We were rolling through Iowa. My lover was driving, I was enjoying the scenery, and we were talking about the impending breakdown of Western civilization. In short, we were having a good time.

All around us was corn. The fields were densely green, turning into bright gold where they met the air. Under a classic puffy-cloud sky, they were beautiful.

But at the same time, it was a little strange that there was nothing but corn. No people, no signs of other life, no differences in any of the fields. On the roadside, there were little signs that said "Pioneer". Each cornfield was numbered, and the numbers were the only things that changed.

All the corn we were looking at was owned by DuPont, the company that started out by making explosives in 1802, got rich in a couple of world wars, and encouraged us all to revel in plastic.

And underneath that silky exterior, that corn was going through all kinds of interesting changes never known to previous corn. This was not your friendly neighborhood corn, but an army of super corn, genetically manipulated.

And so we rolled through Iowa, surrounded by corn. And talked about ownership, and the way that large masses (of vegetables, companies, institutions, newspapers, etc) are increasingly becoming owned by single entities. When things are clumped together in big blocks, it's much easier to manipulate them.

We rolled along, free as the highway in front of us, enjoying our road trip. Still, we mostly stayed on the superhighway. We don't even know most of the ways we're being manipulated. And what does it say when our freedom is so intimately connected with something mechanical?

That's why it's really a good thing that Mercury goes retrograde every so often. It throws a spanner into the machine. There's a loud noise, the mechanical equivalent of a shout, and the pieces start flinging themselves in all directions.

It can be dangerous, and it's particularly so in August, when Mercury goes retrograde in opposition to Uranus. So do jump clear, particularly around August 9th - and especially if you have planets around 4 to 9 degrees of a mutable sign (Virgo, Pisces, Gemini or Sagittarius). There’s also a potential for sudden unwieldy change around the new moon (the 15th) when Mars joins Mercury - and is also opposed by Uranus.

Mercury is about how we organize ourselves, and how we understand the information around us. That will change at the new moon, and a kernel of awareness will come alive.

Mars, the planet of will and independence, is about how we act, how we deal with anger and desire and impulse. And that Mars energy will push outwards, liberated from old forms, ready to take a new path.

And Uranus is about the lightning-bolt of change, often taking the form of a massive social trend. At the new moon, Uranus will provide resistance to our usual habits of thought and behavior. Change will be all around us, but we do choose how we react to it. What new thing are we forming here?

Mars-Uranus aspects bring out the spontaneous will to liberate yourself from any kind of oppressive or overly structured situation. One of Mars' archetypes is the Warrior, and one of Uranus' archetypes is the Rebel. Mercury, the Logical One in their company, might cool them down. But Mercury is not herself, since she will be retrograde. She will be looking inward, looking towards the past, brooding on all the unfinished business that still haunts her.

There is definitely accident potential here. Uranus is the planet of technology, so this is the time when the robots could revolt. It's the planet of new ideas, so worlds of assumptions could collide. It's the planet of the future, so the raw material of old fear could reshape itself.

The Virgo/Pisces axis is about the tension between the parts and the whole. Mercury and Mars in detail-conscious Virgo will focus on the pieces, especially those that don’t work as we want them to. Mercury will look at the world and see the jigsaw puzzle that we've all been trying to solve for millennia. Mars will see a specific roster of active physical tasks for you to do.

And Uranus, in the mystical sign Pisces, will ask you to hold your breath and fling yourself through space at a breakneck speed, in order to reach a blissful state of cosmic unity.

The cornfields of Iowa are calm reflections of the bounty of summer. But this is not the corn of yesteryear, and the fields aren't home to butterflies, rabbits, and scampering kids. Things are organized in new ways these days - and we do have to question these ways, and ask who benefits from them.

Sometimes these changes come slowly, without our noticing. The ears of corn are gathered. The cornfields themselves are gathered by large companies. Sometimes change comes quickly. This is a time to watch for the strike of lightning. Be ready to be electrified at the core.

Index of Jenny Yates' Writings on Lesbian.com