by Ed Perrone
The Sun enters the tropical sign of Leo on July 22nd at 3:16pm GMT. With Mars already in Leo (through early September), look for an active, fiery month. The final week of July, as the Sun conjoins Mars, could see short tempers and sudden bursts of activity. Energy levels are high and, unfortunately, fuses may be a bit short. World events could see a bit of sabre-rattling and political jostling; and individual affairs could be unstable as well.
By the same token, however, this Sun-Mars contact provides a great deal of powerful energy to move forward -- IF you can handle it effectively. It's a good time to take a new idea and run with it as far and as fast as you can -- but with the clear understanding that this energy burst will be relatively brief, and that you may need to redo some things later on down the road.
Indeed, Mercury turns retrograde in mid-August, indicating clearly a time of pause and re-evaluation. The Sun-Mars energy provides an opportunity to get a good foothold into some new area. But the Mercury retrograde (extending through early September) then shows a need to pause and solidify those initial gains before continuing to move forward any more.
Mercury's retrograde takes place in Virgo, showing a need to remain focused on the tiniest details of things -- those details are now more important than you might realize. Be aware also that people's thinking (including your own!) may not be too clear right now. Don't take things for granted. Instead, as the old saying goes, "Measure twice, cut once."
The total solar eclipse of August 21st is getting a lot of press, but I think much of that is because the eclipse is visible in the U.S.A., and the U.S. media is making a big deal of it. Total solar eclipses in themselves are not particularly rare events -- they happen on average about once every 18 months. But they are usually only visible in very remote areas of the earth where there is no one to actually watch, so they are not publicized widely in the mass media. But when the path of totality crosses over highly populated areas, the eclipse becomes a major media event. It becomes important in terms of popularity -- but what about in terms of astrology?
I think, not so much. A total solar eclipse is basically a new Moon -- a fairly important astrological indicator on its own, but not something particularly rare or earth-shattering. What is important in terms of either the plain ol' new Moon or the total solar eclipse is how it interacts with your individual natal chart. If the eclipse forms a close aspect to an important natal planet or point, then it will serve as a "trigger" to launch a completely new series of events in terms of the natal planet(s) involved. This is particularly true if the aspect is a "hard" aspect -- conjunction, square, or opposition. Otherwise... well, it's mostly just another new Moon, kicking off a new monthly cycle, but probably not initiating major life changes.
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