Astrology by Lauren

The fall of Icarus ~ Musée Antoine Vivenel

“Just so.  Opening your eyes is all that is needing.  The heart lies and the head plays tricks with us, but the eyes see true.  Look with your eyes.  Hear with your ears.  Taste with your mouth.  Smell with your nose.  Feel with your skin.  Then comes the thinking, afterward, and in that way knowing the truth.”  ~George R. R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

This week begins with a New Moon in Leo.  But Mercury will also station Retrograde on August 2nd  And as the trickster comes to gambol in the murk, he does so in the cloudy waters of a Neptune opposition.  Neptune stretches the limits of reality and perception in both the negative and positive... lies, frauds, subterfuge, misrepresentation... all fall under this climate.. but there is also illusion in a positive sense: vacation, dreaming, day-dreaming as well as peaceful escape whether literally, or figuratively within your own imagination.  This is the climate for schemers, but also for poets and dreamers as well.  So long as you can separate fact from fiction.

Daedalus was punished by King Minos for helping the great hero Theseus solve the riddle of his labyrinth and escape.  Exiled to an island with his son, Icarus, Daedalus, the genius inventor, created wings for himself, and his son, with which to fly away to freedom.  The wings, made of scraps, had feathers fastened to them with wax.  Therefore Daedalus warned his son not to fly too close to the sun, as it would melt the wings, nor too close to the sea, as the sea air would make the wings too stiff to fly.  The wings proved at first to be a sure success.  However, Icarus, young and headstrong, was overcome with the thrill of being able to ‘fly like the Gods’.  Not heeding his father’s warning, he flew higher and higher towards the great God, Apollo’s domain, where the heat of the sun melted his wings.  Icarus then fell back to the earth, where he was drowned in the Icarian sea, so named for his demise.

Idealism has a hard time translating into the the mundane world.  There is that which we wish to be true and that which is actually true... and sometimes we can’t see one due to our fascination with the other.  It’s Leo season, and with Mercury stationing Retrograde on the 2nd, and opposing Neptune, many will be donning quite fashionable rose-colored glasses, or drowning in the fog of their absinthe-laced ideals.  And it’s going to their heads.  Gambling, taking risks with limited resources, and being led down the garden path by the unscrupulous, are all dangers when you are drunk on hope and idealism... and think that you are capable of accomplishing anything, even flying up to Apollo's domain unscathed.  But if we keep in mind what our limitations are, then perhaps our own inner Daedalus will help to escort us out of our self-prescribed labyrinths and disaffecting exiles.  

Saturday, July 30th, at 2:40 PM (EDT) there is a New Moon in Leo... so if we keep our wishes and intentions within the earthly manageable realms... this is still a good time to set those intentions.  In fact it’s an opportunity to readdress, and revisit those things in our everyday life that are not working.  New Moons are times for new beginnings.  Within the domain of Leo can be found: any sort of creative self-expression, places and means of entertainment, romantic love, being true to yourself, children, self-promotion and leadership.  May your intentions take flight, and find safe purchase within which to thrive.  

Read your Rising Sign as well, if you know it:

Aries

It could be that you are feeling rather scattered, not able to get a handle on your schedule, facts get lost, errors are made.  Energy and motivation is beginning to sag... oy vey.  And then with Mars your ruler moving into Cancer, it’s kind of like Samson without his hair.  Deflated enthusiasm without the energy to even prop you up.  Or care. Instead of hiding out and crawling into your shell, and then being defensive about it... think about the ways that you can be of service to others, or how you can make your life and your work more meaningful and inspired.  Lucky for us there is a New Moon on Saturday, with a lot of creative energy, in which to seed intentions to do just that!  Think creatively and allow yourself to be inspired....

Taurus

Things resurface that had been hidden away in the back of the drawer, or pictures had slipped between books in the bookcase, that when revisited take you back to more interesting times, that can be both inspiring and reinvigorating.  These are jewels from the past that unexpectedly reemerge, especially when you uncharacteristically go rooting around in old forgotten corners at home.  Buried treasures.  That’s what happens when you get inspired to redecorate, or rearrange things at home.  Which is actually a good thing for Taurus to tend to this week, in keeping with this New Moon energy... just be sure not to overdo it, or spend way too much on some knick knack that you really don’t need.  Curb the extravagance.

Gemini

Whenever Mercury stations retrograde, Gemini’s are the canary in the coal mines.  Beyond all the stuff that ceases to work, or communications that break down, you, yourself, feel confused and overwhelmed, as you are at the center of a fog rolling in... frazzled and just trying to make sense of all this lack of information.  If things seem lost in translation.. it’s probably because they are.  Check and re-check your work for mistakes, as these are more likely to occur now, and misunderstandings can lead you down the garden path, if you are not watchful.  Opening your eyes is all that is needing.  Make sure you have all the facts before jumping to conclusions, or making a decision that leaves you wondering... what the hell were you thinking?

