The Capricorn Full Moon and Mercury in Cancer

Crater Apollodorus and part of Pantheon Fossae on Planet Mercury

(photo credit: Messenger Spacecraft - NASA, JPL, Johns Hopkins Univ Physics Lab, Carnegie Institute of Washington, July 2011)

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With July’s Full Moon being in Capricorn and that Capricorn Full Moon occurring a mere day before  Mercury enters Cancer, we might well think these two items are connected.

After all, everything happens for a reason, right? The unfolding of life, the inter-meshing of schedules and cycles... ultimately they all have a purpose for we are what we have come to be in this very moment.

You know... this moment when we’re looking ahead a couple of days to July 12th, when at 11:26 in the morning (UT/+0) a Full Moon at 20 Capricorn signals the cresting of some effort or the fullest monthly extent of solid, dependable growth. The Full Moon is always a ‘high tide’ time emotionally, whether good or bad. We cry, we rejoice, we mourn, we wonder...

...and then the moment ends. The Moon moves on, as do we, proving in that procession of processes how all things, all moments, all thoughts are but phases of much larger, longer passages.

Crucial, even pivotal though they may be, moments are transitory. That we know that as humans reflects in how hardly a soul born of this Earth will pass through the whole of a full-phased life without pausing to recall... reminisce... to for one moment be engulfed in some vivid robe of memory which like a spell falls upon us in that moment when we lift our eyes and behold the poignancy of the Moon in one of uncounted moments when as we stand reflecting on it, the Moon rides high in the sky positioned exactly so that for that short time we are able to witness the full reflection of our stellar Sun - astrology’s image of life, consciousness and our very capacity to be and become aware.

The Full Moon at 20 Capricorn (glyph chart)

July 12, 2014 - 11:26 a.m. (UT/+0)

The Full Moon at 20 Capricorn (text chart)

July 12, 2014 - 11:26 a.m. (UT/+0)

As for the concept of connection, that’s relatively simple: as Mercury enters Cancer (on July 13th at 4:46 a.m. UT/+0 time), because the sign of Cancer is ruled by the Moon, that connection becomes not just automatic... but axiomatic.

And knowing the difference between those two things - especially as that may (or may not) apply to your personality and tendencies of choice, that is likely to make a difference not just during these couple of days, but either through the whole of this next day-to-day lunar cycle (July 12-August 10)...or during the whole of the time that Mercury transits Cancer, which would be from July 13th until late on July 31st, UT/+0 time.

The thoughts and all the choices to do, not do, do this (then that) or that (and then this) - all that is the Mercury side of this equation. And let’s not forget, we’ve already felt Mercury’s influence in Cancer this year. Back on May 29th (of this year) Mercury entered Cancer as Venus entered Taurus. In that ‘first part’ of Mercury’s 2014 Cancer transit we mostly just got time to focus and get mentally directed...and then Mercury went retrograde. That was back on June 7th, with the theory being that whatever we came into that period focusing on...that by working on, working past and through the details of life in general over the next few weeks (of Mercury retrograde) we would come to a better perspective on what our choices are, what they entail, why they work the way they do...

...and through that a clearer understanding of our own (Mercury) thinking (and like as not our Venusian values) will have emerged in a more clarified and precious or viable...even enduring state.

So these cycles would seem tied together - and not only in that their horoscopes, being but a day apart are not going to vary by much.

And yet, they do vary some - so we should start there.

The Full Moon itself is positioned at 20 Capricorn, a degree which by decanate - in being part of Capricorn’s last ten degrees is without reservation about our world, how we react to that world and how what we put out into our world affects or fails to affect us...with the specifics of this degree being focused on where we have all failed our own expectations (not the task - our expectation of our own ability with the task) with for better or worse some ‘degree’ of self-critique being encountered along the way.

This is not to say this degree is about failure - it isn’t. The tangible result may well result...and yet we thought it would be more. Or better. Or more satisfying.

And it’s generally not.

