AstroForecast July 2003

by Lance Rodriguez

The month of July begins with the Sun transiting the watery sign of Cancer. Strong identification with the themes of family, home, security, patriotism, emotions, nurturance, comfort and safety is the focus of the sign of the Crab. Cancerian issues can involve insecurity, negative nationalism, moodiness, guilt, stuck-in-the-past syndrome, worry, instability, sidestepping of issues, ostrich-head-in-the-sand syndrome, food issues and emotional manipulation to name a few. The governing angel of the month of July is Verchiel and the governing angel of Cancer is Muriel.

Tuesday the 1st is the final alignment of three harmonious contacts Jupiter has with Pluto with a previous contact made October 27, 2002 and the last one occurred December 18, 2002. Here is a quote from the October 2002 AstroForecast that explains this alignment: “This harmonious aspect between Jupiter and Pluto symbolizes the expansion and growth of psychological studies, fertility and reproductive breakthroughs, the potential for major market corrections, new transportation discoveries, the opening of new frontiers of wealth and pioneering educational groundbreaking. Negative expressions of this planetary aspect would be inflationary pressures especially with the insurance industry, export/import tariffs and fees, mass transit and airline costs as well as entertainment.”

Jupiter also on this same day has reached its Post-Shadow Point or the same degree position it held when it was station retrograde on December 4, 2002. This July date and the December one may have a lot in common. Here is a brief quote from the December 2002 AstroForecast on this degree position Jupiter holds: “Strong associations with this Jupiter station will be the following: taxes, insurance, stock investments, underwriting companies, forensic research and applications, grants and scholarships, and mutual funds. The Astro*Carto*Graphy Map of this Jupiter station sensitizes the following geographic areas: San Diego, Los Angeles, Winnemucca Nevada, Pendleton Oregon, Spokane Washington, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Dublin Ireland, Belfast Northern Ireland, Edinburgh Scotland, the Scandinavian countries, Tokyo, Melanesia and Southern New Zealand. Keywords associated with this Jupiter station are creative multi-cultural exchanges and healthy ecumenical tolerance and diversity have tremendous potential to lower defensive posturing. Worldwide movements that address economic disparities and that help to improve Third World economies to enter the 21st century without the heavy ravages of excess polluting industrialization are ripe for development.”

This first day of July also witnesses the harmonious contact of Mercury with Mars that is excellent for healthy assertive and aggressive communications as well as contacts and the positive defense of well thought out plans. Quick analysis and forceful execution of details work well together. Sharp and incisive wit abounds.

Friday July 4th at 12:39pm is the entrance of harmonious Venus into the home loving sign of Cancer for the following 28-day period. Venus symbolizes the art of beautifying, valuing, cherishing and treasuring what the heart most desires and here in the sign of Cancer the home, family, secure and stable foundations will be her domain for the following month. Thomas Jefferson expresses it best with “The happiest moments of my life have been the few which I have past at home in the bosom of my family.”

Also on Independence Day is the Aphelion of Earth (farthest distance from the Sun) indicating that inhabitants of our planet can consciously meditate and identify what are our most pressing concerns planet-wise. The energy or consciousness associated with this Aphelion of Earth is what actions do we need to take to address what is literally a burr on our side. Naval and maritime concerns can be highlighted at this time.

Saturday July 5th is the conjunction of the Sun with Mercury that symbolizes a “seeding” time period of these two planets with one another. The Sun represents individual consciousness, creative expression, vitality and passion while Mercury represents communications, connections, contacts and information retrieval/dispersal. Both of these planets are in the sign of Cancer so home, family, parents/parenthood, ancestors, real estate, farming, patriotism and national security will focus areas for these two planets to work on.

Venus has a harmonious contact with Uranus on this same Sunday that is excellent for introducing breakups of ruts, routines and monotony especially in relationships. Try something totally new and different that emphasizes healthy spontaneity. Technological breakthroughs that can be applied to domestic uses, farming and childcare can be witnessed.

