I Can See Clearly Now - Forecast for August 2021

We get a lot of visuals in our evening sky in August. Mercury in its Promethean stage will rise in the morning sky before dawn. The Perseid meteor shower is in effect for most of the month, peaking on August 11th and 12th this year. It should be quite visible (as long as you don’t have to deal with any wildfire smoky skies) since the Moon will be in its New Moon phase with only about 13% showing and very little light pollution from the Moon. Here are some tips for viewing. https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/everything-you-need-to-know-perseid-meteor-shower/?utm_source=EarthSky+News&utm_campaign=6751d00249-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_02_02_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c643945d79-6751d00249-395267133 

Both Jupiter and Saturn will be highly visible in the night sky as they both reach their annual oppositions to the Sun. Which puts them exactly opposite the Sun in the sky and at their closest distance to the Earth, which means they are the easiest to see. When the Sun is setting, they will be rising in the night sky, there to stay until the Sun rises and they set. And last but not least, we get the “True” Blue Moon in Aquarius peaking as the Sun enters Virgo on August 22nd.  

I should also add here all those damn satellites that are starting to fill our night skies. Tough to be an Astronomer these days. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01954-4 They must look through the night sky at the planets and stars. Fortunately, Astrologers only have to know where the stars and planets are. They do not need to physically see them. I remember many years ago making the joke that the way humanity was going, we would not have to worry about aliens physically showing up in our skies, for if they did, they would get pummeled by all the trash we have placed in space and skedaddle as fast as possible to a less polluted planet. I bet it won’t be long before we have “Adopt-a-Skyway” programs, like our adopt-a-highway programs, where volunteers are cleaning the skies above our heads.  

For you Astro-geeks out there, here is an interesting article that shows the connections between astronomy and astrology. https://www.salon.com/2021/07/18/climate-change-and-the-moon-are-teaming-up-to-create-record-floods-on-earth/ This article explains, from an astronomical point of view, that which is behind what Astrologer’s call the Moon’s North and South Nodal cycle as it retrogrades through the zodiac, traversing the full zodiacal wheel in 18.6 years. This is a very powerful predictive indicator, especially for folks turning 18/19, 39, 47/48, 66, and so on. One of the things I would like to further clarify in this article, that is not spelled out very well, is the fact that the moon’s pull on the Earth is not equidistant along one whole side of the earth. The tidal forces are strongest on the Earth directly beneath the Moon’s LATITUDINAL location at any one time and dissipates the further North and South one moves from that latitudinal position. What ends up happening is that during each monthly lunar cycle there is a wave pattern that repeats itself with the higher tides falling in the more Northern latitudes, then at the Equator, then at the Southern latitudes, then back to the Equator again. It is slight, about 46 degrees of change in latitude, but ascertainable, and thus predictable. And this North/South wave pattern itself moves around the globe like a wave in the ocean so that any one particular spot on the planet will experience higher and higher tides for about 4 ½ years, then lower and lower tides for about another 4 ½ years, continuing in perpetuity. These two wave cycles have NOTHING to do with climate change as purported in this article. They are conflating two different issues. These cycles will still exist, and be very quantifiable, regardless of the base sea level at any one time, whether it is rising or not.     

 With Mercury in the very specific and detailed sign of Virgo from August 11th through August 29th, I decided to add a section to the newsletter this month I am calling the “cosmic bullshit detector”. There are a few bullshit stories going around now and Mercury in Virgo seemed like a good time to set some records straight.

