09 Jul Love Arrives ~ July 9th-15th, 2018

…love strikes away the chains of fear

from our souls…

This should be a very memorable week, in a mostly good way.

Though there are a lot of changes happening, Venus’ ingress into Virgo at the beginning of the week creates a Grand Earth Trine between Saturn Rx in Capricorn and Uranus in Taurus. This is an influence that will provide structure and stability to anyone who is willing to work steadily towards their dreams for the future. Ensconced in earth energy, you will not be so easily distracted by intense emotions or escapist fantasies. Use this to your advantage.

 

Venus will be in Virgo from July 9th until August 6th. In traditional astrology, the goddess of beauty and love Venus is described as debilitated in the servile sign of Virgo. Imagine her becoming somewhat pent up and neurotic. But the environment of Virgo also influences Venus to pay attention to quality, creating very exacting standards and a critical countenance. When Venus is in Virgo you can more easily discover flaws and weaknesses in your love relationships, your self-image and your experience of luxury.

In a glorious return to form, Jupiter in Scorpio is finally turning direct again, bringing some very positive growth to your wealth and wisdom.

Jupiter’s retrograde in Scorpio began four months ago on March 8th. In such dark waters as these, Jupiter became submerged in the deepest most hidden places in your mind and heart. It is in these environs where your most primal appetites and wild emotions are entwined like a tangle of thorns. Since most people hide from their darkest qualities, Jupiter’s retrograde became an enthusiastic excavation of these exotic regions of the inner world.

Catalyzing shocks and altered states of consciousness often accompany such explorations of the shadow. Extra sensitive to pain from the past, even minor misfortunes may have thrown you into escapism, rage or despair. Driven into the shadows, you may have allowed your morals to become debased and your desires to become selfish.

Even if you have managed to maintain peace of mind, Jupiter’s retrograde period highlighted a lingering sense of stagnation. But it is important to understand that this period was an opportunity to become wiser, knowing the dimensions of love and hate that live within your heart. When Jupiter stations direct on July 10th, the strong currents of progress will return to help you move forward and build upon what you have learned.

A couple days after Jupiter stations direct, the first solar eclipse of the season arrives in the water sign of Cancer. This time, the Sun and Moon will eclipse in an opposition with Pluto in Capricorn. A tunnel into the unconscious mind will appear, luring you into unfamiliar territories of the mind. Pluto is a transpersonal planet that acts an undulating wave of transformation.

Whatever welcome or unwelcome changes occur in your life, let a new level of symbolic awareness guide your perspective. If you can swim deeply into a new mythos, this eclipse will serve as a unique opportunity to heal from childhood wounds. Let there be new meaning in the way you interpret your life story.

The remaining eclipses this summer will be along the Leo/Aquarius axis, so this first eclipse of the season in Cancer brings a unique lesson. It should be noted that solar eclipses open up portals for radical transformation, creating ripples of change for many months to come. Think of this week as the beginning of a deeper journey into the maternal wisdom of Cancer.  

This is the third week of the Sun’s journey through Cancer and the most potent seed of this season will be sown at the solar eclipse. To understand the sign of Cancer, you must understand love in its most primal and tender form.

There are countless songs, poems and liturgies about love. But the soul of Cancerian love can be felt in this short poem by Maya Angelou called Touched by an Angel.

We, unaccustomed to courage

exiles from delight

live coiled in shells of loneliness

until love leaves its high holy temple

and comes into our sight

to liberate us into life.

The first stanza describes how people are exiled from their natural state of delight when they retreat into coiled shells of loneliness.

Consider that the crab is the symbol of Cancer, describing the vulnerability of this loving sign. The characteristic moodiness of Cancer is in fact the retraction of warm loving kindness into a protective shell. Though there is much good in being able retreat into a shell, the downside is a sense of isolation.

But as Angelou points out, the only way to be liberated from the fear that causes one to retreat into loneliness is love which liberates us into a life. During Cancer season, it is good practice to remember all those who have loved and nurtured you, supporting your growth and maturation.

Love arrives

and in its train come ecstasies

old memories of pleasure

ancient histories of pain.

Yet if we are bold,

love strikes away the chains of fear

from our souls.

The second stanza describes another important Cancerian quality: the wells of memory that create the narrative of your life-story. Your newfound freedom from loneliness lasts only until old memories of pain and pleasure begin to strike at your heart with fear. But Angelou reminds the reader that love can free you from these fears if you are bold enough to allow it.

We are weaned from our timidity

In the flush of love’s light

we dare be brave

And suddenly we see

that love costs all we are

and will ever be.

Yet it is only love

which sets us free.

Though Cancer is rarely associated with the quality of courage, the etymology of the word reveals an important truth. Courage is borrowed from Old French corage which contains the Latin cor meaning heart. To have courage is to be full of heart, which is something that the sign of Cancer is well known for.

Angelou’s poem makes it clear that to love is to be courageous. If love costs all we are and will ever be, then there is nothing more bold than to devote yourself to love.

So as this eclipse week develops, it would be wise to re-examine your life through the soft warm light of the Sun in Cancer.

How many times have you have the courage to love?

How many people have you touched with your willingness to embrace, welcome and nurture?

These are the memories that the Sun in Cancer wants to shine a light on. And these are the stories that you should tell during this season. Fear and loneliness will always haunt you, but the courage to love will forever remain your path to freedom.

This Week’s Important Transits

July 10th, Jupiter stations direct in Scorpio

Something long overdue, delayed or stagnated will begin to breathe again with new life. Jupiter will remain in direct motion for the rest of his trip through Scorpio. Prepare to start really transmuting that darkness into light.

July 12th, Solar Eclipse in Cancer

Take courage! Solar eclipses are super intensified New Moons, making this the start of a new adventure. Expect a paradigm shift or an important development to occur in the waters of Cancer. It is the realm of Cancer where beings are loved and nurtured into maturity. Know that it is time to grow and develop something significant in your life.

To understand more specifically what area of your life will be affected, it is best to know what house the sign of Cancer occupies in your natal chart.

You can learn more about how to work with the Moon in relationship to your natal chart in my mini-course: Harvest, The Magic of the Moon.

July 12th-15th, Grand Earth Trine between Venus, Saturn Rx and Uranus.

The background of the week is made most stable by devoting yourself to a great labor of love. Venus in Virgo in a harmonious trine with Saturn in Capricorn creates a marriage of beauty and discipline. And the influence of Uranus in Taurus will inspire an extra creative spirit that will raise the quality of your work up to a higher level.

 

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all paintings by William-Adolphe Bouguereau