In many ways, August is a bridge month, moving you from your past to your future. The eclipses are back, this time firmly in Leo and Aquarius, so after having experienced a number of lighthearted moments in July, you will be ready to settle down and focus on your work. Eclipses disrupt the status quo, change timetables and priorities, and push the reset button. They are the strongest and most dramatic tools that the universe has at its disposal to create rapid change and progress.

You will feel an invisible hand on your back, pushing you forward. If you say this is not a convenient time to fit in more to do or to make changes, the universe will simply smile and let out a deep belly laugh and push you harder. The universe doesn’t care if it is a convenient time to do what it needs you to do. The planets in their orbits have their own schedules, and those schedules run reliably and mathematically perfect, just like trains in a Swiss train station – always on time.

You are still feeling the pressures of Saturn’s presence in your tenth house of honors, awards, and achievement, a place Saturn took up on December 24, 2014. Saturn is the tough taskmaster planet that teaches us life’s lessons and has been giving you a cosmic MBA ever since, but the good news is that Saturn is getting ready to leave on December 20, 2017. Once Saturn leaves, he will not be back to this part of your chart until 2044 many decades from now. Before Saturn does leave, he has some new methods to help bring out the very best of you, and those talents will come out at the eclipse, August 21 and in the weeks to follow.

Saturn has been retrograde since April 5 but will go direct on August 24. From then on, you will see much quicker career progress. You have been busy racking up victories, but the big prize has stubbornly remained out of reach – now all that changes and you will be gratified by how effective you will be when aiming to reach for the brass ring – you will see!

The month’s first eclipse will arrive on August 7, in Aquarius, 15 degrees, and come in the form of a full moon lunar eclipse. It will light your house of secrets and confidential matters, so if anyone has been holding an important secret from you, it is likely to come out now. The same is true if you have a secret – there is little chance you will be able to hold it in after an eclipse comes by, known for its propensity to provide a floodlight of truth. At eclipse time, we tend to blurt things out!

The twelfth house, where this eclipse will appear as a full moon eclipse, is Pisces’ natural house on the horoscope wheel. It is the place of creativity when in solitude. If you take time to be alone, behind closed doors without others to distract you, you will turn out impressive work. Your ideas will spring from a well that holds your subconscious thoughts and insights that come to you through dreams, flashes of ideas that come to you during the day when you aren’t thinking about your project, or by hearing a part of a song or poem.

Pisces never knows precisely where their breakthrough ideas emanate. When it comes, you know – it is like a jewel with many finely cut facets that will catch the light from any angle and make it sparkle. Pisces is so friendly and gregarious that people around you keep forgetting that you enjoy being alone quite a bit. When you withdraw from the world, you get needed rest and time to think and experiment with ideas.

The twelfth house is also the house of confinement – hospitals, rehab centers, prisons, physical therapy centers, and so forth. (I have been in and out of hospitals all my life, from the very first day on earth, having been born with a birth defect. I find it funny that hospitals are found in the same house as prisons. Anyone who has been in a hospital has fantasized about making a run for door, to break out, but it’s nearly impossible to do that!) Seriously though, if you want to schedule surgery or a procedure now, you can. Something regarding your health might come up that you will want to address. You may want to get a second opinion, and Mercury retrograde this month (more about that in a minute) is the perfect time to continue to do research.

Here is why I feel this eclipse will benefit you – Jupiter, the giver of gifts and luck, will be in Libra (an air sign) and be in the perfect position to beam to the August 7 lunar eclipse in Aquarius. Jupiter, in perfect mathematical position, will beam to the Sun, full moon eclipse, and Mars. Being the planet of good fortune, Jupiter dips everything it touches in gold, and this time, it appears Jupiter is about to see to it that you get a very generous sum of money.

The money you see near the full moon lunar eclipse of August 7 appears to emanate from a source outside your normal workaday world. It could be a gift from a relative, or it might represent an insurance company payout. (If you need an operation and are worried about the cost, it appears your health insurance will cover a huge part of the expense. I can’t see everything in your chart from where I sit, but it does seem this is the case.) Alternatively, the money being sent to you might represent an inheritance, a court settlement, divorce decree, back child support, or a prize for being a winning contestant on television. It might well be a huge commission or royalty, a cash for a book advance, or licensing fee, more examples of money that comes from your past efforts.

Or, the money might come in terms of a generous scholarship, approved student loan, mortgage, refinancing plan, or venture capitalists’ investment in your startup. Whatever it is, it will come in a one-time payment of cash, and you should be very pleased with the sum. Things that happen on eclipses tend to be highly important and often represent big life events we long remember.

