Star Weather Astrology Report 8/18 -8/25
©2024 Ronnie Pontiac
All times Pacific.
Friends, we have a challenging week ahead of inconjunctions and Chiron aspects, and therefore health becomes an important consideration. This week could be a subtle foreshadowing of what the Saturn Neptune conjunction of 2025 to 2027 may have in store for us. We’ll find opportunities to improve our lives, too, but we’ll have to work at it. Remember, don’t fear even the most difficult aspects. Outcomes are determined not by the stars but by the choices we make individually and collectively. With good choices the worst possibilities may be avoided.
Sunday 8/18 Mercury retrograde square Uranus is exact just before the witching hour. This can be an erratic nervous aspect so be a little extra careful with cars, commutes, sharp objects, conversations, and electricity. A great time for creative inspiration and research, but we may have to work through misunderstandings. Sun conjunct Mercury retrograde is exact in the early evening. We tend to put more ego in our communications with this aspect, but we can also find ideas, information, circumstances or people who reflect who we truly are. Both aspects are good for writing and other creative communication but not an optimal time for editing. Finally, Venus square Jupiter is exact in the late evening. The risk is in over-doing, spending too much, eating too much, or eating things that are too rich, and in over optimism, especially concerning romance and finances. Even good chemistry at this time may get a little spicy. Have fun, but be careful, with Venus opposition Saturn exact tomorrow discretion and respect for boundaries is important.
Mon 8/19 Venus opposition Saturn is exact about ninety minutes after midnight. Then sun square Uranus is exact in the late morning. The aspect of the week is Jupiter square Saturn exact mid-afternoon. Venus can help us get a better understanding of the ongoing exact Jupiter square Saturn. As mentioned last week, this is an important point in the unfolding twenty year cycle known as the Great Conjunction, which began at the end of 2020. Jupiter struggles to expand freedom and prosperity and to bring joy back while Saturn battlets for traditional religious law with ruthless politics. Saturn rules the old. Jupiter the new. This can be seen in the struggle between generations that will be on display in the next election. In our own lives we can find a balance between optimism and realism, between the lessons of the past and the opportunities of the future. If you’re mired in the grief and loss of the past your missing the joy of the present. Making more from less, willing to teach and to learn, and simplifying our lives, we can get the best from Jupiter and Saturn. Sun square Uranus is nervous, erratic and potentially accident prone but it can also be liberating and can help us find ways to things differently, more effectively and enjoyably.
Tue 8/20 only lunar aspects are exact. As Jean Baurdrillard wrote: “It is always the same: once you are liberated, you are forced to ask who you are.”
Wed 8/21 sun inconjunct Neptune is exact, another aspect that may be concerned with health. As we shall see Saturn and Neptune are engaged in a slow dance that may indicate more trouble ahead in the public health sector. In our own lives it’s a time to take care, to deal with depletion by exhaustion or bad dietary habits. If you feel weak this week, take some simple steps to reverse the trend.
Thu 8/22 the sun enters Virgo five minutes before 8 AM. Sun inconjunct Pluto is exact in the early afternoon. Sun in Leo’s summer vibes give way to Sun in Virgo’s intimations of arriving autumn. We tend to become more analytic, more concerned about practicalities of life. Perhaps we have inherited from our ancestors that anxious feeling caused by autumn’s promise of winter. Avoid perfectionism. Sun inconjunct Pluto is another worrisome public health aspect. In our own lives health problems related to neglect, postponed reforms or repairs, or extreme lifestyles, can be addressed so they don’t cause bigger problems later.
Fri 8/23 Mercury trine Chiron is exact in the early afternoon, yet another public health oriented aspect, this time with the hope of a some good news, although there are many more inconjunctions that may indicate otherwise. Chiron tends to crisis but here Mercury can help us understand how to react most effectively. Venus inconjunct Chiron is exact in the late afternoon another aspect related to public health. Overindulgence may be especially consequential with this aspect, and there can be resentment that romance and other pleasures are blocked by health issues that require attention. Try to give time to both. Mercury retrograde sextiles Mars in the evening energizing communications, a good time to write, to figure out an exercise program that works, but it may be a little too easy to get angry. Communicate mindfully.
