In brief: Summer Solstice, Two Eclipses, Two New Moons in Cancer, Jupiter Neptune conjunction, lots of stimulating aspects……
THE SUMMER SOLSTICE
It’s a beautiful time of year: the days are long and abundant, the air is warmed and clear, gardens begin to offer up food for body and soul, and the prospect of the summer holiday beckons. Our bodies relax in the sunshine, we smile at each other in the street, and optimistically buy garden furniture and skimpy summer dresses. In the Northern countries, the calendar is full with festivals and sporting events to make the most of the short summer months. It’s the time of most extraversion in terms of socializing, seeing and being seen, so it’s a great time for meeting new people, reconnecting with old friends, and having fun.
The Longest Day
In the Northern Hemisphere, the Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year. Solstice means standstill, and this period is so-named because the sun appears to rise in the same place for three days running.
Midsummer
The period around the solstice is known as Midsummer and was believed to be a time for fairies and magic. In ancient pagan Solstice celebrations huge fires were lit on the hilltops. Livestock were driven through the fires to be purified, while the people danced around and leaped over the fires for the same reason.
Traditionally, June 24 is Midsummer Day, and either Midsummer Day or Midsummer Eve (the evening of June 23) was celebrated in most European countries, and in some areas is still a time of festivity.
St. John
The pagan celebration of June 24 was adopted as St John’s birthday by the Christian Church. This practice seems to have developed gradually throughout Europe. We know that certainly in the seventh century Saint Eligius encouraged the celebration of St John’s birthday and warned against the customary pagan rites.
I’ve often been in Southwest France for the Summer Solstice, where there is an unbroken tradition of celebrating the longest day with a huge community bonfire, a party with live music, and as always, lots of food. The festival is called the Fete de St. Jean, the Feast Day of Saint John the Baptist.
St. John is the polar opposite of the male archetype associated with Jesus, whose birthday was of course assigned to the Winter Solstice, exactly six months away. St. John was the wild, fiery counterpart to the calm, sacrificial Jesus of the winter. In his gospel, Luke notes that John was born six months before Christ, which was the reason the Catholic Church gave for John’s birthday occurring on June 24.
Matriarchal/Patriarchal Archetypes
The Summer Solstice begins when the Sun moves into Cancer, ruled by the Moon, significator of the matriarchal archetype. The Winter Solstice occurs when the Sun moves into the sign of Capricorn, ruled by Saturn, signifying the patriarchal archetype.
Over the past millennia, the shifting of celebratory emphasis in the year from Midsummer to the Winter Solstice reflects the accompanying dominance of the patriarchal model of social organization.
In most countries in the Northern Hemisphere, Christmas/Winter Solstice is the dominant collective holiday, but in areas where the winter is particularly long and hard Midsummer is almost its equal, and is a national holiday in Sweden, Finland, and Latvia.
Summer and Love
Traditionally the Summer Solstice is the time of marriage, occurring at the juncture between the signs of Gemini (soul mates, twin souls, partnership) and Cancer (family, nurturing).
The solstice was also a time to wish for love: young men who succeeded in jumping over the Solstice bonfires were said to be going to find their true love in the coming year. This tradition continues today in parts of Europe including rural France.
The Marriage of the Sun and the Moon
The Summer Solstice occurs at 0 degrees of Cancer, the moment of the Sun’s entry into the sign that, since ancient times, people have considered “belongs” to the Moon. This means that at the peak of the Sun’s influence on the Earth, it is in the part of the sky ruled by the Moon. In archetypal terms, this means that masculine Sun power at its peak is filtered through the prism of feminine Moon energy, making for a symbolic marriage.
The Summer Solstice is energetically like a magnified Full Moon. The Moon is Full when the Sun and Moon oppose each other in the sky i.e. they are in opposite signs of the zodiac.
The Full Moon at any time of the year is also traditionally considered to be a good time for marriage, as well as for making love potions and invoking the help of the unseen in finding true love.
The Summer Solstice is the traditional time within the annual cycle for marriage, for the union of male and female. Each Full Moon evokes a similar version of this union, and is the best time within the monthly lunar cycle for marriage.
The Summer Solstice This Year
This year the Solstice occurs with a New Moon, making it a good time for forming new relationships.
Supporting this is the conjunction of Venus and Mars at 15 Taurus, trine Saturn in Virgo. This suggests that partnerships formed at this time will be mature and have the possibility of lasting a long time. It’s an especially positive relationship time for Earth signs (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn) and for Cancerians. Scorpios may find that existing partners dominate. Maybe you should let them: the influence won’t last for long, and it’s probably good for you to let someone else be in charge once in a while! Pisceans are still under the influence of Uranus, so anything could happen!