An eclipse in Aquarius brings up the question of the condition of Uranus in your chart, for Uranus is the ruling planet of Aquarius. Happily, Uranus (innovation) will be beautifully oriented toward Saturn (stability) in your chart from your house of earned income. The money you receive will be comforting and also boost your confidence that you can make more in the future. This all seems to suggest that your period of tight finances may be toning down, but not seeing your individual chart, I cannot say that with absolute certainty.

The next eclipse will be an even bigger one for you. Arriving August 21, in Leo 29 degrees, it will light your sixth house of work projects and health matters. This is a new moon – all solar eclipses are new moons – and this one will open a completely new chapter for you. New types of work projects will start to come to you because you have proven your mettle over the past three years, ever since Saturn moved to Sagittarius and your tenth house of fame and honors. This month you will be getting an indication of the rewards that are about to come to you in bigger, more complex form in the coming months, and they will come to you as a direct result for working so hard. The world is starting to take your talents seriously, which is the best news of all.

The same eclipse might bring up a health matter that you need to fix soon. You won’t see it coming, but that does not mean this portends bad news. It just means you need to listen to your doctor. You might be able to schedule a procedure, if you need one, in September, November, or January if the problem can wait. If not, act immediately. If not, just do it.

I remember being 14 and spending 11 months in the hospital. The girl in the other bed in my room used to say, “Anticipation is worse than realization.” So true! That is, the procedure is never as bad as we anticipate it will be. She and I were in for months, with a very serious series of surgeries, but we both developed this chipper view of hospital procedures.

I need to make something clear: I am not saying you will definitely be in the hospital, only that it is possible. You seem to talking to a lot of medical personnel this month, but that may be because you are assisting a relative who is the patient, not necessarily because you are the patient.

In a different way this accent on health and healing might manifest, it might be the time you want to begin a new fitness program and begin to eat clean to feel your best. If you are dependent on a substance, like cigarettes or painkillers, this month you can become free of that dependence, for you can find a doctor who you like and who can help you.

Mars will be conjunct the Sun and new moon, so that will give you energy, focus, and drive in both work and health matters. Here is the extraordinary news. Uranus in Aries, in your house of earned income, will be in perfect position to beam positive and surprising news to the eclipse and Mars, out of the blue surprise. This means money news will be good news. At the same time, Saturn will be at the precise right degree to send his gifts of long-term gain from your tenth house of prestigious career success. Together, Mars, the Sun, and solar eclipse will link to Uranus and Saturn, forming a golden triangle in the sky. Wow. Whatever happens on this eclipse is bound to make you very happy, dear Pisces. The two eclipses coming this month are the best I have seen in years and surely will ratchet you up to a new standing in your industry, with more money suddenly coming in too.

You had a similar set of eclipses on August 7, 1998, and August 22, 1998. Do you recall anything important that occurred at that time? Those eclipses were of the precisely same sign and degree as the ones now. However, when you think back, the other planets in 1998 were not nearly as friendly to the eclipses like they are now – this time should be easier and bring happier news!

Mercury will retrograde this month from August 12 to September 5, so you will find the end of August to be hard in terms of reaching people, as many will be out of town. If you don’t have to sign a contract during that time, don’t. It would be best for you to sign in September, with several days’ space from the day Mercury goes direct, September 5. I suggest September 15. It is never wise to sign a contract when Mercury is out of phase. The exception to that rule is if you almost worked with an individual or company but for some reason, the timing was off, or if you did work for that person or company and liked your experience – if that person comes back to you, it’s fine to sign. The reason is, you aren’t starting a new relationship – you’re continuing an ongoing one (even if you have not talked in a long time). Of course, ideally I would like you to wait, but if you are afraid you won’t get the job, then take it.

I don’t want to you to stop having meetings and discussions, but I do want you to be reflective and slow about signing contracts. Always show your lawyer the paperwork – he may spot something you missed. I always work as a team with my lawyer, never just sending it over to see what he says. He and I go over every point together, and then I go back to the client myself to discuss. I feel if I cannot look at the client across the table and show why I feel the change to a certain clause is fair, I have no business asking for the change in the first place. I have agents now to represent me, but I feel it’s not right to ask for things you cannot fairly justify to the client. Always aim for a win-win situation. I think I am preaching to the choir here, because Pisces and Virgo are said (by Forbes Magazine) to be the two most successful signs in business, and I sense it is because these signs put the product or service – and the client’s needs – first.

August 11 to 14 brings the Sun and Saturn into sync. These are days to discuss a project that will be a jewel in your crown. This span of days bridges a weekend, so see if you can meet on Friday, August 11.

August 20, spilling over to August 21, when Mars (action) and Jupiter (financial gain) will be in superb contact, again about an assignment, and the money is more than you would have ever asked to be paid. Your compensation this month, by the way, seems to be based on performance, so the deal will likely involve commission.

