July 15 ~ 21: The Weekly Talisman
O, tumultuous sky... Mars-Uranus, Full Moon in Capricorn + Pluto
There are times in life where the astrology is so literal, it shocks me. Writing to you now on Sunday, July 14th, I’ve been glued to the news and staring at the charts of the current skies nonstop, amazed at how reflective the cosmos is of the earthly realm right now. As above, so below.
The week ahead is loud. As the Moon waxes towards fullness, the Sun will clash with Chiron, and Mars will perfect his conjunction with Uranus. Mars later enters Gemini, and a Full Moon in Capricorn arrives on Sunday, conjunct Pluto.
The defining transit of my adulthood, Pluto in Capricorn (2008 - 2024), is winding down, now. Entering the sign of the establishment, social structures, and power just after the sub-prime mortgage crisis that kicked off decades of financial precarity for Americans, Pluto has given us an institutional shakedown. And now, at the final hour, as Pluto prepares to station direct at 29° Capricorn, we see the two oldest political candidates locked in a battle that feels like the heaviest of things.
While the Mars-Uranus explosion is what’s in the foreground, a transit that’s more subtle right now is the square between Jupiter and Saturn, which is bringing us into the next phase of growth and change after the Great Conjunction in 2020. There are always multiple storylines developing when we’re thinking about the collective. Let’s tune in with the weekly transits.
Headlines: Mars conjoins Uranus, Sun squares Chiron, Mars enters Gemini, a Full Moon in Capricorn arrives
Energetic Themes: Explosivity and tension, renewed action around language and information, releasing old definitions of success, power, and control
Moon View: All week, luna waxes till 7/21, where she reaches fullness at 29° Capricorn
Talismanic Image: A volcano showing the first signs of emerging lava.
Monday, July 15: Sun Squares Chiron + Mars conjunct Uranus
The week opens up in tense territory. At 4:44am PST, the Sun in Cancer perfects a square to Chiron, the planet of the wounded healer. Sun square Chiron brings into the heart of our pain, simply put, specifically the pain of unresolved questions around identity and personal essence. Chiron puts pressure on the Sun, here, making us hyper aware of the gaps in our self-concept. I can extrapolate this here, and as an American feel like this is a continuation of the ever-unfolding identity crisis taking place in the U.S., in the aftermath of this weekend’s chaos.
A few hours later at 7:05am PST, Mars conjoins Uranus at 26° Taurus, bringing together a blistering hot astrological energy, in a spark to the powder keg moment.
Mars symbolizes aggression, anger, and defensive measures. Name for the god of war and conquest, Mars moves with an edge that seeks to cut. Uranus is an outer planet, associated with Prometheus, light-bringer. Uranus brings us sudden shocking change. When they conjoin, blending energies, we expect sudden outbursts in the collective, aggressive and violent acts, and events that shift our perspective.
Because nothing exists in a vacuum, I pulled the chart of the insurrection on January 6th, 2021, and remembered that at that time, there was also a building conjunction between Mars and Uranus, in the earlier degrees of Taurus. I was actually in Washington, DC on that date not far from the capitol, and remember that Mars was at the anaretic degree of Aries (29° Aries) when that event occurred. In that chart, the Sun was in mid-Capricorn, opposite to the mid-Cancer Sun we have this weekend.
Saturday, July 20th: Mars enters Gemini
Mars is an active character in the sky this week, and on Saturday he reaches the final degree of Taurus, pulling away from Uranus and forming a sextile with Neptune, who sits at 29° Pisces. The Mars-Neptune sextile perfects at 8:17am PST. This aspect can shroud our actions in a sense of confusion and mystery, as Neptune draws a cloak of fog around Mars’s desire to progress on the battlefield. We must continue to be discerning about our actions and perceptions at this time.
Mars leaves Taurus and enters Gemini at 1:43pm PST, bringing a sense of action and vitality and force to language, communication, message transmission, cognition, and information frameworks. Trump is a solar Gemini, so Mars will be transiting his Sun sign at this time.
Sunday, July 21st: Full Moon in Capricorn 29°
I personally feel haunted by the 29th degree of Capricorn at this point, as Pluto has been haunting this part of the sky for so long now. On Sunday we have another potent activation at this degree, when the Full Moon in Capricorn perfects at 3:17am PST.
Capricorn is the sign of the zodiac symbolized by the goat-fish, which speaks to us about the power of building a world that is both imaginative and secure. Ruled by Saturn, this earth sign is interested in stability, maturity, longevity, and wisdom. Capricorn also focuses on systems of power, and a dash of control. In the process of becoming the “master,” Capricorn cultivates its routines, its methodologies, and doesn’t like to deviate from those, on the path to achievement.
A Full Moon in Capricorn is a moment of release of these themes. This is a potent time to break free from old ways of defining success. There are likely prevailing narratives you’re holding on to, about the need to strive in a particular way. The Full Moon in Capricorn reminds us that we’re allowed to shed our previously held conceptions of public image, and in that release, we find new inspiration on the path.
Events that materialize now may be echoing later this fall, as the Full Moon lands at 29° Capricorn. Pluto will re-enter Capricorn on September 1st and be at 29° Cap through November 19th, so keep an eye out for repeating ideas, feelings, and events between now and then.
The Full Moon occurs in the 3rd decan of Capricorn, which is affiliated with the Five of Pentacles, the card that famously shows a man holding tightly to his coins. This card symbolizes a paranoia about, or an over-attachment to, the material, to our possessions. The figure in the card clutches to his coins and keeps his feet firmly planted on them too. The message of the card is to remind us to reflect on what it is we’re grasping so tightly onto, to see if we can bring awareness to what it is we’re afraid will get away from us. How can we shift our orientation to a sense of openness to change, so that the material realms can grow and flourish, rather than be so hemmed in?
That’s all for this week, my dears. Take extra good care of yourselves, and I’ll see you next time.
thank you as always<3
Excellent, as always. One question, though: is the Tarot card the 5 of Pentacles or the 4 of Pentacles? You mentioned the 5, but your description sounded more like the 4.