A Month To Reflect

The 20th century economist Joseph Schumpeter wrote extensively on capitalism and entrepreneurship, popularizing the notion of “creative destruction” as the key to innovation. In many ways, we currently live in one of those creatively-destructive times when the death of the old gives way to the new. At the full moon in Capricorn, Saturn was stationary and went retrograde soon afterwards, joining Neptune to reflect on what has been structured since late May when both planets were conjunct in Aries. Therefore, the time for observation not only continues but it’s intensified.

When reflecting, however, we may experience a feeling of disappointment with what has been attempted thus far. Everything seems to be a rehash of the same old ideas: European countries are arming themselves to the gills, there is talk of building a camp to concentrate Palestinians, etc. Our reflections will go deeper once the planets return to Pisces in a couple of months, at least until they go back to direct motion in Pisces: Saturn on November 28 at 25°09′ and Neptune on December 10 at 29°22′. The disappointment will create a vacuum to be filled creatively next year and beyond.

No Third World War

Lately, various writers have speculated about whether we will face another world war due to various parallels between the 1930s and our times, at least in the West. We have said that, indeed, there is much similarity in the astrology of both times, at least in terms of the generational processes symbolized by the transpersonal planets. Like then, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are currently forming a Minor Grand Trine, a highly energetic and self-contained configuration. From the viewpoint of evolutionary astrology, the processes of profound revelation, dissolution and transformation of humanity are, once more, in such a powerful configuration. However, recall that the cyclical aspect of time, and thus of all processes, is purely structural and not existential, despite having produced similar events, like the Spanish Civil War back then and the War in Ukraine now.

It is true that the polarization resulting from the Second World War has increased, as if we are getting a second chance to deal with what was stirred eighty years ago. The cold war is alive and well, the divisions in the Middle East or between Pakistan and India are back, and so is the fear of nuclear proliferation leading to annihilation (Iran v West). Astrology can help us understand the differences, just as it points out the similarities. Back then most relationship cycles between the outer planets were closing, that is, in the waning phases. Currently, only two are in the waning phases: Saturn–Neptune and Saturn–Uranus. Their new relationship, or synodic, cycles will begin on February 20, 2026, at Aries 0°44′, and on June 28, 2032, at Gemini 28°01′, respectively. By then, Saturn will have received “cosmic information”, so to speak, from Pluto (on January 12, 2020 at Capricorn 22°47′), Neptune and Uranus, to structure a new civilization for the higher level of consciousness they will have enabled.

Lunar Cycle Recap

The prototypical relationship cycle is the lunar cycle, the synodic cycle between Sun and Moon that begins and ends at the new moon. When it is divided by two, we get the full moon as the middle point of the cycle. The waxing phases, from the new to the full moon, are of activity, trying to actualize potentialities present at the new moon. The full moon represents the culmination of such activity phases so we can become aware of what we actualized successfully (or not). In its darkness, the new moon symbolizes the fecundation of a seed of potentialities while the full moon represents the mature fruit of such a seed, proudly displayed as the moon’s fullness and often accompanied by actual events.

After the full moon, the waning phases allow us to gain consciousness of what we achieved in the waxing ones. Just as the moon grew in size and brilliance during the waxing phases, it will diminish in both during the waning ones. Both reach a middle point at the quarter phases, sometimes called half moons, representing moments of crises. We speak of a crisis of activity (First Quarter) and a crisis of consciousness (Last Quarter) during the lunation cycle.¹ Relationship cycles for other planet pairs follow the same structure, which is why we can speak of waxing and waning phases although, strictly speaking, the appearance of the faster planet does not change, as the moon does in the lunation cycle, because the slower planet is not a sun-like star illuminating it.

A Revelatory Full Moon

With that in mind, let me say a few words about what we have seen in the past few days, after the full moon of July 10. As we said in that article, the process of deep revelations (Uranus) had just entered the phase of communication and information (Gemini), furthering the revelatory nature of any full moon. Indeed, the weekend was dominated by scandals all over the world, from Trump and his relationship with Epstein, to the discovery of a two-year old gag order in Britain about an information leak related to the relocation of Afghan nationals, to the guilty declaration of El Chapo’s son in the US, prompting fears of what he might have divulged about Mexican politicians and their relationship with the (in)famous Sinaloa drug cartel. I could go on but the point I want to make is that this is just a rehearsal. Uranus will return to Taurus in November and won’t be back in Gemini until April, 2026. Once again, these are times to observe so we can prepare later.

