Your August horoscope has been distributed to Planet Waves subscribers via our in-house lists. That also includes the new STARCAST. This Substack is an alternative place to subscribe and read all new astrology materials, and prior ones as they accumulate on the new Substack website. If you’re an in-house subscriber, check your My Account area for this presentation, as well as the new article. If you are a Substack subscriber looking for archival materials, get in touch and we will be happy to help you. Thanks again! With love, — efc.
Introduction to the August monthly horoscope
Dear Friend and Reader:
This horoscope is based on the Aug. 1, 2023 Aquarius Full Moon.
The Aquarius Moon is one of the most interesting of the lot. John Lennon, Neil Young, Kate Bush, Muhammad Ali, Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Princess Diana, Joan of Arc (so far as we know), George Lucas, H.G. Wells, Orson Welles, Alec Zeck, me, my father, and two of my therapy teachers.
More than anything, this Moon has a visionary streak. It is inventive; it thinks in whole systems; it can transcend emotional bias and use reason and logic while still managing to be lunar in some real sense. It’s obviously a great position for those who love cinema, science fiction and science. Its musicians are not too shabby, either.
The Aquarius Moon has a humanitarian streak, with certain weird outliers like Charles Manson and the U.S itself (the Sibly chart), both of whom used or use its highly social nature for dark purposes.
Most people with this Moon know what the right thing is, and they want to do it.
That it works so well for so many of its natives is unusual given that the Moon is placed in one of Saturn’s signs — the diurnal sign rather than the nocturnal one (that would be Capricorn — a whole other story).
Here is an old article called Brother Moon (from 20 years ago!) which covers the territory. Above all, the Full Moon is summoning you to have a vision and a design concept for your life and your immediate community.
Copy and production team for this horoscope includes Alison Ogden, Jessica Keet, Iva Veazy and Elijah Tuttle.
With love,
ARIES (March 20-April 19)
The public relations aspect of life under digital conditions is getting tiresome, and it takes a lot of energy to be your own press agent. You can back off on that and stick to the tasks at hand rather than concerning yourself with how you’re perceived by others. You can never tell, and it matters less than you think. Your motto can therefore be, “There is no substitute for integrity.” Focus on the quality of what you’re doing, and be cautious about setting any artificial deadlines. You’re involved in something that is going to take as long as it takes. If you submit to that much, it will be easier and the work will proceed more efficiently. Therefore, allow yourself the luxury of some retrospection and a few side-tracks. There will be phases where you need to pause, because nothing much seems to be happening. These things facilitate creativity, which usually keeps its own clock and follows the course of the landscape more like a river and less like walking around. Without getting superstitious, you can assume there is a purpose to everything, including what seem like mistakes. This approach will serve you in relationships as well. If there is love, it’s a creative experience, and it finds its own way.
The other 11 signs are below, accessible to paying subscribers. Planet Waves offers horoscopes for people who don’t believe in them. I don’t either; I don’t need to. They are an exciting, helpful literary art project based on a map of the solar system.
TAURUS (April 19-May 20)
For you to be at home means to be at home with yourself, wherever you are. That planet itself, for all its problems and all of its potential, is your present location. Orient yourself in space; pay attention to where you are on the globe. Think about which direction you’re headed when you’re moving, and which way your windows face when you’re in a building. Consider experimenting with the angle your bed is oriented. Which direction do you feel better with your head facing? You can also expand your sense of place and imagine where you are oriented in the solar system. It’s easy to get myopic and therefore be lost in a small maze — whether physically, or in your consciousness. Venus retrograde is suggesting that you keep close track of where you are and expand your awareness from there. This is a form of grounding that will help you feel less confused generally. At the moment, using relationships as a compass or guide will be less effective; you must plot your own course, and this includes socially. The forthcoming Full Moon in Aquarius suggests strongly that others are using you for their orientation, therefore you want your guidance to be coming from within.
