What You Can Do Today
Mars enters Virgo this week (June 17, 2025, 1:35 am PDT), and as a proud owner of a Mars in Virgo in my birth chart, I can attest to its virtues. This Mars is self-reliant, competent, and dedicated to quality work and attention to detail.
But every Mars has its scratchy side, and it’s the small things that aggravate us when Mars is in Virgo: the poor use of punctuation, the waiter who mixes up the lunch order, the friend who is always late. If you find yourself a little more sarcastic, sharp-tongued, and critical while Mars is here (through August 6), you’re probably under-exercised and overwhelmed by repetitive tasks. Organize your work in small, bit-sized pieces, and schedule regular breaks. Take Mars in Virgo out for a walk in nature. Whenever you find much to criticize about the world, stay busy and get some exercise. And rather than fretting about tomorrow, keep your eyes on what you can do today.
Least Wonderful
I’m not sure I can explain why, but sometimes I find myself awash in nostalgia for some of the least wonderful moments of my life. Not the truly tragic ones, mind you. Just snapshots from an unhappy relationship or a vexing job, perhaps, or from a financially strained youth.
I find this weird wistfulness a pretty good analogy for the Pisces Last Quarter Moon (June 18, 2025, 12:19 pm PDT). Each month, the Moon’s Last Quarter phase directs our gaze backward, and the Pisces Last Quarter heart remembers every hurt as well as every moment of ecstasy. Over time, when past pain dominates the story that we tell about ourselves, it prevents us moving forward.
The Sun in Gemini rules with the head, but the Moon in Pisces leads with the heart. It’s the sign of letting go, of faith and forgiveness. Maybe that nostalgia I feel is just a final step in processing – of assimilating all the psychic nutrients from an experience before letting it go.
This Last Quarter marks the midpoint between the March 13/14 Lunar (23º56’32” Virgo) and the Sep. 21 Solar (Sep. 21, 29º05′ Virgo) eclipses. Eclipses have a way of closing doors, in order to encourage us to move through newly-opened windows. Find the old feelings that are holding you back. Bow to them, then let them go.
Making Space
Jonny and I have a deal, the sort that’s common among people who share a home: Anytime a new coffee mug is brought into the house, another from our extensive collection has to be sent on its way. Likewise, when Jupiter comes to visit, backing up a huge truck full of treasure at our door, we have to find space for it. And Neptune is happy to oblige by taking some things away with the tide – even things we’d prefer not to part with.
This week’s Jupiter/Neptune square (June 18, 2025, 8:16 pm PDT) is the opening action point in a cycle that began at the April 2022 Jupiter/Neptune conjunction. This square moves us – pushes us – farther along the 13-year journey that began with that conjunction, a journey of hope, vision, and enthusiasm. Now, Jupiter’s optimism asserts itself. The truck stops by with a load of treasure, and dreams of future adventure. But the garage is full of mementos from old adventures and outgrown dreams, and we’re pushed to let the tide take some of them away, whether we’re ready or not.
Midway
Midway through the calendar year, my planner is looking a bit tattered, with corners curling up and untidy pencil smudges and scrawls. Let’s call it a metaphor for the way our New Year’s plans begin to look a little more chaotic by the time June rolls around. At the Capricorn Solstice in late December, filled with determination and hope, we draft bold resolutions for a year of success and prosperity. Then, the Cancer Solstice (June 20, 2025, 7:42 pm PDT) marks the year’s midway reevaluation point. Even if we’ve been underachievers in the first half of the year, there may still be time to reach our goals.
But we can’t speed our way through this transition. Just as the Sun at the summer solstice appears to stand still in its relentless climb to midday heights, then pauses for a moment before it moves the other way, that is our job at midyear: to stand still for a moment, look around, and take stock of where we are. It’s usually too late in the year to start from scratch in an entirely new direction and hope to achieve anything by year’s end. But if we take the time to look back over our shoulders and reevaluate our progress, we can then refine our goals to fit the six months that are left, reviewing our plans and filling in the missing gaps.
Translator
If a task needs doing, Virgo can figure out how. And as Mars in Virgo makes a sextile to Jupiter (June 22, 2025, 3:32 am PDT, 2º51′ Virgo and Cancer), there is no soulful adventure Jupiter in Cancer can propose that Mars in Virgo cannot help us achieve.
For example, Jupiter in Cancer might want to build an addition on your house, and Mars in Virgo is exactly the guy you want for that job. Jupiter in Cancer has dreams of the heart, and Mars in Virgo can weigh in on the practical viability of those dreams. “We want the house to be bigger, but also cozier,” a homeowner might say. And Mars in Virgo somehow knows exactly how to translate that vague wish into square footage, lumber, nails, and permits.
Go ahead and dream a big dream this week. Mars in Virgo is standing by to help make it come true.
Head On
As the Sun in Cancer squares Saturn in fiery Aries (June 22, 2025, 11:36 am PDT, 1º35’ Cancer and Aries), our efforts to relax and enjoy the sociable delights of this temperate season are thwarted by limitations, obligations, and a nagging sense of unease. Saturn is the influence that attempts to shave away the less helpful edges of our character, and he doesn’t have a lot of time for play and relaxation.
Saturn in Aries has an authoritative, almost parental relationship with any planet in Cancer. The Cancerian “child” in us is affectionate, nostalgic, and a little bit shy, and Saturn in fearless Aries is the parent that pushes us out into the unknown to learn to defend ourselves. If a shy Cancer child comes home from school, crying because it’s being bullied, the Saturn in Aries parent gives him boxing lessons. The mother who is raising a toddler while trying keep a business going gets no comfort from Saturn in Aries, just a tough pep talk about fighting hard for new clients. “If you want to protect yourself and provide for those you love,” declares Saturn in Aries, “You’ve got to learn how to get outside your safety zone and fight.”
Writing and images © 2017-25 by April Elliott Kent
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