First off, I want to again address the title “Blue Moon” that is erroneously given to certain Full Moons. When we see two Full Moons in a Calendar month, that second Full Moon of the month is erroneously being called the Blue Moon. WRONG! The specific days in a calendar month rarely, if ever, have an astrological equivalent, for calendar months and days are not determined by astrological events. Even the astronomical factors used to create the calendar only use the cycle of the Sun, and completely dismisses the just as important astronomical lunar cycles. What I want to point out here is that the ancient definition of a Blue Moon is based upon a much more appropriate astronomical and astrological (albeit “averaged”) event – the passage of the Sun AND Moon through the 12 equal signs of the Western Zodiac. This definition properly ties together the physical passages of the Sun and Moon through our sky. Again, the Gregorian calendar does not do this. This month the definition of a Blue Moon is even more befuddled by a more recent astronomical definition of a Blue Moon as being the 3rd of 4 Full Moons, IF all four Full Moons occur all in the same season. An astronomical event, yes. An astrological event, no. I see no justification, or distinctness in defining the 3rd Full Moon as the Blue Moon. Why not the second Full Moon, or the 4th? This was just a bunch of Astronomers getting together and exerting undue influence. True, this August Full Moon is the 3rd of 4 Full Moons this Summer, thus the befuddlement. But it is the fact that this is the second Full Moon in Aquarius in a row that makes this month’s Moon a True-Blue Moon.

On the astrological side of the equation, what is important in August is the extended Aquarian influence we see this month. Influence that started back in mid-July with the run up to the first Full Moon in Aquarius on July 23rd and will continue through this month’s Full Moon in Aquarius on August 22nd and finally coming to a close in early September. It is equivalent to a double dose of Aquarian energy, in both it’s good and bad forms. On the positive side we see a boost in the attitudes of freedom, liberty, and breaking the chains of bondage. On the negative side we see a double dose of groupthink, societal mandates, and the disempowerment of the individual. And as I have been pointing out lately in my last few monthly forecasts, the ability to leverage one against the other increases at the time of a Full Moon.

Case in point: the whole jab, or not to jab, and the ensuing health passport issues. Do you see how extreme it has become since mid-June? This is a direct outgrowth of 2021’s second Saturn/Uranus square. Everyone is blaming everyone else for everything that occurs. And of course, the leverage, the way through this conundrum, is through Leo, the opposite sign in the Zodiac to Aquarius. Personal accountability, individual responsibility, and respect for others. The real test is going to come in late November and throughout December and January as we get the last of our four squares of 2021. It is not an easy road if one wants to truly be a King or Queen amongst the populace. Those that do not inspire honor, morality, or respect, fall quickly, and leave only scars upon the planet. Those that truly lead by example and integrity, not force or fear, are the real Aquarian heroes. As Saturn turns direct in Aquarius in October and finishes up in Aquarius throughout 2022 and into the early Spring of 2023, we will see more and more of these types of behavior come to the fore. Praise the positive actions. Raze the negative ones or be ready to live with them for at least 15 years thereafter.

With this in mind, I want to bring up the next example of detecting bullshit. The title of “News Reporter”. There was a time not too long ago, that when we tuned into a news broadcast, or read an article written by a reporter, we could count on most of the story being true. Opinions were kept to a minimum and fact-checking was truly a position held in esteem. And then along came Neptune in Pisces (2011 – 2026). Journalism has fallen from grace, and will do so even more so, with the coming Jupiter/Neptune conjunction in the Spring of 2022. Opinions are passed along to us from the media that are presented as facts. Facts are presented as opinions. What is a person to believe?

With Neptune in Pisces, the answer is not out there in the broadcast or blogosphere. It is internal. That still small voice that can only be heard when one shuts out all the noise and confusion, quiets the mind, and relaxes the body. It is the inner Guru, the mystical Teacher, the higher Self. That part of us, and that part of God, that given the chance to unite, always knows what is true. It is not easy to find our way to this place in our current climate. Remember, the negative side of Neptune is obfuscation and misdirection. Pulling the wool over our eyes. It can spawn psychopathic liars and lost souls and takes a pure heart to dispel.

Case in point; the following statement from Aaron Mak a staff “reporter” for Slate in an article written on 7-19-21, https://slate.com/technology/2021/07/joe-biden-facebook-anti-vax-covid-killing-people.html  wherein Aaron is commenting on the whole Biden accusation of Facebook killing people (which is also an example of misdirection and misinformation). At one point in the article Mak states as fact, not opinion mind you, that “Facebook has played an important part establishing an internet ecosystem that allows lies to spread much faster than truth.” This is horrendous. This is not reporting facts. This is opinion only and is not something that can even be quantified. Yet, it is presented as truth. Same goes for our President who has been playing fast and loose with many truths. https://www.cnet.com/news/facebook-pushes-back-against-biden-comments-about-vaccinations/#ftag=CAD590a51e This is Neptune in Pisces, which by the way, encompasses the Obama, Trump, AND Biden, presidencies and will only begin to be reversed once Neptune leaves Pisces in 2026.

