Le café de nuit (The Night Café) by Vincent van Gogh {{PD}}

The AstroEssence: What’s smart beckons us (or leads us by the nose) into the future; we don’t fix on what we want, on our ambitions, as we usually would, but instead put our attention on the unique, the surprising, the original, and the unexpected–and all these, as well, will turn us in the direction of what’s wise for us to pursue. If we listen to relationships or are too literally bound by the current financial situation, we may miss our chance, and if we fail to tune in to the atmosphere sufficiently, we will be left with only our own thoughts, which are a little too angry, bleak, or centered on what we’d rather deny to be of much help (Pallas parallel the NN, contra-parallel Zeus, sxt Uranus, and sesq Venus, Merc semi-sq Black Moon Lilith)

Today’s word image is the cue ball on a pool table. Essentially, the cue ball is the thing we hit, hoping to transfer the energy to our true target and send it into the chosen pocket. Are you going at achieving some goal obliquely, hoping you can ‘hit’ or interact with one thing, and make another thing happen? Consider that indirect transfer removes you from any real control over where or how your energy is used once it leaves the initial point of contact (I know, this is getting abstract); it can be a form of faith, if we trust the Universe, or it can be hope, a kind of passive optimism that doesn’t acknowledge we have expectations, but no control. Know where your boundaries really lie, be cognizant of the way actions can reverberate through the choices of others, and if you want something to happen, do what you can to make it happen yourself–that’s both your best chance to exert control, and to get things the way you want them.

For those born with the Sun at 13 Virgo: you are well on your way, having launched (whether you know it or not) a number of efforts and sent yourself in particular directions in the near past–and now you must consider the ways you have set in motion, how they are changing, even transforming, your reality, and how they may honor (or fail to honor) those matters you really care about. It’s part of the human condition that the beginnings of things aren’t always obvious to us; this coming year, through to your next birthday, you may need to sort through both your intended do-overs and new starts, and the ones that came unbidden out of your actions and choices: you’ll need to fine tune things, and decide which will grow into new circumstances and focus for your life, and which need to be stopped before they get any larger. Good luck, Virgo, and Happy Birthday!

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John Bauer – Bland tomtar och troll, 1915 {{PD}}

The AstroEssence: The mental faculties have a genius for finding and exploiting empowerment situations; it’s almost as if we think about having an impact and we do! This facility is tempered by a lot of conditions and caveats, though: we may be confused or following a deception or illusion if the areas involved are ones we’ve been angry over or have assiduously ignored or been in denial of; we may find ourselves thinking from a stance of past values, rather than current ones; we may imagine we’re fueled by a righteous cause or spiritual necessity when we’re really trying to show our independence in relationship or finances, hoping to gently ‘stick it’ to someone we suspect (yes, it’s easy to be paranoid, right now) doesn’t love or respect us; and we may eschew what and who we care about out of a misguided idea that others are not being honest with us. As much as possible, stay grounded in your current ideas, viewpoints, ways of perceiving, and your most evolved way of seeing the past–we must work to keep our own hidden beliefs and prejudices from coloring our current perceptions, and especially from allowing vague suspicions to taint perfectly good relationships (Vesta trine SN, Neptune trine and Venus semi-sq Black Moon Lilith, Uranus parallel and Venus qnx Pallas, Venus trine Sedna, Merc nov Juno and contra-parallel Venus)

Today’s word image is individuals, seen at a distance, helping each other scale a mountain. Right now many of us may be dealing with issues surrounding how much we need or want others in our lives; we try to measure our own need for aid, possibly with the built-in judgment that to accept or require assistance from others is bad. Nothing could be less true: a version of cooperation is the heart of civilization, and needed for everything from survival to creating Art (for if we make it, what does it matter, unless there’s someone to receive it?) See if you carry some judgment against working with others, seated in misplaced pride, unreal pressures and expectations, or in the myth of ‘rugged individualism’–and then let it go.

Virgo can make significant progress right now, especially in terms of the ‘power harvest’ that lies just upon the horizon. Vincent van Gogh – ‘Enclosed Field with Ploughman’ 1888 {{PD}}

For those born with the Sun at 4 Virgo: this year, through to your next birthday, you may be dealing with important crises in Love or Money–and yet, if you’ll take a step back, you’ll see that they aren’t problems, but turning points, ones that will allow you to align the real-world issues surrounding assets and interactions in a way much more in line with what you need and want, and how you truly feel. You may think yourself a little cold, taking a largely mental approach to these matters, but the reality is that applying your own critical assessments to these areas will vastly improve them–and open the way for the ‘power position’ that you are very close to achieving. Good luck, Virgo, and Happy Birthday!

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“Ryu sho ten” or “Ryu shoten” (“Dragon rising to the heavens”), a ukiyo-e print from Ogata Gekko’s Views of Mt. Fuji, showing a dragon rising out of smoke near Mt. Fuji, ascending towards the sky. Attribution: Adam Cuerden, for re-touched photo of a public domain work.

