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Hello, welcome to astrology alchemy. I'm Sheila, Bélanger your host for this podcast. Alchemy is defined as a seemingly magical process of transformation. Spiritual alchemy is the process of pursuing the gold of your true nature by transmuting the unrefined limiting parts of yourself in this podcast, I'll offer you inspiring insights from current astrology cycles that support your path of turning your personal lead into gold. More resources are [email protected]
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Hello, and welcome to this podcast for the week of July 25th. I'm your host and guide Sheila Bélanger> Here's a phrase from this week's poem, "it was always the other way 'round." Fasten your seat belts, dear ones, we have an outrageous week of changes, specifically attitude adjustment changes, beliefs that need to shift individually and collectively lots of archetypal support to say, wait, wait, stop-- We have got to radically shift this up the way we've been thinking about things is crazy. It's time to open up and see the other way around to expand our mindsets, to expand our attitudes, to question some of our cherished arrogant beliefs about who we are and what the world's about and that's for all of us. So here we go.
Tuesday, July 26th, mercury squares Mars at 15 degrees of Leo-Taurus. Now mercury represents the archetype of the storyteller, the communicator it has to do with how we express ourselves right now, it's in the sign of Leo. Leo is an active, fiery, vibrant sign of creativity and presence and "see me." And here I am. I've got my creative gifts and whoa, okay. Shines the light in its beautiful expression. A planet in Leo is a character that is really in its sovereignty and its dignity. When it's in its wounded side, it's narcissistic, arrogant and selfish. Now mercury is in a 90 degree angle with the planet Mars that's called a square. Mars is in Taurus right now. Mars is a very active Advocate-Fighter-warrior Warrioress. It's about our desire. It's about our will. Our individual will, what I want, where I'm going. I want this. And right now it's in the earth sign of Taurus, which is an energy that is about being safe and secure and having your stuff. I got this, I own this. This is mine.
Now there's a time and place for that.
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We all want security. We all want our families and our communities to be safe and to have all the resources they need. The wounded side of Taurus becomes much like a hoarder and a kind of collapsing on oneself. Like I've got mine. Who cares if you don't. And that's such a huge, huge wound in our collective culture right now, the have, and the have nots. So what does it mean to have a square? It means the two archetypes are intention with each other. It's not that it's negative. It says there has to be some adjustment. So here's mercury in Leo, the part of you that is shining your light, telling your story, being creative in tension with the warrior. Who is possibly the angry one in you that says, I don't feel like I got what I need. Okay. So there's a headstrong energy with this cycle and it challenges all of us to say, how much is enough?
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Do you think you are more important than the person who is un-homed on the street? Do you think that your individual needs are more important than global security? Maybe it's not dying with climate change. And I'm saying kind of Mars words to you not to make any of us ashamed, but to say, get real. This is a tension of looking at how do I shine and express myself, but I also have the courage cuz that's positive, healthy Mars, have the courage to recognize stewardship of resources. So before you pop off, because this is an, this could be an unconscious cycle where your words shoot out. Before you do, think about it, particularly if you feel threatened, take a couple of breaths, anchor into your dignity. And if you're angry at someone else or something else, try to see them in their sovereignty, in their dignity, and then have a conversation.
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On Thursday, July 28th, we have a new moon at six degrees of Leo that happens at 10:55 AM Pacific daylight time. New moon is that amazing time in this lunar cycle where the sun and moon come together, the moon disappears because she's hidden. It's hidden by the light of the sun. The moon, the archetypal instinctive nurturer, the deep feeler of the emotional one. The Sun, the archetypal hero, heroine, conscious self. Here I am yin and yang, Moon and Sun. They come together in the heavens in Leo, which again is this beautiful fiery sign of creativity, of presence, of sovereignty, of love, of exuberance. So the new moon seeds a time for the next month, shining your gifts, anchoring in your sovereignty, anchoring in your willingness to show your heart and bless yourself in the world with your heartfulness and your joy. If you can find it, it's also beautiful because this new moon has a very positive relationship with the planet Jupiter.
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It's called trine. The new moon and Jupiter are about 120 degrees away from each other in the heavens. Jupiter is the wise one, the expanded one, the teacher where you wanna learn and grow. And it's in the sign of Aries right now. Another fire sign, Aries is about being true to oneself. Having the courage take risks, let's go for it, gotta do it myself. So the positive energy of Jupiter to the new moon says this could be a new moon where you see expanding your mind, opening up to your original wisdom and rather than be in the wounded side of Jupiter, which can be very dogmatic and on its, uh, on its high horse, it's like opening to the wisdom of your own beauty, the wisdom of your own creativity.
It's a very strong day because the same day on Tuesday on Thursday, July 28th, the planet Jupiter goes retrograde at nine degrees of Aries. Retrograde means it looks like the planet goes backwards in its orbit. Those of you who've been listening my podcast or any other astrologers' work, You know, the planets don't actually physically move, but it's the way we see it. And when a planet goes retrograde, it's a timeout for that archetype. It's time to go inside with the energies of this archetypal character and to reassess and stop and review and look at things. Now Jupiter's all about our belief systems and our truths. It is a very fine time to question your beliefs and to question and review, what is it I truly believe in what do I have faith in? And to honestly, with compassion, say, where am I dogmatic? Where am I in my certainty? But my truth is it. And you're, you're missing everything else you're missing. What else is going on now?
