Highlights for June 17-23, 2019

…Including moderation

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Passionate rhetoric and cooler heads

This week begins with a Full Moon at 25.53 Sagittarius (June 17, 1:31 am PDT), which I’ve explored in some depth here. But I will point out that across the wheel from the Full Moon on the Sabian Symbol, A flag bearer in battle stands the Sun on 26 Gemini: Winter frost in the woods. The two represent opposite sides of a coin: the fiery heat of rhetorical battle that is often present with Sagittarius, and the cool, detached analytical approach of Gemini. Somewhere between the two lies the proper balance, as we’re reminded by the Full Moon’s square to Neptune on the degree for 19 Pisces, where “a master instructs his disciple.” We’re all students at this Full Moon, looking for the right mixture of passionate hearts and cool heads.

Everybody dance

Most the astrological ink this year is being spilled on the convergence of Saturn and Pluto, and rightly so. Second to that is probably Jupiter’s ongoing square to Neptune throughout 2019. Less heralded, but instructive, is Saturn’s series of sextiles to Neptune – the latest of which is this week (June 18, 4:47 am PDT). Where Jupiter and Neptune seem determined to change each other’s minds about life’s persistent questions, Saturn and Neptune are in a more supportive dance. When these strange bedfellows decide to work together, they can make life much lovelier.

For instance, I really, truly am a terrible dancer. I have no clue what to do with my feet. But had I lived just a century earlier, when dances had prescribed steps that were easily learned and predictably executed, I suspect I’d have loved dancing. It’s all about which you’re more comfortable with. If it’s Saturn, you like knowing what the rules are and can be endlessly creative within their boundaries. If it’s Neptune, you like a more free-form approach. This year, with Saturn and Neptune in collaborative sextile, each can borrow a bit from the other, and everyone gets to enjoy the dance.

A dynamic duo and a formidable foe

Mercury and Mars meet in a conjunction on the same day (June 18, 9:05 am PDT). Ideally, Mars gives energy, focus, and direction to Mercury’s thoughts, intellect, and ideas. But as always with Mars, there is a prickly and angry side. Generally both Mercury and Mars are likely to suffer in silence when they’re in Cancer; but put them both together and they can be surprisingly contentious.

Pitted against Pluto the next day (June 19, Mercury opp. Pluto 3:56 am PDT and Mars opp. Pluto at 8:26 pm PDT), however, the dynamic duo face an overwhelming foe. If Mercury can manage to distract Pluto/Godzilla long enough for Mars to drive a well-aimed sword into him, they might live to fight another day. But they’re likely to get roughed up a bit in the process – and if it’s you trying to take on big, dark forces, proceed with a bit of caution. We risk getting squashed, or else becoming the thing we’re trying to fight.

The unveiling

The Cancer Solstice is on June 21 (8:54 am PDT); in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s the day when the Sun pauses (solstice means “sun stationary”) in what has been a 6-month trajectory toward ever-higher positions in the midday sky. It’s deserved a bit of a rest, and on the solstice we’d do well to pause and contemplate what we’ve accomplished in the first part of the year.

Just an hour and a half or so earlier that same day, Neptune stations retrograde (June 21, 7:36 am PDT). Like the other trans-Saturnian planets, it’s retrograde for roughly half of each year, alternating in a sort of exaggerated version of day and night. Retrogrades of these slow-moving planets are mostly noticed, I find, in the few days either side of the station. In the case of Neptune turning retrograde, I find these are moments when things are often unveiled, blind spots are removed and we are revealed to ourselves in new and often surprising ways. (Neptune sill station direct on Nov. 27, 2019.)

Moderation in all things…

MThe nature of an opposition is such that it’s usually revealed to us by someone or something outside us, playing the role of one planet as we inhabit the other. As Venus makes its annual opposition to Jupiter (June 23, 9:45 am PDT), you might find yourself playing Venus in one scenario and Jupiter in another. Neither is a bad role to play – both planets tend to be associated with a certain amount of fun and fortune. But while Venus is content to enjoy its creature comforts in the moment – to sip a perfectly-paired wine with an exquisite meal, say – Jupiter will quaff the whole bottle and start ranting about the meaning of life while waving a turkey drumstick. Basically, this is an opposition that pits balance itself against the tendency to overdo. On the other hand, remember what Oscar Wilde, a Venus-ruled Libra with the Sun square Jupiter, advised: “Moderation in all things…including moderation.”

©2019  April Elliott Kent