My insights on the Astrology for June-July 2023

The very bright Evening Star Venus will still be gracing our evening sky in June and July. Venus will enter Leo on June 5, slowing down in speed and every evening appearing a bit closer to the western horizon after sunset, in view of its imminent retrogradation (July 23 to September 4). Because of retrogradation Venus will be in Leo until October, a four month long transit offering all Leo natives opportunities for profound reflection on and revaluation of life, love and creativity.
On July 7 Venus will reach greatest brilliance in its evening apparition. In early August it will be absorbed in the light of the Sun to re-appear in the pre-dawn sky, in late August. From then Venus will be a Morning Star until March 2024. 

After a rather emotionally unsettling transit in the Sign of Cancer (end March to end of May), affecting our ability to make decisions and act upon them, the ingress of Mars in Leo on May 21 has already made a positive difference for many, encouraging a brighter and more creative approach to life. From July 10 to August 27 Mars will transit Virgo, a great placement for the Action Planet to improve our practical and intellectual skills, embrace healthier habits and raise our standard in all everyday activities. 

In Taurus since May 17 Jupiter will transit this Earth Sign until May 26 2024. In the course of the next twelve months this could prove positive for people with Sun, Moon, Planets and Angles in the Earth and Water Signs (Taurus-Virgo-Capricorn-Cancer-Scorpio-Pisces), opening your eyes to new opportunities, building self-confidence and inspiring visions of better things to come. Travel, study, adventure and sensible risk taking are all favored by this transit.
For the Fire and Air Sign the message here is to ground your ideas and aspirations as much as possible, overcoming the tendency to believe that the job is already done and reward imminent. Wishful thinking and hope for hope sake may not pay off for you during this twelve months transit.

Between June 18 and early November Saturn will retrace its steps from the 7^th to the naught degree of Pisces. It will be February 2024 before it will move ahead of those degrees. If the Sun, Moon, Planets or Angles in your Birth Chart were placed on the first seven degrees of the Mutable Signs (Pisces-Virgo-Gemini-Sagittarius), during this protracted period the steady influence of Saturn may be filling your life with practical concerns, piling extra responsibilities upon your shoulders, while working toward a worthy personal goal or building your financial security. Life is not picnic but future rewards will justify the effort.

On June 11 Pluto will return to Capricorn (until January 21 2024), continuing its relentless drive toward radical changes in the way we are governing ourselves, attempting to demolish the old structures to make room for the revolutionary innovations in the pipeline for its forthcoming twenty years transits in Aquarius (2024-2044). You will experience this transit in a more personal way if the Sun, Moon, any Planet or Angle in your Birth Chart were placed on the last two degrees of the Cardinal Signs (Capricorn-Cancer-Aries-Libra). Since at least a couple of years Pluto has been encouraging you or even forcing you out of outworn situations, jobs, relationships, places of residence, lifestyle; a huge reality check, not gentle but necessary. If you work in accord with this transformative energy you may not need to confront these difficult changes from a powerless angle, when things seem to be out of your conscious control. Working with Pluto means to be very honest about all those aspects of your life that have outlived their usefulness. Stay focused, the future is beckoning with a promise of a more independent, less entangled life.
For the whole planet a long lasting square from the Lunar Nodes (signposts of the recent Eclipses) to Pluto is likely to contribute to profound and lasting changes, unavoidable if not welcome, in the lives of a great many individuals.

Since January 2022 the Lunar Nodes have been passing through Taurus and Scorpio, where most Solar and Lunar Eclipses have occurred in recent times. On July 18 the Nodes will move into Aries and Libra, shifting the Eclipses focus from the Fixed to the Cardinal Signs.

June Lunar Phases
June 4, Full Moon in Sagittarius 13° – June 18, New Moon in Gemini 27°.

July Lunar Phases
July 3, Full Moon in Capricorn 11°– July 16, New Moon in Cancer 25°.

This year the Cancer Winter Solstice will fall on June 22, 7.14 pm local time. Just at that time the Crescent Moon in Leo will align with Venus after sunset, as it did spectacularly in late May, but this time Mars will also be there. A sight not to be missed and hopefully an omen of peace for our divided world.