covering 12 August 2024 to 22 August 2024
Lasting 10 days, 9 hours, 39 minutes
At 1:16 am EDT on 12 August 2024, the Sun will enter Leo III The Banner — the domain of Mars under the Sun, and a place of philosophical and intellectual leadership where we carry forward the symbols and emblems of the causes we care about. The Sun will be here until 22 August 2024, for a total of 10 days, 9 hours, and 39 minutes.
In the calendar that’s survived from Cosmas of Jerusalem, this ten-day period was given to the honor and recognition of Serapis — a masculine bearded deity whose worship emerged and evolved in the Ptolemaic period from about 300 BCE until 100 AD/CE. Serapis was considered to be a deity of abundance — prosperous harvests, abundant grain, and a satisfied and well-fed populace. However, Serapis stands in a syncretic position, as a mixture of lightning-throwing Zeus and underworld-ruling Osiris… a kind of crossover, if you will, of the chthonic forces of Pluto with the cosmic fecundity of the Apis bull, mediating between the gods and mortals.
In this role, Serapis was neither neutral nor innocuous. Despite his cult originating in the Third Intermediate Period between the end of the Egyptian New Kingdom around 1000 BCE and the rise of the Ptolemaic Dynasty about 300 BCE, Serapis rose to prominence in part by being the pet god of the Ptolemies… and then of the Caesars. He promised the abundance of Egypt to the Egyptians… provided that they accepted their subordinate status to foreign rulers, first the Greek-speaking descendants of one of Alexander the Great’s generals, and then to the Latinate Emperors of Rome. In that sense, he’s a god of colonizers and exploiters, promising calm and ease and peace in exchange for loyalty, submission, and compliance. In many of his statues, he’s arrayed in imperial robes and seated upon a throne — or he’s depicted with a shaggy beard and manly shirtless pecs, with abs worthy of an expensive gymnasium advertisement, Serapis carries a modium, or grain-measure, on his head: bow down, his image seems to say, and you shall have bread. It’s an irony that his muscular exemplar of physical fitness has the sort of body-fat percentage only achieved today by rejecting bread, pasta, and carbs generally.
There’s a lot of that kind of energy in Leo III, really — I am superior to you because I subscribe to a superior philosophy or way of life — therefore you should do what I say. And on the one hand, sometimes this attitude is needed: a leader who espouses a mission and vision, rather than personal aggrandizement, often needs this mindset. But it’s also the mindset of a conqueror, an imperialist, or a would-be tyrant… and their underlying ideals or philosophy should be examined closely for evidence of flaws, or corruption.
Mars’ role as the administrator of this decan thus makes a good deal of sense. He’s definitely a “my way or the highway” kind of visionary leader — and he’s not afraid to use violence in pursuit of a philosophy or political opinion, or to eliminate numerous foes by the bastard sword, the bombast, or the bomb rather than the ballot box. It’s a philosophy of political willpower divorced from persons and their prerogatives.
The dodeks, or twelfth-parts, of Leo III are Aries, Taurus, Gemini, and Cancer — speaking to the fire in the head of this would-be philosopher-king; their physical discipline in public and their love of luxury for private realms; their ability to hold two ideas in mind at once, one for the masses and one for themselves; and their ability to make an emotional appeal to the masses through adherence to their ideals. In their outward expressions moderate and in their internal thoughts often depraved, the philosopher-king is too often a despot intent on ruling through a mix of voluntary obedience and violent constraint.
Planetary Archetypes
The Sun is in the third house, making this decan’s chart into something like a family reunion in the summertime… or a fabulous 50 birthday party for a man in the prime of his life. However, not all is as it seems.
Pluto: masculine planet in masculine sign in feminine quadrant in masculine house. The buttoned-up director of a company department that is normally a money-maker struggles to explain to a senior vice-president why his team failed to meet their second-quarter projections. She’s five years younger than him, and he’s wondering why his career has stalled.
Neptune: Masculine planet in a feminine sign in a masculine quadrant in a feminine house. OK, yes, this uncle would rather be on his fishing boat, but the beer isn’t bad. Why is his niece constantly making looks at the girl with the weird haircut? Why isn’t his nephew interested in a day of fishing?
