Here is your monthly sidereal astrology forecast for May 2018. We are well under way, but there is plenty in this video to help you navigate the rest of this month.
July is in many ways the follow-up to April. Sun square Jupiter, Venus opposed Saturn, and Mercury entering its retrograde shadow are all continuations of the stories and cycles we experienced then. I outlined the details of that month in two separate posts because it was so eventful (here and here). But this time, I’m gonna lay July out for you in one long read.
Planets move into Cancer starting with Mercury on July 2 and culminates with a Sun- Mars conjunction at 10 Cancer on July 27. Mercury enters its retrograde shadow near the New Moon in Cancer, officially opening the door to eclipse season. You’ll need your seat belt for this month.
So is much happening in Cancer this month. Women take center stage and make or break the progression of the narratives we live during this time.
Being under the governorship of the Moon makes these transits and configurations visceral. You feel them in your body, you want to act or react. My keyword for Cancer is responsive. That’s how Cancer moves when it’s present and aware.
Reaction is great when there is an imminent threat, or an opportunity that must be captured in the moment. Responsiveness is a muscle that must be worked and strengthened. It’s what we become when our reactionary minds pause, reflect, and decide on the best course of action. For champion boxers it happens on autopilot because it is approached as a discipline. It’s in their muscle’s memory.
Let this be your meditation for July.
Cancer rising, Heavyweight Champion Muhammad Ali vs Ernie Terrell
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Mercury answers to the Moon when it’s in Cancer. One’s use of language—when and how one communicates—is a tool of the emotions. Physiology and psychology teach us that every emotional state has a corresponding physiological state. Emotions are our intellectual concepts for the way we categorize those physiological responses to our experiences.
Fear forces the body to limit energy use to life sustaining processes only so that you can take off and run or fight back in the face of a threat. This is why prolonged fear induced worry and stress can have a detrimental effect on the body. I’m sure those with prominent Cancer in their chart know all about digestive issues and unwanted weight gain.
But, Cancer is hyper sensitive and responsive to these states; how the body responds to people, circumstances, and the environment, and the emotions associated with those sensations. Following the lead of the Moon’s every 2.5 day or so sign changes, Mercury’s face and motivation change, too.
Mercury’s job is to communicate the reality and perceptions of the Sun. In a Moon ruled sign, however, there may be a disruption in transmission. Even if the Mercury in Cancer can think lucidly, the urgency of their emotions and their physiological expression may override otherwise sound logic.
Emotional outbursts, saying things one doesn’t really mean can cause problems emotionally and professionally. But speaking the honesty of the moment can also be liberating. Can Mercury in Cancer discern between the two?
July 6 – Sun in Gemini square Jupiter in Virgo
The synodic cycle of the Sun and Jupiter represents the evolving relationship between our perception of reality and our beliefs about what is possible.
At the conjunction (in Virgo September 2016) our perceptions and our beliefs are unified. In Virgo, there is a calculative experience of reality, seeing the world as sets of data, rather than actual people, and equations to be solved rather than experiences to live, enjoy, and learn from.
The first square was at 90°. The Sun had moved on to Sagittarius while Jupiter remained in Virgo (January 2017). The dissonance between …
July 9 – Full Moon 23 Sagittarius
Moon in Sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter in Virgo with Jupiter in a tight square, angular to the Sun and Moon. That’s astrology for Jupiter in Virgo being the boss of this Moon.
Jupiter in Virgo:
Jupiter in sidereal Virgo says:
The facts can be put together in any way the storyteller sees fit; they serve the agenda of his narrative.
— The People’s Oracle (@PeoplesOracle) June 5, 2017
Jupiter = synthesizes one’s personal experiences into a life philosophy. But in Virgo, it wants to make it add up like an equation.
Jupiter at this Full Moon represents a narrative that challenges our perception of reality (Sun) & our physical experience of it (Moon). Seeing is, in fact, NOT believing. Who and what do you trust?
