Forecast: Saturday and Sunday, July 28-29, 2012

Sun in Leo and Moon in Sagittarius, 2012

Beginning late Friday 27 July-early Saturday 28 at
10:19p(F) PT | 1:19a(Sa) ET | 5:19a(Sa) UT
through Saturday 28 July
/moon goes void-of-course Sunday 29 at
2:02p PT | 5:02P ET | 9:02p UT
until Luna enters Capricorn Monday 30 July at
12:30a PT | 3:30a ET | 7:30a UT

*Dazzlement*

With the entrance of the moon into Sagittarius we are out of the three-day (Wednesday through Friday) period I pointed out as perhaps the "bottom" of the Mercury-retrograde cycle because of lunar positions. [I see just before I post this that during those days there has been crazy or hazardous weather in many parts of the country; not in mine, so I was unaware of it.] We are still in the Mercury-backward stage until Wednesday August 8. Face it, fess up, you have been lazy. You have been "out of pattern" at least, if you will not plead guilty to laziness.

For example, a friend invited me last week to see another friend's work at an art gallery. We arrived just after opening time to find a note there saying the gallery would open three hours late that day. No explanation. Somebody was in the perils of Mercury Retrograde and could not or would not arrive on time to open the gallery. So we had three extra hours, and since we are both astrologers, took it philosophically. We visited a library, and then had a fantastic lunch at a place we otherwise might not have visited. Hurrah for Mercury Retrograde! It can be good for just that sort of thing, the unexpected, and sometimes that unexpected can be very enjoyable. My friend had been at this restaurant many times years ago and did not know it was still there. Hurrah for Mercury retrograde! It can be returning to old scenes, expectedly or unexpectedly. When we finally arrived at the gallery we met the artist himself, which was not expected. Hurrah for Mercury retrograde! It tends to pull people's paths into congruence in unexpected, fateful ways. My friend had taken three books out of the library, books she had never thought of reading before (Mercury retrograde, doing things "out of pattern"). She forgot that she had put them on a table at the gallery. So I volunteered to go back for them the next Monday after the gallery opened. Mercury retrograde, forgetfulness, human error (partially because one is doing things "out of pattern"). That Monday, although I had reminded myself of my task the night before, I never thought of the books. (Forgetfulness again.) When my friend mentioned them on Tuesday I apologized, and went back to get them Wednesday. Okay, that is Mercury's day, and it is still retrograde. (Backtracking, part of any backward Mercury period.) I viewed the artist's work for a second time. Mercury retrograde can be repetition of things you have already done, sometimes voluntary, sometimes involuntary. Coming home I decided to go to a supermarket I don't usually use (out of pattern). I put two items in my cart, then could not find two other items I definitely wanted, and was angry at the store, and left the cart in an aisle with the two items, huffing out of the store annoyed at my waste of time. Mercury retrograde, waste of time. (My behavior was not nice, and probably unethical, since someone would have to remove the items from the cart and put them back on the shelves.) Mercury retrograde can signify impatience, sometimes of monstrous proportions (the Colorado killings by a man impatient with the frustrations of his college career). I decided then to go to a store quite a way out of the way, and huffed and puffed up a steep hill, stopping at two street corners to rest (Mercury retrograde, delays). I had never walked all the way up that hill before (out of pattern). Yes, I finally got home with the items I needed. Not everything is impossible at these times, thanks to the G*d of heaven who is greater than the heavens! Although, because of (a) the person not opening the gallery on time the week before and (b) my friend forgetting her books and perhaps (c) my forgetting to recover them on Monday, when things might have been easier, I "wasted" about three hours of my time and felt exhausted from all the walking. On the other hand, perhaps there was a "final cause" reason for all of this and perhaps the struggle up hill did me good.

And, this morning just before starting this report (on time) I noticed that I had given some of the lunar timing wrong in the previous report (Mercury retrograde, human errors) and conscientiously corrected it on three websites and for the Yahoo group (another mailing). That made me late in writing this report (lateness, Mercury retrograde).

I recant the above trivia just to show you the kinds of things which have convinced astrologers, over the millennia, that these are very special periods. So my advice is, Use the out-of-pattern quality of the time to do things you don't usually do, while at the same time not neglecting basic things which need to be done so you won't be in arrears or cause other trouble for yourself. It can be a reflective, illuminating, relaxing time if we use it wisely, which is after all the purpose of astrological analysis, observation and discovery.

And, I must continue . . . the moon is void-of-course as I write, although I try hard to avoid such periods. And I have to say, to controvert some who might think, 'Well, these astrologers and those who believe in them just find all kinds of excuses for flaking off, and blame it on the planets," NO! because as a matter of fact, if I did NOT know that the moon was void-of-course now while Mercury is retrograde, I would be somewhere else. I would not be sitting here at home writing this, I would be out for a walk or doing something for sheer relaxation and entertainment. That was my very strong tendency today. Knowing about these positions encouraged me to "keep on keeping on" because I knew my desire to escape was a mechanical reaction based on internal reactions to the planetary and lunar positions. That made me stronger to continue with the forecast even though I didn't want to. Whether the result is worth while is for you and others to judge. So far, you might think, "Well this long rant has been pretty worthless, it must have been the moon void-of-course." Okay. But all this can have very serious implications. For example, if the Colorado killer had known astrology (instead of neuroscience in which he was involved) he might have said to himself, "I see that I am inclined to do some very crazy, wrong things while Mercury is retrograde, when people are more inclined do those things, so I had better wait it out instead. A couple more weeks." He would have come to his senses. Astrology can be highly therapeutic and prophylactic (preventative).

Now to the forecast:

For this two-day weekend period, there are tendencies to "flake off," relax with friends or alone, eat and drink more than usual. I am not going to judge you one way or the other on that.

Other trends are remarkably uplifting. You are in touch, outwardly or inwardly, with someone glorious, prophetic, transcendent. You may appear to be such to someone else. In the midst of the Mercury-retrograde cycle, people can "come into their own" when they remember who they are at some deep level, joining all the links of their lives into one golden chain of dazzlement.

There is also a "misery loves company" syndrome, because despite the foregoing paragraph, many will feel the sadness of what is missing in their lives, what they have lost, or what they imagine they will never attain. Let's make this poignant rather than depressing. With depression, one feels there is nothing. With poignancy, one finds one's whole being pointed past sadness toward a higher passion, meaning, hope, readiness for transcendence.

You reach out toward remarkable connections. You see the hook-ups between varied phenomena, ideas, people. We are all implicit astrologers when we gaze at the night sky. Oh, that is us up there! said the ancients, and imagined the constellations, bursting also with animals and gods. And here we are on a summer evening, being whatever we can.

And so the mood can be elevated. Anything is possible, we are sure.

Reorientation is a key whenever you feel lost, as we all can when Mercury is retrograde. The "lostness" could be internal or external or both. You can re-find your way, with your own compass or the help of a stranger. The paths of the world, the roads of destiny, are congruent in some higher scheme of things, out of which we can never fall.

People feed one another, are kind to one another, sensing needs and conveying healing for large or tiny hurts.

Many sense that they could be famous. This is heady, dizzying. In some way you are superior. Summoning courage, you can display talents freely.

There is a confluence between age and youth. Those who feel they are abandoned because of age are finding renewed possibilities, and ought to convince themselves of that even when there seems little evidence of it. We all feel deserted at times, and have all been guilty of desertion. The mellowness of maturity can join hands with the naively exhilarating hopefulness of youth in old and young alike.

{Saturday and Sunday} *Dazzlement*

Cosmic Piper