Current Transits for July 2012 Current Transits for July 2012Here's some of the important astrological news this month ...
Mars enters Libra, 7-3
Full Moon at 12Cp13, 7-3
Fourth of July, 7-4
Vesta enters Gemini, 7-9
Uranus Retrograde Station at 8Ar32, 7-13
Mercury Retrograde Station at 12Le32, 7-14
Juno Direct Station at 21Sc24, 7-16
Jupiter Quincunx Pluto, 7-18
New Moon at 26Cn54, 7-18
Jupiter Trioctile Saturn, 7-20
Jupiter Sextile Uranus, 7-21
Jupiter Square Chiron, 7-24
Saturn Trioctile Chiron, 7-29
Pallas Retrograde Station at 11Ar29, 7-30
An online ephemeris for the month is available.
July looks like a long and demanding ride. Much of the month is either powerful storm material or close to it. Jupiter is turning into a major aspect maker as he barrels into Gemini, much like he did a year ago when he entered Taurus. Following on the Jun 25 square to Neptune, Jupiter makes "big aspects" to all the remaining outer planets in July, triggering a lot of potent influences that stir things up, though not always visibly. If you get a feeling of being agitated or moving too fast, it might be this long string of aspects. The thinking mind suffers quite a setback this month with the back to back retrograde stations of Uranus and Mercury on the 13th and 14th. Rational thinking is misfiring on so many cylinders at once that you should be cautious with all your great ideas for a time. Test whether these plans and stories actually reflect reality accurately before you buy into them. Much of the energy coming in hits us at an unconscious level, below your normal awareness, so you may sense some rumblings below the surface without being able to say exactly what is happening. Consider this a highly volatile time and stay open to changing your mind as situations demand. It's going to be a roller coaster month...
There's plenty to talk about this month, including 5 "big aspects", 4 planetary stations and a couple of sign changes. That should be enough to keep us busy!
Mars moves from Virgo after a long stay (due to a retrograde cycle in that sign) into Libra on the 3rd. He'll be in this sign until Aug 23, when he shifts into Scorpio. This is not one of our Warrior God's favorite placements. The social dimensions of Libra get in the way of the rugged individualist tendencies of Mars, at least in his lower expressions. Mars is about will power and self expression, but Libra requires him to exert his power in a way that is mindful of others. Keep your eyes open for situations where people are pushing back at you, letting you know you've overstepped your bounds. On the flip side, it's important to stand up for yourself if someone else is stepping on your toes. It's all an exercise in learning to have your way within the context of a greater good and the legitimate needs of others around you. You might get somewhat snippy during this placement -- nobody likes to have his "freedom" checked. Maybe you need to examine what true freedom to be yourself means to you. And realize this placement is temporary -- Mars will feel much more at home when he gets to Scorpio.
The full moon chart sets the tone for the rest of the month. There's one main planetary grouping to look at here, mostly in the 8-12 degree regions of a number of zodiac signs. The Sun is opposite Pluto and the Moon, which are all square Uranus and Pallas -- a crisp T-square! Throw in Venus and Mercury and a Yod shows up. Add Chiron and Jupiter for good measure. The rest of the planetary bodies are mostly in the background.
The focus of this chart is squarely on Uranus-Pluto and friends. As the disruptive energies of the Uranus-Pluto square start to settle in for a 3 year run, it gets increasingly difficult to hang onto "the same old", no matter what that might be. Since the full moon axis activates these energies via the T-square, it's important to embrace radical change in coming weeks, even if you only make baby steps in that direction. It shows up in your day-to-day living in an unavoidable manner, effecting the way you think and how you feel (which may be on the edgy side). In a nutshell, your higher self is calling and is prepared to stay on the line until you pick up the phone and answer. There's a sense of inevitability to the new directions as it reflects who you are at a deeper level than the surface ego can even imagine. Of course, there's always the possibility that you won't like what you see and will resist any shift in perspective, but in the long run, that's a losing stance. Outcomes are always better when you cooperate with yourself as opposed to struggling with your higher calling. Allow yourself to grow from the inside out. We'll be doing a lot of that in coming months.
