If you were expecting some kind of sun sign nonsense, forget about it. This is real astrology for the real world, not some mystical mumbo-jumbo psycho-babble word salad. If it's real astrology for yourself that you want, you can get it by phone or in print. And if you need help deciphering the astrological glyphs in the graphics accompanying this article, see Astroglyphs: Astrological Symbols Guide. Please note: this forecast is expressed in terms of Universal Time (UT, aka GMT). Also please be aware that, while I never change a forecast once it's published, I do post errata to acknowledge typographical errors and the like.

PLEASE NOTE: This month’s forecast incorporates elements of (and refers to) my complete 2013 World Forecast Highlights (31 8-1/2 x 11” illustrated pages), focused, amplified and elaborated with details for the month as appropriate. If you’d like your own copy of the full 2013 World Forecast Highlights, it’s available in hard copy by mail ($75) or as a PDF document by email ($50). Orders may be phoned in (toll-free from anywhere in North America to 800-527-8761) and charged to any major credit card. PayPal orders may be placed direct from your own PayPal account page to rnolle@astropro.com – or by using the AstroPro PayPal order page.

All love ends in loss. We win only by loving anyway.
-- Richard Nolle
 

The Uranus-Pluto square which has so dominated the skies since spring remains very much the key theme for August, amplified as it is by Jupiter’s opposition to Pluto on the 7th and square to Uranus on the 21st. All those things associated with the Uranus-Pluto quadrature – social and political tension, conflict and innovation, scientific and technological breakthroughs, financial/economic maelstroms and the like – will underlie all the major developments of the month as a whole. But they’ll come most dramatically – and dangerously – into focus within a few days of the 7th and 21st. Especially the former, when Mars chords form, emphasizing the "fires, crashes, clashes and explosions" theme we saw so much of last month. It’s a theme seen in protests, riots and revolutions on the social and political front; and on the individual plane, in outbreaks of extreme criminality, including mass murder, terror attacks and the like. The good news is that, compared to July, August looks a little tepid where such things are concerned.

The major themes established, there are some geophysical pointers worth noting. New and full moons, even when they’re neither a SuperMoon nor an eclipse, always stir up the atmosphere, seas and crust of Planet Earth – what Ptolemy and the other astrologers of old used to call the sublunar world. (The nominal shock window for these events is plus or minus three days.) This month, the new moon on the 6th and the full moon on the 21st comprise these focal points of storm and seismic turbulence for August.

But they’re not the only ones. The lunar declination inflections and extremes also torque the system. These are the moments when the Moon in its orbit around us crosses the plane of Earth’s equator, and when it reaches its extreme elevation above and below that plane. This month, the crossings occur on the 9th (southward) and 22nd (northward). Declination peaks happen on the 2nd (north), 16th (south) and 29th (north again). Typically, these declination points anchor a shock window of plus or minus 36 hours – as does the lunar perigee (the Moon’s monthly closest approach to Earth), which is on the 19th this month.

Putting all these factors together for August reveals the periods of greatest vulnerability to major storms with high winds and heavy precipitation – and the flooding that often accompanies the latter. These are also times when there’s an enhanced risk of moderate to severe seismic activity, including Magnitude 5 and up earthquakes, as well as volcanic eruptions. August 1-10 is the first and longest of these, from the lunar north declination peak on the 2nd through the new moon on the 6th and southward declination crossing on the 9th. This is followed by a brief shock window (August 15-17, centering on the Moon’s south declination peak on the 16th). A longer one is connected with the lunar perigee on the 19th and the full moon on the 21st, stretching from the 18th through the 24th. And last comes August 28-31, under the aegis of the Moon’s north declination peak on the 29th. In particular, greatest vulnerability tends to come within a day or two of the exact dates in these several cycles – e.g. the 6th and 18th.

One last geophysical topic needs mentioning, and that’s the superior conjunction of Mercury and the Sun on the 24th. This one will likely be accompanied within plus or minus three days by a solar storm on the far side of Sol. About two weeks later, an Earth-directed solar outburst is possible – scrambling electrical circuits in our infrastructure, making for disturbances in the human nervous system as well. Be ready, get a grip, watch for auroras as a sign that it’s here.

Acknowledgments

All astrological charts as well as eclipse and astro-locality maps are calculated and produced using Esoteric Technologies’ Solar Fire Gold Version 7.0.8 Sky map images are screen captures from the Pocket Universe app for iPhone. Storm tracks are screen captures from The Weather Channel app for iPhone. Solar activity images are screen captures from the 3D SUN app for iPhone. And earthquake maps are screen captures from Quakes Pro Earthquake Alerts app for iPhone.

SPECIAL FEATURE: This month's birthdays of the famous and infamous (with astrological birth charts)

Richard Nolle, Certified Professional Astrologer consultations/orders (AmEx/Discover/MasterCard/Visa) 800-527-8761 data/fax 480-753-6261 - email rnolle@astropro.com Box 26599 - Tempe, AZ 85285-6599 - USA www.astropro.com