With the Moon the functional symbolism of our feelings, the Moon in a grand cross well may be (if I may be pardoned this untoward reference) our feelings are ‘hung up’ on something, with the other three corners of the cross being undecided, un-reconciled factors we must contend with.

On one hand we have the Aries effort - the willingness to make the effort to hold onto [Pandora] hope while dealing with the [Eris] untoward and unexpected occurring in [Industria] connection with some effort, be ours or someone else’s. It will surely feel [South Node] simpler...even convenient to stand our ground and know only our own position. Yet in beneath the hardest of hard veneers there will be anywhere between an inkling and a certainty that there is a reason for the actions, statements and positions [Mars-Ceres-Vesta] of [Libra] others.

We [Spica] know we [North Node] should consider the other side of every coin. We know that the person we [Arcturus] would like to know we were being would do that.

And yet, there is another side of things to consider...the [Sun] recognition that sometimes we have to pay the [Castor] cost, whatever that involves and in spite of all the reasons in the world. It’s our passion - and here I refer not to the passion of lust but rather those many [Amor] passions ignited by the simple emotional [Cancer] experience of being alive in this life. Plus or minus, this life as well as our life has an effect on us - and in that, spurs us to learn from the experience and the emotions experienced during the experience as both data and motivation.

That’s just Cancer. And into and through every life, a bit of Cancer will wash, time and time and time again.

As the Moon has phases, Cancer manifests through the display of moods others see and which we appreciate ourselves being impressed by.

Seen from the lunar cycle ‘side,’ July-into-August is a time for achieving - and indeed, considering the reputation of Moon in Capricorn for promoting haste, we may reach for the stars and at least arrive at the top of some very tall mountain.

But when we get there...how will we feel? Will we want to be there?

Less than twenty-four hours after the Full Moon - a highlighting of our feelings - Mercury moves into Cancer, initiating a more thoughtful... even analytical examination of why we feel (or have felt) the way we do. What do such things mean to us... and why do they mean that personally and culturally (which may be two very different things)?

By the time Mercury reaches Cancer, the Moon will have reached 0 Aquarius where, in conjunction with Medea it represents moments and situations where  though we know ‘should’ from ‘preferred,’ not all of us will opt for doing not that which is hardest but hardest for us... and not all of us will hold ourselves to being worthy of our own ability to find and work through all the challenges which lie between us and those [Aquarian] all-encompassing and most universal (and/or universally responsible) of all solutions.

Our reactions to such things - in the most general sense will be the source of most frustrations and feelings of restraint during Mercury’s three week transit of Aquarius... and perhaps because of this,  some of us will divide our time between ‘things of the world’ and a natural here-and-there contemplation which examines why things affect us as they do - and how useful it may be to understand ourselves in the context of others (and our world) as within our design for our life.

As for the grand square created by the Full Moon, that will have faded in every effect apart from memory by the time July 12th becomes the 13th. However... given that the Sun will still be at 20 Capricorn as Mercury enters Cancer, the Sun will still be in opposition to charismatic fixed star Vega - an emblem which is evidencing its ongoing conjunction by Plutonic obsession through disruptions and displays throughout our waking world.

As Pluto ‘transforms’ the norm, so Pluto coming upon Vega in an era when Vega has long shone as a conceptual light of inspiration will naturally turn many a positive to negative... and some negatives to positives. History is rife with such tales.

And perhaps - as with so many things Mercury - it’s all about our choice. Will we combine our [lunar] feeling intentions with our [Mercury] thoughts and work to mesh their purpose? Will we be so frustrated as to refuse all overtures of kindness?

Things are [Arachne] neither simple, nor uncomplicated - but they’re not impossible, although [Vesta now at 24 Libra], we can expect to encounter flecks of defensive-aggressiveness either in our Self or others. Such feelings (and the attempt to bluff your way past them or avoid them altogether) are basic... they’re just about how vulnerable humans feel when - in short - they’re made to feel their Self feeling.