There's not much difference in the charts between the full moon and the US solar return except for the Moon (28Cp49) which is passing over the US Pluto. Curiously, the houses in the return chart are nearly the same as in the original chart, as if the country is getting back to its roots. (This similarity of houses would apply to any common version of the US chart.) Venus and Jupiter in Gemini are approaching the US Uranus. Pluto is opposite the US Sun, though this aspect won't be exact until 2014-5.
The US has been under a Pluto cloud since he entered Capricorn in early 2008 and the world economy started to unravel. The first few years of the Great Recession coincided with his opposition to the US Venus and Jupiter, both financial planets. Those influences are waning, so there's some low grade improvement in the national economy, though not enough to reverse the damage. We could be in for future trouble, especially if the Euro zone tanks. The other side of Pluto's influence is in the form of an ongoing national soul searching. The election campaign is heating up, but the level of discourse is still pretty juvenile. The stakes are much bigger than just this election, however, so a long term perspective is what we need, not politics as usual. With Uranus in Aries in the 4th house, the American public is upset and impatient, demanding change at any cost, but too busy to think soberly about the future. It would be nice if a spokesman for such a perspective could show up (Mercury on the US North Node) -- at the very least, if non-shouting heads could get on TV. I wouldn't be surprised if we faced a significant foreign affairs situation shortly, with Venus and Jupiter activating the US Uranus near the 7th house (depending upon which US chart you use). Given the positive nature of these planets, the outcome looks good for us, though it might shake up the status quo positions here at home. With Mars near the midheaven, it might be a military operation. A major technological or communications breakthrough might also be in the cards this year. It's a good year to question and challenge any entrenched positions people have, especially in the political forum, where the process of government has reached stagnation. I don't expect much of a change there, unfortunately -- let's hope the election doesn't lead to more deadlock. It's not going to be a boring election, by any means. Happy Birthday, America!
Vesta changes from Taurus into Gemini on the 9th for an extended stay. Due to an upcoming retrograde cycle, she'll be in this sign until 2013-4-24 when she finally moves into Cancer. This placement is a bit of a paradox. All the mental and social qualities of Gemini clash with the quiet introversion of Vesta. Given that we're in for 9 months of this placement due to the retrograde cycle, we need to look closely at this placement. We normally think of Gemini as wanting to mix it up with people and be a social butterfly, as well as explore and talk about new ideas and concepts that stretch the mind. There will be some of this in coming months, but at some point Vesta will get tired of all this stimulation. Vesta needs to go within when life gets overwhelming -- that's where her spiritual power comes from. Maybe you find some of your own ideas so pressing that you need to work them out on your own, without interference from outside opinions. Maybe it goes deeper than that even. We are all wired to interact in our hyper-connected world, to the point where logging off can seem suspect. What Vesta needs most is quiet, a deep, gentle inner silence that allows her spiritual nature to emerge on its own terms. If you need to, turn off your TV, cellphone and other gear. Find out who you really are when the incessant echoes of social interaction fade into the distance. I'd wager that most people are quite estranged from their inner nature, if they are aware of such a thing at all. What do you really think and feel when you're not being controlled by all the "messages" from the world around you? Give yourself the gift of private space. It's the most loving gift you can bestow on yourself in these crazy-busy times.
Uranus reaches his retrograde station of 8Ar32 on the 13th, starting 5 months of retrograde motion. He'll back up in the sky until his direct station at 4Ar36 on Dec 13. I tend to think of Uranus as a deeper, more fundamental version of the thinking mind than Mercury, more on the level of intuition, core paradigms and how our thoughts and perceptions are wedded together to create what we call "reality". As we're learning from neuroscience, the way the brain creates reality is very complicated, easily distorted and little understood. Retrograde planets tend to show us a part of the psyche that is misbehaving or acting in an atypical manner, hence apt to lead us astray. So even if the common wisdom is to trust your intuition or gut instincts when making decisions or trying to understand some novel situation, that may not be good advice now. The intuitive mind is simply not working smoothly now. Your typical blind spots are skewing your perceptions worse than normal. You usually become aware of this mismatch when it appears the world is going crazy, that is, your expectations don't match what is actually happening. Take these rude surprises as a hint to question your own basic assumptions. Given that Uranus is firmly in the sign of Aries, people are responding to this craziness with anger, frustration and impatience, so your first clue may simply be harsh emotions, either your own or the people around you. Stand way back and probe where the misunderstandings are -- Uranus demands you be uncompromising in an impersonal way with yourself. The surprises might settle down somewhat in a few weeks, peaking again around the direct station in December. If you get some of those "aha!" moments, hold onto those ideas and mull them over without necessarly deciding to accept or reject them until they've proved their worth. Few people are aware of their own behavior at this core level, unfortunately, so the next few weeks may be hard to navigate. Be patient, calm and ever curious -- life is more fun that way!