The first ecliptic shift of the Moon occurs on this first Sunday of July that symbolizes changes with meteorological, seismic and volcanic activities. There is also a focus on security, whether personally or collectively, that emphasizes vigilance. Aunts, sisters and elderly single women garner attention as well.

Monday July 7th the Sun has an opposition with Chiron that is very similar to the Mercury – Chiron opposition of July 6th but now the Sun represents the ability to identify the creative resolutions and the application of positive will power to the previous paragraph of the first Sunday of July. The Sun and Chiron were last conjunct one another January 1, 2003 so these two dates can have correspondence to one another.

Tuesday the 8th is a conjunction involving Venus with Saturn indicating very important developments associated with financial affairs, partnerships and values. As long as discipline, accountability, perseverance and responsibility have been applied in a sustained manner with the above-mentioned areas will a gradual process of stabilization and security begin to take hold. Those companies or individuals that lack these Saturnian qualities will be strongly tested and stripped to bare bone essence. The following industries will be strongly affected: the housing markets, domestic suppliers, farming and agri-business, child care services and products, kitchen cooking supplies and water resources. These two planets oppose one another December 26, 2003 and the proof in the pudding will come to the light then. Legal issues can arise as well especially for those ill prepared to make drastic changes.

A Perigee Moon (closest approach of the Moon to Earth) that can symbolize strong intense emotions can come easily to the conscious surface occurs on Thursday the 10th. There is a clear need to make distinct decisions and the subsequent actions to be taken in regards to foreign policies and diplomacy as well security abroad and here at home. A pubescent attitude that over sensitizes emotional reactions and emotional slight can derail the best of communications. “Material gravity makes gold precious. Moral gravity does the same for people” Peruvian proverb.

Friday the 11th is a harmonious contact involving the lovers of the zodiac Venus and Mars. This is an excellent aspect for passion, emotional harmony and tenderness, compassionate cooperation and courtship in partnerships. Those individuals that can take a vacation to some exotic locale fair best with this astrological amorous aspect.

The annual Capricorn Full Moon occurs on Sunday the 13th at 2:21pm that symbolizes the completion/surrender/release phase of the Moon. Media attention or lack of attention to foreign matters will be prominent. Education will also be high up in regards to funding issues. All issues involving career, status, success, authority, hierarchy or issues of insecurity, instability, fear, inadequacy, pessimism, control and limitations come to the fore with this lunation. The Astro*Carto*Graphy Map of this Capricorn lunation sensitizes the following geographical areas: the entire West Coast of the United States, the Rocky Mountain states especially Tucson, Phoenix, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Denver, Aspen, Salt Lake City and Billings Montana. Abroad the following areas are sensitized: Western India especially the Bombay area, Pakistan especially its capital city Islamabad, Afghanistan especially its capital city Kabul, Tashkent Uzbekistan, Buenos Aires Argentina, Montevideo Uruguay, São Paulo, Río de Janeiro and Brasilia Brazil, the Western African nations of Guinea Bissau, Senegal, Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria especially a direct hit with Algiers, Barcelona, Toulouse and Marseilles France, Bern Switzerland, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Berlin Germany, Liverpool and a direct hit to Halifax England, Warsaw Poland, Oslo Norway, Tallinn Estonia, Vilnius Lithuania, St. Petersburg and Vladivostok Russia, Beijing China, the entire Korean peninsula especially Seoul, Tokyo and Sapporo Japan, Eastern Australia especially Brisbane, and New Zealand. Angel Requiel is associated with this Capricorn Full Moon. Keywords for this Capricorn lunation are let go of playing out a karmic past life script that repeats senseless losses, tragedies and the “shoulda-coulda-oughta” syndrome of life. Self-condemnation that sentences oneself to a misery- laden Purgatory leaves one like an easily shattered fossil. Get the lay of the land and secure a healthy foundation for stability and groundedness.

Wednesday the 16th is the opposition of Venus and Chiron. These two planets were conjunct with one another last February 17, 2003. Now is the clarification and definition of all wounding paradigms of devaluation, invalidation, apathy, indifference, vacillation, procrastination and indecision involving partnerships, financial affairs and value systems. How can healing approaches bring about improved cooperation, collaboration and compromise is what will matter the most. “Most things bleed, including hearts. The lessons of life amount not to wisdom, but to scar tissue and callus” Wallace Stegner.

