If you were expecting some kind of sun sign nonsense, forget it. This is real astrology. See the section above. Please note: this forecast is expressed in terms of Universal Time (UT).

Remember how I warned that "August opens under a shadow of vulnerability to strong storms (high winds and heavy precipitation), inland and coastal flooding, and moderate to severe seismic activity (including Richter 5+ quakes and volcanic eruptions)"? This was part and parcel of what my online July and August forecasts described as the biggest geocosmic surge of the month, in effect from "late on the 25th . . . all the way through August 4."

The seismic part of the forecast was clearly validated by the seismic events of July 26, when a pair of strong quakes (Richter 5.5 and 6.2) struck Miyagi prefecture in Japan. The temblors caused landslides and power blackouts, injuring more than 400 people and forcing the evacuation of some 2,500 more. Turkey took a series of seismic hits the same day, as a string of earthquakes shook that country. The Istanbul-based Kandilli observatory said the strongest quake struck southwestern Denizli province and had a preliminary magnitude of 5.6. Dozens of homes were damaged, and several people suffered minor injuries.

The storms and flooding portion of the forecast was evidenced by a disastrous deluge in Sudan. Heavy rains swept through Africa's biggest country starting August 1st, sending the Gash River over its banks and on a rampage through the town of Kassala. At least a dozen people were killed, while some 70,000 families were made homeless in the worst floods for 70 years. And then there was Typhoon Morakot, which hit southern and eastern Taiwan on the 3rd. The ninth typhoon of the year and the first to make landfall, Morakot lashed the island with high winds and heavy rain, causing mudslides and forcing airports and ferry services to shut down.

The surprise story of the month, as of mid-August at any rate, was the Great Blackout that plunged the Northeast US and Southeast Canada into darkness on August 14. The biggest power failure in US history cut electricity off for more than fifty million people. I use the term "surprise story" loosely. After all, in my August forecast, I made mention of the Mercury retrograde cycle, "felt in one form or another from August 14 (Mecury's maximum eastern elongation) until September 26 (Mercury's maximum western elongation)." And I told you what to expect: "Remember that communication and transportation infrastructure are just one mistake away from collapse at times like this." The 14th came, the infrastructure went, and as of a day later they were still trying to piece Humpty-Dumpty together again. Fortunately, most people took it all in stride, with admirable grace. There was very little in the way of injuries or misbehavior, even as the infrastructure of modern life faded to black.