Happy Summer Solstice!

June’s cosmic patterns set the stage for the possibility of enjoying a spectacular summer. Summer here in the northern hemisphere begins with the Sun’s movement into the sign of Cancer. This occurs tonight at 10:46 pm Pacific Time, 11:46 pm Mountain Time or tomorrow at 1:46 am Eastern Time, heralding the summer solstice. Are you feeling your readiness to emerge from your cocoon?  That’s what the cosmos are announcing: your metamorphosis is now complete. You have your wings. Yes, it’s true, you can fly! 

Sounds unbelievable, doesn’t it?  How will we know for sure until we gather the courage to try out our new wings?  I’m not suggesting that we literally attempt to jump off a skyscraper—I’m speaking metaphorically. From the mundane perspective, here’s the deal: whatever has been personally holding us back is ready to fly out of our lives now. All we have to do is summon the courage to open the door, trust the process and allow it to fly away. Here’s the caveat: Holding on to the old form of that which has already revealed its new form, will not result in happy outcomes.

We have all been preparing for this transformation for eons (spiritually speaking) and from the human perspective, for several decades, with the focus of concentration escalating exponentially with each passing year since the summer of 1999 and with each passing month this year. Have you noticed how quickly some things are changing while others seem at standstill? Bear with me as I digress a few months to recap the energetic atmosphere and bring some perspective to that paradoxical experience.

Since February, I have been discussing Venus’ critical role in this transformation.  The focus of Venus’ energy these past few months has strongly encouraged all of us to review the “what is” of our lives (the level of fulfillment we were experiencing with our life in general in all its facets, such as relationships, money, career, etc) so that we became very clear about what we loved, treasured and valued having in our lives. Inherent to this process is also recognizing what we were ready to release because it just didn’t ‘light us up’ anymore.  In summary then, Venus encouraged us to be very clear about the people, activities, and social roles it was our joy to engage and those that were no longer fulfilling to participate in—both as it concerned our personal and collective realities. 

This past April, as Venus resumed direct movement, Mars caught up with her in the final degree of the sign Pisces, the sign of Venus’ exaltation. Pisces is the sign that symbolizes pure consciousness and the awareness and experience that we are all “energetically in this together.” Our experience of separation is ultimately an illusion. We experience separation in the body as a result of the fact that we are each, in our human form, an individuated expression of the One.  It is in Pisces that we have the human experience of this truth. As the last sign of the zodiac, Pisces also symbolizes the end of a cycle of growth and evolution and therefore encourages non-attachment and the release of that which no longer holds value in our experience. That’s necessary to growth and evolution--we must make room for the new cycle of creating and experiencing that is symbolized by Aries. 

Remember Aries—pure, raw, potent energy to create as we desire to experience.  Mars is ambassador of Aries and it was Mars that led the way into Aries, ahead of Venus. While Mars typically moves at a much slower pace than Venus, she was at standstill when Mars united with her. Mars entered Aries early on the morning of April 22, two days ahead of Venus, who followed the early morning of April 24.  While they danced in unison on April 21, Venus shared her creative visions with Mars so that he might pave the way.

Aries is the sign where Mars’ energy is potently and positively expressed and where creative energy is in its purest essence, ready to be directed into desired forms. Mars was therefore fully empowered to claim the joyful life circumstances Venus was eager to experience.

For Mars to be effective at claiming our personal destiny though, we must summon the courage and daring to honestly and directly state our preferences. We had our first opportunity to do that under the Mars and Venus celestial union on April 21. We have that opportunity again this weekend, as they rejoin together in the sign of Taurus while the Sun moves into the sign of Cancer heralding the summer solstice. 

Key to this influence is the message that Mars must take a stand now—we must find the courage to align our actions with our vision.  Mars must also ensure that Mercury ‘pays no mind’ to anyone or anything that is doing its best to dissuade us from our conviction. You see, that requires an act of will and courage!  And it is that courage which infuses Mars with the potency to claim desired realities via inspired being and doing. My guess is that you experienced this readiness for inspired action last month and met up with challenges. This was due to the fact that none of these cosmic influences take place in isolation. We must go deeper and recognize that there were two other significant cosmic factors taking place in May: Mercury’s retrograde and Saturn’s station to direct motion.

Mercury is all about the linear mind’s processes and perceptions. Mercury’s retrograde signaled the time to call forth the genius in each of us. Stuff was happening and outcomes revealed that the old ways of responding weren’t providing viable solutions. We had to get our mind thinking outside its boxes, liberated from the past and accessible to the realm of inspired thought. Mercury stationed retrograde at 1 degree of Gemini—a sign where Mercury finds strength and is able to witness and observe “realities” without judgment. Then, Mercury retraced its steps back into Taurus where it spent the majority of its retrograde cycle. Symbolically, this is to say that while Mercury was in Gemini May 1-13, we were able to step back and observe the realities of our lives without the burden of the judgments and limitations that our subjectivity tends to impose on the perceptive process. And what we were observing during Mercury’s retrograde were Taurus themes: issues of self-worth, value, life-sustainability, and vitalization. With the mind liberated from judgment, inspired solutions are readily accessible.

