Carl Boudreau, about this date… August 2, 2011… Mercury Retrograde and the 'Void of Course' Moon

This is from Carl Boudreau, who produced the astrology for August video in this post. i include the writen version of it here, but highlight one portion in particular. This is very important I feel as we are in a “short” (36 hour) period of Mercury retrograde AND the void-of-course” moon. Read what Carl has to say about this. [Let me be perfectly clear, though; I do NOT go along with his “worse” or “this is the worst time” for this scenario. No no no no no. We know that we NEED disruption at this time. Disruption of the old, outdated, worn systems that have been dominating this planet. Personally, I see ALL of this as positive.]

“Mercury goes stationary on August 2nd, then it starts moving backward; it goes retrograde. Mercury will be stationary for one or two days, effectively. It is a big monkey wrench in the works. Generally speaking, and depending on the circumstances, a Mercury station can bring everything to a sudden, chaotic halt…This time it’s much worse, though. Mercury make its station during a lengthy, 36 hour void of course moon. A void of course moon is a cosmic embodiment of Murphy’s law. Longer void of course moons are more powerful, and more disruptive… Murphy’s Law states that if something can go wrong, it will go wrong, and at the worst possible time. A void of course moon is a time when everything that can go wrong does go wrong, usually unexpectedly. And a void of course moon is the worst time for a Mercury station.
Chaos Squared
The combination of a stationary Mercury and a void of course moon is extremely potent. The disruptive power of stationary Mercury is multiplied by the disruptive power of the void of course moon… We need to remember, also, that several other major bodies will already be retrograde. This will compound the difficulties significantly. We are talking about a disruption and confusion on a grand scale. The effects of this extreme Mercury station will intensify the entire month worth of retrogrades and aspects. It is one of those things.”

