August Horoscope 2014

The first few days of August, we’re going to be feeling like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. We want one thing and do another. We say one thing and mean another. Don’t worry if nothing we say or do makes sense; just let it all bubble to the surface.

The double personality madness starts with Venus squaring Uranus, trine Saturn and trine Chiron. Venus in Cancer is sensitive. You must break through that shell to get to her love. She is easily hurt and takes a long time letting you into let you inside. And on August 1st, she just might attract a fight with sizzling Uranus in Aries, ready for a fight. Something inside of her is ready to shake things up. Venus is the attractor and she doesn’t get into action without Mars. Mars is in Scorpio, and it’s squaring Jupiter in Leo. Mars in Scorpio wants something deep and intimate. He pushes for that deep intimacy. And if he doesn’t get it, that square to prideful Jupiter in Leo might bring out some over-the-top behavior. At the same time Venus is trine Saturn and concerned with building stability. In a way this is the age old Saturday night DATE problem. She wants it, he wants it. If she goes there, she worries that he won’t be there. Venus is in the throes of passion, asking, the question “are you my boyfriend?”. No matter what happens it will bring about some much needed healing as Venus is also trine Chiron.

In fact in August, we have Mars, Saturn, Vesta, and Ceres all transiting into Scorpio. All these celestial bodies will be forming natural squares with the planets transiting through Leo. They are the Sun, Mercury, Jupiter, and, by the middle of the month, Venus. This movement creates a theme for the month. Your “girls-just-wanna-have-fun” side will be at war with your “insecure-psychoanalytic-need-to-super-analyze-everything” side. It makes it hard to relax and the trick to making this month work, will be to go with the flow.

The Scorpio planets will form natural trines to other planets in water signs. Neptune and Chiron in Pisces and Juno in Cancer work with the Scorpio planets. They give us the potential to heal, be selfless, and to focus on what is good for our relationships.

The Leo planets have the help of Uranus in Aries. So it’s fire against water this month. We’ll need a floating candle to make it work. The fact that floating candles exist make it possible!

Conversations help and the next day on Aug 2 when Mercury is conjunct Jupiter on Aug 2 to give us a chance to talk it out. It is a better time to do so now rather than in the midst of passion. It’s a time when we can have conversations which are free of emotion and we can look at things philosophically or spiritually. But we do have that whole Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde thing happening… With Mercury squaring Mars on the same day, things can turn toward more arguments and conflicts. So much for emotional detachment!

Three days later Saturn will trine Chiron. This will be a wonderful opportunity to pull out your journal and write about our childhood patterns. This action will help us get in touch with why we’ve been behaving the way we have. We can get nostalgic and find comfort in whatever the past brings up for us without holding on. It’s a day when we’ll remember things from our past that will help us put our actions into perspective. And we can also let go of it in appropriate ways.

Venus squaring squares the North Node on August 6 and so we can now make decisions about our relationships. What stays and what gets left behind? Who stays and who get’s left behind?

Though we are setting out on a new relationship adventure, we may not have it all figured out. But on August 7th, Venus is sextile Pallas, helping us to envision relationship plans. It’s a day to create a great designs and a great strategy. Plus Mars helps the inspiration along by trining Neptune. We can use the energy to think up actions that are less ego-based and better for the whole.
On August 8, the Sun conjunct Mercury makes it a great time to express ourselves and get our ideas out there. With the Sun trining Uranus, what we come up with may be super inventive. And with Mercury trining Uranus, we will be able to express those unusual or inventive ideas. But here comes Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde again…. Mercury is squaring Saturn. Though we may feel excited and inventive, there is a little bit of a damper on what we’re expressing. Saturn may not think it will work and that we are being too optimistic. Saturn may show up as the voice inside of us or someone out there about whose has an opinion we care about. That’s okay. It gives us something to think about and on August 9, when the Sun is square Saturn, we’ll do a reality check on our plans. We will be able to question if this is something that is self-serving or if it’s something that IS realistic. Venus is square Ceres so ideas we have formed in our childhood about our ability to attract, may come return for a reality check. Check back to your journaling and what came up on the 5th. The next step after becoming aware of our childhood patterns is to transform them. But the trick will be to use a new measuring stick, not an old one. The Aquarius Full Moon on August 10th will help us to look forward and be inventive. It will help us to incorporate our inner freak and accept our emotional differences. There’s a small temptation to alienate. Maybe we think that we aren’t accepted or we can’t merge our need to be ourselves and to follow our passion with relationship needs. But, just in time, Mercury will sextile the North Node. Success is ours for the taking. We’re finding the recipe for making floating candles!15493656_s

