The Daily Astro for July 10, 2012  

The Moon is in Aries today.  Let’s just say that this week may be one to remember, although it won’t likely be one of the most relaxing we’ve experienced.  First Uranus goes retrograde (Friday); Mercury joins the Retro Club on Saturday.  This means flexibility is key, as things will not go as planned and anything can happen. We may feel as though we’ve been ambushed and sideswiped, and maybe a little hoodwinked,  by the biggest reality show there is. Yesterday may have been a particularly challenging day and some of that energy will linger through today.  With the North and South Nodes (in Sagittarius and Gemini, respectively), forming a T-square with Neptune in Pisces we may feel we’re in the middle of a Fate Sandwich  and it can get a little confusing—we may find ourselves at a turning point related to knowledge, beliefs, or faith–take note of what’s going on with the people you meet and the way you relate to them for clues.  The Moon and Uranus conjunct in Aries at 12:47 AM EST (what I’d call the “Excitable Boy” aspect, with a tip of the hat to Warren Zevon). Our dreams might be bizarre or remind us of an endlessly-looping action film (just hope it doesn’t star Steven Seagal in a giant caftan clutching a guitar!)  Also early in the morning, the Moon contacts Venus in Gemini and Mercury in Leo; we’ll wake up on the right side of the bed, at least.  At 9:48 PM EST the Moon squares the Sun in Cancer. This is a Last-Quarter Sun/Moon Phase, so anyone with placements at around 20 degrees in the Cardinal Signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn) may find things get a little intense as people can be defensive or easily irritated, or else will feel blocked and frustrated.

Sabian Symbol for today’s Sun:  “A priest performing a marriage ceremony”.

Kozminsky Symbol for today’s Sun:   “An old man sitting alone in semi-darkness with an old book before him, from which emanate bright rays of light.”

The Sabian Symbol keyword is “Conformity”.

The Kozminsky Symbol keyword is “Essentials”.

Today’s Symbols form an interesting contrast; in one, a lone seeker in the twilight of his life pores through the Book of Life, devoted to seeking the truth unceasingly, even through the storms of life. In the other, a religious intermediary joins two people in marriage; their journey together is just beginning. On the highest level, both the lone figure and the married pair are searching for unity and higher truth through devotion, loyalty and commitment.  The warning here is to avoid obsession or an attraction to the surface or appearance of things, rather than to the reality, and to learn to trust our own inner wisdom rather than relying exclusively on intermediaries.  The Moon/Uranus aspect urges us to find our own truth and discover all that’s weird and wonderful in this world—make like an explorer and hit the trail; you’ll run into kindred souls along the way.

Born on July 10:

Emperor Go-Hanazo (Japan), King James III (Scotland), John Calvin (theologian), Marcel Proust, Camille Pissaro, William Blackstone (jurist), James A. McNeill Whistler (“Whistler’s Mother”), David Teniers III, Virginia Wade (British tennis champ), Alvan Graham Clark (astronomer), Mary McLeod Bethune (educator), “Legs” Diamond (bootlegger), Imelda May (singer), Elijah Allman (musician–son of Cher and Greg Allman), Tura Satana (of “Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! Fame), John Gilbert (silent film star), Greg Kihn (musician), Willie Ford (Dramatics), Rick “The Rocket” Emmett (Triumph), Lili Damita (French actress), Jason Orange (Take That), Adrian Grenier (“Entourage”), Princess Alexia of Greece and Denmark, Adolphus Busch (Anheuser-Busch founder), Nikola Tesla, Sofia Vergara, Jessica Simpson, Arlo Guthrie, Fred Gwynne, Ronnie James Dio, Don “Mr. Wizard” Herbert, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Gary Levox (Rascal Flatts), Arthur Ashe (tennis champ), Carlos Leon, David Brinkley, Jacky Cheung, Jake LaMotta, Harvey Ball (invented that yellow  “Smiley Face”), Thorstein Veblen, Kurt Adler, Owen Chamberlain (discovered anti-protons), Francisco de Toledo (Viceroy of Peru 1569-81), Saul Bellow, Giorgio De Chirico, Fiona Shaw, Bela Fleck, Cindy Sheehan, Neil Tennant (Pet Shop Boys), Wally Bryson and Dave Smally (both in The Raspberries), Sue Lyon, Jerry Mullen (Moby Grape), Alice Munro, David Dinkins (Mayor of New York City), Jean Kerr (“Please Don’t Eat the Daisies”), Eunice Kennedy Shriver.  

Tarot Enhancer/Antidote:   Empress/Knight of Wands

“At Home Wherever You Go”.  The Knight of Wands evokes the Aries/ Mars energy, the “fire in the belly”, the need to move, to go “off to see the Wizard”, to be inspired, while the Empress/Venus energy shows us the foundation that has given us the confidence and courage to move out of our comfort zone, to feel at home in the world through our ability to center ourselves, to create, and to relate well with others.  Astrologically, Venus and Mars complement each other, as they’re the archetypal male/female polarity. When they’re in sync, we’re buzzing on all cylinders, weaving disparate strands of ourselves into a unified whole (see the Sabian Symbol for today).

-Valerie Sylvester, July 9, 2012–