GEMINI (May 20-June 21
For a while, you must do things for their own sake, rather than for some predictable return. You may find this irritating at times, wondering why you’re the one who has certain tasks while others do not. Once you accept that certain things simply must happen and you’re the one who can do it, you will be a lot happier and some unusual but unexpected opportunities will open up. One of those may be a revived willingness to take on what may seem like thankless tasks in your personal home environment, such as a major cleaning or clearing effort, or a renovation project. In all matters, proceed from a clear work plan. That means approach all matters with an eye for strategy, which starts with an assessment of the situation, time estimates, cost estimates, and most important, a sense of how much energy you have to allocate toward any particular effort. Ask for help when you need it; this is part of why you’ll be creating a clearly elaborated work plan. It’s possible that this will connect to a business plan. Your chart suggests you may need to go back to the drawing board on something, and it’s likely that an older version of your schema is more suited to your situation.
CANCER (June 21-July 22)
This is an important time for you to get your finances in order, and I suggest you leave no stone unturned. Look for forgotten or delayed matters, and resolve them, or set up a fast-action plan for doing so. Pluto has temporarily returned to your opposite sign Capricorn, which has the feeling of resolving old business. When it returns to Aquarius early next year, you will be grateful to have removed various stumbling blocks from your path, which also means having a neat and tidy accounting of where your money comes from and where it goes. Venus retrograde in your 2nd solar house Leo is saying “reduce, reduce, reduce,” which means unnecessary or redundant expenditures. Let this be a high-focus task while the planets are perfectly aligned for it to happen and while you’re under no special pressure to make the changes. The entire digital world is set up to skim money from everyone and everything. It’s also set up to skim energy, talent, time, attention and ideas. So tighten up your valves on all of these things, so that you have the resources available to devote to what you actually want and need. Cut, reduce or remove what does not serve you and invest thoughtfully in everything that does.
LEO (July 22-Aug. 23)
Venus retrograde in your birth sign is one of the most beneficial transits you’ve had in a long time. It’s about learning how to work hand-in-glove with your most important goals, but also embody something deeper: the role you are called to play in society, whatever it may be. But role is the incorrect sense of meaning if this transit is embraced fully; it’s more like the full expression of your calling. This is often difficult, as competing interests and the feeling of “not really being that thing” are often factors. For example, nearly all artists and writers go through a phase of learning how to say, “I am an artist” when queried by someone, what do you do? Slowly, most learn how to respond without any hesitation, awkwardness, or feeling like a phony. Now take that a few levels deeper. The planet associated with your highest aspirations, your sense of purpose, and your reputation — Venus — is making an extended visit to your sign or rising sign. You’re connecting with something you know to be true about yourself. This is a settling-in process, which wants to be directed inward before it’s directed outward. Be humbly who you aspire to be, day by day.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sep. 22)
Around the time of the Aug. 1 Full Moon, a doorway to your potential opens up, and some fresh currents of energy flow into your being. While there are several important influences coming through Virgo, the connection point is Mars tapping into the wisdom and confidence of Jupiter in Taurus. Any gift is a spiritual one. Underneath whatever may be happening on the level of personality and day-to-day activity, you are connecting with a force that looks like your higher self. You may be filled with the sense of already knowing what is true, and therefore, what to act on. You will not be pushed; anything you do must be a conscious choice, based on your faith in yourself. There are also influences luring you into insecurity, overthinking and a narrow point of view. Perhaps give them a voice, though you will not really have any confirmation of whether you’re right until you take action. That means making a decision and then going with it, no second-guessing involved. This may seem like a dangerous policy, though this is a special moment, and you are ready to taste your true sense of belonging, and some fresh experience of success.
