Venus has moved into Virgo as of July 22nd, 2013. The Goddess of Love will be in the sign of the virgin until August 16th. Traditionally, Venus in Virgo is not considered to be a load of fun - especially compared to her party-friendly placement in Leo - but don’t let that discourage you.

Virgo is the sign of the harvest, the image is of the goddess holding a shaft of wheat. There are many signs that we associate with agriculture, given that at one level the zodiac describes the cycle of planting, growing, harvesting, and storing food. Of course, these images refer back to a time when farming was a more down-to-earth process.

Regulus, the Royal Star, progressed from Leo into Virgo over the past few years, a major astrological shift that has corresponded with growing concern about our food supply. We perhaps see this most obviously in the controversy over genetically modified foods (GMOs) and Monsanto, although the issue extends far beyond this one issue.

As we face the need to feed more than 7 billion people - double the population of 50 years ago - questions about how to grow food and what to eat are bound to arise. Vegetarianism, Veganism, and organic foods are growing trends, at the same time we realize the problems associated with processed foods and additives.

The sudden prevalence of gluten intolerance points directly to Virgo, a sensitive sign known for a certain pickiness. Think of it: Wheat, and bread, the “staff of life” is now suspect as a disease causing agent. Something seems very wrong. People are becoming (or realizing that they are) sensitive to one of the key ingredients in the human food supply for millennia. As the image of Virgo shows, it was the cultivation of wheat that was initially the solution to feeding a growing population - now we think it may be the problem. Perhaps we are moving to a post-grain diet, although we’ve made only modest progress moving to post-meat.

With Venus in Virgo, expect to see an amplification of issues around food, food intolerance, and the food supply. And as Venus transitions out of Virgo in August, she’ll be followed two of the goddess asteroids. Ceres - associated with grain - will be in Virgo from August 28 to November 3rd. Vesta, associated with Virgo (Vesta = Vestal Virgin = Virgo) is in the sign from September 10 to November 15th. We will be hearing about these issues at a very charged level through the autumn - although with Regulus in Virgo, this issue is here to stay.

Tags: Venus, Virgo, GMO, gluten

There are several reasons for concern about tomorrow's (Saturday, July 20) plans for nationwide Justice For Trayvon rallies. One is that much of the country is embroiled in the kind of heat wave that is legendary for shortening tempers. But the astrology mirrors the meteorology.

Mars is edging into the grand trine in water, conjuncting Jupiter in Cancer. Mars in Cancer has some strong potentials - it is protective and loyal. But Mars in Cancer is also the image of the Bad Cop - think of the bloated Southern sheriff who puts a klan sheet on over his uniform, one who uses his office to enforce the status quo.

Clan is not an inappropriate word to use. Mars in Cancer can be protective of the clan, the "way we do things around here," a far cry from ideals and principles, or even simply law. Think of police officers with water canons during the Civil Rights Movement, or police in riot gear clubbing kids during the Occupy Movement. Whatever is necessary to keep "the peace."

Of course, Mars and Jupiter in Cancer also oppose Pluto in Capricorn, a reminder that the planets don't take sides. A Sagittarian moon will be stoking up the rhetoric on both sides of the issue, and Mercury stationing to move direct will add a dose of confusion. It's likely the demonstrators will also be under the sway of a kind of clan mentality, and perhaps susceptible to some dubious rhetoric.

Mars is a planet associated with action, too, and Mercury stations are a good time to back away from immediate action, for there is the danger of moving forward on misinformation.

We're likely to see some examples of unconscious mass action tomorrow, from both (or is it every ?) side of the issue. Try to bring as much consciousness and compassion as you can to this difficult time.

You’ve heard about the Grand Trine in Water (GTW), of course. Jupiter in Cancer, Saturn in Scorpio, and Neptune in Pisces form a trine between July 17th and 19th, although it is in orb for some time on either side of those dates. The sun and Mars have or will also step in to activate the trine, so we can see that late June through early August is really trine time.

If you were expecting lots of harmony and good feelings, odds are you were disappointed...

