August 16-17 – A Short-term Difference of Opinion

Sharon Leah

The Astrology 16-17

Mercury in Leo is challenging retrograde Uranus in Taurus. Mercury is far enough behind the Sun  at this time so that while it’s attuned to and aligned with the Sun’s intention, Mercury can more easily carry out its own business of thinking, communicating, and travel. Mercury in Leo can spark creative thinking. Retrograde Uranus in Taurus represents the unconventional. For example, last time I flew to Chicago, a very large man in the seat ahead of me was crocheting and he was wearing a very colorful crocheted poncho. That’s not what anyone would have expected to see. Uranus in Taurus can destabilize security.

Note: What I focus on very general and universal observations. You may or may not have a personal experience that you would describe as similar. The planetary phenomenon can play out in a  number of ways, and the area of life where an experience that’s similar to what I write about will occur varies from person to person. Whether or not you experience the transit at all, or merely as an observer, as well as the intensity and outcome of that experience will always depend on how the transit aligns with your personal chart (the alignment of planets the day, time, and place you were born).

Lastly, there’s no doom and gloom here. Now to the personal stuff.

The Vibe: A SHORTLIVED DIFFERENCE OF OPINION

Intense and dramatic performances and speech are appreciated and applauded when seen in the theater, but not so much when the drama plays out on a street corner, in a meeting, or on the evening news. The drama may intensify briefly, but like every event, it will fade. The gift or takeaway from experiences that feel challenging or unsettling is insight that you can use to make decisions and choices for yourself. Taking time to apply creative thinking can help you see things from different perspectives. Using your insights to reshape or rewrite the status quo may be called for now. The challenge for you may be accepting that a difference of opinion today doesn’t have to be carried with you. Take away the best and leave the rest.

Today’s Haiku

A big fish struggles
Testing line, skill, and resolve.
Catch. Photo op. Release.

Update on August 17

I wrote about the potential for a “short term difference of opinion” that could cause drama due to a performance on a street corner, in a meeting, etc. The active planetary players in the drama were Mercury in Leo and retrograde Uranus in Taurus. Mercury is associated with communication–speech, email, reports, messages–as well as the ways that communications are shared; for example, computers, online, postal; trains, planes, cars, and bicycle carriers; phones, and so forth. I said the drama could play out in a variety of ways. Uranus represents sudden and unexpected disruptions.

My Own Street Corner Drama

I was driving home in the late afternoon on a road with a 40 mph speed limit and 4-way stop signs at every intersection. As I slowed to a stop at one of the intersections, a man on a bicycle whizzed past me on the right side. He barely tapped his brakes before barreling through the intersection. I was annoyed. When I passed him on the next section of road, I honked at him. I’d say it annoyed him A LOT that I honked, because at the next intersection, he pulled up beside my car and called me a bitch. He yelled a few other things at me and another driver honked at him. Then in the 2 or so seconds before the light turned green for us to proceed, he pulled away from the intersection and started to cross a 4-lane highway. Drivers can see a long distance in all directions at that intersection, so anyone who was also thinking of jumping the light or running the yellow light could possibly have avoided hitting the guy on the bicycle. No one was hurt. My car doesn’t have a broken window or scratches down the side. But I did put 2 and 2 together in the aftermath and saw the drama for what it was.

No, planets don’t cause things to happen. But they can be understood to indicate the prevailing conditions in the same that way we can look at dark clouds and expect rain will fall somewhere and when the thermometer reads 90 degrees, we know the air temperature is very, very warm.

Astrology is a set of principles and procedures used to organize information so the information is useful. It cannot be used to indicate absolute outcomes, because everyone has freewill to choose. We can choose how to think about things and choose behaviors. Or we can react and then have to deal with the drama on the corner.

Have a great weekend!

You Create Yourself – August 15 Forecast

Sharon Leah

The Astrology

Venus is at the heart of the Sun today, which means that both Venus and the Sun are at 21 degrees in Leo. The Sun is symbolic of the impulse toward autonomy and the will to create. Venus is symbolic of the desire to be and have beauty, harmony, happiness, and love, and to attract those things and things like them into your life. Venus is the power of attraction.

The Vibe is CREATE YOURSELF

Today, I’m sharing a personal experience that I believe is a perfect manifestation and expression of the Sun-Venus transit in Leo. The timing of the experience I’ll share is perfect for me because when I was born, Venus was at 22 degrees in Leo. From an astrological point of view, the current transit of the Sun and Venus is activating a sensitive point–Venus–in my birth chart and by extension, in my life. I got clarity about autonomy and creativity.

Some times I question my reasons for doing the things I do, because I’d have a lot more free time and more money if I spent less time and money doing the things I do. Yard work and tending to flower gardens, for example, are taking up more of my time, energy, and dollars this summer than they have in a long while. In addition, I read and write about astrology, and I do oil painting. Painting and tending to flower gardens and green spaces are very Venusian activities. I know that part of the reason I do what I do is that I’m motivated by the desire to share what I see and do and love with others (all qualities of Venus by the way).

I’ve been in one of my “Why am I doing what I’m doing” moods this week and thinking about what I do more as work and less about it being creative. Work makes me tired and less inclined to be creative. That’s kind of where my mind was yesterday. So I took an afternoon nap. (I LOVE naps.)

And then in that brief moment between being asleep and being awake, I had a single thought. If I’d been dreaming, I would have seen images. But in that teeny, tiny gap that occurs before sleep gives way to awareness, I heard: Every creation takes you closer to who you are.

I didn’t think that thought, because I was still asleep. I received that thought in response to my need to better understand WHY I want to do what I do. It was an “ah-ha” kind of thought. The reason I (everyone) creates is because that’s how I can see and realize who I am. What if, I thought, instead of thinking about what I do/create as work and a way to earn money, I think about each thing I create as another stepping stone that brings me closer to fuller realizion of myself?

Don’t get me wrong. Money is really nice thing to have (and it’s also a Venusian thing).

Well, now, that’s a very different reason to create, and that’s not how our society tends to view creativity. We have a stong tendency to direct a significant amount of time and energy toward earning or making money in order to buy what we want and need. Period. Nearly everything is reduced to its dollar equivalent. “How much will it cost? How much can I get paid per hour or per piece to do what I do?” are questions we ask about nearly everything we do. Being “creative” is limited to specific times and places or shunned altogether in favor of getting to the real work. It’s tiring! It’s often boring and not fun. 

From this new perspective, I see everything, whether it’s a preparing a meal, tending a garden, painting a painting, making a gizmo, writing a story, creating and birthing a child, attracting and building a relationship, a career or vocation—EVERYTHING is an act of creation that has the potential to bring us closer to realizing ourselves. What better reason is there for spending precious time doing what you and I do?

Have you been thinking and feeling life is short and adulting isn’t what you thought it would be when you were younger and dreaming your future? This Sun-Venus transit is activating something in you too.

Today’s Haiku

Not a flytrap. Venus
Draws what nourishes the heart
and will feed the soul.