Mars has an inharmonious aspect to the Solar Eclipse chart of May 30, 2003 on Friday the 18th that can symbolize frustration, irritability, annoyance, aggravation, anger and violation of the following key areas that were mentioned in the May AstroForecast 2003: “a two by four board is about to slap our collective consciousness. Intellectual smugness and false pride will have its comeuppance. Enormous changes are about to occur and those individuals able to spin on a dime will have their versatility rewarded, those who cannot are caught in the vacuum.”

An opposition aspect of Mercury with Neptune on Saturday the 19th can symbolize mental confusion, communicative vagueness, market uncertainties, and tentativeness about engaging risks or gambles. These two planets were conjunct one another last February 21, 2003 so these two dates may have correspondence to one another. Flights of fancy, escapism and illusory hopes can wreak havoc for some individuals. Pie in the sky attitudes can be harmful.

This same Saturday is the second ecliptic shift of the Moon in July that symbolizes changes with meteorological, seismic and volcanic activities. A scandal can emerge in regards to the military, the petrochemical industries or the pharmaceutical conglomerates. Violations of human rights also become highlighted.

Tuesday the 22nd is a harmonious contact of Mercury with Pluto that is excellent for investigations, research, intelligence monitoring, and detective sleuthing. Mergers and acquisitions become prominent or hostile takeovers create crises. A profound and provocative statement from a royal family member anywhere in the world ignites the world media.

Neptune through retrograde motion connects to the degree position of the Aquarius New Moon of February 1, 2003 on Tuesday the 22nd and will also make a third alignment to this Aquarius New Moon next January 14, 2004. Here is a brief quote from the February 2003 AstroForecast about this lunar degree: “Keywords for this Aquarius lunation are through intense observation and exceptional skill in judgment you are ready to leave behind the sordid past, so full of desperation and letdowns, and are now ready to embrace the evolutionary future.”

This same Tuesday is the Apogee Moon (farthest distance of the Moon to Earth) that symbolizes the ability to cultivate objective and impartial emotions/feelings. Mental endurance and depth in communications is important. Ethics, principles and doing the right thing is emphasized as well.

Wednesday the 23rd at 1:04am is the entrance of the majestic Sun into its own ruled sign of Leo for the following 30 days. This is the middle month of summer and strong identification with creativity, confidence, authority, playfulness, recreation, and children is emphasized with this Solar passage in regal Leo. Negative expressions of Leo are arrogance, melodrama, false pride, stubbornness, dictatorial and authoritarian behaviors, boastfulness and self-absorption. The governing angel of Leo is Verchiel.

Saturn reaches its Pre-Shadow Point on this same Wednesday referring to the degree position it will hold when it turns station direct next March 7, 2004. Keywords associated with this degree position of Saturn are a phoenix-like resurrection of nationhood meets any and all threats head on. The deep imagination of the collective embraces the ideal and the real simultaneously. The urge to reform, rescind and revolutionize impractical dystopia gains momentum. An original wellspring is tapped.

Mercury is conjunct Jupiter on Friday the 25th that can symbolize new mental horizons, the broadening of communicative endeavors, the panoramic and the microscopic perspectives blend harmoniously and enthusiasm for global outreach for improved international relations can hasten. New beginnings for ecclesiastical movements and doctrines happen.

Saturday July 26th is the Perihelion of the planet Saturn (the closest approach of Saturn to the Sun). This celestial alignment can be understood as a “seeding” of Saturnian archetypal energies with those of the Sun. Astrologically speaking Saturn symbolizes reality, ambition, success, hierarchy, discipline, accountability, responsibility, patience and perseverance as positive expressions. The negative ones include pessimism, narrow-mindedness, fear, control, rigidity, fossilization, karmic restrictions and limitations. The Sun symbolizes identity, creativity, confidence, generosity, identification principles and processes, authenticity and dignity. Negative Solar expressions would be self-absorption, dictatorial behaviors, melodrama, oppression, negative exclusiveness and overwhelming demands for attention. International opinions regarding United States policies and diplomacy reach critical mass. Hypocrisy and double standards will be highlighted. “Loyalty to a petrified opinion never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul” Mark Twain. The last Saturn Perihelion occurred in January 1974 so issues from that time period maybe linked to this July date.