Jupiter in Cancer tends towards the protective. The benevolent leader who knows what’s best is a typical manifestation (here’s an article on Jupiter in Cancer). Saturn in Scorpio is also rather protective. Neither Saturn nor Scorpio (the fixed water sign) is prone to movement, and there is a tendency towards security and even some suspicion with these two symbols mixed. Sure, Saturn will ultimately prune down our economic and sexual collective mindset to the essentials, but that pruning process gets messy.

Neptune in his home sign of Pisces can go either way, as long as it goes a long way. Neptune in Pisces is everything from a collective recognition of our oneness with nature and even the Cosmos, when taken on a spiritual level. On a more material plane, it can be obsessive adherence to an ideology that will save us all - think Communism and many other -isms that got started the last time Neptune was at home.

Taken together, the GTW does suggest the possibility of letting go on an emotional level. Trines often signify releases, after all. On a collective level, however, this configuration looks very much like an easy relationship among those in power. That becomes especially likely when we consider that the GTW is really a kite.

A kite formation occurs with a grand trine has a planet sitting midway between two points. The GTW has that - and the planet sitting in at the base of the kite is Pluto in Capricorn, who is in mutual reception with Saturn (they are in each other’s signs). These two have been working to consolidate power for some time, since last fall when they first came into a sextile with each other. It is most clearly seen in the powers of government, big business, and particularly in finance.

It’s true that Pluto in Capricorn is in the business of transforming the power structures of government and business, but Pluto works by intensify existing structures, in order to polarize the opposition and thus create more powerful change. Uranus, square to Pluto, has also been affecting the kite formation, and we can see that in all manner of opposition forming and erupting. Uranus has been standing off to the side, needling the coziness of the kite with impertinent questions and angry responses.

With Pluto at the base of the kite, we can see that the news in the past few days has indeed demonstrated a consolidation of power. Both Goldman-Sachs and Bank of American announced strong revenues in the second quarter of the year. These two financial firms were at the center of controversy about banking practices that led to the collapse in 2008 and the subsequent recession. That they are doing well seems to stand in direct opposition to consideration of reinstating the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 (passed at the closing square of the Uranus-Pluto cycle). Senators McCain and Warren are acting in uncharacteristically Uranian fashion, challenging the harmony of the kite.

The ACLU took up the Uranian challenge, issuing a report that details how police departments are collecting and keeping data on the travel habits of millions of Americans, including those not under suspicion for any crime. The Orwellian image of the state having knowledge of your every move via your cell phone was not enough - now we find that we are being tracked in our cars. Once again, the consolidation of power comes to light as Uranus breaks the story. The Edward Snowden story is probably the drama of May's Uranus-Pluto square, and this information is the latest installment of just how much a police state the U.S. has become.

All week, we’ve been buzzing with the fallout of the George Zimmerman trial. Although it is harder to see, there seems to be some collusion (on an unconscious level) among those in power, including the not-too-aggressive prosecution and not-too-clear judge. The questions of race that came up during and after the trial seem to obscure (Neptune) deeper issues, such as those of class and the conditions of our cities, where the need for an armed Neighborhood Watch seems reasonable in the first place. Yet Uranus has not been quiet on this one, and a series of protests has erupted throughout the country, with more to come.

The United States isn’t alone in exemplifying the powers of the kite, nor in challenging it in a Uranian fashion. A Russian judge has sentenced Alexei Navalny, a vocal critic of Vladimir Putin, to five years in jail. Pluto and Saturn in an apparently cozy relationship, with some help from Judge Jupiter. Navalny certainly won’t be able to run for office from jail, but he is acting with Uranian finger-at-the-man in telling his followers, “don’t be idle.”

And finally - not really finally, but for now - the Catholic Church has offered time off in Purgatory for devotees who follow the Pope’s upcoming trip on Twitter. It shows a belief system that reflects a profoundly unspiritual approach to the deeper questions of existence, but which demonstrates in bold GWT colors the awesome control the Powers That Be think they have.

From an astrological perspective, there could have been only one outcome to the trial of George Zimmerman: increased polarization of the United States. Had he been found guilty, an equally outraged segment of the population would have cried foul. Uranus and Pluto are working the deep alchemy of transformation, and some stages are painful and tragic.

The Zimmerman trial was a symbolic event onto which the country projected issues about gun violence and racism, among others. At a deeper level, beneath the collective discourse, the U.S. is asking itself questions about what it wants to be: questions about divisions by race and class; questions about community and individual rights; questions about the kind of place it has become when a neighborhood watch patrol turns deadly.

