A special extended horoscope from our resident expert astrologist Jessica Adams. What is in store for you this month as Jupiter enters Virgo for the first time in 12 years?
ARIES
The first week of August is about accepting what you cannot change and letting go – emotionally – of what has gone down financially, in the last two years. The slow process of tidying up and releasing is now demanding more energy. There are certain business, financial or property decisions you will never repeat, based on what you now know. The trick is shrugging off one situation which wasn’t your fault.
You have come an incredibly long way with the much younger generation born 20 years or more after you, or perhaps with a lover who could bring that generation closer. It may be hard to appreciate just how much things have improved since 2013, but don’t take anything for granted in August, as there are more good things to come in the first week and final week in particular. Say yes to everything.
The truth about your success in life is that until you force yourself to make new arrangements work with bosses, lecturers, colleagues, classmates, employees and/or clients – nothing will magically appear. The intensity is palpable in August, yet if you knew you were being squeezed psychologically in order to become more powerful, you might consider that a fair trade. You can do this. Own your C.V.
Life really is about work, success, achievement and accomplishment in August, even though so many people are on holiday. In fact, you are about to see a gigantic weeding, pruning and fertilization process take place, as historic patterns not possible in 12 years clear away whatever (or whomever) stands in the way of a fabulous new lifestyle which allows you to be of service, but also to serve yourself.
Sort out as much as you can with (or for) your partner before you hit the Mercury Madness zone from the 28th of August. September and October will change or delay the story with him (or her) far too often. This also applies to your former or current partner. If you have an arch-enemy akin to Moriarty, then this is also a kind of relationship. In all cases, talk now, not later. And get it all in writing.
TAURUS
You must be wondering if you will ever feel as if you are running your travel, foreign, internet, education or publishing agenda – instead of having other factors completely control you! Everything will be clear to you in August as Ceres joins Pluto and the timing is right for a real show of strength from you. You are going to have to knuckle down and strong-arm a situation into submission but you’ll be so powerful.
Nobody likes having Saturn hang around her zone of partners for over two years. This has also made life stuck or slow with former partners, too – and even potential partners. Arch-enemies and rivals also tend to mire you in psychological quicksand on this cycle. The first seven days of Saturn aspects invite you to finish a chapter, with the final sentence being written in indelible ink, during September.
Try to expedite your most important work and lifestyle decisions – particularly those involving your body – before September gets underway. You will hit a chain of u-turns, waiting games or other complications once Mercury is well and truly retrograde in September and October, so despite what or who motivates you near the 17th, try to make allowances for rescheduling or hold-ups later.
The solutions and opportunities you (still) need with your family, home, property interests, household, home town or country will continue to roll during August 3rd-11th and again from the 14th-23rd. Nothing is a mere coincidence in astrology and Jupiter, the planet of big, lucky twists of fate will continue to park you in the right place, at the right time, until you take the hint and make the commitment.
New babies, adopted children, younger in-laws, step-children or godchildren will be a happy new part of your world by Christmas. In other cases you will see big milestones for existing children and if you are ambitious, you will pass on your legacy to a youth project or junior demographic with spectacular results by 2016. From little acorns, big oak trees grow and you will be given an acorn now.
GEMINI
You can do an awful lot in a very short space of time with your internet, multimedia, publishing or other communication targets. Beyond targets, of course, there are also dreams – but at least one wish you didn’t know you had, will be fulfilled as the Leo stellium takes over your chart. Use your ‘voice’ across all mediums or media you desire and make the most of that quirky chance dating from July.
Dealing with what is there – not what you wish was there – is part of the deal with your body at the moment. This also involves your daily workload too, as your physical condition affects every other detail. You don’t have long to go before this cycle is over for another 29 years, so treat August as the inevitable fact-shuffling before the final sign-off. It may be better to avoid dramatic new chapters near Sunday 2nd, Monday 3rd, Thursday 6th as this is a time of closure.
Fantastic possibilities for your home town, country, house, apartment, property interests, family and/or household are slowly emerging. Perhaps you need to open up a problem and fix it a very deep level before you can make progress. If so, that will happen painlessly and effectively now. If the ground is already prepared for something epic, then you will thoroughly enjoy what takes place in the final ten days.