Last Quarter Phase

More recently, this cycle’s crisis of consciousness occurred on July 17 at 5:37 p.m. in California, 6:37 p.m. in Mexico City, or on July 18 at 2:37 a.m. in Central Europe. Sun was at Cancer 25°40′ and Moon at Aries 25°40′, as seen in the following Aries chart:

We will analyze next week’s new moon in Leo shortly, so I will focus on those features present in the Last Quarter chart but not at the new moon. First, when we spoke about the full moon in Capricorn, we said that Saturn and Neptune would be only 0°13′ apart at the Last Quarter, the closest they will be in 2025. Their exact conjunction won’t happen until February 20, 2026 at Aries 0°44′, as you may recall. Being retrograde, there is energy to reflect on issues related to structures and boundaries in our lives which are no longer consistent with dreams and visions we have for the future. A healthy Saturn–Neptune conjunction will dissolve structures that have become crystalized cages in which evolution is impossible, in order to build new structures where issues like compassion and universal love are allowed to flourish. Both planets will continue their retrograde motion and even reenter Pisces while maintaining their conjunction but we may feel an urge to reflect on these issues now.

In the chart, Moon forms a conjunction with Chiron (Aries 27°06′) so issues related to our personal sovereignty will be front and center. Their square with Sun will provide energy to integrate our individuality, which is the Aries–Cancer archetype when viewed as psychological types, namely, the integration of the nascent individualism powered by the Day Force when it became prevalent at the equinox (Aries 0°) with the mature individuality powered by the maximum Day Force at the solstice (Cancer 0°). Remember that when Chiron is energized in the sky, our natal Chiron gets “tickled”, so to speak, activating our own “hurt” that often manifests as insecurity. This is especially true when Chiron is in Aries or Pisces, in other words, when beginning or ending its own cycle of 50.7 years.²

Mercury Stationary

Mercury, the second fastest planet after Moon, happened to be stationary at Leo 15°34′ and we have seen that stationary planets form the strongest conjunction with the degree’s archetypal meaning, best obtained from the corresponding Sabian symbol. The symbol for Leo 16 (15°01’–16°00′) is: “Sunshine just after a storm”, to which Rudhyar gives the image: “The storm ended, all nature rejoices in brilliant sunshine”, expanded as the surge of life and love after a major crisis. This is a symbol of recovery after a period of cleansing and purging (the storm) for healing and rebirth (the sunshine). Writes Diana Roche: “At its highest, this symbol represents an exceptional ability to hold steady through turmoil and confusion, and not lose sight of the higher purpose in all things.” However water also refers to feelings so it could symbolize a refreshed mind after an emotional crisis. At a practical level, the symbol encourages us to use stress productively, staying centered and looking for the silver lining in the clouds.

I mention this because Mercury formed a tight sesquiquadrate aspect, shown in dotted blue, with the Saturn–Neptune conjunction mentioned above. The sesquiquadrate is a weaker version of an opposition so it also brings energy to gain awareness, thus helping us with the aforementioned reflections. These days, Mercury will act from a degree that encourages us to stay focused as we reflect on structures we may be finding obsolete for our future evolution. However, since Mercury went retrograde on the 19th, our reflections may progress through sudden flashes, rather than straight-line reasoning. Finally, Mercury forms a sextile with Venus (Gemini 14°57′) bringing our values system to the reflections as well.