Saturn’s job is to ensure that we not only see reality clearly but that we confront it, (however distasteful it might be) while also accepting responsibility for our part in creating it. Saturn often tricks us into getting snagged there, (by bringing up all our doubts and fears and attachments) so that we get so caught up in our disappointment and even despair with “what is,” that we are distracted from seeing the joyous possibilities the “what is” can become. Saturn makes those possibilities available to us as well, if we are willing to accept responsibility and honor our personal truth and integrity in our response.  Saturn wants us to be very clear about why we make the choices we do and to know that our lives are a reflection of the choices we make, whatever our reasons for making them.

Due to Mercury and Saturn’s influence in May, the challenge over these past six weeks has been to confront both personal and collective realities without allowing ourselves to get caught up in discouragement or snagged by despair. Our process has been to keep Mercury focused on what is desired as it concerns all facets of our lives. It’s been very important to keep our mind focused on desired solutions (versus getting snagged or overwhelmed from obsessing on the problems).

There are magnificent possibilities to be cultivated right here and now—literally!  As I write, Venus is reuniting with Mars to dance once again.  This time their union occurs in the sign of Taurus and with the blessing of Saturn.  Additionally, the morning of June 22 the Sun and Moon unite in a new moon at 1 degree of Cancer (3:35 pm ET).  The stage is set, be ready to take wing! This June 22 new moon includes the Goddess Vesta (the keeper of the hearth fires) in union with the Sun and Moon. This symbolizes that the mind must be put into service to the heart and leading the way, valuing quality and good feelings as much as quantity and form. Furthermore, the Goddess Ceres is joined with Saturn at this new moon (symbolizing the initiation of a new cycle of creative manifestation). 

In other words, it’s time to psychologically integrate what we intellectually know, to walk our talk, stand in our integrity and joyfully relish our desires taking their forms. If you clearly know what you want and you are ready to receive it, then it is done. No more doubt. Yes, it really is that simple. Venus has both Ceres and Saturn’s support in attracting what is desired and Mars has Ceres and Saturn’s support in right-timing of actions. There’s just one bug-a-boo here: this June 22 new moon also involves a face-off or cosmic opposition to Pluto, god of the underworld. If there’s any facet of our experience that we’ve avoided confronting, that’s remained hidden in the shadows of our conscious awareness, Pluto will ensure we see it now.

This opposition indicates that anything left hiding in the shadows will be brought to the light, all the cracks and weaknesses fully visible so that it’s readily apparent where repairs, renovations or total tear-down and rebuild is needed and this concerns both our personal and collective experiences of reality. In early February, Venus danced the tango with Pluto, giving us our first opportunity to welcome the transformation of existing realities we weren’t finding to our liking. The two of them danced again for the same purpose in early April and early May. Then, Mercury joined in and also initiated a tango with Pluto at its station retrograde in early May, but the two of them didn’t fully engage the dance then—it was postponed until Mercury emerged from its shadow on June 15.  Yes, it’s been a wild and wacky few months!  During such times, it’s good to remember that chaos precedes order. Things are beginning to settle in and click into place.  Our job is to ensure that our perceptions, beliefs and actions are aligned with the life circumstances it would be our pleasure to experience. Perception is everything—it is the first step in creating formed realities.  

Ask yourself this: what forms of reality, both personal and collective, is it pleasing, fulfilling and satisfying for you to imagine?  It’s time to willfully focus your thinking and doing in alignment with your answer.  Think about your current circumstances from the perspective of desired outcomes.  Engage only that which is aligned with your desired outcomes. Right action is easy to recognize—it’s authentic, it’s inspired. Recognize what changes are necessary to transform your life—beginning with the mind’s beliefs, moving through the emotions/feelings and into the forms that structure your personal reality. Bless and release that which you’ve determined must be left behind and do so without ever looking back.

Saturn gives his full support if we accept responsibility for “what is” while patiently and deliberately persisting, step-by-step, while acutely focused on our goals, aligned firmly in our personal integrity. Be willing to go it alone—don’t wait on others, take the lead. Don’t look to others for solutions; the solutions that will work are within you, they aren’t going to come from “without” until you align with what you know “within” and walk that knowing.  You are the author of your life—you are your only authority.   

Then you’ll be wowed by life and celebrate with joy as you watch the forms of your life being structured in vibrational affinity with your intended desires. Enjoy the experience of having Saturn the Manifestor as your formidable ally when you are aligned with your inner wisdom and knowing, living from your integrity without fears and doubts, recreating your life circumstances in alignment with your vision of the joyful human life you imagine for yourself. 

Before I close, there is one more noteworthy date to mark on your calendar.  Saturn rules time and therefore, it’s beneficial to cultivate the perspective that time is your friend.  While Saturn is moving forward, he is still within the shadow of his retrograde, retracing his steps through 15-21 degrees of Virgo, steps that he first took last October through December. This indicates that there’s the possibility that something that you became aware of then is having its reaping, releasing or culmination now, especially if you have birth planets in these degrees in Virgo. Saturn emerges from his shadow on August 22. Think of this date as a sort of “D-Day.” Make a commitment to finishing up what needs finished and take the steps, each and every day, that welcome the new experiences you intend--perceiving, thinking, and acting in alignment with your intentions.  Saturn rewards those who persist with the process. Stay focused on the fact that you are claiming the life it feels good for you to lives across the board, every facet—people, places, activities, and circumstances. 

Next month brings both a lunar eclipse and a solar eclipse and August brings another lunar eclipse. My July newsletter will address those powerful dynamics.  Great transformation and important breakthroughs are this summer’s ongoing themes and we’ll continue to explore them.

Celebrating the wondrous with you,

 

Terri