Good Morning!

The start of the work week begins with the Moon in me-me-me Aries as of 4:33AM ET. Aries needs to get things started, and at its best it does so with a pioneering spirit that inspires. Aries can be quite idealistic, and has been known to accomplish the impossible. In fact, often that is the best way to get an Aries to do something: tell them they can’t, and watch them prove you wrong.  Aries often falls downstairs because it’s faster than walking.

Add to this fiery charge another dose of fire, exact at 1:04AM ET on Tuesday. And this would be a meet-up between Mars (action; yang; aggression) with Venus (social expression; yin) in regal Leo. This meet-up is likely to facilitate passion — big time — especially when you consider that thirty minutes later (1:33AM ET), the Aries Moon will be challenged by Pluto, suggesting a power play or emotional catharsis.

But wait — there’s more. On Tuesday at 12:37PM ET, Moon will meet up with Uranus, suggesting a sudden insight, outburst or other disruption of the status quo. Then the Moon goes void until 5:02AM ET on Wednesday — a long chill period in which we have a higher probability of twists and flakes delaying our efforts to move forward in a straight line. Remember that crises that crop up during Moon voids are often much ado about nothing. Chill and focus on routine matters if you have to be at the office.

The driving passions of these next two days are colored by two other patterns of significance. First is the fact that Venus is STILL retrograde, which is traditionally a caution against consummating and/or otherwise committing to that hot new thing. Second is the fact that there’s a dreamy fog suggested by a face-off between the Sun and Neptune at 11:39PM ET. Once the fog lifts and Venus is finally moving forward again, your ideal might not look so dreamy.  Venus will turn direct on Sunday at 4:29AM ET. Then we’ll have an opportunity to review and possibly regret some of the aesthetic choices we made over the past six weeks. Will that summer love last? Whose poll numbers might slip, hmm?

So for now, we have patterns of fiery passion coupled with the dreaminess of the normally discerning Virgo Sun with Neptune. You could use this energy productively by paying attention to your intuition. With Venus retrograde meeting up with Mars in Leo, tune in to your heart’s desire. Take stock and review your values, including the value you accord yourself.  Are your feelings of frustration and/or lack really caused by That Other Person?

You are more personally impacted by the Venus-Mars meet-up if you have a planet or an angle around 14 degrees of Leo, Taurus, Scorpio and Aquarius. 14 degrees, btw, is where Venus will be on Sunday when it turns direct. You are morn personally affected by the Sun-Neptune face-off if you have a planet or angle around 8 degrees of Pisces, Virgo, Gemini and Sagittarius. Consult your local astrologer for details.

No other really long voids for the rest of the work week, other than the one that begins on Tuesday.

And now, the news.

Leo refers to gold; Neptune refers to a dream come true and that the Nazi gold train story is still in the news. This Saturday at 7:06PM ET, the Sun will be in alignment with Pluto, which often correlates with headlines about “news from underground”. Will that train be found? We’ll see.

On Friday, I wrote:

As we move through this weekend, I expect we’ll see more stories along Neptunian themes: e.g., these about oceans, refugees, fraud  and possible delusion. We’re also likely to see stories of rose-colored escapes, music, spirit(s) and healing.

So here’s what hit the wires. “Seeing Freedom in Their Future, Psychics Reveal All: ‘It’s a Scam, Sir'”. Well, that certainly meets expectations — and by “psychics,” I’m referring to people who tell you that you are possessed by an evil spirit, but if you give them a Ferrari, they’ll make that spirit disappear. These kinds of people give authentic intuitive counselors a bad name. But still — what timing for a story like this to be published!

Meanwhile, the Sunday NYT magazine did a story about Anwar-al-Awlaki, the American who was martyred (Neptune) when he was killed in a drone strike 2011, and whose charisma (Neptune), writings and videos about religion (ditto) have allegedly inspired a number of jihadists (ditto). The article alleges that a thorough review of his past encounters with women (Venus retrograde) reveals that he was leading “a complicated secret life” that was not in synch with the his image (Neptune).

In other news, dramatic fashion statements are all the rage at the rose-colored escape known as Burning Man. There was more drama and fashion at the MTV Video Awards, including “celebrity feuds” (thank you, Venus Rx) and a notable appearance by Kanye West, as “he floated through an extemporaneous speech”. Floating through an unstructured oratory — sounds pretty Neptunian, especially if presented while under a certain influence.

In China, nearly 200 have been “punished over rumors about stocks, blast and a parade” — that story just hit the NYT.  On Mars, certain UFO buffs are convinced they’ve seen photos that prove there is alien life.

Notable obituaries: master of illusion and fantasy Wes Craven;  Dr. Oliver Sacks, whose research documented bewildering stories about the brain and self-help guru Wayne Dyer.

Finally, you may recall that Jupiter’s recent ingress into Virgo suggests an expansive focus on matters referring to workers. I haven’t cited them here, but I’ve been noticing an uptick in headlines referring to improving conditions for the service and labor sector. Much of these changes — e.g., raising the minimum wage — are what we would expect in the wake(-up call) of the Uranus-Pluto square, but Jupiter now adds further support to that agenda. No surprise to see that President Obama is now making that agenda a priority, as a “champion of workers’ rights”.

What’s going on in your horoscope? Many are on vacation this week, but I am not one of those people. Thus, if you are finally taking time in your busy schedule for some productive introspection, I invite you to schedule a personal astro-logical consultation. We will have an excellent discussion together.

Thank you for reading this forecast.