Previously: Have you identified the forces of Saturn and Pluto as they are working in your life now? (see Step 1) Now you need to bring them both into harmony inwardly: the need for control and the need for psychological truth. Sense where they may be incompatible, and ask your Soul how they can be combined in a constructive way. Then explore how they can be brought together in harmony within the two areas in which they are currently working in your life. If you have not worked that out, then just work with the two principles. Balance the two together and see if there are any structures in your life which are emerging to fulfil the hopes and plans you have around these issues. The whole thing may crystallize and merge in your mind. If that doesn’t happen immediately, let it simmer until Monday’s aspect occurs. Is there any action or idea you need to put into place before then to help the process along? It’s a chance to make your life work, but there will be others. Project forward to what you may be doing at 10.35 a.m. (UK time) on Monday 6 August. As you tune in, you may see the huge pattern of your life and how it intersects with this event. The following quote by Howard Sasportas, though not quite in context, may be relevant for some: “When transiting Pluto aspects Saturn, a force is set into operation which challenges the boundaries, limitations, and inhibitions we have imposed on ourselves.”

As you read this you may already be under the spell of Mercury trine Uranus which occurred in the early hours of this morning. Have you planned anything exciting for today? Be assured it will turn out to be exciting. If you haven’t planned anything exciting, the excitement may turn out to be all in your head, virtual worlds and telepathy having free rein today in the mental realms. If you are feeling any emotional uneasiness, then that is probably down to the upcoming Full Moon, which is exact in the early hours of tomorrow (30th) morning. The Moon itself will be in Aquarius, so the emotion will be group-driven, while the Sun is in Leo the sign of the individual. This is the polarity which needs to be balanced now. It brings to mind the phrase by Theodore Roszak: “The needs of the planet are the needs of the person”, though your own immediate group will do for working this one out. Mars squares Saturn on Tuesday (31st) which could bring about some hard bargaining, but hopefully you have enough finesse and sensitivity to contribute to the most satisfactory outcome for all concerned. What you need to avoid is being drawn into the victim-victimizer loop. If there’s one day in which the Sun is most likely to shine, that’s Thursday (2nd): Jupiter trines the Sun in Leo that day, and that’s as much of a long-range weather forecast you’ll get from me this week (I’m wondering if I should do a separate blog on the astrological weather patterns, but on second thoughts…I don’t think I could do better than the Meteorological Office). The Sun-Jupiter trine isn’t only about the weather, in fact it’s mostly about you allowing the Sun to shine into two areas of your life, one of them having a creative connection and the other having an application which expands your mind. If you’re on holiday, then this could be one of your highlights. If you’re at home, it’s good for landscaping the garden. If you’re in the office (doesn’t everyone work in an office?) you might find ways of improving working conditions, employee relations, and more organized practices. And there’s more! Friday (3rd) brings a snappy sextile between Mercury and Mars, so if you’re on holiday the surfing will be cool, in the garden all those weeds will be out in no time, and in the office those excel spreadsheets will ensure maximum efficiency. On Saturday (4th) Mercury joins the Sun in Leo so there is more chance that the weather will tow the official August line.

Previously…”a call to start working with the potential of the Saturn-Pluto trine…as it connects Leo and Sagittarius it also connects two areas of your life and you can enhance the effect of the mutual support of these two planets.” Your handy guide to 6 August: First identify which two areas of your life Saturn and Pluto have been operating in during the last couple of years. The Saturn area is one in which you have had to streamline and make cuts. The Pluto area is one in which you have had to dig deep psychologically. Astrology by numbers: If you know your Ascendant, then you can count to see which houses are involved, bearing in mind that Saturn will be at 26 degrees Leo and Pluto at 26 degrees Sagittarius and there are 30 degrees to a house and a sign. Now assess what you and the Universe have been working towards in those two areas, and start to evaluate how they could come together in a positive way, in perhaps a new structure, with your conscious intention and with the help of cosmic forces which help the divine plan unfold. Coming next week – Step 2: When you have had a chance to identify the two areas and digest what is required, you can work more closely with the psycho-spiritual orientation which will enable a new foundation for your life, or for the planet if you are working on a bigger canvas.

