Stellar Insights: July 23 - 29, 2018

How do you give without giving yourself away? How do express love to another without sacrificing the love you have for yourself? How do find acceptance for another while still accepting that maintaining boundaries is essential?

These are some of the questions we may find ourselves reflecting upon this week as love planet Venus comes into opposition with all-is-one Neptune. As we consider these queries, and embody the answers that we begin to generate, we may find ourselves filled with a sense of flow and healing.

Our desire for softness and disdain for that which feels harsh or rigid may open us to a greater level of allowance. And while at times this allowance can dissolve barriers and inspire both compassion and revelation, it’s important to watch that it also doesn’t just let us slide into being OK with things that really aren’t OK. Be careful that your longings for the ideal don’t cloud your vision, having you see what it is that you want to see, but which may not be what is actually appearing. It may be a time when we find that the projections of the absolute that we’ve put upon something or someone crumble a bit as we see it/them for the reality of themselves.

That’s not to say that this removal of the veil is all challenging. After all, it’s a time when we can tap into the sweetness that resides deep within us, allowing us to invite into our lives that which would more fully move, touch, and inspire us.

Opening to the imaginal, to the quiet spaces within ourselves, and to the center piece that is our heart can steady us and be quite revealing. With Mercury moving ever so slowly this week, as it approaches the advent of its retrograde cycle on Thursday, adopting an unhurried pace and posture—whenever is possible—may help us sidestep stress that could otherwise manifest. With Mercury Retrograde we want to watch for information overload, and apply another level of discernment when it comes to the quality and quantity of how we communicate. So, as to keep things to a minimal, instead of writing more about Mercury Retrograde, I thought to share a link to a piece I wrote on it if you’d like more information.

An overarching feeling of the week may be a sense of amplification. Some of this may seem to be sourced from feeling that while it appears that we have a somewhat blank canvas upon which to create that we also know that its somewhat-blankness creates space that can give way to the unexpected arising. This makes sense given that as we stream through Eclipse Season, we have another of these lunations on Friday, a Full Moon Lunar Eclipse that features the Sun in Leo and the Moon in Aquarius. Yet, this time may feel even more electrified than we had anticipated, given that both Mars and Uranus tie into this Eclipse. I’ve written a piece that captures my reflections on the opportunities and challenges of this time which you can find here.

I want to leave you with this: Remember that Eclipses, while they reflect a period of heightened excitation and life-shifting potentiality, also may eclipse things: we may feel a sea change occurring yet not know what the shore we're heading towards looks like exactly. This is par for the course and so if a certain level of unclarity feels like it’s taken root, try not to let that inspire too much stress; see if by being with the ambiguity that that itself brings you more peace and a centering that connects you to new vistas of clarity.

Astrological Highlights

July 24

* Venus/Neptune Opposition

July 25

* Sun/Uranus Square

July 26

* Mercury Stations Retrograde

July 27

* Sun/Mars Opposition

* Aquarius Lunar Eclipse

* Venus/Pluto Trine