All dates are UT so may vary in your time zone
July is a month of deep inner movement which, like a quake far below the
earth’s crust, may well shake foundations, but is less likely to bring
the structures of our lives crashing down. With up to six retrogrades
throughout the month, two eclipses (one also a Supermoon) and Mars still
on the South Node, our internal world is in the spotlight while the
external one may disappoint. This is a time of profound and sometimes
hard truths; of unrelenting forces of change which penetrate our psyches
to reach the most intransigent parts of the shadow self. If we cling to
falsehoods for security or resist the current evolutionary arc which
emphasises the fertile complexities of darkness, we will struggle. But
when we allow that darkness to deepen and enrich us, we can know peace
like never before. Sometimes we must simply be endarkened, not
enlightened, to know the truth.
This month emphasises the correlation between inner and outer. Shifts
in perspective will bring about changes in circumstance, revealing just
how deeply the observer impacts the event. There is no such thing as a
‘pure’ happening, only experience to which we assign meaning that makes
sense of a complex world. But that ‘sense’ isn’t necessarily true. A
semi-sextile between Chiron in Aries and Uranus in Taurus throughout
July provides ample opportunity to observe the impact of our attitude
upon life’s unfolding. Chiron demands an assertive response to
challenge. It doesn’t have time to wallow in self-pity or detach into
premature transcendence. It simply wants us to get over ourselves and
move on! Combined with Uranus’s unremitting assault on the most
inflexible parts of the psyche (which often harbour our deepest fears),
this is a potent alliance which fosters new ways to respond to old
problems and awakens the possibility for change where it’s long overdue.
Throughout July we can look fear in the eye, stand firm and refuse to
be diminished. It’s okay to feel it. Everyone does. It’s completely
natural. But it helps to know it as well as feel it. Notice its truths
and its lies. Feel its heightened senses or its feathery fingers around
your throat. Know that fear is part of you, not an external invader. We
create fear with the stories we conjure about life, ourselves and other
people, so pay attention to its triggers now. Where do you feel it in
your body? Which thoughts and beliefs generate it and which help it
subside? What’s the difference between healthy fear that protects your
boundaries and diminishing fear that reduces your ability to make
decisions and take an active part in life? Do you fear fear itself,
acting obsessively to avoid encountering it at all?
Self-doubt may also be rife this month. We may feel lost or devoid of
direction. But again, it’s okay to feel this way. It’s all part of the
internal recalibration taking place. Doubt is often characterised as a
hindrance, a limiting weakness. But right now it’s a subtle force of
change, calling into question false certainties, and challenging
assumptions. It introduces the new by dissolving investment in the old.
Doubt creates space and the opportunity to look again at something so
familiar we barely see it at all.
July begins with Mercury on the North Node until 5
th,
opposing Mars on the South Node. Interaction will get us a lot further
than insistence! If you don’t like what’s happening around you, open
lines of communication and begin a dialogue rather than stubbornly
digging in your heels, insisting you know best. Be clear about what you
want but stay cool when others seek different outcomes. Mercury turns
retrograde later this month, providing plenty of opportunity to review
and rethink. Whilst there might be a sense of urgency as the month
begins, there’s actually more time than we think to reach an agreement
that serves everyone, not just the few.
On
3rd July Chiron in Aries and Saturn in
Capricorn form a square which lasts until the end of September. This
square initiates us into deep time, where change takes as long as it
takes and occurs in an instant; where all is perfectly whole and forever
fragmented. Saturn in Capricorn oversees the passage of clock and
calendar time, delivering outcomes and consequences from one moment to
the next. Chiron in Aries steps outside of time, delivering
rectification in the blink of an eye and new beginnings before the old
has become dust. We arrive in this deep time of Chiron – which brings
lightening-strike deliverance from long-term pain – by grace, not will;
by faith, not intention. Saturn keeps our feet firmly planted in the
‘real’ world of responsibility, work and effort. It holds us to account,
insisting we take charge of our lives. Chiron points to the mystery
beyond Saturn’s pragmatism. We enter this mystery when we soften around
life’s challenges, release the need to be in control and surrender to a
universe which disregards our personal plans in favour of its own. The
world still has its call upon us and we remain beholden to this human
realm, but our spirit is free to connect across time with deeper truths
that initiate us into a more vital relationship with the essence of life
itself.
