Astrological Forecast for August 3 to August 9, 2006by Ellen Zucker
This week can be divided into two distinct halves.
The first half is full of wide expansive energy. Emotions are running high and deep. Jupiter's overactive optimism plus jolly Sun in Leo draw us out to play. Like overindulged children, we want what we want and we want it now.
The irrational exuberance makes it easy to overindulge and difficult to stay balanced. Happy faces obscure tension underneath as we strain to square our infinite visions against the merely possible.
It would be hard, indeed, to get out of bed in the morning without a dose of Jupiter's optimism.
Jupiter is the seeker of ultimate truth. As a result many people with a Jupiter or Sagittarian emphasis in their charts are drawn to religion.
In excess, Jupiter's quest for knowledge morphs into religious intolerance. Jupiter gone wild fuels the religious frenzy behind too many a war.
Pluto, the planet of power, has been in Jupiter's sign Sagittarius since 1995. And since this past October, Jupiter entered Scorpio, Pluto's sign. We call this relationship a 'mutual reception.' Each planet feeds and supports the other.
Wherever Pluto goes, it quietly digs down and reveals what we would prefer be kept in the dark. In the past eleven years it has been digging up the dirt regarding globalization, organized religion as an institution, academia, government and the legal system.
Meanwhile, Jupiter expands whatever it touches. As it travels through Pluto's sign it adds a religious veneer to what are, at their core, struggles over power, survival,and shared resources. And so, Jupiter's one-year journey through Scorpio brings issues dug up by Pluto's much longer journey through Sagittarius to a head.
This week's Jupiter contacts serve to add fuel to the Middle Eastern fire.
As the Moon parks itself into Sagittarius this evening and for the following two days, keep your eyes open. You are getting a preview of the shift we'll experience when Jupiter, itself, advances to Sagittarius in late November.
The mood abruptly changes Sunday when the Moon enters Capricorn where cold reality rules. While we have been partying, Saturn, the stern traffic cop,has been patiently setting up a speed trap. When he stops you he won't give you a warning.
The Sun runs into Saturn's speed trap on Monday and getshis wings clipped. And so have others who have flown toohigh and become too full of themselves. Lay low and don'tfight the authority.
The mood lightens on Tuesday as we head into the full moon. When the full moon becomes exact on Wednesday, the Sun will still be in proximity to reality-based Saturn. But the Moon is sidling up to head-in-the-clouds Neptune while Jupiter is still close enough to egg on both.
Our challenge?
How do we balance our dreams with the 'real world?' Or, to phrase it another way, how do we live in the 'real world' without losing our spirit?
The full moon opens the curtains to a drama that intensifies as the month goes on: Stern Saturn and spacy Neptune having a tug of war from opposite ends of the horoscope.
More about this next week.
August 3The Moon is void of course during the entire workday into the early evening. We are still digesting the overdose of expansive Jupiter energy we received yesterday. It is a day to absorb rather than initiate.
August 4We remain charged as we receive more Jupiter energy with Moon now ensconced in Jupiter's home sign Sagittarius. The morning starts out rocky as Mars stands down the Moon. Watch out for explosions. But people cool down and open toreason and diplomacy as the day progresses.
Tonight, a surprise may knock us off balance.
August 5Generally, it's a nice day although there may be intensity in the afternoon as Moon meets Pluto.
August 6We begin to experience reality with Moon in Capricorn and the Sun's meeting with Saturn tomorrow morning. We have been indulging ourselves all week. But after the feast, the waiter brings the bill.
August 7When you combine the energies of the regal Sun and taciturn Saturn the result is a stern monarch: think the Tarot's Emperor card. It is a day for Capricorn to consolidate power and the rest of us to obey the speed limit.
August 8Yesterday's gloominess lifts with the Moon in Aquarius. In the next two days, we are challenged to find the balance between our individual desire for expression and the needs of our group and society.
With Mars making a sextile to Jupiter, our efforts flow easily today. Decide what you want, then go after it.
August 9Today, the Moon is beautiful in its fullness. Our task is to reconcile our vision, our ideals, with reality as we plan ahead. We need both, our feet on the ground and our dreams. If we are successful, the result will be a richer, fuller journey going forward.
© 2006 Ellen M. Zucker
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