As we move into the new month of July, we are being asked to both go with the flow, and steel ourselves against the strong emotional currents the energy of the planets bring us. Let's break down the aspects and transits.
NEPTUNE RETROGRADED: June 2 - November 27 - Neptune is the ruler of water and emotion, vision and the unseen. When he goes retrograde, he wakes up. As an archetype, Neptune (and by default the sign he rules, Pisces) is unconditionally loving. He accepts at face value. He breaks down barriers with people, and helps us to see we are all connected. When he retrogrades, he pulls back that energy, and acts more like his opposite sign of Virgo. He is more aware of how others behave, and if it isn't in his best interest. Therefore, we can all see things more for how they are in the material world. Does this mean what Neptune/Pisces sees isn't real? NO! It means he is closer-linked to the Spiritual realms. He is great at visionary thinking, visualizing, and bringing the vision to fruition. When he is retrograde, he is more fixated on the way things are in the material world, and less able to access the ability and/or desire to let things go. He can see when people are not behaving nicely, and how it negatively affects him. It is a more colorless, practical energy. We can hear from people in our past, as that is Neptune's realm, as well, the past, vintage. But the truths of why they aren't in our lives more fully is still the same.
NEW MOON / SOLAR ECLIPSE IN CANCER: July 2 at 3:16pm ET - New Moons are a great time for beginnings. We are planting seeds of things we want to see grow. This particular new Moon is a bit more complex, with the Mercury retrograde. We do have a chance to plant seeds, but with a Mercury transiting back to Cancer, the terms and conditions may change. The solar eclipse is a time of
awareness, and cognizance being on, then turned off, then when the Sun comes back online things are different. We learn something new. We integrate the event, the behavior of others, the circumstances differently. There is a small, or major, awakening. This happens wherever Cancer falls in your birthchart.
MARS MOVES INTO LEO: Monday, July 1 - Mars is the planet of action, aggression, assertion, and drive. Where we express our intentions is seen in Mars. Moving into Leo, Mars enters a fire sign, which feels comfortable and cooperative to him. We are influenced to express our dramatic side, we act on behalf of children, romance, and connection. For the duration, until the 18th of August, Mars is in the Leo part of the sky, and driving us towards connection, to creativity, children, or romance. We take leadership roles, and spend more time with friends. We enjoy dining out, and being the center of attention. Leaders get even more attention than usual during this time.
MERCURY RETROGRADES: Sunday, July 7 - Mercury retrograde is the period of time Mercury is appearing to move backwards in orbit around the Sun, from our perspective on Earth. It affects our mental outlooks, speech and communications, technology including computers, phones, TV, radio, etc. The energy is electrical, and thoughtful. We can be frustrated with what comes up, and may feel thwarted with our thoughts, and points-of-view in this time. Mercury in Leo is a braggart in his negative energy, a storyteller in his best. We express these elements in the area of our charts where Leo falls. Leo really wants to connect, so we express ourselves towards that end. How can we connect with our words? That is where stories come in, it brings us into the world of the storyteller. Mercury retrograde means those stories may be called out as hyperbolic untruths. That is the nature of Leo though, we take liberties with the truth to engage others. Children are on our minds, and there can even be technical glitches with our communications to our children at this time. Words exchanged will be misunderstood now. After July 19th, when Mercury re-enters Cancer. In the sign of Cancer, initially, this is about the home, family, domestic issues, family security, mothers or mother figures, you get the picture.
Mercury has been moving from "out of bounds" (transiting out ahead of the Sun), we have been free to think in new and unexpected ways. We don't answer to ego. As Mercury moves back in retrograde motion, he is being called back to the past, metaphorically, and literally, as he moves back through degrees he already visited. This is expressed the same way for us. We go back over where we have already been in our thoughts, speech, mental space. We rehash old conversations, readjust agreements and contracts. Anything we initiated during the degrees of the retrograde, when we passed through with Mercury direct, will be reviewed, reworked, and redone. That is the degrees from 24° Cancer on June 24th, through July 7th at 4° Leo. In other words, from June 24 - July 7th, whatever we initiated will be
reviewed, or redone. So cast wisely.
CONJUNCTION OF MERCURY AND MARS: Monday, July 8 (second joining) - The first conjunction of Mercury to Mars was June 18. This was in the sign of Cancer. This time, the two join in the sign of Leo. Mars is now in Leo and Mercury has retrograded back in Leo. The information given the first time they met was to put the idea of changes and movement around home, domesticity and family in the fore of our minds. As this retrograde comes in and talks to Mars, Mercury has moved on to romance, creativity and children. His ideas are in that realm. He beat Mars (our ability to act) to the topics just listed, and he tested the waters, so to speak. Now he is moving backwards to warn Mars, Venus and the Sun what's ahead. As he joins Mars, he lets him know there is creativity to be had. Childrens' issues come up, and connectivity with a romantic partner, or even family members, will be the topic in the next month. Mercury running out ahead of the Sun ("out of bounds") means he is thinking for himself, as are we. We don't want to answer to anyone for our thought processes currently. As Me
If you feel you are changing, but it isn't happening quickly enough, you are in the right place. The retrogrades are helping us to refine our desires. This is a process we see over the summer and early autumn. The later autumn will be a time of movement. Keep the faith.
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© Copyright Shelley Overton 2019