Astrological Insights: July 22 - 28, 2024

Pluto Encourages Release and Renewal (plus a PS about President Biden's announcement)

Here are some insights about the opportunities and challenges that this week’s astrology may offer us collectively. If you’re looking to access personalized astrological insights to help you navigate the now, I’d love to do a Stellar Guidance Session with you.

As the week begins, we experience a shift, as the Sun roars into Leo. With that we greet a month in which we’re encouraged to have courage, to live from our heart, to radiate our luminosity, and further know what it means to be generous in spirit. Leo season inspires us to explore our creative and playful selves. We may also learn more about what it means to be sovereign and have a greater level of agency, nobility, and dignity.

And yet, it’s not to assume that the beginning of the week will be all fun and festive. As I noted in last week’s Stellar Insights, Pluto was tying into Sunday’s Capricorn Full Moon. This urge to dig deep, to look under the hood, and to plumb below the surface will continue intensely for the next few days given that it’s not until Tuesday that the Sun makes its exact opposition to Pluto.

Pluto invites us to be honest about what has reached its expiration date and to release and surrender it so that we leave a pregnant void in which the new and the renewed can take root and blossom forth. And while the cycle of life and death and life (again and again) is the cycle of nature, and while releasing things that aren’t fruitful may seem wise when we reflect upon it, it’s not that it’s always easy.

Even with something that doesn’t fit, or isn’t sustainable, or doesn’t have alignment, we at least feel that we are connected to something, that there’s something we can identify with. And so releasing that can be scary, even if we know staying with the old and outworn isn’t in alignment.

It is in these moments that we must have faith, and courage, and tenacity. We must remember that we have the resources to create anew, to brings something into form that more honestly reflects who we are and what we need. And that through this alchemical process, an incredible transformation will occur.

So, in those moments when things may feel shaky, or rocky, or even scary, when you’re in the midst of deep shifts and fears emerge from within, hold onto the vision of what you feel and believe is possible. And then let go of what no longer serves you. And then dig deep into your will, your desires, your passion, your faith, your well of resourcefulness, and your knowingness as you focus upon what you want to bring into form.

Plutonian times can also feel like a volcano of energy was just released. What was being stored up is now available, no longer underground but pluming into the world around.

When Pluto is strong in the kairos it also encourages us to to dig deep, to know the mysteries, to survey the substrata where the secrets reside, and to be committed to what we want and settle for nothing less. It was for this reason that when I came across this quote by Rainier Maria Rilke the other day it felt like a beautiful reflection of this moment, for when we realize that we don’t want to sacrifice our desire to go into the depths.

I want to be with those who know secret things or else alone.

- Rainer Maria Rilke

Before I complete this week’s reflections, I do want to note one more event, which is Chiron stationing retrograde on Friday. I can’t help but think how this can inspire us this week to really survey our connection with the warrior within us, seeing where it is that we give space for its expression and where we just paper over it, not allowing ourselves to fight for what we want (let alone know what it is that we desire). With this, we may have opportunities to discover a greater sense of fortitude when it comes to taking on the role of champion, fighting for what we feel gives our lives meaning. It may be a time of tenderness, a time when we connect to some deep sorrows, and yet one in which we can further galvanize our courage to heal some wounds and emerge with more joy and resilience.

Have a transformative week!

xxStephanie

Postscript/PS

Just as I was writing this, I saw the breaking news that President Biden has decided to step away from being the Democratic Party’s next nominee for President, and then the subsequent announcement that he has endorsed Kamala Harris to be the Democratic nominee. Without going into too much detail (as I also don’t really address public events in detail in this newsletter), I did want to share three thoughts.

1/ This Full Moon x Pluto moment we’ve been experiencing felt like it was calling forth a deeply evocative moment in which there would be shifts in power and control as well as an ending that led to a new beginning.

2/ The chart for his announcement that he was dropping out of race (cast for his note on X on today, July 21, at 1:46 pm EDT) features a 1 degree Scorpio Ascendant, and therefore a 1 degree Taurus Descendant, the latter being the degree of President Biden’s Moon. One way to view this is that the event may have felt counter to his emotional needs, and yet it aligned with those of many others (the Descendant is the point of alliances, relationships, and other people).

3/ The chart for the announcement of his endorsing Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party’s nominee for President—set for 2:14 pm, the time of the announcement on X—featured Venus and Vesta, the asteroid that reflects the feminine energy of devotion and tending the sacred flame) hugging the Midheaven, which is the most public and visible point in the chart. The feminine is elevated!

Astrological Highlights

• July 22: Sun enters Leo

• July 23: Sun/Pluto Opposition

• July 25: Sun/Mars Sextile; Mercury enters Virgo

• July 26: Chiron Stations Retrograde

All days reflect Eastern Daylight Time (- 4 hours GMT)

Photos: Daniele Levis Pelusi, Meric Dagli, and Vackground, all via Unsplash

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Seattle Happenings

If you happen to live or be in the Seattle area late July through late August, I wanted to let you know about stellar events I’m offering:

In-Person Sessions

• I’ll also be available for in-person astrology guidance or family constellation sessions. If you’d like to schedule one, please send me a note. (We can meet in either Pioneer Square or West Seattle.)

Astrology and Jewelry Making

• July 28: I’m doing an astrology and jewelry-making workshop at WEND in West Seattle that focuses on how your astrology chart can help you better understand what you need, appreciate, and desire when it comes to partnerships and alliances (see here for more information.)

Altar Alchemy

• August 7: Altars are small sacred spaces that you create that are not only beautiful and magical but can also be expressions of your personal creativity. After finding them to be so personally powerful in helping me manifest intentions, work with new moon energies, and more, I’m excited to teach a class about them next month at fruitsuper in Pioneer Square (see here for more information).