Jupiter will be retrograde until November 23rd. And so there's a, a long period Of being able to review and reassess, go with, do the expansion inside. And when Jupiter goes forward, again, from our perspective on the earth in late November, it will be, have traveled backwards into Pisces. So we have this journey of Aries and Pisces that we are blending, this new energy of Aries of going forward. Let's go for it, expand. And then going back and gathering a little bit more of our visionary compassion itself. I'll say more about that later in the fall.
Also on the same day, Thursday, July 28th, mercury is square Uranus at 19 degrees of Leo and Taurus. So here's mercury. Again, Mercury's very active this week as is Uranus and mars. Again is your storyteller in that Leo, that sign of Leo, where you want to share the gifts of your knowing of your heart, of your creativity. The square means looks like mercury is 90 degrees away in the heavens from the planet Uranus.
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Uranus is the archetype of the Maverick, the radical one. The change agent, whenever Uranus is at play expect the unexpected, rug pulled out from under us. Now our egos can get all sniffed out and get freaked out. But actually the gift of your Uranus as an archetype is liberation because this character in us in the world says break the status quo. That is stale. That is harmful. That is imprisoning. set yourself free, set others free. Uranus. Is in Taurus. Again, this is the sign that has to do with grounded earthiness of security of stability, Uranus in Taurus, as we all know, represents, what's been happening in our world for a number of years-- is where is security?
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And it's blowing up our ideas about what security is. Oh, I've got mine. I own this I'm okay. Meanwhile, people are dying. People are starving. People are being murdered and it's like, wait a minute, wake up. What is true security? And what does it mean to be safe in these crazy violent, initiatory times? So mercury square Uranus, the storyteller and the Maverick have little tension with each other, but they're basically saying, get an attitude adjustment, wake up, take again the power of your heart, Leo, the power of your dignity and radically shift. Some of your thinking about what is yours and what belongs to you and what is true security. So particularly powerful because this mercury Uranus cycle is lined up with what we call the north node and the south note. I'll talk about those after, at the very end of the podcast, but basically there's a sense of destiny and healing old karma that comes along with this.
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So it's a really powerful week in this new moon seeding of dignity and sovereignty, Leo and creativity to radically shift some of your old beliefs that you're holding onto from fear from survival strategy, fear based thinking.
Sunday, July 31st, Mercury's back in play. Mercury's opposite Saturn at 23 degrees of Leo and Aquarius. This helps us know more of the story this week. Cuz here again, as mercury, changing my mind, changing my attitude, what am I, where am I going to express myself? What's the story I'm telling myself. Now it's in a balancing and challenging journey this week with Saturn. Now Saturn is the archetype of the structure maker, the grounded one. It's like the CEO executive of your psyche. Saturn in a healthy part of yourself is the adulting one. It's one that says I'll be responsible. I'll be in integrity. I'll do what I need to do. I'll ground myself.
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Wounded Saturn in all of us is very, very toxic. It's an inner critic. It's a fear based dominating energy. It's kind of the deep underbelly shadow of the United States that we're seeing. So present right now. in the last couple of years of this dominating violent might makes right? I've got it. I'm in control. My way is the right way. Mercury opposite Saturn at the end of this week is saying, wait a minute, wait a minute. I'm trying to find a way to speak my truth, to tell my story to honor myself. But I also feel the tension of this inner character in me that could be getting me grounded, stabilizing me saying, okay, what's the work you've gotta do, but equally you wanna look out for wounded Saturn in us, which it basically shows up as an inner critic. You're not doing this. You're not good enough. YBA blah, blah. All of that.
Now Saturn right now is an Aquarius, which is an air sign it's called. And it's about the collective and about being unique and being do your own different thing with your kindred spirits. Okay? Aquarius is very egalitarian. So positive part of the Saturn and Aquarius that you might be feeling this week is the impulse to be responsible to the collective. Wait a minute, wait a minute. I've got my Leo individual needs and glory and here, but I wanna balance it with what's my work on behalf of the collective on the larger circle of community, whether it's humans or more than humans. And particularly as we're be doing a run up in the United States to mid midterm elections, there's a lot of necessity to ask questions about not just for yourself and your own individual needs and desires, but what about my responsibility to the collective, to the world?
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Again, not saying it to you in a way that is guilt provoking, but more like opening up your mind. This is a week, a big week for opening up your mindset and shifting things.
And then same day Sunday, July 31st, the planet Uranus is conjunct the north node at 18 degrees of Taurus with Mars, very close. Now this is a big deal because here's where I wanna remind you about the nodes. The north node and the south node are mathematical points in the heavens. They're not planets. astrologers use them because they're very powerful archetypal symbols. They represent the past and the future. The south node represents where we've come from, our old ways of doing things. It's not that it's negative, but it can become a rut. And it often has to do with our survival strategies, whether it's this lifetime or if you have a belief in reincarnation past life trauma.
