We start the month with Mercury in his station, towards the end of July we could already feel his energy which is in Virgo. Mercury rules Virgo the sign that brings about systems and the ability to analyze situations so plans can be put into place.

Mercury has just left Leo a sign concerned with warmth and a generous spirit, which, if we can leave our egos at the door and connect with others in a manner that is generous, can serve us well. July was a time where we have needed to reach out to others and form connections with those we care for and avoid being too aggressive in how we express ourselves. Mercury in Leo expresses itself creatively and teaches us not to rely too much on others for support.

As Mercury has entered Virgo it brings out the precise, organised side of life. This is a time to get our act together, make a plan, put in a system or just simply organize our lives. Mercury stations at the beginning of August and this is when we may realize just how a lack of discipline or routine can create more stress and disorder throughout your day. Mercury retrogrades on the 5^th of August, a good time to take a step back and look at ways we can put things in order, perhaps see how a little bit of a system introduced into our daily routine may just help make life less frantic. An ordered life gives one the strength to own our power.

Mercury will re-enter Leo in a retrograde motion mid August, this could lead to argumentative way of expressing our opinion, remember others have their very own exaggerated opinions to express as well. Perhaps just think about how you are coming over when connecting with others as your opinions may just offend and break trust, Aggressive communication can have its drawbacks, so if you have an opinion try to temper down the way you express yourself. If in July you have verbally offended, August is the month to make amends.

Mercury will enter his station going very slowly until in full motion by the 27^th of August, this month will not be a wise month to invest, or purchaser anything expensive, invest in a new car, merchandise etc. Rather repair what is broken, but you may find what is already broken can finally die, but if it is something that is vital to everyday life, replacement is absolutely fine. Retrograde Mercury is a time to reflect on researching, revising, relooking at friend and situations, repairing broken links, so see this month as an opportunity to see what need to be reflected upon.

As Jupiter is in Gemini he is ruled by Mercury and this could make him the big planet of expansion behaves in a retrograde manner. Jupiter want growth and all good things, but with his ruling planet retrograding, August is a month to reflect what needs to be put into place so that growth can be beneficial and less chaotic.

Life is very busy and not very organised, so take this month to see how you can start o reorganize what is so stressful. There is a smorgasbord of options flying though our lives, we do need to take a step out of the chaos and focus on the most workable and practical options or situations.

Till the month of October we will have to contend with Uranus, the planet that can be rebellious, shocking and upsetting, as Uranus exposes the good bad and ugly in a way that comes to us from out of the blue. Uranus has connected with a nasty fixed star called Algol, mythological story of Medusa who was so ugly she had writhing snakes as hair as people looked at her they turned into stone. Medusa was beheaded by the Greek hero Perseus, who then used her head as a weapon to continue turn his enemies to stone.

Now in real life this fixed star gives off the energy of one losing their head where sudden shocking situations can arise and literally blindside us, or we can lose our heads in anger. It is interesting that the day of Donald Trump’s attempted assassination we had Mars, Uranus and Algol all together at 26 degrees of Taurus.

The New Moon will be in Leo on the 4^th and the full Moon in Aquarius on the 19^th. Anew Moon is a time for starting a new project, and in Leo it could be a way of creative self expression or taking steps towards a leadership role. The culmination of the full Moon is in Aquarius where we can become part of a collective energy.

MEDICALLY SPEAKING

Leo energy medically is about our heart and eyes. I want to focus a bit on the health of our eyes. Cleansing of our eyes is a vital step toward keeping our eyes healthy, not just a wipe across, but to gently massage a cleanser that does not aggravate your eyes into the actual follicles twice a day is important.

Mites that are necessary to eat dead skin are found living in the lash follicles, but due to age, infection allergies they can become excessive and cause all sorts of problems. This is a fascination article on this subject.  https://www.webmd.com/eye-health/eyelash-mites

Drink extra water in dry seasons as dehydration is very damaging to the eyes, especially in the Gauteng cold dry winters. When you are spending long hours in front of your computer, take time out to squeeze your eyes tightly shut for a few seconds to create tears and in that way naturally hydrate your eyes.

And as my Optician pointed out to me, don’t forget your yellow vegetables such as pumpkin, butternut and carrots, with absorbable vitamin A that is vital for eye health.