Your ruler Mercury will be Retrograde Shadow from the closing days of August, and the world of babies, children or young adults will be most affected. Youth projects or junior markets are also part of this backwards story in your life, as are lovers who could make you an aunt, step-parent or mother one day. All the more reason to fast-forward truly crucial decisions and have Plan B for the rest, Gemini.
Pluto and his mythological mother-in-law Ceres are now facing off, in the horoscope zone devoted to banking, debt, credit, shares, investments, possessions, charity and business interests. You have tried fobbing yourself off with all kinds of tricks in order to evade the central truth, which is that you need a will of iron, in order to get what you deserve. If you are Miss Floppy about this, nothing changes.
CANCER
August and September are final acceptance months with matters affecting you as a mother, godmother or aunt. If you work or volunteer with youth, then it younger people en masse who are at the heart of this – or perhaps a lover, around whom the parenthood question mark constantly hovers! In all cases, relief and release are weeks away now. First, though, you must focus on detailed closure, especially in the first week, when Saturn really hits home.
Now that Ceres is out of your financial sector for a few months, you must devote yourself to saving or making money again (or preserving the benefits of cash in kind). Some situations really do have a use-by date and if you are still staring a gift horse in the mouth, perhaps you had better look for a sugar lump in your pocket. August could be monumental if you try. A stunning solution or opportunity is here.
The primary emotional and psychological issue in August is your partner. You two must rethink the territory you carve up between you and come to a new arrangement which honours your mutual need to have control. This also applies to your former or potential partner. Oddly, it applies to enemies too. You can have chemistry with an arch-rival as much as you can with a husband or boyfriend. Remix these test tube ingredients so that you have a satisfying experiment.
The really big news is your way with words, ideas or images reaching a larger audience, in a more satisfying way. Scripts? Books? The latest and greatest online developments? Languages? Voice coaching? The medium matters less than the message, and you already know what you want to convey. If there is anything impeding your future projects and plans it will be faced then removed by September. Otherwise, you simply must say yes to a milestone achievement, pending now.
Cancer the crab carries her home on her back and always scuttles back to her clan. Your house, home town, household, family, nation or apartment is so tied to your identity and happiness that even the slightest complication or delay can discombobulate you. Bearing that in mind, try to sign, seal and deliver agreements, paperwork, plans or deals involving all of the above, well before September looms. You are very likely to hit changes of mind or other complexities later on.
LEO
The final big reality checks you need to take about your family, home, country, home town, household and/or property situation unfold near Sunday 2nd, Monday 3rd, Thursday 6th. Try not to begin anything new near those dates. This is about closure and acceptance as you slowly close the book on the wake-up calls of 2013-2015. Saturn in Scorpio has shown you what to do. And what not to do
August is a sublime month for self-promotion, reputation repair (if you need it) and truly impressive results in the mirror, behind a camera, online or on the scales. Use what happens near Monday 3rd, Tuesday 4th, Thursday 6th, Friday 7th, Saturday 8th, Tuesday 11th, Friday 14th, Friday 21st, Saturday 22nd, Sunday 23rd should be used to the hilt. This is your last chance for some time, to really push your Me List.
Ceres and Pluto in your body and lifestyle zone after Monday 3rd suggest a new arrangement involving your diet, doctor, fitness, healer or therapist is unavoidable. The trick is understanding that your own willpower makes you powerful. Tremendous self-control will be required if you are to end up holding the reins now, Leo. And of course, your physical condition affects your working day as well.
Whatever it takes to make you richer by 2016 will be set in motion soon after Mercury enters Virgo, on Friday 7th. It may be a drastic overhaul which clears the way for future wealth or a genuine opportunity after Jupiter changes signs on Tuesday 11th with more developments near Wednesday 19th, Saturday 22nd, Sunday 23rd, Monday 24th, Wednesday 26th, Saturday 29th. Huge decisions call.
Handle your internet, multimedia, publishing or other communication priorities carefully after Thursday 13th. A project, plan or piece of technology will come back from the brink and near the 17th it may feel as if things are in motion. Just make sure it’s all finished before Friday 28th, though, as Mercury will be Retrograde Shadow from that date and delays, errors or reversals will follow from that date, Leo.
VIRGO
You may have heard that Jupiter is entering your sign for the first time in 12 years. Is that a good thing? It’s a great thing, in terms of your role, title, image, branding, appearance and shape. Many Virgo people already know what is to come. In other cases, your clues will come in the most tremendous waves as you realise you can either a) deal with and finally remove a problem or b) trade on sheer luck. By 2016 you will be looking good. No – make that, looking magnificent.
