Star Stories: August 2020

strology for August 2020

Note for August: This month starts and ends with weeks that are packed with celestial weather and in between those two the seas a relatively calm with a few exceptions.

8/1: Blessed Lammas!!!

8/1: Mercury opposed to Pluto. Be extra careful of trying to get your way by any means necessary with this astrology and be extra careful of people trying to get their way with your through deception and/or manipulation.
Ask: Where do things feel less than forthright?

8/3: Full Moon at 11 degrees Aquarius, 10:59 AM. Some ideas for how to work with the Full Moon can be found here: https://brianasaussy.com/how-to-honor-the-full-moon/ and here: https://brianasaussy.com/six-months-of-magic-every-full-moon/
Ask: What community am I seeking out?

8/3: Sun square Uranus. This aspect can have a lot of restless energy bubbling up to the surface and the best thing to do is move your body with it. But, do exercise caution because Uranus can always bring the unexpected and sometimes a dangerous situation.
Ask: What needs to move?

8/3: Mercury opposed to Saturn. This opposition can make you feel like you are just spinning your wheels and getting no where fast. You can align with it by not trying to overly verbally communicate and instead by making plans and sussing out the best structure for your current project.
Ask: Where would I benefit from more thinking and less speaking?

8/4: Mercury moves into Leo. For the next three weeks communication is quick, fiery, funny, and a bit dramatic. You will definitely have opinions that you want to share during this transit.
Ask: What opinions am I ready to express?

8/4: Mars square Jupiter. This is actually a positive square that brings luck and opportunity to those willing to hustle for it!
Ask: What opportunity am I ready to seize?

8/7: Venus moves into Cancer. Venus in Cancer is all about home, family, children, food, and real estate. Privacy and security issues often loom large with this transit as we become especially loving and nurturing of our tribe.
Ask: How can I best protect and support my people?

8/11: Waning Quarter Moon at 19 degrees Taurus, 11:45 AM. Reminder that this is a great time to banish: https://brianasaussy.com/what-are-you-really-banishing/
Ask: Where do I need to banish laziness or sloth?

8/13: Mars square Pluto. This aspect has the potential to be violent and/or dangerous. Watch yourself and do not put yourself in harm’s way. Keep communications kind and do not engage in adversarial situations today.
Ask: Where do I need to simply wait it out?

8/15: Uranus Retrograde. Retrograde begins at 9:25 AM and stations direct on January 14th at 2:36 AM.
Ask: What needs to be shaken up in my life and what needs to be settled back down?

8/16: Sun trine Mars. This aspect gives us a ton of energy, makes us feel sexy, and has us all working to live our best lives.
Ask: What do I want to celebrate?

8/17: Mercury trines Mars. It is now time to make plans and optimize all the things. That is the gift of a trine between Mercury and Mars. Well, that and the fact that you have the energy and discipline to implement the changes you want to make!
Ask: What plans am I ready to make?

8/18: New Moon at 26 degrees Leo at 9:42 PM. Here are Four Ways to Honor the New Moon just in case you missed them: https://brianasaussy.com/4-ways-honor-new-moon/
Ask: What new luxury am I ready to embrace?

8/19: Mercury moves into Virgo. Mercury loves to be in this sign! Now is the time to get your house in order as the summer begins to come to a close. Paying the bills, making the doctor appointments, and cleaning off your altars never felt so good! Great time for writing, publishing, and speak as well!
Ask: What am I devoted to right now?

8/22: Sun enters Virgo 10:45 AM
Ask: What is holy for me?

8/24: Mars square Saturn. Things are just not going to move the way we want them to today so it would be better to stop trying so hard and celebrate a tiny win, make a check list (to honor the Sun in Virgo) or plant something in your garden.
Ask: Where do I need to let go?

8/25: Waxing Quarter at 13 degrees Sagittarius, 10:10 PM. This is the perfect time to brush up on your divination practice! https://brianasaussy.com/teaching/20-question-tarot/
Ask: What travels am I ready to undertake?

8/25: Mercury trine Uranus. This aspect brings out great ideas, brilliant insights, and all kinds of magical communications. Great day for writing, publishing, book proposals, public speaking gigs, and communications in general.
Ask: What insights are making themselves known to me?

8/25: Venus opposed to Jupiter. This aspect makes us feel like anything is possible but can also leave us procrastinating and/or not willing to do the work to make the possible happen.
Ask: Where would my big dream benefit from the concrete effort?

8/27: Venus trine Neptune. Right now we are all about positive thinking that verges into not helpful fantasy land. If this day has you thinking that things are not really that bad or hard you may need to check yourself and take off those rose-colored glasses.
Ask: Where am I kidding myself?

8/29: Mercury trine Jupiter. This trine is about as positive as it gets. Apply it to the areas of life that seem particularly sticky and tricky and you will be amazed with what emerges for you!
Ask: What areas of my life could use some brilliant positive thinking?

