2014 has certainly shaped into a challenging year. Most if not everyone I know has significant life concerns to manage. It feels as if we no sooner come up for air than unrelenting forces push our head back under water. If I’ve learned anything, it is to feel grateful for a day or week that passes relatively uneventful.
So I am truly happy to write that July offers us a whole-hearted reprieve from the mayhem. Time to let loose, have fun (maybe you’ve been working too hard and forgot what fun feels like…?), laugh and play like you mean it, and, make room for a little romance…. This month the big news is that beneficent titan Jupiter switches out of maternal Cancer where it has been for a year and moves into party-hearty Leo. The cosmos is saying, “come on now, give the kids a break!” And if you are wondering why I am posting this blog a few days before July 1st, I am taking my own break: vacation with family, and will be off line at my regular post time. Hooray!
To move us right along into a brand new head space, the very first day of July messenger Mercury turns direct motion in Geminii. Messages we need to hear and deliver will no longer get caught in life’s cross hairs (or wires). Ease into July, away from the stress and stranglehold of the daily grind. In America, the July 4th holiday weekend looks particularly joyous with the Sun (our will) making a beautiful angle to dreamy, fluid Neptune. Get thee to a lake, ocean or river! For water activities or simply sitting and walking near water will be highly enjoyable, not to mention healing and relaxing as Saturn helpfully aligns with healer Chiron, both in water signs Scorpio and Pisces.
Whether at home or away, take advantage of Mercury’s beautiful angle to the North Node of the Moon in Libra to smooth out relationship wrinkles with accurately aimed words to friends and family. Aiding our relationships is the super helpful angle between Venus (love and money) and Mars (action) that shifts into place for most of the month. This duo’s energy perfectly supports our efforts to initiate relationships, launch conversations you have either avoided or been reluctant to start, as well as heal relationship rifts and conflicts. Additionally, the first weekend of July, Venus moves toward a helpful angle with radical Uranus igniting out of the box, unusual approaches to our people problems. Venus-Uranus jump starts our ability to try fresh tactics to break out of and break free from same-old-same-old patterns. Remember, these patterns can be in our own relationships to ourselves as well… inviting us to do as Louise Hay instructed: change your thoughts to change your life. Where have you been holding off discussing difficult topics or doing your own internal work? Now is a great time to apply fresh ideas, insights and strategies you may not have thought of before, that come to you out of the ether, OR by really hearing the words from others….So try to make time to access all of the cosmic support available now. It is in your best interest.
When the weekend is over, life kicks into high gear the first full week of July. It is an excellent time to push forward with contracts, documents (legal or otherwise), major purchases and projects. Go for it! We can feel our efforts growing stronger every day; building on the waxing moon energy and culminating with the Capricorn Full Moon on July 12th. Capricorn’s practical magic boosts any step-by-step changes we seek to make in our lives. It is excellent for growing business ventures, projects, or life plans. Capricorn also rules government so hopefully the US government can get its act together to solve the many pressing problems facing our nation!
The second week of July finds the Jupiter-Sun pair squaring off with mighty Mars for the rest of the month. Jupiter is finishing its tour through nurturing Cancer. Joined now by the Sun in Cancer, family life takes center stage and when Mars in Libra challenges this pair, our interest is heightened in all things regarding home life, food, cooking, house concerns (repairs, construction), MOM, relatives, property and real estate. Be mindful now of how you want relationships to be versus how they actually are… especially in family/spousal relationships. Ask yourself, is it the other person(s) who needs to change or is it you? Has the other person changed, changed again, changed yet more and still you are not happy/satisfied? Or conversely, have you done all the changing to no avail? Look at your options. What are they?
Helping us now is Mercury’s shift into Cancer on July 13th. Cancer likes slow…takes life in slow, measured paces so our thoughts and words operating via Mercury in Cancer lends a cautious, thoughtful approach. Slow down, deliberate and consider your words before speaking. Ask, how will your message be best received? What is the most honest path? For all involved?
And then, as the planets turn, a ray of sunshine….
Just when we thought fun would never find us again, on July 16th Jupiter shifts into buoyant, effervescent, magnificent, magnanimous LEO. Much needed; most welcome. Crawl out of that shell you’ve been hiding in while Jupiter passed through Cancer. Let down your hair (remember Leo the Lion’s mane?) and express yourself! Because Jupiter in fiery Leo says it is time to strut your stuff. The genesis of creation, creativity itself begins with Leo. Let yourself be heard and be seen. There is no time like the present to put on your party hat, your party dress and get down! If you don’t have something to celebrate, create something to celebrate!! Throw a party for party’s sake. What is stopping you, asks beneficent Jupiter? I’ve given you all the the fixings, now get going! You’ve survived the seriously heart-stopping, gut wrenching past six months; if that isn’t reason enough for a little joy, I don’t know what is. Enough of the doldrums already. Live life as if today were your very last.
