Stellar Insights: July 16 - 22, 2018
We are in the halls of Eclipse Season, with the first of three—a Solar Eclipse New Moon occurring in the sign of Cancer—occurring last Thursday (the next two are July 27 and August 11). Cancer being the sign related to home and nourishment, questions may have arisen as to what and who it is that has you feel at home and just how it is that you can best nourish and take care of yourself and those you care about. Safety and security is another Cancer theme and reflecting that our focus may also have turned to the level at which we feel sanctity and protectedness, in our relationships to family, friends, community and/or nation.
As these are foundational issues, woven into the bedrock of our being, likely the last days have tapped you into the depths of feelings, some perhaps leaving you joyous while others leaving you a bit wobbly. And given that up-from-the-below Pluto tied into the Eclipse, a chthonic bursting forth of seemingly buried emotions may have even caught you off guard. As much as the latter could have felt as if it was disquieting the status quo, don’t completely brush off the thoughts and feelings that seemed to have been awoken; hold them in a sweet and safe space, and look to them here and there to see what treasures they hold for you in terms of the awareness that is begging for inclusion in your heart and mind.
One last note about Eclipse season, something I have mentioned before but that feels so important that it’s worth noting again. Given that the period around Eclipses is so rife with beginnings and endings, as well as attention-grabbing illumination and awareness, it may be a time of stress and upset as much as it may be a time of galvanic positive shifts that set our life on a new course. And yet, where the sea changes we feel are leading us may not be clear, but rather eclipsed. So, stay conscious, shower compassion, and be patient as you find new ways to maintain clarity when things feel obscured.
One more thing about Cancer: it inspires an honoring of tradition and the past. Perhaps that’s why, without even thinking, I started off with an eye looking back, at last week’s astrological influence. And while, of course, the Cancer Solar Eclipse's invitation is not limited to last week, and still is part of the fiber of the here/now, let’s now shift from that direction to gazing at other influences that align this week.
The union between Venus and Ceres opens the week. With both in Virgo, we could find that our appreciation for details is so strong that it almost seems as if their integrity is both what gives birth to an important creation and what is able to sustain it. It’s a time of acknowledging the life-giving virtues of the Earth and amplifying a commitment to preserve and protect her. All the while, we may find that connecting to the natural world, and crafting treasures from it, is something that feels especially valuable now.
During this recent time, there’s a lot of focus upon how, with whom, and why we fight and what it takes to stand up for common shared ideals. After all we’re in a months-long period of Mars two-stepping with the etched-instincts South Node. And while these invitations do carry forth over a swathe of time, it’s always interesting to take note when their influences may offer more palpability, such as this week. The reason being is that on Friday, Mars and the South Node exactly align as they did on June 7 and will do again on September 26. Being conscious about what we desire, and why, can be quite revealing and really helpful in our healing. It’s a pivotal week to explore our relationship to anger: what triggers it, how it lives withinus, how we express it…as well as the ways we “do anger” that we inherited from our family and/or culture and which we’d like to transform.
This theme of being a strategic in our initiation carries on strongly throughout the weekend given that Sunday we have an opposition between Mars and the asteroid Pallas. Both represent warriors, Mars carrying more of the masculine aspect and Pallas the feminine. Consider how to weave together a strident laser-like activation of will while aligning with the justice of the cause for which you fight. It’s a time of heightened creative intelligence where we can tap into an expanded ability to recognize patterns and use what we learn to craft maps that can guide us in our pursuits.
Sunday also ushers in Leo season, a month where tapping more courageously into our heart can guide us with more vitality. More on Leo season next week; for now, feel your way through this last week of Cancer season, allowing yourself to be open to the flow and feelings with which it can instill you.
PS...If you want additional insights into Leo Season and don't yet subscribe to my monthly Elixir newsletter, you can do so here. In this and each monthly edition of Elixir, I include a Stellar Lookbook that helps guide you through the opportunities and challenges of the month. It includes wellness strategies, flower essences, a look into the lunations and more. And like my weekly Elixir, it's free.
Astrological Highlights
July 16
* Venus/Ceres Conjunction
July 20
* Mars/South Node Conjunction
July 22
* Venus/Jupiter Sextile
* Sun enters Leo
* Pallas/North Node Conjunction
* Pallas/Mars Opposition
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