If you are going to sidestep the usual expensive mistakes, time-wasting delays, rescheduling or patches of chaos that come when your ruler Mercury goes retrograde shadow, you’ll do your sums in the first three weeks. Money, property, business, charity and possessions (even simple shopping or eBay selling) are most affected in September and October so push priorities through now, and if you must proceed around the 28th August, have alternatives and back-ups.
Ceres and Pluto together in your house of motherhood, godchildren, nieces and nephews tell you to make peace with yourself and make ultimate peace with a situation you can’t solely control. The issue might also be a youth project or junior audience – and perhaps a lover who could bring a younger generation into your life one day. It is easier to talk about peacemaking than to do it, but the trick to this cycle is to make deals and achieve trade-offs with yourself or others.
You really won’t regret pouring the last of your time and energy into playing your special part in the wings, or behind the curtains, of something so remarkable. Or have you spent 2013-2015 absorbed with your own inner space? That has also been quite a production and an achievement. In either case you are now being nudged to do more near Monday 3rd, Tuesday 4th, Thursday 6th, Friday 7th, Saturday 8th, Tuesday 11th, Friday 14th, Friday 21st, Saturday 22nd, Sunday 23rd
Saturn in Scorpio presses the point about the internet, multimedia, publishing or other communication in your life, in the first week of August. This cycle really does feel like a lead paperweight on a long string tied to your computer, telephone or technology – yet once you have taken on board who/what can never be changed – the rest is a downhill slope. In fact, by September you’re approaching the end.
LIBRA
Hopefully you have now taken a hint from a friend and done more (more than you were asked, anyway) in the interests of a group, tribe or team. It’s not too late to pursue what works, though, and August is the last chance you will have in 12 years to snap up special opportunities to establish your own interests, long-term, in the context of a very special circle of people around you near Monday 3rd, Tuesday 4th, Thursday 6th, Friday 7th, Saturday 8th, Tuesday 11th, Friday 14th, Friday 21st, Saturday 22nd, Sunday 23rd.
The hardest and heaviest cycle in 20 years will give you some numbers to add, subtract or divide in the first 7 days of August. None of this comes from nowhere – it’s your karma, if you like, as Saturn in Scorpio insists that you total up every action and word, from the recent and also distant past. Everything and everybody has a price, is the general message here. Once you have done the arithmetic, though, you will be on track for a lighter, brighter new era soon.
Pluto and Ceres in Capricorn are encouraging you to find your willpower and run your own home life – and sense of home. This may mean the family or household, first and foremost, or perhaps your patriotic buttons are being pushed. Nothing else but steely self-control is ever going to change your situation. You must have had quite enough of being thrown around by fate, but in fact it is not fate at large here – but life getting in your way when you don’t run things.
Mercury Retrograde in Libra does take some preparation, and as this famously flakey cycle falls in your zone of self-promotion, publicity, photography, film/video, internet profiling, personal appearances, reputation and persona – time your moves very carefully. Of course the sky does not fall on your head just because you decide to roll things out in the final days of August, or into September. However, for a peaceful life you may prefer to fast-forward priorities now.
Soon after Jupiter changes signs to Virgo on Tuesday 11th August, you will find yourself drawn towards a special project where others will have the star power and attention and you are invisible or not so important. Oddly, this could turn out to be the most important achievement for years. Alternatively, if you are pulled towards something tremendously sensitive, secret, hidden and personal which you know would be therapeutic – only one word will do – say yes.
SCORPIO
Use what you have already achieved (and that is quite a lot) in terms of your job, unpaid work, projects, plans, achievements and accomplishments. You have around one month to use up good karma points from the last 12 months and snap up random strokes of luck. You may be looking for a way out, up or through – but carpe diem, near Monday 3rd, Tuesday 4th, Thursday 6th, Friday 7th, Saturday 8th, Tuesday 11th, Friday 14th, Friday 21st, Saturday 22nd, Sunday 23rd.
Being drawn into a new circle, or pulled more closely into an existing tribe, is part of the joy of August – and the promise of the future. By 2016 you will come to bless particular friends and group efforts, as they draw you towards some of your biggest ‘impossible’ dreams. If anything or anybody is a problem to be rooted out and fixed, that will now occur. If your social media, social life or communities are in basically good shape, demand the spectacular from the universe.
