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The summer’s intensity is less evident this week. The big action is weighted toward the end of it, and even that in no way approaches the tectonic pressure that we’ve all been experiencing. Relationships and communication continue to be major themes. They come together now in ways that will be revealing and helpful, if you’ll let them.

Mercury, the planet of communication, is highly active this week, not to mention retrograde in the keenly analytical sign of Virgo. He’s supporting reviewing and revisiting (and snarling pursuit of new agendas), so use his lead to explore the power of your thoughts and words.

Some of them are stuck in a rut, although you may not think of them that way. We’ve all shifted quite a bit lately, and some habits remain that would benefit us to break. The skies can help you not only see how, but also move through some unproductive patterns.

Think of the topics you think and talk about most frequently. What is your mental diet? Is it nurturing and supportive, or is it the thought equivalent of junk food or poison? What kinds of statements do you make? How do they make you feel about your life and yourself? (Check your body’s reaction, too.) Are they focused on what’s wrong or missing? Do they criticize or judge other people? Do they criticize or judge you?

Also spend a little time riffing through the statements that come out of your mouth with any regularity. You probably have a few pet topics and maybe some personal catchphrases, too. To get you thinking, here real-life examples I’ve heard: “Craziness and insanity” (used as a space filler during conversational gear shifts). “I don’t do money.“ “My [mother/sister/supervisor is crazy.” And one of mine, which I dropped after realizing what it was perpetuating, “Have I mentioned lately how much I hate Microsoft Word?” Think about the effect each of those statements would have, over and over and over again.

Words have a power of their own. They resound with an energetic burst that carries what’s been going through your head out into the world. They hang in the air. They affect other people. They find like energy and add to it. And they have consequences. There really is something to that old adage: You can’t take it back.

This week’s aspects invite considering what we think and say about these three specific areas: your finances, the people in your life and your top priorities. Look at them one at a time, and deliberately step outside from your usual perspective. The effort will pay off by the weekend. Here’s one way to do it.

Start with your finances. How often do you complain about money? Think you don’t? You could be doing it in small ways without realizing it. Do you talk about “only” making level of your salary or “only” having a certain amount in the bank? How often do you think or say that you hate your job, or that your boss/co-worker/customer is an idiot, or that you’re putting up with it for the salary or benefits? If you’re self-employed, how much do you fixate on, or have an emotional charge from, people owing you money? What do you say about the economy? About the cost of eating out, or the movies, or items at the grocery store?

If your response is “yeah, but…” — or that you are merely objectively stating facts — think again. Each of these messages skews your perspective to the negative. Each underscores lack, absence, dissatisfaction or some other energy that is both unsupportive and unpleasant. Each one is crowding out the possibility of a more healthy, growth-oriented and self-loving (!) experience.

Here’s an escape route: Just for this week, don’t complain. Pay attention to your thoughts and words. The Sun and Mercury in Virgo support that, particularly when they meet on Friday. When you catch yourself, rephrase the thought or the words coming out of your mouth. If you can’t think of a positive spin, don’t say anything.

Start this at the beginning of the week, and by the end of the weekend you will notice changes. Between Friday and Sunday Mercury is making growth aspects to Venus and Mars, which have the power to improve your financial outlook (if not actual bottom line) and motivate you to keep up this approach.

Now move to the people in your life. With whom do you regularly communicate? What’s the quality of your interactions, and how you feel during and afterward? Who do you think about a lot? What do you think about them?

Probably the people in your life fall into a couple of different camps, from ones that are special and predominately positive to those that set you off fairly reliably. What exactly do you think and say about these people? What do they talk about with you?

Look particularly at the people in the last camp. When one of them irritates you this week, notice what you do with the experience. Do you condemn the person or call him names? (Same thing, by the way.) If you talk to anyone else about the incident, what purpose does that serve? Every time you relate the story, you prolong its life and amplify its impact. Is the end at least productive? Are you trying to figure out the dynamic, the role it plays for you and what to do about it? Or are you dumping, tattling or just telling a friend about behavior that’s outrageous, unreasonable or unbelievable?

How unbelievable is it, really? Whatever the transgression, very likely it’s not the first time the offender has done it. All summer long, problem relationships have been sending consistent signals, with people communicating more and more clearly who they really are and how their paths are diverging. It’s probable, in this week’s offense, that the perpetrator is just being himself. If you’re blaming or taking issue with him for behaving true to his nature, this is an appropriate week to consider why you’re reacting that way, and even what role this person and/or the current dynamic between you plays in your life. You’re getting some kind of enjoyment out of the situation. No, really, you are; trust me. So what’s the pay off?

The skies have help both for processing this and doing something with your realizations. If that’s too taxing, just observe. The next time something rubs you the wrong way, try not talking about it. Just keep quiet. Here comes another adage to keep in mind: If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.

The experiment will get easier as the week goes on. Friday’s Sun/Mercury conjunction makes it possible to see yourself and to speak your mind with uncommon clarity and precision. You can step into a more appropriate and balanced dynamic and neutralize some of that irritation and anger with the weekend’s growth aspects between Mercury and cosmic lovers Venus and Mars. You can even access compassion and forgiveness when the channels open Saturday between Venus and Neptune, the lower and higher expressions of love.

Immerse yourself in that flow. It will soften your dealings with everyone. If someone is still in your life, there’s a reason. Put down your list of grievances, at least for the moment, and look at that person in the best possible light. You may inspire him to rise to your vision. If nothing else, you will feed your own heart.

