Jupiter enters Leo

 

Jupiter will move into the sign of Leo on July 16th and remain there until August 11, 2015. The planet Jupiter’s position in the zodiac shows how you express your need to grow. It shows your interests in the higher values of life and how you share those interests with others. When you think of the “Giant Planet” you think expansiveness. This is what energies of Jupiter challenge us to do in the physical, the intellect, the emotional but most important the spiritual, to expand and grow. Jupiter's energy is unrestrained and its effect is to inflate. It rules our expansion potential in the material, spiritual, intellectual and cultural sense. Jupiter is the planet of opportunities because its energies compel us towards experiences that promote our growth.  Jupiter's energy is predominantly benevolent, one which wants us to grow and flourish in a positive way.

Leo is a fixed (tenacious, persistent) fire sign is ruled by the Sun. The sign of Leo, will describe how and where you will be affected by influences of optimism, capacity for enjoyment and self-expression.  Your Sun is arguably the most powerful energy in your whole chart. It represents your central sense of purpose and identity. Leo represents our self-esteem, playfulness, love and self-affirming purpose.  Leo speaks to creative ability and the power of the individual to meet the challenges of everyday life and will describe how and where you will be affected by influences of optimism, capacity for enjoyment and self-expression. Leos are powerful personalities. They are usually ambitious and enthusiastic people who enjoy drawing attention to themselves. Sometimes they can be overly confident and outspoken. On the opposite side of the coin, Leos are courageous when needed, loyal and generous and will defend their loved ones with surprising force.

The last time we saw this transits was in 2002. Jupiter wants more--more love, more money, more travel, and more spirituality. In Leo, Jupiter wants more fun. While Jupiter was in watery and sentimental Cancer during the last year, many people experienced the expansion of their waistline. Jupiter in Leo increases your metabolism. Jupiter in Leo is always ready for the next adventure or journey. Jupiter represents Higher philosophy and speaking the Highest Truth. Past life issues about being burned at the stake for speaking your Truth now need to be released. Jupiter is a wise teacher. Leo is a charismatic leader. It is time to bring out the Hierophant within you, teaching the sleeping masses to honor a Higher Purpose. New ventures this coming year will tend be all about creativity and rampant possibilities, hang the details. So if you're a stickler, you may seem a thorn in people's sides. It's fun to roll with the blue-sky crowd, but don't count on cashing in on everything or taking it to the limits first imagined. Still, you hit the mark by aiming high. While this transit will be beneficial to everyone, individuals with Leo Sun and Rising Signs will really feel the positive energy.

Sun enters Cancer

This year on June 21, 2014, the Summer Solstice, the Sun moved into Cancer.  Cancer, a Cardinal sign,  is ruled by the Moon and belongs to the element of water. This brings an important point as the Moon has no light of her own. She can only reflect the light that's given to her by the Sun. This quality of reflection is a central factor in the Cancer archetype. Cancer claims exclusive rights to the Moon, both sign and planetary ruler termed, “cold and moist” in nature. Understanding the essence of that phrase reveals a lot about the complex sensitivity that lies beneath Cancer’s thick, crustaceous shell. In Cancer, we enter the world of emotions and feelings, as well as needs, intuition and the ability to bond with another human being. The rational Gemini self-awareness leads readily into Cancer's intuitive self-reflection and its personalized, feelings-based assessment of life. We now enter the realm of the non-rational, not necessarily irrational, but that which does not adhere to conventional logic or cause-and-effect.

In nature, water has no shape of its own, no taste or color. It needs other materials to be observed. Feelings and emotions are like invisible forces made perceptible by external events that cause internal ripples. Our feeling state can be affected by internal psychological dynamics and includes emotions, but also includes the intuitive senses. You can have a “feeling” about something without necessarily having an emotional response to it.

As children, we are very open. We freely express our emotions, from delight to contentment to primal rage. We learn to consciously identify our feelings by observing how we react to various situations and sensations. As we mature, we develop a more complex repertoire of feelings. Our first experience of being emotionally affected by others is our family, initially by the mother or mother-figure. Whether we experienced our childhood as nurturing, supportive and safe, or as painful, erratic and dysfunctional, our internal emotional growth tends to take on the shape of the environment in which it grew. It is here we first learn how to nurture and be nurtured, to bond and be separate, to be an individual and yet be part of a larger whole, i.e., the family. Unconscious dynamics which are passed down from generation to generation also have their roots in Cancer and the 4th house. Hence, Cancer also governs family, childhood, mother, our ancestry, and the past in general. As infants, we learn how to bond with another person, usually the mother first and later we begin to distinguish between where we stop and others begin. Our initial symbiosis with the mother-figure, combined with our subsequent ability to separate ourselves, matures into a capacity for empathy. The roots of our needs and behaviors in adult relationships are found deep in our Cancerian past. The archetypes of Aries, Taurus and Gemini form the foundation of the Self in its own right. Although Gemini brings us a conceptual experience of others through information and environment, Cancer involves an experiential, deeply personal encounter with others. In Cancer, it is enough to return to our roots and past to discover the dynamics which enabled us to grow into the person we are today. If we try to go forward without knowing where we came from, we risk becoming aimless, reckless and disconnected.