Given current [Mercury in Cancer] dynamics, the easiest fallback point is ‘protection’... or perhaps ‘self-protectiveness,’ depending. From there, some of us will recognize that our approach (the challenge of the t-square, a figure which requires that personal ego be subjugated to a greater-than-personal purpose) has been too limited and too ‘exclusive’ to ourselves and ‘our own’ - and among them, some will step forward and make the leap from the exclusive identified as ‘mine’ to the all-embracing which acknowledges no boundaries.

For those who come through this period having grown, their reward will be the opportunity to try.

Meanwhile, those who don’t grow will interrupt.

One other thing to be aware of over these next few days in particular: Jupiter is about to change signs, and because of this is currently resident at 29 Cancer, a degree deeply enamored of beliefs, traditions and perspectives of substantial heritage. Spoken of in the Sabian Symbols as ‘A Daughter of the American Revolution,’ there is a side to this influence - as typified by Dane Rudhyar - which well may be typified as ‘glorification of the past,’ regardless of our national origin.

Over the next few days we will all experience, witness and be exposed to many things which reflect Jupiter’s ‘expansion’ principle. Will we grow only in our [lunar] personal sense where will (ego) is our divining rod...or will we summon our native strength of belief to the task of bettering our life through a [Mercury] thoughtful embracing of the whole of life, however that is defined?
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Dateblog: July 2014

 

Since Google was so kind (?) as to inform me that as of several days ago at least a few of you were nosing around a few of the past month 'dateblog' posts (which struck me as a bit wistful), I put together a couple of diagrams to outline the month ahead (the first of which is above).

And as you can see, once Mercury goes direct on July 1st, nothing much happens until the Capricorn New Moon on July 12th, which brings up one of those quandaries about when to do things.

Question: should you wait until there is an astrological indicator to do something?

Answer: not necessarily. While there are indicators (for instance, Mercury's retrograde periods) under which it's traditionally not a good idea to start something, since neither the Rome on the banks of the River Tiber nor any Rome in your head is likely to be built in a day, there have to be 'work times' when all that's going on is life processing life apace.

Then along comes a transit or a planet changing signs or some other event and that changes the dynamic. In other words, if you're working on some long-term project, the many days, weeks, months or even years of your ongoing effort are not likely to be 'punctuated' (or marked) by astrological transits.

But the finish is. The reward, the accomplishment, the turn of events, the reaction, the shocking motivation, the moment of decision...those are the kinds of things normally marked by transits. (And yes, generally those are personal transits to your very own natal chart, but global transits do add much to our understanding of how our individual life operates as part of the world around us.)

As for this month in particular, Mercury starts the month in Gemini and will clear its original point of retrograde on July 15th (in Cancer)...

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...as Venus nearly mimics this pattern, give or take the fact that Venus' retrograde (thankfully) has been over now for a few months.

Basically, what this tells us is that the Sun will be in an experiential 'feeling' mode during a period when we're well attuned to [Mercury and Venus in Gemini] evaluating matters and figuring out how to proceed...and then as the Sun moves into its more imagination/image-oriented (Leo) mode...

...Venus and Mercury keep operations palatable (for us and for those who have to deal with us) by maintaining a modicum of sensibility and sensitivity in spite of Sun-in-Leo's tendency to cause us to see what we want to see and have difficulties with those who don't see things our way (and who may even have the bad taste to rain on our parade...!).

That the Sun enters Leo on the same date that Uranus goes retrograde (in Aries) asks for flexibility without promising that we'll be in the mood to flex an inch - and with Eris connecting to the North Node on the day after the Sun's Leo ingress there is every possibility of arrogance and actions which completely ignore (often purposefully) the idea that others may neither agree with us nor be particularly happy with our habit of 'lording over' others (a habit which under any Leo influence can seem particularly annoying).

And let us please not forget to note that this Sun/Leo ingress will be happening not even a week after Jupiter itself enters Leo...