Sat 8/24 Mars sextile Chiron is exact late morning, yet another public health aspect. But there is a small chance that this aspect helps us to address the ongoing wars with a sense that they must be healed. Small steps might be a good start. In our own lives using our energy in ways that support health can help us achieve a greater sense of well-being.
Sun 8/25 only lunar aspects are exact. As my mother’s favorite philosopher Schopenhauer wrote: “The greatest of follies is to sacrifice health for any other kind of happiness.”
Amidst the concern over the US election another astrological landmark looms a little further down the road. Saturn and Neptune are currently together in Pisces, with Neptune in the final degree of Pisces, a degree known for endings. This ending has to do with what was happening last time Neptune was here: the birth of the Confederacy and the beginning of the American Civil War. What started then is ending now. The popularity of Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign represents an important step in America’s painful process of facing its shadow, whatever the outcome of the election.
Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote: “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”
Both Saturn and Neptune will be in the first degree of Aries from May 2025 to Sep 2025. Of course, this is a degree of beginnings, the commencement of Neptune’s new journey around the zodiac. However in Oct 2025 Neptune returns to the final degree of Pisces and Saturn meets it there through January 2026, an indication that we have more collective culminations ahead. Neptune reenters Aries at the end of January. Saturn enters Aries on Feb 13 and they are exactly conjunct on Feb 20. They both remain in Aries until Saturn enters Taurus in April 2028. What will be the signature Saturn and Neptune events that occur from the end of October 2025 through the end of January 2026? Pandemic? Droughts? Extreme weather? A widespread malaise related to challenges too big to solve quickly or easily?
Saturn conjunct Neptune indicates continuing attempted power grabs by Christian authoritarians which, as has been pointed out by many astrologers, will not go over well with Pluto in Aquarius for almost two decades beginning at the end of this year. Renewed skepticism, and criticism and restrictions on the political activities of churches is a likely result.
What does Tarnas have to say about these Saturn Neptune connections? “Collective sense of physical and spiritual exhaustion, disillusionment and low morale,” “sense of being caught in a futile and endless quagmire,” “confronting of deception and illusion,” “courage to face a hard and often tragic reality without illusion and still remain true to the ideals and dreams of a better world.”
In the 1950s Saturn conjunct Neptune coincided with McCarthyism, and there was an earlier Saturn conjunct Neptune red scare that happened during the deadly Spanish Flu epidemic. It’s safe to say that whichever side loses this presidential election will view the winners as conspirators and enemies of democracy.
Saturn Pluto conjunctions like the one at the beginning of the covid pandemic seem to empower governments to take action while arousing fears of authoritarianism. But Saturn Neptune pandemics have been different historically. During the Spanish flu epidemic while Saturn was conjunct Neptune the medical and governing authorities appeared powerless. The same dynamic can be seen in other Saturn Neptune disasters like the great Tsunami and the flooding of New Orleans.
Chiron which can indicate healing through crisis, and Eris indicating wounds of injustice that must be addressed or avenged, will be conjunct while Saturn and Neptune are also conjunct, from 2025 to 2027. The same double conjunction took place during the Spanish Flu epidemic. It’s possible that the potential of this summer’s covid surge and other headlines involving mutating viruses may not be understood until 2025–2027.
What is the positive side of these Saturn Neptune aspects? An excellent time for meditation. Artistic, spiritual and literary masterpieces are possible with enough devotion, learning, inspiration and hard work. A renewed and increased interest in Spiritualism and other forms of esoteric Spirituality often accompanies strong aspects of Saturn and Neptune. There could be a cultural renaissance as Saturn helps us to make practical use of Neptune’s inspiration.
This will be another among several consecutive challenging weeks we’ve been navigating lately. If you feel discouraged, or fear, anger or grief from the past afflict you, reach over to the Jupiter side of the square. Marsilio Ficino advised us to offset Saturn with Jupiter. If you find yourself dwelling on past or anticipated troubles make the conscious effort to cultivate optimism instead. With sixteen years of Pluto in Capricorn we’ve had plenty of Saturn. Give Jupiter a chance by being open to good things happening. Working together Jupiter and Saturn can do great things. Let Saturn handle the details but give Jupiter the wheel. Although this aspect isn’t applying yet we can practice now to achieve better results later.