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So the south node is saying, this is what I've always done to survive. This is my "go to" place. The north node is always mathematically exactly opposite The south node. These are all in the Zodiac sign, the 360 degrees Zodiac wheel. the north node represents your cutting edge work, your evolutionary path, where you're being called forward to grow and learn right now. The south node is in Scorpio and the north node is in Taurus. That's been so since mid-January of 2022 and will continue to be there for another year until mid-July of 2023. So what this means in this 18-month period, all of us collectively are wanting to free ourselves from our old south node and Scorpio patterns. Now Scorpio is a water sign of intense desire and feelings. Scorpio in its healthy side is about deep transformation and getting to the heart of the matter. in its wounded side, it's about feeling resentful and emotionally, um, upset and feeling threatened and being unconsciously aggressive.
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South node in Scorpio often means all of us are having to look at our old violent survival strategies, whether it's actual physical violence or it's emotional violence we do to ourselves or others. Because when Scorpio feels threatened, the scorpion's tale comes out and there can be an intensity. There can be an addiction to drama, to trauma drama. Now I'm saying that as, as honoring Scorpio, but the south node says in this 18 month period, all of us are being buffeted by our old patterns of either feeling like end times, you know, life and death or feeling like we can't let go of something that we've been chewing on and resentful about.
What we're challenged to do is grow into our north note in Taurus, which balances Scorpio by saying Scorpio, I understand you feel things deeply. You're tracking something that's off.
Taurus says let's get grounded. Let's get real. Let's take stock by being in the present moment. Is this really worth it? What's the cost? You're, what's the price you're paying. What's the cost for you to hold on to this resentment and hold on and keep salting the wounds and being obsessive and addicted to the intensity? Taurus says, no, that costs way too much. Let's get real. Let's get grounded. How do you wanna live your precious life? What's really worth your life energy.? So that's the north node south node that we're all working with and wwe're one third of the way through this gig with it.
Let's come back to what's happening on Sunday, July 31st with the north node conjunct with Uranus (conjunct means with) the north note that happens every 15 years. Last time that happened was in spring of 2007. And I wanna read to you a bit about what my colleague at www.astrobutterfly.com says about this experience of Uranus with the north node.
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She says "the north node and Uranus only meet every 15 years. So the conjunction will influence us for the following 15 years. North node has an applying effect. So we will witness an amplification of Uranian themes, breakthroughs, innovations, and unexpected developments in technology groups of people and communities, financial systems, resources, and the stock market. Even if nothing may happen on the day of the cycle, this conjunction will set into motion, a series of events that will influence us for years to come. At an individual level, the conjunction will be experienced as a pull to live our life on our own terms, we can discover resources and talents We didn't know we had, or we can finally get rid of trauma or energy draining behaviors that we have been that have been sabotaging us for years."
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She goes on to say: "whenever we have a Uranus transit, we expect the unexpected. It means that what we expect to happen will not happen. What will happen is something completely different. Something that is not even in the radar of awareness. The good news is that the north node Uranus conjunction will only bring us those events, opportunities. People that serve our highest good. Best advice, don't plan anything. don't expect anything. just pay attention to whatever it is that happens at the time and in the build up of this conjunction, keep your eyes wide open."
So dear ones, taking a big breath and exhale. hold onto your hats this week and really pay attention to where you're noticing that things are different and that you really need to lean in and have that ginormous attitude adjustment and look at things very differently and be willing to let go of your attachment, to addictive drama, resentment, and being right. Let yourself go inside and expand the wisdom of your true authentic Knowing.
Here is a poem for you to honor this powerful week. It's called "The Moment" by Margaret Atwood, the same Margaret Atwood that wrote "The Handmaid's Tale."
One of the deepest challenges we live in now is the poison of dominator, colonial mindsets and all the conquering and all the disregard and all the violent taking. This is a really, really good week to do your part, to get free, move towards emancipation of your mind. Get off the addictive colonial dominating mindsets, not just to free yourself, but to free our world.
Thank you as always for listening to the podcast, I hope it serves you deeply. I hope you lean in and open to some radical new thinking this week.
And just to note, if you want some support for radically changing things, my upcoming workshop, "Uranus Retrograde in Taurus: Radically Redefine your Relationships and Values" is Saturday, August 20th, from nine to 11:00 AM Pacific. Go to my website www.ontheedgesofchange.com and right there on the top bar, you'll see a link to register. This is gonna be a fabulous workshop. I'll give you some astrology information (laypeople will understand what I'm saying). We'll work with some guided imagery, some small breakout rooms, and some discussion. I'll empower you to liberate yourself. Wake up that inner Maverick, find out what true security really is. Liberate yourself from the old hoarding, holding on patterns. Check it out on my website www.ontheedgesofchange.com. Bless your journey.
