July 26 – August 1, 2016: Electricity Lighting Up The Night

This Last Quarter to Dark Moon week is quite the week – the Last Quarter Moon carries with it some symbols I interpret as love magic to come that is waiting in the wings (read more about how to make space for it/amplify it below), but then there is some friction along the Mars-Uranus storyline that has been in the works, as Mercury enters the conversation by trining Uranus and squaring Mars. Uranus will station retrograde this week, elevating its influence, and it is still so close to war goddess Eris in Aries. Scuffs between Mercury and Mars when they are both in fixed signs (Mercury in Leo and Mars in Scorpio) can be catalyzing face-offs. And given that it’s the Dark Moon, your first strategy of the week is definitely in the realm of hydration and self-care. Energies and tides run lower at this phase in the Moon Cycle, and the totally electric astrology of this week is not for the weak of nerves. I’m getting an image of the inner-workings of the nervous system, a highway that electrical impulses are carried on. The body’s electricity and rapid speed of messaging is like Uranus in the micro-realm. This week, having fuel is necessary for this highway to function. The messages will still be arriving, but without the infrastructure to hold them, it gets short-circuity. Hydrate well and get your nutrition/brain food in. Get a massage, get out in nature, and keep the energy of your body flowing.

(Top Image: Adnate)

The Dark Moon week is like a whole week that’s the moment at the end of the day when you realize you’re too tired to talk about certain subjects without just getting cranky, and then you get some sleep and you’re able to examine the same issues totally refreshed in the morning. Moral of it is that you need sleep. Moral of the Dark Moon is that you need to pay attention to your level of fuel (food, sleep, water) when handling affairs.

The Uranus energy of this week could be awesome – if its prepared for. Uranus is the archetype of the unexpected but only because it’s so fast. It’s also the archetype of the future. Make a little space for Uranus this week and it’s going to be great.

So what do I mean about preparing for the unexpected? It’s not that you will receive exactly what you prepared for, as Uranus doesn’t deliver that. Look to Saturn for results that match the plan. However, if your mind is already open to receive the unexpected and say, if in a moment of spare time you took care of a bunch of errands and responsibilities when then, a full expense paid trip to the Amazon knocked at your door, you’d have an easier time hopping in a plane if you made space for that kind of thing than if you hadn’t. Following the Dark Moon protocol here, if you are taking care of yourself well, you significantly heighten the value of the channel through which Uranus may reach you this week. You know how you get good ideas in the shower or when you are washing the dishes? That’s a current of electricity you’re steeped in. Think of how you’re going to set the stage this week. Maybe it’s just a matter of beautifying your space, having fresh flowers around, etc… so that you are open to your muse and inspiration. However it is for you – what makes your life feel crisper and more clear is a great way to work with Uranus.

Uranus stations retrograde on July 29 at 2:06 PM PST, and will be a strongly felt planet all this week. Uranus inspires downloads and rapid flashes of insights.

The First Quarter Moon that starts the week off is at 4:00 PM PST in the sign of Taurus (the Sun in Leo). And I say love magic comes with it because Juno, the goddess of Soul contracts, is opposite the Moon. I never see a synastry chart between people in close relationship (partners, lovers, parent/child, sibling, etc.) where Juno is not significantly aspected. She has relational gravity in terms of lining up with the people you have karma with and are here to connect with. Chemistry is a force – it’s like a weather pattern between people. And even when we can’t see it, our vibrational state at any moment is resonating with the social/relational matrix, and so when we change ourselves we change who we’re going to bump into, clash with, and harmonize with.

This Last Quarter Moon may portend a cardinal shift in that relationship matrix, and you can work with this for the better. It can apply to anyone – people who are actively partnered, to people who are dating, and to people who are cozily solo. The shift with this Last Quarter Moon to hone in on is the vibration of the Moon in Taurus in relation to the Sun in Leo – that is how we inwardly perceive our value, how we extrovertedly radiate that value, and where we perceive the Source of that esteem to be coming from. Be open to messages, opportunities, and insights relative to how to love yourself more. & In a way that is at least in some small sense, necessarily private, your own experience of your self. Any breakthrough along those lines will affect how your light shines – you will not be able to help it. It’s also a significantly empowering place in accordance to the Leo psychology… immature phases of Leo are more narcissistic in nature. To be internally validated frees a person from that complex, but also calls in higher vibrational relationship, such as moving out of codependent patterns and into healthier partnership. This is deep work. It might not be a big change, but something more like a bright candle lighting up a place within you’ve simply never seen before. And this might come up through conflict or through not feeling seen – as not feeling seen by another can be a sign of where we don’t fully witness or nourish ourselves.