Mercury goes retrograde for 3 weeks at 12Le32 on the 14th. He reaches his direct station of 1Le25 on Aug 8. Poor thinking mind! The stations of Uranus and now Mercury are a 1-2 punch to our abilities to reason, understand and communicate. Mercury is the symbol using part of the mind, the ongoing story you tell yourself called "How the World Is" that is responsible for making sense of life. Most of the time, the Mercury mind is quite facile at taking care of everyday business in our lives, despite the occasional gaps in our story. But when he's backing up as he's doing the next 3 weeks, the gaps in your thinking become more obvious, the surprises become more jarring and the slips in communication between people really stand out. This points out the key lesson of Mercury retrograde: don't believe everything you think. Use this time to hit the refresh button on your inner narrative, questioning basic assumptions, recognizing that there's great room for error or delusion in the process of so-called rational thought. You are so much more than the thinking mind, once you become aware of those aspects of your being. Don't be so tightly identified with your thoughts and beliefs that can't see beyond them. It's probably good to put off major decisions a few weeks, if possible, until clarity returns. Doubt is good...
Juno arrives at her direct station of 21Sc24 on the 16th. This ends a retrograde cycle that began back on Mar 26 when she reached her retrograde station at 7Sa06. Juno is the Queen of Relationships. She has a lot to say in our lives about loving relationships that are based on equality and mutual respect (or the lack of it). This retrograde cycle has been a testing time for partners when competing issues like personal freedom vs. commitment to loved ones have arisen. The cycle started in Sagittarius, a sign that values freedom, giving space to others and a warm, light hearted emotional approach. The second half, however, has been in Scorpio, the place where emotions are most intense and misunderstandings the greatest. This placement is ripe for storing up grudges or resentments to all those perceived slights from your partner, real or imagined. As we approach the direct station, there may need to be one last big blowout to clear the air, assuming you haven't addressed problem areas already. Weaker relationships may fall apart now, if that's what is needed so people can move on finally. If your partnerships have survived intact, give you and your partner a pat on the back. Juno's lesson about love is that we're all in this together, so let's work together. The drama should settle down by Sep 16, when Juno returns to Sag.
Jupiter is quincunx Pluto on the 18th, the first of 3 such contacts. The upcoming contacts are on 2012-12-20 (just before the solstice!) and 2013-3-29. Pluto is the first destination for Jupiter in this month's round of "big aspects". While Jupiter in Gemini is attempting to open us up to wider social connections, Pluto is turning us in a more inward direction. The trouble with a quincunx aspect is that these two impulses will be hard to reconcile. Perhaps the best route to take is going within and rediscovering the deeper you, then trying to communicate that somehow to others -- not easy. I find the second contact in this series most intriguing. Jupiter and Pluto will be joined by Saturn in a tight Yod pattern at the time of the 2012 winter solstice, a date that many people are fixated upon. Such a pattern screams of the need to reorganize society at a very fundamental level in order to unleash our full potential as a people. Superficial answers and solutions will not be adequate. It's a testing time for us all.
The main storm is still going strong at the time of the new moon. Most of the action centers around the Mars-Uranus-Pluto T-square, with important contributions from Jupiter, Ceres, Mercury and Chiron -- we've already talked about this pattern a lot. The other curious tidbit is Saturn square the Sun and Moon.