On August 12th, Venus will move into fun -loving Leo and things get much, much better!!! It’s a great time to have fun with our beloved; to take pride in them and show them off. It makes them feel good and cared for too. This approach also helps to soften the conversation. On the same day, Mercury is sextile Juno. This movement lends to better communication within our relationships. And by the 14th when Mercury sextile Ceres by, we will start to feel super loved and understood. Thank Goddess! Before Mercury leaves Leo on the 15th for Virgo, it will also sextile Vesta, helping our minds to meld in a solitary purpose.

Mercury will then go into Virgo for three weeks. It will be a time of drawing up plans, makings lists, and organizing. Mars will aid in the planning by sextiling Pluto on the same day. This will help us all to focus, get strategic, and get results. By August 16th, the Sun sextile Juno will makes us feel like a dynamic duo in our relationships. And by August 18th we’’ll feel on top of the world; as Venus will conjunct Jupiter. We will feel like we are hand -in -hand with our beloved, looking out over the beauty of the world from the top of a Faerris wheel! So nice. Even though you are feeling on top of the world and things have been going so well, don’t make any commitments. Mercury will oppose Neptune so some important details will come out of focus. And with so much good feelings, it’s quite easy to gloss over the little imperfections… which over time may not be so little in the long run. The high will continue and on August 20th (*eh em*.. my birthday) when the Sun sextiles Ceres, so we will feel so nurtured, loved, and nurturing, and loving.
The high continues on August 21. We’ll find ourselves having a deep, purposeful, transformative and productive kind of conversation. It’s the delicious, soul -gratifying kind of conversation that we women crave. Conversations with others will make us feel transformed and inspired. And by August 22nd, we’ll be diving into a deep commitment to our life’s purpose. Our life purpose may not just be a humanitarian cause or a career, but also our relationship with others and with ourselves.

On August 23rd, we might have one of those moments when we think everything is too good to be true. We might have a thought! “I’m too happy… something is going to go wrong.” This is another Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde day. On one hand, we feel motivated to heal hurts with Mars sextile Chiron. But, it might come out all wrong with as Mercury is opposite Chiron. The problem is we might think we know how the other person is going to react. And having convinced ourselves of an idea not based in the present, but on our own woundedness, we act and say things that sabotage. Remember when Harry wanted to marry Charlotte in Sex in the City.? In her woundedness and impatience, she decided to deal with him taking so long to ask her to marry him. He was ready to pop the question, but when she blurted out in total frustration, “set the date Harry… just set the date!” – he broke up with her. Oops! Oh well… Keep going back to your childhood hurts. You can transform them now.

The New Moon on August 25th is in Virgo. It’s, opposite Neptune. We might want a clear plan, but Neptune is fogging things up. The day has a couple of other frustrating features. The big one is that Mars is conjunct Saturn which will make us feel a little thwarted in our efforts. It might also make us feel a bit angry if we are trying to move too fast. This is not a get-rich-quick or get-thin-fast transit! If we are distracted by others who seem to experience fast and magical results, we will feel angry. It’s a great energy though for keeping focused on a project that unfortunately may be long and tedious. Mercury sextile Mars and Saturn on the same day will help us put the needed energy into a project. If we can feel satisfied with hard work, painstaking (and sometimes long and tedious) actions, we will see results. Patience is the key. And dealing with our anger in productive ways will also help. Take it out at the gym or practice forgiveness.

