Astrology for Sunday, 9 August 2020:

Today the Moon makes a conjunction with Mars in Aries before squaring Pluto and Saturn, both retrograde in Capricorn. Mars is dignified in its domicile of Aries, bringing forward its more functional qualities: courage, assertiveness, the will to pursue that which we desire, fight for what we believe in, and defend those in need of defending. But as the Moon moves into the squares with Pluto and Saturn, we may find ourselves in struggle as we encounter resistance to that actions we feel driven to take. Rather than surrendering to discouragement when we find ourselves in struggle for that which matters most to us, can we instead see that it is ourselves who are being forged through such processes? We are becoming more of ourselves as we are shaped by the forces that resist our intentions. As Audre Lorde writes in “Age, Race, Class, and Sex,” “Change means growth, and growth can be painful. But we sharpen self-definition by exposing the self in the work and struggle together with those whom we define as different from ourselves, although sharing the same goals.” In the midst of struggle, both with and alongside those who are different from ourselves, can we push forward into greater clarity in our own self-definition, sharpening our sense of who we are and what it is we are struggling for? The Moon then ingresses into Taurus, the sign of its exaltation, beckoning us back into the grounding comfort of sensual pleasures, our encounters with ourselves, others, and the world around us that not only bring us back to the immediacy of body but also invite us to feel good there, here, wherever we are.