Monday the 28th at 11:25pm is the entrance of harmonious Venus into the regal sign of Leo for the next 28-day period. Creative individuals do very well with this passage of Venus, due to the stimulation of the more self-expressive side of Leo. Risk-takers and gamblers can roll on the hard side and go full tilt. This is a goddess that loves to be courted and suited, so jewelry and accessories are perfect gifts to be exchanged during this Venus journey in Leo. Whatever have been flaps in relationships prior to this Leo entry of Venus, now can be smoothed as long as all is fair in romance. Leo is the astrological ruler of the heart and the following quote by Sri Ramana Maharshi best describes Venus in Leo “The whole universe is condensed in the body, and the whole body in the heart. Thus, the heart is the nucleus of the whole universe”.

Tuesday the 29th is the annual Leo New Moon that symbolizes the new beginnings/new initiatives of this lunar phase. Launch new orientations to accessing inner radiance and illumination, confidence to take on new risks and gambles, creativity, vitality, expressing joy, having fun with past times and hobbies, recreation and vacation, romance (it really is a state-of-mind that the individual can cultivate by romancing life daily as life will in turn romance the individual with greater passion for life), and children as the repository of future mankind. Angel Ardefiel is associated with this Leo lunation. The A*C*G Map lines for this Leo lunation sensitize the following geographical areas: Anchorage Alaska, Reykjavik Iceland, Ireland, Spain, Senegal, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Algeria, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, the Congo, Angola, Namibia, South Africa, Melbourne Australia, New Zealand, Bangkok Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and particularly the following Indian cities of Salem, Hyderabad, Bhopal, and New Delhi. The keywords for this Leo lunation are blend the best contributions from the past with the best of what the future has to offer. The beauty, symmetry and synchronicity of the universe is availing itself to mankind for eventual development.

It is also this same Tuesday that Mars reaches its station retrograde and the red planet will turn direct in late September 2003. The first ten days of the following zodiac signs are highly sensitized to this Mars retrograde: Pisces, Virgo, Gemini and Sagittarius. The degree position of Mars on this July date will be the Post-Shadow Point of Mars on November 8, 2003. These dates in July and November may have correspondence to one another. Mars is highly prominent in the Washington DC chart of this station retrograde with important implications involving the military, the executive and judicial branches of government. Duplicity, scandals, cover-ups, ethical violations and international treaties are highlighted with this Mars station. Keywords associated with this retrograde station of Mars are the Earth is now ready for humankind to evolve in new psychic and intuitive parameters that nurture the well being of the planet. The seed of the Earth’s Soul Child is now germinating. A new structure of future humanity will soon appear.

Wednesday the 30th at 9:05am is the entrance of Mercury into its own ruled sign of Virgo for an extended stay due to its retrograde motion that will begin in late August 2003. This passage of Mercury in Virgo is excellent for meticulous analysis, evaluation and assessment of quality of life themes especially those concerning work and health. Virgo is a productive earth sign that desires to implement and apply whatever it analyzes, evaluates and assesses so that a goal is manifested through changes the individual can embrace. The following Arabic Proverb best describes this Virgo industriousness: “Ten minutes of planning can save you hours of squandered time”. Do be careful of criticism and perfectionism as this sign can be anal-retentive when in its negative expression.

The last aspect for the month of July occurs on Thursday the 31st that is the opposition of Mercury with Uranus. These two planets were last conjunct one another March 4, 2003 so these two dates may correspond with one another. A lot of nervous anxiety, mental apprehension and chaotic behaviors can emerge with these two planets in disharmony with one another. Accident proneness can also be high especially due to carelessness.

“People are very much like the Moon, they always have a dark side that they never show to anybody”
-Mark Twain