On August 25th, Venus is trine Uranus, so we might feel bored and like shaking things up to stir up some interest. Might I suggest listening to some out of the ordinary /bizarre music as you plod away at your projects? This will help you to shake things up without sabotaging all that you have been working for. This transit has the potential to bring an exciting person into our lives. Man… Things were going so well in the relationship department, but now we are once again assessing things. With Venus square Saturn the next day, we might put some distance between ourselves and our beloved or feel a bit cool towards them. The following day Venus squares Mars so those cool feelings will not last long. Sparks will fly and it’s likely to end in a fantastic fight or some fantastic sex…. hey…, the energy has to go somewhere! Be a lover not a fighter!

There is some more Dr Jekyll /Mr Hyde energy at the end of the month. On August 29th, Mercury will square Juno. If you have been fighting, it will be a continuation of the fight. If you went the sex route, you might be able to use the energy to listen to one another. The problem is that Mercury will be conjunct Pallas on the same day, so we may not be able to separate what we are saying from our own agenda. Listening might be difficult because we have a strategic goal in mind. Venus is sextile the North Node, so though it might take some patient conversation, it will be a fortunate day for love. Let’s face it. We need these hiccups sometimes to help us realize what we have. Venus will sextile Juno on the 31st helping us to get back on track with a loving and fulfilling relationship. Which is a nice ending to the month… I like when that happens!

Aries:
You don’t feel serious about anything. You want to tell jokes, and zipline through trees beating your chest like Tarzan. You’re the ringleader for fun this month. The only problem is a partner is telling you to be serious, saying things like, “be grown-up” or “you’re not being responsible.”. You partner might just be reflecting your own childhood beliefs about fun back to you. What are your own childhood beliefs about fun. How much are you truly allowing?

Taurus:
You may be purchasing your dream house. It might also be a piece of dream commercial property for your that business you have always wanted to start. The only problem is that your partner (love or business) may not find it sooo dreamy. They want a little more compromise here, but you’re not so willing. Part of the problem is not that your partner is worried it won’t work, or the investment is too big, or that you are not being realistic. What they’re worried about is being left behind. Find ways to incorporate them into your dream.

Gemini:
You love to talk, Gemini, and the speeches are rolling off your tongue like you were running for mayor. There is a little problem though. Are you running for mayor? Your speeches will reach fair and wide, but you have remembered this month that you are the aide, the spin doctor, not the star of the show. There is still glory in your position. You can watch Downtown Abbey or The Butler to remember this.

Cancer:
You are rocking in the business world right now. This month you might even have a huge financial windfall! The only problem is your ego – you will need to keep your ego in check. If you step on others to get your own success, you might find it backfiring a little later down the road. In fact a windfall may feel like a burden. Maybe you’re getting attention that feels uncomfortable or the amount of money is uncomfortable. Allow these experiences to help you to grow. Your financial growth is challenging you to recognize your own inner value.

Leo:
You are shining like the f*cking morning star! Sorry I had to swear there… but Leo already shines, so adding an expletive could only express how much more you will shine. There will be mom or a mom figure pulling on your ear, saying, “Don’t get too big for your britches!” . This mom figure might even show up in the incorporated believes or your inner child. It’s inner child work time this month. Avoid this deep inner work and the way you shine this month might come across like a fire cracker rather than the morning star. No matter what you do everyone will notice… aim for making a good impression.

Virgo:
You might find yourself embroidered in several conflicts – With your neighbours, with your siblings, with everyone. You have strong opinion now. The problem is that you think everyone has a “f*cking problem”. The only problem is that you might not be sharing that you have a problem. All these conflicts and fights are happening inside. In fact, this all might be seething inside and being re-enacted in your head over and over again. You might be thinking that saying anything is just pointless. Maybe not… Assessing what you say, how you say it, and when you say it holds the key.

Libra:
You have grand hopes and dreams and they are even larger this month. You want to be keeping up with the Joneses. At this time, you think the Joneses are your friends. But are they really? You might consider following wikihow’s steps to stop keeping up with the Jones (there are pictures) . By the time you get to number #7 (Pursue the things you care about in abundance”) and number #8. (“Share yourself around”)…, you should be feeling pretty good. You could also consider taking the lucky bitch course.

