Hey star-gazers! After a relatively calm June, astro activity picks up in July with several notable celestial events interrupting the current flow. If you’ve settled into the slightly tamer energies that this month had to offer, the last week of June and even July are set to sizzle.
Before tackling the energies of the week, let’s cover off a short precis of July’s highlights and lowlights.
Several transits this month can helpfully set our paths aright, especially if we feel like we may have steered our ships off course. This includes Venus turning retrograde in Leo on July 22 and Chiron turning retrograde in Aries the next day.
Venus’ direction shift is likely the most notable as it initiates a wind-down of its current 18-month cycle begun back in January of 2022 in the sign of Capricorn. As we wave a fond farewell to the last year-and-a-half where austere, disciplined and boundary-focused Saturn might have tinged everything from our relationships to our friendships and finances, the new Venusian phase kicking off in fiery Leo could see us privileging creative self-expression, courage in relationships, and confronting challenges head-on with resilience and commitment to being true to ourselves.
I can’t emphasize enough how important this transit will be for reflecting on our present trajectory. As we reconsider where we are in all those Venus-ruled topics in our charts, we need to bring compassion to this stock-taking exercise. For better or for worse, we’re starting another Venus-in-Leo cycle, so we need to be crystal clear about what we’re taking forward and what we’ve learned we need to leave behind.
Our need for compassion could extend to the initiation of Chiron’s retrograde motion beginning on July 23. Chiron will be retrograde for the balance of the calendar year and into 2024, seeing old wounds potentially resurfacing for the purposes of some much-needed healing.
The lunations this month are sure to help us make progress against the pull of the past.
The Capricorn New Moon on July 3 will enable us to step confidently from the shadows of everything that held us back and restricted our forward momentum. For many of us, this lunation could spotlight career, public standing, our individual “brand” and anything that we’ve worked especially hard to attain. On the other hand, the July 17 Cancer New Moon ushers in a new phase of self-nurturing and feeling our way around the comforts that we call home. Both these lunations will have a positive quality about them, making July a more comfortable month for lunar events, especially after the month kicks off with a slightly muddled Moon-Neptune square.
This month, the Sun also enters Leo, inviting us to answer the call of our solar destiny with confidence and courage in. Even with the late-month Sun-Pluto opposition, Sol Invictus, my friends — another year in Leo, another step in the direction of our dreams.
Finally, Mercury bounces off nearly every planet in the zodiac. Though more muted in Cancer where it might grapple with the tug of what feels comfortable and even nostalgic, a few electric shocks from Uranus may rouse it from its intellectual slumber. It ends July in its happy place, entering Virgo where we all get a lot of help from Hermes waking up on the right side of the bed and in gloriously tip-top shape.
As always, there’s a lot going on up there, so let’s dig in down here to see what the week ahead holds.
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The final week of June begins under the counterproductive square between Mercury in Gemini and Neptune in Pisces.
This isn’t the most malefic transit out there, but one where we have to strive for mental and verbal clarity in the face of misty confusion.
Although the Moon enters Libra late the same day and applies to a conjunction with Ceres, which could offer us some of the support we crave, the prevailing diurnal energy could seem tense with the Moon in edgy Virgo squaring Mercury in Gemini and trining Pluto. The shadow side of a trine could see us overly confident, thinking that we hold all the power, while trickster Mercury creeps ever closer to illusory Neptune.
Although you’re unlikely to be in contractual talks on a Sunday — negotiations with your toddler to eat their broccoli excepted — don’t forget that this energy spills into the start of the week. If you’re doing any deals, from buying a car to upgrading a cell phone plan, make sure that you ask necessary questions, request clarity around details that seem murky, and read all the fine print before inking any paperwork.
In Gemini, Mercury may also be looking after your social standing, including your networking potential in-person and online, so be careful what you say and whom you say it to so feelings don’t get hurt if your statements are misinterpreted.
Ultimately, this isn’t the most productive transit to start the week, especially if you’re looking to get any dedicated mental work done, whether studying for an exam or reviewing financial spreadsheets. Consider yourself forewarned: your brain fog might not clear until late Monday or even early Tuesday.
I’ll issue a strong caution around the upcoming June 26 Mars-Uranus square.