Cancer

Each month we get the opportunity to make a new beginning.. or a new commitment.  Cancers are particularly sensitive to the phases of the Moon, and this is no different.  The New Moon in Leo has to do with ‘worth‘ for Cancer.  It is about finances... about how you earn as well as how you spend.  It’s also about self-worth, and those things which you truly value in your life.  It’s about priorities.  This is an optimistic New Moon, but optimism with finances, can lead to overspending, or to throw caution to the wind.  However, if you keep your intentions realistic, and within the manageable realms, this is a good time to create a financial plan... just make sure you’re not biting off more than you can chew.

Leo

This is a happy and optimistic New Moon in your sign this week.  A good time to make a new beginning, or commitment of any kind.  However, there could be a tendency to be somewhat overly optimistic, to dare to fly too close to the Sun, overtaxing your waxen wings.  To make the most of this New Moon, know what your real needs are, and know your limits and then go for your dreams.  This is a good time to expand your vision of who you are and what your life can be.. But first you have to realize what your talents are, and open yourself up to that larger vision within that context... realizing that it’s actually really pretty nifty to be able to fly...and that it’s not necessary to also fly into the sun!

Virgo

It’s easy to succumb to sadness, a sense of hopelessness and despair... as all seems to dissolve before your very senses!  Remember, that much of what you perceive is actually an illusion, and can be very deceptive.  Compound this with an increased sensitivity to everything that is going on around you, and you’re not sure what to believe!  Should you believe what other people are telling you? What you are seeing?  What you are sensing?  Especially when all of these are conflicting and nothing seems to make sense this week.  It probably is not a good idea to make any major decisions right now... but if you do, try to get another opinion first.  And if you’re having problems achieving your goals, you will find that much much more can be accomplished with others than you would be able to on your own.

Libra

This New Moon is your wishing Moon.  That means that you can make a list of wishes and launch them out, like a rocket, into space... wishing large and wishing grand.  This is one of the few times when you could probably throw caution to the wind... and aim higher than usual.  As Anaîs Nin said: Throw your dreams into space like a kite, and you do not know what it may bring back, a new life, a new friend, a new love, a new country.

Scorpio

Initially, this week, as your ruler, Mars, enters Cancer, it does so with a flourish of wings and opportunity for Scorpio.  You are braver and more open to allowing unusual ideas and experiences to both open up your perceptions and expand the breadth of your present beliefs.  It’s like discovering a whole new land, with all sorts of exotic possibilities that you hadn’t considered before.  It’s an opportunity to learn, as well as to see.  It gives meaning and explanation as to why certain things aren’t working or behaving as they should.. and helps you to mediate, and make sense of the insensible.  I’m glad some of us have some perception as to what is really going on around here.

Sagittarius

Up until now, you thought you knew it all... and you thought you had it all planned out.. but it doesn’t seem that everyone is on the same page, and this could either leave you feeling undermined, or deceived.  Keep your focus on the big picture this week... a lot of what you are feeling is not based on reality, and you may be reading a lot into something that is really not that important.  This New Moon is all about the big picture.. it’s about opening yourself up to new experiences, and being willing to entertain ideas that may be very different from what you previously believed.  And most of all, it’s about looking forward.. not looking back.

Capricorn

Everybody lies, but it doesn’t matter, because no one listens. ~ Nick Diamos.  You may be feeling duped, or taken advantage of to some degree... do get a 3rd party to intervene... someone who has a lot of gumption, and is willing to be blunt and up front.  Telling you exactly how it is.  You don’t need any more beating around the bush... what you need is clarity.  Mercury Retrograde opposing Neptune is kind of like drunk driving... you don’t want to get behind the wheel unless you can pass the sobriety test.  And that means getting all of the facts straight first before jumping to conclusions.

Aquarius

The New Moon falls in your sign of partnership, other people with whom you would like to make an agreement or commitment.  Set your intentions and wishes to bring just the right people to you with whom you would like to commit.  Someone who can contribute to your having and creating some sort of stability in your life, instead of competing with it.  Maybe you need to be looking at people outside your usual crowd... someone very different, or who could offer you a different sort of opportunity.  Hey, you never know.

Pisces

This is probably not a good time to be signing any contracts or making any deals if you can at all help it... not with the trickster playing games in your sign of partnership.  You may be presented with a worthy proposition... just be sure to read all of the fine print.. to make sure that things are all that they seem.  Especially when presented by the Fool.  There is an inclination here to want to believe something to be true to the extent that you overlook, or simply don’t notice, some truly treacherous faults.  Just because someone tells you that something is true, doesn’t make it so.  The heart lies and the head plays tricks with us, but the eyes see true.  See with the eyes, and hear with the ears.