Astrology Trends for August 2013 - “I Think I Can, I Think I Can”

Jupiter's ruling card, #10
Wheel of Fortune romShadowscapes Tarot©
by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law and  Barbara Moore

Remember the “Little Engine That Could?”  If not, it’s important that you do. The first days of August leading up to the New Moon in Leo may have all of us doubting our own power and potential.  While Santa Claus Jupiter remains in Cancer, offering both optimism and expansion of our world, the planets, Mercury and Mars also in Cancer move to block by amplifying our inner critic.  Mercury wants to know if we’re sympathetic enough.  Mars wants to know if we have the staying power to succeed in our goals.  On the upside, Leo’s natural swagger will be a little easier to control.  However, the true lesson of these three planets in Cancer is to believe in yourself.  You are important and are here in this place and time by design, not as the butt of some great cosmic joke.  Everything you need to make a difference in this life is already inside you.

The New Moon is Leo arrives on August 6th (more on that later) and we’ll grab for our chance at a fresh start like the brass ring on a carousel.  On the 7th Jupiter opposes Pluto in Capricorn, activating the notorious Uranus Pluto Square (see blog, “September Full Harvest Moon - 2013” http://ladyoracle56.blogspot.com/2012/09/septembers-full-harvest-moon-2012-7.html ) .  As a point of interest, the

Pluto ruling card, #20, Judgment
from Aly Fell and Barbara Moore's
Steampunk Tarot©

last time Pluto was in Capricorn was in 1776.  Does that year ring a bell?  Yes, the pun was intended. You can stop groaning now. Mercury enters Leo on August 8th and we’ll all benefit from the gift of gab.  Watch the sales commissions soar. Those actually born with the Sun in Leo will become more like silver-tongued devils, but oh, so charming.

Venus' ruling card, #3, The Empress
RWCS Deck, US Games©

As the effects of the Grand Water Trine diminish, the Grand Trine between Jupiter, Saturn and Chiron (think tarot’s #5, the Hierophant) comes to the forefront, peaking on August 21st.  There’s tremendous healing energy here.  Whether you’re concerned with health of body, mind or soul, use this configuration’s energy to meditate and promote healing for yourself or loved ones.  The Sun enters Virgo on the 23rd, but more on that later.

Venus comes home to Libra, her ruling sign, on August 16th.  It’s a beautiful thing.  Air sign Libra brings Venus into her own by granting us the ability to create harmony and beauty around us.  We form and reform strong partnerships.  True romance is in the air – literally. Don’t be surprised if you see the proverbial stranger across a crowded room.

Other points of interest this month include a Full Moon in Aquarius - part deux, and the rocking and rolling Perseid Meteor Shower ( see blog on shower -  http://ladyoracle56.blogspot.com/2012/08/perseid-meteor-showers-august-11th-to.html  ).    As you can see we’ve got great stuff coming this month.  Remember to utilize  this month’s energy patterns to create lasting, positive change in your life. Be patient and loving with yourself and with others.

LADY ORACLE


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Delta Aquarids Shower, July 12 to August 23, 2014 - Meteors Giving Us A Complex

#17, The Star from
Ciro Marchetti's The Legacy of the Divine Tarot©

In May we had the Eta Aquarids shower and now, out of the dark of southern sky, in the wee hours before dawn, comes the Delta Aquarids meteor shower.  Although this is not a particularly brilliant display, there are still plenty of interesting facts about the Delta Aquarids shower.  Like their cousin the Eta showers, the Delta showers’ radiant (point of origin) is the constellation, Aquarius.

(see blog: http://ladyoracle56.blogspot.com/2013/05/eta-aquarid-meteor-shower-may-4th-and.html for the story of Aquarius and Ganymede)  The third brightest star in the constellation is called Delta, hence the naming of this particular meteor shower, Delta Aquarids. 

Also like the Eta showers, the Delta is more visible from the southern hemisphere.  The peak nights for observing Delta's rain of fire this year are July 25th and 27th.  However, if you live in a more rural area, you can eek out a few more nights of viewing before moonlight interferes with visibility. At peak, the Delta Aquarids meteors fall at a rate of 20 per hour with a speed of approximately 25 miles per second.  Don’t blink and don’t despair. You will still be able to catch sight of some of Delta’s meteors during the Perseids Shower in mid-August. 

#19, The Sun from
Ciro Marchetti's Legacy of the Divine Tarot©

The source of the Delta Aquarids meteors is still listed as ‘unknown,’ but the current culprit for the showers, and probably the correct one, is comet, 96P Machholz.  This comet was discovered in 1986 by Donald Machholz and it orbits the Sun every five years.

The Delta Aquarid shower is one of many minor summer showers that comprise a shower group called the Aquarid – Capricornid Complex. These showers are part of the

Summer Antihelion Source display.  The Antihelion Source, or ANT, is a large, oval-shaped area of space housing the radiants for several minor meteor showers.  Where most of us amateur astronomers will never be able to tell what meteor comes from what particular shower during this summer cacophony, professional astronomers can certainly tell the difference.  They also say that with careful observation we can as well.  I don’t know about you, but I favor the, “Ooooh, fireball pretty,” approach.  Below is a list of the Aquarid – Capricornid Complex/ANT showers and their peak nights.  Mark your calendars, pack up your favorite lawn chair and get ready to enjoy.

