UPDATE: Coming to you from the future after the whole post was already written. Did anyone else feel that Mercury/Uranus square Monday morning? I’ve been huffing and puffing all day! Still working through it. Anyway, carry on. Here’s the horoscope below. Enjoy!

Weekly horoscope for Aug. 9-15, 2020

Hello everybody! Welcome to my first ever weekly horoscope! I don’t know how often I’m going to do these because it’s a lot of work and at this point, takes a lot of research for a relatively new astrologer putting herself out there like me, because aspects are not really second nature at this point. What can I say, I was never good at geometry.

So, in that spirit, I have decided to approach this horoscope posting the same way I approach writing stories at my day job. I’m going to look at what other, more knowledgeable people have said, cite my sources and link to them when appropriate. But, unlike most of my 9-5 work, I’m also going to interpret the transits on my own, just to get some practice with that, because I probably know a liiiittle bit more than I give myself credit for.

It’s kind of like with tarot. I used to think reading tarot was about reading a million books about it, memorizing the card meanings and going from there. That approach kind of put me off to it for awhile because I found the idea of memorizing an entire deck of cards totally overwhelming.

But then I listened to an episode of the Biddy Tarot podcast that emphasized using your intuition — which is what all psychic and occult studies are about anyway, to me at least — and it really changed things for me. Now when I read cards, I intuit their meaning, but I also refer to books and readers who have a lot more experience I do to deepen my practice. (By the way, if you’re looking for a good book on tarot, I highly recommend “Modern Tarot” by Michelle Tea. It’s my absolute favorite).

I will preface this by saying that I got information about this week’s transits from this webpage on CafeAstrology.com. I’m not going to use their interpretations, I just used them as a reference for what aspects are happening this week. It was the best source I could find on a general astrology website.

Soon, I’ll be able to calculate planetary movements/transits on my own once I’m able to shill out some money for a software program called Astro Gold (currently using the demo version which only gives me dates in the 1930s!) I also didn’t pick every single transit for this week listed on CafeAstrology, just the ones I thought were particularly interesting or significant.

Anyway that was a long introduction but I just wanted to spell out my approach to writing horoscopes so you know where I’m coming from. Now I’ll get into what’s happening this week!

This week we will start Monday off with the sun still in Leo, the third-quarter moon moving into Taurus at 9:28 p.m. eastern time on Sunday, Aug. 9 and we have Mercury, which just moved into Leo, Venus, which just moved into Cancer and Mars, which is in its pre-retrograde shadow period in the sign of Aries.

And of course we have three of our outer planets — Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto — still in Capricorn, as well as Uranus in Taurus and Neptune in Pisces. The asteroid Chiron is in Aries.

There are a couple of aspects I want to talk about in regards to Monday, Aug. 10. The first happens at 8:52 a.m. when Mercury in Leo squares Uranus in Taurus.

A square typically represents some sort of tension or obstacle between two different kinds of energies. In this case, we have Mercury, which represents communication, in bombastic and showy Leo making a difficult aspect with chaotic Uranus, which is currently working its way through the steady sign of Taurus.

What this says is there might be sudden changes or disruptions to the way we communicate early on Monday or some chaos related to the way we think or talk to others. It could also mean that we are more interested in the new, interesting or revolutionary rather than the things we’re used to seeing on a day to day basis.

According to one of my favorite books, “Planets in Transit” by Robert Hand, we can expect days like this to have a brisk pace and it might be a good idea to keep your phone or a notebook nearby so you can record any interesting ideas that you have for a time when you’re less inspired.

The next aspect happening on Monday comes at 7:05 p.m. when the Taurus moon conjuncts Uranus in Taurus. With Uranus, again, we can always expect things to get a little shaken up, even in consistent and reliable Taurus. For more on Uranus in Taurus, where it will be until 2026, check out the Astro Twins’ post on it (and maybe I’ll do one myself later).

The moon represents emotions and Uranus is sudden disruptions, so we can expect to feel impulsive at this time. Since the energy is Taurus, maybe we’ll be overeating or putting off responsibilities in order to just laze around the house. But yeah, expect some self-indulgence.

Last but not least on Monday, the moon forms a square to Mercury at 9:32 p.m. We might start saying some pretty interesting things around this time! Your feelings of wanting to be comfortable (Taurus) might conflict with the things you’re saying, namely, “me! me! me!” (Leo). You might wonder how that stuff ends up coming out of your mouth in the first place!

“Planets in Transit” says that when the moon squares Mercury, our feelings tend to prevail over out intellect, and we might have a strong urge to talk about our feelings. This transit encourages us to be direct when we have an issue with someone rather than avoiding the conflict altogether, because that will only make things worse in the long run, the book says.

On Tuesday, we have a couple of more interesting moon aspects. The moon will still be in Taurus all day. It will trine Jupiter in Capricorn at 11:52 a.m., square the sun in Leo at 12:46 p.m., sextile Neptune at 2:33 p.m. and trine Pluto at 8:04 p.m.

Jupiter and Pluto are relatively close to one another, retrograding in the sign of Capricorn. A trine, which is when planets in signs of the same element link up to one another, is a nice, easy aspect and when the moon and Jupiter link up in this way, it’s beautiful indeed.

Basically this means that it’ll be easier to express and to explore our emotions. We’re also willing to give to others, share with them and help them out in ways we probably wouldn’t have the energy for before. We are inclined to help one another.

Keep in mind that just a few hours later, however, the moon is trining Pluto, the planet of secrets and transformation. Feelings are much more intense at this time and it seems like since the emotional moon is so in sync with this, it would be a good time to talk about those taboo things that have been bothering us. The emotional energy is at peace with the Plutonian nature of revealing what hasn’t been seen before.

