Forecast for week of July 2-8, 2012

By Kathy Biehl

The cosmic organ is still playing a long, vaguely unsettling chord. Now at least a few passing notes are entering the chord to lighten the mood and suggest movement. We’re nowhere near a point of resolution, but at least the sensation of being frozen in time is loosening up.

The source of the movement — and the cause for relief — is the long-awaited sign change by Mars, the planet of action. He’s been cooling his go-getter tendencies, not always happily, since November, when he entered the detailed-loving turf of Virgo. He usually spends only a handful of weeks in a sign, and being earthbound for eight months has been both frustrating and ultimately useful, providing opportunity after opportunity to clean up, reorganize and prepare.

His take-off into airy Libra will be giddy-making. Now longer will trying to get something done turn into a game of Whack-A-Mole, with a myriad of prerequisites popping up that have to be dealt with before we can move forward. Instead, we’ll think, we’ll talk and — whoosh — we’ll do.

Yes, we are entering implementation mode, and some of that is going to require negotiation, teamwork and not merely owning up to, but also finally acting on, all those relationship decisions we’ve been quietly and not-so-quietly reaching. For the next month or so, Mars is on the trail of Saturn and the relationship lab he’s been overseeing. Saturn has ended his five-month retrograde, but he isn’t moving for another week, which offers a good long look at conditions in the lab.

In the first phase (as in: now), negotiation and implementation have great potential to go smoothly, because Mars has the cooperation of his lady love Venus, ruler of our hearts, bank accounts, self-worth and treasures. This bodes well for talking things out and seeking common ground or resolutions that both sides can live with.

The chatter level is only going to rise, though. Issues involving women, the arts and fundamental values will be coming even more to the fore. Mars in Libra has a streak of an advocate for social justice and equality, and he’s in easy contact with not just Venus, but also boundless, expansive Jupiter, the guy who ups any action he enters. With both Venus and Jupiter in Gemini, the sign of mental juggling, chatterboxes and the airwaves, discussions and negotiations will be going on 24/7. Political issues (and arguments, sigh) are unavoidable. So are personal talks and reckonings. Speak your piece, but be sure to listen. A monologue approach to conversations will cut you off from valuable information.

Even with Mars and Venus in air signs, conversations are not going to be entirely intellectual and detached, for two reasons. One is that long, vaguely unsettling chord that won’t go away. It’s the signature of the clash between the two cosmic change agents, Uranus and Pluto, who have locked into a confrontation that’s part of the rich tapestry of our existence for the next few years. It’s the most profound, life-changing aspects of our lifetime, destabilizing underpinnings of our personal and collective way of life.

Many of those underpinnings were already in a precarious state, but that doesn’t mean it’s not unnerving to witness the collapsing occurring, even if expected (or welcomed). Powerful, terrifying forces have emerged from the shadows and are walking about in broad daylight. A lot of people are on edge. Some have slipped over. Keep that in mind if you encounter someone whose words or behavior strike you as an overreaction. Panicked four-year-olds are running loose in adult bodies, desperate for their mommy, their blankie and a world that no longer exists. It may never have existed, to be honest, but they aren’t open to hearing that, so don’t waste your breath.

The other reason for less than rational conversations is the regularly occurring monthly one, a full moon. This month’s is in Capricorn, the sign of tradition, societal structures and material security, and it’s close enough to Pluto to pull his argument with Uranus into the full moon picture. A full moon is always a harvest time, when situations and emotions crest to a culmination. This one directs attention to home, family and security, and particularly how we define each of them. The full moon expands the Uranus/Pluto configuration into a bigger one called a t-square, which funnels enormous and inescapable pressure onto the point in the middle: rebellious, unpredictable Uranus in impulsive, hot-headed Aries. This pressure will unleash sudden breaks for individual freedom, but we don’t have the luxury of existing in a universe of one. Ironically, and ultimately, the pressure will release itself in relationships and social contracts, the very arena where Mars is now at work. I’ll have a longer take on the full moon in my mooncast.