That would really be the big news for this month - Jupiter leaving Cancer means a shift from 'where' to 'what' and from foundational issues to the need to build and produce for a future we may not yet know the entire parameters of. Moreover, it's interesting to note going how this Jupiter, Sun, Eris-North Node passage will be happening with Mars still in Libra just as Mars concludes the retrograde cycle it entered into back on December 25th of last year. Given that...and how almost as soon as Mars exits its shadow (as Saturn goes direct on July 20th) it will finish its seven month transit of Libra and enter Scorpio...those of us who have learned our lesson(s) about who we are to others and how they are not our 'problem' but more often our triggers and teachers...those people will now take a step forward (at least in their own life).

And of course how that happens is up to each one of us.

I've have a few thoughts about posting between now and the Full Moon though it's finally occurred to me that I'm seriously half-past exhausted.

But you never know. I have indeed noticed that the post on the 2011 Fixed Star Eclipses and the US Congress has become one of astroPPM's most-read posts - and what with the exceeding noisiness of the US political scene visiting/revisiting congressional names old and new to see how fixed stars Hamal and Schedir's being eclipsed this past April played out.

Yes, I looked - and you're right, the eclipse is in play. And yes, if as they say 'the creek don't rise and the sky don't fall' there will be posts on all of these subjects (and a few others) in the weeks ahead...leaving me to hope your July starts on a warmly productive note as in the spirit of being the rather diminutive American I tend to be (a giant, I'm not)...I simply sign off here wishing you and yours a safe and happy 4th of July.

That's right - even if you're not American. If it's the 4th of July or Thanksgiving somehow Americans always have party enough to share, so pull up a hot dog and enjoy the fireworks!
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By the Light of a Ceres Full Moon

The Full Moon as photographed by Augusto De Luca in 1980

Maybe you remember the old song ‘…by the light of the silvery moon…’ and suspect that I was humming that as I came to write this blog?

If so, you would be right!

And though I’m not positively certain why such things pop into our minds at any given time, given that this month’s Full Moon (which will occur on June 23rd at a cheery 11:33 a.m. UT/+0 time) is in Capricorn, having something I heard as a child turn up for humming use seems rather apt.

After all, Capricorn always has a sense of the classic, the historical and all which has lasted through the triumphs and trials of time – which goes with its association with Saturn, the astrological time-and-taskmaster which leads to achievement. In this case, the ‘achievement’ has in part been the installing of a song in my head which evidently has lasted plural decades. But probably more to the point, the fact that the song (and the Doris Day movie which honored same) have proved memorable denote a form of ‘quality’ which is endemically Capricorn-Saturn, and thus entirely in keeping with this June Full Moon at 2 Capricorn.

During my 'growing up years' I was very involved with music, where one of the things I liked most was old-fashioned sheet music with all the wonderful illustrations. So since it came up today, I went hunting for 'By the Light of the Silvery Moon' and came up with this - which I thought you'd enjoy seeing.

(original publication date, 1909)

And yet…there is something of an odd juxtaposition here. While Capricorn itself is known as structural sign which encourages (even requires) that we build and engineer an external life which will support and protect our internal life (the image of the polarity sign, Cancer), 2 Capricorn is pretty early in the sign. That points us towards the idea that early degrees in any sign (those in the 0-9 first decanate region) are known for being where the sign manifests through actions and physicality. So considering this is Capricorn we’re talking about, this may be a time when all things Capricorn are in progress in that singularly cardinal manner Nike has forever embraced with the corporate slogan: ‘just do it.’

The head and torso of a statue of the Goddess Nike, she who stands for victory
of human spirit, which is part of the RMS Titanic Engineers' Memorial
in Southampton (photo credit: Marekes, May 2011)

Or maybe you’re gearing up to go out there and ‘just do it.’ Or you’re listening to others who are out there just wailing on whatever they’re involved in as they try to make things happen.

Whether you’re cake baking or sports attending or governmenting or building for your future, you’re doing what you’re doing and then we arrive at this interesting juncture otherwise known as the Full Moon at 2 Capricorn.