LIBRA (Sep. 22-Oct. 23)
It’s frightening the extent to which we have all become public people. For some that means at least being their own publicist. For many, there is the constant and relentless aspiration to notoriety and fame, just because that’s the thing to do. Venus retrograde in the most social angle of your chart is calling on you to reassess this whole situation, for yourself and also in the environments where you connect with your fellow humans. Be sensitive to the ways we’re conditioned to be our own press agents night and day, bouncing around the hall of mirrors of ego identity like a laser chased by a cat. Sincerity is difficult for most people; it’s rather itchy and scratchy. Alan Cohen writes about the person who stood up at a worship and said, “I tried being myself, but it was too difficult,” so instead, he pretended to be someone else. Meanwhile, the real person in there is lonely and isolated. Your ruling planet Venus moving retrograde is your opportunity to practice sincerity at all times. For example, you get to be the same person with everyone, all the time — rather than mixing and matching to suit what you think is expected. Go past any discomfort and experience the odd joy of being real without compromise.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 22)
There seem to be two things going on in a relationship, or perhaps two different relationships are bringing out different facets of your being. One is direct and bold; the other is retreating, and even reticent to express too much, or to be seen. It’s likely that these two alternate or competing states of being are connected to people. They may or may not be in your life at the moment. Both states of being have something to teach you, and reflect different aspects of your psyche. One is teaching you to be your own best friend. The other is teaching you to take over any and all parental functions that might otherwise be delegated to someone else. Such can be an awkward moment in a relationship, where you claim your own authority over your life, or understand that you’re the most important companion you will ever have. Either of those can shake up a relationship, or your concept of it. Yet what people offer you is worth much more when you have the ability to stand in your own presence and not need validation of who you are. Deeper material can then come to the surface, and will serve as an important teacher and guide as you design and weave your way forward.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 22)
Take a long view of your work and financial situations. The current trend is to think you can start a social media account, monetize it and buy a house in three months. Even if that is not your view personally, it’s a keynote of the whole environment and affecting everyone around you. There is little respect for focused dedication, acquired knowledge or patiently working toward a goal. You would be wise to take a retro approach and orient yourself on a development process that will show results or reach a point of breakthrough in about nine to 10 months. Make sure that everything do you, every step you take, is solid, and reflects the integrity you want to express in your final result. There are business aspects to what you’re doing, and artistic aspects, and there are practical ones. If you take a long-haul approach, you will be able to keep those in balance. Meanwhile, in more immediate news, the forthcoming Full Moon will provide you with plenty of energy and ideas to expand your worldview, and connect you with people such that a real discussion is possible. Get this into the physical world if you can, connecting in-person. The more of that you do, the better.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 20)
You are in an unusual stage of your life where you have opportunities to resolve old business, and be done with it. This is not the kind of thing that will happen overnight, though in the scheme of things, you can take an efficient route to wrapping this up. This includes all matters related to the structure of your life, especially financial or involving real property or taxes. If you follow astrology, the development I’m describing involves Pluto returning to your sign prior to moving into Aquarius. The time frame is a little over one year, and during that time, there are phases where old business morphs into new business. The imagery describes financial independence, which you must define carefully. This will begin with a plan to address matters of credit and debt, first and foremost. You can view the whole experience as a long, living meditation on what really matters to you the very most. From a spiritual perspective, this is the whole point of what you’re going through: the opportunity to ask the single most important questions in life, all of which involve your priorities and your values. Engaging this level of thought is the ultimate expression of self-leadership.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19)
The forthcoming and rather spectacular Full Moon in your birth sign will give you an idea and even a clear vision of how you want your life to be. It’s vital that you be in possession of this most helpful form of guidance: your own intentions and desires. Don’t worry if you don’t have enough money to make them real, or if time is short. Having a vision is free, and almost instantaneous. It might take you an hour to write everything down, and then you can revise it. This is not an exercise in “magical manifestation,” but rather in conscious design. Such is your best friend right now. Think of everything as a design puzzle. But having your vision is potentially a few steps before that, though of course your vision may include space and what you want to do with it. There is a psychological element at work as well. Presently you have an opening to resolve deep, unresolved material with greater than usual effectiveness. Much of what you may be confronting will give way to focused thought and decision-making. You have already done most of the work over a long period of time, and now must claim your accomplishments, and build on them.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)
Years ago — like 15 of them — the great (and now late) horoscope writer Rocky Gardiner commented in a Pisces entry about the seemingly endless journey of Neptune through Aquarius (1998-2011). Well, since that ended 12 years ago, you’ve had Neptune in your birth sign, and that is another seemingly endless and largely invisible experience. It’s been so long that you don’t know much else. This is an environmental condition that keeps disappearing, and it includes the sense of being invisible or alone. However, I have found in long years working with Neptune that this is largely an illusion. It’s like a fog that you must learn to navigate and see through. That will mean making an intelligent effort, though also taking a practical approach. At times, it’s difficult to see what is bothering you, or to identify what you need. The forthcoming Full Moon in your sensitive 12th house will provide you with an interior view and a way to think about your situation. Summon the motivation to improve your life in tangible ways. However, from the look of your chart, you have external support available that you can tap into, which means people you can work with. Stick to those with a positive outlook, and/or those who have proven to be helpful in the past. Then, raise your sail, and get about what you know must be gotten about.
Planet Waves Extended Horoscope for August 2023