Celestial Climate

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August

1. Vesta Direct in Sagittarius.
1. Mars Rx  in Aquarius square Uranus in Aries (2/3).
6. Venus enters Libra.
7. Uranus Retrograde in Taurus.
8. Mars Rx in Aquarius semi-square Neptune in Pisces (2/3).
10. Mercury Rx in Leo square Jupiter in Scorpio (2/3).
11. New Moon and Solar Eclipse in Leo.
12. Mars Retrograde returns to Capricorn.
18. Mercury Direct in Leo.
18. Jupiter in Scorpio Disseminating Trine Neptune Rx in Pisces (2/3).
22. Sun enters Virgo
26. Full Moon in Pisces.
27. Mars Direct in Capricorn
27. Mercury in Leo square Jupiter Rx in Scorpio (3/3).

Book of the Month

The Great Work of Your Life
Stephen Cope
Buy at Amazon

“Arjuna, you do not know how to act because you do not know who you are.” pg 203. 

The Great Work of Your Life: A Guide for the Journey to Your True Calling

This book was chosen to complement the New Moon/Solar Eclipse in Leo on August 11.

Through different life phases, especially when one is inclined to seek meaning, there are moments of self-reflection on purpose. What is my mission, we might ask our ourselves? How am I special?

The Sun, our Sun Sign, tells us what our purpose in this incarnation is. The house it resides in, tells us more.  When we look deeper we also consider other elements in the birth map like Pluto and the Lunar Nodes, to define Soul Purpose and Destiny.

My entry into the study of the astrology, over 30 years ago, was because I was at a loss for meaning. I didn’t know who I was. The blessing to be introduced to Evolutionary Astrology gave me the greatest gift, direction to the road of self-awareness.

Another word for one’s life purpose is ‘dharma.’  In my experience, we suffer less, when we embrace our dharma by accepting who we are, and when we love ourselves. To accept ourselves, it is helpful to spend time looking deeply within and learning to listen to the call of our spirit.

How can we hear the call? How can we know our dharma? There are numerous tools. Meditation, contemplation, therapy and more. The right book at the right time — that’s a huge one for me.

This summer, a friend of mine, Susan Madsen, who is an accomplished, talented painter and astrologer, gifted me with our Book of the Month. This gift gives me a chance to promote her. Yea! Please do visit her website. You’ll see why a Scorpio Mooner might be drawn to her some of her work. She is an amazing artist. Amazing, I tell ya. That’s not to downplay her astrological gifts, which are plentiful.

The Great Work of Your Life: A Guide for the Journey to Your True Calling by Stephen Cope teaches how one may discover one’s purpose, through the examples of ordinary humans and some famous names, like Henry Thoreau, Jane Goodall, Susan B Anthony, Beethoven, Harriet Tubman, Ghandi and others. The stories of how each person became aware of, or understood, their great work are inspiring.

The stories unfold and intermingle with one of the greatest spiritual stories of all time, the 2000 year old Bhagavad Gita. The main characters are a royal warrior, Arjuna, and Krishna, his divine teacher. At the beginning, Arjuna suffers with indecision and lack of self-awareness. With guidance from Krishna, by the end of the saga, Arjuna knows what his life’s purpose is.

By the end of this book, you will find yourself closer to, if not assured of,  your life’s purpose. If you haven’t found a good summer read for 2018, try this one.

Then, put this one close to your astrology books. You may want to recommend it to someone down the road of self-discovery.

Author Stephen Cope is a psychotherapist, senior Kripalu yoga teacher, and author of Yoga and the Quest for the True Self. He is currently Senior Scholar in Residence at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Lenox, Massachusetts.

Other Books of the Month