Both the Sun and Mars are in Gemini. Gemini is a parrot of sorts. It’s job is to say what it sees and repeat what it hears. It isn’t the most conscious or thoughtful sign. But that’s not in its job description anyway. Mars in Gemini can be reckless and distracted, causing accidents. It can also be playful and not take things seriously.
Sagittarius, the sign of the Full Moon, finds its limitations in the fact that individual personal experience can’t speak for everyone. Sagittarius LOVES to be right. It wants to prove & persuade. And it has to know why.
So, we have a setup here of a search for answers, looking for ways to explain what is happening. There is much difficulty in discerning the truth. There is a lot of info to sift through (Gemini), some of it disruptive and upsetting (Mars). Jupiter wants to weave together the facts (Virgo). But, Sagittarius must know why. It’s not enough to have information. There has to be some measure for truth.
Look to the missing piece of this configuration. It’s Pisces. Sometimes you can know things and not know how you know. This is the lesson of Pisces, the only mutable sign not occupied by a planet. This Full Moon asks us to cultivate our intuition. Close your eyes. Transcend your body. Set aside your beliefs. Tap into that other way knowing.
July 11 – Mars in Cancer
Mars in Cancer is in fall. It’s ill-equipped for the task at hand, or at least forced to do it’s job in an unstable environment and less than ideal circumstances. Mars’ task is to …
July 16 – Sun in Cancer
Five days after Mars, the Sun enters Cancer, the sign where it will finally catch up to and overtake Mars for a bodily conjunction.
The Sun is our perception of reality. It’s the eyes we see through that determine what we see and how we see it. Sun in Cancer perceives reality through the lens of what is familiar. The past is a filter that shades its awareness.
Women take center stage as influential leaders and power figures during this time. Just like Mars being in Cancer, the Sun is subject to the changing face of the Moon …
July 18 – Venus in Taurus trine Jupiter in Virgo
A trine means support, but it says nothing about the benevolence or malevolence of what is being supported. As the narrative that defines what we believe is possible, Jupiter met by Venus in a trine aspect says that what we desire is supported by a belief that we can get it. This is the definition of optimism. Whether or not this optimism is warranted is another subject all together …
July 20 – Mercury in Leo
When Mercury enters Leo on July 20, it is entering the sign where it will have the most important retrograde of the year. It rivals the retrograde from April, but is much more significant …
July 23 – New Moon at 6 Cancer
This date and the days surrounding it are probably the most important days of the year. If you have read my Twitter thread interpreting and offering predictions using Donald Trump’s solar return you’ll know that these days are important to whether or not Trump remains president. In that thread I talk about the New Moon in Cancer triggering his chart in 4 different ways: by transit, time lord, progressed chart, and eclipse trigger. (link to a long thread of tweets analyzing Trump’s solar return)
This New Moon ushers in eclipse season. The August Full Moon at 17 Capricorn that follows is a Lunar Eclipse. While the August 21 Total Solar Eclipse has been the focus, don’t underestimate the punch of a Lunar Eclipse.
Now, about this New Moon in Cancer …
July 24 – Venus in Taurus opposed Saturn in Scorpio
In case you forgot, Venus and Saturn had a series of intense squares back in April. Venus was stationing direct and Saturn was stationing Rx. They sat within orb for at least 2 weeks.
When Venus in Pisces was in that extended square with Saturn, it brought important decisions regarding commitments and contracts., re-negotiations and changes in the terms of agreements. It brought an end to many relationships.
Venus in that extended square with Saturn required some to establish boundaries where there were none or where they were weak. Inconsistency and unsureness was magnified. Discrepancies between what you said you wanted and what you were willing or had the power to do where illuminated.
