Shining in face of challenge, the Moon becomes full at 17.37°of Capricorn. Loosely conjoined a retrograde Saturn and opposite to Mercury, who jumped into the pool of Cancer with the Sun on August 1st. The consciousness depositing our Moon cycle, is the nakshatra Sravana.

The gripping both of our minds (Moon and Mercury) are two great teachers: the Sun, and Saturn. Presenting us with unavoidable reckonings, of where do we want to go and what is the best path to get us there?

August is a fast and fiery activated month separated by two distinct periods. The first half of August we are more focused on our desires with Venus joined Rahu in Gemini and with a now fast moving Mercury moving into the sign of Cancer from August 1st -16th.

Our creative energies are more prominent and fluid, even though there is a tense aspect from Saturn to Mercury in Cancer and with the Full Moon in Capricorn (a Saturn sign) on the 3rd of August, the first half of the month is communicating a need of structure to our creative flow, our desires, to put the ideas into form in this new reality we are living in.

Coming home to the arms of the nourishing mother, the Moon merges with the Sun at 4°18 degrees of Cancer in the nakshatra of Pushya where she comes under the stoic gaze of Saturn.

Saturn, the lord of time and consequences, gifts our new Moon cycle with a state of emotional courage and emotional fortitude. Directing its energy into our heart and minds, where we can make inroads stabilising our sense of self and our actions. The tough love lesson of the new Moon is how to trust ourselves, depend on ourselves and understand ourselves in the most intimate and concrete of ways. Knowing where we stand firm, dialling into our sense of when to act and in which direction.

As the Moon is waxing, it enters the last doorway of the summer eclipse season in the highly charged zone of Sagittarius. Arriving at her fullness at 19° becoming partially eclipsed in the gateway of change for the last dialog of what must come and what remains to be completed.

This is not only the final of the eclipses of Summer it is the last in the axis of Gemini and Sagittarius and it begins the final week of the phenomena of all the planets ganging up on one side of the eclipse axis.

Leaving the side of Saturn and his place of debilitation, Jupiter returns home to fiery Sagittarius, his place of strategy and sermon, casting his gaze onto the signs of Aries, Gemini and Leo.

Jupiter returns to a hot zone, the place of the December 2019 eclipse, the one that kicked everything off for 2020, and the place of our last Summer eclipse on July 5th.

The year of 2020 is complex and this solar eclipse is no less so. The eclipse that kicked off our revolution was the December 2019 eclipse, in Sagittarius involving six planets, it was the opening of the door to this bizarre, accelerated and paralyzing year of 2020 and now we are on the other side of its axis where the annular solar eclipse takes place the galactic plane on June 21st at 6°13 Gemini the lunar house of Mrigrashira when the Sun is at its zenith.

The Moon reaches her fullness at 21° Scorpio gripped in its state of debilitation, reflecting the world in its unsettled state and instability shaking the ground beneath us.

As the weight of our darkest shadows fall upon us, burdened by repression our pain arises, while it connects us all with the strength that comes when we face our biggest fears—fears of loss, shame, speaking out and being seen.

Opening our minds to curiosity, intelligence, and intentional observation. Mercury charges into Gemini rushing to meet Rahu reviving our quick thinking, our flexible nature giving us a great dimension to our intelligence and our wit helping us rein in the chaos. Mercury’s extended stay is due to his retrograde from June 18th through July 12th adding a fourth planet to our retrograde season. His retrograde will make him stronger and with a strong and powerful retrogradeVenus these two planets two are opening key avenues by creating more constructive dialogues and meaningful connections where we can build on tangible results based on our ideas, conversations and connections.

Arriving in the sign that exalts her, the Moon merges with the Sun at 8° of Taurus where she is greeted by Venus and Mercury. The nakshatra filling our consciousness is Krittika nakshatra, located in the Pleiades, a star field ruled by the Sun and the deity Agni, where it is said that our soul comes into being, whose shakti lies in its precision and ignition.

The New Moon is dominated by a powerful Venus and the earth-based constellation of Taurus, putting the spotlight on our security and that which nourishes us. Here all four planets are under the gaze of two powerful planets, Mars and a retrograde Jupiter, both equally irritated. Venus awakens the desire of Mars, suggesting that the new Moon cycle is where we will be looking to our personal sense of leadership to assess our position and the seeking of guidance on how to rejuvenate ourselves, how to reinvent ourselves, with a sharp eye watching our leadership.

Rahu reaches Mrigashira on May 20th a Mars ruled nakshatra in the shoulder of Orion, Mirgashira star field spans the early part of Gemini and the latter portion of Taurus. Nakshatras are very sensitive and they yield very different effects, in the different sections (pada’s) and signs. In this summary I will focus on the Gemini portion of Mirgrashira through September 22nd.

Rahu enters into Mrigashira at 6° 40 of Gemini under the influence of Mars, indicating that the first two months are the most intense through August 18th, as Rahu moves into Mrigashira it breaks the alliance with Ketu in Mula nakshatra and begins to break away with the old energy.

