Astrological Forecast July August, 1993 By Terry Lamb, M.A. The new cycle is emerging slowly, like a butterfly from its chrysalis. You may be able to feel it within you, experience its effects already. I see people around me responding to it—some consciously, others not. Whether conscious or not, manifest or not, everyone is responding on some level. The more conscious you can be of this new start, this profound and exciting new cycle, the easier it will be for you. My frequent readers will know what I am referring to. It is the beginning of a 171-year cycle, within a 1542-year cycle. Both of these are longer than a human life span, meaning that they require us to go beyond our normal human faculties to understand and use them. The smaller cycle involves Uranus, the awakener, and Neptune the mystical. These together are producing changes in our purest levels of awareness. They are both subtle and profound. Their combined influence can seem insidious, but its manifestations come out of the mundane, everyday events and experiences of the past 171 years. While many people are surprised at the unexpected turns of events that they witness, the roots of the events are always identifiable with the use of insight and intuition. Their effects are beyond the social, the economic or the institutional. They go to the level of motive, intention and purpose. Those who have explored personal growth and spiritual development know that these are the keys to a meaningful and successful life; but this is beyond the awareness of most people. Imagine being unaware of this wisdom and trying to make sense of this planetary milestone! Life could seem unpredictable, and fear, panic and depression become a reality. This is indeed the nature of what many are experiencing, whether it be as a result of losing not just their job but their industry, or a new set of body symptoms resulting from the electromagnetic pulse associated with these planets. Combining these with Saturn produces the 1542-year period, which is associated with the rise and fall of civilizations. While we are not at the point in the cycle when civilizations fall, there is an undeniable shift that is causing suffering for individuals. Because this cycle is so long, it lengthens the time of transition that we are now in. By my reckoning, we have been in transition since 1981, but the pivot point of the transition to the new cycles is 1987-1993. By now many people can see the light at the end of the tunnel, even if the tunnel is very long yet, and they are still far from the light. To be able to understand and focus on your new path at least allows you to make progress and believe in the future; and it is vastly better than the confusion that comes from discovering that the way you've done things all your life suddenly doesn't work any more. The key to a successful and meaningful new beginning is to create and act on goals that will fulfill your deepest sense of purpose. We have never been closer to the critical moment of new beginning than now. Although we will continue to be in transition for at least another 20 years, at least we are now in the newness that many of us have been waiting for, and were born to experience. We can see it all around us. What is happening to Western culture? It is surely going through changes! When its destructive force is spent, what can happen to the people who supported its efforts with long hours of dedicated work? What happens when there are no new lands to conquer through manifest destiny, no new markets to exploit? What does a culture do when its resources are exhausted, its beliefs ravaged by the cold light of reality? Of course it must change, and it will be a test of this culture and the resilience and inventiveness of its people. Every other culture is going through a similar process, but the forms it takes are unique to each. Whether you are an African farmer having to contend with the growing number of protected elephants trampling your crops or a Japanese woman with an emerging awareness of the freedoms you are denied, each person faces a different world than they grew to expect from their elders. I have to believe it is becoming a better world. Slowly the rampant denials of the unacceptability of what has gone before are being discovered, the wounds being healed. In 1993, we are clearly in the new cycle, but another cycle interferes by its unfettered expression. This one's effect we will feel until the end of January. While it tends to produce frustration in the extreme, it gives us a chance to strengthen and refine the ways we choose to manifest its energy. During July and August, we may feel as though we are each trying to do the work of two people with one hand tied behind our back. As difficult as this may sound, it is partly because we may be trying to push the river. If we remember to let the river flow and maintain a sense of humor, our sense of effectiveness and fulfillment will be on the rise. There are four focal points by which we can measure our experiences in these months. They are the beginning of January, the third week of April, the third week in May and the first week in June. As you go through the experiences that July and August have in store for you, it will help to be aware of what happened during those times, for your actions then will be felt now. JULY: We start July with a feeling of needing to pull in the reins a bit. Have we overdone it, especially in the emotional arena? We may feel that we have been a bit silly, a little out of control over the past six weeks. What was all the turmoil about anyway? Conversely, if we've been holding it in since the third week in May, we may find that our eyes turn into water faucets or we latch onto that summer cold we had been hoping to avoid. Although the feelings may be apparent by the first, we may not be able to express them until after the third, the day of the Full Moon. These first three days of the month will be highly challenging in terms of the urge to act. In fact, there will certainly be people around you who will be pushing the panic button! Unfortunately, you could get caught up in someone else's turmoil, just by virtue of proximity. The challenge will be to keep a cool head while everyone around you is losing theirs! The key to this is how well you have handled your focus over the past 3 months. You will become more aware of communications, logistics and convenience during the next 24 days. If you have issues or disarray in any of these areas in your life, you will notice it more during this time. You are likely to feel more emotional about whatever difficulties you do experience, but as long as you have handled your activities of the beginning of January and mid-April well, this should not present major difficulties. The first five days will set the tone for the rest of July. This is