A spoonful of sugar - BitchScopes for July 18-25

I think this will be an interesting week on a personal level. That Capricorn Full Moon last Wednesday was a bit harsh. Capricorn is no nonsense and no bullshit, and it didn’t pull any punches showing us where we need to improve in order to move ahead. This week, there’s a good amount of internal conflict, and bumping into values that we hold which are at odds with the goals we are trying to achieve. Some of us are going to feel a little “put upon” or burdened by our soul work or our life’s calling. The Sun and Mercury move into Leo, which stimulates our pride and playfulness, for better or worse. This week in the battle between work and play, work is likely to lose.

There’s a lot of nurturing and compassion and even activism that wants to happen, but those things are bumping up against a sort of crisis of self esteem. Chariklo, the wife of Chiron, is about self sovereignty and compassion, but she is in difficult aspects this week. We have a couple of tough Pluto aspects, and then we have Mars being eclipsed by the moon. This is called an “occultation”, and in this case, the willpower of Mars is temporarily “eclipsed” by our feelings, represented by the moon. Mars is Taurus is “debilitated”, but also incredibly stubborn and willful. That energy is blocked by the moon, also in Taurus. It is an internal crisis. Mars’ energy is softened by the moon, and we are forced to take a look at how we use our personal power and leadership - do we try to control others? Or do we use our powers for good, and do we have compassion, even for our opponents?

I’m tapping into Capricorn to deliver messages that you need to hear, whether you like them or not, because these are not “SugarScopes” (though a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down!) But I am softening the message with excerpts from the poetry of Hafiz, because he is romantic and joyful and hopeful and lovely!

ARIES - Ambition is a good thing, until its not. Let go of the need to constantly be the first and best and most amazing and beyond reproach perfectionist. Because guess what? You’re not actually any of those things in the bigger picture. You can be an amazing leader if you put your powers to good use. “Little by little, you will turn into stars. Even then, my dear, you will only be a crawling infant, still skinning your knees on God” (Hafiz)

TAURUS - Sometimes in the quest for unshakeable security, you can be a little rudderless, exploring every avenue that looks remotely promising. But then you dig in your heels and have difficulty admitting you’ve gone down a crummy path. Don’t be afraid to put things in reverse and recalculate your course. “Now, begin to rain intelligence and compassion upon all your tender, wounded cells and realize the profound absurdity of thinking you can ever go anywhere or do anything without God’s will”. (Hafiz)

GEMINI - Knowledge is power, but focus gives your power depth and reach. On the quest to satisfy your ever mental and intellectual itch, you can run the risk of becoming a know it all, and a master of nothing. The trick is to master your own mind, and its no easy task for a Gemini. Sometimes you have to force your mind to be quiet by listening to something louder - like nature, or your lover, or your heart! “Pulling out the chair beneath your mind, and watching you fall upon God” (Hafiz)

CANCER - Selfishness is one of the most challenging things most Cancers must learn. You have to hold back some of all the goodness you sprinkle out into the world and give it to yourself! You probably were not taught to do this, so you have to learn. If you don’t, you can become a shriveled and depleted shell. “I wish I could show you, when you are lonely or in darkness, the astonishing light of your own being!” (Hafiz)

LEO - Creative people can get easily bored, and when there is not something to tackle in their own lives, they can focus too much on what’s going on in other people’s lives. Make sure you have a strong creative outlet … maybe more than one! It doesn’t have to be complicated, it just has to scratch your itch to create and emote and express and to play! “God is trying to sell you something but you don’t want to buy. That is what your suffering is: your fantastic haggling, your manic screaming over the price!” (Hafiz)

VIRGO - Virgos can struggle so much with perfectionism, and yet many of them don’t recognize that in themselves. It is so much a part of the fabric of who you are, you can’t really see it. So trust people when they tell you it is enough, it is good, you are enough, you are worthy… those are the truth. “...a hundred sweet promises and those heroic vows no one can ever keep. But still God is delighted and amused you once tried to be a saint” (Hafiz)

