August Horoscopes

Astrology of August
Current Configurations
Past Months

Aries	Libra
Taurus	Scorpio
Gemini	Sagittarius
Cancer	Capricorn
Leo	Aquarius
Virgo	Pisces

August 2009

Current Astrology

	The Sun is in Gemini
	The Moon is in ScorpioThe Gibbous Moon is in Scorpio, Enters Sagittarius 10:03 pm
	Moon Void of Course 5:51 pm to 10:03 pm
	Next Mercury Retrograde Aug 23 - Sep 15

Current Configurations

by Henry Seltzer

August 5th Full Moon
This third eclipse of the summer is another powerful one, with Sun and Moon opposing each other across the Leo - Aquarius axis, near the midpoint of each of these Fixed signs. The Sun at the Leo midpoint signaled the ancient pagan holiday of Lammas. Along with the Cardinal signs' initial degrees, whose passage by the Sun is recognized as the Solstice and Equinox events, the midpoints of the Fixed signs form a 8-fold division of the Zodiac and for that reason they were celebrated as "cross-quarter" holidays by the pagans. The gathering of energy represented by the Jupiter-Chiron-Neptune triple conjunction comes later in the sign of Aquarius but still receives added emphasis from this extra-powerful Full Moon. Mars is in a tight square with Saturn, meaning that whatever we dream or visualize must be grounded in concrete practicality, perhaps painfully, in order to be actualized.

August 13th Last Quarter Moon
The waning quarter is traditionally a time of recognition of where the impulse from the New Moon finds its potential and also of where that potential fails to manifest. This is even truer with this particular Last Quarter Moon, since it includes Saturn in aspect with the Sun and Moon. The Sun also opposes Jupiter exactly at this time, so this configuration includes both a flash of optimism as well as the sense of limitation represented by Saturn.

August 20th New Moon
This late Leo New Moon represents the push-pull of both Neptune and Uranus on the one hand, and Saturn on the other. The New Moon opposes Neptune and is inconjunct Uranus. Mercury conjuncts Saturn, just as Saturn is drawing closer to its opposition with Uranus which perfects in September. These energies are antithetical, indicating where we feel the impulse to go beyond existing limits and where we strongly feel those limits themselves.

August 27th First Quarter Moon
The First Quarter Moon is traditionally a time when the rubber meets the road with respect to the impulse from the New Moon. This is the test of viability of whatever was initiated at that time. In this case the Sun has changed signs, having entered Virgo, so that the basis for that impulse to unfold has shifted to a more detailed and grounded modality. All the personal planets in fact have changed signs since the time of the New Moon one week ago. The Sun in Virgo is drawing closer to Saturn, eventually to conjunct it almost exactly at the time of the New Moon in September, on the 18th.