Uranus: Masculine planet in a feminine sign in a masculine quadrant in a feminine house, retrograde. God why does he have to be at this stupid family party for his brother’s 50th birthday? The market’s burning down, he’s about to lose his AirBnB empire like a house of cards, and his fourth client of the week has just canceled. He needed that money for his crypto play, and he’s got to let off some serious steam soon.
Saturn: Masculine planet in a feminine sign in a masculine quadrant in a feminine house, retrograde. Gramps doesn’t hear too good, and never lost his accent from the Old Country. But he’s having the time of his life at his son’s big birthday party, talking Olympics in English, and admiring the women in his mother tongue with Uncle Joseph. Who’s the boy hanging out with his granddaughter? And why is
Jupiter: Masculine planet in a masculine (Mercury-ruled) sign, in a masculine quadrant in a masculine house. Older uncle has brought along “a promising journeyman from work” but he’s really a younger man on a Grindr hook-up. There will be sex, but it’s not clear who is going to bottom yet.
Mars: Masculine planet in a masculine (Mercury-ruled sign) in a masculine quadrant in a masculine house. Younger man is bewildered why he’s at this birthday party for a family he doesn’t know, but the wine is good, and the guy who brought him is handsome enough for an older dude. He doesn’t know if he’s going to screw or get screwed yet, but the secret tension is turning him on.
Sun: Masculine planet in masculine domicile sign in a feminine quadrant in a masculine house. Father is happy that his wife and adult kids are home for a big surprise birthday party for a year with a -0 in it, but is trying to not show how pleased he is, or how sad he is that some of his old friends are now in the grave.
Venus: Feminine planet in a feminine sign of detriment in a feminine quadrant in a feminine house. Youngest daughter has managed to sneak her girlfriend into the house during her dad’s big birthday party; she’s trying to keep quiet during sex in the upstairs bathroom.
Mercury: Non-binary retrograde planet in the feminine position relative to the Sun, in their domiciled feminine sign, in a feminine quadrant in a feminine house. Younger ‘brother’ has realized that if their sister came out as lesbian, it would be easier for them to become femme — and get Mom’s support for the conversation with Dad. How can they expose sis and her girlfriend’s activities without being blamed for it?
Moon: Feminine planet in feminine sign in masculine quadrant in feminine house. Ok, the Mom put together this “fabulous 50” birthday party for her loving but clueless spouse. When is it her turn to be acknowledged, and how large of a meltdown will she have to throw to get the big anniversary vacation to the Old Country to meet the family she’s never seen, that she’s been dreaming of? (Whups, dinner’s about to burn in front of your forty guests in the back yard: put your attention on the stove for now, and stop scheming!)
The Nodal Axis shows that everyone wants to be here… but no one is having fun. There’s social niceties and familial conventions that just can’t be violated… but everyone knows that this is a bit like a round of musical chairs on the show Squid Game. You can’t not be here; but almost everyone would rather be elsewhere.
Planetary Placements
It’s worth noting that Mars and Jupiter will conjunct this week at 16° Gemini on August 14 at about 11:15 am EDT. The last time they met in conjunction in Gemini was in 2012, in July . There were a number of plane-related incidents on July 17th, including a SkyWest pilot attempting to steal a Bombardier CRJ airplane and needles beinng discovered in the sandwiches of Delta Airlines flights passing through Schipol Airport in the Netherlands; July 18 saw a number of bomb attacks on targets in Bulgaria and Iran, and a direct bombing attack on the Syrian government’s cabinet that killed five senior ministers and injured numerous others. The City of San Bernardino, CA also declared bankruptcy under emergency conditions. The last time that Mars and Jupiter conjuncted at all was on 29-30 May 2022, at 3° Aries, which also saw a small plane crash in Nepal, but was significant for military violence in the region of Donbas during the Russia-Ukraine war — and the European Union’s establishment of economic sanctions against Russia after months of deliberations. This was also during ongoing COVID pandemic measures, and the sudden outbreak of Monkeypox as well. As this conjunction is preparing itself in the first house, it’s possible that these events — air disasters and bomb threats, as well as ongoing outbreaks of our least-favorite plague — may come closer to home than Bulgaria.