A third example of what the cosmic bullshit detector of August will bring us involves a bit of explanation. Misinformation is defined and decided nowadays according to the size of one’s public platform and social media budget. Information, or more to the point what is classified as misinformation, is no longer defined by actual truth. Truth is created nowadays, not discovered. It is molded and manipulated to conform to minority agendas and corporate greed. One cannot rely on what we are told or shown anymore. It is becoming easier and easier to alter a truth. And these changes in our realities are only a click away. This is Neptune in Pisces. And these issues will balloon in prominence and occurrence as we experience the Jupiter/Neptune conjunction in the Spring of 2022.  And all this obfuscation and misdirection will be on display big time in August as Mercury and Venus oppose Neptune with Mars doing the same in early September. Snap out of it. It is all a magician’s trick. We are being lulled into a deep sleep. On the count of three I want you all to wake up. This is what planets opposing Neptune cause us to do. And this is what August has in store for us. Clarity is the keyword for August. Use it with abandon. Pierce the veils of Maya as they have been layered upon us these last few years. This is the gift of Mercury in Virgo.

A fourth example I would like to clarify under the August gift for seeing clearly is the all too prevalent action of assigning certain calendar dates to astrological and astronomical events. In August we see the ever-increasing emphasis on the “Lion’s Gate” and August 8th, or 8-8. Yes, August 8th is a numerological period of influence, although it is not an astrological event. Even the astronomical significance of the historical Lion’s gate is misrepresented by continuing to ascribe, and select, a numerological significance. Yes, there is astrological significance to all of late July and most of August to the symbol of the Lion, since this is the period of year when the Sun is transiting through the sign of Leo. And yes, there is some astronomical significance in that early August is when the Sun gets between the Earth and Sirius. Although, to the ancient Egyptians, the true Lion’s gate was the heliacal rising of the star Sirius as it first appears in the pre-dawn sky ahead of the Sun when in the sign of Leo. And this happens AFTER the astronomical alignment. At our present time and sky, this is not on August 8th. The heliacal rising of Sirius now falls closer to August 15th (which by the way is the day I am marrying the love of my life Quala Birch). That would be the time of the true meaning of the Lion’s Gate in our current society. 8-8 can be celebrated all you want as a powerful date. Such are the powers of numbers. And yes, it is right about the time when the Sun is at the CENTER of the sign of Leo, so there is some astrological significance. 8-8 should be celebrated for what it is, a numerologically powerful day, nothing more. Same goes for many of the four mid-season Celtic and pagan holidays like Lammas, Beltane, and such. Rarely will they truly fall on the first day of the calendar month. The real celebration days are actually tied to the New and Full Moons as they occur in these mid-season months, not man-made Gregorian calendar centered dates and times.       

I do want to again emphasize the importance of the next few years from a political, or more precisely, a national standpoint. Our next presidential election in 2024 is the one to truly watch and is likely to be the second most important election in America as history unfolds. For two reasons. First, because of what I have been calling the “Grand Entrance”, when all the planets in our solar system change signs between November 2024 and July of 2025. When a planet changes signs societal attitudes shift. Having all the planets doing so in such a short period of time is going to be monumental. Secondly, we have the US experiencing it’s first Pluto return over the next two years which is going to profoundly change this country. Pluto has a 248-year cycle that creates massive change and transformation and is now coming back to the position it occupied in the sky at the time of the founding of the country.

This type of transformational event is extremely dependent upon karma and can, to use some Star Wars terminology, give us a Dark Lord or a Jedi Knight. This last Saturn/Pluto conjunction in 2020 has set the stage for this transformation and at the moment, the jury’s out on which way we are heading. The Pluto process is much like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly, dying to one level that it can reach another. If we interfere too much in the process and do not let it unfold as nature intended, we get the Dark Lord side of things. When we let nature unfold as it has done so throughout time, we get the Jedi Knight. Trying to force the caterpillar to grow wings is an incredibly short sighted and dangerous idea. Many years ago, I came up with a koan for those who are going through a Pluto transit. Does the caterpillar know what it is doing when it builds it’s cocoon? Something to contemplate these next two years. Something we will have to contemplate at the end of the 2020’s will be more along the question, does the butterfly remember it used to be a caterpillar?