If there is one thing that is truly lacking in our world right now, it is humor. Comedy. Hearty and heartfelt laughter. The ability to laugh at ourselves. So: Laugh out loud! Love and romance are also Leo’s domain and Jupiter in Leo does love in a BIG way….What the world needs now, is love sweet love…. Planet of abundance, Jupiter wants us to have a good time. And in good-times Leo, Jupiter shows us how. Leo rules festivity, creativity, drama, entertainment (performance) and entertaining (parties), FUN, risk taking/gambling, Romance with a Capital R, and thus naturally, procreativity.…you know what I mean, Leo’s glyph after all looks like a, well, a sperm…HA! Leo wants you to enjoy and be merry. And Jupiter in this merry sign makes sure we have ample opportunity.
Just as Jupiter gets going in Leo, Venus shifts into home-loving Cancer on July 19th where it joins Mercury. Both align with intuitive Neptune. Have a gut feeling? Follow it. This trio tells us: Easy, does it. You are long overdue for fun but remember, Jupiter will be in Leo for a whole year. Why not start with family fun or some long postponed self care? This stretch of July is superb for vacation, holidays of any variety, getting away from it all, family or not. Venus-Mercury in Cancer wants to take a slow boat to somewhere just to see where the voyage leads while Jupiter in Leo leads the parade and Mariachi band on board.
Setting off a cosmic game of tag team, the next day, July 20th heavyweight Saturn stations direct motion at a critical degree in Scorpio. Time to get your karma on. Buried issues surface in a big way. Time to hit the jackpot or get a shock with your shared resources. Saturn in Scorpio deals with sex, death, taxes/shared resources (bank accounts, property, etc), the psychic realm, what is hidden… And with planet of surprise! Uranus turning retrograde two days later on July 22, buckle up and be fully prepared for some earthquakes and lightning strikes, inter-personally and/or on the actual earth plane. Since Uranus challenges messenger Mercury now, expect miscommunications and misunderstandings. This sliver of time acts similarly to Mercury’s retrograde periods. Make sure you have all your I’s dotted and T’s crossed.
Raising the stakes is activator Mars when it enters serious Scorpio on July 26th and continuing its challenge to Jupiter and the Sun. This fun pair in Leo wants us to play. However, Mars in Scorpio says, just don’t do anything stupid while you’re at it…unless, that is, you want to have a brush with possibly permanent consequences, dance with death. So before heading off to the party, designate a [sober] driver. Have fun AND stay safe. You can do it. Venus-Mercury in maternal Cancer are very helpful reminding us how… you can almost hear your mom and dad’s voice in your head, come home in one piece, be careful, watch out for yourself…
It is essential to hear words of caution and care this last week of July as Venus, Pluto and Uranus move into a tense arrangement. Let’s start with Pluto-Venus first. As they oppose one another, people will show their true colors, show themselves for who they truly are. This duo is very revealing. Including self-revelations. Observe your reactions. Especially during power struggles incited by this uneasy pair. Emerging from the melee and chaos you will see parts of others, and yourself, that you did not see before and/or parts you chose not to/did not want to see. Then, like a match to gasoline, Uranus forms a challenging angle to both Venus and Pluto the final days of July, causing accidents in relationships, unpredictable [surprise!] behavior particularly with family members (oops, did you catch your loved one/child/spouse/parent in a compromising situation?), as well as accidental relationships…think: people you are intended to meet.
It can be a highly exciting time, to meet brand new people, to blast out of ruts or routines, relationships and relationship habits-grown-old, meeting a true agent of change who will challenge/alter/progress your life in unimaginable ways; someone or some many who introduce you to new worlds, confront your ideas and entrenched ways of being. With Mars closing in on Saturn in Scorpio, be mindful of shared resources (taxes, joint financial accounts and property) especially involving relatives. Windfalls from long lost family members or long lost pots of gold can surface too now. Through it all, keep an eye on the Radical side of Uranus. Avoid bridge burning and saying things you might regret later on; refrain from being baited into an argument. Remember to go at your own pace, a tempo that makes sense for you.
As July draws to a close, the New Moon in Leo on July 27th is exceptionally powerful. Access this highly creative planetary energy to invoke wishes and prayers for how you want to be in this world, what career, relationships, home life you desire. Create what you seek. Make like Leo the Lion and ROAR.
Of special note:
Please visit my fabulous new website at www.hilaryharley.com. Huge thanks to Debbie Steinberg at Computer Breakthrough for her help redesigning my site. Please contact Debbie for all of your website needs at www.cbi.net. Also, if you are on Facebook, please visit and “like” my new Facebook page, Hilary Harley Astrology where I will be posting links to my blog along with relevant astrology articles.
Raves and recommendations:
Susan Jenness owns and operates the Sanctuary for Yoga and Reiki in Watertown, Massachusetts. I mentioned Susan in an earlier blog post for her amazing Reiki treatments which I highly recommend. Recently, I had the pleasure to attend one of Susan’s yoga classes. She is a truly gifted instructor and if you are in the Boston area, I cannot recommend her enough. Susan also is a healing crystal practitioner. Please visit her website at www.sanctuaryforyogaandreiki.com for more information about yoga class times and reiki or crystal healing appointments.