Don’t be discouraged if you feel overwhelmed or disenchanted this week. Mars in opposition to Neptune will leave many feeling disillusioned and out of their depth. The Last Quarter Moon on the 29th/30th is asking us to slow down in preparation for the next cycle. Do so while paying attention to your boundaries and your limits. Trying to go beyond those will only leave you exhausted and spent. It is a time for quiet reflection and thoughtful reverie, not madcap hijinks and maneuvers.

The Full Moon in Aquarius this weekend is not only our second Full Moon in Aquarius this year, but also a seasonal Blue Moon. A rare 4th Full Moon which snuck in this season. But perhaps the most significant thing about this Full Moon is that it is closely conjunct retrograde Jupiter, which only returned to Aquarius at the end of July.

This coming week Uranus will station for its retrograde phase. Planets often make their presence felt when they station in a particular degree. And with Uranus in Taurus it could literally feel as if the very earth is shaking beneath our feet. However, these retrograde phases of Uranus are a very important time of the year in which we are processing and making sense of the changes in our lives. Including those that have already been made, those that are occurring now, and those we might be planning or anticipating in the future.

We have the creative and sunny New Moon in Leo on Sunday, at 9:51 am here in New York City. Our lion is crouching back on its haunches, just ready to make its move. For with an active square to changeable and unpredictable Uranus at the New Moon, know that almost anything is possible.

This coming week, at the Superior Conjunction of Mercury, when we are at our most objective in the Mercury cycle, when Mercury’s wings are fleeting, and we are filled with clarity; the Sun and Mercury will also be opposite the stern and forbidding specter of retrograde Saturn. It’s time for a check in with reality.

There is a Full Moon in early Aquarius on July 23rd (or 24th). And retrograde Jupiter returns to Aquarius where it will remain until the end of the year. Some shifts and turns, and a point of culmination, revelation and fruition.

On Thursday, July 15th, Chiron joined the majority of the outer planets in their retrograde phases. The Chiron retrograde phase is a critical time of year in which we are being asked to pay attention to our own healing journey. For we cannot be good custodians to others, if we do not take care of ourselves.

We need to periodically replenish ourselves in the healing waters of the Cancer New Moon. Doing so gives us the strength to then go out and meet the world on its own terms. The New Moon in Cancer falls at 18º Cancer 02’, on July 9th at 9:17 pm (EDT) here in New York, 1:17 am Universal Time on July 10th.

What prevailing obstacles or challenges are you facing in your life? What needs to give? Change? or be transformed? We have been standing on the threshold of change all year. This could be a critical week in the process of that evolutionary growth and change.

Neptune stations for its retrograde phase on June 25th. Neptune can be weepy, and overwhelm our feelings and our senses. It can bring uncertainty and feel as if there are enemies lurking behind every bush. However, Neptune is also about that which is most meaningful and sacred in our lives. And it is during these critical retrograde periods of Neptune that we are able most to connect with that.