As I write, the sun is setting, and a huge patio party is just winding down next door. It was a scene right out of a movie, with lively music and food fit or a king. My neighbor, as it turns out, is a Leo. That guy really knows how to throw a party.

This is a fitting image for the week ahead. As the week begins, we’re still in the wake of an astrologically challenged but beautiful super moon. Despite the continuing trouble spots, the charts are actually encouraging (a good Leo word). Many of you have been struggling lately or, at the very least in a pattern of constant irritation, like fleas biting at your

ankles. It has been exasperating and energy sapping. It’s time to squeeze in some fun times with the people we love.

Spirits lift early Tuesday when Venus enters Leo. It’s time to dress up, add some bling, be overly dramatic, laugh too loud, overindulge, concede to vanity. Most of all, open your heart and let in the love. Too often, we take for granted the love that is around us every day. If you want the soul mate of your dreams to waltz into your life, or if you want to feel more love in general, you have to be in “receive” mode.

I’m reminded of an article I read many years ago quoting a D.C. socialite’s advice for getting a man to buy you jewelry. Her approach was to show sincere appreciation for every gift she received from a man, no matter how tacky or tasteless she thought it was. She recounted getting a cheap necklace, and rather than exchanging it or tucking it in the back of a drawer, she wore it out on a dinner date with her gentleman friend. Before they left, she asked him to help her with the clasp at the back of the neck. He continued to buy her jewelry, each piece more expensive than the last, and each time she let him know how pleased she was. Eventually, he gave her a very expensive, gorgeous necklace set with precious stones. When I read this story, my feminist sensitivities were horribly offended, and I dismissed the woman as shallow, materialistic, manipulative, and “unliberated.” But she was right about this: Appreciation and gratitude open our hearts to love and abundance. Responding to a gift with criticism and disappointment or failing to recognize it at all discourages the giver, whether it’s a person or the “universe” at large.

This message is especially timely as Venus moves toward conjunction with Leo next Monday (August 18, late August 17 in western time zones). Leo is the sign of the heart, and Jupiter and Venus are associated with luck and abundance. Contemplate what you want and need, and put it out there. I write it in my journal. This helps me recognize opportunities that come along that may not be exactly what I envisioned but that work. Sometimes I find just a piece, and the rest follows later. Getting what you want may happen bit by bit. That said, the conjunction of Venus and Jupiter in Leo is big and bold, so it’s entirely possible that we’ll get more of what we want in the next couple of weeks.

Now, I always mention this caveat: Before you can get what you want, you have to know what that is. Often, what we think we want isn’t what we truly need, and getting it can be the worst thing that could happen to us. Visualization techniques can go very wrong, too. I read a story once about a guy who wanted money, so he visualized thousands of dollars in his hands. Shortly afterwards, he got a job as a bank teller. If you know what the underlying need is, you can leave the specifics up to the universe. It’s critical this week that you think seriously about this – the earlier in the week, the better – because in the three days before Venus and Jupiter conjoin, they both form a jarring inconjunct with Neptune, planet of dreams and delusions. A good rule of thumb is to wish for what helps you achieve your life’s purpose. Even if you have no idea what that is, wish for it anyway. If fulfilling your life’s purpose requires a gold Ferrari, you’ll get it.

As long as I’m on the topic of inconjuncts, let’s get the other big one out of the way so that we can move on to the rest of this week’s good news. We just passed the sixth and final week of the Saturn-Uranus inconjunct by exact degree. As you’ll recall, Saturn stationed direct at 16 degrees Scorpio on July 20, and Uranus stationed retrograde the following day at 16 degrees Aries – an inconjunct by exact degree, all the more powerful with planets “stopped” (from our perspective on Earth). The inconjunct represents irreconcilable differences – as we’ve been witnessing in the tragic wars in Gaza and eastern Ukraine. It’s worth noting that both Scorpio and Aries are ruled by Mars, named for the Roman god of war. Modern Western astrologers assign Pluto as ruler of Scorpio, but until Pluto was discovered in 1930, that job fell to Mars. Most of us at least consider Mars as Scorpio’s co-ruler.

Not only do I believe that global conflicts have been exacerbated under this troublesome inconjunct, but I associate it with much of the aggravation in our personal lives as well. The Saturn-Uranus inconjunct will remain close through late September, during which time Mars and Saturn conjoin in Scorpio at the New Moon on August 25. I don’t like this at all, but it might bring the crisis necessary to knock some sense into the folks who find war gloriously entertaining and profitable. It likely will take until the end of the summer, but peace negotiations will get back on track.

Speaking of Ukraine, in my post last week and the week before, I discussed parallels between United States intervention there and in Vietnam in the mid-1960s and showed how these conflicts track with the Uranus-Pluto cycle. In the past two weeks, Consortium News, one of my favorite alternative news sites, ran four separate articles on the Vietnam War and the connection with the Watergate break-in. This isn’t a coincidence, and reinforces my observations about patterns in the astrology of world events. All four articles are well worth reading, by the way, but if you have time for only one, check out Bob Parry’s piece on how Richard Nixon sabotaged Vietnam peace talks in a sinister scheme to win the 1968 presidential election. The other three are here, here, and here.

Back to the good news, it’s very possible that we’ll get some temporary relief from the Saturn-Uranus inconjunct this week when Mars forms a supportive sextile with Pluto. The aspect is exact on Friday, but it is active all week. In the next two weeks, watch for improvements in unnerving situations that have been dragging on since mid-June or earlier. That applies to global conflicts as well.

Also on Friday, Mercury enters his home sign of Virgo. Mercury in Virgo is great for work requiring logic and attention to details. He’s also a biting critic, and an accurate one. I’m not sure this is going to help treaties or contract negotiations in which feelings and egos need to be considered. That’s especially true early on in his journey through Virgo, when he will be in opposition with Neptune (exact on August 18). Facts are muddled and difficult to ascertain, while lies and false information are easily swallowed hook, line, and sinker. I urge all of you to be particularly wary of official government spin in the coming week. If you hear the same message over and over, you start to believe it. That’s one of the first rules of propaganda, and there is no question that we are in a propaganda war of mega proportions.

Someone I know isn’t listening:

Wishing you all much love and courage,

Pat

© Pat Paquette, RealAstrologers.com, 2014.