As the energy of this square intensifies in the coming weeks we’re
drawn into the complexities of time and its evolutionary impact beyond
the everyday. We may, for example, go to bed one night profoundly
different to the person we were when we awoke. The very fabric of our
life may be torn asunder by inner shifts that occur in a single day. Or a
long-standing situation of great challenge may, in the blink of an eye,
reveal its own solution hidden in plain sight just waiting for eyes to
see. This square offers both challenge and hope: the challenge of
stepping outside our ordered existence into no time and all time, and
the hope of release from the twists and turns of our tiny mind which can
make our days interminable and our nights hard to endure.
Chiron begins five months retrograde on
5th July,
bringing the number of retrograde planets to six (Mars, Jupiter, Saturn,
Neptune and Pluto being the other five). With so many retrogrades our
energy is best invested in our inner life and not the outer world.
Whilst we must still keep the plates of our lives spinning, we can be in
the world but not of it for a while, allowing its hooks and seductions
to fall away while we attend to the well-being of our soul.
Between 5th and 11th July
Neptune lends its support through a trine to the Sun, encouraging a
gentle and compassionate response to life, softening us as we bump
against its hurdles, helping us yield and in doing so stay strong.
Between 6th and 12th July
Jupiter squares Mercury. In Leo, Mercury identifies deeply with personal
opinion and engages with the world in a highly subjective way. Jupiter
in Scorpio demands deeper exploration of the inner drives underpinning
personal perspective. During this square we cannot get away with
‘because I said so’ or ‘don’t do as I do, do as I say’. Rigorous honesty
is required, as is unflinching attention to our deeper motivations.
With Mercury entering its retrograde ‘shadow’ on
7th July,
consideration of what we say, why and how we say it becomes
increasingly important, continuing to be so until the beginning of
September.
Pluto opposes the Sun
between 9th and 15th July, replacing the yielding energy of Neptune’s trine with something altogether more intense! Occurring as an
eclipse season begins on
10th,
we’re challenged to both own our power and relinquish it in equal
measure. When action is needed, take it. When surrender is necessary, do
it. The key lies in knowing the difference, for the times we need to
surrender often feel like we should act, and sometimes when we need to
act we’d rather surrender and let life (often in the guise of other
people!) make decisions on our behalf. Pluto opposing the Sun confronts
us with the issue of power, how we use it, where and why. Do we struggle
to maintain control over others to stop them changing us? Do we deny
our power, preferring a victim stance that absolves us of all
responsibility, leaving us forever disappointed but always ‘blame free’?
Do we focus so intensely on controlling the physical realm that we
forget everyday life is a metaphor for something altogether more
mysterious? This opposition confronts us with our influence on the
unfolding of life and the extent to which we create our reality versus
reality shaping us.
Also on
10th July Venus enters Virgo and
Jupiter turns direct in Scorpio. This Venus finds joy in small things
easily overlooked: the nuances of a single moment, the subtle dynamics
that change the shade of an experience. She finds beauty in the minutiae
so often missed and helps us do the same, while Jupiter illuminates the
interplay of conscious and unconscious forces in our lives. Jupiter in
Scorpio knows no fear. It simply seeks penetrating truth and passionate
experience to foster deeper roots and more expansive aspirations. Each
in their own unique way, both Venus in Virgo and Jupiter in Scorpio
appreciate the necessity of light and dark, shadow and illumination,
making them valuable allies during the eclipses to come.
13th July sees the first of them: a
solar eclipse in the 21
st degree of Cancer opposed by Pluto and occurring at a
supermoon.