Scorpio:
The things you are achieving right now in your career are amazing. You have are the envy of many. But inside you’re feeling a tug. Is this what you want to be doing? Is this who you are anymore? All this fame is putting pressure on you to be a certain way. You might find yourself driving to work in the morning and signing along to Britney Spears. “You Wanna Piece of Me” one minute and “Circus” the next. So rewarding. So exhausting. Is it what you want?

Sagittarius:
Screw it all… you might find yourself on a last minute trip to Katmandu. You are going for some fun.. and dammit your deserve it… but as you take your month long journey abroad you find that you’re traveler savvy is no longer working. Maybe you are doing it the same old way. Backpack, two changes of clothes, dirt cheap dinners, but in truth you have outgrown that style of travel. Your inner leisure is in denial about wanting a Ritz Carlton. They aren’t saying it out loud. But the way you’re acting has the doorman, the bellhop, the cab driver, and all whom your interacting with thinking, “What does she think this is? The Ritz Carlton”? Time for some inner honesty.

Capricorn:
Bank error in your favour! This month you might find that you are in the money. It’s from your partner or, insurance, or maybe even an inheritance. You know what happens when people win the lottery. They start getting phone calls from charities they have never heard of before. Long lost friends show up. Then the guilt comes out. Should you help? They are a good charity. They were a good friend… and they are in need. What are your hopes and desires? Get clear about them. Then find a way to balance your self-interests (which are healthy and good) with others (whom you need and want to keep good relationships with).

Aquarius:
Things are going extremely good in your relationship and are they’re about to get better. This month you’re going to challenge the idea that your career success comes at the cost of your relationship. Yes, there is a clash. That’s because your career will be on fire this month too. You are reaching the pinnacle of your success. It might be a bit threatening to others… Your honey might feel that cold feeling when the Sun moves behind the clouds. You just have to remind them that the Sun is still there. Your job is to stay in your power and show them that they are loved. This is what a true leader does!

Pisces:
You have so much to give this month. But you need to be careful. Your desire to give must be done with true selflessness, which generally you are good at. But the energies now at play have you a little self righteous. Flexibility is the key. If you’re all preachy while you’re helping out, others will just see you as high and mighty and may reject your help. Even if your way of doing it is “oh so obviously the right way”, refrain from pushing it down everyone’s throat.

 

 

Mercury in Cancer; Making a Personal vs Business Facebook Decision

 

2014-07-13-14.15.27Mercury is moving into Cancer today and I am making a “Mercury in Cancer” decision. Mercury in Cancer is about communicating with family or about family. It’s a time when you might focus more on family history, legacies, communicating about family issues. Cancer is the crab… and it’s got a protective shell!

While mercury was retrograde in Cancer/Mercury last month, we may have gone into a review about such issues. Mercury is now direct and moving back into Cancer. We are now making family related communication decisions.

I certainly am! While Mercury was retrograde, I took myself off of Facebook. The reason was a Mercury/Cancer issue. I was having a hard time maintaining privacy and boundaries – my friends and family vs. business – me time vs. business time.

This is something that happens to you when you go into business for yourself. YOU become your brand. Yes your company might have a business name, but that is not the way that social media sees it. You create company pages to support your business and they link to your personal page. As I discovered…. delete your personal page and the company pages go too! So the idea of keeping your personal life and your business life separate becomes nonexistent. Business contacts start adding you to your personal profile. You start to need to make decisions about your personal profile… post for business or post for personal. But do you want to bombard your family and friends with that stuff?
Those who have been successful in the online business world have branded themselves. And their posts on their profile are business related. The reason is that Facebook algorithm limits the amount of views on business pages unless you pay to market. Which, okay they want to make money. But this pushes people in the direction of marketing on their personal profile which of course you don’t need to pay for.

Here is another problem… You business contacts want business. So business contacts start marketing hard to your friends… on your personal page. It’s happened twice that someone has wanted to market to one of my friends. They lost all sense of etiquette, bypassed approvals or introductions and just started marketing. Another tactic to marketing to your friends is by tagging you in a picture you’re not even in so it gets on your news feed. This might be okay for some… But I don’t even market to my friends and family. My friends and family are my friends and family and I would like to keep it that way.

