We didn’t have a summer to speak of here in the Pacific Northwest and now it feels like fall already – although goddess knows I’m not complaining, given what everyone else has suffered this year. I’m sure you’d all love nice fall weather, and maybe even a few months of arctic winter.

I had another opportunity to go to the coast this past week, bringing my official days off to a whopping three in the past year. I feel downright lazy. We arrived just as the fog had rolled in, accompanied by a temperature drop of nearly 30 degrees in less than half an hour. But the sand was still warm beneath my bare feet, and standing in the fog, in low tide, not on land and not on water, I felt like I wasn’t in this world at all. It was the most effective mental reboot I’ve ever had.

There are two major shifts this week that will make it feel even more like fall, even though the first day of autumn is still a month away. On Wednesday, the Sun enters earthy Virgo, sign of the harvest and other practical considerations. On Thursday, Mars enters Scorpio, the sign of the underworld and what I like to call the “compost sign.” In Scorpio, the old and wilted rots away and provides the energy for new life to form in the spring.

Before Pluto was discovered, Mars was the ruler of Scorpio, which also is the sign of desire and passion. I’m curious to see whether a new trend forms in relationships. Saturn, as you know, has been in Libra since early 2010 and is about to enter Scorpio in October. During the years that Saturn was in Libra, I witnessed deep changes in many relationships, including my own. I was talking with a friend the other day who is in a relationship with man with Asperger’s syndrome. Friends who don’t understand the complexities of the disorder believe she is cheating herself, that she should find someone more social (my friend is a Leo party girl) and more “normal.” But she told me that she is happier with herself than ever in her life, because she has learned true compassion. I know what she means. This, I believe, was one of the lessons we had to go back and relearn after Saturn went retrograde at 29 degrees Libra in February. We thought we had it all figured out, only to learn that there was a whole lot more to the story.

Mars conjoined Saturn last week, and I think we may get a hint of what’s to come when Saturn finally leaves Libra on October 5. Amplifying this “carrying forward” of energy, the Moon conjoins Saturn and Mars on Tuesday and enters Scorpio on Wednesday. Are we seeing a pattern here?

Both the Sun and Mars aspect Neptune this week. The Sun opposes the planet of idealism and delusion on Friday, while Mars makes a harmonious trine on Saturday. My fog experience is probably a good metaphor for these aspects. Not on land, not in water, but somewhere in an indescribable “in-between,” like being in another dimension of reality. I was totally disoriented, literally “in a fog,” and yet I was OK with the uncertainty and didn’t panic, even though I couldn’t see the shore or the ocean and had no point of reference. The Sun in Virgo is fully grounded and able to stay steady so that we can have the ultimate Neptune in Pisces experience without going over the edge.

Otherwise, Virgo is the yummiest time in the Northern Hemisphere, when the full bounty of the summer harvest is in and we have fresh choices fit for a goddess.

There are a couple of other aspects this week, but those are the major ones, so I’m going to stop here and get back to work on reports. After all, I had my one day of rest this week.

Much love and courage to all,
Pat