This promises to be an intense eclipse with the power to shake deeply
our internal foundations, especially those upon which we rely without a
second thought. Emotional sensitivity will be greatly heightened as we
encounter aspects of the self previously ignored or denied. Events may
bring them to the surface, but they’re just as likely to emerge of their
own accord, as consciousness expands to embrace the shadow self. Solar
eclipses often augur unexpected events and this one is no exception, but
this time the events may be largely internal. Our sense of identity,
purpose and meaning may shift dramatically and with little warning, if
not around the actual eclipse, during the months to come. What was, not
so long ago, worth fighting for may lose its seductive charm to reveal
an empty core. We may discover our motivation is not our own but instead
co-opted from those who’ve left their footprints in our psyche without
our being aware. Previously enjoyed kinship may feel a lot less like
home, threatened by the emotions and impulses arising within.
A concomitant Grand Trine in Earth formed by Uranus, Saturn and Venus between
11th and 14th July
will anchor us amidst any eclipse storms. Facilitating pragmatic
responsiveness, it provides the resilience needed to shift intransigent
emotions and behaviours when it’s their time to go. If the unexpected
strikes stand firm, stay strong and know there are forces all around
that will help you endure even the most dangerous and intimidating
storms right now.
A quarter Moon in Libra on
19th July marks the halfway point between the solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse on 27
th.
Forming a T Square with the Sun and Eris, it affirms that the strongest
relationships are built on a foundation of emotional independence
coupled with courageous intimacy. We do not surrender to the other but
to the relationship itself, whatever form it takes, allowing it to shape
and change us even as we bring our own unique spirit and vitality to
its formation. In the midst of an intense eclipse season, taking care of
relationships is paramount, for in them we find and provide strength,
even as it is equally vital that we stand apart when necessary and face
life alone.
The Sun begins its month-long journey through its own sign of Leo on
22nd July,
lifting us out of heavy emotion into a more buoyant state of mind. On
the same day, together with Uranus and Mars, it begins to form a T
square which remains until 28
th. T Squares always come with
pent-up energy. All the more so when Uranus and Mars are involved! They
augur both intense creativity and destructive frustration, so we have an
important choice to make: Do we respond to life’s provocations with
stubborn assertions of our right to call the shots, or do we allow the
unassailable force of life itself to take charge, flooding us with
creative potential we could never conjure simply by sheer force of human
will? Uranus in Taurus, at the apex of this T Square, is mobilised to
shift the most obstinate aspects of human nature which block the current
evolutionary flow. We cannot stop it. To try is simply a waste of time
and effort. What we can do is surrender to it, allow ourselves to be
immersed within its revolutionary power and become part of evolution,
not its enemy! The personal is now as vital as the collective and how we
respond to the minutiae of daily life is just as influential as events
lauded on the world stage. Everyone has a part to play and no one is
inconsequential in this unrelenting march into a future still balanced
on the brink.
Mercury is retrograde in Leo between
26th July and 19th August.
Aspecting Eris and Black Moon Lilith as it changes direction, it augurs
intense exchanges and exhilarating insights in equal measure. There may
be battles a plenty as we strive to uncover previously inaccessible and
potentially life-changing personal truths. If you’re seeking honesty
and openness at this time, be prepared to receive them full blast
whether you like what you get or not! Truth may storm through our lives
like a hurricane now, ripping all from its anchor. Once out of the box
it won’t be neatly folded up and put away. But rest assured, we’re ready
for this even though it may not feel like it! Whatever is revealed
needs to be known. And if we’re hiding the truth – from ourselves or
another – it may come crashing through our deceptions like a tsunami if
we won’t let it bubble gently to the surface to be known.
A
lunar eclipse in the 5
th degree of Aquarius on
27th July
(conjunct Mars in the T Square mentioned above) reveals the inner cause
of outer conditions. Whilst we may rail against the unfairness of life,
we experience nothing which is not characteristic of who we are. Which
doesn’t mean we’re directly responsible for everything that happens to
us. But it does illuminate the mysterious correlation between our inner
world and outer experience which, as we live life more deeply, reveal
undeniable reflections each within the other. This eclipse fires our
passion whilst reminding us that objectivity can be a refreshing break
when life is intense. If emotional storms abound, take a step back and
breathe deeply. Remember, we are not in the eye of the storm forever and
finding the still spot when turmoil reigns is a very handy skill to
have in times such as these!
