Top 10 Reasons this Solstice season says "Pay Attention": Weaving a New Dream

"Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that." Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Graphic by Joseph Mina; Center image by artist Eva Ruiz

Sobering times. Intensity in its most hideous form enters our awareness. This time it's Orlando Florida. Could have easily been Syria, Iraq, parts of Africa, China, or any number of other locations around the world. Senseless mayhem persists on a global scale, but then again, isn't all mayhem "senseless".

A little over a month ago, I wrote a piece for this blog titled "Top 10 Reasons Current Planetary Cycles are saying "Pay Attention".  In that piece I highlighted the unfolding retrogrades of Mars and Mercury, Venus' inner dance with the Sun, and Saturn's current on-going quest for the truth. The word "intensity" was sprinkled throughout the article.

No need here to opine about how the insatiable traditional and social media juggernauts fuel themselves with tragic events around the world. However, important to remember intensity comes in many flavors. As dark as something may appear, its opposite equally exists in the human consciousness. This coming solstice season offers you a choice between light and dark; higher vision

Virgo New Moon August 25: A cry for social justice and equality

Change means movement. Movement means friction. Only in the frictionless vacuum of a nonexistent abstract world can movement or change occur without that abrasive friction of conflict.Saul Alinsky (1909-72) author and founder of community organizing

The thing that lies at the foundation of positive change, the way I see it, is service to a fellow human being. Lech Walesa (1943- ) Nobel Peace Prize and former Polish leader

"Activation Station" sketch by Joseph Mina

Intensity grows. Transformation abounds. Societal polarity reaches new extremes. Ferguson, Missouri…Ukraine and Russia…Iraq and Syria…Israel and Palestine…China and its neighbors, Ebola virus in West Africa, great drought in California…social unrest in many quarters.. seemingly fill the daily news. Meanwhile, the human voice for social justice and equality grows louder.

These flash points of critical tension point to symptoms of great change and activation now underway around the globe. We stand at the edge of a precipice. Depending on your perspective, one view augurs an Utopian ideal; another perhaps a depressing outcome, and many possibilities in-between. However, the astrological cycles and strong headwinds say "no outcome is certain. No guarantees are available." For better or worse, our evolving human script is being written as it unfolds. Quite a potent backdrop for this Virgo New Moon and its demand for greater, compassionate service to humanity.

Here's the Astro 411.

Where: New Moon at 2° Virgo. Virgo qualities include a focus on your health, precision and discernment, and service to others.

When: August 25th at 4:13 am Hawaii Time (HST); 7:13 am on the US West Coast, 6:13 pm