And I want to repeat what I have been saying about our last president these last few years. He has transiting Uranus on his Mid-heaven and transiting Jupiter on his Sun and North Node in the 10th in 2024. His notoriety will reach a peak unequaled up to that point in his life, but it will NOT be because he is re-elected as President. With transiting Pluto entering his 6th house and his progressed Midheaven hitting his natal Pluto in the 12th his health will keep that from happening.

I do expect Liz Cheney to be a contender in 2024, and her chart meshes well with the U.S. chart, although she will not be running as a Republican nor a Democrat and her chances would be much better in 2028. And again, this has nothing to do with her policies, only her astrology chart. Remember what I said in my Forecast for 2021, we are going to see at least one political party come into existence with enough power to take on the presidency, possibly by the 2022 elections. Definitely by 2024. Cheney will have a hand in this with her Part of Fortune on the US Ascendant, her Sun, and Mercury on the US North Node, and all her planets in Cancer conjunct all the US planets in Cancer. And let us not forget her Uranus/Pluto conjunction in the US 10th and her Moon in the US 1st.  https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/liz-cheney-s-role-jan-6-committee-grows-after-gop-n1274920

As more and more folks begin to feel our move into the Aquarian Age, more and more folks will be faced with an ever, growing choice – speaking one’s individual truth or parroting what society calls truth. There was a time when the chasm between the two was not so far apart. Society was based upon the consensus of the individuals involved. This is less evident now. Groupthink. Wrong think. Misinformation. Disinformation. These are the words that are bandied about in the media. Few and far between are we hearing the words that would accentuate the positive side of Aquarius. Community. Ingenuity. The hero or leader that is ahead of their time. Those that are willing to lay it all on the line for the good of humanity, not just their current situation, safety, or bank account. Again, these types of folks, these warriors of integrity, are representative of the attitude of Leo, which is the antidote to the negative sides of Aquarius, and the compliment to the positive sides of Aquarius. And it is only when the attributes of Leo are merged with the attributes of Aquarius, that which I call centering yourself on the wheel, can the real potential of the Aquarian Age come to pass.

History has given us stories of some of the pivotal people who have been the way showers of the past. Forgotten in time are the many, many, other folks who broke new ground yet were never mentioned in the annals of history. That is the difference between Leo and Aquarius. There are those who tread the path of truth because it is the right thing to do, not because it would get their names in the history books. This is what makes all the difference in August. This is Mercury, Venus, and Mars, opposite Neptune. Case in point: Meet Daniel Hale and Max Igan. I consider both to be taking on the positive side of Aquarius.  https://www.democracynow.org/2021/7/26/daniel_hale_whistleblower_case

https://brandnewtube.com/watch/australian-police-prepare-to-take-government-down_UjAjCf4KYRzPNQA.html

Starting on August 12th when Mercury enters Virgo, peaking on August 24th when Mercury opposes Neptune, many of us may be doubting our own truth. There is a naivete’ here when it comes to understanding what evil is willing to do in order to advance it’s agenda. Many have blinders on to this truth. This is the ostrich burying its head in the sand and this is the negative side of what August has in store for us. Through most of August, please understand that we do not have to justify to others why we do what we must now. It is they, the others out there, who must justify their actions to us. It will be tricky this August for “them” to actually do so. The trick in August is determining fact from fiction. Mercury from Neptune. The key to doing this is to unwind, slow down, go within, and center yourself on the wheel. When we merge Mercury AND Neptune in the center of the wheel, we are given a rare (annual) opportunity to get to the truth without the need for words. This is what is in store for us in August, especially the second half of the month.