The image is this: the Moon – our emblem of feelings and intuition and money and habits and cultural inculcations (and thus the ‘directives’ by which we tend to live) is at 2 Capricorn, a degree known as being a bit tentative. The question is ‘what will work?’ or ‘will this work?’ or ‘am I on the right track?’ or ‘is this going to get me where I want to go?’ or any such reflection. Implied also is how our life is OUR life and how that may mimic or ‘fit’ with society or, then again, it may not.

And if or where it doesn’t, is that bad? Certainly there are some areas of life (regulations, laws, etc.) where we really do need to adhere to the ‘rules.’ And there are abilities which are basic tools in life – learning to read, write, do money-math, cook well enough to feed yourself, all that stuff. But beyond that is the where is fitting in good, and where is being your own person the way to create that ‘special’ niche which is true to you and which is the sign of human leadership?

Another side of 2 Capricorn is a sort of ‘timeliness,’ especially that which asks that we keep up with the times which may now reverberate as having to ‘update’ in some way, shape or form.

Because we don’t see a bouquet of modifiers associated with the Sun or Moon in this moment, we might think this Full Moon is straight-forward or ‘simplistic.’

But is life ever simple? How would it be so interesting if all was simplistic!

So be assured, there are at least a couple of astro-aspect notes worth taking into account!

And thus we get at it, starting with one of my handy-dandy diagrams...

Oh wait...! Before we get to that, we should note that the date of this Full Moon (the 23rd of June) is also the date that the Nodes move onto the cross-quarter degrees in Scorpio and Taurus.

Didn't catch that post? No problem - here's the link:

- link to post - 

The Lunar Nodes at Cross Quarters

Bearing that in mind, the Moon (our feelings of the moment) is in a sign which (as mentioned), is ruled by Saturn. And Saturn is at 4 Scorpio and still retrograde, though 4 Scorpio IS the degree Saturn is going to go direct at come but a couple of weeks from now. So that adds something of an undercurrent. Even a double undercurrent, considering the Nodal signal that our relationship with others and the world is in the mix.

Some of us will now experience moments of self-doubt. And it's probably a good time to check those p’s and q’s to see that all is in line...or when you may find out you forgot to dot some ‘i’ or cross some ‘t’.

(How alphabetical of me, right?)

Since this is a Full Moon we’re talking about here, if the Moon is at 2 Capricorn, that means the Sun is at 2 Cancer. So LIFE (the Sun) is in a place where we know we need to build for the future, but we also have sincere feelings of wanting to cover our vulnerabilities (and any body part you associate with that!).

2 Cancer is a bit of an odd duck degree in that it represents that quality of recognizing everyone’s needs while still wanting to vote only for your own preferences. There’s something of an emotional ‘false front’ which tends to be presented here, suggesting that justifications are easier to be put out there than actual reasons, rationales or personal motivations. And maybe that’s good and proper, maybe that’s selfish or manipulative…it just depends on who is doing what - and why.

So in this natural opposition between the Sun and Moon, it would be natural to question: why are we doing what we’re doing? Why are others saying what they’re saying about what we’re doing? Are they speaking fact and truth – or are they just trying to ‘sell’ some sort of agenda?

To make this all a bit more exotic, we add in four more factors, the first of which is that the Black Moon (societal form of) Lilith is sitting right beside the Sun at 1 Cancer, registering a bit of a ‘threat’ that what you’re doing (or what you want or need to do) may cause some social or relationship waves. And that may be the real crux of what this Full Moon is – life asking you whether you’re willing to do what you need to do to move ahead in your own life or as a person even though that might rock some sort of status quo. For all we know, that might be the ‘status quo’ of what you had thought coming into this time which now simply changes. But yes, it could mean you’re rocking some boat at home or at your office or in your ‘group.’

So why are you doing what you’re doing? Is it willful or is it necessary? Is it leadership or selfishness? Are you willing to move ahead (“modernize”) where someone else isn’t, or are you in some mode where you’re rejecting some evidence of how the world works simply because it doesn’t fit your mold or suit your fancy?
The next thing to think about is the fact that with this Full Moon we get a healthy heaping helping of Jupiter at 29 (critical) degrees of Gemini.

