Lynn’s Skywatch! Planetary Illuminations for July are posted

To get your own subscription, which includes a translation into simple English from the original astrologese, please sign up in the side bar or on my website here.

Meanwhile, here is the introduction to get you started:

As July begins, Venus has just turned direct and is moving forward again after her short retrograde period. The Transit of Venus is behind us, as is the first exact formation of the Uranus/Pluto square which actually began last year and will continue through 2014.

You can read more about the square formation between Uranus and Pluto here if this is new to you. The two planets are still only 17 minutes of arc from the exact alignment, and it will be the middle of July before they really begin to separate. So throughout the first few weeks of July expect for this conflict between the structures of the past (Pluto in Capricorn) and the new ideas and patterns of individual self-expression (Uranus in Aries) to continue, especially between the 11th and 22nd or so when Mars enters the picture and acts as a trigger for the unexpected to occur. More on that in the planetary details below.

The Uranus/Pluto dynamic is intensified by the fact that Uranus will turn retrograde mid-month so its motion has slowed to a standstill in preparation for the change of direction. When a planet changes direction its influence becomes more insistent, and with Uranus we are dealing with energies of surprise, radical changes and a journey into the unknown. Pluto is also retrograde now so both of these behemoths are urging us to look back over our lives to see where we have stalled the progress of our own evolution – where do we need to break free (Uranus), what do we need to let go of (Pluto).

Mercury will also turn retrograde this month, creating the usual communication snafus but providing us with opportunities to go back and perfect areas in our communication that have been lacking. Mercury retrograde is excellent for writers and is a good time to purge and release small reminders of the past that we can’t take into our future.

Throughout July we have a severe shortage of the earth element. Mars is just finishing its long journey through Virgo and once it moves into Libra on July 3rd there will be no planet in an earth sign other than Pluto. Earth is the element that provides stability and offers comfort and security. It will be difficult to ground the tremendous amount of energy that the Uranus/Pluto square is creating, so we will have to create and participate in our own grounding rituals. Spending time in the outdoors, gardening, communing with nature, and with our own body – all of these things will help us to counterbalance the lack of earth in the skies.

Share

Venus and Jupiter direct and the Taurus Full Moon

Venus Jupiter directThe two planets of good fortune, Venus and Jupiter, have both been traveling retrograde and in the next few days they will be changing direction, moving forward again in what astrologers call “direct motion.”  Planets obviously don’t orbit in reverse, but we observe the movement of the planets from our perspective on earth which creates some anomalies in their travel patterns.

When planets slow down and make a “station” before they change direction their influence is quite powerful, almost as though they are shining a laser beam in our direction.  Venus and Jupiter are called benefic planets because they are considered to have a positive influence on the human experience.  Venus is the planet of love and attraction, and Jupiter governs good fortune, confidence and optimism.  When these planets are retrograde we often experience either doubt and worry as we look to the past and re-evaluate our problems, or else we can become bogged down from decisions that resulted from misplaced confidence and trust.

But retrograde planets don’t doom us to misfortune.  Venus retrograde periods are times to pay attention to the way we relate to others, and to re-evaluate the relationships that we have with people in our lives.  Some we may want to eliminate, and some we may want to re-focus our attention towards.  Jupiter retrograde periods provide an opportunity to free ourselves from restrictions (either situations or ideas) that hold us back from being able to expand ourselves and continue to grow.  It’s true that these are not always the optimum periods for business and wealth creation, although the past few weeks have seen the US stock market rise to its highest point in three years, largely due to the continuing conjunction of Jupiter with Uranus.  But any time we slow down and take a look at our life and our experiences with the intention of learning more about ourselves, we benefit in the end.

Both Jupiter and Venus are connected to wealth and money and we are already seeing some reversals in the markets due to concerns over debt levels around the world, especially in the US, Greece and Ireland.

The Taurus Full Moon at the 29th degree will follow on the heels of the direct turn of Venus and Jupiter, and since Taurus is ruled by Venus and is concerned with matters of material security, including financial security, money and finance are of paramount importance over the next week or so.

This is a good time to explore your own feelings of limitation where money and comfort is concerned, and find new ways of expanding your own beliefs of what is possible in all areas of your life.  As we move towards this Taurus Full Moon and Venus and Jupiter shine their laser beam of attraction power on us, we can generate a great deal of attraction power ourselves.

Share