Focus on Family!

The forces pushing and pulling us for a while now and for a while yet to come give us a bit of a reprieve at the outset of June.  After the latest round of eclipses in May, we are momentarily allowed to come up for air the first week of the month.

Relief is brought to us by a beautiful angle between dream-maker pair Saturn-Neptune pair aligning with messenger Mercury and Venus, planet of love and money.  All four planets are cycling through water signs for nearly the entire month.  Our imaginations take flight while conversely, deeply seeded matters open up for much-needed cleansing and healing.  June gives us a wonderful and somewhat rare opportunity to nurture ourselves and loved ones.  Make the most of this cosmic gift and take time out to bask, flow in these gentle waters.

Mercury (how we think and communicate) and Venus (relationships) in the maternal sign of Cancer the Crab focus us on home, family, mom, food, heritage, psychological roots.  Have a house project to conquer?  Challenging family relationships to sort out?  Want to finally change what and how you eat?  How and where you live?   The next few weeks say get it done.  June 5th is especially key for building and stabilizing anything as the moon and transformational Pluto align in earth signs.

At the same time, June 5-15th, prickly family members begging to be confronted or difficult relationship dynamics seeking to have the kinks worked out may very well turn on the emotional water works when fiery Mars bumps up against dreamy Neptune.  Where Mars in communicative Geminii sparks arguments, Neptune and Pisces would much rather Let Go and Let God.  Be very mindful of your words.  Awareness of language is essential through this period particularly with neighbors, siblings and family members.

It is good to note that after an argument, people may not recall your exact words but they will remember how your words made them feel.   We can carry hurtful feelings sparked by such words for years.  Enter Neptune:  take its gentle advice to refrain, re-word or re-frame thoughts into a mindful message.  Tune into your audience and how best he/she/they will be able to hear your message that Mars in Geminii so desperately wants to get across.   Depending where this combination falls in your astrological chart, it can also incite car trouble, flooding creeks and rivers, or plumbing and gas line issues.  Carefully review any contracts or documents to be signed now as Neptunian fog can distort understanding of how you may be impacted later.

These issues may reach a crescendo at mid-month when challenging angles surface between Mercury-Venus, radical Uranus and transformer Pluto.   We may feel as though we are being pushed and pulled, kneaded and rolled over and over like play-dough, against our will, with no end in sight or ability to control our destiny; that we have no choice or say particularly in Cancer's domestic domain.  With the Mercury-Venus pair still moving through the sign of the Crab, hearth and home demands our attention and action.  Like it or not, our parenting skills may be put to the test...both of children or childlike relatives, elderly or otherwise.  House projects can take off now or require fixing.  In short, any home and family matters gurgling under the surface must be taken care of.  Be careful not to make matters worse by handling these with anger and divisiveness instead of invoking cleansing, healing and repairing.

It is said that all things are difficult before they are easy.  Bring on some ease!  Such is the passage we now enter as the third week of June brings good news:  Saturn, lord of dharma and karma aligns with beneficent Jupiter and the Sun (our will) and inspirational Neptune, forming a grand water trine (triangle of planets).  The effects of this magnanimous energy cannot be understated.  At once magical and imaginative, this configuration may bestow all kinds of generosity and blessings.  Finally, we feel our hard work, (emotional excavation as Scorpio Saturn insists upon), begin to pay off.

The same week, a helpful alliance between Uranus and Mars boosts this energy ten-fold.  Our ingenuity and initiative heighten our ability to problem solve where we have encountered obstacles or have been rooted in conflict.  Seize this energy to get things wrapped up before messenger Mercury turns retrograde on June 25th.  After which, it is best not to start projects or sign significant documents.

The following day, June 26th, Jupiter moves into Cancer joining the Sun, Mercury and Venus.  Jupiter is exalted in Cancer.  This astrological term connotes the status of a planet when it behaves, and it is treated, like an honored guest in a palace.  Why, you might ask, would Jupiter, the eternal wanderer, seeker, teacher, adventurer receive such treatment in a sign about food, mom, home, our roots?  Well, if we stop and think about it, our mother is our first teacher, providing food, shelter and essential guidance for us.  From our first home, be it a hut or immense estate, we take our first steps into the world.  We can never deny where we come from, stray far though we may; deny our heritage try as we might.  The seeds of mom, family and home never leave us, or our consciousness.  Jupiter takes these seeds and expands all of them, growing, evolving.  In Cancer, Jupiter becomes The Great Mother.  Generous, benevolent, warm and nurturing, Jupiter exalts teaching all of her children in the luxurious world home, providing a blessed, rich and learned life, excluding no one.

As it cycles through Cancer for the next year, Jupiter invites us into her loving, warm-hearted spirit where we may learn how to become our best self.  Jupiter-as-Mother asks us to slow down, remember that life is a journey, not a race, bask in its overflowing care.  Especially during Mercury's retrograde phase through July 20th, nurture yourself and others.  Vacation without a care in the world.  Unplug and tune out.  Relax and read a long, great story.  Tell stories and sing songs.  Reap the magic of silence.  Listen to the natural wonders of Mother Earth as she blossoms into full summer flower.