You have a secret you are covering up. Yes? Or are you chiefly concerned with what Sherlock might call The Mind Palace? The last possibility in August is a role behind the scenes where you receive no credit. As the month rolls on, you realise something or someone is about to come back from the brink. This changes everything, yet make your decisions quickly, as from the closing days of August, future reversals, delays or errors are being set up and September-October will be complicated. Can you fast-forward priorities?
You have learned so much about the power of the internet, multimedia, smart phones or even codes and coding, since Pluto entered your zone of communication in 2008. Every now and then, this area of your life is presented to you again, in a new way, so that you are compelled to reconfigure everything again. Ask yourself why you feel you can’t control certain aspects of the medium or the technology. Then go back to the answer. Your own willpower.
Saturn in Scorpio shows his hand near Sunday 2nd, Monday 3rd, Thursday 6th and you must deal with what you have to consign to history and also to life education. Matters of personal appearance, name, reputation or profile have been a very heavy load to carry since late 2012, yet you are now dusting the floors and sweeping the cobwebs away. One more scoop of the Dyson and your job is over.
SAGITTARIUS
Your ruling planet Jupiter is associated with healing, remedies and repair work. He is also, more excitingly, associated with the tremendous growth and abundance that can come, once the groundwork has been finished. This now applies to your success in life, Sagittarius. You may be working, studying or volunteering but you are set for the most breathtaking upward climb over the next 12 months. You take your first step now. See the ladder? Grab it.
One sign behind you, Saturn shows his heavy hand near Sunday 2nd, Monday 3rd, Thursday 6th when matters unseen and unknown (even to your bestie) loom large. This is all as you might have expected. Nothing and nobody has really gone away on this cycle, yet as you must deal with this alone, be kind enough to allow more time, more energy and more space in the first week. Try not to start anything new, major and secret at that point. This is about finishing up, now.
Pluto is really a double-edged sword in terms of your money, house, apartment, business or possessions over the last few years. You’ve been given so much more potency and effectiveness as a result of an entirely new era. At the same time, you have been through at least one truly critical point when the hand that fed you, pinched you – symbolically speaking. August is a key month for stocktaking and life-review. A new arrangement must be bolted down within months.
Organise all important matters involving your group (club, team, society, association) and friends (old or new) as soon as you can. The faster you sew up the really crucial arrangements and undertakings, the more efficiently your life will run in September and October. If you are still talking or turning over paperwork in the closing days of August, you will find that the story being written is unwritten, and then rewritten, weeks later. Read the fine print on group membership.
Your ruler Jupiter has one last wonderful stunt to pull, before he moves out of Leo for another 12 years. You will see why in terms of your foreign, internet, travel, education or publishing agenda, very shortly. Of course you can walk away from offers and opportunities but when there is clearly such generosity or open-handed interest behind everything, how can you be a cynic? Be an idealist. That works.
CAPRICORN
You only see Ceres and Pluto in Capricorn every 240 years and this unusual combination in your August horoscope suggests you need to strike a new deal with yourself, about the way you look and appear. Having never really faced what is required (supreme willpower) you are now being challenged at every turn. The fact is, power is hidden inside that word, and unless you actually pull your own strings, something or someone else will continue to yank you around.
Fantastic possibilities not seen in over a decade will find you exporting more impressively, travelling more ambitiously and even emigrating, by Christmas. Sabbaticals in distant regions which are foreign to you are also on offer, over the next 12 months. The journey begins in August. Of course nobody can force you to explore other nationalities and cultures, but what happens at the start and end of August is so seductive you would be crazy to ignore the genuine offer or opportunity coming from this distant pin on your map, or its locals.
Jupiter in your financial, business and property sector and Ceres moving out, at the other end, suggests a really amazing window of opportunity with everything you own, earn or owe. Use this four-week period for problem solving or gift-unwrapping, particularly near the following dates - Monday 3rd, Tuesday 4th, Thursday 6th, Friday 7th, Saturday 8th, Tuesday 11th, Friday 14th, Friday 21st, Saturday 22nd, Sunday 23rd.
Your ruler Saturn is at odds with Jupiter, the planet of optimism, hope and growth early in August. This means yet another clanging reality check about your friend, or a particular group. Nick Clegg had the Lib Dems. Who or what is around you? Nothing is exactly new to you, as Saturn has been presenting you with the bare facts of your position for the last year or two. What is new, however, is the sensation that in time, time will solve everything. And it will.
