20050706

Nearly a New Moon, with new paradigms,
patterns and psychopyrotechnics
of which you will want to be aware.

The Inner Sky for July 2005
By Gretchen Lawlor

Danku, Barbie.

"The biggest astrological news of July is the shift of Saturn into Leo on July 16th. After two years in Cancer, Saturn completes its project of challenging us to handle our sensitivities with more personal responsibility. We have had to work hard to find comfort and refuge in these challenging times. The New Moon in Cancer on July 6 (5:02 a.m. PDT)* is an extremely powerful time to set intentions to stabilize our material and emotional homes, as it coincides with the last 10 days of Saturn in Cancer for 29 years.

"Saturn in Leo now shifts to molding our self-expressiveness, to how we are responsible for being the creators, the authors, and the sculptors of our own lives. Don't worry- we¹ll have until fall of 2007 to get it right.

"Initially, the strongest impression of this stellar shift may be a sense of not having much influence at all, acutely aware of where and how we have abdicated our personal authority and allowed others to define us. The wise soul will look to become more disciplined in any creative outlet, to taking seriously the urge to become more competent in some expressive field. Schedule time to connect with your playful heart.

"Also up is a responsibility to be wise leaders, parents, and/or lovers. Each requires patience and discipline to do well. When Saturn enters Leo, we become more aware of: where we control (or refuse to take control) from our paranoid fantasies, our inadequacies as parents or as lovers. The Full Moon on July 21 is a rare second Capricorn Full Moon for the year, illuminating opportunities to parent ourselves rather that expect that others will care for us (obviously we need the nudge as we also had a Capricorn Full Moon on June 21st).

"Mercury goes retrograde from July 23-August 15, a perfect time to review, reconsider, reorganize our thinking and our communications tools (including files and computers). Yes, it is true there can be heightened glitches and misunderstandings between people, so take extra care in those important exchanges. Plenty of internal dialogue and insight can occur; Mercury retrograde is brilliant for original thinking, which will be more effectively shared after August 15th. Mercury goes retrograde three times a year, providing a perfect stellar organizational tool, though with four other planets retrograde at this time, this Mercury Rx may be more potent than most. It may be wise to back up computer files before July 23.

"Uranus turned retrograde in mid-June (until mid Nov 2005) giving us time to review and integrate the paradigm shifts and awakenings of the last five months. In July we will be getting more comfortable with the Uranian acceleration of energy frequencies in our emotional bodies, which manifested in May and June as a significant upswing in collective anxiety and significant chaos. Quantum physics calls this chaos that precedes particles shifting into new coherent fields "phase transition." Focus your attention on the transitional moments in your day; give yourself stillpoints to allow for shift and reorientation. This will help you adjust your particles."

* - From Henry Seltzer's AstroGraph site:

"As the month begins, Mercury and Venus are in close conjunction in Leo, a conjunction that remains active for the first ten days of the month, until Mercury begins to slow down for its retrograde station that takes place on July 22nd.

"The most exciting moment of this weeks-long conjunction between Mercury and Venus occurs just at the time of the July 6th New Moon, when Mercury and Venus are separated by a mere half-degree... This very tight configuration, known as a Yod or 'Finger of God' formation, occurring precisely on the Cancer New Moon, presages some unexpected relationship oriented and largely positive events at this time that are likely to be productive of surprising epiphanies and insightful realizations.

"The days surrounding this New Moon, which include the July 4th holiday, therefore represent an excellent time to wed the heart and mind in a conscious association with each other, and to explore our relationships with others around us."