Finally, Jupiter and Saturn will be on the phone with each other to discuss your future career prospects all month, culminating with a peak in mathematical aspect on August 27. These two planets move slowly, so don’t get too set on one day or another – you will feel this comforting vibration all month. It is rare to have Jupiter speak to Saturn on your behalf – greater stability in your career is coming (assuming you’ve been working hard, which your chart suggests you have). I am so excited to say that you will finally be rewarded this month, fulfilling a big promise Jupiter made last year that you would see a large payment of money you so dearly deserve. The time has come.

Before I go, I want to address love for you, for Venus will be in Cancer, a divine place for you to have Venus, and this graceful planet of love and beauty will be moving through your fifth house of true love all month. You will have a certain glow that will attract admirers to you, so socially you won’t have to try very hard to get the eye of someone special. Women readers may want to stock up on new makeup for fall. Men, try new cologne, and see about shopping for some new things. The only thing I will not let you buy (no matter if you are male or female) is electronics – a real no-no when Mercury is retrograde. No computers smart phones, cars, TV sets, no appliances, nothing that plugs in a wall or runs on batteries! Shop for those on September 15.

I have written an article that I feel would be very useful to you this month, “How to Deal with Eclipses.” It is found on the home page of Astrology Zone, the lower left side. If you would rather read my essay on my app, Susan Miller’s Astrology Zone Daily Horoscope, sold in the Apple App Store or Google Play, but you must have the premium (paid subscriber edition for $4.99 for one month or $49.99 for a year). On the app, go to the app’s menu, find Love + Life, and then, Susan’s Essays. My article on eclipses is there. As an aside, my premium app is chockfull of information and has your monthly horoscope as well as everyone’s daily horoscopes, so you can check those of your friends and family too.

When you are on your computer with a bigger screen than your cell phone, I have two Tables for you that I think you might like to look at – one is a Table of Eclipses 1994 to 2030, with both solar and lunar eclipses, the signs and degrees, and the other Table is a detailed list of all the Mercury Retrograde periods, signs and degrees, from 1994 to 2030. I put those on my home page so you can plan for big initiations and not be broadsided by Mercury. I don’t have these tables on my app, but you can access them for free on my site and you can print them out too. Look for the five icons in blue, listed in a vertical row at the top left of my home page (and all the pages) – the bottom one shows an icon of a printer, so just click that, and you are all set.

Eclipse season is back, and unlike eclipses of 2015, 2016, and the last one February 26, 2017, in Pisces and Virgo, which had a direct, possibly life-changing effect on you that required a great deal of adjustment, the two eclipses will be both powerful and encouraging. They are unusually friendly, so you should like the changes the two will bring.

The first eclipse will occur in Aquarius on August 7 in your twelfth house of healing. The twelfth house is associated with your subconscious and dreams, so if you have had a problem that has troubled you, you might want to seek help from a professional therapist or medical doctor. Eclipses bring a floodlight of truth so that you will know the next logical step to take and finally be motivated to move forward. The lunar eclipse is a full moon, but like no ordinary full moon. If you have a dependence on certain pain pills, for example (pain pills are ruled by this house), you can seek help to become free of dependence on them. This is an opportunity to cleanse and improve your mind, body, and spirit for a stronger life in the future.

This same house rules places of recovery, such as hospitals, physical therapy centers, nursing homes and other places of confinement that the ancient astrologers assigned to this house. If you should go into the hospital for a procedure near a full moon, it would likely show improvement fairly quickly. Do your research, for you can find a doctor who understands your condition and who can offer relief and comfort.

The month’s second eclipse will be in Leo, August 21, and light your sixth house that rules the preventative measures you takes to stay healthy. The sixth house also rules work projects – the ones you do on a day-to-day basis. This eclipse finds the Sun and new moon solar eclipse conjunct Mars in your sixth house joining hands with the surprise planet, Uranus, in your second house of earned income, and to Saturn, planet of security and long range gain, in your tenth house of fame and honors. This suggests this eclipse will bring up a magical opportunity for you to elevate your professional status, and to also make a surprising generous amount of money from a project or position will come up now.

In terms of health, you may want to use the week from August 21 to August 31 to begin a superb fitness program that brings results. The golden alignments involving the solar eclipse, Uranus, and Saturn will help you find a program you love, and that you are likely to follow faithfully. Sometimes it comes down to the temperament and methods of your trainer that can unlock results. While there will be several other eclipses in Leo in next year, this one will be one of the friendliest you’ve ever experienced, so I would urge you to start in August if your doctor gives you a clean bill of health and is encouraging you to workout.

Romantically, you have Venus just where you need Venus to be, in divine water-sign Cancer, touring your house of true love. When Venus and Neptune send one another silvery beams across a star-studded sky on August 12, you will have the most enchanting Saturday night to step out that you’ve had in months. Slip into your favorite outfit and shoes – this night will belong to you.