You are well-known for being ambitious and scaling formidable professional or academic mountains. Scale carefully in September, as the closing days of August could send you on a path that takes you in all directions, including back to the beginning. Read the fine print. Get things in writing. Allow for delays, errors, communication glitches. September and October will be full of these, yet you can look after your chances best, by wrapping up key decisions now.
AQUARIUS
In astrology you are associated with friendship, community, people power and groups of all kinds. This area of your horoscope presents you with some tough choices, some of which you have avoided this year (dodging a bullet) and others which you will accept – knowing the full price of what you must afford – from September. Saturn will soon be back to Sagittarius, ruling these networks, friendships and circles and in 2016 and 2017 you must be utterly aware of the costs.
Fantastic turning points in your favour, involving your partner, are enough to reset the emotional or sexual compass for years, in August. This also applies to former or potential partners. If you view partnership as a work duet, rather than a bedroom tango, then it is your professional other half who is the key to everything. You may be a woman in search of a solution or a lady who wants the most meaningful relationship phase of her life, but everything is possible.
Sometimes a weak enemy makes you a triumphant victor. And sometimes a battle royal makes you hugely popular with those who take your side. Do you have a nemesis, a jealous rival, or a sworn enemy? She or he works beautifully in your favour near Jupiter’s most useful patterns in your chart, very close to Monday 3rd, Tuesday 4th, Thursday 6th, Friday 7th, Saturday 8th, Tuesday 11th, Friday 14th, Friday 21st, Saturday 22nd, Sunday 23rd
Aquarius, you only see Jupiter in your house of work, lifestyle and the body once every 12 years and he is poised to do some stunning repairs on your behalf, in the second half of August. Do all you can to go with the flow, as even when it seems like the most fated current (and so very new to you) the ultimate journey will give you the meaningful job or unpaid work – or course – you crave. As a bonus, you will also find you can worship your body like the temple it is. Whatever needs to be fixed or faced first, will be fixed or faced.
Be canny with the Mercury Retrograde cycle and if you must pursue your travel, foreign, internet, publishing or education agenda in September and October, have alternatives waiting, read the fine print and make allowances for reversals or delays. If you have the luxury of chasing these goals any time, do it in the first three weeks of August, well away from the first day of Mercury Retrograde Shadow.
PISCES
You have probably forgotten what it is like to travel, pursue foreign or regional connections, study, teach, publish or use the web – without instantly expecting something heavy to shoulder. The usual ‘be prepared’ tactics have become commonplace in the last two years, as you have been handed at least one scenario which you cannot forget. Try to make your peace with this in the first week of August when Saturn in Scorpio urges you to close down a chapter.
The most stunning possibilities in years with, or for, your partnership are building in slow stages. If you two are basically happy as lovers, spouses or as professional soulmates then this dynamic duet will become supercharged by Christmas, with more to come in 2016. Together you can master anything, and make it a milestone. It may be intensely personal (children) or perhaps an unforgettable project you share together, yet the clues and signs are there, throughout August.
If you are miserable with a partner, then there are solutions for you which you could not have imagined one year ago, and you must recognise Fortuna, when she appears. She comes in all kinds of disguises and you may find yourself sitting next to the best relationship counsellor in town, on a plane. However fate finds you, pay attention to the signs and follow them near Monday 3rd, Tuesday 4th, Thursday 6th, Friday 7th, Saturday 8th, Tuesday 11th, Friday 14th, Friday 21st, Saturday 22nd, Sunday 23rd.
Single Pisces people who believe a partner would add to their life, not take away their freedom, will be amazed at how much comes together (so to speak) in just a few weeks, with forgotten faces returning in some cases – and in others, new arrivals who clearly have the background, life education and big vista of the world you need. The idea is to help each other grow, not to play some game, and you should be overjoyed with the man (or woman) who adds fertiliser.
Try to get your financial, business, charity or other material paperwork and discussion cleared away and sorted out quickly. If you leave it until the closing days of the month you may spend September and/or October backtracking or replaying. If you have no choice but to proceed in the final week of September or later, at least be well-prepared for the Mercury Retrograde cycle by reading the fine print, allowing for a waiting game or even a total reversal.