The sign most impacted by the next few weeks is Cancer, with two New Moons in Cancer as well as a Full Moon, two eclipses, and some intense aspects forming around these Moons and during the month. Cancerians are stimulated to make necessary changes, with the New Moon (June 22) at 1:30 Cancer opposing Pluto at 2 Capricorn. These changes are responsible ones for the most part, as the Venus/Mars trine to Saturn is in effect. This theme continues with the next Full Moon which falls on July 7 at 16 Cancer/Capricorn. The Full Moon trines Saturn, so more opportunity for making long term, mature decisions. This bodes well in terms of residential matters, and especially for those influenced by the signs of Cancer and Virgo. These two signs are the ones most concerned with hearth and home, so a Full Moon in which the Sun in Cancer sextiles Saturn in Virgo makes this a great time to find a new home or making a good plan for sensibly rejuvenating your existing one. Then there is a further New Moon in Cancer on July 21, this time at 29 Cancer, still reverberating with the trine to Uranus of a few days before.
Notable days
June 20/21: Summer Solstice: Sun enters Cancer 10:46 pm Pacific on June 20, 6:46 am GMT, 1:46 am Eastern on June 21.
July 1/2: 6 planets at 26 degrees! Mercury at 26 Gemini trines Jupiter/Neptune/Chiron (26 Aquarius) while squaring Uranus (26 Pisces). Venus at 26 Taurus squares Jupiter/Neptune/Chiron while sextiling Uranus. Dream big, write/paint/design, try not to spend too much money, be alert to possible accidents, don’t drink too much coffee, or too much anything else for that matter. Mars is coming along to join the party (reaches 26 Taurus on July 7) so there is plenty of energy and drive in the mix. Depending on where all this falls in your chart, if you have anything significant at 26 degrees you could experience a life-changing event/meeting/thought/inner experience.
Plus: Uranus stations retrograde at 26:37 Pisces.
July 7: a very intense day. Mars at 26 Taurus squares Jupiter/Neptune/Chiron while sextile Uranus. Shocks and surprises, especially involving politicians. More financial shenanigans likely to come to light. Explosions possible.
Plus: FULL MOON (Lunar) ECLIPSE AT 15:32 CANCER/CAPRICORN, 10:21 am GMT, 5:21 am Eastern, 2:21 am Pacific. As mentioned above, this eclipse trines/sextiles Saturn, which should for all of us help to calm the craziness of the Eclipse/Mars aspects and hopefully generate some workable solutions to financial issues, and culling of what is unnecessary in the three months following this series of eclipses (there’s another one coming up on August 5 but I’ll talk about that next time. The July 21 one is the biggee).
July 10: The Jupiter/Neptune conjunction recurs for the second of three occurrences this year, this time at 26:01 Aquarius (we get this aspect again on December 21). Signifying at best spiritual awakening, and at worst having the wool pulled over our eyes by unscrupulous politicians, this aspect sets the major tone of this year. Certainly in the UK the unmasking of former corruption at the political level is a big issue. What we have to also watch out for is what is happening in the present while we are focusing on the errors of the past. The Iran situation is also all about political manipulations and the desire of the public to be told the political truth. With the Uranus Pluto square gradually coming into orbs politicians had better watch out: rebellion is not far away in our collective consciousness.
July 21/22: Total Solar Eclipse at 29 Cancer 7:35 pm Pacific and 10:35 pm Eastern on July 21, 3:35 am GMT on July 22. Another New Moon in Cancer. Jupiter is conjunct Chiron today, so with the New Moon and Eclipse this signals a good time for healing and new beginnings, for setting up new, healthier patterns, for moving to new, healthier environments. This eclipse is visible over China and the countries to its West and South-East suggesting that this part of the world will undergo some fundamental changes in the coming months.
July 27: Venus at 26 Gemini trines Jupiter, Neptune and Chiron, while squaring Uranus. An interesting day for love!
So that’s the overview for the coming six weeks. Not a sleepy time, that’s for sure. Enjoy the vivacity of the air trines and the challenge of the fixed squares. Try and keep a sense of perspective when the eclipses throw a curve ball or two. Think about how you really want your life to be and don’t be afraid to dream big, with Jupiter and Neptune encouraging us to embrace possibilities we thought were for others, or simply not possible at all, and the Eclipses shaking up existing patterns and thus helping manifest those dreams. Our collective yearning for a better life for all is coming into center stage in public discussion. May this bear enlightening fruit.
with love,
Lara