For more big-picture information (and strategies), visit my Summer of 2012 Resource page. Bookmark this and come back to it again and again!

For another take on this week’s events, listen to my quickie podcast. If you like it, please give it five stars on iTunes! (Please? I know it’s a pain for some of you to use, but that brief action would be a greatly appreciated gesture of appreciation.)

Monday: The skies start the week with few influences beyond the ongoing. The early morning offers the chance to establish firm footing; the evening sounds a call to action that you can’t ignore (which you won’t be inclined to do, anyway). Inspiration and guidance come late night. Other than that, you’re on your own with that organ chord.

Tuesday: Major day. The skies make up for yesterday’s quiet with seven events before 9 AM EDT. The overnight hours stretch your concept of what’s possible. Before you wipe the sleep out of your eyes, the day’s earliest rustlings have us thinking, talking, stretching more mentally, riding a relationship seesaw and succumbing to an attachment. Against that backdrop, the planet of action flees Virgo for Libra and the urge to dive into relationship issues becomes epidemic. Existing obligations chafe so much that people are willing to sacrifice security for relief. At least one situation hits a choicepoint, and perhaps not in a way you welcome. You may feel compelled to cut loose from a connection with an addictive quality. You may find yourself weighing healthy desire against a compulsive one. You may encounter a power play of breathtaking proportions. No matter the form, one route is heart-driven, while the other instinctive and unconscious. And against *that* background the Full Moon comes to the fore, bringing all manner of nurturing and security issues to a head. (Read more in my mooncast.) They have a strong end-of-an-era air, thanks to the Moon’s profoundly Plutonian edge. (She’s keeping company with him by degree and her first move after facing down the Sun is meeting up with Pluto on the ecliptic.) Resistance is futile. Whether it has to be painful is another matter.

Wednesday: While we’re celebrating Independence Day in the US, the skies are, appropriately, alive with revolutionary aspects. Fortunately for all the gatherings that will be going on all over the country, the planets of communication and socializing, Mercury and Venus, are companionable to the max, which bodes well for fireworks remaining in the sky and not exploding on the ground. An overnight mental shift sets the tone for each of us. Having processed yesterday’s choicepoint (and, more importantly, yesterday’s choice), you awaken with your mind firmly made up about a significant matter. This is a superb day for sharing words and time with people who are important to you. Show people who you truly are, instead of putting up a front that you think they want to see. There’s no need to push any agenda. There’s also no point, since the Moon is void of course for the bulk of the day (8:26 AM to 8:26 PM EDT). She’s void in Capricorn, where Pluto is currently hunkered down, then enters Aquarius, which is ruled by Uranus. That certainly spells a break from the everyday. You are ripe for changes in perspective, in plans (go with the monkey wrenches that pummel your schedule) and in friendships, from new relationships entering to existing ones taking on different contours.

Thursday: A day of growing, expanding and processing. Dream big. Claim your power (not your fears). Open the windows onto your heart and treat every development as heaven sent, because who’s to say it isn’t? The quivering of that vaguely unsettling organ chord may get to you as the evening goes on. Silence can be golden, especially if you actually listen instead to what other people are saying. Not necessarily act on; simply listen.

Friday: Stability is an inside job first thing in the morning. Grounding and centering, or at least consciously committing to responsible, mature behavior, will keep your footing firm when that organ chord swells again. Stick with the point of calm. That’s the Moon’s send-off into another 12-hour void, which lasts from just before noon till after midnight. Tie up loose ends (but don’t waste energy on launching anything new or major) before kicking back for the weekend.

Saturday: The dreamworld shakes us like dice in a cup before cloaking us in soft mists and sending us out into waking reality. The day, though, is neither smooth nor soft but has a catalyzing vibe to it. If a conversation or interaction doesn’t flow to your liking…get up and go!

Sunday: The mood swings from energizing (okay, maybe aggressive) to harmonious and back to energizing (ditto). How to navigate? Whether you call it your gut, a hunch, a connection to spirit or God, you have the technology. You know how to use it, too. See if today doesn’t demonstrate that you’re getting the hang of working with your inner GPS.

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