Every time I type ‘critical’ degrees, a little voice in my head says ‘someone is going to go overboard with that word “critical”’ So lest that be the case, let’s remember that critical in the astrological sense only means ‘to the max’ in terms of that sign. If you think of the degrees of any sign as being from 0 to 29, then zero is where the sign begins its ‘work’ (or process) and 29 is where its process culminates or where life pushes really hard to get us to dealing with the matter(s) connected to that sign.

In this case, the sign is Gemini: thought, mentality, communication, mental health, priorities and all those life details and operations which keep the ‘whole’ of life on track and functioning on a day-to-day basis. Gemini is known as the sign of ‘choice’ because we make a choice to deal with things…or to not deal with things. (And for those who think they don’t have to make choices, think again: making no choice IS making a choice – it’s a choice to exert no influence into the process, which is sort of a ‘choice to be helpless’ and let others run your life.)

Jupiter at 29 Gemini is a time of making choices and when choices (or non-choices) become very important for whatever reason. So, in combination with the Full Moon, we may now have plenty of good reasons to pause as something we have ignored may turn up to haunt us. Or maybe something we’ve done thinking we could get away with it…or maybe that ‘this was the way’ to handle something turns out wrong.

Then again, this may be where everything begins paying off. This may be a ‘critical juncture’ where Jupiter as the emblem of ‘expansion’ and learning brings you to where you ‘see the light’ whether at the end of the tunnel or otherwise. It may be where some long period of (Saturn) effort begins paying off.

It all depends on what you’ve been doing with your life of late. And even for the past year or so (which I say because it takes Jupiter just about a year to pass through any given sign).

Factor Three: Mercury is about to go retrograde. And since it’s SOP (standard operating procedure) for life to feel all pressured and flurry-ful just as we close in on Mercury’s station/retrograde point, that heaped atop Jupiter being at 29 ‘critical’ degrees of Gemini (a sign that Mercury rules) says decisions and conversations and having thought through situations and choices is probably of mucho importance just now.

As always, that we refuse to deal with in life gets thrust upon us. If we need to learn something and we don’t want to go there, life will ‘send’ someone to provoke and evoke that dynamic in us – or in our lives. And let’s remember…

…since Gemini is the sign which leads us to the foundational (Nadir or IC) point in the horoscope and the zodiac, that which we are (Aries), that which we seek in order to feel good about ourselves and our lives (Taurus) and that which we do or don’t do, learn or don’t learn (Gemini) is now coming to…well, not a heady turn – that sounds more like the top of the horoscope wheel.

But maybe you’d go for it’s a ‘nitty gritty’ time?

Jupiter tends to overblow and overdo and underestimate the repercussions of things while in Gemini. That goes to the good and goes to the not-so-good.

But once Jupiter crosses over into Cancer, then we have Jupiter in a sign of grace. Or at least grace for many. Those who aren’t moving ahead and aren’t planning and building for the future often experience Cancer as being ‘overwhelmed’ by Cancerian issues. I know one person with Cancer – which is normally the sign of home and family – on their 12th house, a house which asks that we face our fears in this realm. This person is totally overwhelmed by family demands and swamped by the ‘expectations’ that have been heaped upon them about the lifestyle they ‘should’ live and the kind of house they ‘should’ own and all that.

If you’re in position to finish something up and move ahead into a newer more “authentically you” stage of life, this Jupiter at 29 Gemini Full Moon with Mercury about go to into retrograde will like as not be an exciting time of seeing yourself moving towards wonderful new opportunities and a broadening of your vistas. Against that, if or where you’re just knee-jerking yourself along through life (did I put that politely enough?) this will be a nerve-wracking time of personal challenges.

And let’s not forget: it could be both. In one area of life all could be just spiffy and splendiferous while in another everything could be sinking into the floor.

The last and final note here (and here we thought this was just a simple Full Moon, right?) is that Ceres – the symbol of planning how to get from seed to the riches of harvest – is about to enter Leo.