I'm not sure I can say much more about the T-square group without repeating myself. It's a good time to kick off a new work project, although there are certain to be complications to anything you attempt. Despite the nature of Mars, keep your ego out of your actions. As the internal pressures to grow increase, people get antsy and a bit hair trigger when it comes to spouting off. In the worst case, this could even lead to violence, so be diplomatic (not Mars' strong point, I know). Be open to new ideas and directions in small doses -- it's easier than overhauling everything at once. And the Sun-Moon square Saturn? It seems there's a stubborn, conservative streak in us that wants to dig in its heels and stop all this change stuff. We really aren't giving our full assent to our growth yet -- part of us is still holding back. It's probably old emotional stuff, a desire to go back to those good old days when life was simpler that never existed in the first place. A Cancer new moon can be prone to feelings like that. Changes will happen, but slower than is required and faster than we want. For now, that's just where we are...
Jupiter is trioctile Saturn on the 20th, the first of 3 such contacts. The next two are on 2012-10-15 and 2013-5-19. Trioctiles are a "stress" aspect indicating the planets are not working together well. Jupiter and Saturn are both social planets, ruling over both the rewards and the responsibilities we face when we interact with others in our daily lives. Currently, the mood of the public is one of extreme dissatisfaction, a feeling that life is not good for the "little guy" compared to a few years ago. Granted, our standard of living was unsustainable, but nobody likes to scale back. And when it appears that the goodies are flowing to the already well off, this turns into resentment. In short, society is seriously out of balance and we can't agree on any solutions. As you can tell, this aspect lingers until next spring, so upcoming elections may not settle any of these problems decisively. If Saturn dominates Jupiter during this time, it may trigger a debate over responsibilities, both personal and as a nation, not just the goodies. It's a call to grow up...
Jupiter is sextile Uranus on the 21st, a quick, single pass aspect. This is the lightest and most optimistic of the Jupiter aspects this month -- too bad it doesn't last longer. This contact stimulates the mind, allowing you to utilize and transcend conventional wisdom to make some truly original insights. Scientific and technological advances are especially favored. It's also good for moving beyond the group mind and learning to think for yourself. Of course, with Uranus just past his station, some of these insights may not pan out down the road, so put your brilliant ideas to the test before putting them into practice. Some "aha!s" may not make sense at first, requiring you to play with them awhile before their true value emerges. Above all, be open to new ideas and styles of thinking now, approaching the world of the mind in a light hearted, playful manner. Enjoy!
Jupiter is square Chiron on the 24th, the first of 3 contacts. The remaining contacts are on 2013-1-15 and 2013-3-27. Chiron usually shows us where our blind spots and emotional weaknesses are, the things we try to hide from ourselves and others for any number of reasons. It's these issues we're hiding from, mostly out of shame and guilt that we may not deserve, that are holding back Jupiter from making openings for us. The question of "why I feel bad about myself", particularly in comparison to people around you, looms large with this aspect. Most of this is psychic baggage you can easily live without, although setting aside old emotional hurts is never easy to do. Look at the more optimistic parts of your situation and how you fit in, not the old stories of what's wrong with you. It's all part of the big spiritual shake up we're all going through this year, thanks to Uranus and Pluto. Let go and move on!
Saturn is trioctile Chiron on the 29th, the last of 5 such contacts. This series started back on 2010-10-28 (just before the 2010 elections); the 4th contact was on May 11. So let's bring Saturn into this picture. Saturn has been in Libra the last 2 years, so questions of responsibility and proper behavior have been important in relationships for some time now. When this gets mixed in with emotional issues of self worth, things get really murky. Your personal conduct with others should reflect a sense of being an adult that takes care of your own affairs instead of operating from fear or anxiety about what others might think of you. Only then can your relationships flourish and show their value in your life. Again, trioctiles are a stressful aspect, so "owning up" to your life hasn't been an easy task, but hopefully you've made some headway lately. It feels like so much has been left undone...
Pallas is at her retrograde station of 11Ar29 on the 30th. She will back up for 4 months until she reaches her direct station of 22Pi26 on Nov 20. Here's another mental-intuitive planet going retrograde -- strike 3! Pallas is good at strategic planning -- she can practically glance at a situation and figure out how to proceed in the most efficient way possible. If you make plans quickly, without thinking them out fully, you may find yourself in trouble. Be patient! Pallas is also something of an artist deep down inside. If you have something worth saying, take the effort to craft your message in a way that catches other people's attention. Just realize that results may not come easily or quickly these days. Be patient with the process and put in the long term effort. This is not a time to cut corners.