Starcodes August 14, 2020 Heather Roan Robbins

This is the last full week of Leo season, the last week of the dog days of summer when Sirius, nose of the constellation Canis Major, rises right before the Sun. Mercury enters nervy and industrious Virgo on Wednesday; the Sun enters Virgo August 22, and together they whisper of harvest and autumnal responsibilities.

So, let’s savor these last days of high summer while the Sun and Mercury simmer in entertaining, dramatic Leo, the season usually dedicated to arts festivals, big family picnics, and summer romance. Since this year is different, it’s too easy to feel like so much is wrong, so much is missing, and feel sorry for ourselves in grand and melodramatic ways. It’s a tough year. We have to get creative and investigate unusual ways to savor the fruits of the moment and make the summer special.

Underneath summer’s bounty, life can throw curveballs as Mars lingers an unrestful, combustible square to Pluto this week. An irritating Yod points to the Sun and Mercury as Pluto and Saturn on one side, and Neptune on the other, form and irritating quincunx to that Sun and Mercury. When we see explosions in the headlines, we know the potential exist for all kinds of minor explosions in our life from the same big astrological patterns. Political situations groan. Some uncomfortable situation can challenge our sense of identity, the ground beneath can shift, we may need to renovate a room or a relationship, but this discomfort can push us in a potentially better direction. Remember the combustion engines which drive our world run on minor explosions.

On Friday a Gemini Moon helps us get the word out, though we can say too much as Mercury quincunx both Jupiter and Neptune. The Moon enters Cancer for the weekend and food tastes better. We may need to rusticate or take care of family business or deal with domestic politics. Uranus turns retrograde, which can stir up chaos and odd electrical glitches. Some imminent change may get put on hold or shift online instead of in person, and ask us to adjust.

The Leo new Moon on Tuesday encourages us to sit in the center of our world and be our own best audience, to both question and validate ourselves. Then turn, step out of the center, and listen to another. Relationships clash if we try to hog center stage, but our hearts warm when we can take turns. Our cultural…