LIBRA - The work of trying to make everyone happy is not only exhausting, it is Sisyphean…you’re never gonna get that rock up the hill and make it stay there. It is noble and beautiful to try to please people that love you, but you also have to love yourself. So every day, be still and listen to your own heart and what it wants …I can guarantee it does not want to feel burdened and broken by the feeling of falling short of the perceived expectations of people who don’t appreciate you! “If a naive and desperate man brings a precious stone to the only jeweler in town wanting to sell it, the jeweler’s eyes will begin to play a game…he will not want to reveal the stone’s true value, but to hold the man captive to fear and greed while he calculates the value of the transaction.” (Hafiz)

SCORPIO - Some of the heaviest shit you will ever carry is the grudges you hold. What people don’t realize about you is how soft your underbelly is and that is why you are so self-protective. Remembering how you’ve been hurt is natural and a means of preventing future pain; but every so often you might review the list and start letting go of the ones that you can. “But the moon cannot hold a grudge. It still stops by some nights and leans over this gentle earth, as over a crib, and gives a full, wet kiss. For the moon knows that God is always amorous.” (Hafiz)

SAGITTARIUS - You are a truth teller, and you can sometimes exaggerate the importance of a particular point of view. The unfortunate truth is that most of this life is lived in the gray area, not the black and white you prefer. Challenge yourself to explore the gray area. “Forget every idea of right and wrong any classroom ever taught you. Because an empty heart, a tormented mind, unkindness, jealousy and fear are always the testimony you have been completely fooled!” (Hafiz)

CAPRICORN - Next to the words “No nonsense” in the dictionary is a picture of a Capricorn. Actions must have meaning, and wasted time and energy are terrible things. Embracing “art for art’s sake” could be good medicine for you. Challenge yourself to do something that has no purpose whatsoever! “Zero is where the real fun starts. There’s too much counting everywhere else!” (Hafiz)

AQUARIUS - An Aquarius that is “too emotional” is like an “honest politician” - very unlikely, very rare, and maybe non existent. Aquarians do struggle with various aspects of the languages of the heart. Sometimes you can blow off other people’s feelings too. Listen when people are expressing themselves to you, and spend time connecting with your heart rather than your head, at least once a day (I do this during my morning shower). “How does it feel to be a heart? For all I know is Love and I find my heart Infinite and everywhere!” (Hafiz)

PISCES - You are a deep and profound soul, and y’all are often hard to figure out. In my experience and observations, Pisces often have a hard time figuring themselves out too. They are shapeshifters, and as such they sometimes struggle to find their own identity. I never met a Pisces who didn’t NEED a large amount of laughter in order to keep themselves in their body. Laughter is magical medicine. Take your vitamins every day “What is laughter? What is laughter? It is God waking up!...It happiness applauding itself and then taking flight to embrace everyone and everything in this world…it is the glorious sound of a soul waking up!” (Hafiz)

PLANETS THIS WEEK

SUN → Leo
MERCURY → Leo
VENUS - Cancer
MARS - Taurus
JUPITER - Aries
SATURN - Aquarius
URANUS - Taurus
NEPTUNE - Pisces
PLUTO - Capricorn
CHIRON - Aries

CHARIKLO - 
CHAOS - Gemini
N. NODE - Taurus
CERES - Cancer
PALLAS - Gemini
JUNO - Pisces
VESTA - Pisces
LILITH - Cancer
ERIS - Aries
SIRIUS- Cancer



TRANSITS THIS WEEK

18 July
Mercury conjunct Ceres
Pallas square Vesta
Mercury opposite Pluto

19 July
Sun opposite Pluto
Mercury enters Leo

20 July
Mars sextile Lilith

21 July
Occultation of Mars by the Moon
Sun conjunct Ceres

22 July
Sun enters Leo
Mercury quincunx Vesta
Mercury opposite Chariklo
Venus trine Vesta

23 July
Mercury trine Jupiter
Jupiter sextile Pallas
Venus quincunx Chariklo
Mercury sextile Pallas

24 July
Venus square Jupiter