THE
FORECAST

Allllll-righty then!

The Moon is in Scorpio, seeking to consolidate knowledge with emotional depth and substance, for the sake of power and control. Moon’s square to Saturn (authority; structure) and opposition to Uranus (disruption; revelation) between 5 AM and 6 AM ET made me wonder how those upsets would be reflected in the morning headlines. At 9:57 AM ET, a harmony between Venus and Neptune suggested a combination involving women, art, values, dreams, and/or charity. The next stop for Venus is an opposition to Pluto on Wednesday at 7:39 PM ET, suggesting extremes and power plays in women, art, social expression, and/or money.  At 8:28 AM ET, WaPo posted this story:

• “Unmasking the far right: An extremist paid a price when his identity was exposed online after a violent clash in Washington.” The person doing the exposing is a woman (Venus) videographer (Neptune), and hours later, it’s the top-viewed story on WaPo’s  website.

Soon thereafter, I discovered in my inbox a perfectly-timed email from artist Karen Fitzgerald embracing the generous spirit of Wednesday’s trine between the Cancer Sun and Jupiter in Pisces. She’s giving away a lovely print to a lucky winner, and that winner could be you if you enter here!  Karen’s work is an apt embodiment of these flowing water trines among Sun, Jupiter, Venus, and Neptune, as you can see here.

How was your morning?

We’ll have another fleeting Grand Trine later this evening, as the Scorpio Moon trines Neptune and Venus between 10-11 PM ET. Here’s to emotional abundance!

Other than the patterns already mentioned, the big events this week are Mercury turning direct on Tuesday, and Neptune turning retrograde on Friday. With both planets at a virtual standstill, matters they symbolize are in focus this week, including facts and fiction; oil, drugs, refugees, victims, spirits of all kinds, how we need to think, and how we need to communicate. Mercury is close to its third square with Neptune (exact on July 6th), so muddled mindsets, inspired thinking, and conspiracy theories are likely to continue to grab attention over the next few weeks.

Here’s how the rest of this week goes:

• TUESDAY: a slow start or twist to your morning comes courtesy of the Scorpio Moon being void between 2:43 AM ET and 8:55 AM ET. Oh, won’t that be fun for poll workers in NYC (including yours truly), who will arrive at their stations at 5 AM ET. Primary elections are today, and 856 candidates are battling to become NYC’s next mayor. Not only that, but we’re doing ranked-choice voting for the first time ever, on the day Mercury turns direct. LOL! What could go wrong? For one thing, I almost typed “Mercury turns retrograde!” Please stay focused this week, dear Avid Readers. FOCUS! In other news, it should not be surprising to learn that the outcome of this unhappily-timed primary election is not expected to be known until mid-July.
• TUESDAY: with Moon in Sagittarius for the next couple of days, I imagine there will be plenty of boundary-pushing, righteous and fiery opinions, especially today around 12:25 PM ET when the Moon squares Jupiter and turns up the volume.  While hopefully more than a handful of New Yorkers will turn out to help choose their next fearless leader, the Senate is scheduled to vote on whether to start a debate on S. 1, its version of H.R.1, a.k.a. the For The People Act. Can democracy be saved from the 389 voter suppression bills that have been introduced this year in 48 states (by Robert Reich’s last count)? What’s going on Chuck Schumer’s horoscope this week? (surprisingly, patterns suggest an easy flow of diplomatic energy, with more combative/assertive patterns around Bastille Day, July 14th). We shall see. Meanwhile, Heather Cox Richardson has this update, posted at 11 PM ET on Monday.
• TUESDAY: At 6 PM ET, Mercury officially turns direct. Take it slow as we get back up to speed. A harmony between the Moon and Mars at 8:16 PM ET can help with translating words into action. If you notice a general feeling of good cheer, perhaps you — like Barack Obama — are personally affected by the trine between the nurturing Cancer Sun and compassionate Jupiter in Pisces, exact at 6:11 AM ET on…
• WEDNESDAY. Early risers can profit from the structuring energy of a sextile between Moon and Saturn at 5:25 AM ET. A communication snag may need to be worked out around 10:50 AM ET when Mercury opposes the opinionated Sag Moon. Emotions are on the rise, reflecting 1) the build-up to Thursday’s Full Moon and 2) the opposition between Venus and Pluto, exact at 7:39 PM ET. If you have a planet around 26 Capricorn, Aries, Cancer, or Libra (as does Chuck Schumer), there may be a catharsis or power play involving values, women, and social expression. Moon goes void at 10:08 PM ET on a foggy square to Neptune (make sure you’re being clearly understood). Chill for the next eleven hours.
• THURSDAY: Moon enters Capricorn at 9:04 AM ET, needing to Make Things Happen, cheered on by the expansive flow of a sextile to Jupiter at 12:33 PM ET. So far, so good. The Full Moon occurs at 2:39 PM ET, and here’s what that looks like, set in Washington, D.C.:

Observations:

• This Full Moon recalls the one we had in December 2015 (!). It also activates the solar eclipse we had on December 24, 2019, when the seeds of the pandemic were germinating. It wouldn’t be surprising to receive illumination on matters that were hot during both of those December lunations.
• Capricorn Moon’s need to take care of business, strategize and utilize resources (including people) opposes the energy of the Cancer Sun, which is centered on building home and homeland security, with feeling. Sometimes it doesn’t matter how it feels; it just needs to get done!
• Sun and Moon in the 9th and 3rd houses shines a spotlight on mindset, documents, foreign affairs, and collective belief systems.
• Venus is strongly placed in this chart, as it was in the chart for the New Moon, which looks protective for our Commander-in-Chief and the status of the nation, no matter what power play may have just happened. That power play — which involves resources and shared values, affects our core foundation. We may see a significant bit of rot exposed in the next few weeks.
• Mars in regal Leo opposing Saturn and square Uranus suggests militant, disciplined action that may also be innovative, reckless, or rebellious. We’ll see what that’s all about toward the end of next week.
•  You may feel the emotional push-pull of this Full Moon more personally if you have a planet or angle around 4 degrees of Capricorn or Cancer, and to a lesser extent, Aries and Libra.
• The Sabian Symbol for the Moon at 4 Capricorn is “a party entering a large canoe.”  For the Sun at 4 Cancer: “a cat arguing with a mouse.” Here’s what I wrote about these symbols in 2015, and it still applies.

Inspired by Sabian Symbol guru Blaine Bovee’s masterful musings, our immediate response to these Symbols might be “why”?  Why would a cat argue with a mouse? What’s there to argue about? Cats are born to hunt mice — end of story, right? Why would a “party” enter a canoe? Canoes are, as Bovee notes, “notoriously unstable.” How dumb is that? What are we to make of these Symbols at this time?

I recommend you get Bovee’s wonderful book, so you can read his whole take. A cat arguing with a mouse suggests an image of “the power differentials between instinct and reason.” A “party” in an (old, fast but unstable) canoe could be a group of people on a festive outing, or it could be a group with a shared philosophical purpose, such as a  — huh — “political party.”  How interesting, given what is dominating headlines in the United States, though the U.S. is hardly the only nation experiencing unstable and/or shifting political climes.

Bovee suggests we apply these Symbols with a mind to the “challenge to find one’s place between the instinctive animal urges and the sublime natures of being human; calling for order while entering an unstable circumstance; rationalizations, especially those that smell fishy; sexual politics; hidden motives behind well-reasoned positions; rocking the boat; knowing when to pounce.” 

Back to the forecast for the week:

• FRIDAY: Moon in Capricorn marches forward, on its quest for achievement. Innovative alliances and technology may help make it happen in the morning, as Moon trines Uranus at 7:03 AM ET. The day’s biggest shift happens at 3:21 PM ET when Neptune turns retrograde at 23 Pisces. This week, all matters that Neptune rules are likely to pull focus, e.g., lies, drugs, scandals, charity, refugees, viruses, oceans, victims, faith, spirits of all kinds, oil, water, chemicals, fog, toxins, fish, photography, film, empathy, martyrs.  If you have a planet or angle around 23 degrees of Sagittarius, Gemini, Virgo, and especially Pisces, you may have been feeling a bit lost or wiped out this month, searching for a vision. Now it’s time to turn inward for the inspiration you seek.  Be your own guru. Neptune turns direct on December 2nd.
• SATURDAY: Moon enters Aquarius at 10:08 AM ET after an hour-long void. You are now free to gather with your best buddies and find social significance in your own —and everyone else’s — uniqueness. No Moon void during the day facilitates shopping excursions.
• SUNDAY:  Venus leaves Cancer for Leo at 12:26 AM ET, on its way to a hook-up with Mars on July 19th. Add more playful or indignant fire to the mix, especially in social expression. You get to decide. If the early morning has a bit of gravitas, blame the Moon’s meet-up with Saturn at 7:23 AM ET. At 9:16 AM ET, Moon squares Uranus, possibly breaking a block. Take the rest of the day off, as the Moon will be void as of 3:07 PM ET, not to regain focus in the next sign until 1:50 PM ET on Monday. Time to chill!

Ooh, lookie, Beth Owl’s Daughter just posted her Tarot Card of the Week. It feels like a cat arguing with a mouse!