I don’t see that this inner shift may bring immediate external results (it could), but I do see it as a first bud in springtime. It’s the beginning of a new tenderness. On a larger timescale bigger picture view, it might be highly correlated to a love connection in the future (with a new person or a new depth in an existing relationship) that can only be accessed when you are ready for it – and this is a preparation for that, as well as a falling away of something that has been blocking you from this juicy new space. With (Moon in) Taurus, listen to the stillness within – that’s where you can hear what’s moving in the soil.

Mercury is currently in Leo, and will be in Virgo by the end of the week. Before that transition though, Mercury squares Mars in Scorpio and trines Uranus in Aries. Mars and Uranus are already in a conversation called inconjunct or quincunx, which is 150 degrees and pretty uncomfortable and tense for these two right now. You can see it collectively by the excess of random violence (Mars) and the increased social awareness (Uranus) of that violence. On a personal level, it’s agitation, the feeling that something’s got to change yesterday and we need to do something about it yesterday. When it’s not making people go crazy, it really could be serving the purpose of a realignment of how we are walking through life, how we use our martial nature, how we access our vitality in balanced ways (too much Mars can get too heated, too aggressive) and how we say no. Mars went retrograde on April 17 and direct on June 29, but will not be out of shadow until August 22, so we are still moving through Mars retrograde’s particular karmas.

The Pokemon Go phenomenon comes to mind, when I think of the conversation it sparked about how people shouldn’t be out having fun and doing something inane or without social purpose, when there’s so much wrong in the world and people could be using their energy to do something more useful. The language came up of suggesting people get on the streets to be part of a revolution instead of being on the streets to find Pokemon. This feels super Mars-Uranus to me. This energy will very much be in play this week too – the question between fighting and retribution, versus playing and accessing warmth and creativity. I get that the clash between these images (of Pokemon and revolution) is strange, and that highlights the tension for me that the quincunx represents – its a question of how we are acting with the tools and networks that we have, and how we are practicing avoidance.

Mercury in Leo’s conversation with Uranus has the potential this week to illuminate new ways of perceiving reality which are inherently more playful and certain ideas that come through this playful space can be internally liberating (trine to Uranus). As much as possible accessing this kind of levity is crucial in dealing with the intensity of these times we are currently in. It is not about blissful ignorance, but about allowing joy to be part of reality too. It may come up personally as making adjustments that free up our vitality, requiring us to retreat and stop expending energy in the directions that trap freedom.

As for Mercury squaring Mars in Scorpio, the bottom line message I want to impart for that is that this transit can bring a conscious awareness around where our hooks are (basically what agitates or threatens us). There can be a lot of room here to transmute that expressively, and to come into a deeper awareness of who we are and what our motivations are. it requires though, that we not take the things that upset us at face value and antagonize or combat those sources of discomfort, but that we can turn it back on ourselves and gain the self-knowledge and transformation available in that. That depth awareness can create a change in the very being of a person. This transit between Mercury and Mars will not compel everyone to do this work, however, there can be a certain reactiveness and defensiveness in the air. You may find it helpful to play it cool when there’s not a significant amount of trust to contain an interaction.

And of course, take care of yourself this week! It’s the week of the Dark Moon and these are some pretty electric and hot transits. Lighting up the dark is poetic and all for some who are inclined, but it also comes with stickiness. Some good grounding in self-love will make way.

For those of you reading this, I just want to say thank you for making the space to read these words. You are a special crowd to me for resonating and taking the time to meditate on these symbols with me. I love your feedback and I love hearing about who you are and how you’re walking through life at any given moment. Please keep writing to me and posting your comments.

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~Sabrina Monarch

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