Raising Conscientious/Transformative Experiences

And with Mars in opposition and Mercury retrograde at the same time, also huge potential for conflict. The silver lining is, this is a short window of time, so if nothing too awful manifests, we can all feel better afterwards. And it all depends on who is in the wrong end of the conflict. Trump doesn't seem to be going through a good time lately, maybe it will be him.

Michele, thank you for pointing it out. And Maria, I want to know more about what Mars vs Mercury retrograde can mean. I love your thought about Trump. 

Feelings can be heightened when you attend an eclipse with a crowd. Last summer I was at a retreat with a hundred people when we had the solar eclipse. I could feel the build-up before it came and I got all that information coming to me about Robert Mueller's investigation.

I hope to have the time to meditate and see what comes from the heavens on the day of the eclipse. 

Jeanne, lunar eclipses can be very intense and as you have pointed out, more so when viewed from a crowd.

If the world is a stage (as above so below) right now the US is center stage and our own version of a trumpeting Mars is front-and-center and in direct conflict and oppositional to everything that we want and need to happen for positive and transformative change to happen.

But we can also see this in the paradigm of crisis =opportunity, even with Mercury in Retrograde and intense feelings of moving backwards rather than forward. 

Communication and other transportation issues, combined with fiery heat waves and forest fires on the west coast and now a massive fire in Greece killing dozens and injuring 150 are all potent signs

 But it further reminds me than that the Sea of Capricorn and Saturn are also astrological players now and can bringing in calming energies as can I with my  blog readership now primarily read by light workers in the creative and therefore manifesting arts.

The personal danger to those who read about and focus on the negative, is the further creation of fear, anxiety, and panic as in a crashing Wall Street kind of epidemic way

I am continuing my focus on being a lightworker in my life with its challenges and everytime an anxiety or negative things happens I remind myself that of course they're going to happen and I can handle them.

For example I wrote a huge post here much better than this one is written and and immediately went to post it. I had a quick image of a glitch, but too late I had clicked on save and the server here told me "sorry all your data was lost in the transmission and I had to choose between giving up or starting over.

Also, when a planet (Mercury right now) goes retrograde the circumstances that manifest can help us to ultimately express the energies of this planet in the new way.

So not just oppositional and even backwards but perhaps necessary and purposeful.

As with, Maria, I am hoping the Mars intensity of fiery emotions and emotional even neurotic emotional tendencies towards anxiety and even neurotic paranoia might have positive targeting as is needing to catalyze change we need to see.

I am confident others have a lot of insight to share about the upcoming lunar eclipse and Mercury and Mars retrogrades and can provide better descriptions and references, but I enjoy Susan Miller's guidance on her site:   https://www.astrologyzone.com/all-about-eclipses-a-guide-for-coping-with-them/.   She explains that lunar eclipses are about culminations and ending points and describes the power of eclipses to change timetables.  To see how all of these influences directly impact your own charts, Astrodienst is a good site to check out.  You can enter your birth data, click on personal daily horoscopes, and check out how long- and short-term transits are specifically impacting you at the bottom of the page.  Fuller explanations require more on-line sleuthing or a subscription.  

What I've always found to be true about Mercury retrograde periods in my life is that my brother-in-law in IT always contacts me during them to see if "it's happening," one of my mechanical things (e.g., refrigerator, dishwasher, vacuum cleaner, car, door opener, closet door, or technological gadget) breaks down or stops working, and I have to stay alert that my messages sent are not necessarily going to be the messages that are received.  I have also found this to be a time when miracles occur, like my vacuum cleaner will not work the entire time and I'll just leave it and wait to turn it back on when the Mercury retrograde period ends and it will work just fine.  Or, my car window won't go up and I'll pray about it and come back later, and it will work just fine but serve as a warning that it will need to be attended to at a later date when it won't go back up at all, but I will miraculously have just enough money to address it, even if it means sticking a board in it.  Or, the engine in my dishwasher will hum but not result in the release of water, so I'll wash dishes by hand and look up the costs of replacing it while praying for help and an old friend will show up and replace the water pump and it will work just fine.  I've just always found that when I confront a breakdown with some combination of surrender, patience, hope, and belief that the Universe doesn't give me anything more than I can handle,  some kind of miracle will resolve the whole issue to a big WOW!

Jeanne, I'm no expert in astrology. I just know the basics and how to get a chart on online sites. When there's something potentially significant in the horizon, I prefer to check out what experts like Jessica Adams have to say:

https://www.jessicaadams.com/2018/07/21/eclipse-july-2018-astrology/

Interestingly, she thinks that with the configuration for July 27th, it's quite possible that the big battles happen behind closed doors, and we only get to know about them afterwards.

As a Gemini rising with Mercury in Aquarius, Mercury retrograde hits me hard upside the head.  

When I'm 'off,' I short out microwaves, car batteries...computers don't stand a chance. My brain even gets electrically scrambled & thoughts fuzzy.

