Astrology by Lauren

The world is changing in some sort of remarkable way.  And so are we right along with it.  There is no getting off of this wave.  It will carry us aloft whether we are willing to ride it or not.  It will be much easier if we ride it willingly.  The changes are occurring on many levels.  We will see their effects in the mundane world, through the politics, the economic instability, climate change and the realization that structures that we have been depending on are no longer adequate.  The ways of doing things the way we have in the past, are becoming antiquated, and perhaps even self-destructive.  They must change for the sake of our own survival.  

There is a river flowing now very fast.

It is so great and swift that there are those that will be afraid.

They will try and hold on to the shore.

They will feel they are being torn apart and they will suffer greatly.

Know the river has its destination.

There are internal changes as well which are unfolding in the wake of the Solstice.  The changes in the outer world could not and would not happen if there was not an internal shift to precede it.  Think of it as an awareness.  A shift in consciousness.  A realization.  Once you attain a certain level of enlightenment there is no going back.  

Uranus, the planet of change, is coming up against powerful and entrenched Pluto in Capricorn, which represents the structures that we have come to depend on.  The first of seven exact squares will culminate this week, even as Saturn, the ruler of Capricorn, stations Direct the next day.  When Saturn stations direct, you begin to feel a shift forward.  Where things may have been left lounging, perhaps on sabbatical, the shift of this massive planet forward again is adding that emphasis that there is no going back any more to the way things used to be.  

The elders say that we must let go of the shore, and push off into the river.

Keep our eyes open and our head above the water.

See who is in there with you and celebrate.

Venus is also stationing Direct while sextile Uranus this week, on the 27th.  With this comes all sorts of realizations, insights, and creative solutions.  Look about you, and take notice of who is riding this wave with you, and be joyous that they are riding it with you.  We need to do this together.  Add to this that Mercury moves out of Cancer on Monday and enters the sign of Leo from where he will nod first to Jupiter, now in Gemini, and then to Venus.  The cheerleaders are lining up, and getting into formation.  Can’t you just feel the excitement brewing?

At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally.

Least of all ourselves.

For the moment that we do,

Our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.

The time of the lone wolf is over.

Gather yourselves.

Speaking of Jupiter in Gemini: the exact square to Neptune and the conjunction to the South Node in Gemini also culminate this week.  People are seeking answers.  Not just political answers.  But moral, ethical and philosophical answers as well.  They are seeking a direction, but are confused as to which way to turn.  The path is misleading and difficult to discern.  Not the least of which is due to the fact that it is riddled with lies and misinformation, causing us to stumble and take wrong turns.  Or we are clinging to what we want to see and hear, or what we fear, despite the facts totally telling us another story.  This is an extremely Karmic story that is haunting us... the way out of this labyrinth is through the compelling and eager search for the Truth.  At all costs.  Ready or not.... the time is now.

Banish the word struggle from your attitude and your vocabulary.

All that you do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.

We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.

-The Elders, Hopi Nation, Oraibi, Arizona

the above photo entitled “Mayan Pyramid, Floods and Sun” is by Victor Habbick, and is listed with freedigitalphotos.net.

For the week of June 22nd thru the 29th, be sure to read your Rising Sign as well:

Aries

There often comes a tipping point in life, when it becomes apparent that in order to implement the changes that you’ve been so enthusiastic about, certain other things will no longer be able to go on as they have in the past.  These can and probably will include certain career changes or goals, or even affect your reputation.  As has been already stated, if you know that certain changes are inevitable, they are usually easier if you are willing to implement them yourself.  Resisting them are futile any way.  And when changes happen to you, then they leave you scrabbling, trying to figure out how to adapt to them.  Be prepared.  Aries is the master and the commander.  Take the reins, and become the change that you would like to see.  

Taurus

Now that both your ruler, Venus, and Saturn, are stationing direct this week, it will feel like your life and your goals will be moving forward as well.  Anything to do with money, work, goals, or career, should begin to find a more stable footing and greater clarity.  And a sense that things are finally moving in the right direction.  Along with this is also this incredible sense of creative inspiration that presents alternatives that you might not have considered before.  Inner insights, or perhaps we shall call it latent genius, reveal themselves, allowing you to see solutions to problems that you hadn’t previously realized.  Or you may not even knew existed.  Even though they were there all along.  

Gemini

There is a tendency with Venus and Jupiter being in one’s own sign, to sit back and put our feet up, enjoying our pleasant thoughts in joyful reverie.  And in that reverie, we try to block out some of the less pleasant realities.  But with the Jupiter/Neptune weather, that reverie is being disturbed in some way.  It may be the realization that you’ve been perceiving the world through rose-colored glasses, or it may be that you hear the cries of those who are unable to help themselves.  And this raises all sorts of questions about how to help, when is the best time, the best ways to help without interfering or over-stepping boundaries.  It also raises the question about what sorts of resources you have to make a difference?  And whether or not you are in a position to make a difference.  But even a kind word at the right time, in the right way, can have an amazing effect.  One realization that will become apparent this Summer, is that we are all swimming in this river together, and that it behooves us to lift our heads out of the water and celebrate our community of efforts.

Cancer

And so we celebrated the Solstice on the 20th, as the Sun moved into your sign, and the first sense is one of profound connection, either to a sense of purpose, to humanity, or to a cause, or to a goal.  The first contact the Sun makes is to Neptune the planet of conscience, humility, social welfare and mysticism.  In this weather of impending change hold on to that image.  One can be both radical (even revolutionary) and still embody a spiritual transcendent vision.  This is compassion in action indeed.  There is the story of Tara, the “Mother of Liberation” in Buddhism.  The story of a nun who took a vow to always be born a woman, in order to achieve enlightenment in that gender, despite the fact that she was told by the male monks, that she would progress further as a man.  She did so to serve as an inspiration to all, to prove that gender has nothing to do with enlightenment, and to raise up the status of women within her community. One of the original radical feminists.

