blocks on Monday. Many obstacles may be simply 'mirages' but awareness and caution is called for. A strong sense of destiny pervades the atmosphere on Tuesday. Individual actions have more power than we may realize. Idealism could get a little out of hand on Wednesday. We should avoid the temptation to take 'short cuts' and instead spend more time observing and looking for a philosophical, 'big picture' perspective. Progress is unsteady on Thursday. We need to be sure that our idealism or optimism is well grounded instead of trying to push forward as fast as possible. We may get lost in trying to figure out what others are thinking about us on Friday. Any skepticism could produce waves of 'martyrdom'. We get clues on Saturday that there are changes coming. Interactions and relationships are unsteady and fraught with mixed messages or confusing signals.