This time they are in opposition which is different from a square. Squares are …
July 24 – Mercury enters Retrograde shadow at 4 Leo
Four degrees of Leo is hot, hot, hot! And Mercury is the brave planet that will first trigger that sensitive eclipse point. That happens on July 24 …
July 26 – Venus in Gemini
Venus’ transit through each of the signs colors our interactions with others and the tone of our personal relationships. In general, its job is to illuminate the common ground that allows people to cooperate. In Gemini, that common ground can take on a variety of forms …
July 27 – Sun conjunct Mars, 10 Cancer
I’ve outlined above what the Sun and Mars mean when moving through Cancer. But, what does it mean for Mars to meet the heart of the Sun while it is in Cancer?
The month ends with Mars stepping up to once again disrupt and divide. All year long Mars has been the author of confusion, here to remind us that our sense of peace and normalcy is tentative at best. Change must eventually take root, and Mars is the one that sows the seeds
A planet is cazimi when …
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Since January 26, 2017 Saturn has been giving us a brief introduction to its transit in Sagittarius. But beginning June 20, and ending October 26 of 2017, Saturn in Scorpio will handle some unfinished business. Saturn stations direct at 27 Scorpio on August 24, 2017
Mars ruler of Scorpio, has had a lot to say over the past few months. Between Mercury’s retrograde in Aries and Uranus entering Aries permanently for the first time since 1933, the planets, and our lives have been answering to Mars. Saturn in Scorpio will soon be answering to Mars.
Saturn in Scorpio in the Natal Chart
In the natal chart, Saturn shows where and how we are establishing ourselves as competent adults; what we are building over time in our external lives; and where we bump up against limitations and expectations that admonish us to grow up and be real.
Saturn generally needs evidence to change or relinquish control. Ideally that evidence is competence and sovereignty: proven ability (Capricorn) and self-determination (Aquarius).
Is Mars supportive, indifferent, or hostile to Saturn’s agenda? It’s complicated. There are places where their agendas overlap and places where they conflict. Ultimately, Saturn in Scorpio, the domicile of Mars, is volatile.
Being malefics, both Saturn and Mars lend themselves towards separation, loss, and even death. But where Saturn denies, blocks, and resists, Mars persists, cuts through, and explodes. They both can bring endings, but it’s a matter of how and why.
Saturn in Scorpio maintains with an indomitable will; it controls using subversive tactics and coercive force. In the natal chart, Saturn in Scorpio lends towards power struggles; but it also challenges us to harness our power and wrestle with our need for control. It questions how we go about getting it or keeping it.
Natives with Saturn in Scorpio often deal with themes of domination and surrender in the house where Saturn is in their chart. During their Saturn return they may come face to face with their own powerlessness or even struggle to use their power effectively. Natives with Saturn in Scorpio may ask themselves:
How much of your power do you give away in trying to control so much that is really out of your control?
— The People’s Oracle (@PeoplesOracle) April 2, 2017
Are you prepared to accept the responsibility that comes with having the final say? How much will it cost you in the end? Is it better to surrender or can you find a balance?
Saturn in Scorpio can be stealthy and relentless. Whether that’s good or bad depends on where Mars is at any given time during Saturn in Scorpio’s transit. Where will Mars be during Saturn in Scorpio’s upcoming transit?
Mars in Gemini, June 20 – July 11 Mars in Cancer, July 11 – August 26 Mars in Leo, August 26 – October 13 Saturn enters Sagittarius, October 26, 2017 – January 24, 2020
In the next part of this article, I will talk about Mars in each of the signs as it pertains to Saturn’s final movements through Scorpio.
Do you have Saturn in sidereal Scorpio? If you aren’t sure, use this guide to cast your sidereal natal chart for free. I am offering a special Saturn Reading for those going through their Saturn return (Saturn in sidereal Sagittarius and Scorpio). It is also for those interested in how these transits affect their chart even if you’ve been through your Saturn return or haven’t had it yet. It may especially be helpful for those with natal planets in sidereal Scorpio and Sagittarius.
