July 2016

As we come into July, we may be gearing up for summer fun. Whether we choose to travel on holiday or take time for a staycation, our interest focuses on enjoying ourselves with the proverbial ‘hot fun in the summertime’ [to borrow from Sly and the Family Stone].

Venus sextiles Jupiter on the 1st of July, followed by the Sun trine Neptune on the 3rd. In the US, this is the Fourth of July long holiday weekend and often a week-long down time whether we take time off or just slow down our pace.

While this early July period can be quite pleasant, we are likely to find it ever more enjoyable by tuning out the machinations of the PTB [powers that be] and instead engage our own individual world of friends, family and personal sanctuaries.

With the personal planets of the Sun, Mercury and Venus all transiting Cancer in early July, we have by Sign a Grand Trine in the Water Element as the Cancer transiting planets trine Neptune in Pisces and trine Mars in Scorpio. We can loll about by the pool or on the beach. Certainly a desire to step off the mundane track with its assemblage of crazies would be our preference.

There can be intrusions of reality that pierce our idyllic reveries, but let’s allow them to be only blips on the screen of our summertime activities.

While the Cancer transiting planets trigger a Water Grand Trine, they also trigger a Cardinal Sign T-Square as the Cancer transiting planets oppose Pluto in Capricorn and square Uranus in Aries.

The early July period can be a mixed bag of good times and fun events with various slams intermixed. It all has to do with the caroming between the Water Grand Trine and the Cardinal Sign T-Square.

The 1st of July has Venus sextile Jupiter and the start of the long holiday weekend in the US. We are looking to enjoy ourselves, no matter the expense involved. The 3rd has the Sun trine Neptune and we could be tuning out the mundane world, indulging our reveries and cavorting in our own Fantasy Land. And why not? Our lives are individual journeys with our choices the paths we take in various trajectories through the many phases of our life experience. Our lives are kaleidoscopes of many colors, different textures with their multi-varied shapes and sizes.

The New Moon on the 4th of July accentuates the Cancer energies of home and family. Imprinting the next two weeks up to the Full Moon on the 19th, this Cancer New Moon increases our sensitivity and heightens our desire for a loving, peaceful world. At the same time, we might feel as though we know what is right and how things should be with a strong sense of ‘my way or the highway’ and a stringent dose of intolerance.

It would be wise for us to engage the sentiments of these two keywords for our times: flexibility and adaptability.

We might have a clear picture of the way things should be but such an assumption plays into the hands of the wise adage: ‘if you want to make god laugh, tell god your plans’.

Early July offers us the idyllic with Venus sextile Jupiter [on the 1st], the Sun trine Neptune [on the 3rd], the Water Grand Trine with the Cancer New Moon [on the 4th], Mercury trine Neptune [on the 5th], Venus trine Mars and the Sun conjunct Mercury [both on the 6th]. This first week of July can have us stepping off the track of our familiar and seeking refuge in escapes of good times with good friends.

The 7th of July could be quite different. We might feel as if someone has poked the bear, awakened an angry and belligerent attitude. The Cardinal Sign Grand Cross is triggered that day by Venus square Uranus and both Mercury and the Sun opposed Pluto. Relationships could be squirrely, but much of it can be a case of someone, even ourselves, having to blow off steam. Discussions can turn into arguments, and we may feel forced to engage the world again. We might prefer participating in the paradise of our own making, but something could pull us back into being aware of what is going on in the world that is impinging upon our personal world. This day might have natural phenomena such as earthquake or volcanic activity or severe storm systems. There might even be issues of a geopolitical nature or certain systems going down.

Whatever the ramp up on the 7th might prove to be, things can mellow out on the 8th and 10th, as Mercury sextiles Jupiter on the 8th and the Sun sextiles Jupiter on the 10th, the same day that Mercury trines Mars. The crazies might impact upon our world now and again, but we can also detach ourselves from situations that might seem dramatic and nonsensical which truly have little bearing on our individual lives. No one or nothing needs to rain on our parade. We can embrace the light even if it appears way in the distance of a dark tunnel.

July 11th has Mercury square Uranus, one of my least favorite times for air travel. There can be delays, miscommunications, traffic problems and computer issues. This is a day for us to be vigilant and to expect the unexpected. No knee jerk reactions today, since we might not have full information or the information we receive could be misunderstood.

The 12th and 13th of July have significant shifts in energy as Venus exits Cancer to enter Leo on the 12th, followed by Mercury exiting Cancer to enter Leo on the 13th. We still have the Water Grand Trine by Sign, but we now also have a Fire Grand Trine by Sign as the Mercury and Venus in Leo trine by Sign Uranus in Aries and trine Saturn in Sagittarius. Our sensitivity may become slightly muted, but our desire for summer fun times increased. We are looking to make a splash, enjoy ourselves and do whatever appeals to us. It’s summer after all, the season to be out-of-doors, take times for us to enjoy ourselves, go off on holidays or staycations and just have a good old time.

The 16th of July has the Sun square Uranus, the Sun trine Mars and Mercury conjunct Venus. We might feel as though we have to spend valuable time on other people’s issues, as though our wings are being clipped. This is a day for us to ‘grin and bear it’, deal with whatever but doing so quickly and effectively. Once we take care of our obligations, we can engage our flights of fancy, participate in re-creational activities and take in a concert, a show or some other lively event.

The Capricorn Full Moon on the 19th closes out the Water Grand Trine. We may finish up home projects, complete family reunions and be geared up for doing our own thing. Mercury trines Saturn on the 19th, followed by Venus trine Saturn on the 20th. We might fall back on pleasurable activities of the past to employ for our upcoming down time. We often assume that past experiences can be replicated in the future, when in truth we are not who we were five years ago, ten years ago, or even last week. We have developed, grown out of old patterns and no matter how much we might want to go back into the memories of the past to dredge up as present or future activities, they just might not have the same fulfilling feeling they held for us times before.

New times call for new adventures.

The 22nd of July has the Sun exiting Cancer to enter Leo. The Water Grand Trine by Sign that we have felt during this early part of summer is over, replaced by a brief Stellium of three planets in Leo as the Sun joins Venus and Mercury in the Fixed Fire Sign.

We may feel at the height of summertime, our energy increased by the sun’s glow, and wishing to try some thing other than that with which we are too comfortable.

Mercury trines Uranus on the 27th of July. Our mind is inspired, our perspective broadened, and we might get some insights or flashes of genius as to where we want to go, what we want to do, all with a new trajectory in mind.

Our machete in hand and willing to carve our new path might be short-lived as Uranus turns retrograde on the 29th, the same day that Mercury squares Mars. We could have a feeling that our grand adventure needs to be placed on the back burner, that our spirit and thrill of excitement need to be muted, if not silenced. We may blame our hesitation on lack of resources — whether time, money or energy.

But the end of July can make us aware that the autumn and our return to some semblance of normalcy are fast approaching. It’s surprising how over the years the start of the school year has moved from after Labor Day into mid-August with some school activities beginning even in early August. Everything seems rushed forward, and in so doing so very out of sync with the natural unfolding. Even end-of-year holiday decorations are sometimes put up as we come into August.

The 30th of July has Mercury exiting Leo to enter its own Sign of Virgo and ending the Stellium of three planets transiting Leo. Whether we need to get back on track or still have some time to revel in summertime fun, thoughts of ‘getting back to’ can be ever present in our mind. Back to school sales lured by sales tax holidays may be promoted as we end July and start into August.

July 2016… Basking or Baking in the Sun Light