Here’s a third problem. I had added someone (not a friend) and they decided to comment on my location. I’m always in the dark about how to limit privacy (because of the kajillion profile setting, options and changes to). I had a feature showing your location to others turned on. So he decided to make a comment.. Um.. I don’t know you… creepy for you to check and comment on my location. Do I care if my friends and family know where I am? No… If I need saving at least they can track me down… But someone I don’t know makes me uncomfortable.

The biggest problem was boundaries around my personal and private time. My Facebook feed turned from updates with friends and family into marketing from business contacts and Facebook ad purchasers. They are the ones with the big bucks paying to advertise. It also turned into a kajillion post from groups related to business. I became a part of the groups because of courses that I have been taking to “up my business game”. If I had problems with boundaries between business time and pleasure/personal time before, Facebook was making it impossible. My business was always on and so was I.
The first step was to delete my profile (but as you know, Facebook profiles live on forever, even if you delete them). I was off for an entire month. It felt amazing. I felt peaceful, more focused and safe. But I couldn’t connect with my business networks and a big part of being in business in networking. So came the next solution; a Facebook profile for business. It’s called Ingrid Insight (Ingrid Arboine) and you can follow or friend me up there. It’s a 9am-5pm profile. (Even if it looks like it’s not.. I’ve got hootsuite… So yup, I schedule some of those posts). I’ll still be sharing who I am and what I’m up to in my entire life … But let’s face it… Not everything…. And I will be posting about my business, or just liking/sharing the stuff I post on my pages.

Make sure to like me on my new profile…. there is a button in my footer!

 

 

Love and Money; Can Women Have Both?

5595363_sCan we separate love and money?

I was having lunch with a friend at a park last week. As we were standing there talking a guy on a rather large industrial lawn mower pulled up and asked my friend for a cigarette – really he just wanted to talk to us. I could tell right away that he was a municipal worker so I asked about his profession.

“Yes,” he said. Then continued that he prefers not to let people know, especially women, preferring to tell them that he works at McDonald’s or something like that. His dilemma-telling them he’s got a stable government job and suddenly he can’t figure out if they like him for him or for his stable job.

“Oh” I said, “do you also drive a crappy car just to drive the point?”

He responded that he wished he did!

WOW!

There is one big, fat confusing mixed message going on with men, women, love, and money. Surprise surprise, that conflict is being reflected in the planets!

Just like this guy, men are saying that they want an independent woman – one who will pay their own way and not expect that security from him. Women are saying they want independence and to pay their own way.

Go deeper and the truth is men are having trouble with the loss of power that comes with not being in charge financially. They are being challenged to get comfortable with the loss of patriarchal power. Go deeper with women and do they really mean it? Women are being challenged to getting comfortable with the power of feminine self sufficiency and not in a patriarchal “ball-busting” way…

For both the challenge is to still depend on one another, still need one another, and still submit to one another in ways that are deeper and more authentic way than every before.

With Pluto moving through Capricorn, old patriarchal structures are fading in real and concrete ways. And we want it to happen but…

Cardinal CrossThat Grand Cross I’ve discussed in my monthly horoscopes is pushing things along. Capricorn is in a natural opposition to Cancer and a natural square to Libra and Aries, creating the Grand Cross.

Capricorn is ruled by Saturn, so all things Capricorn are experiencing a transformation, which is Pluto’s job. Here is Wikipedia’s definition of Saturn: Astrologically, Saturn is associated with the principles of limitation, restrictions, boundaries, practicality, and reality, crystallizing, and structures. Saturn governs ambition, career, authority and hierarchy, and conforming social structures. It concerns a person’s sense of duty, discipline and responsibility, and their physical and emotional endurance during hardships. Saturn is also considered to represent the part of a person concerned with long-term planning.

Opposite Capricorn on that cross is Cancer which is ruled by the moon (emotions). Squaring Capricorn is Aries ruled by Mars (our independence and force) and squaring Capricorn on the other side is Libra which is ruled by Venus (relationships and money). These are the issues that are putting pressure on all things Capricorn …. emotions, our independence, relationships, and money are pushing back on authority, success, achievement , conforming structures, etc.