Deep questions won’t help either Martin or Zimmerman, of course. In fact, nothing will help Martin. Neither of the two has been particularly lionized - even their supporters have been rather half-hearted about both of them. The pundits who followed the trial like Super Bowl oddsmakers were fond of trashing both Martin and Zimmerman, pretty much ensuring that although there would surely be a victim, it was unlikely that there would be a hero.

The Uranus-Pluto square is bearing down on the U.S. sun. Perhaps it is also significant that Pluto squared the sun of the OJ Simpson verdict less than a day before the Zimmerman verdict. It is also significant that the Uranus-sun square on July 4th passed right through the part of Florida where the trial took place.

In any event, the clear message was bound to be that things are going to get worse before they get better. Deep transformation is not accomplished by resolving issues, but by drawing attention to the impossibility of doing so at our current level of understanding.

A Short Missive on Astrology and the Power of Intention

A few months ago, a client asked me to find a good time for her to submit a loan application for a new business. She asked that the time be within the next few weeks. I got on it right away, and within a few days I had found a good time about three weeks in the future.

About three days after the time I had chosen (elected in astrologese), I got an email from the client. She had decided to wait until she had an additional piece of information to round out the application. It wasn’t crucial, but she thought it would make the application stronger. Could I find a date in the next week that would be good to submit the completed form to the bank? I found a date about a week later, and although it wasn’t as great as the first date, I thought it was fine for the purpose.

A day before the second elected date, I got another email. The client had been very busy in the past week and had not had time to complete the application. What would be a good time in the next week? By this time, Mercury was going to enter the shadow of its retrograde, and a number of challenging aspects were forming in the sky. I did the best I could.

A month later, I got another email from the client, who was somewhat nonplussed that her loan application had been denied. Maybe, she wondered, I should have advised her to wait a little longer, until Mercury had gone retrograde and was moving direct again...

My client was inclined to see this as an example of failed astrology, but my take is a bit different. By continually delaying action, it became apparent that she was deferring the decision to move forward. Her initial enthusiasm was tempered by an attempt to make her application better, and then delayed again as other things took priority.

Whether we think of the power of intention as residing in our own psyches, with the gods, or in the Universe (the catchall name for whatever is running the show), we have to consider that even at this deeper (higher?) level, patience must have some limits.

Looking back at our initial talk on the matter, I recognized that my client presented the decision to apply for the loan as something she had already decided upon. There was little room for discussion about whether the project was going to go forward, the only question was when.

What I think happened was that my client had not fully committed to starting the business or getting a loan to do so. The protracted application process was really her acting out the decision-making, going back-and-forth in her own mind, and in a very real sense saying to the Universe that she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do.

There’s nothing wrong with taking time to make a decision, of course. My client may have had any number of valid reasons to hesitate before committing to a serious financial obligation. She may have simply been stymied by her fears, but she may also have unconsciously recognized dangers with the project.

Once we decide what to do, making things happen is surprisingly easy. It’s knowing what we really want that is the hard part (click here for a short article on this topic). The point is that it is fine to take some time to decide what to do, but once we make a decision it doesn’t help to step on the accelerator and the brakes at the same time. If our intention is focused, mountains can be moved, but if we act before we are sure we what we want, we tend to wind up with results that show our attention was half-hearted (that is, results that are half-assed).

In other words: astrology can help you to get clarity about what you want to do, and it can help you plan to do it.

But you have to get the two in the right order.

Last week, in anticipation of hot sun-Uranus and sun-Pluto aspects, I pointed out a few places that were likely to get extra attention based on the astrolocality at the time those aspects were exact (see below for the full post, "Where on Earth?"). It seems the astrolocality worked pretty well, although the news is disturbing and I'm not celebrating...

I pointed out that San Francisco was in the crosshairs of two Neptune lines, and related it to the transportation strike in that city. However, the July 6th crash of Flight 214 shows that more than the strike was going on. Neptune involves water, and the plane crashed just at the point where the bay meets the airport. While the cause is unclear, the plane was apparently flying lower and slower than it should have been - by quite a bit - and the attempt to correct these was made too late, and may have contributed to the crash. With Mercury retrograde and Neptune involved, it may be some time before it becomes clear what happened.