Around the time of this eclipse and in the months to follow,
revelation of our deeper motivations will continue. If we’re pursuing
agendas introjected from others or presiding social mores, this will
become abundantly and undeniably clear. Childhood patterns, familial
expectations so deeply rooted they feel like our own, dictates of
society, religion, spiritual teachings past and present, all may shape
us aside from our authentic spirit. This eclipse season, and especially
this lunar eclipse, opens Pandora’s box of influences to reveal what’s
really going on. It may not look pretty at first, but in the long run it
will foster greater awareness and understanding, diminishing our
capacity to be influenced by externals to serve agendas not our own.
Of course, it works both ways! Others may awaken to our influence and
begin to resist what once felt like minds and hearts in accord.
Offering space to each other to process and explore these internal
upwellings will be a compassionate gift of great value now, although not
one easily given. It can be deeply unsettling when the ground of
significant relationships begins to shift and swell. Patience, with
ourselves and each other, as we all navigate a changing interior will go
a long way to reducing potential conflict that could do more harm than
good. We still have one more eclipse to go (a solar eclipse in Leo on 11
th
August) so this process of unveiling is not yet complete. And with
Mercury retrograde until the middle of next month, there will be plenty
of opportunity to get to the root of things and recalibrate perspectives
accordingly.
On
31st July, asteroid Vesta completes a retrograde journey begun on 9
th
May. This feels significant and supportive. Vesta, keeper of the hearth
fire and the sacred flame, imbues us with hope and devotion to those
causes which matter. She completes her retrograde passage in
Sagittarius, the sign of faith and optimism, reminding us that attitude
and perspective are crucial to how we experience life. If we decide
there’s no hope, nothing will change (or too much is changing!), we
can’t get what we want, we always mess up or everything is everyone
else’s fault, we’ll reap difficult outcomes now. But if we embrace
Vesta’s message – that even in the darkest hour, the tiniest flame of
faith in life’s restorative power can light our way– we may be surprised
at just how much changes in ways deemed impossible before.
It will be tempting to take life very personally at this point! And
who wouldn’t? I mean…. life is a very personal experience! But it’s also
an impersonal one, unfolding around and through us without
consideration of individual needs, concerns and desires. The more we can
appreciate the achingly intimate and expansively impersonal maelstrom
that is life, the better we can act with power when necessary and
relinquish control when we must, led by the innate intelligence of a
life whose mysterious ways are forever beyond our understanding and yet
seeded deep within our soul.
Sarah Varcas
If
you’ve found this post helpful, please consider making a donation if
you’re able. Donations help us provide the free content on the site and
are always greatly appreciated. To make a donation, please click on the
button below.
Thank you!
Tagged as:
Asteroid Vesta,
Black Moon Lilith,
Chiron in Aries,
Chiron Retrograde,
compassion,
conscious and unconscious selves,
Conscious Evolution,
Conscious Relationships,
Coping with emotions,
creativity,
deep mystery,
deep time,
Deep Truth,
divine timing,
doubt,
Eclipse Season,
Ego & Essence,
embracing the shadow,
Eris,
Eris in Aries,
facing fear,
Jupiter in Scorpio,
Lunar Eclipse,
managing change,
managing the mind,
Mars,
Mercury,
Mercury in Leo,
Mercury Retrograde,
Moon cycles,
Neptune in Pisces,
North Node in Leo,
patience,
Personal healing,
personal truth,
planetary healing,
Pluto in Capricorn,
present moment awareness,
releasing ego identification,
Saturn in Capricorn,
self-acceptance,
self-doubt,
shadow work,
Solar Eclipse,
Spiritual development,
Sun,
Uranus in Taurus,
Venus,
Venus in Virgo,
Vesta in Sagittarius,
working with the shadow,
working with the unconscious
