A Transformationally Oriented August

The Astrology of August features Chiron, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. Mercury is now in direct motion, and escapes its retrograde shadow on August 4th. This is a major shift in the energy, especially since Mercury goes right into Leo, by August 8th. Up to now, and continuing into the present month of August, it has been a powerful time for the Water, or feeling element, where three important planets reside: Jupiter in Cancer, Saturn in Scorpio and Neptune in its own sign of Pisces. At the beginning of the month, Jupiter moves away from the trine with Saturn and Neptune, and comes into opposition with transformative Pluto and then, following that, into square with Uranus by the time of the New Moon of August 6th. This is a powerful configuration, redolent of intuitional leaps and new beginnings in the realm of ideas and inventions. The New Moon also strongly aspects Chiron, the Wounded Healer, in Pisces, bringing in with this crucial timing another dose of the feeling element.

Jupiter in Cancer, the sign of its exaltation, is powerfully activated currently, making strong aspects to Pluto and to Uranus as the month continues to unfold. Uranus, recently stationing to retrograde motion, is moving extremely slowly now and is thus even more powerful, as it moves backward through the middle decant of Aries, preparing to intersect with Pluto once more in the fall, on November 1st. The trickster archetype is alive and well, as dramatically strange headlines continue to reinforce, and represents the chance for unexpected enlightenment in our own lives as well, as events continue to conspire in bringing the potential for flashes of intuitional information and for startling epiphanies.

The Saturn-Neptune trine that has been so dramatically present all through July, now begins to fade, but remains as a background factor, with its symbolism of grounded spirituality and yet also an uncertainty with regard to outcomes. A T-square to Saturn at the very beginning of the month sets the tone for the continuation of this interesting and ultimately educational dynamic, while at month's end, Neptune is also activated, by opposition from the Sun at the time of the August 28th Last Quarter Moon.

Uranus and Pluto in combination are also powerfully configured in this month's patternings, as they begin to form again toward the next exact hit of their square aspect, the hallmark of this decade, coming up once more in the fall for the fourth of seven times. Jupiter begins the month of August in opposition to Pluto and ends in perfect square to Uranus, emphasizing their planetary aspect of revolutionary activity in both our individual lives, and in the life of the collective.

The most exciting — and yet also perhaps daunting — factor in this month's astrology is Chiron, the Wounded Healer, which is triggered at the time of the August 6th New Moon, and then again at the time of the Full Moon of August 20th by a trine from Jupiter and an ongoing aspect from Uranus. Venus begins the month in opposition to Chiron, so that, especially in the early part of the month, relationship issues could be a factor in triggering our deeper wounded places.

There was already in this summer's configurations a strong pull to the profound unconscious depths that lie within us, and this gives us yet another chance to look more closely at where we have in the past been wounded and how these early experiences play out in current circumstances, creating patterns of stuck places that will not respond to efforts at healing them until we are willing to apply our compassionate embrace to their issues. Only when we can accept ourselves at these deeper levels will we be able to move beyond knee-jerk reaction to a calm and studied response to interpersonal issues, as they arise.