In the Third House of extended family, the Sun shines out from a position of familial principles and collective agency to illuminate the graciousness of spouses and significant others in the face of considerable family turmoil — but this graciousness is not without an internal conflict or fracas. The sextile to Mars/Jupiter indicates an underlying tension between personal aggression-horniness-ambition on the one hand, and generosity-compassion-love on the other. That is, we may want more than we’re getting, but we’re also aware of how good we’ve got it.
In the Fourth House of family and home, Mercury retrograde and Venus stand in a strange conjuncted opposition in the decan of Virgo called A Tree Bearing Fruit. Mercury is domiciled and exalted in Virgo, and in the ‘night’ position relative to the Sun, making them masculine with feminine planets. But Venus is in detriment here — and a person with Venus in Virgo is often said to be more motivated and attracted to same-sex relationships than heterosexual ones. This combination suggests a paradisiacal garden, but one in which the romance of same-sex relations is tested or troubled by heterosexual desires. This is an upending of the ‘traditional’ lore about attraction, generally, and speaks to a bi-sexual or pan-sexual identity crisis of sorts.
In the Fifth House of pleasures, Black Moon Lillith (aka, the Lunar Apogeee) and the South Node promise broken rules and covenants in search of happiness — and a resulting shit-storm.
In the Sixth House of work and routines, the Moon is in the Eighteenth Mansion, The Scorpion Heart and just past conjunction with the Vertex, promising challenges from a scheme that’s more interested in secretly advancing one person’s qualifications and perks than in aiding the team more generally. Are you the schemer? Or the team member shut out by someone else’s plot?
In the Ninth House of travel, tourism, and learning, Pluto retrograde indicates ongoing contention between airlines and rail lines and their employees, where the workers are losing their current battles, but winning the overall war. Pluto will be Capricorn from September 2 until November 20, a period in which business owners small and large may feel themselves incredibly empowered, but it’s a short-lived surge that may haunt them for decades to come.
In the Tenth House of career, job, and reputation, Saturn and Neptune besiege the Lot of Fortune, suggesting that for the next ten days ahead, we’re often likely to be stuck between the rock of hard physical limits and problems, and the newfound enthusiasms of bosses and supervisors divorced from true reality. Look for expectations of new productivity from the installation of AI systems where they don’t belong, evidence that new projects and programs are failing due to the realistic limits imposed by physics or chemistry, and exuberant business and political leaders insisting that reality doesn’t matter.
The North Node is in the Eleventh House of friends and allies, suggesting a hunger for connection and community that goes unaddressed — or is only addressed partially.
In the Twelfth House of personal obstacles and challenges, as well as of secret foes, Uranus promises explosive revelations for which the only solution is to wait and see. Revolutionaries rarely approach any problem with patience — but nothing is solved by going off without a plan. Expect unplanned outbursts that do nobody any good.
Horoscopes by Rising Sign
Decan I of any sign (usually covering the 21st of the month to the first of the following month) is free to all visitors; Decan II is only available to Patreon and Ko-Fi.com subscribers; and Decan III is available to Patreon, Ko-Fi, and MailChimp subscribers.
I recommend reading your Sun sign, Moon sign, and Rising sign for best results. I write them with rising sign in mind, but several people have told me they find that they do better with all three.
Gemini:
Cancer:
Leo:
Virgo:
Libra:
Scorpio:
Sagittarius:
Capricorn:
Aquarius:
Pisces:
Aries:
Taurus:
Colophon
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If you want to read some of my astrologically-oriented poetry, the largest collection is called A Full Volume of Splendor and Starlight, available through my Etsy shop, and containing poems and hymns to the planets, constellations, decan deities, and Moon Mansion angels. While not astrological, Festae contains hymns to some of the older Roman gods and spirits from the calendar created by Numa Pompilius, the second ancient King of Rome.
I use iPhemeris for my charting software, and screenshot it to make charts. I want to thank the team that develops iPhemeris for the addition of Terms and Decans to their charts. I also use Hugh Tran‘s Physis typeface to craft logos for this blog, as well.
I use Christopher Warnock‘s The Mansions of the Moon as the basis of my Moon placement delineations, and Austin Coppock‘s 36 Faces for much of my planetary delineations. Neither gentleman endorses me.