One of the key’s to achievement, success, and authority is power/money. Power and money are intricately tied together and they have traditionally been held in the hands of men, but now Pluto moves through this sign. It’s been doing so since 2008 and will complete its transit into Capricorn by 2023, authority, hierarchy,and conforming social structures are being turned on their heads.

As the rug is being pulled from beneath us, the ones catching their balance the fastest are women. It’s hard for everyone, but the truth is women didn’t have far to fall… They didn’t have the power. They have been dying to exert their independence (Mars), to have sustainable careers and they have quickly figured out how to do this while embracing emotions. But the hardest part may just be the integration of all of this with love and money – at least for me.

Each of us has our own version of challenge in this and here is mine: As Pluto moves through Capricorn, it makes a square to my 7th house Venus in Libra. Traditionally this has been a transit filled with jealousy, a need to cling, or an unwillingness to allow others to be themselves. Because this is in the 7th house, this may come from outside of myself (someone not allowing me to be myself) – but it doesn’t matter if it’s me or another. Whatever happens, especially when Libra or the seventh house is concerned, is always just a reflection or a projection of our own unconscious stuff.

And the key to difficult transits like this is to make them conscious. You don’t need to know your astrology to know that something is happening and to make it conscious. But it does help to have that confirmation. If you are experiencing a difficult time, I can definitely look at your chart to see what’s happening and that can allow you quicker access to what’s going on and to make conscious decisions.

What is so fascinating about this is that as I make my own experience conscious, as I do this work on a personal level, something also happens at social level… That’s because this conflict is also happening in the Grand Cross.

Remember I said that Venus rules love and money? Although Pluto squares my Venus, I’ve decide consciously to work on money rather than love. The reason is because I really don’t have control of another and I wanted to stay away from the jealousy, control, etc., traditionally associated with this transit. And because Venus is about money, I decide to take the Lucky Bitch Money Bootcamp . Let me first say, its an amazing online course for taking a good hard look at your money issues and for attracting money into your life. It’s a course put together by Denise Duffield-Thomas and I am so impressed that I have become an affiliate (Yep, the links are affiliate links).

So this is what has happened so far… The first lesson in the bootcamp had me exploring my history with money and damned if it wasn’t intimately tied with relationships. Ten years ago,the first time I went into to business, I gave up because I felt that I couldn’t have love AND money. This was/is a massive money block for me! Back then it completely paralyzed me. At the time I decided to get advice from my church’s pastor. He told me to let go of the business and focus on pursuing marriage and children. I don’t blame him, he just reflected back to me my own conflict. My family had adopted those largely sociological values that the man worked, held the financial power, and the woman stayed at home – and why should I diverge? Yet I was never comfortable with it and did not get married or have children. But I did get a job and let my desire to step out into business and to become fully expressed (Aries), die believing that this was the only way I would attract a man.

Life gave me a second chance. And just over one year of threemoongoddess.com, those beliefs are rearing their ugly head again. With Pluto squaring my Venus, it’s decision time.

Like I said, it’s not just me. This is happening on a Sociological level as well. Pluto’s transit in Capricorn immediately turned the business world upside down. Markets took a turn, real estate plummeted, and while everyone was falling and continues to fall from the rug being pulled from underneath us, those quick to their feet were women like Denise Duffield-Thomas. And they went into business embracing a different way to do business. Embracing the ethical, the emotional, the spiritual, then finding balance between relationships and love (This woman just gave birth and is running a thriving business!!!)…. Also, check out my post on the rise of the entrepreneurial woman.

There is a whole other group that I started this post with who are faced with this challenge… men. There are not a lot of men in the lucky bitch boot camp. That’s because they are already comfortable with attracting money for the most part . Their challenge is the heart stuff. I think someone needs to come up with an emotional bootcamp for men… or something to help them get comfortable with their hearts and emotions.

But sticking to us women, everyone has their own version of money blocks or issues. With Venus in Libra, mine have to do with relationships and love… but yours might have to do with thinking you are not worthy enough of success (planetary challenges to Venus in Capricorn) or that money is bad (planetary challenges to Venus in Pisces) etc. If you haven’t already signed up to my newsletter, you can get a free report. It has a little bit in there on your Venus and your own version of attraction/blocks to attraction.