An astrolocality map for the time of the crash (which is not specified as of yet - very Neptunian) with local space lines extended from the airport shows something remarkable: the Jupiter line extends across the Pacific, crossing both Seoul, the plane's last stop before San Francisco, and Shanghai, the origin of the flight. Perhaps the helpful influence of Jupiter helps explain why things did not turn out worse than they did. The Saturn station on July 8th has Venus, Uranus, and once again Neptune, near San Francisco, but not directly on the city.

I also drew attention to a Uranus line (at the Uranus-sun aspect) through eastern India (Uranus square to the MC), and this line crossed right through Bodh Gaya, a Buddhist holy place in India that Sunday was the site of deadly bombings. The moons nodes were trine to Bodh Gaya at the Pluto station last Monday.

An almost stationary Saturn was square to the midheaven on Thursday's Uranus-sun aspect in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, the site of a deadly train derailment and fire - the train was carrying crude oil.

Perhaps fortunately for Egypt, the Venus-Uranus trine is powerfully aspected down almost the entire length of the Nile - where almost the entire population lives.

Back in the day, astrologers made great predictions for their cities - think of William Lilly and the Great Fire of London. But then again, they only had one place to work with - today we have to take into account the entire planet. Then, too, the variety of things that could happen and how they would be received was pretty limited, also - there weren't going to be any plane crashes or transit strikes. Still, I have to say that the astrolocality worked pretty well for this turbulent week.

This week's hot aspects include an opposition of the sun to Pluto on Monday, followed by the sun squaring Uranus early Thursday morning. In other words, the sun is elbowing the powerful Uranus-Pluto square. We're sure to see effects in our personal lives, but it should be most obvious in the collective.

We should recognize that July 4th is the birthday of the United States, and with Uranus-Pluto closely approaching the U.S. sun and the sun-Uranus aspect exact on the 4th, we'd expect the country to be in the spotlight. The sun-Pluto aspect certainly seems to be having an effect, as the NSA spying exposure (Pluto often exposes things that were intended to be kept hidden) has been found to include the U.S. spying on European governments. The backlash against the U.S. is likely to be substantial, and the rest of the world is likely to take a much more considerate view of Edward Snowden now that the scope of U.S. spying is known.

This week is also the anniversary of a new government, Egypt's President Morsi took office a year ago, making this a kind of new birthday for that ancient land. And the sun's aspects to Pluto and Uranus are certainly making things hot there, as protestors swell the streets.

If we look at the astrolocality maps for the two aspects, we can get a bit of insight into what areas are most likely to be affected, because the sun, Uranus, and Pluto are in prominent positions in certain places when the aspects are exact. Keep in mind that major aspects often "cast their shadow before them" and events take place before or after (within a reasonable window of time) the exact point. The sun/Pluto aspect has a line that goes just off the U.S. East Coast, intersecting Miami and Boston, two cities where legal proceedings are underway: George Zimmerman's trial and the Boston Marathon bombings.

The sun-Uranus aspect has a hot Mars line that moves through Arizona near where a wildfire tragically killed 19 firefighters on Sunday. The paralyzing heat wave that is covering much of the Western U.S. could also be seen as a reflection of this week's aspects, stoked by the hot moon in Aries over the weekend. Neptune lines cross near or on San Francisco for both of this week's aspects, and that city is beginning a transit strike. Throw in Mercury retrograde, and commuting in the city could be like slogging through Neptunian fog.

Hot spots for Monday's sun-Pluto aspect include London, as well as always unsettled Lahore. Eastern India is also affected. A strong line cuts through Spain, a bit to the west of Madrid.

Nepal is in the crosshairs of two significant sun-Uranus-Pluto lines for the July 4th aspect. Mexico City and major U.S. Gulf Coast cities are just outside of exact lines. Dublin is directly under sun-Uranus lines.

Keep an eye on these places, and listen for news. Of course, anyplace and anyone with planets around 10 - 12 degrees of cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn) is likely to feel this energy. And while the moon in Aries from June 29 to July 1st helped to trigger aspects, look to the Cancer moon, July 6 - 8 to bring additional manifestations - the new moon on the 8th is accompanied by a Saturn station.