not to create a gloomy outlook, for of course there will be variations on the theme throughout the month. Essentially, however, you may come to think of the first 24 days of July as a time out, whether you wanted one or not. I don't want to leave you with a negative sense about this—it's just that most people do not handle special need periods well. Do you take an "I can handle that" attitude about the curve balls that life throws you? Then July should be a breeze. Do you hit the panic button if anything out of the ordinary rears its head in your living room? Then maybe you should take a vacation during July. Either way, it may help you to know that it would be wise to allow yourself until after the 24th to resolve issues that come up during that time. A sense of realism concerning timing is certainly better than hopeless pessimism, idealistic optimism, or worse yet, confusion. Relationships may experience difficulty around the 5th, but communication should open them up by the evening. Don't consider the door closed, because communications will continue to be highlighted on the 7th and 10th, with a real clearing of the air possible late on the 10th, but certainly coming on the 14th. The issues may go deeper than suspected, and the influences will be hard to bring into the light of day. However, the outlook is good for a clearer understanding of the issues on the 10th, with the road to action opening on the 11th and 12th. Connections made on the 16th through the 19th will prove important during the next lunar cycle, which begins on the 19th. We enter this cycle on a dreamy and idealistic note. The Sun enters Leo on the 22nd. The lazy lion languishes in the luminescence of the hot sun. This is a time of bowing before the heat of the summer if you are in the Northern Hemisphere. It is also a time of active enthusiasm and creativity. During Leo we must sustain the growth of the fruits of our efforts in anticipation of the harvest we will rape this fall. For the next month, people are likely to be more appearance oriented, social, playful, yes and lazy! But is there anything wrong with taking a break when you can? On the 23rd, you may find yourself dealing with one more snafu in the relationship department, but this is not the time to act. Give it a few hours, talk about it later in the day, and on the 25th and 26th, you'll be able to get everything squared away. The 30th will bring the issues of the month out of the woodwork one last time, effecting resolution, and life blessedly goes on. By the 31st, your attention is focused on other things. AUGUST: On the 1st, we enter a tender, healing period—in fact, August should give us a relative break in the stream of important events we've been experiencing for the last month. But this will not reveal itself until after the 2nd, when what you started in mid-November and drew your attention at the end of February finally heads toward completion at last. This also has to do with a step in the process of the siege we're under until the end of January 1994. Or course, on the 2nd, we come to the traditional date for the celebration of Lammas (Lughnasadh). At this point, we are of the way through the solar year. It is the time of the early harvest, when the first of the year's rewards come in. It is also a time to affirm our continued commitment to the spirit of contribution that we bring to this year's projects, and to recall the pure essence from which our first inspiration stemmed. This will be valuable in bringing us through to the time when the great harvest comes, at the autumnal equinox. From the 3rd, opportunities begin to open up more, options become available and we can make decisions. Specifically, the 3rd and 4th feed into this feeling of expansiveness and progress. On the 7th, an opportunity may present itself, but following it may require a period of inactivity or adjusting other plans. It may even seem impossible at first. But patience may be all it takes to open the right doors. By the 9th, if you still want to follow through, the doors should open. Around the 11th, be ready to accept a challenge, take a little risk. Relationship interests are on the upswing, so don't be afraid to take that initial risk of rejection. Even if you are already in a relationship, you may find that stepping out on your own to do something beyond the normal expectations of your partner may benefit you both. It may increase your sense of freedom and your level of fulfillment; this in turn can greatly benefit the relationship. Around the 14th, you might expect a little of the spiritual to bleed over into normal living circumstances more than usual. This could involve the emergence of a covert process into the realms of the visible and workable. A grounding process may be taking place. If you have been experiencing spiritual growth processes, this may come as somewhat of a relief. The 15th brings a keynote of progress and energy with which we can inseminate the coming lunar cycle, which begins on the 17th. Opportunity and breakthrough in relationship are key foci during the coming month. Observe what happens on the 19th, for this day brings an important planetary event in the unfolding of the big cycles I spoke of above. Restructuring processes that began around mid-February and came into stronger focus around June 10th will reach a culmination around this date. Take note of what occurs on or around the 20th as well, for this date begins a new yearly cycle relating to transition and healing. On the 22nd, we'll be coasting into the sign of Virgo, when we may take on the work ethic anew. It's time to pour on the juice to really potentiate that harvest! Working smarter, not harder, is Virgo's domain, and the other planetary activities generally support that approach to life for the rest of the month. Analytic processes especially come into the fore after the 25th, when logic and pragmatism become the new buzzwords for success. The 31st will lead to a burst of activity that borders on genius if you can tap the energies of the Full Moon. We end these two months on an up note. We can look forward to a fall and winter with more potential for real growth than we've had in a long time. The clouds really are clearing; the long night of dimmed consciousness really is ending. Although we have our ups and downs, we can look forward to constant and never-ending improvement now, with the turning of the cycles. I am not going to pretend that life is a bed of roses in these times. Even if we are experiencing personal happiness and fulfillment, there are other people out there who then need our help. True joy can come during these times as never before, because we know that joy only comes out of breakthrough from the deepest levels of being, and this type of breakthrough has never been more possible in historical times. Blessed Be! | 