Other Configurations

In fact, note that Venus forms a square with Mars (Virgo 17°48′) that will be exact shortly before the new moon. I will say more about this square but I want you to realize that it has been operational since July 17. Speaking of Mars, it is in a conjunction with the South Node (Virgo 19°47′) that will be exact on the 21st, so Venus is at the vertex of a T-Square configuration with the nodal axis; all this will be analyzed shortly as well. Importantly, Mars and Pluto (Aquarius 2°45′) are seen forming a sesquiquadrate aspect that was exact less than two hours earlier. As we have said several times, when Mars and Pluto meet in a “hard” aspect (every 45° from 0°), we experience tension between our individual will (Mars) and the Cosmic Will (Pluto). Having Mars in conjunction with the South Node, which represents our past (including karmic) may make the tension evolutionarily fruitful.

Sun enters Leo

On July 22, Sun will enter the sign of Leo which, as a psychological type, represents the powerful expression of our individuality. All fixed signs concentrate the power generated by the previous cardinal sign, and Leo concentrates the power of our integrated individuality (Cancer). In Leo, the Day Force has diminished since its maximum at the solstice, bringing a subconscious awareness of the rising Night Force that will impulse the need for relatedness, instead of individualism, in order to integrate a society rather than an individuality. Hearing the footsteps of a society that will engulf his uniqueness, Leo expresses his hard-earned individuality, and does so dramatically. Why not? After all, what was just potentiality at the winter solstice (Capricorn 0°) grew while the Day Force increased from that minimum to its maximum at the summer solstice, as mentioned earlier, and it is finally the time to express it.

Sun, Leo and the Heart

The power generated in Cancer from such a maximum Day Force is ready to burst at the gates of Leo; no wonder it is dramatic, it has to be. Sun is the ruler of Leo so they carry similar archetypes; in particular, both are related to the heart, an organ we have incorrectly identified as just a blood pump. It has been found that the heart has at least tens of thousands of neurons which appear to connect with the brain and send much more information than they receive. According to some studies, the heart’s electric field is sixty times stronger than that of the brain, and the difference in their magnetic field is even bigger, about a hundred times. An individual with Leo prominent in his chart (Sun, Moon, Ascendant, a stellium of planets, etc.) will tend to be very intuitive and act “from the heart”. Overall, the month of Sun in Leo can make us act more intuitively than usual.

New Moon in Leo

And that brings us to the star of the show: the new moon in Leo that will occur on July 24 at 12:11 p.m. in California, at 1:11 p.m. in Mexico City, or at 9:11 p.m. in Central Europe. The conjunction of Sun and Moon will occur at Leo 2°08′, as seen in the following chart:

This is one of the most powerful new moons I have seen, for it brings us in direct contact with the transpersonal planets as they tighten their Minor Grand Trine. And it will be a dramatic contact, as we said earlier. Sun and Moon form a same-degree opposition with Pluto (Aquarius 2°36′) which is the base of a Trapeze configuration with Uranus (Gemini 0°42′), Neptune (Aries 2°04′) and Saturn (Aries 1°49′); the last two forming a nearly exact conjunction (0°15′). By the way, the Trapeze will be formed as soon as Sun enters Leo on the 22nd, obviously without Moon. Before looking at the particulars, notice that the six planets are located in the first three degrees of their signs, signaling a lot of beginnings in addition to the one implied by any new moon.

Individuality and Culture

The Trapeze, we have seen, provides an alternate path of sextiles to the opposition. Just like Leo is the expression of the Cancer individuality, Aquarius expresses the Capricorn society, mostly in the form of culture. When integrated, the Leo–Aquarius polarity (that we all have in our charts) will result in individuals advancing their culture which, in turn, will be a reflection of their individuality. If discordant, the polarity results in rebellion of the individual against an oppressive culture and the efforts of the latter to squash any individual dissent. There is no more personal planet than Sun so the individual side of the equation is well represented, but Pluto is the planet of transpersonal power, the Cosmic Will. However, recall that a new moon chart represents the seed of potentialities for the entire lunation, thus the opposition becomes something to work on during the waxing phases. The sextiles of Sun and Moon with Uranus and trines with Saturn and Neptune will incorporate those energies.