Experiment with applying this same same process of observing and analyzing to other aspects of your life. With a little distance, your thoughts and words have clues about how well the way you’re living actually lines up with what you say is most important to you. If they’re out of phase, well, another adage comes to mind: Walk your talk.

Ah, another adage. This Mercury-focused week is full of them. They’re all pertinent and instructive. Use them this week and you will see progress and begin to install new behaviors. (If you can’t quite rein your thoughts, you can at least remold your words.) Here they are again: You can’t take back words. If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all. Walk your talk. Here’s another: Count your blessings. It’s corny and over-used, but there’s power in those words. Harness it and watch what happens.

Monday: The day’s only major aspect is a mid-afternoon Moon/Mercury trine, which gets the week’s focus on thoughts and words off and running. This aspect makes it easy to bring your heart and mind into alignment, become conscious of what you’re feeling and then tell other people about it. Speaking out is productive. As you voice your inner workings, notice how your attitude toward them shifts. Either you catch something that had escaped you before, as you hear yourself talking, or you get a response that tilts your head on the situation. The evening’s rumblings may be less easy to understand. For a more accurate read, keep your focus off the other person and on yourself.

Tuesday: The processing is underway. While you were sleeping, your subconscious was making choices about the quality of your relationships and actions, choices that will steer you toward developments this weekend. The dream fragments flying through your head on waking provide some clues. They may float back by during the fogginess of midday, but there’s no point in grasping at them. All will become clearer in a few days. Some of that fog will disperse by evening, actually, especially if you let in the unexpected.

Wednesday: The first day of September! (Can you believe it?) As if on cue, Sun/Mars contraparallel drives home the fact that summer is coming to a close. A back-to-school vibe kicks everyone of bed and into activity. The day promises to bring quite a bit of that, so channel that drive as much as possible into tacking your to-do list. Squares to the Moon have the rocket fuel to knock you off dead center and get moving on working on yourself and your thinking. They could also lead to feeling justified in beating up on yourself and talking a bit belligerently. If you find either happening, redirect your efforts.

Thursday: This is likely to be the most enjoyable day of the week (maybe one of the most of the summer!), and not just because a long holiday weekend is approaching in the US. The day’s only aspects are three trines involving the Moon, to Mars, Venus and Neptune. This bodes well for wrapping tasks up to put them out of the way for a while. It’s a happy, nonstop flow that makes you want to whistle while you work and reward yourself afterward with some quality socializing and then gentle downtime. (Happy hours are going to pour, pour, pour.) Some higher possibilities are in reach, too. Approach this day with your heart open wide and watch the improvement in the quality of your actions and relationships. Actual events may be simple and undramatic, but they may still brim with sweetness. Enjoy feeling in the flow and as connected as can be.

Friday: We’ve come to the most astrologically active day of the week, with seven major aspects and four minor ones. The bustle is gentler than other days with hectic skies this summer. The two planets of love, Venus and Neptune, line up by declination in the overnight hours, filling spirits with kindness, gentleness, compassion and a wondrous experience of communion and grace. If you are awake (this’ll peak at 1:20 AM EDT), pay attention to the feeling that comes over you so you can recall and perhaps summon it later. If you sleep through it, pay attention to how you feel first thing in the morning.

Assimilating this is going to require a growth spurt in how you look at and define yourself. Look at the edginess that comes later today as the discomfort of growing pains. The day starts (7:45 AM EDT) with a one-two wallop of friction between the Sun and Venus (rough edges in your personality or your relationships are getting a touch of sandpaper, or perhaps both) and a Moon/Pluto opposition, which could make you react intensely and dig your heels in deeply. Another one-two follows about an hour later (around 9:30 AM EDT). This one is an integral step in processing the week. Clarity, self-awareness and the ability to speak your truth lock in with the Sun/Mercury conjunction. Mercury quickly runs all this by Venus, who is not entirely pleased. Your heart, relationships and financial alliances are going to take some time adjusting. Give it to them.

Saturday: Ah, lazy day. There are no aspects whatsoever until the Venus/Neptune trine at 1:11 PM EDT. The possibilities that were seeded in your subconscious early yesterday morning now blossom into an open channel between worldly and higher love, artistry and inspiration, enjoyment of the physical world and blissful connection to spirit. This is one of those special moments that remind you what a joy it is to be alive. Acknowledge to yourself how much you and your circumstances have evolved and improved. Count your blessings, and let them know (especially the sentient ones) that you love and appreciate them. Keep returning to that awareness. Communication may grow a little out of joint later, when Mercury has a dust up with Venus, but you don’t have to slip into a disgruntled mood or let anyone else’s being out of sorts take you out of the love and appreciation you’re feeling today.

Sunday: Processing ramps up again overnight. More than half of the day’s aspects occur before dawn EDT. They rework your attitudes about relationships (or a certain person), yourself and your desires, and they plop you into vibrant, sunny, happy, optimistic territory. That’s your lauchpad to the day. Use it as a touchstone. When Mercury has another dust up today, this time with Mars, hanging on to the overnight vibes will diffuse the edginess, take the edge of any unpleasantry you hear and keep you from escalating the aggression. Walk your talk, remember.

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© Kathy Biehl 2009 - 2010. All Rights Reserved.
Kathy is available by appointment for readings over the phone, or in person in the NYC area and northern New Jersey (other locations depending on her travel schedule.) For more information about Kathy, her services and Family Dynamics, or to subscribe to Astro-Insight, visit her website, FortunaWorks. or call 862-209-0581 or email her at kbiehl@fortunaworks.com