We are in a month of shifts, of crisis, of readjustments and the dawning of new possibilities of how to move in the world.
The energy can feel a bit nutty. Eclipses can create seismic shifts, opening up potentials that we will want to seize upon. Then, there is the Mercury Retrograde July 7 – 31 which encourages us to slow down, reconsider, re-evaluate and not rush into committing ourselves to a new direction. The result is a feeling of one foot on the gas pedal and the other on the break and we are in a jerking car.
July promises to be a hot month. This doesn’t just refer to the temperature outside, but the temperature of our lives. There is a stew a-brewing. The fire has been turned up and the stew is bubbling and spurting. Rather than looking for ways to turn down the heat or to take the stew off the burner, we can be curious about what is actually cooking us. The art of cooking is the ability to transform one thing into something else through the medium of fire. There is wisdom in making space for the added heat and look to the transformative potential, the forging of a new way to walk in the world, and the beneficial result that may come from all this stewing.
The tendency to want to call the stew ready or to find ways to turn down the heat may very well interrupt the process of what wants to come to fruition. At various points in the month, we will most likely have moments where feel compelled to give into an impulse, and impulsively initiate an action or decision as ways to lessen the pressure of the heat. Equally seductive, is fueling the fire by overthinking, overreacting, and letting our thoughts run us. This will call the stew to boil over and make a mess that then needs to be cleaned up.
The influence of Mercury Retrograde asks us to hang in and practice patience with the knowledge that the stew needs to more time to simmer. If a decision must be made in July, then make it from a place of centeredness and consideration, and not from an impulsive or spontaneous impulse. Be suspicious of the perception that something requires urgent action. We can pause and ask ourselves: is it truly urgent or can I at least sleep on it and give it another day?
July 2 and July 16 Eclipses within the Capricorn/Cancer axis, activating the Saturn, Pluto conjunction.
Cancer: Our private life home and family.
Capricorn: Responsibility authority and our work in the world.
The constellation of Cancer is the Crab.
When the going gets tough, the crab pulls itself into the protection of its shell and battens down the hatches so it feels safe and defended from the waves crashing over. When the tensions of the world become too much, we likewise look to retreat to the sanctuary of our homes, or bedrooms, and shut the doors to the world. With these eclipses, the tensions find there way into our private lives and innermost sanctuary. Likewise, we engage the world with the desire to protect and defend what we cherish most.
Saturn and Pluto's presence in Capricorn is all about testing the integrity of the rules, authority and sustainability of the culture, government, and institutions that form the status quo of what constitutes our culture.
Rather than point a finger at a political leader or decision-maker, we can give attention to how to shift around our relationship to authority. How does our past experience with authority color or influence our feelings and perception of authority today.
Let us be curious about exploring our integrity in how we hold responsibility, acknowledge where we have compromised ourselves or given away our authority. We can clarify the reasons why we respect or don’t respect another’s authority. July is not necessarily about taking the courageous leap forward, but discovering what the steps we will to take to recalibrate the authority we grant ourselves authority and by extension, the authority we respect and grant another.
Part of what is being teased forth with the Pluto/Saturn conjunction is the understanding that true authority rests in those that are in service to something larger than themselves and are not using it for personal gain. The modes and values of patriarchy are vulnerable to crumbling as Pluto/Saturn move towards an exact conjunction in January 2020. It is not so much about getting rid of authority or hierarchy, but as the influence of patriarchy is wobbling, do we have a clear vision and readiness for a different kind of authority.
With an eclipse, the nodal axis is activated, meaning there is increased capacity during eclipses to transform patterns of the past and move towards a future that is not encumbered or strangled by history. A harsh light is shining on the missteps and sins of patriarchy. It is easy to identify public figures who lack integrity, or to feel powerless because we cannot affect what is happening on the world stage. In truth, taking initiative to shift dynamics that are in our immediate path can require great courage, and we can trust that small actions can cause large ripples.
The Overheated Intellect. A Passionate and Rebellious Mind
The planets of Passion (Mars) and the Rational Mind (Mercury) are traveling together in Leo the first week of July and while Mercury stations and turns retrograde.
It is typical of Mercury stationing retrograde for Mercury’s characteristics to be amplified in our lives, which means our rational minds are on overdrive, as if we have been plugged into an electrical socket. Add Mars to the mix and the mind is heated with passion which is not so rational. Our mind’s are racing to get information, racing to find solutions, racing to create the appropriate argument. We feel an urgency to speak our mind. We feel passionate about what is in our mind, and we are ready for a fight.
As if our poor overthinking mind is not heated up enough, Uranus (rebellion, change) is in hard aspect to Mercury and Mars in Leo. We feel an urge to take a stand, make a statement and to do it loudly and boldly. “The pen is mightier than the sword” is a phrase that can be applied to this energetic combination. Just as a sword can bushwhack a new path or protect what is sacred, it can also needlessly destroy and amplify a fearful situation.
This brings to mind my cat who can sit for hours watching the movement of birds. She is crouched, ready to spring. Likewise, we have been watching whatever situation we have for some time and we feel the readiness to spring forward, to initiate change. Mercury Retrograde cautions us to study the situation a bit longer, research it, re-valuate plans and to think before speaking. We can make effective strides if we refrain from buying into a sense of urgency that may create unwanted consequence by acting too hastily or impulsively.
Why wait when we feel ready, when we feel change is overdo and we are passionate now and ready to engage? Because July is going to bring new information, new potentials and a dawning of something that has not yet come to light.
Give Ourselves to Dreaming
The square between Jupiter (Expansion) and Neptune (Dream) involve two planets most identified with idealism. Together they create an environment ripe for spiritual alignment, great vision and deep inspiration to emerge. With these two planets in a stressful aspect, we are cautioned to keep our feet on the ground so that the kite of our dreams does not float up, away and out of our grasp.
We are encouraged dream of a new way and to dream big, without losing sight or consideration of practical matters that include paying bills and devising a sound plan for making the dream a reality.
Ultimately July is about breaking things open, our ways of thinking, speaking, our ways of relating to authority. It is not necessarily the time to make concrete decisions, unless we must, and then to make them from a calm and considered place. More information and understanding will emerge this month for us to set a course of action once the eclipses are over and Mercury has turned direct the beginning of August.
Let the heat break us open to discover what has been hidden in plain sight and there all along.