Welcome to a month filled with lots of thoughts and emotions thanks to the radiant Sun transiting Gemini and several planets making their way in the watery realm of Cancer. The Gemini Sun shifts our focus from our basic survival needs to our ideas, thoughts, and communications – the stuff that creates our reality. The act of creation is first an idea – an inspiration, a moment of recognition. Then, if we choose to acknowledge it and hold it for a few moments longer, it becomes a thought. Once it is a thought, we then have a choice to as to whether or not we take action(s) to manifest it. That action may be physical action, or we may formulate words to communicate it to others through written or spoken language, or both. Then once we have acted and/or communicated in alignment with our thought, we’ve put that energy out into the world and given others the power to share in its manifestation. It has the opportunity to become real once we have allowed it to be revealed and released through action and communication.
Now let’s talk about emotions and feelings-- as the month unfolds we find ourselves being submerged into the depth of sensitivity and passion. This all begins on June 4th as Mars enters maternal Cancer, the sign of his fall. Our cosmic soldier isn’t so keen on staying at home, hiding behind Mother’s skirt. Cancer is a water sign. It’s emotional and has a very long memory. Mars is all about being assertive, forceful, competitive, and active. It's the force that puts us in motion and gets us what we want. When that energy moves into the sign of Cancer, an intuitive sign that runs on emotion, you may not have a clue what it is you are trying to get, but you're darn well going to get it! It's sort of like punching your way out of a gunny sack.
By nature, Cancer is not all that assertive, but this is a combination that can give us tremendous energy to build our own nest and move toward what we feel we need. Don't be surprised to find yourself spending a lot of time cleaning and fixing and building things around the house. Even so, for the next several weeks tempers may flare over issues of feeling uncared for. When Mars enters this zone, it shifts into "how about a little appreciation around here?" Suddenly "Family Feud" is more than just a game. As we sulk in the corner, recovering from our injured feelings, we'll get to see firsthand what it means to jump into the fray and struggle for authority. By the end of its time in Cancer, the forcefulness of Mars will begin to mellow and we will emerge a little stronger and a little more confident. And with any luck, we'll emerge a little more caring too.
The atmosphere may be easier around June 6th as both Mercury and Venus move into their home signs of Gemini and Taurus respectively. Now there’s an urge to communicate along with a desire to savor simple pleasures. A quiet night in with good food and good conversation works perfectly for these ingresses. Given the fact that love becomes a verb for Venus in Taurus, wordy declarations don’t do it for us at this time. It’s all about show rather than tell but at least we have got the lines of communication open between us. On June 9th, Jupiter ends its retrograde motion, moving again direct in Libra and helping us to increase harmony in our relationships.
On the same day that Jupiter awakens there is a Full Moon in Sagittarius. Normally a Sagittarius Full Moon isn’t as serious and emotional as a normal Full Moon. This is because Sagittarius rules optimism, expansion, new experiences, and wants to focus on the good in life. However, this lunation is conjunct Saturn and square to Neptune so it could feel like we’re receiving mixed messages. It may be necessary to curb our idealism before moving ahead. This doesn’t have to stifle our enthusiasm or sense of adventure. Sometimes there is wisdom in putting all of your eggs into one basket, despite what the old saying says. The problem with Sagittarius is that wanting to do everything can lead to being split in too many different directions. Saturn’s conjunction to the Full Moon suggests we narrow our range of vision to ensure what was started is completed. On the positive side, a beautiful aspect with Uranus brings random support and brilliant ideas.
On June 20-21, the emotional realm gets turned up a notch as the Sun enters Cancer marking the Summer Solstice (Northern Hemisphere) and the longest day of the year. When the Sun moves into Cancer, watch the birds as they carry twig after twig to their chosen site and build a nest where they can bring their babies into the world. This is instinctive behavior, built upon many seasons of repetition. In Cancer, the Sun’s ego-centered energy combines with the reflective, hidden energy of Luna. The past is important to Cancer, as is the concept of nurturing – both self and others. Cancer is a cardinal water sign, ruled by the Moon, meaning that it is active, yet runs on emotions. Think about the ocean and the tremendous depth of the water. Yet the power of the Moon pulls that water from one side of the earth to the other as she moves through the night sky.
This emotional theme continues over the next few days as Mercury moves into Cancer on June 21st, and the New Moon in Cancer on June 23rd amplifies this even more. When Mercury is visiting Cancer our reasoning process moves into "feelings" mode as thoughts just pour in on their own. You'll find your mind taking a lot of logical side trips, as you bounce from river to ocean and back to a little lake before settling down on the porch. Picture the crab and how it walks sideways toward its target. Mercury is about thinking, so it's time to think sideways. It takes a little longer, but the trip is nicer. Mercury will also conjunct the Cancer New Moon. This emotional New Moon is also opposing Saturn, making a sextile to Uranus, and Squaring Chiron. Full Moons in water signs tend to pack an enhanced emotional punch but this one as the Moon is full in its own sign, takes the cake. Lots of tears are likely, a potential for happy tears included. The aspects with Saturn and Chiron increase the chance for the bringing up of old wounds but the aspect to Uranus sprinkles in an increased likelihood of a sudden insight that helps to bring healing.
The end of the month sees some tension building with Mars moving in to create a volatile t-square pattern (stressful) with Jupiter (square exact on June 25th) and Pluto (opposition July 2nd). Mars square Jupiter alone can blow things out of proportion. The over-confidence of this aspect is its downfall as we can over-promise and end up being overwhelmed! With Mars edging towards the opposition to Pluto, this can create a forceful, even violent picture. Judgmental attitudes are riding high. This is religious fervor, intractable belief. I’m right and you are so very wrong! We may see some of these themes playing out in the headlines, especially around June 24th and June 28th when the t-square is triggered by the Moon and Mercury respectively. All of us would be wise to monitor our responses and resist the urge to leap to conclusions.
On the positive side, great gains are possible this month with self-belief and self control. The saving grace astrologically is that Mars also makes a trine (favorable) to forgiving Neptune on June 26th so we have an escape route, a get out clause if you will! This spiritual warrior aspect encourages us to work with what unites us rather than divides us. Acting (Mars) on our intuition (Neptune) rather than our fears (Pluto) will be paramount as to how these patterns play out.
