I will keep remarks brief(ish) this week since I poured a lot of thoughts on upcoming astro weather into a monthly post on Virgo Season 2022.

The Sun and Mars make a real “reluctant rivals forced to work together” action movie duo, coloring the week with an itchy feeling that’s geared toward dynamic problem-solving. The engine under the hood of this mean machine is Mercury in Virgo, clean and calm and ready to research deeply, due to a positive aspect to Pluto. This is a powerful configuration for productivity.

Venus’ position at the start of this week is also notable. She is still looking loud and vibrant in Leo, but may have a little trouble on her hands. For one thing, a trine to Chiron may leave her feeling vulnerable and inadequate, things Venus never likes to feel and especially not in Leo. There is potential to face down insecurities and rise from this stronger, but the process may feel uncomfortable. The real problem is that for the next few days (and especially when the moon runs into Venus on Thurs 8/25,) Venus may trigger the volatile Uranus-North Node conjunction, which may cause irrevocable and sudden change to preferences, values, self-image, etc. Sashay with caution.

Friday (8/26) sees Mercury enter Libra, where he will be taking orders from that very same Venus – so she will be on the brain. Mercury will go retrograde in this sign next month, so the process of rethinking attitudes and pathways around Venusian issues – fashion, aesthetic, self-presentation – may be brewing here. Mercury still performs well in Libra, but while it has a lot of great thoughts and ideas, may lack follow-through. Still, inspiration is more likely to strike even if analytical ability takes a hit. Mercury will spend a lot of time in relationship to Mars in Gemini and Jupiter in Aries retrograde during this and next week, and should get us thinking around how to be more efficient and capable.

The new moon in Virgo is on Saturday, 8/27, and will highlight much of what has already been described as major elements of the coming lunar month. The coming days pass without major fanfare. The only other major aspect to discuss is, unfortunately, more trouble for Venus. It may feel like it all rolls into the previously described business, but late on Sunday (8/28,) Venus will perfect an opposition to Saturn retrograde in Aquarius. Here, we can see that the week’s Uranian volley may have rocked our sense of Venus – again, around aesthetics or attraction, values – and that the structure of Venus’ influence on our lives has become harder to recognize, that it may be in need of revision or overhaul. Mileage may vary big time, though this will have greatest effect on those with fixed placements around 20 degrees. Venus will soon leave Leo, but it looks to me like the upcoming Mercury retrograde, occurring in a Venus-ruled sign, will carry on this story. More on that as it develops.

Until next Hump Day!