Mercury Retrograde in Leo

Mercury in Leo would normally signify loud pronouncements throughout the lunar month but Mercury began a period of retrograde motion shortly after the Last Quarter, as we saw earlier. In a way, Mercury will be more inclined to reflection, keeping with the overall theme of observation since Uranus entered Gemini. Speaking of which, at the new moon, Mercury (Leo 13°50′) will form a quintile with Uranus. In the last article, we talked about the relationship between Mercury and Uranus as connections to our rational mind and our personal unconscious, respectively. The keyword for the quintile (72°) aspect is artistry: creativity with artistic skill, a wonderful aspect to unify our mind for these times of observation and reflection. Also note that Mercury continues to form the aforementioned sesquiquadrates with Saturn and Neptune.

Mars, Venus and the Nodal Axis

It is time to talk about the other powerful configuration in the chart, the T-Square of Venus (Gemini 22°40′) and the nodal axis, augmented by the conjunction of Mars (Virgo 21°54′) with the South Node (Virgo 19°12′), a configuration that has been active since July 17, as we saw earlier. First, the conjunction of Mars with the South Node, which will be exact on July 21 at Virgo 19°39′, is making us aware of the spiritual toll resulting from all the world violence by reminding us of past situations when we let reasoning take over compassion. Such a search in the past will go back generations and it is karmic in nature, as we can see with Israel or Russia, nations that have turned from victims to executioners. The squares of Venus with the nodes will rattle the cages, so to speak, to inject a dose of ethics and use a moral compass when gaining awareness.

However, at the personal level, the square of Mars and Venus quickly gains prominence, for it marks the closing square of their relationship cycle, the equivalent to the Last Quarter square in the lunar cycle. At a basic level, these planets represent our desires (Mars) and our needs (Venus). They operate in two opposite ways, Mars through Yang execution and Venus through Yin magnetism, a key push-pull dynamic for our relationships. The cycle began on February 22, 2024, the opening square occurred on August 23 and the opposition on December 12. The cycle is typically viewed in terms of personal relationships, where the conjunction may bring a new relationship or a new way of relating, but it can equally mean a new artistic endeavor or financial strategy. As with the lunar cycle, a crisis perceived to originate externally will have appeared at the opening square, and a maturation of sorts at the opposition, all this in 2024.

The closing square, which will be exact on July 23 at 21°01′ of Gemini and Virgo, is another moment of crisis but this time it comes from within, as we try to become conscious of what we achieved in the opening phases (all of 2024) and which was made evident at the opposition last December. The conjunction of Mars and the South Node will bring issues of the past to the crisis. This Mars–Venus cycle has been peculiar because both squares happened with the planets in Gemini and Virgo, signs ruled by Mercury which was, in both cases, retrograde in Leo. The two-year cycle will end on January 8, 2026, when the next conjunction will occur.

About the Sabian Symbols

Perhaps one of these days I will explain in detail the fascinating story of how the Sabian symbols came about. In summary, they were obtained in 1925 by a gifted medium, Elsie Wheeler, using a double-blind procedure by which she channeled the intelligence of an ancient Sabian civilization. The astrologer Marc Edmund Jones (MEJ) prepared 360 blank cards and one day drove Elsie to a quiet place near San Diego. MEJ then proceeded to show the cards to her one at a time, taking care of shuffling the remaining cards each time. After a few seconds, she would replied with an image that he scribbled in said card, neither one able to see the sign and degree he had previously written in the back of the cards.

The cards remained largely forgotten for years until, in 1931, MEJ typed the images, albeit not verbatim, with a small interpretation. He then gave the list to his students of astrology and Dane Rudhyar got a hold of it as well as permission to include the symbols, without the interpretations, in his 1936 book “The Astrology of Personality”.³ MEJ published in 1953 his book “The Sabian Symbols in Astrology”, where he included the original images newly interpreted. Meanwhile Rudhyar re-interpreted the entire set for his 1973 book “An Astrological Mandala”, which is the one I mostly use. I don’t have MEJ’s book but Diana Roche’s book “The Sabian Symbols” has photographs of the scribbled notes, so I have access to the original text in the cards and sometimes put forward more than one image.

