There’s something about Sun-in-Cancer season that’s incompatible with productivity. Maybe it’s the slow rise of the summer heat in the Northern Hemisphere, or the symbolic slow-down that Sol endures in Cancer’s emotional waters. Either way, if the second-half of June saw you toss your ambitious to-do list, enjoy the temporary respite. It may be a few more weeks until you feel a fire lit under you.
Mercury in Cancer didn’t help matters. The mental mover-and-shaker and fast-talking negotiator likely hung up its winged helmet as soon as it plunged into the crab’s wading pool. Thoughts may have drifted to by-gone days, to ideas that died on the altar of reality, and to finding relief from the stresses of the world. Thankfully, however, the astrology of July is a breath of fresh air. With comparatively few challenging aspects, fated opportunities, karmic releases and cosmic re-dos all bring something magical to bear on the month ahead.
The Venus-Juno sextile (Jul. 1) bodes well for friends and colleagues. As we play catch-up over cocktails, this brief aspect could stir nostalgic memories we dearly cherish. This lightness may find a challenge in squares to Chiron (Jul. 6), Eris (Jul. 7), and unpredictable Uranus (Jul. 8), but once Venus enters Leo (Jun. 11), it’s all about you demanding the most from your relationships and getting your needs met.
When Mercury slides into the lion’s den (Jul. 2), we may welcome the sudden sharpening of our mental claws. For anyone who found their cognitive capabilities clouded by inconvenient emotional outbursts, a refocusing of personal power won’t go unappreciated. In fact, the Sun’s square to the North Node that day may present an additional hurdle to getting what we want — but what’s life without a few surmountable obstacles?
Neptune makes its final retrograde station in the sign of Pisces on the powerful 29th-degree of the sign (Jul. 2–3). For many of us, this is an inflection point, inviting us to take stock before Neptune’s euphoric potential gets kerosened by ram-fueled fire early next year.
Few of us likely had March 2025 on our long-term planning horizons when Neptune first entered Pisces in early April 2011. Its transit likely brought nothing short of a roller-coaster to that area of our charts under Piscean dominion. Moments of exceptional bliss and hopeful possibility were likely contrasted by lows of disillusionment and murky confusion. Thinking back to April 2011, where were you? And, more importantly, where did you see yourself in five or ten years time? What very Neptunian dreams were broken down? Where have you had to pick up the pieces? Saturn currently co-present Neptune in Pisces can help us define and delineate these reflections, even if its tendency is to splash us with cold water and highlight the very brutal nature of reality. If we answer the cosmic call to take stock, trines between Venus and Saturn and Mercury and Neptune (Jul. 2) will lend a little softness to this retrospective journey. Just don’t let Mercury’s brief opposition to Pluto pull you down dark psychic recesses of self-flagellation (Jul. 3).
The Cancer New Moon takes nurturing to new levels as it opposes Ceres in Capricorn (Jul. 5). Perhaps we’ve all been putting duty and responsibility first, taking care of everyone’s needs except our own. There should always be something left in the tank for us, though, too frequently, that’s not the case. Under this celestial signature a co-present Venus brings pleasure and self-care more clearly into focus, while permissive sextiles to Mars and Juno suggest that loved ones will appreciate and even enable our recuperation and restoration if we take the first crucial steps. Loose trines to Saturn and Pallas Athene could demand that our efforts be slow and strategic — maybe you can only fit a ten-minute meditation into your busy day? Saturn reminds us that showing up consistently yields long-term results.
A little cosmic kismet could come our way as Jupiter trines the North Node reminding us that miracles (however small) can happen (Jul. 9). As the Sun trines Saturn and squares the degree of April’s solar eclipse, that positive momentum could unlock something fated (Jul. 10). This could be an important turning point for our solar stories, introducing a consequential plot-twist that forces us to make a weighty decision. If we mull on a matter too long, however, a Mercury-Saturn quincunx (Jul. 13) could skew our judgment as the puzzle pieces won’t feel quite like they’re fitting.
Fur may fly under the celestial union of Mars and Uranus (Jul. 15). The explosive archetypes, frenetic energies and sizable disruptions demand responsible individual agency. We can’t control the world, but we can proceed with caution in our lives. Avoid impulsivity if you think you’ll regret the consequences. Though Mars’s impatience could drive us all to hop on neat-sounding Uranian bandwagons, this transit requires even more discipline than usual to keep our personal trains from going off the rails. Action may best be taken after a little breathing room; Mars enters Gemini (Jul. 20) which could be an ideal time to consider game plans from inspiration that struck five days earlier.
The Capricorn Full Moon (Jul. 21) brings our emotional self-care story to a dramatic turning point as its anaretic placement adds a critical energy to the trajectory of July. Did you make any inroads in the preceding weeks to take stock and take care? Were necessary conversations had around the extent of your emotional depletion? The sextile to retrograde Neptune suggests that it’s not too late to find a spiritual dimension to your personal care-taking, while the trine to Uranus in Taurus might offer an unexpected practical grounding and sensual routine. Nevertheless, Mercury’s square to Uranus will no doubt make for mental and verbal tensions, amplifying angst which the Moon in Capricorn will doubtlessly have difficulty conveying gently.
The closing days of July see a welcome entry of the Sun into Leo (Jul. 22). Recalibrating our personal priorities will invariably become easier as the king returns to his kingdom. With Mercury’s entry into Virgo (Jul. 25), it may be time for us to resurrect our plans or fish our to-do lists out of the dust bin armed with a restored personal will and mental acuity that takes no prisoners!
Chiron’s retrograde (Jul. 26-Dec. 29) will close the month on a maudlin note, highlighting the commonalities it may share with our short-term lunar self-care story and longer-term reassessment of our Neptunian dreamscape. As wounds potentially re-open, this can be a profound time for release and healing, particularly in the slices of our charts influenced by the sign of the ram. As we contemplate the significations and complexities that Chiron’s backward movement brings, the balance of the year may be profitably spent shoring up our resilience for what the sky has in store in 2025.
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*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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