Cliff Hanger—Full Moon in Capricorn—July 21st.

Cliff Hanger—Full Moon in Capricorn—July 21st.

Reality is one of the possibilities I cannot afford to ignore. Leonard Cohen.

July dazzles us with a timeless expanse of placid blue sky, a glut of sport, the fizz of prosecco and picnics in the park. Stunned by  sunlight, hordes of visitors amble slowly along promenades or slump, lightheaded in deck chairs on talcum beaches.

The long languid days of summer bring some relief from the hard edges of reality, yet the sky story speaks of simmering tension, dramatic cliff hanger moments and sweeping epiphanies.

Mercury makes an erratic square to Uranus from July 19^th to 24^th, the harbringer of unexpected news, upsets, sleeplessness, and nervous tension, and for some, a change of perspective. Mercury enters its shadow cycle (July 16^th– September 11^th) turning Retrograde in Virgo from August 4^th– 24^th.

Mercury Retrograde cycles correspond with upsets or delays in travel and communication, technology glitches, and an over-heated nervous system. When Mercury moves Retrograde through Virgo, the devil is in the detail, so fact-check and have that plan B.

On July 21^st, the sun in the very last degrees of Cancer illuminates the round face of the moon in the final degrees of Capricorn, signifying the culmination of a cycle. Pluto lies secreted at the heart of this lunation, an invisible reminder of painful endings, those circumstances that leave us devastated, depleted, where we feel there is nothing more we can do, but simply surrender. Pluto, now Retrograde at 0° Aquarius, charges this cosmic energy point. It is the same degree that marked a significant shift for humanity when Saturn and Jupiter conjoined at 0° Aquarius on the mid-winter solstice of 2020. This alliance of Saturn and Jupiter marked the end of an era and the precious seeding of a new vision, a new geologic epoch that will endure in the body of our earth long after this civilization has crumbled.  Margaret J. Wheatley author of Restoring Sanity: Practices to Awaken Generosity, Creativity, and Kindness in Ourselves and Our Organizations says, “as a culture, we don’t honour or do well with death. Collectively, we’re approaching the dissolution and death phase… there’s too much of everything wrong, which is always the critique from every civilization that has collapsed.”

The sun slips into Leo, opposite this 0° point today, and an impatient Mars makes a trine to Pluto at the same degree, underscoring the importance of this degree point, for which the enigmatic Sabian Symbol reads: “Building survival structures within our group, both physical and institutional, provides a measure of stability.”

With this high voltage energy careening through the heavens, those of us with planets 24-29° Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius may sense a charge of energy or experience liberating or jarring “wake-up” calls that change the trajectory of our lives.

Mars, planet of war and courage has been moving close to Uranus since July 12^th and will remain in tight orb till July 19^th. This flagrant Uranus/Mars alignment has reverberated through the news and perhaps in our own lives. This is a lightning-fast, bolt-from-the-blue energy, both creative and destructive, escorting chaos and innovation.

The assassination attempt on Donald Trump was intensified by the malevolent the presence of Algol, a fixed star charged with passion and potential ruthlessness, according to astrologer and fixed star virtuoso, Bernadette Brady. This energy accompanies sudden, often shocking events that ricochet through our lives, upending our ordinary routines, shattering our best laid plans, sending a shockwave of lightning bolt energy that tosses us over the cliff edge, sets ablaze those aspects of our personality that might have lain dormant for years.

In Tarot symbolism, Uranus is The Tower card that accompanies sudden destruction, upheaval as we are forced to redirect our lives and rebuild in unfamiliar ways.

The confident appointment of JD Vance as Trump’s Vice-Presidential pick embodies this Uranian energy. Vance who has a theatrical Leo sun and Venus in Leo conjunct Trump’s bellicose Mars, will be the recipient of Uranus’s awakening. He’s likely to go straight for the jugular and will be a tactical opponent (his steamy Mars in Scorpio is also activated by this Uranus transit this year.)  He will also carry this ideological Uranian energy from the caul of the collective onto the political stage.

Uranus pivots Retrograde from September 1^st to January 30^th, 2025, so will repeat this conjunction to Trump’s midheaven (exact in December and end of March) and square his Mars in proud Leo (end of July, early October and early May). Meanwhile, Pluto squares President Joe Biden’s moon all through this year, and volatile Uranus opposes his Scorpio sun and Venus all this year through to early 2025. The months ahead will be challenging for him.

Planets to note will be Mars, now moving through loquacious Gemini from July 20^th, ratcheting up the pervasive entitlement and exceptionalism that is rampant in social media. Jupiter, posited in Gemini, the sign of its detriment, begins a series of sobering squares to Saturn as a long-term issue may finally reach a cliff edge and we find a practical way of dealing with uncertainty, or limited personal or financial circumstances.

Saturn (self-discipline, responsibility, obstacles and authority) is still immovable at 19° Pisces till July 22^nd and continues its slow Retrograde journey till November 15^th as we wrestle with a sense of inertia, face financial hardship or loneliness, as we manage our expectations.

In the silence of space, the slow cycles of the planets reflect another facet of our human story. Upheavals yet to come, transformations yet to be fully understood, a long ending of a chapter in our life, sudden changes of fortune, shocking awakenings, or the quiet slow blossoming of something new.

As we prepare to descend into the valleys and climb the mountains that are always ahead, this full moon in the sign of the Mer-Goat reminds us to be sure-footed and patient, to prepare well. This moon signifies a culmination of a cycle, a coming to light of something that might not have been clear. As we start at the bottom and begin our climb, with love in our hearts and kindness in our actions, Howard Zinn reminds us “if we do act in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand, utopian future.The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvellous victory.”

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