Happy Monday — and happy getting used to Mercury’s change of station. It turned direct at 4:27 AM ET on Sunday at 5 degrees of Cancer. If you have a planet or angle around 5 degrees of Aries, Cancer, Capricorn or Libra, communication matters are likely highlighted for you this week. We now have an opportunity to review any boondoggle brainstorms we came up with during Mercury’s trek backwards. Mercury doesn’t cover new ground until July 26th, when it arrives at the place it was when it turned retrograde on June 18th.

There are only two exact patterns among the planets this week that do not involve the Moon. However, they are big. On Tuesday, the Cancer Sun is opposed by Jupiter in Capricorn. On Wednesday, the Sun is opposed by Pluto. A Cancer Sun is focused on creating security in the home, family and homeland. Capricorn is focused on the strategic organization and deployment of resources, likely to the advantage of a corporate structure.

Avid Readers will recall that Jupiter  refers to collective belief systems as expressed in the courts, publishing, churches and academia. Jupiter refers to our need for reward, as well as expansion and exuberance. Jupiter is not at its best in Capricorn, a sign which rewards those who either climbed their way to the top of the mountain or were simply born there. All through 2020, Jupiter’s inclination to reward the “already haves” is pushed to extremes of power by its three-part tango with Pluto. Part 2 happened on June 30th; Part 3 happens on November 12th.

Watch for headlines involving these Jupiter-ruled concerned, especially with respect to leaders in government and business. We are also likely to see stories of power and resources (oil, gas, nuclear) and news from underground. We last experienced this news cycle in April — like this. 

The week goes as follows:

• MONDAY — the me-me-me-first Aries Moon goes void on a square to Saturn at 11:54 AM ET. A serious focus; an authoritarian advance or road block would be apt. Chill until 1:34 PM ET, when the Moon enters Taurus and seeks to restore the status quo. However, with Jupiter in Capricorn opposing the Cancer Sun on…
• TUESDAY — at 3:58 AM ET, boundaries are likely to be pushed. At 10:14 AM ET we have a surprise upset, as the Taurus Moon meets up with rebel Uranus. The rest of the day is free and clear of lunar speed bumps. Go about your business.
• WEDNESDAY — a morning of feeling grandly inspired to build your favorite monument to material comfort and security,  as the Taurus Moon harmonizes with Neptune, Jupiter, Sun and Pluto — all before 1:01 PM ET. Sun opposes Pluto at 3:08 PM ET, pulling into focus the corporate Powers That Be and their efforts to control that which makes us feel emotionally secure. Use the verve to empower an empire of your own. Moon trines Saturn at 11:21 PM ET, cementing the action –– and then goes void.
• THURSDAY — Moon enters Gemini at 1:19 AM ET, driving the day with a need for information and entertainment. What’s the buzz? Who’s the smartest kid in the room?
• FRIDAY — Moon goes void on a square to wiggy Neptune. Who can say what delusional spin will be part of the now-infamous Friday evening news dump. Start the weekend early if you’re on the Left Coast, as the void begins at 5:15 PM ET. Stick to routine; look for a lovely escape; avoid making online purchases; remember that crises that crop up during Moon voids are often much ado about nothing.
• SATURDAY — Moon enters Cancer at 10:24 AM ET, ending the long void. I hope you slept in. Home and family concerns are favored all day; the Moon travels free and clear of any other planetary influence.
• SUNDAY — we’re in the last days of the lunar cycle, possibly feeling listless or restless. If you wake up on the wrong side of the bed, look to a square between Mars (aggression!) and the emotionally sensitive Cancer Moon, exact at 8:39 AM ET. Perhaps you can find a constructive outlet for that assertive energy?  The rest of the day is yours to enjoy — same as Saturday. The New Moon begins on Monday at 1:33 PM ET; the gravitas you’re sensing is the Sun’s annual opposition with Saturn, exact at 6:27 PM ET, just hours after the New Moon. We see potential cuts, losses and/or controls involving leaders and heads of state.  No sleeping in.

And now, the news.

Reflecting what I wrote earlier about Jupiter-Pluto in Capricorn:

• The oxymoronic Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos vowed to reopen schools this fall, threatening to de-fund those that opt to remain closed during the current out-of-control pandemic. That’s a boundary-pusher, since DeVos doesn’t appear to have the authority to withhold those funds, which were appropriated by Congress. Heather Cox Richardson asserts that the real agenda here is to dismantle public education in the United States, replacing it with private, for-profit entities. Jupiter-Pluto in Capricorn?
• File “17 States Sue P45 Administration Over Rule That Could Revoke Visas for Foreign Students” under Jupiter-Pluto in Capricorn, too.
• Another Jupiter-Pluto in Capricorn reflection I’ve been meaning to mention is the purgative actions of Michael Pack. As of mid-June, he is the new CEO of U.S. Global Media, which includes the heretofore non-partisan Voice of America. Some are concerned that Pack’s purge will transform VOA and its sister outlets into P45 administration “propaganda machines.”
• A hedge fund is buying McClatchy, the bankrupt parent company of the Miami Herald and other esteemed local papers. Without the intrepid investigative efforts of Herald reporter Julie Brown, Jeffrey Epstein’s unlawful plea bargain with federal prosecutors would not have been exposed.
• On the flip side, Jupiter-Pluto in Capricorn could arguably be reflected in the exposure of  past behavior of certain media executives who have lost their positions as a result. Exhibit A would be the resignation last month of Bon Appetit’s editor-in-chief, Adam Rapoport. We could see how last month’s Venus retrograde is also reflected in this REview of social expression and values, leading to a change.
• Jupiter refers to the liver and its diseases. When Minnesota passed a law requiring insulin manufacturers to provide it for little to no cost to those who could not afford it, a pharmaceutical group sued, saying the law was a theft of their private property. Did you know that the inventors of insulin sold the patent for one dollar because they believed it was unethical to profit from it? 
• Jupiter refers to judicial opinions, and last week was a big one for SCOTUS as it wrapped up its cases until October. P45 — true to current tough patterns in his horoscope — was judged not to be entirely above the law and his tax returns must be turned over to a New York State grand jury — eventually — and perhaps even to Congress. Meanwhile, religious dogma prevailed, as SCOTUS said that employers can opt out of providing no-cost birth control coverage — and — in an earlier decision, that taxpayer funds can be given to private religious schools.
• Jupiter refers to wretched excess. This just in: the U.S. budget deficit soared from $8 billion to…$864 billion…in just one month.

UPDATE: on Chief Justice John Roberts. Remember a few weeks ago we noted that a transit of Uranus to his Aquarius Sun was likely to reflect surprises and upsets out of a need for independence? Well darned if his Uranus wasn’t activated by another planet around June 21st,  and he fell and hit his head. He spent a night in the hospital, and the public learned about it last week. Surprise! December is a month to watch for the Chief Justice, as Uranus makes the second exact square to his Sun.

Speaking of Uranus…

UPDATE: on Robert Mueller. Last time we wrote about his horoscope, we noted the potential for a wipe-out — in the way a wave wipes out footprints in the sand. That’s what was going on in his horoscope last year, when he delivered the Mueller Report. He has another wipe-out pattern happening this year, consistent with the more or less wipe-out of the convictions his efforts won against Paul Manafort, etc., and now, apparently, Roger Stone. But before that final wipe-out pattern occurs (not sure what month, because we don’t have a birth time), he has one other measurement suggesting a surprising or innovative change in social expression or values. So there he was over the weekend, breaking a yearlong silence by writing an op-ed in WaPo affirming the crimes of Roger Stone. He will apparently testify before the Senate — finally, as Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is no longer obstructing his Democratic colleagues’ requests for Mueller’s testimony. Surprise!

Let’s see…what else…

It was rumored on Friday afternoon that the evening news dump would include a pardon for convicted felon Roger Stone, who lied to cover P45. Noting a forgiving Pisces Moon and a harmony between the Sun and equally forgiving Neptune, that sounded probable. Later that night, the White House issued a press release stating that Stone’s sentence was being commuted.

As it turns out, the commutation had not yet been filed with the court. And remember from last week that the second opposition from Pluto to Saturn was exact in P45’s horoscope yesterday — and that today he will have an exact square to his Mercury from Mars. Translation: anguished effort; threat of loss, followed by an attack or outburst of aggression. This made me think that the judge in the Roger Stone might take issue with P45’s effort to trump the rule of law. As of right this minute (and minutes before today’s exact Moon-Saturn square), Judge Amy Berman Jackson has asked for a copy of the clemency document. And given that Mercury just turned direct, it would not be surprising to find a defect. Stay tuned…and watch for further potential anguish for P45 when niece and clinical psychologist Mary L. Trump’s book about his dysfunctional family is released tomorrow. 

In other news…

Last week’s volatile square between warrior Mars in Aries and Mercury in Cancer was reflected in a war of words about the so-called “cancel culture,” which — once upon a time —  was known as shunning. “A Letter on Justice and Open Debate”  — published in Harper’s — was a group effort by writers and artists, including Malcolm Gladwell, Noam Chomsky, J.K. Rowling (whose own Uranus-Sun transits are active this year), Wynton Marsalis and Zephyr Teachout. It sparked a “fiery debate” and a “blistering response from another group of journalists” said the media. Read the letter and the response in the links above — what do you think?

I suspect that this 2020 “cancel culture war” is also an apt reflection of the stress the U.S. Mercury (how we collectively need to think and communication) is under. Jupiter and Pluto are opposing the U.S. Mercury and Eris — the warrior goddess demanding a place at the table – is squaring this extreme polarization. Eris is only too happy to burn the whole house down.

OK, enough about politics. Let’s close with a stellar reason to get up tomorrow morning, brought to you by Avid Reader Katya. There’s a new comet in town — discovered at the end of March, right before the first Jupiter-Pluto conjunction. It’s now blazing through the sky — visible within an hour before sunrise. Comet NEOWISE — possibly named for a NASA program that tracks comets (it’s not quite clear)  — will be around for a few weeks, and tomorrow it will be right on the U.S. Sun at 13 Cancer. Here’s another blurb on how to see it, courtesy of EarthSky. In this article from astro.com, kindly sent by Avid Reader Katya, we learn that ancient astrologers thought of comets as omens. Hmmmmmmm…

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Thank you for reading this forecast — and sharing it with your friends.

Thanks to NASA for the cool pic of

Comet Neowise — note the twin tail!