Anonymous Flammarion woodcut (1888). (Source:Wikimedia Commons)

Anonymous Flammarion woodcut (1888). (Source:Wikimedia Commons)


Hello, everyone.

Turbulent barely begins to describe the week ahead, a week so full of challenges and opposing forces that we’ll be called upon to be our very best just to remain centered.  But it’s exciting, too, and I have full faith that we all will step up and take advantage of these energies with courage and enthusiasm.  In fact the entire week is bristling with energy that may feel overwhelming at times but I’ll tell you, we are all up for the challenge.  We’ve been waiting for breakthrough and we are powerful enough and nimble enough to channel these forces beneficially.

Almost every planetary alignment this week is confrontational and the energies cluster around the major squares and oppositions that are the highlight of this summer – the summer of transformation.  While I’ve listed them day by day, each of the energies below will color the entire week with the Eclipse on Saturday lasting even longer.

Monday

The week begins with the Solstice, the point each year where the Sun reaches its most Northern or Southern point and then begins to head in the other direction.*  If the days in your hemisphere have been waxing, they begin to wane; if they’ve been waning they begin to lengthen.  This is a marked turning point in the entire year.  The Sun enters the zodiac sign of Cancer and a major adjustment point is reached.  It’s time to examine the plans you set in motion at the New Year and decide whether to continue, expand, or just scrap the whole thing.

And scrapping the whole thing might just be called for, because once the Sun enters Cancer it meets the conflicting energy of Uranus in Aries.  On the day of the Solstice we’re unusually open to changing direction and the sudden, unpredictable, inciting energy of Uranus in Aries may make us feel that nothing at all is better than the tried and true.  A major change is coming – this may be the day!

Wednesday

Then on Wednesday, that new Cancer Sun meets Jupiter in Aries.  Jupiter in Aries says new, new, expand, travel, learn, there are opportunities everywhere as long as they’re far from here; and the Cancer Sun may just be ready to be carried away.  It’s similar to Monday’s Sun/Uranus square in that the Cancer Sun would love to initiate something new but feels an obligation to be faithful to what has come before.  This could incite a riot within.  It’s time to come back to the theme of the week:  we are up to the challenge to invite in the new without destroying what we’ve built so far.

Thursday

Thursday’s all about our minds and reasoning processes; it asks, can you be reasonable, rational and also tuned in?  With Mercury receiving distinct and different messages from Saturn and Neptune, there’s a way to take advantage of both but it will take flexibility and setting aside preconditions.  When our minds are influenced by Saturn, they form the perfect container for whisperings from the mystical realms but only if you are willing to take those insights seriously and commit them to pen and paper.  With the right vessel, this is the day to store the wisdom of the week, so get that vessel polished and ready to receive!

Friday

Friday is still about our minds, but you may feel that you’ve lost your edge as Mercury transitions into Cancer.  Gone is the incisive wit of Gemini; in its place is a message full of meaning but you’ll probably feel like you’re listening to someone speaking under water.

It’s made doubly, or triply difficult because Mercury in Cancer forms an aspect with Uranus in Aries, which usually means clarity and insight, but Cancer and Aries are about as incompatible as two signs could be.  Our thought processes are emotional and reactive due to Mercury’s placement in Cancer and Uranus is impatient with delays and “feelings.”  Add to this an opposition between the Sun and Pluto, the ultimate signal of a power struggle, and your cup just might boil over.  Take the necessary precautions to be sure you vent this pressure in an appropriate manner and time so you end the day with no regrets.

Saturday

Saturday begins with Mercury and Jupiter in a shooting match and we know who will lose this one.  (See Friday)  Too much information!  You may want to close your office door and turn off the electronic devices to get some peace.  And really that’s a pretty good way to spend the Eclipse.

Today holds the Full Moon with the Moon in Capricorn and the Sun in Cancer.  It’s also a Partial Lunar Eclipse and it’s a whopper!  The crossed energies of the outer planets in play all this summer are involved in this Eclipse, with the Moon at the exact same degree as Pluto in Capricorn.  With this Moon the whole situation gets personal.

We all know the global economy is struggling, that government debt is spiraling out of control, that major businesses are imploding and gasping their last breaths.  But with this Full Moon Eclipse, it hits home.  These energies pour into our most personal lives, into our businesses and families.  Even if you don’t have natal planets directly affected by these massive and conflicting energies, people around you will.  Our collective challenges become personal challenges, and this may be a good thing –  it brings the power to mend the whole into our hands as well.

Sunday

On Sunday you may wish you had stayed in bed.  People want to unburden themselves and you may hear things you wish had been kept underground.  But when Mercury opposes Pluto, as it does today, the secrets will come out.

And Saturn in Virgo is at odds with Neptune in Aquarius.  Saturn takes the blinders off our idealism and relationships we thought were totally supportive may be seen as less so.  Those you thought were your allies may turn out to be “frenemies” and yet, some you thought were overbearing and demanding accountability may turn out to be your true supporters.  If you can discriminate who is who you’ll gain something of lasting value.

Remember, we are equal to these challenges.  It’s our time; let’s do it!

*From a geocentric point of view.

See the sidebar for further discussions about Uranus in Aries, Pluto in Capricorn, and Jupiter in Aries.

For an overview of the month, see the Astro4Business Month Ahead – June 2010

For more info on the planets influencing the week, see

The Sun

The Moon

Mercury

Jupiter

Saturn

Uranus

Neptune

Pluto