If it’s all been too much lately, what with needless worrying about the fate of Harry Potter, then it’s a good day to hibernate today. The TV images of underwater towns and villages in the UK will be swimming in and out of your dreams and meditations, and you need to rest and digest…and wonder how it connects with the healing of the earth last Tuesday. The Sun enters Leo tomorrow (23rd), its home resort, and somewhere in the world the Sun must be shining even if it’s not through your office or conservatory window. The focus for the day is our relationship with that warmth: to find it, inside or outside, literal or metaphorical. We do need to draw benefit from the Sun’s rays, without fear or guilt. Fear and guilt could be components of Tuesday’s (24th) Mars square Neptune, an aspect which may be partly responsible for those TV images of underwater towns and villages…Incidentally, someone said I made last week sound too exciting, so I am going for blander this week (how am I doing?). Mars square Neptune is not necessarily bland, but more insidious, like water seeping everywhere, pollution under the surface, and political scandals bubbling away. They are things you may not necessarily see, but will certainly suspect. So if you need to take any remedial action, uncover the real truth first. Venus goes stationary on Friday (27th) in early Virgo, just as you were coming to love your new glamorous mission of saving the environment. You will see it’s now one step back for the time being, perhaps taking a more subservient role – you might need to play Mrs. Mop rather than Mrs. Bucket until Venus returns to that position…hang on in there, your true identity and life purpose is waiting in the wings.

Reality beckons as I work on a dossier on the astrological factors behind depression, but how I loved to hear about the many ways people created the space for the healing of the earth on Tuesday. At ancient temples, meadows and lavender fields, communing with sacred mystical poets, in solitude in candlelit homes…Under normal circumstances I wouldn’t recommend walking a spiral on Parker’s Piece in the rain, but it was very meaningful: to think of all that love and goodwill interpenetrating the earth, air, fire and water. Some of us too have felt that there has been a subtle shift since that time, enabling us to make decisions we hadn’t dreamt possible before, and whispers from the Cosmos of choice and co-creation. It was backed up by the sextile of Mars and Uranus last night (“Could that have been divine design?” asked Felicity), bringing anticipation to fever pitch over the launch of the last Harry Potter book!

The week begins and ends with a Mars aspect, so it’s Mars week. Time to dust down your Inner Warrior costume if it doesn’t get out much, and see if it needs pressing, mending or embroidering. Monday’s square between Mars and Chiron recommends we do that, because if we are not conscious of how we are using our Mars energy we can cause havoc. So tomorrow (16th) could bring a healing crisis, triggering the need for such a review. Why not get in ahead, and start now. Sit on your deckchair on the beach (wearing your rainhat), reading “The Way of the Peaceful Warrior” by Dan Millman. I must confess I have never read it, but love the title and quote it often. Now you’ll need the Eco-Warrior within for Tuesday (17th), in order to join in the Fire the Grid attempt to heal the damage we have caused to the Earth. I am assuming you will do it, because why wouldn’t you? In case you have spent the last week on another planet, read Shelley Yates’ account on the web of her miraculous escape from drowning and her son’s miraculous revival, reasons enough. I will be on Parker’s Piece in Cambridge, wearing my carnation and waving my banner, and then healing for all I’m worth at 11:11 GMT, that’s 12:11 Cambridge-time. Mars is in Taurus right now, so that helps to channel energy into the earth. The Moon will be conjunct Venus at that time, so there may be a gentle shift to reverse the tide of thoughtlessness. Wednesday would be a good day to conduct a further re-evaluation of your Inner Warrior. How was Tuesday for you? What have you learned about your Mars energy so far this week, how can you refine it, and what might you need to change to get the best out of Friday’s (20th) Mars sextile Uranus? There’s an aura of excitement about this aspect, and an electrical energy in the air (thunderstorms often occur when Mars connects with Uranus). Things to do: Celebrate life; Plan a surprise for someone; Go out of your comfort zone; Conduct a telepathy experiment; Feel the fear and do it anyway (another book I haven’t read but like the title of). Friday night is not a night for couch potatoes.

