Happy Cancer Season! July begins with a much-needed dose of emotional clarity as Mercury in sensitive Cancer meets the sun on the 1st. This is called a cazimi—a Latin word meaning “in the heart of the sun”—and it really does get us to the heart of the matter. Soon after, the full moon in Capricorn on the 3rd helps us determine practical ways to implement what was revealed. Unfortunately, these bright and optimistic vibes do not last as July takes a turn for the intense after the full moon.
Mars enters Virgo on the 10th followed by Mercury entering Leo on the 11th. Mars in Virgo is typically a productive energy (this is the placement of organization gurus and project managers), but it comes with frustration this time. Mars spends most of the month approaching an opposition with Saturn in Pisces, an aspect simply described as a major roadblock. It goes exact on the 20th making the middle part of this month the tensest time of the entire summer!
There’s also an aspect of changing fate as the lunar nodes switch signs on the 17th for the first time since January 2022. The nodes bring eclipses and thus major beginnings and endings. As the nodes switch from fixed signs (Taurus and Scorpio) to cardinal signs (Aries and Libra), the changes will no longer come slowly, but with rapid and initiating energy. Things that came up around the solar eclipse in Aries on April 20th come back into focus. Relief comes with the new moon in Cancer on the same day which is a chance to go inward and reflect on where we’re going next.
Yet another complicating factor of July is Venus retrograde! Venus goes retrograde in Leo on the 22nd through September 3rd and inspires us to accept shifting desires and claim the love we deserve. This is a process of review and reflection. What we want at the beginning of the summer will not be what we want by summer’s end. The retrograde also starts just as Leo season begins—Happy birthday to all of our Leo Queens from Kim Cattrall to J. Lo to Meghan Markle.