astro-clock-italy-sm.jpgWelcome! This is the 6/25/12 edition of Magickal Monday: Your Guide to the Week Ahead. Every Monday, I’ll take a look at what kind of planetary energies are available for you to weave into magickal workings — and not just formal, ritual workings. An awareness of the planetary energies is also very helpful for the kind of small, spontaneous  magicks Witches and Pagans often do when we are tending our altars, doing a little energetic cleansing and blessing at work while straightening our desks, or soothing a child who has had a bad day at school. Astrology also helps us guide our meditations and other personal spiritual practices so we can work with the prevailing tides and align ourselves with Nature

(Please note that all times are in EDT. Add or subtract depending on your time zone)

The week begins with a discriminating Virgo Moon, waxing towards the first quarter.  This is great energy to use for organizing, fixing machinery, cleaning , creating plans. Be very careful on Monday to keep criticism and fault-finding to a bare minimum. Just because you can see someone else's problems clearly doesn’t mean you need to communicate that information — but if you must, then check in with your tact and compassion first. Tempers can flare when the Moon gets together with Mars, but it can help you stand up for yourself, as well.

Also on Monday, Saturn goes direct. It’s been retrograde in Libra since February, and if you’ve had some projects or situations that seem stalled, you may find that things begin to change over the next few weeks as it regains speed. Monday’s Mars-Moon conjunction in Virgo will help you figure out how to get over, around or through any obstacles that have been blocking you, and plan the course.  Then take that plan to your altar...

 Mercury moves into Leo late Monday, and we’ll see issues of creative self-expression emphasized.  (I’m going to take a little political digression here — if you  just want to get on with your week, jump down below the second line of asterisks)

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Mercury in Leo in the year of a hotly-contested presidential election can bring both bombast and dignity to the national conversation. (Bombast strikes me as inevitable. I pray for dignity). Both Obama and Romney have sensitive natal placements in Leo, and Mercury — the Trickster god, the Great Communicator — will be retrograding over them, so the effects of this transit will be quite noticeable.  It will conjunct and go retrograde on Obama’s Sun in July, suggesting that his stature as President will be illuminated — and he may well have an opportunity to shine as a leader; even be seen as heroic. But it’s equally likely that accusations of arrogance and high-handedness will be thrown at him. Possibly, both perceptions will be differing interpretations of a single event or issue.

Romney has a natal Saturn-Neptune conjunction at the IC (the point oppose the Midheaven [MC]) and Venus conjunct the MC. This configuration is reflected in the perception of Romney as an out-of-touch, super-rich one-percenter. Mercury’s transit of these points will emphasize this issue, while he will be attempting to project himself as a elder, conservative, statesman (Saturn in Leo). But Neptune is involved with this Mercury transit in both men’s charts, and truth will be hard to find among the glamour, obfuscation, moral one-upsmanship, outright deception, and probably scandal as well. The only way to handle Neptune’s involvement with a transit beneficially is to work at a level of expanded and open-hearted spirituality that can rarely be found in the political realms. So what we’ll get, no doubt, is a whole lot of holier-than-thou.

I’ll talk more about this Mercury transit and how it plays out in the charts of both candidates in the upcoming weeks.
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As Mercury moves into Leo, take a look at your natal chart and find the house/houses in which Leo falls. Then think about how you can do a better job of communicating your unique perspectives in the areas of life covered by those houses.

Tuesday brings the waxing quarter-Moon, in the currently very sensitive early degrees of cardinal signs. They are sensitive because of the ongoing Uranus-Pluto square, now at 8 degrees of Aries and Capricorn respectively. Tuesday’s Sun-Moon square in Cancer and Libra forms a grand cross with these two heavy hitters, and may well trigger change in any ongoing issues in your life.

The grand cross is a very stable configuration that can be antagonistic, and brings the irresistible force to meet the immoveable object. Cardinal signs are very active, and can be explosive, especially if their forward-moving energy is frustrated by an impasse (force, meet object). The way out of this potentially difficult configuration is through Venus. It seems to stand still in the sky now for a few days,  stationing direct on Wednesday. The quarter-Moon in Libra trine Venus in Gemini with the Sun moving into conjunction suggests that clear and compassionate communication is the best way out of any conflicted, stuck situations.

The Moon continues her journey through relationship-oriented Libra on Wednesday, as Libra’s ruling planet, Venus, turns direct. Relationship issues are highlighted, and, as Venus picks up speed over the coming weeks, places you’ve felt stuck around relationships, balance, and possibly money, will begin to shift — in what direction, depends on your natal chart.

In the early morning hours of Thursday, the Moon conjuncts Saturn. Get all your stuff for the next day organized before you go to bed Wednesday, and you’ll thank yourself in the morning. The Moon moves into Scorpio late Thursday afternoon, then squares Mercury a few hours later. Try really, really hard not to take yourself — or anyone else — too seriously. Things tend to get intense and personal when the Moon is in Scorpio, and the square to Mercury suggests that you might want to take a deep breath and step back from a situation before communicating anything that might come back to bite you, especially if your emotions are involved.

The Moon trines Neptune as it squares Mercury, which suggests bringing some of that previously-mentioned open-hearted spirituality into any difficulties the evening may bring — but it could also just mean a bit of technical trouble with the DVD while watching Lord of the Rings for the (ahem!, mumble, mumble) time. Fantasy (Neptune) movie (Moon and Neptune) marathons (Scorpio) are a nice way to hide out from the prevailing winds.

Friday brings the Sun to 8 degrees of Cancer. Yup, it’s squaring Uranus and opposing Pluto. This can be a trigger for events on any stage, from personal to global. If you have personal planet natal placements in the first half of cardinal signs and things are feeling a little out-of-control, remember the Tower card. While its symbolism is that of destruction, it also brings enlightenment and the clearing away of old, confining structures. A clean slate lets you rebuild with who you are now in mind, unconfined by shackles from your past.

With the Moon still in the deep waters of Scorpio, this might be a good night to do divination and ritual around seeing what needs to change in your life and being open to it, looking particularly at issues of personal empowerment and facing the Shadow, that part of ourselves that we deny. With Uranus-Pluto, resistance to change is futile, but if you work consciously with it, the change will be ultimately beneficial.

The mood of the weekend lightens as the Moon moves into Sagittarius Saturday evening, first squaring Neptune, then opposing Jupiter,  trining Mercury, and opposing Venus. This screams excess, escapism, indulgence. Have fun, but put the bottle down. Really. You’ll thank me in the morning.

If you didn’t heed my warning, then Sunday morning’s sesquiquadrate of Venus to Saturn will be reflected in your hangover. For the rest of us, it’s the siren call of the easy chair vs. the scolding voice of the inner parent insisting that we clean house and organize the office.

With both Saturn and Venus turning direct, Jupiter squaring Neptune, and the Sun coming to the Uranus-Pluto square, I expect the financial markets to continue to be volatile — in fact, I expect the volatility to increase. I also expect volatility in weather and on the political stage. These planetary signatures suggest a tendency towards panic, and, given the situation in the European Union, I would not be at all surprised to see a panicked response to some development there.

That’s all for this week! Leave any questions you may have in the comments section and I’ll address them.