Starting last month when Venus entered Virgo on July 21st, and peaking this month, with the Venus/Neptune opposition on August 9th, we are faced with the prospect that many of our personal comforts must be sacrificed if we are to follow the path of truth. The naivete’ here is our unwillingness to believe that many individuals that we know personally are capable of evil actions regardless of their intent. In August we must decry the action, NOT the individual. Putting certain people on pedestals may come back to bite us, especially the first 10 days of August. The key in August is the art of “coming clean” with ourselves. Confession. Acknowledging where we have gone astray in the past, and where we have helped others to do so, and committing ourselves to the actions and intentions necessary to alleviate that darkness.

When we bring Venus and Neptune together, we are given the rare annual opportunity to bring the love of individuals, including ourselves, together with the love for the divine. It will be more difficult to do so in the beginning of August. To see this merging of physical and divine attraction in ourselves and especially in those around us. The opportunity here lies in the fact that we will be able to perceive the rift between the two, most jarringly in the first half of August. The trick is all about what we do given this situation. Do we opt for self-comfort and security, or do we allow the divine to overshadow the self and trust in a higher purpose? Do we place our values in our creature comforts, or do we place our values in a higher selflessness, regardless of how it affects us personally? This is the challenge we face in early August.    

Another outcome of Neptune in Pisces along with the coming Jupiter/Neptune conjunction next Spring is my prediction that Cannabis will be federally legalized during the Biden Administration. With this in mind, I found this next article extremely funny. I have dubbed it the “Woo-Hoo” connection. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/new-study-suggests-cannabis-wild-ancestors-likely-came-china-180978201/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+smithsonianmag%2Fscience-nature+%28Science+%26+Nature+%7C+Smithsonian.com%29

Focusing in on August, much like July, the rough patches are at the beginning and the end of the month. The most notable issue at the beginning of the month is the Superior conjunction of the Sun and Mercury on August 1st in the sign of Leo. Now, normally I would see this as a most positive event. Although, this time, the conjunction falls in opposition to Saturn and square to Uranus, effectively giving us a T-square pattern, which out lets in the sign of Scorpio. This can be rather disruptive. Or, I should say, the information and conclusions that we see due to the revelatory nature of a Superior conjunction, will be disruptive, putting us in situations wherein we are having to make some hard choices. Think on this. The T-square, which is a supersized version of a square aspect, in this case, is comprised of five aspects, two squares, two oppositions, and a conjunction. Squares encompass work, oppositions challenge us on integration. All within the first six days of August.

Let’s pick it apart. On the same day of the Superior conjunction of the Sun and Mercury in Leo, which will bring a few daring souls into the limelight as leaders, we get Mercury opposite Saturn, and then get the Sun opposite Saturn. Both aspects across the Leo/Aquarius axis are going to further accentuate the divide in society and the divide in our relationship to our higher selves. The Superior conjunction brings us to a point of action, yet the oppositions do just that, oppose our progress…at first. Then we see Mercury squaring Uranus on August 3rd and the Sun squaring Uranus on August 6th. Here is where we get to blow past the opposition and stir the societal pot. Both squares are from planets in Leo to Uranus in Taurus.

This is likely to cause some shocking moments in our economy, due to influential corporate or governmental pronouncements that are issued at the beginning of the first week in August, followed by a larger than expected reaction to these pronouncements by the end of the work week. Thereafter we are in the dark of the Moon phase throughout the first weekend of August, which will have many in strategy mode figuring out the best way to incorporate the first week’s actions into a more long-term response.

Come Monday evening’s Moon/Mars conjunction on the 9th, we strike out with our plan of action for the rest of August. Personally, it is suggested that we focus our activities on stepping up to the plate and hitting one over the fence in the game of life during the middle of August. Just don’t start until after Monday evening. August is about integrity and honor on its positive side, arrogance, and bombast on its negative. Saturn is about paying the piper, Uranus, about doing so in a radically new way. So, which will you choose? Are you a symbol for change for the better this August, or are you a spoiled and conceited autocrat that demands they get what they think they deserve? We will see many of these types of examples in our society during the early days of August. And with the energy of August giving our discretionary instincts a boost, we will have little problem distinguishing which is which.