The AstroEssence: A great deal of the free-floating angst we’ve been experiencing may come down to a pair of Mars contacts this week: yesterday’s perfection of Mars conjoined Saturn, and today’s perfection of Mars square Neptune. This combination urges us to apply our Will to the physical environment–and promises at least some ability to shape our reality, as long as we don’t succumb to confusion, illusion, deception, or that particular form of imagination that we turn against ourselves, causing panic, fear, even despair, conjuring upset (and so paralysis) out of thin air. This is in part why I urged action and confidence yesterday, as soon enough we would face a Neptunian doubt or three, imagined dragons menacing our way forward. Today’s mission is clear: continue forward with what you set in motion, and instead of entertaining hesitations, actively access creativity, especially when confronted with something that brings forward fear. Tackle problems and invent, envision, and then act on those inspirations; doing so combines the required active stance with a useful channeling of energies that might otherwise feed insecurities. And don’t be surprised if creative efforts either run into problems on first look, or arise from problems (the square); in either case, it’s our response that both matters, and determines our success, with results coming clear most likely when Saturn squares Neptune, perfecting September 3rd.

We also see these familiar themes still front-and-center: we have the wisdom to pursue the ‘healthy’ Path–but as always, it’s a matter of choice; wants, finances, or relationship dynamics could spur rebellion or spark unreliability as we seek (a probably unreasonable) independence from issues; and we are not thinking like the social sphere, which could emphasize our differences (with the biggest problem the potential for distraction from what really matters) (Pallas contra-parallel Hygeia, Mars sq Neptune, Venus qnx Uranus, Merc contra-parallel Jupiter)

Henri Rousseau 1897 {{PD}}

Today’s word image is a surge in the electrical lines leading into a house. We rely on a constant, steady stream of power, whether from the power company, our metabolism, or our psyche; when there’s a surge, the system overloads, and the contact becomes destructive. In the individual this results in manic behavior, compulsive agitation, and we lose the ability to rest, accept gaps and spaces in efforts, we lose the grace to value the element of Time (often needed for something to develop, to ripen), and we fail to value the receptive and responsive stances that are the necessary complement to action. How or where are you overloaded, and what steps may be needed to restore balance or refurbish contact, so that it’s useful, rather than destructive, once again?

A little weird fun from Imagine Dragons that isn’t so far off our feelings this week—

By MELISSA WOLFF, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20317281

For those born with the Sun at 3 Virgo: this coming year, Virgo, through to your next birthday, you may find yourself ever-more concerned with the power situation in your world: who holds it, how much you have, your say or lack of it over others (and theirs over you), and the influence you have in a particular area or ‘territory’ you can call your own. This may be the year when you establish yourself as an authority in some area vital to your identity; it may also, depending on your age, be the year when you find a mentor or become one yourself, and issues with your parents or over being a parent yourself may be prominent. Independence and the ability to exert your Will will be the focus; the two main caveats are: don’t focus on material results at the expense of relationships, and keep actions and choices grounded in reality–deceptions and creativity are both abundant. Good luck, Virgo, and Happy Birthday!

‘The Lantern Bearers’ Maxfield Parrish 1910 {{PD}}

The AstroEssence: We may be tempted to let our values and priorities slide, to set ourselves at odds with the social sphere, or to ignore the potential for wounding others within relationships, just to make things happen; the smart thing would be to reassess our values, if they’re getting in the way of growth, expansion, or ‘the facts’, to remember/ reconnect with Nature and our place in it, and to stop ignoring those realities that don’t serve our current idea of who we are–with this latter, deal with what’s been denied so that it no longer contradicts the Self-image. If we’re not honest with ourselves, it’s impossible to have ‘clean’ relationships or to teach, advise, or to interact with enough Self-awareness that everything we say doesn’t contain a touch of irony to those who are more awake. We have the chance to manifest our Will at this time, to apply the control, the restraint, and the ‘rules’ of reality to manipulate the physical world so that it is an exact realization of our wants and intents–don’t blow it by denying ambitions or desires (out of false modesty or a reluctance to claim those wants as your own–see the ‘Self-image’ section, above), and don’t think that things can be ‘thought’ into being–today is about action, choice, Self-responsibility, and knowing (and proudly claiming) your essence (Pallas sesq Vesta and qnx Jupiter, Mars conj Saturn, Venus contra-parallel Juno and opp Chiron, Merc contra-parallel Ceres, Sun contra-parallel Black Moon Lilith and semi-sq Zeus)

Today’s word image is a sponge. As if that isn’t obvious! There are areas of life for all of us where our boundaries are down, and we are wont to absorb the environment and the associated influences indiscriminately. My thought is that this area of both trust and vulnerability may be located in matters of the House that holds Pisces (I confine it to the sign, as where Neptune sits we are often more conscious of issues of faith, acceptance, and a tendency to accept influences). Consider in what life areas you may be too prone to accept what you’re told, offered, or that you experience without the needed critical assessment and the deployment of a discerning perception (both related to opposing sign Virgo). You may need to ‘wring out’ the sponge, relieving yourself of burdens and ideas accepted without much inspection–or you may simply need to note where you have uncritically taken for granted the truth of things, and perhaps look at how much of this agrees/ clashes with what you believe, and what you think, need, and feel.

Oda Krohg – ‘A Japanese Lantern’ 1886 {{PD}}

For those born with the Sun at 2 Virgo: you may have the odd sensation this year, Virgo, that your fate and future are rushing toward you–which may make the inability to see clearly what’s coming all the more frustrating. It may be a year when sights are set on ambitions, goals, and the desire nature, but when not much happens in fulfilling those areas, as energy will shortly go toward emotional conflict, and the need to work out with others how much of that feeling nature you are willing to share, and how much you must keep for yourself, in order to fuel the push toward creating what you want–because if the emotions are sent too completely in one direction or another, developments in what you aim to create will go slowly, sporadically, or grind to a halt. You duty is to allocate emotional energy in the correct proportion between relationships and your own needs–everything else this year is small stuff. Good luck, Virgo, and Happy Birthday!