8/30: Venus opposed to Pluto. This aspect can go one of two ways. You can see your wounds and hurts with love and compassion and bring some beautiful healing to them, or you can go off in the direction of Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction. I think you know what needs to happen, yeah?
Ask: Where would an old hurt benefit from some compassion and grace? August August August

magic, miracles: receive my lunar letters

ARRIVING on full moons each month.

20 Question
Tarot

Star Stories: February 2020

Ceremony and Ritual

strology for February 2020

Note for February: Hola Miracles! Sooo…February! We have Valentine’s Day, three planets that change signs this month and…the first Mercury Retrograde of 2020! I have a bunch of articles on Mercury RX in Pisces that will help give you the lay of the land and a feeling of what to expect. The fact that Mars moves into Capricorn on the same day that Mercury goes retrograde means that we have serious organization energy behind us so make like Marie Kondo and get to cleaning up. If you want to add some magic to your cleaning/re-org regimes this article will help.

2/1: Happy and Blessed February and Imbolg/Candlemass for those who celebrate: https://brianasaussy.com/blessed-imbolg-and-happy-candlemas/

2/1: February kicks off with a square between the Aquarius Sun and Taurus Moon.
Ask: How can I bring more freedom to a place I currently feel stuck in?

2/1: Waxing Quarter at 12 degrees Taurus, 7:42 PM. This is the perfect time to brush up on your divination practice! https://brianasaussy.com/teaching/20-question-tarot/
Ask: What pleasure am I ready to meet?

2/3: Mercury moves into Pisces. Clarity around dreams, art-making, and spirituality abounds but watch out for overly emotional outbursts!
Ask: What are my feelings trying to tell me?

2/7: Venus moves into Aries. This positioning can bring out the selfish and greedy aspects in all of us. Boundaries around giving and taking will be brought to your attention during this transit.
Ask: Where do I need to give more and where do I need to take more?

2/9: Full Moon at 20 degrees Leo, 1:33 AM. Some ideas for how to work with the Full Moon can be found here: https://brianasaussy.com/how-to-honor-the-full-moon/ and here: https://brianasaussy.com/six-months-of-magic-every-full-moon/
Ask: What is my relationship with courage?

2/14: Happy Valentine’s Day! (Given the upcoming Mercury RX in Pisces on 2/16, I recommend that you keep Vday spending at a moderate level and hold off on big announcement or plans or, ahem, proposals, until AFTER the RX period is over).

2/15: Waning Quarter Moon at 26 degrees Scorpio, 4:17 PM. Reminder that this is a great time to banish: https://brianasaussy.com/what-are-you-really-banishing/
Ask: What inherited stories are I ready to acknowledge?

2/16: Mercury Retrograde begins! February 16th – March 9, 2020: Retrograde starts at 6:54 PM in Pisces, moves into Aquarius on March 3rd and stations direct on March 9th at 10:49 PM. For more on Mercury Retrogrades, check out this post.
Ask: What spiritual practices are ready to be reviewed?

2/16: Mars moves into Capricorn. Get ready to start a major project, get yourself organized, and find the structures that work best for you.
Ask: What am I ready to overhaul and optimize?

2/18: Sun enters Pisces 10:57 PM
Ask: What dream am I ready to follow?

2/21: Mars in Capricorn trines Uranus in Taurus. Anytime Mars and Uranus come together I advise caution and that goes extra during the Mercury RX period – make sure you give yourself plenty of time to get to appointments and avoid needlessly dangerous situations. This trine gives us a ton of physical energy so working out or starting a new fitness regime on this day is a big YES.
Ask: Where am I ready to move mountains?

2/23: New Moon at 4 degrees Pisces, 9:32 AM. Here are Four Ways to Honor the New Moon just in case you missed them: https://brianasaussy.com/4-ways-honor-new-moon/
Ask: What new prayer or blessing am I ready to commit to?

2/25: Sun conjunct Mercury (retrograde) in Pisces. Happy Mardi Gras – this is great astro to get carried away, awesome for partying but exercise moderation or you’ll regret it in the AM!
Ask: What emotions are ready to be highlighted?

2/28: Venus and Pluto square up today. Power trips, most especially in relationships and romance, are to be expected. At best this astro roots you in your sovereignty. At worst, it allows you to become an expert manipulator of emotions – or the victim of the same.
Ask: Where do I locate the power in my most intimate relationship?

2/29: Happy Leap Year!!! Lots of reversal magic is possible on this day!

magic, miracles: receive my lunar letters

ARRIVING on full moons each month.

20 Question
Tarot

Blessed be the times we walk in our purpose.

Daily Blessings

magic, miracles: receive my lunar letters

ARRIVING on full moons each month.

20 Question
Tarot

Blessed One, Welcome home!

Learning and Community

on’t you enter my little virtual magic cottage and make yourself home? Rest your weary feet and fingers, let down your hair, breathe in deeply of sweet aromas – of something delicious simmering on the stove, flower essences, herbs, incense – and let the your soul awaken to wonder and to new possibilities.