Leo is a sign of visions, of creativity, of taking risks – not all of which always pay off. The Leo Principle includes the idea of competition, and let’s face it – we don’t always win. But that which we love with a Leo fervor, we love with all our heart. It’s what we do or what we’ve created, and whether others love it or not, that which is Leo to us is something we love.

Of course, sometimes we love something just too much. (I know…shocking, isn’t it?) Or sometimes we just get a vision of how things should be or could be and life just doesn’t measure up. This is the big Leo challenge: to understand motivation as motivation and ‘what could be’ as that we’re shooting for, not what reality necessarily is.

So as Ceres enters Leo on June 23rd (as this Full Moon lights our skies) we do need to see what can be, and motivation which leads to planning is decidedly a good thing.

Just let’s not think the road is always smooth. That it isn’t, that sometimes ‘stuff’ happens (as they say…ahem!) and we have to think on the fly or bite our tongue and go with the ‘oops – I didn’t think about that!) also comes with this mix.

If this is a moment when your dreams come true, God bless you! And if this is a moment when you see your way through some sticky life thicket to solutions which may yet be and become, good luck!

 The Moon

(photo credit: Simon Wedege Petersen, April 2009 - color altered for post use)

Like any Full Moon, this one is something of a check point and very much a step in the process. As the Moon reflects the light of the Sun, so we look skyward and reflect on this moment…this life…our hopes for tomorrow...

...and then we move on into a new phase, just as the Moon does.
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Dateblog: June 2013

In the wake of April and May’s eclipses, June begins with things feeling a bit unsettled. And that's not unreasonable - at least given the 'wavelengths' coming at us in life. Come June 7th, Neptune will go retrograde at 5 Pisces in trine to Saturn (retrograde in Scorpio), relationships, which is a metaphysical sort of way of saying this is a time to wonder what's worth what and whether your parameters and priorities are realistic. Or even likely to get you where you want to go. Considering the signs involved here, whatever is afoot, it looks and feels like it's about what others think. Or what someone else is doing or is likely to do.

But it isn't. It's about whether we are each willing to weather the 'how we feel' about what they do, what they say, or what they think.

This isn't 'splitting hairs' as one person in my life sometimes says (with great exasperation). It's about our resilience. It's about our instinctual fear of how powerful our feelings are, or could be.

And if you think this moment is so feeling-ful, just wait!

 

Venus will have moved into Cancer on the 3^rd - just before Neptune dives into its June 5 – 9 station allowance. And as Neptune does its turnabout, feelings will out. We may experience them as avoidance of something emotionally provocative (which is a pretty good sign of how powerful our feelings are!) or it may be the diving into something which will 'carry us away' on wings of wonder. This Cancer-Pisces combination is ripe for personal enjoyment...and if we just give it a few days, Venus will be into orb of opposition to Pluto...

...How do you feel about intensity? How willing are you to experience how the depths can be the heights of life?

Some of us won't take any chances, to be sure. Many of us prefer the emotional safety and feeling sanctity of that we know best. Or activities and surroundings which in being already comfortable don't test us at any depth.

Is that stability? Or is that fear expressed as a refusal to try?

Maybe it's one thing...maybe it's another. With two of our personal planets Mercury and Venus in Cancer...and both moving into position to trine both Neptune and Saturn has us caught in a web of personal growth or a cycle of unshakable status quo. These early June weeks (which come with a Gemini New Moon on June 8th) invite us to review our native habits and all we know in preparation for making things happen.

One part of that which might call our 'Possibility Play' comes into focus as dwarf planet MakeMake (creation of something new) goes direct (and into active mode) on June 12^th. It's time to do something creative - though what 'creative' means to you could involve many a thing. Whatever your abilities or interests are, investing in bringing something new - even your awareness - to the surface works well with MakeMake.

And yes, this could be a 'shifting gears' point. Maybe you're done planning and are ready to commit something. Maybe one thing is now finished and you're free to take on something new.