The moon/Neptune sextile is kind of like a flirtation, or at least that’s how I understand sextiles. Those are also considered to be good aspects. Neptune is in Pisces, the sign it rules, and when the moon, which rules the sign of Cancer, links up with it, it’s a very psychic and intuitive time.

The moon squaring the sun in Leo on Tuesday, to me, seems like what Michelle Tea would call a “Five of Wands” aspect. If you look at a Five of Wands tarot card, it’s just a bunch of guys hitting each other with sticks and it’s complete chaos but like, for no reason. A bunch of minor annoyances might build up and create a breaking point.

We’re burnt out, we’re mad and we kind of just want to smash things. But “Planets in Transit” says that such crises usually just happen so we have the chance to look around and see what’s happening. It’s like in “Hamilton” how Hamilton’s wife, Eliza, reminds him at moments of frustration to “look around, look around at how lucky we are to be alive right now” although we might not feel like it that too much in 2020 but you catch my drift.

In the early hours of Wednesday we have the moon trining Saturn, which is also in Capricorn (one of my favorite astrologers, Anne Ortelee, refers to the current closeness of Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto as “the COVID clump.”) That means that our emotions are in sync with what our responsibilities are, but this is a fast transit, so maybe you’ll sleep through it (it’s at like 4 a.m. my time so I know I will).

The moon then moves into Gemini at 9:46 a.m. At that point, according to the moon phase calendar on Astro Seek, it’s a waning crescent moon. More on moon phases later but generally, the time after the full moon is a time for releasing things rather than building anew.

Honestly, that’s kind of all I want to talk about for Wednesday. That’s all that kind of popped out to me. But just a quick note on the moon in Gemini — it’s a very curious emotionality that tends to move on quickly and not harp on things.

On Thursday, we have Mars in Aries squaring Pluto in Capricorn. Oh good! I get to talk about Mars. To me, Mars is the most interesting of the inner planets right now. Venus had its moment in May with its big retrograde through Gemini — a really interesting time, for me at least — and Mercury went retrograde in Cancer not too long ago. But now that Mars has been in Aries for awhile and it’s about to go retrograde, I’m excited to focus on the warrior planet for the next couple of weeks.

Mars in Aries wants to charge ahead. To say this is an assertive placement is an understatement. The sign and planet are right at home with one another, after all. But then you have a tough aspect with transformative, regenerative Pluto in the responsible and structured earth sign of Capricorn and you can run into all KINDS of issues!

Specifically, what this can mean is, sure, you can do the Mars in Aries thing and charge full steam ahead. But at this time more than ever you run the risk of destroying everything around you, especially if you’re not on solid footing with your plan or your morals before you take action.

This seems kind of big to me from a worldwide standpoint. If we do big things then who are we harming in the meantime? What are we leaving in our wake? I will be paying attention to the news on Thursday to look out for anything related to this aspect being played out on a national or international scale.

Just a couple other notes from “Planets in Transit” — this could mean a big conflict between an individual and a group, be wary of those in power because their authority is enhanced with this transit and basically just be safe — avoid dangerous places/people.

Friday brings a square between the Gemini moon and Neptune in Pisces around 1:17 a.m. The moon sextiles the sun in Leo around 4:33 a.m. And, at around 7:20 a.m., it sextiles Mars. The moon then moves into Cancer, the sign it rules, at 7:36 p.m. on Friday, setting us up for a cozy, potentially snuggle-filled evening, depending where that is in your chart.

Saturday’s fourth-quarter Cancer moon conjuncts Venus in Cancer at 9:27 a.m. This is where we’re really able to show appreciation for our loved ones and the other things that we value. It’s just all about making things pretty so maybe you’re feeling yourself a bit, but be careful not to spend too much on nice new things because there is a tendency to do that here.

Since it’s Cancer, the sign of being home, and we’re staying home anyway, it’s probably the time of the week where people will be most susceptible to wanting to spend quality time with one another. Take advantage of it!

The moon does two more interesting things on Saturday. In the early afternoon, it squares Chiron, an asteroid that represents where we are wounded. Chiron is in Aries, which means people born under this transit might have issues with the way they present themselves to the world, or with being seen, or with asserting themselves. With a moon square, it could be a hard time to express our emotional needs.

The last thing the moon does on Saturday is it sextiles Uranus at 3:19 p.m. It’s a time where we might feel like we are looking for excitement, for variety. It might be a good time to switch things up out of the normal routine and get creative.

Okay, so that’s my first ever horoscope that I have ever written, ever!

Let me know what everybody thinks! I will be the first person to admit that transits are not the thing that comes the most intuitively to me in astrology. The houses and the planets make way more sense to me. But I’m learning, with the help of fabulous literature, fabulous teachers and, of course, feedback!

Just a couple of things before I go. I watch Cam White’s weekly horoscopes on YouTube, I highly recommend his channel. I didn’t watch this week’s video until after I wrote this post, just FYI.

I also wanted to send good vibes to Anne Ortelee, one of my favorite astrologers who I mentioned before. I was worried last week when I noticed she hadn’t dropped a new episode of her weekly podcast, and it turns out that she has been sick for awhile now and one of her assistants said via Twitter that they have reason to believe it’s COVID. Here’s wishing Anne a speedy recovery.

Last but not least, I am a big fan of a podcast called “What’s Your Sign?” I recently became a Patreon member and I have really enjoyed listening to their recent episodes on the new moon in Cancer and last week’s full moon in Aquarius.

What’s next? Well, Mars goes retrograde next month, the sun goes into Virgo in a few weeks and I’m still feeling out Mercury in Leo and Venus in Cancer. We also have a new moon in Leo next week. Is there anything you guys are interested in that’s coming up in the next few months? Let me know!