Open Up or Sink Like a Stone - Transits for the Week of August 5th

Welcome to the series on weekly transits, out every Monday afternoon!

As we prepare for a truly spectacular show of celestial fireworks next week, I’m seeing people dividing themselves into two camps: those bracing for the worst, hardening themselves preemptively, and those reaching out to lend a hand or collaborate.

Next week, Mars will square Saturn, and I think a lot of people feel the tension mounting. It’s understandable that people would attempt to shore up their defenses. But that often equates to becoming more insular. And it’s essential to know that being alone is not how people survive.

As evidenced works like Rebecca Solnit’s A Paradise Built in Hell or Sebastian Junger’s Tribe, the people who survive disasters are the people who come together. And further, the worst circumstances have a funny way of bringing out the best in people. 

The transits for the week are a perfect example. Tension is building, sure. But we have Mercury conjunct Venus the whole way through.

Mercury is retrograde in Virgo, where it has lots of power to make trouble. Things are going to go wrong!

But Venus is right there, holding Mercury’s hand and showing us that if we turn toward each other, we will also turn toward the light.

Yesterday, the brakes on my car failed. Luckily, this was right as I was skidding into my father’s driveway to visit him and my sister who happened to be in town. I walked in the house in clear distress, and they took action. Between my Cancer father’s robust community and my Gemini sister’s project management skills, we had a plan in motion almost immediately. Today my car was towed to a shop where my father knows the owner, and my sister somehow negotiated down the rates so that I can actually afford not only to have the brakes fixed, but a full diagnostic.

At the same time, the dogs at my dad’s house were having crises. One rolled in something and was also having trouble breathing due to the extreme heat, and the other had a sick stomach. As my father and sister were helping me, I jumped in to take care of the dogs, getting them washed and calmed and cared for.

And in repayment for her help, my sister, who has been touch-starved since her husband passed away a few years ago, simply asked me to hug her for a long time, and I squeezed her until she felt alive again.

Things went wrong. Things kept going wrong. And with every new crisis, we all reached out to the best of our ability to make things easier. That’s what family is. That’s what community is. And that’s the blessing this week brings.

This week, when it feels like you’re going to lose it, turn toward one another. Offer help. Ask for help. Give someone the biggest hug ever. Or close down and be miserable. It’s your choice.

Want to know more about how transits affects you personally? Book a reading! And remember, until August 21st, you can save 20% off your next reading using Promo Code LEO.