Speaking of possibility, what you see before you in the form of this website did not come quickly, but actually started last summer after a session with my caped business crusader I was asked during that time – “Are you willing to be seen?” And so I considered, felt into, embodied, meditated, and prayed on that query until the answer became clear. There were many early morning conversations with my beloved, much play with my little one, and then I knew. It was time for Milagro Roots to transform into an LLC and time for milagroroots.com to give way to brianasaussy.com. And so here we are, and here I am, ready to shine and ready to serve.

I have built several websites in the past several years, and I know that the project always begins with a simple question: what is the purpose of the site? Websites can be made to serve many different purposes — some sites are built to showcase a person’s writing or photographs, some sites are built entirely around a popular blog, some sites are built exclusively to sell wares and services. This site? This site is built for YOU. I know you appreciate beauty, and so my wonderful web mage has created beauty in many places — some obvious and some hidden. I know too that you appreciate good information, rich thoughts and melodious words, so we created a simple and beautiful blog, named Canto. I know too that you like the occasional magical surprise, so please do look at the new offerings as I believe there is something there for everyone. Mostly, though, I built this site to inspire you, to give you a breath of fresh air, peace, magic, and inspiration in a world wide web that is often too harsh, glaring, and seductive. So here you have permission to simply be, and wonder, and take delight.

Do let me tell you a bit about some of the key visual components my site magician and I chose to weave throughout the site. The sacred, flaming heart continues on as my logo, and more than that, my personal sigil. For me it always has and continues to portray our relationship to life, to creation — may it be that our hearts beat with vibrancy and fire for all that we hold dear and precious. You will also notice that the color palette has changed, we have simplified with black, white, and a deep crimson. In goddess traditions and the old night religions as some call them, these three colors were associated in various ways with the three faces of the goddess: Maiden, Mother, Crone. Although popular books on goddesses tell us that the Maiden was represented by the white, the Crone the black, and the Mother the red, an older way of knowing posits that the Maiden, the untried youth, is represented by black, the Mother growing in wisdom and depth is represented by white, and the Crone in full vibrancy of her ancient years is seen as the red one.

Black, white, and red are also colors heavily emphasized in alchemy. Within that discipline, black is known as nigredo, and it represents an afflicted state. Perhaps the affliction is a tragic blow we have suffered, simply being in a state of being untested and untried, or laboring under the belief that we are broken instead of blessed. When the water of life, the aqua vitae, the sweet element of water is added to the nigredo, we then experience the white, the albedo. In the albedo phase of alchemy, we come to understand purification, clarity, and the stirrings of nascent wisdom. From the albedo stage we then have the red, the rubedo. The rubedo is the ruddy color of healthy blood and rosy cheeks, the red rose, the red apple, and kissable red lips. The rubedo is also linked to sacrifice — the offering up of something held dear, the moment when we see with new and fresh eyes what before was hidden and shrouded in mystery.

There are more hidden treasures to find throughout this magical cottage and I will always be here, holding the door open, inviting you to stay for a spell.

magic, miracles: receive my lunar letters

ARRIVING on full moons each month.

20 Question
Tarot

Holiday Gift Giving — Give Love and Avoid Stress

Right Relationship

ear Miracles,

I’m kicking off the December blog with my no-stress guide to gift giving! If you follow these 10 steps you will rediscover the joy and deep, profound meaning in giving gifts — I guarantee it.

1.) Choose wisely. Gift giving is about honoring those who touch our lives through the year-so who has touched your life? Of course, we all have family members that we “have” to get something for-but gift giving is an exchange of energy…so put your energies into the people that feed+nourish you.

This year I am sending wee gifts to all the teachers and wild collaborators I have been blessed with this year — feels so good.

2.) Avoid malls. Need I say more? No, I didn’t think so.

3.) Support your local, independent, stores and vendors. Go to your farmers market and see what goodies are on display — who makes art that feeds you? Who makes music that inspires you? $20 for these indie artisans is the difference between a mediocre meal and a good one-pay up proudly+loudly.

4.) Learn a craft and give it away. This year part of my gift giving includes homemade preserves and felted soap with roving wool from a local wool producer. The best part about it? My kiddo can do the crafting with me.

5.) Support artists who nourish you. Two of my faves? Rima Staines has fantastic greetings cards and Terri Windling does magical prints.

6.) A well-written, sincere, card is worth a thousand gifts.

7.) Experiences are immeasurable. Want to splurge on a special someone? What about concert tickets, a gift certificate with their airline of choice or a yummy virtual program like Danielle LaPorte’s Desire Map.

8.) Get magical. Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab has fantastic & sublime scents. My friends at Candlesmoke Chapel have beautiful magical goodies that I blogged about here. Lucky Mojo Curio Co has gorgeously packaged & presented items that are inexpensive and authentic.

9.) Play good music. Maybe it’s Christmassy, maybe it’s not, but surround yourself with good music during this time of year. I like Loreena McKennitt, The Medieval Baebes, and Annonymous Four-they all have great holiday albums.

10.) Give time. Sometimes the most important thing you can do for someone is giving them an afternoon of your time. Consider that.

magic, miracles: receive my lunar letters

ARRIVING on full moons each month.

20 Question
Tarot