July Sees the beginning of retrograde season, with Saturn and Mercury shifting trajectories. We have increasing volatility and tension rising in the 2nd part of the month as Mars moves closer to Ketu. Cancer Season begins with the Sun shifting in the softer, emotional and intuitive sign of the crab. Mars will finally leave Leo and move into the practical and organized sign of Virgo.
Remember dear readers, these are very, very general insights. the nuance is in your particular chart, your rising and moon signs, and the layers of meaning and interpretation. A person cannot be reduced to one sign, or one aspect.
Your chart is multidimensional, just like you😉
Keen to explore your cosmic blueprint? Book a recorded reading or 1:1 with me
Mars/Ketu conjunction is the overarching theme this month which increases its volatility in the last 2 weeks. Mars is connected to the earth – so there is higher likelihood of volcanic and other seismic activity.
Mars casts its malefic 8th aspect onto Pisces where Saturn is, so this is a tense standoff, as Saturn, planet of ice comes under the harsh gaze of Mars, planet of Fire. Ketu is a surgical knife, and while on the higher frequency, we can see powerful, focused, transformative and evolutionary action, inspiration and drive, we also will see danger, terrorism, explosions and overall aggression and volatility. You’ll want to see what houses this is activating in your chart –
EG, for Aries Rising, this is the 5th house of children, so there may be disagreements with your kids, or for Capricorn rising, its occurring in the 8th house of unexpected events and hidden issues.
Do take care on the roads and avoid risky activities this month!
July 10 Full Moon / Guru Purnima
Sagittarius – Purva Ashadha
This full moon is extra special – in yogic tradition it is celebrated as Guru Purnima, celebrating the first teachings of the buddha, as well as honoring Shiva, as the first Guru -as he began the transmission of Yoga to the Saptarishis – the 7 sages. Gu- means darkness, Ru – means remover of – Guru means the one who removes the darkness or ignorance from our hearts, minds and souls. In truth we dont need to “heal” anything, we just need to remove the veils of untruth and ignorance which prevent the flowering of the inner light.
Retrograde Season Begins!
Personally, I enjoy the retrograde times. In Australia, it gets cold, naturally, one likes to withdraw, slow down and get cosy, longer nights and shorter days make for easy contemplation. “Life is what happens when you are busy making plans” – being flexible to the unexpected is part of the art of a good traveller, whether you are venturing to a new place, or if you see your life on earth as the eternal ‘good red road of life’
Aghori and Spiritual Teacher Vimalanada says succinctly “When walking, it is not the road that gets tired”
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Saturn Retrograde Pisces – 13 July – 28 November
Saturn Retrograde is an annual occurrence. The most significant days are when Saturn slows down and stations before turning retrograde. This year it is between 10-15 of July. It will station direct from 23rd – 29th of November. These are the most intense and heavy days. Do plan ahead and be aware of slow and stagnant energies around these times, especially in July as we have other conflicting astrology weather.
This Retrograde, saturn will revisit ground covered since the end of March. Brand new cycles have begun, old structures are showing signs of change.. Saturn will back track the ground he’s covered since March 30th
In Pisces, Saturn aspects Taurus, Virgo and Sagittarius. Overall Saturn’s influence is restricting, pressurising and limiting in some way – we will often feel this as external factors, realities and responsibilities we need to deal with. Health may be a focus, one’s routines and personal habits. Discipline, although hard initially makes life easy later – chasing pleasure in the beginning makes life harder later! The irony!
Saturn retrograde times teach us patience, humility, steadfastness, practicality and resilience. Things will slow down, there will be delays, there will be unexpected obstacles, but this is where you can refine your structures, specifically related to which house/planets saturn is transiting your chart.
Mercury Retrograde: 18/7 – 11/8
Mercury’s long stay in Cancer:
23 June – 30 August
The planet Mercury, esoterically is the celestial bridge from the heavens to the mind of humans – Mercury is Buddhi – the intellectual, curious, analytical and logical aspect of the human mind. The evolution of our species rests in how we use our intelligence. Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change!
Mercury is sharp, bright, fast, witty and intelligent (at least virgo and gemini would like to think so ;) – and when it moves into the watery, intuitive and emotional sign of cancer we get a blend of heart/intellect – emotion/reason – intuition/logic. When retrograde, many of our practical aspects of life get muddled. You may feel more forgetful, absentminded, scattered or confused, things get lost, lost things get found.
Electronic devices randomly stop working. Crashes, glitches, lost passwords. Situations arise which can de-stabilise our foundations. We may be feeling unsupported and need to take care during these times as the energies are not stable, we are more likely to make mistakes and take bad judgements.
This is a time to slow down, embrace reversal, and focus on the “re” – redo, rewrite, review, revise, reconsider, reconnect, rewire!
In Cancer, the mind tends to focus on the past, on themes around security, nurturing, home, mother, family and security. Watch for the mercury station days: July 17 + 18, as the Sun will also be shifting to Cancer, plus a retrograde Saturn. These two days more more likely to see travel delays, mixups, extra foggy thinking, so avoid overplanning, or scheduling important events on this day if you can. Keep it simple and light. Mercury station days are the strongest, and it is where we see the more disruptive aspects of the retrograde.
Mercury Combust – 25 July – 15 August
Combustion is a regular occurrence, and highlights the tendencies of Virgo and Gemini dominant folks to burn out more easily due to their more delicate nervous systems. This will be more evident if your natal mercury is not well supported, or is afflicted in your chart. Combustion tends to reflect as excess in some way; there can be overthinking, under planning, too much communication, or feeling frozen with what to say. We may over plan and underperform and then criticize ourselves for it.
But combustion also has a sacred edge. When Mercury is close to the Sun, the mind can become highly refined, receptive and luminous, capable of subtle insight, spiritual/enlighted downloads, and profound clarity on certain things.
The key is to know when these times are occurring to make the most of the energy and not get ‘dumped by the proverbial waves’ – and work with mercury directly to strengthen and improve its influence in our personal lives.
Sun Moves to Cancer – 16 July – 16 August
Sun makes its annual transit to Cancer – highlighting all issues connected to home, heart, feeling, emotion, security, safety, mother, mothers roots and your deepest needs. Sun in the natural 4th house symbolizes midnight and the deep dreamtime. With retrograde season, we are invited to reflect on the things that we cling on to, our responsibilities in the home or our mother, how we nurture and care for self and others, as well as the practical dimensions of home, comfort and emotional safety.
New Moon in Cancer – 24/25 July
This new moon is an invitation into the compassionate heart. Cancer is one of the most sensitive signs due to the fluctuating and undulating motion of the moon, tides and emotions. Feelings may be strong here, and with a retrograde mercury, your mind is focused on the past. But don’t fall into regret. See what works and what doesn’t, avoid clinging and become aware of co-dependencies. Your comfort zone – weather its a relationship, a belief, a state of mind or situation – may be feel safe, but is it preventing your growth & evolution?
Mars in Virgo – 29 July – 14 September
Virgo is the sign most closely related to the feminine principle of Shakti, it is earthy, pragmatic and intelligent.
When Mars occupies Virgo it’s a great time to get life organized, taking practical, grounded, logical action, applying critical thinking to the situation. Follow a routine and bring awareness to your own faults and shortcomings, instead of out in the world. Mars can bring out the critical, nit-picky, controlling and micro-managing aspects of Virgo. Arguments, conflicts and tension are more likely due to the combination of mercury/mars – acting without thinking, or overthinking and not taking action! Its a good time to Aikido your life – if someone is running straight at you with their sword, help them on their journey – step out of the way.
Darinka Maja 
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