And now, the news.

Signs Mercury might still be retrograde:

• “Hundreds of packages arrive at woman’s doorstep, but she never ordered them.”
• “American Airlines cancels hundreds of flights due to staffing crunch, maintenance issues.”
• Joni Mitchell’s website crashed, thanks to the usual Mercury Rx  snafus and patterns in Mitchell’s unique horoscope. Her Scorpio Sun and Mercury were clearly affected by this morning’s contacts among the Scorpio Moon, Saturn, and Uranus. Neptune is turning retrograde right on her Pisces Moon and Midheaven, a helpful transit for success in the arts. This year is the 50th anniversary of Blue, and with that kind of action in her horoscope, it makes sense that she’d be RE-releasing an LP, as well as a whole new take on some of the tracks and photographs, including some songs that have never been released before.
• Mercury retrograde is a fine time to REnew wedding vows, especially on a sweetly romantic Venus-Neptune trine. But did you know that Neptune refers to memory — and the loss of memory, too? “Man with Alzheimer’s’ marries his wife again in emotional ceremony”(he forgot they were already married but loved her so much that he proposed again).
• On another Neptune musical note: “Scientists translated a bird’s brainwaves into its song.” 

UPDATE: on the ongoing reflections of transiting Neptune activating the U.S. horoscope’s Mars-Neptune square, sponsored in part by Jupiter being at a standstill last week. Jupiter refers to dogma; Neptune refers to spirit; Mars refers to weapons. Last week in the United States of Gilead, over 70% of its Catholic bishops voted to draft new rules for who may receive the Eucharist (i.e., sacrament; i.e., Neptune). This initiative is being spun in the press as an attack (Mars!) on President Biden (because he supports a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy), even though this punitive line of thinking has been gaining traction among U.S Catholic bishops for some time. Point is, Neptune in a challenging pattern with Mars can refer to fanaticism and/or the use of spiritual practices and beliefs as weapons.

Just ask Texas Governor Greg Abbott, whose exact Mars-Neptune conjunction in Scorpio was squared by Mars a couple of days ago. He vetoed a bill that funds the Texas Legislature in retaliation against the Democrats who thwarted his personal desire to make it even harder to vote in Texas than it already is. He also signed into law a bill that allows anyone in Texas to carry a gun — without training, permits, or background check. We don’t have a birth time for Abbott, but it’s possible that his Mars-Neptune conjunction is square to Moon-Uranus conjunct in Leo, which needs to be an eccentric king.

UPDATE: on Pope Francis, who is not at all in agreement with the U.S. bishops’ way of thinking. We can see in his horoscope that Pope Francis’ Moon in “we are all equal” Aquarius is getting clobbered by this second Saturn-Uranus square. We can see how he may be feeling squeezed or isolated or may have to make some cuts as a means of managing conflict, especially around June 27 and July 1st. This week’s Full Moon falls exactly on his Jupiter in the 6th house, illuminating the habits of certain colleagues — and (potentially), health, diet, and pet issues, too. Does Pope Francis have a cat?

UPDATE: on President Biden. We’ve already noted that his Mars (how he needs to take action, assert himself) is being hit by the second Saturn-Uranus square. Possibilities include militant discipline in the face of stubborn roadblocks and daring initiatives. Mid-June suggested possible isolation or loss (Champ Biden passed away over the weekend). This week — especially the 22nd and 23rd suggests a ruthlessly focused effort may be cause for celebration. Other dates to watch: June 26; July 1, 16, 25, and 27. These are dates when Mars (the energy of action and assertion) is hot in the horoscope, so that’s what we expect to see in real life. It’s fascinating that his Mars at 12 Scorpio squares Pope Francis’ 12 Aquarius Moon. This is an energizing connection, for better or worse. President Biden has a similar connection with Queen Elizabeth’s Leo Moon.

Random headlines reflecting upsets anticipated with Uranus in Taurus square Saturn in Aquarius (and the ginormous reset suggested by the December 2020 Great Mutation of Jupiter-Saturn in Aquarius):

• “Retail workers are quitting at record rates for higher-paying  work: ‘My life isn’t worth a dead-end job.'”
• “Welcome to the ‘Take this job and shove it’ economy.”

What’s going on in your horoscope? When are you likely to make a move? As you can see from the above case studies, astrology alerts us to likely action with astonishing accuracy, and this sentence is brought to you by the letter “A.”

Here’s the 411 on consultations.

Thank you for reading this forecast. And thank you, thank you, thank you to the fraction of Avid Readers who find value in these weekly insights and are kind enough to support it. 

You are simply aces!