LADY ORACLE

AQUARID–CAPRICORNID COMPLEX/ ANT SUMMER SHOWERS

DELTA AQUARIDS July 28th and 29th (visibility may be better in August this year)

PISCES AUSTRALIDS  July 31st

ALPHA CAPRICORNIDS  August 2nd (known for slow fireballs)

IOTA AQUARIDS August 6th and 7th

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Leonid Meteor Shower 2012 - A Gift That Keeps on Giving

November is the month for the Leonid Meteor Shower and this year we have two peak times to watch the display.  Our first opportunity came on the 17th, and if you (like me) didn't have your act together to catch the peak display, you get another chance on November 20th.  That's right, two peaks, no waiting.

The Leonid Shower has sometimes been referred to as a meteor storm due to the frequency of meteors blazing across the night sky.  In 1966 the meteors fell at a rate of a thousand per minute.  Not so this year.  This year the meteors are falling at a rate of about ten to twenty per hour.  In case you think that the cosmos is playing a game of slow pitch softball with us, think again.  The meteors will be falling at a rate of almost forty miles per second.

This November meteor shower emanates from the constellation of Leo.  Good thing it didn't come out of Sagittarius, isn't it?  Try wrapping your mouth around something like that.  The meteors themselves are objects from the debris field of the Tempel-Tuttle comet which circles our Sun in a large, egg-shaped orbit.  Every thirty-three years Tempel-Tuttle's orbit brings it within spitting distance of earth - astronomically speaking.  That means we pass through a denser part of the debris field during our own solar orbit.  1999 was another banner year for meteors, which means that 2032 should be looking good for an all out meteor storm.

November 20th still promises us some good viewing action during the wee hours of the morning.  Our crescent moon will be setting as the constellation Leo rises, providing us with a darker sky.  Meteors will fall at the rate of fifteen to twenty per hour.  To put this in perspective, the Perseid Shower boasts an average shower rate of about fifty meteors per hour.  Okay, so this year the Leonid Shower is more like, "The Little Meteor Shower That Could." That doesn't mean you should pass up the opportunity to take in the show.  Remember, good things come in small packages.


LADY ORACLE

Perseid Meteor Showers Peak August 11th to the 13th - Beware of Triffids!

The Eagle Nebula which has nothing to do with Perseus,
but you must admit, makes a delightful picture!

How many wishes can you make in an hour?  Fifty? Eighty?  A hundred? You may get your chance to find out this coming weekend.  During the nights of Saturday the 11th, through Monday 13th, the Heavens rain fire over planet Earth in an annual event call the Perseid Meteor Shower.

Whenever we experience a meteor shower, and especially one that's purported to be the greatest cosmic event of our lifetime, I get nervous.  You see, I think about the old 1962 film based on the book by John Wyndham, "The Day of the Triffids."   In the story, everybody on the planet goes out to watch this once in a lifetime meteor shower, cunningly

engineered by alien plant spores called Triffids.  The meteor shower causes wide-spread blindness, making the Earth's population easy prey for slow moving, carnivorous plants.  And you think ivy is a problem.  Now, we both know that alien plant life is not planning to invade us by way of a meteor shower.  Still, every time I watch one, part of me listens for that weird, low-pitched clicking sound the Triffids made.  My husband, merry prankster that he is, does a pretty good imitation.

Back to reality.  Why is it called the Perseid Meteor Showers?

Tarot's #17, The Star from
Steampunk Tarot© by
Barbara Moore and Aly Fell

 The radiant, or origin of the shower comes from the constellation named for, Perseus, the ancient Greek hero who battled Medusa.  You can locate Perseus in the northeastern sky and its most well-known star is called, Algol.  The name, Algol comes from Arabic (the ancient study of astronomy began in the Middle East) and roughly translates as, demon's eye.  The star actually represents Medusa's eye.  (Great. Now we have carnivorous plants and Gorgons. ) Algol is actually 105 lightyears away from us.  Think about the time and distance these meteors have traveled just to put on a show for us.

The Perseid display began around July 23rd this year and the meteors, refuse from comet, Swift-Tuttle, fell at a rate of 10 meteors per hour.  As we've moved deeper into the meteor stream, the fall rate has steadily increased.  Experts predict that during the shower's peak fifty to a hundred meteors will fall per hour.  The Perseid peak runs from August 11th through the 13th this year with meteors falling at a rate of thirty-seven miles per second.   

The meteor display will be easier to see this year because the moon is in a waxing crescent phase.  This will not be the case in 2014 however, so don't let this year's shower pass you by. The best time for viewing will be in the pre-dawn hours. You don't need eye protection, or smoked glass to watch the meteor shower.  Just try to get away from city lights if possible.  All that's required is a pillow for your head as you lie 
back in the grass.


Below is a table of the biggest annual meteor showers.  As you can see, we still have some great cosmic fireworks remaining for this year.  Enjoy!  Oh, and keep an eye on the plant life.  :)


LADY ORACLE

Name                      Month  to View
Quadrantids	January
Lyrids	April
Eta Aquarids	May
Perseids	August
Orionids	October
Leonids	November
Geminids	December

* All the meteors you see in the sky right now may not be from the Perseid Shower.  Here's a link to why!

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