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The Plot Thickens – Big Time
The Bad News
First there was the financial crisis. Then there were protests, rebellions and civil wars. The aspects behind these events linger. So do the events. They have become a permanent backdrop.
Rather than bring resolution, August’s aspects complicate the world’s situation. They will block conclusive action. They will, instead, broaden the range of challenges. They will also add whole new layers of complexity to our experience. Whole new dimensions of trouble will open up around the globe.
Most especially, August will escalate uncertainty and anxiety. It will also add to the general level of tensions and anxieties. They will significantly increase mental and emotional turmoil. Dysfunctional and anti-social behavior will increase.
The Good News
The aspects will prevent outright disaster. They will generously support workarounds and temporary fixes.
But their support has a stiff price. We must keep moving forward. We must seek deeper understanding. We must build more solid foundations. We must meet strict moral and ethical standards. No backsliding.
Failure to meet these conditions will bring prompt repercussions. Hopefully, these repercussions will spur prompt course corrections.
Increasing Drama
The good and bad news aspects are pretty evenly balanced, really. Neither can tip the scales, even though the number and the size of our difficulties will increase.
Inner turmoil could verge on hysteria in some people. Psychological instability will cause anti-social behavior or outright violence. But these are the extremes. Most will only learn of extreme behaviors in the news. However, prolonged high stress levels, and more, could drive people in your life to their limits. So be mindful.
For most, more drama, and more intense drama, will complicate life. It will be hard to think clearly or act decisively. Stress will bring health, relationship, family, work and financial matters to a head.
Inaction
Many important planets are retrograding, moving backwards relative to the Earth. This will amplify stress from all other sources. It will allow the world’s stresses to penetrate deeper into our minds. But it will also cause problems in the real world.
Mercury governs communication. It is retrograde 8/2 thru 8/19. This will bring delays and endless communication issues. Things will stall while systems are updated and technology is upgraded, or simply breaks down.
Chiron governs healing. It is retrograde all month. Healing processes of all kinds will be stalled as people must look more deeply into healing issues.
Uranus governs change and technology. It will be retrograde all month. Reform at all levels, in all areas, will stall. Technology issues will increase. Planners will have to return to the drawing board.
Neptune governs religious, political and philosophical ideas of all kinds. It will be retrograde all month. Ideals, ideology, religious and spiritual ideas will cease to inspire and motivate. People will need to look more deeply into their beliefs.
Pluto governs power of all kinds, including governmental power. It will be retrograde all month. Governments, administrators, leaders of all kinds will be unable to exercise power effectively.
Jupiter governs uplifting ideas, growth, expansion and wealth of all kinds. Jupiter will be stationary retrograde at the end of the month. Growth and wealth creation of all kinds will stall. Economic efforts will lose steam.
Murphy’s Cosmic Law
We frequently experience multiple retrogrades, but the retrogrades of August 2011 are unusually potent.
To understand why August’s challenges are so great, we must take a closer look at Mercury.
Mercury will be powerfully placed in one of its own signs, Virgo.
Mercury goes stationary on August 2nd, then it starts moving backward; it goes retrograde. Mercury will be stationary for one or two days, effectively. It is a big monkey wrench in the works. Generally speaking, and depending on the circumstances, a Mercury station can bring everything to a sudden, chaotic halt.
This time it’s much worse, though. Mercury make its station during a lengthy, 36 hour void of course moon. A void of course moon is a cosmic embodiment of Murphy’s law. Longer void of course moons are more powerful, and more disruptive.
Murphy’s Law states that if something can go wrong, it will go wrong, and at the worst possible time. A void of course moon is a time when everything that can go wrong does go wrong, usually unexpectedly. And a void of course moon is the worst time for a Mercury station.
Chaos Squared
The combination of a stationary Mercury and a void of course moon is extremely potent. The disruptive power of stationary Mercury is multiplied by the disruptive power of the void of course moon.
We need to remember, also, that several other major bodies will already be retrograde. This will compound the difficulties significantly. We are talking about a disruption and confusion on a grand scale. The effects of this extreme Mercury station will intensify the entire month worth of retrogrades and aspects. It is one of those things.
To get some idea of the disruptive power of this combination, consider that Mercury makes its station on August 2nd. August 2nd is the date on which the US *might* make a catastrophic default on its debt and other financial obligations.
At this writing, I do not know if the US will default. I am just using that to show the scale of event that a void of course moon with a stationary mercury could cause in this astrological context.
Crumbling Foundations
Another aspect contributes more to the potential chaos. Neptune is the master cosmic solvent. It will dissolve anything the human mind and heart can create.
In the August chart, Neptune is involved in a big opposition with Chiron, the Sun, Mercury and Venus.
This opposition occupies the 10th house/4th house axis. That is the axis of structure in all our lives.
The 10th house represents external, hierarchical, traditionally masculine sources of structure. The 4th house represents internal, psychological, traditionally feminine sources of structure.
This powerful Neptune opposition will weaken and, in some cases, completely dissolve all the things that give structure and order to our personalities, our lives and the countries we live in.
The placement of the moon indicates that people will be fixated on the sudden transformation of the world they thought they lived into something beyond all recognition. This will ensure that stress levels rise in the vast majority. August’s problems will not occur unnoticed.
The Crazy Factor
Finally, on the downside, the crazy factor is still very strong. Pluto will be contacting the midpoint of Jupiter and Neptune. This will encourage wildly unrealistic thinking. Arrogance, ignorance and determination will combine to produce dangerously unrealistic schemes in the minds of many, including those with power.
That’s in addition to hysteria caused by stress and the craziness unleashed by Lilith and Uranus in Aries. The new sources of stress, the new spurs to crazy thought and behavior, add the already high level of craziness.
Safeguards and Conditional Support
We need to factor August’s supportive aspects into our expectations. The planets seem to want to wake us from our illusions without doing any permanent damage.
There will be support – something of a cosmic safety net in place. But we need to remember that all of the support in August’s charts is highly conditional. It tends to prevent serious harm. However, it requires that we stay within reasonable bounds. It is also designed to make us all keep searching for deeper understanding.
But so many people will be so distracted by the risks and the stresses they feel, most probably won’t realize how gentle the planets are being, compared to what they could be.