Moving unusually fast Jupiter begins its retrograde motion at 3:06° degrees in the sign of Capricorn returning to Sagittarius on June 30th where it continues to backtrack until September 13th.

Retrograde patterns bring the energy of the planets closer to the Earth pushing their agenda and as three key planets having changed their path this month, the two most authoritative planets Jupiter and Saturn, Saturn representing the public and Jupiter is the law and our intelligence this combination indicates a break as Saturn behaves in retrograde very rebellious and Jupiter where our thinking becomes clouded and in Sagittarius he becomes righteous.

Venus retrograde May 13th-June 25th

As she transforms from an evening star into our morning star Venus begins her retrograde at 27.42 degrees in her own house of Taurus, affecting our relationships, luxuries, comforts and convenience. Retrograde cycles are a normal part of the planetary rhythms and for Venus this occurs about every 18 months. Venus is a benefic planet and its effects are not as heavy as Saturn or Mars and right now she is quite strong in her own house, indicating that she will help us a lot during these trying times.

Slowing down to take a turn in its path through Capricorn, Saturn takes us back beginning its retrograde at 7°49 returning to where we have already been.

As part of his yearly cycle Saturn naturally retrogrades however 2020 is an extraordinary year of planetary shifts and this week is no exception, not only is Saturn retrograding, Venus and Jupiter joining in the lets all revisit and question everything phase.

Bathing in the light of the Sun the Moon reaches its fullness at 23º12 at the tail end of Libra in the lunar house of Vishaka bringing in some clarity an awakening to polarised issues, the aha moment we need to get some perspective.

Aspected by Saturn, Rahu and Mercury the tension and turbulence in the atmosphere is palatable. The planetary energies surrounding the full Moon are intense as the Moon builds strength so does Saturn, Jupiter and Venus all now stationing to begin their retrograde within a week of the Full Moon and with Mars in Aquarius under the influence of Rahu adding to the pressure.

Mars in Aquarius from May 4th until June 18th

We are well-underway inside a great paradigm shift, which has cracked us open, thrusting us into a world that we barely recognise. The month of May presents profound shifts astrologically with three planets going retrograde Saturn, Jupiter and Venus later this month making May quite a complex period.

Let's concentrate in this post on the transit of Mars into the sign of Aquarius and look at its implications during his six week stay.

The merging of our consciousness with our soul at 10° this Moon marks the start of the astrological New Year in the lunar house of the Ashwini, a house that bestows physical strength the power for swift action and results. Suggesting that the next 30 days is a period where our focus turns toward matters of work and activities outside of the home as we stand at the threshold of our emergence with a need to apply what we’ve learned from our reflections, creating a shift in our priorities and how to reallocate our resources in better ways.

The Moon, our mind, intersects with the Sun, our soul, at 11° Pisces taking its resource from Uttara Bhādrapadā, on the hunt for lasting meaning. The ruling deity Ahirbudhnyar is the root, the binder, the serpent of the depths its the Ananta Shesha, the force between the air and earth, the magnetic gravity seeking the essential truth, a serious place of digging and listening witnessing the nature of coming and going, of what can be created can also be destroyed, it searches for what is everlasting and our connection to it.

In a house of fire, the throne of the King the moon reaches her fullness in the house of Leo in Purva Phalguni nakshatra with both luminaries guiding us to make bold choices, strengthening our self-belief, taping into our motivation moving us forward awakening hope within our hearts.

Despite what we may think, there are always secrets tucked underneath everything we thought we knew. Discovering these can rattle us to the core, making sure nothing will ever quite be the same again. They're the missing pieces to our puzzle, helping to complete our picture. They reveal the deeper layers of our power, inevitably bringing us closer to our confidence, courage and to the light.

The intersection of our soul and consciousness takes place at 11° Aquarius on February 23rd in the lunar mansion of Shatabhisha, the lunar abode of containment and boundlessness and the relationship that exists between these two states of being.

The next 28 days is an especially free-thinking and visionary time and a time of healing and integration a transformation that is the result of some form of a crisis very likely pertaining not to the physical body, but to the atmosphere that surrounds the individual. It can bring forth events that involve the shifting of a life situation that previously carried an element of containment. The breaking of a shadowy spell or the casting off of a restriction from some form of indebtedness is being brought into balance.

Within the abode of the divine feminine, the Moon becomes full at 26° Cancer in the nakshatra of Ashlesha a place ruled by Naga.

Coiled at the base of the spine, the Naga realm is the space beyond the mind that taps into the most fundamental power currents of our being. It is this source of universal energy that, if harnessed correctly, can be used to completely transform consciousness.

Ashlesha Moons cling and protects what it does not want to part with, it’s a hypnotic place an alchemical and transformative awakening of the energies from below the surface. Suggesting that this full Moon will awaken matters during this cycle will be insightful, yet likely a struggle for us to let go of.