Sabian Symbol

Such is the case with the Sabian symbol for Leo 3, where the Sun–Moon conjunction will occur. The original image, “A woman having her hair bobbed”, was changed in 1931 to: “Mature woman, her hair just bobbed, looks into mirror”. Rudhyar modified it to: “A middle-aged woman, her long hair flowing over her shoulders and in a bra-less youthful garment”, further explained as the will to meet the challenge of age in terms of our modern society’s glorification of youth. After the 1919 pandemic, the next decade became known as the “roaring twenties”, which saw a rebellion against the puritan customs of the Victorian era such as women’s long hair. Therefore, a woman sporting a bob in 1925 was as scandalous as one not wearing a bra in 1973, both clear symbols of Independence, its keyword.

However, the symbol also represents the courage to change while rebelling against the norm, perhaps trying to recapture what “the establishment” denied her earlier in life; although the original text makes no mention of the woman’s age. The symbol also implies a sudden change, rather than a gradual one, which may imply a sudden realization of the need to change. It speaks of our ability to pull ourselves together and do what is necessary to achieve a goal. It encourages us to break free from limiting thoughts and behaviors.

Discussion

By now, you must be familiar with the difference in tone between the new-moon and the full-moon articles. The new moon presents us with many potentialities for the month, whereas the full moon refers to what was actualized, beginning by making us aware of the Sun–Moon opposition. This new moon will have two major themes, as discussed earlier, symbolized by the Trapeze and the T-Square configurations. The Trapeze involves the transpersonal planets and it is more likely to develop on the world stage while the T-Square will develop along more personal lines.

If we go back to the new-moon chart, it is easy to see that all six planets involved in the Trapeze are directly connected, making it a very stable configuration with only one “hard” aspect, the opposition of Sun–Moon with Pluto, the expression of ourselves in front of the power of our culture. In this lunation, it can lead to violent confrontations (Mars in opposition to the North Node of life experiences) although the full moon will arrive with a powerful Kite with Mars as leader opposing Neptune, the pilot. The full moon promises to be exciting; I began to prepare the article already.

Regarding the T-Square, we will need to go back to February of last year and see if we identified a need or had a desire for something to change in our relationships. As we said earlier, it could also apply to art or finances. The change should have developed, either internally or externally, through the year, reaching a climax last December. However, last August progress might have stalled for what appeared to be external reasons. The closing square will force us to reaffirm consciously our commitment to the change or the new endeavor. With Mars aligned with the nodal axis, there will be plenty of opportunities and synchronicities for these reflections. And the Sabian symbol guarantees that Sun will energize such a change.

Wrapping Up…

As we said earlier, we are living a period of creative destruction, so I am sorry but things will get worse before they get better. More than ever, we must drop into our breath and calm our mind.

Even though observation and reflection are the two key activities for the month, there is more than enough energy (Sun in Leo) to act on sudden realizations for needed changes that may occur.

On astronomical news, data continues to pour about 3i/ATLAS, the third interstellar object, thus the ‘3i’ designation, to visit us. It has just developed a coma so technically it is a comet that will pass exactly once through the solar system. I will follow up with more information once it is available but the comet is bringing information from far beyond our neighborhood.

Please don’t forget to declare your intention prior to Thursday’s new moon.

Always Love. 🌹🙏💖

1. The full complement of eight lunation phases is: New (0°), Crescent (45°), First Quarter (90°), Gibbous (135°), Full (180°), Disseminating (225°), Last Quarter (270°) and Balsamic (315°). ↩︎
2. In general, this is true of all planetary processes. After all, a planet’s current position is just farther in the helical path of its process from the position it had at birth. However, it is most obvious with processes that work subconsciously, like those of Uranus and Neptune. Chiron’s orbit spans that of Saturn and Uranus, so we can work consciously on the subconscious Chiron “hurt”. ↩︎
3. Dane Rudhyar and Marc Edmund Jones corresponded and even met in 1933 but Rudhyar was not a student of MEJ or a member of the Sabian Assembly, a community founded by MEJ to apply the teachings of a Sabian civilization that flourished in Mesopotamia. There is evidence of a Sabaean civilization from around 1200 BCE to 275 CE in modern day Yemen and “the Sabians” are referenced in the Quran as “People of the Book”, thus freed from Islamic prosecution, but whose origin or fate is currently unknown. ↩︎