The Mercury/Mars conjunction on August 18th, has us responding with many personal pronouncements during the beginning of the second week in August. We don’t just want to talk on our subjects of interest, we want to walk our talk too. There are some nice trines and sextiles during the second and third weeks of August. Combined with Mercury now in its ruling sign of Virgo as of the 11th, and Venus in its ruling sign of Libra as of the 15th, there will be a lot of darlings come to the fore in the press. Individuals, most likely young individuals, who are prime examples of the extremes found under the sign of Leo. Entitlement or Inclusiveness. Ranting or radiating. Acting out a part for profit or passionately praying to be a part of the solution. These are the sides that form in August. Don’t let Venus in Libra’s penchant for looking good to others, stop you from giving value to that which you see clearly now with Mercury in Virgo. The Full Moon in Aquarius on August 22nd gives us another chance to enact the things we may not have been able to accomplish in July during the first Full Moon in Aquarius.

Venus in Libra brings out the suave side of folks. It is a honey rather than vinegar approach to life. Although, I do have to remind you that it is the Venus in Libra folks who value social conformity and similarity. The positive side of Venus in Libra, in effect from August 15th until September 10th, is the ability to charm others, understand what it takes to make a good impression, and support a sociably acceptable path to completion. The negative side of Venus in Libra can be a despotic need to dispense justice and an even more unbalanced view of beauty and value. This can give us the true champions of social justice and equality, or it can be the narcissist or anorexic who has a standing order at the local plastic surgeon’s office. They are not the ones frequenting the gym or the grocery store. They have people for that. They are the ones who are willing to go public and who find value and comfort in exposure, in all its virtuous, and not so virtuous, forms.

In its bi-annual venture through a ruling sign, Venus the planet of attraction and absorption increases its centripetal talents. When in Taurus, as it was in April and early May, we craved sustenance and satiation. When in Libra, as it is the second half of August and first third of September, we crave acceptance and inclusion. Why can’t we all just get along? Equality is a right not an amendment. How dare you buck the system. All these types of phrases will be heard with Venus in Libra. The Don Juan’s and smooth talkers of the world come out in force. Beauty shops are going to be packed, as will the courts and meeting halls. A well-placed compliment does wonders now. And don’t forget we have Mercury in Virgo, no bullshit now. Way too easy to see when someone is being insincere.

With both Mercury and Mars trine Uranus, on the 20th and 21st respectively, the 3rd weekend in August, as the Moon come to full, is going to be quite nice. Maybe even too nice. Pay attention to the opportunities that arise at this time, for we may not see the full value or potential that is being given us. You can’t win the lottery if you don’t by a ticket. And don’t wait for someone else to do it for you under this Full Moon. Just because everything seems to be going our way these last few weeks doesn’t mean we get to relax. It is exactly what will be expected of us. It is the sleight of hand, bait and switch, tactic here. Give ‘em a few perks and atta boys, then they won’t react as much when they hear what’s next.

This is what is in store toward the end of August with Mercury opposing Neptune on the 24th and Mars ramping up its opposition to Neptune September 2nd. Do you recall what I mentioned earlier about the ostrich? I would like to point out that when one has one’s head in the sand, one leaves one’s ass quite vulnerable. And with the coming Mars/Neptune opposition winding up our emotions as August comes to a close, there are going to be a lot of folks willing to kick ass. Mars is the energy of action. Neptune the energy of dispersion. In opposition to each other, it is about hitting your mark. Right in the butt cheeks so to speak. It is easy to apply pressure in the wrong place with an opposition of Mars to Neptune. It can be like punching a bowl of Jell-O. We may connect, yet the results are less than expected.

With Mars opposing Neptune, the presiding aspect as August ends, justifying the means is of more importance. Being real about what one can actually enact. Being specific about one’s ability to land a blow. Do be aware that Mars and Neptune when combined or pitted against each other can skirt what is lawful or legal. So, make sure what you want to do is not going to land you in hot water. The Virgo/Pisces axis that is also activated this month can make martyrdom, or victimization, a seemingly viable path. True service does not always involve sacrifice. Not if your intentions are in the right place. This is the gift of August 2021. And just in time. With Venus moving into Scorpio in September squaring Saturn and Pluto, along with the Sun and Mars in Libra opposing Neptune we walk the razor’s edge of legality next month. More in my September report.