Maybe you just want to expand your horizons.

That Juno and Chiron will both go retrograde within a day of each other (on June 16^th and 17^th) sort of extends this MakeMake influence by creating overlapping pools of timely influence.

Overlapping ripples

(picture credit: Brocken Inaglory, June 2007)

Call it challenging, call it some form of confrontation with Self, with Juno taking its station at 15 Aquarius and Chiron going stationary in Pisces just shy of fixed star Achernar, we’re being given a notice to ‘prepare ourselves’ for what is yet to come. (Which is another way of life saying 'something is coming'!)

The Sun moves on into Cancer on June 21^st, signaling not just a change of seasons but a change in mode. Overall, for the next six months we will be responding to the world as opposed to just doing what we want in the world – and this applies whether you live in the northern or southern hemisphere (it’s zodiacal, in other words). Whether you’re going into summer or winter mode, this is a time to learn more about how to operate more productively, more creatively, more effectively, so that you can expand your sights, your goals, your influence and imperatives later on in the year.

But as the Sun moves into Cancer, don’t be surprised if things feel like they’re ‘tightening up’ a bit. Mercury will be going retrograde (in Cancer) on June 26^th and the week before Mercury’s station always feels hurried and pressured. So don’t be surprised if people get snippy or impatient, particularly as we come across the Full Moon in Capricorn on the 23^rd. Considering all the combined factors here (and we haven’t even talked about Jupiter yet!) this would be a premier moment to act in haste and then repent in leisure later.

Don’t rush. With ‘Big Red’ (Jupiter) sitting at 29 Gemini throughout this week prior to Mercury’s station you don’t want to trip yourself up and you sure don’t want to get snarled up by the many people whose tongues are going to be moving faster than their brains now.

Not to mention the planes, trains and automobile stuff. Have a caution! Save a life – it might be your own!

 

The astrological ‘rule’ here would be IF something comes to fruition now NATURALLY…that’s great. If not, DON’T PUSH. If what you have to do is wait until Jupiter gets cuddled into Cancer (that ingress happens on June 26^th) and Mercury retrograde is over (July 20^th) you may well be better off doing just that.

There is nothing – read: NOTHING – wrong with finishing up business as Mercury goes into its direct-to-retrograde station, so long as nobody has rushed anything. If you’ve been taking diligent care and things just happen to work out for the last nail to get hammered into place now or for you to sign the dotted line with all due diligence having been done, all other (personal and individual chart) matters being equal Mercury stations can mark times of achievement and fortuitous crossings-of-paths.

Just don’t rush.

Jupiter in Cancer is a good time for everything homey - from home buying to moving to cleaning the closet to being with the family, to having some quiet time to studying your culture or heritage. It can be about investing in such things... expanding on such things... it can be enjoying such things. Jupiter asks that we do more, so maybe you've always been about your own family in particular, and now you'll take up studying family dynamics. Or maybe you'll join with a group of families in some project.

Or this could be the time when your children are finally grown and leave home. Or when they marry and start a family of their own.

Whatever happens, the exaggerations and explosions of Jupiter in Gemini will settle out (at least to some extent!) and real conversation will become more of the norm and a baseline for operations (and consideration - and much else) as Venus enters the brilliance of creative Leo on June 27 and Jupiter reaches 1 Cancer on the last day of June, bringing us all into a new space with regards to realizing just how valuable (and wonderful) inter-connectivity really is. The symbol of this ‘emotional illumination’ is a grand trine in water signs between Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune: an outpouring which cannot be stopped.

Of course, this being elemental water we’re talking about, this can be an outpouring of feelings. But it could also be an ‘outpouring’ of money – or even of something of great value to us, each separately and all together.

This is a developing configuration which by mid-July will turn into a kite of opportunity which those who don’t get ‘carried away’ will be able to turn to good use.

It all depends on what we’re doing now.

Is it worth our time, effort and the investing of our belief?

Events throughout June are likely to get us looking at,  thinking through and recognizing our feelings with regard to this very question. 

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