Best way I've found to deal with it is to be conscious of it, and *use* the reversed energies for revision, reworking, reanalyzing, refurbishing, reconsidering, rewriting and editing. 

That--and taking epsom salt baths.  ? 

R1

Lots and lots of Epsom salt baths, lighting real candles, going outside and sitting under the trees and feeling the overwhelming sense of happiness the connection with nature creates and brings.

 And yes, mercury retrograde hit. My car battery was dead, 3 light bulbs had exploded, and a family member reneged on his signing of a contract with the rest of the family. The computer is fried, internet is discontinued, and we are in a huge heat wave this week.

But it is glorious outside. Even in the middle of the night when it's cooler, I can step out outside and connect with the stars and be grateful for all I have learned and how much more there is to learn and explore.

Thanks for being part of my tribe.

Also what's really interesting is that from June 26th until August 27th, there are going to be up to six planets in retrograde, which is going to slow everything down.

So, if the white house players are meeting behind closed doors the retro aspect might be re-hashing old issues, problems, events etc. Lots of potential triggers and conflict and mixed strategies.

The planets going into potential retrograde during the July and August dates are Jupiter, Saturn, Pluto, Mars, Neptune, Uranus, and Mercury.

Retrograde energy is about moving within and a focus on pausing, reflecting, and working on what is already in front of all of us instead of searching for anything new.

Thinking of you R1 with your last comment about editing, rewriting etc. and Jeanne with changes to website appearing here almost daily.

I sense a lot of this also going on with others here. A good time to pause, reflect, perhaps make new choices on old decisions. For me often distracting my self with such activities helps me move through old issues, relationships, reactions to others (lots of re things)  but i have to remember to take a good look into my subconscious self and re-evaluate, as well.

Take care everyone.

The two biggest social media companies, Facebook and Twitter, have gone down in the stock market quite a bit the last couple of days. That certainly fits with Mercury retrograde.

Something that got started on the 27th, people didn't realise its significance till later (Mercury retrograde), and has to do with fire, which fits with Mars in opposition: the California fires going on right now, that have become the biggest recorded fires in California.

Wow, Maria! You're so right.

We have huge fires in Oregon too but not the loss of lives and structures to the extent of the massive acreage in California.

But we are losing beautiful forests and acres of farmland. And we are having unprecedented heat waves and in a state known for its rain, now facing a drought.

Michele, are you in Oregon or do you know people there? I'm asking because I remember reading earlier on this year that bird migrations in Oregon weren't following the normal patterns. It could have been climate change, or something else. I wonder if people have been noticing more strange wildlife behavior lately?

I had an unexpected personal loss on July 27. 

My dear, beloved dog, Sandy, who had just been to our vet and received a good bill of health the week before, suddenly became very ill that morning with severe internal bleeding from a tumor in her liver that we were not aware she had, and by evening we had to make the heartbreaking decision to let her go.  

It was a very peaceful death for her, for which I am very grateful.  Our adult children had time to get to our vets, and we all sat with her as a family and loved on her for more than an hour.  Then she kissed each of us goodbye one by one before she left us.   

The last two weeks have been very hard for me because this was so unexpected and happened so quickly.   It is so lonely in our house without her and I miss her very much.   

Oh, dear dear RosieHeart. Those of us who love our animals as members of our family understand this heart breaking loss.

It truly feels like a piece of us is missing and will never heal. It does of course ease in time but oh the amazing,  amazing love they share with us is like no other.

It is then that we understand that they are truly sentient beings with hearts and souls like our own, pieces of ourselves really in so many ways.

So very sorry for your loss but what a dear and remarkable goodbye, kissing each of you, one by one.

I weep with your pain but rejoice that you shared so much with this beloved one.

Hey RosieHeart,  i am so sorry about Sandy. Hope you are doing ok.   I believe that whatever you truly love, is yours forever, and will be reunited with you at some point.  i know that that might not help much in this moment, though.       Peace and love to you my friend

So sorry, RosieHeart. Our animals really reflect the best face of the Divine to us. It's hard when they go back to the Source.

R1

Sending love to you RosieHeart.  I know this grief, dear friend, and pray for strength for you.  When my puppy passed over it would help for me to imagine her in the afterlife.  At first she was just sleeping but later I would see her frolicking about.  That was a comfort. 

Thank you, everyone for your kind and helpful words.   I didn't mean to hijack this thread, but appreciate that you all understood.  

Jeanne, your mention of imagining your dear pup frolicking really struck home.  Over the weekend, I was walking out on a part of our property that Sandy always loved to explore, and I a very clear image of her running up to me all happy and excited popped into my head.  It was, as you said, a comfort.   

Thanks again  everyone.

Rosieheart,

I am just reading of your loss now. So sorry. We had to say goodbye to our hound a little over a year ago. It never gets easier. I'm still not over the loss of a cat 10 years ago... Hang in there.