Neptune Retrograde in Pisces

 

From June 9th until November 15th, Neptune will be in retrograde motion. Neptune rules denial, so when Neptune turns retrograde our feelings are more astute at picking up and perceiving the illusive. It is easier to ascertain information about issues that have eluded us while Neptune was direct. It is essential that we do something about the problems that we pick up on while Neptune is retrograde because they can worsen when Neptune goes direct. A retrograde Neptune tends to blur the boundaries between reality and illusion, and makes dreams larger than life. This is therefore a good time to delve into your dreams, to listen to your intuition, to experience music and art, and to seek inspiration. Be sure however to keep a good grip on the practical aspects of life and avoid being cast adrift on the sea of unreality. A Neptune retrograde in Pisces is a good time to refocus or recommit to your spiritual side and attune yourself to pursuits that help grow Self.

It should be noted that with Neptune turning retrograde, it joins Mercury, Saturn, Pluto and four planets are now in retrograde motion. For the next few months, do not expect anything to move at its customary pace.  Life will stall, be prepared.

Mercury Retrograde in Cancer and Gemini

From June 7th until the 17th, Mercury will be in Cancer.  The challenge will be to think clearly when all these emotions are coming up and all we can do is feel. All of our emotional insecurities will rise to the surface and this Mercury retrograde can make us feel like we could easily loose it and emotionally explode. Family issues that we thought we had dealt with will come back again. Old wounds will resurface to be hopefully healed once again on an ever-deeper level. The essence of Cancer energy is to learn emotional self-reliance. To realize that no matter how "bad" or "good" our relationships may be, no matter what gender we are this lifetime, it is still our own responsibility to take care of our own emotional needs. No matter who we think is "hurting" us it is just the mirror to help us to greater levels of emotional self-relating. So this Mercury retrograde will help us determine where in our emotional relationships we need to relate to ourselves better. This is the time period to realize our deepest emotional fears and insecurities and face them, to mentally listen inwardly on how to do this.

Then from the 17th to July 1st, Mercury will move into Gemini.  Gemini Sun Signs and  people with this sign prominent in their charts will be especially prone to introspection. Gemini is a Mutable Sign, so the other Mutable Signs, Pisces, Virgo and Sagittarius will also be effected. With Neptune Retrograde as well, the coming weeks will present a tricky time. Bear in mind that, although luck could well be on your side, there are no guarantees that you will make proper use of the information, ideas, or activities you experience. Reality will probably not manage to intrude, as inspiration and instincts rule the day and there is little choice but to reconsider our personal views and opinions about life. We receive, however, an opportunity to gain insight into our own ego. Your imagination and intuition can prove useful, by putting you in the right place at the right time. Mercury retrograde in Gemini tempts us to leap into something new and untried, or to escape to some other place. Although Gemini is the sign of the mind and of communication, this period can see us swamped in a mass of detail, especially if matters that should have been completed in the past return to haunt us. An unduly fluid state of mind can lead to indecision and confusion, mainly through a breakdown in communication. Judgments are unclear and fickle, and it's hard to know good value when you see it. Frustration arises in connection with information and ideas that come your way. Resist the temptation to take offence at criticism, especially if it wasn't meant to be taken personally.

Sun Enters Gemini

Now that the seedling is secure it begins to branch out and interconnect with a complex root system. The Gemini principle is driven by the compelling need to connect objects with one another to form ever greater links. Their job is to experience a diversity of sensations, thoughts and encounters so that they can create systems or theories of knowledge that are then disseminated to others.

Gemini is the third sign of the zodiac and is ruled by Mercury. When a planet or house cusp is in the sign of Gemini, the planet or house will describe how or where you communicate the most. It also represents the conscious mind and the thinking process. In general, a person born under the sign of Gemini will tend to need constant change and variety in their lives; as well as the need to communicate on all levels. They are the happiest when they have more than one interest to pursue. Sometimes this can lead to inconsistency and irresponsibility because they fail to complete what they start. In spite of this trait, they have excellent memory, quick minds and can be very logical and rational people.

We have set off on a cosmic journey starting with Aries and Taurus. The Aries cycle brought a great burst of life force and initiative, like a seed being shed from the husk of previous journeys. This seed contained an explosion of potential and possibilities in our lives. In the Taurus cycle, we planted this seed and stabilized its growth to ensure it has the fuel and endurance to survive the long process ahead. Taurus provided an opportunity to explore our attitudes about resources. Now we reach the Gemini phase of our journey. In Gemini, we're challenged to increase our awareness and connect this new potential to our immediate environment. Hence, Gemini and the 3rd House are associated with neighbors and siblings, local travel and the vehicles that get us there. They're also connected to the conceptual neighborhood. We are also part of our own neighborhood. Psychologically, Gemini is the beginning of objective self-awareness. This is not to say that Aries or Taurus people are not self-aware; rather, Gemini energy brings the most basic forms of awareness into focus for everyone. Developing objective self-awareness is a long-term process that grows and evolves. In terms of external projects and activities, Gemini is the stage in which we start to become aware of what we're trying to do and what will be involved.  How do we become aware? When we want to look at ourselves physically, we need a mirror. A mirror provides us with a means to observe ourselves objectively, as separate objects. Similarly, to perceive our personality objectively, we need a mirror of some sort in the form of communication, relationships and the community. This mirroring effect introduces the idea of duality. In Gemini, we have our first awareness of the multiplicity of Self. For all of us, archetypal Gemini brings us to an awareness of the many facets of ourselves. The Air Signs form an evolutionary process of observing ourselves through the mirror of other people. In Gemini, we begin with information exchange. Through communication, we increase our awareness of the world around.

This is the quest of the Gemini, to gather together as much information about their world as possible. It is their medium for knowing themselves and their navigation tool through life, gathering and sharing information.