With Mars in assertive and dramatic Leo, our blood could run high. Despite older, wiser evening-star Venus in orb of the God of War, she may do little good in tempering his battle cries. Though the Mars-Uranus signature could manifest constructively — either as a sudden burst of creative energy or an innovative idea around the way we do things — we can’t ignore the more volatile energies that these two planets are known for. With Mars in me-me-me Leo and Uranus in the equally stubborn sign of the bull, we could find ourselves shooting from the hip, taking no prisoners and getting into all kinds of trouble. Unexpected conflicts are also on the the table, so try not to poke Ursa Major and keep your impulsive side under wraps.
Both Mars and Uranus also rule accidents. Mars rules cars, metals and fiery things, and Uranus rules electrical items, appliances and technologies, so consider this a blanket heads-up to be more mindful of your actions under this transit. If you’re leaving the house, make sure everything from the iron to the stove is turned off. If you’re driving, pay attention to the road and try not to compete with aggressive drivers, especially with Mercury sitting on the volatile last degree of Gemini and still within orb of a Neptunian square.
We may not even get a reprieve the next day when Mercury enters Cancer. This isn’t a great placement for Mercury, who begins its transit through Cancer with no major dignity, and within the bounds and terms of Mars. This could have Hermes’ modus operandi switching into martial mode, so try to cool your jets this last week of June.
On June 28, a trine between the Sun in Cancer and retrograde Saturn in Pisces perfects, potentially helping us get a handle on our direction for the months ahead. Under Saturn’s backward movement, we get a Piscean do-over. Use this time to reflect on the ways that you can undertake the heavy-lifting that Saturn calls us to, including what improved structures you might need to put in place in your life to achieve greater personal accountability.
For all you Tarot enthusiasts out there, consider the decanic correspondences between Saturn in Pisces and the Eight of Cups. This is the card of leaving behind old versions of ourselves and the narratives that held us back. If we commit to working with Saturn’s more steely and hard-won energies, success is not necessarily guaranteed, but it can certainly be rewarded.
On a more mundane level, this transit could simply offer you a solid energetic profile under which to tackle that more dedicated work that might have eluded you earlier in the week under the Mercury-Neptune signature.
This clearer celestial influence extends into the Mercury-Saturn trine of June 30, recovering any ground lost at the start of the week.
Mercury also meets up with Juno in Gemini, which could see us walking a tightrope in terms of how we communicate our loyalties in relationships. Saturn here could help craft our responses, bringing sobriety, but also sensitivity from its temporary Piscean domicile. Either way, these are some nicer configurations that could make for an important tonal shift after a few difficult days.
We close the month with Neptune turning retrograde in Pisces until December 6. This isn’t necessarily a major transit to write home about, but one where we have a period of intuitive retrospection available to us. Picking up the torch of themes highlighted earlier in the week, this Neptune is a little less scattered and chaotic, allowing us to reflect on the unfolding of our hopes and dreams. Retrograde Neptune could also introduce a healthy reality, and with Saturn co-present in Pisces, its pragmatism will be invaluable to any Neptunian revisioning.
Finally, on Saturday, July 1, we begin the month with Mercury’s superior conjunction with the Sun in Cancer. Astronomically, this conjunction occurs when planets are behind the Sun and further from our terrestrial domicile. This is also the mid-way point of Mercury’s current cycle, which began two months ago with retrograde Mercury’s inferior conjunction with the Sun on May 1 in the sign of Taurus. At this stage, we’re staring down the barrel of Mercury’s next retrograde beginning in earthy Virgo on August 23. Between now and then, we can put ideas into action and deploy all the intellectual wisdom gained over the past two months to our highest benefit.
This positive energy is amplified by the gentle sextile that the Sun-Mercury conjunction forms to Jupiter in Taurus. Here, we could encounter Jupiter’s more abundant and expansive horizons helping us to transcend the more limited boundaries of Mercurial mental matters.
For Gemini risings, your ascendant ruler could make this an especially impactful signature for money matters, offering insights and pathways towards new income directions over the next few months, while Virgo risings may see a boon to their networking potential. Inspired ideas could flow around much-needed connections that could propel your social and career aspirations. For everyone else this is a signature that will make up for any crunchiness from the rollercoaster start to the week.
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Want to learn more about how Venus could impact your chart this retrograde season? Why not book a Venus Retrograde Express reading with me? Thirty minutes can set you up to better navigate the next chapter of your life!
*DISCLAIMER: All astrological forecasts are for ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY. Any decisions that you might make as a result of reading this or any other astrological blog entry are YOURS ALONE and the creator of this blog will not be held responsible! For any legal issues, see a lawyer; for medical ones, consult a physician. None of the information in this blog constitutes actionable advice from a licensed professional. Once again, this forecast is for ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY!
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