Perhaps the next few days will see, in the Fire the Grid project, a more subtle uniting of people than in the recent Concerts. It is inviting people of all religious and spiritual persuasions to join in pulsing healing into the earth. The chart for 11:11 GMT on Tuesday 17th July, when we are to focus our efforts, shows the North Node on the cusp of the 6th House (environmental healing), the Moon conjunct Venus (a fusion of the feminine forces, and healing through harmlessness) in addition to the powerful link with the Galactic Centre. And on the fringes of our understanding, there is a sextile of transiting Quaoar in Sagittarius to Chiron, which could signal a real hope for the healing of our planet Earth. That was a tip off, from a friend.

It may be no coincidence that Shelley Yates is urging us to Fire the Grid on Tuesday, or rather the Light Beings who are helping her. Pluto is a powerful planet in terms of shaping mass thoughtforms and it seems powerfully placed at the Galactic Centre. So environmental efforts on behalf of the planet would seem a good way to harness that source of energy. In addition “Starlight Elixirs” by Michael Smulkis and Fred Rubenfeld point to creative and unifying qualities in the Galactic Centre: “The centre of the galaxy is an origination point for energies of creative force. After these energies have manifested in the physical, what is left are guiding lights, gentle influences, more ideas, more potential, but not things that are forced into consciousness…Knowledge, wisdom, art, and the things that are the highest and best of humanity are then integrated and combined in the person. Cross-cultural stimulation is the current form for this.”

Verity: “Sorry to be ignorant but what is the Galactic Centre? It sounds like Dr. Spock ought to be there”. Sharon replied knowledgeably: “The Galactic Centre is the Centre of the Galaxy”. This was a fine line between a blog and a blag…and Sharon knew it. Pluto was said to be at the Galactic Centre over the next few days, and though it sounded important, she did not have a frame of reference for it. The last time it had happened was in the middle of the 18th Century, and that was during one of her non-astrological incarnations…

Someone asked me yesterday what was coming up in the week ahead…I had to confess that I wouldn’t know until this morning. Apart from the broad sweeping aspects like the Saturn-Neptune opposition we have just negotiated, I don’t get involved in the aspects until they are upon us. As I write this on Sunday morning, Mars is exactly sextile with the North Node, bringing a day when you can go for your karmic mission, both individually and collectively. What’s your role in the divine plan? Are you a wannabe Madonna or an Al Gore? Weigh up realistically what you can and can’t do. This evening’s events are a good opportunity to resolve long-term relationships, to put goodbye or hello in a positive frame. This is because Venus trines Pluto in the early hours of tomorrow morning. If the main event is tonight, then be as honest as you can be for your own sake as much as for others, and set the record straight. If tomorrow is a time of stock-taking in relationships, this can take the form of a dialogue or an internal process, sifting through the past. Many of us have been impatient for Mercury to stop vacillating and for our communications and tele-communications to go back to their normal working functions. So wait only until Tuesday (10th) when Mercury goes stationary. If your phone or your commuter route hasn’t returned to normal by then, just give it a little more time for the re-orientation. You shouldn’t need to call on Uri Geller to mend your watch, Mercury can and will do it. By Wednesday (11th), you’ll be canceling the appointment with Uri, and be able to bend your own spoons or whatever phenomena you would like to achieve under the smiling trine of Uranus to the Sun. Telepathy, telekinesis, teleportation…just do it yourself. Dispense with the expert. The New Moon in Cancer on Saturday 14th at Noon helps us to re-formulate our relationship to our family life, and also look beyond that to our global tribe. One week on from Live Earth, are you still calculating your carbon footprint? Is your recycling going to plan, or like me are you still rubbish at it? Venus leaves behind its glitzy side in Leo later that day, and enters the more demure sign of Virgo. Some of us can see both sides in our make-up, but it will be easier to express the Mother Teresa within under this influence. My last word is a call to start working with the potential of the Saturn-Pluto trine in about a month’s time. I’ll write more later, but as it connects Leo and Sagittarius it also connects two areas of your life and you can enhance the effect of the mutual support of these two planets. Maybe I should be organizing the Concert….