Leo

Take some time for yourself this week.  This is a time for you to be developing and paying attention to your inner world, to listen to the voice that is there, speaking to you.  Especially over the weekend.  Take time to get in touch with your inner muse, and pay attention to what your intuition is trying to tell you.  Allow yourself to be inspired and to develop a connection to your spiritual center.   This will serve as a bark of salvation as you come to realize that something can no longer continue as it has in the past.  That some sort of change is inevitable.  And it is this realization that change is necessary that is the first step.  The next is the resignation to the fact that certain things from the past need to be released in order for you to embrace your future life.  After that, the rest will follow like dominoes in an inevitable chain reaction.  You can only resist it so far.   

Virgo

The issue of ethics arises perhaps in more ways than one, in this Jupiter/Neptune weather.  Fact check everything that you are being told.  Do not assume anything.  Any attempts on your part to misrepresent or to use your position for personal gain will end badly.  There are no two ways about it.  But most egregious are having to rely on others who prove to be ethically challenged, or prove to be deceptive in some way.  Perhaps it was only the way that you were reading them, or what you were wanting to see, or what you assumed to be true, that led you down the garden path.  Seek truth this week, and make that your lodestar in order to navigate this misleading weather.  Maybe even do a little research and investigative work.  Always keeping in mind that the truth will not only win in the end, but can be incredibly enlightening if you realize it.  

Libra

This is where everything begins to move forward.   Issues surrounding your career direction, as well as your sense of motivation and direction.  Your ruler, Venus stations Direct this week, as does Saturn.  All systems will be go from here on in for some time to come.  For the past two years you’ve been exploring who you are and how you perceive your role to be in the world at large.  You’ve been trying different roles, or perhaps just one role, on for fit and comfort.  You are coming to know what suits you and doesn’t, and this is important... for you have been sowing seeds about who you think you are, and where you see yourself in the future.  Likewise, as Venus stations direct, you are privy to a renewed sense of inspiration, and creative activity that has been gathering steam during the retrograde phase.  Be willing to consider alternatives as they arise, or to try something new.  This will open doors.  The excitement will be growing.  Ride the wave.  Do not resist.

Scorpio

As we go into the weekend a gathering for discussion can be both inspiring and enlightening.  And you will probably come away feeling very motivated.  In the wake of the Solstice, there are opportunities to regain a connection to some of your more spiritual aspirations.  Try to hold on to these as the week progresses, and things begin to heat up.  We are entering a season with a huge potential for change, rebuilding, and reinvention.  Instead of resisting the changes that are inevitable any way, see how you can use some of this weather for implementing changes that you’ve been wanting to make yourself.  This can be a renewed health regimen, a diet change, or the relinquishment of a habit, or things that you cling to but no longer need, and that are preventing you from being effective and better able to make the changes that you need to.  

Sagittarius

In some ways Sagittarius has been feeling undermined even though things are looking pretty positive.  There’s this sense of unsure-ness, of whether or not you can fully trust and depend on even those who are closest to you.  That there might be some deception afoot, or that they are deceiving, or undoing themselves.  You cannot fix others, or enlighten them, even if it is apparent that they are ceaselessly self-deceived or delusional.  As Mercury the messenger moves into Leo later this week, you will have the opportunity to clarify some of the conflicting information you are receiving.  Perhaps a message from someone far away, or good news will either enlighten or inspire.  Either way you will be uplifted, and looking forward to making plans.

Capricorn

Things are finally going to be moving forward allowing you to be able to establish and achieve personal and/or professional goals.  During the past several months you’ve been thinking a lot about what you should or could do, and who you should be doing these with.  Now the time is coming for you to be able to begin to implement some of those ideas and/or changes.  Change is never easy.  Even good changes are accompanied by a sense of remorse for the way things used to be.  However, if it becomes apparent that you’ve been tolerating a situation, or depending on structures or people that are no longer reliable, or are incapable of sustaining you in the way that they need to, then it’s time to reinvent, rebuild or rehabilitate.  Purge those things from your life that are standing in the way of progress, and begin the awesome task of rebuilding the future that you would like to see for yourself.

Aquarius

Aquarius has been considering opportunities that would allow for some sort of credible and reliable advancement.  Now that your ruler, Saturn, is stationing direct perhaps some of those opportunities can be put into application and bear fruit.  They’ve been lounging on the back burner for way too long, so it’s high time.  But this is also a time of great changes, as your perspective is being altered, sometimes in dramatic and even mind-altering ways.  Over the next few years you are likely to see some of your old ideas, your old ways of viewing the world, being discarded, as new ideas, a new world view is being adopted.  Pay attention this week, as exciting and creative possibilities arise.  Really great changes occur on the inner planes, within the mind.  These are the catalyst for the big changes to come.

Pisces

With your rulers, Jupiter and Neptune, at odds with one another these days it lends this feeling of disenchantment particularly with an ethical or moral dilemma.  Perhaps related to home, or family or country.  You had such high expectations, and now you’re not sure what to believe, or what to hope for.  Especially as you see some of your ideals being compromised.  The important thing in Jupiter/Neptune weather is to realize the truth, honor your own resources, and respect what can be achievable now.  Just because something is not capable of being perfect, does not make it worthy of being totally discarded.  It just may be that the time is not quite right.  Any way, larger achievements are often made up of smaller achievements being linked together one by one.