Jupiter + Neptune Station retrograde in Pisces - Week of June 20th - 26th
Galactic Greetings!
Three planets will station this week, changing direction in the sky. Congruently we can expect delays, reversals and major shifts taking place in our lives. My colleague Veronica Perretti pointed out that many of us may be experiencing a cosmic hangover in lieu of eclipse season, Mercury retrograde combined with other ongoing transits in our birth charts. These reversals might reflect the necessary period of integration. My cohost on the Fallen Fruit Podcast, Lynette Ramos consistently points out that while plant medicine is a powerful healing ally, it’s the integrative work we do afterward which dials the new awareness more directly into our cellular being. In other words, these planetary reversals may be reflective of our inner process post-eclipse season.
I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for Mercury retrograde to finally END! I’ve experienced a few curveballs myself, and let’s just say, it’s a lot! My colleague and mentor Gary Caton recently explained that this current Mercury retrograde has been one of the more difficult ones. It’s a longer retrograde period than usual, while Mercury covers less zodiacal terrain. This accentuates the quality of slowness and delays, combined with the confusion brought on by a square to Neptune. Thankfully, it ends this week!
So much is happening this week that I’ve had to trim some smaller aspects from the list this week. Here are the most important ones:
Astrology Watch
Sun enters Cancer (6/20)
Jupiter stations retrograde (6/20)
Mercury stations direct (6/22)
Venus opposite Pluto (6/23)
Capricorn Full Moon (6/24)
Neptune stations retrograde (6/25)
Summer Solstice / Cancer Ingress (6/20)
Blessed Summer solstice! Today is the longest day of the year, the first official day of the summer season, coinciding with a culmination of peak sunlight here in the northern hemisphere. The summer solstice is the day of the year which allows us the longest duration of access to the life-giving vitality and luminosity of the divine Sun.
Zodiacally, this shift coincides with the Sun’s Cancer ingress. Famously ruled by the silvery Moon, many folks wonder why Sun-ruled Leo season wouldn’t arrive at this time. Instead, Leo season coincides with peak summer, the hottest and driest time of the year. The ancients perceived the Sun and Moon to be equal in their ability to provide light – which is why the summer months are ruled by the luminaries. Still, today we honor the Sun. Without the Sun, there is no life on Earth, no solar system and no astrology to practice.
Today is also Father’s day in the US, an archetype often congruent with solar energy. It’s a beautiful day for Sun contemplation, gratitude, ritual and healing (yup, we’re out of eclipse season, so you’re good!). The Sun represents our vitality, our ability to be seen, our creative potential, autonomy and purpose. We can embrace glitter, gold and all the shininess we can muster. Today is a great day to feel the warmth in your solar plexus, your feet on the ground, and the energy rising upward into the heart and outward through our crown. To Be is your birth rite.
We’ve already dipped our toes into Cancer season thanks to Hesperus Venus leading ahead of the Sun. Cancer season inspires a deeper desire for ritual, nourishment and tending to the hearth. It’s a time for caring for others as much as you care for yourself. Cancer is represented by the crustacean – a tough outer shell shields the vulnerable and empathic interior. We all have our defense mechanisms, either learned or born out of reflex necessity. The function of this shell is also to provide shelter, a home and the core necessity of safety. What does it mean to feel included in a sacred circle of closeness and support? On boundaries: do they provide a soulful container or do they withhold more profound connection. Cancer season reminds us too, that vulnerability is often a vital ingredient for establishing bonds of steel.
Jupiter stations retrograde (6/20)
Jupiter stations retrograde at 2°11’ of Pisces at 11:06 am ET, however we will begin feeling this transit as early as 6/16 and its effects will echo a few days afterward. The energy of a stationary planet permeates the general collective backdrop. So luckily for us, we get a giant cosmic boost of encouragement from Zaddy Jup! There’s so much to be grateful for and so many more reasons to celebrate. Seize life! Go forth and rejoice in revelry! On 6/24, the Sun in Cancer will trine stationary Jupiter in Pisces and accentuate this transit in a bigger way. Jupiter’s abundant, boisterous and lustrous presence will be felt.
Already geared toward accelerating our inward expansion from ethereal Pisces, Jupiter stations retrograde, turning this process inward. Jupiter will spend the following month retrograde in its nocturnal domicile, inspiring a month more deeply committed to our soulful expansion. As I detailed in my article on Jupiter in Pisces, I feel that this transit will underscore the search for deeper meaning. The pandemic urged us question many of our surface level motives and how to live in truer alignment with our soul. Jupiter in Pisces highlights this reflexive search for meaning. This next month will represent an integral phase of inward seeking and spiritual connection.
ROSE QUARTZ by Beth Hoeckel
Mercury stations direct (6/22)
Mercury stations direct at 16°07’ Gemini, ending a long, grueling retrograde phase. Astrologer Gary Caton shared that this particular Mercury retrograde would be especially challenging due to its extended duration and its tighter degree range, thus accentuating the delays, confusion and typical communication snafus. Fortunately, for us, its almost over. For these few days encircling Mercury’s station, we will first experience an intensification of the Trickster’s antics. In other words, don’t hasten your gait just yet. We are not in the clear! As Mercury regains forward momentum once more, it’s best we retain the obligatory proofreading precautions and pay attention to the cryptic messages of the alchemist’s parables.
Now through July 11th, Mercury wraps up the total renovation which has been underway in our Gemini house. For more details on where Gemini falls in your chart and how this process is shifting ground in your life, join me on Patreon under Moonrise and tune into the latest video!
Venus opposite Pluto (6/23)
Projection, rage, jealousy, envy and competition can take us to our depths – revealing our deepest insecurities around love and beauty – but also our core desires, needs and fears. A transit like this is not a slice of cake, but it can instead behave like a truth serum. And if you’re fortunate, it can also manifest as a love potion, producing deep magnetic attraction and a captivating need for primal closeness. Misunderstandings in relationships make way for deeper conversations and healing. Watch for tendencies to control or manipulate others to avoid being direct about what makes you feel insecure. This is an opportunity for radical honesty about what you need to feel safe, secure and supported in your relationships.
Full Moon, 3°27’ Capricorn, 2:39 pm ET (6/24)
The Full Moon in material, ambitious Capricorn arrives amidst heartfelt Cancer season, a time when we are more guided by our feels, recreating nostalgia and the desire for a sense of home. The Capricorn Moon provides the contrast. If you want the “This Is Us” cabin-in-the-woods experience, you need to put the time in – both in terms of nurturing relationships and cultivating material sustenance. The Capricorn Full Moon helps us channel our feelings into fuel for the actualization of our dreams. And speaking of dreams, Neptune is stationing retrograde right now too, highlighting our dreams, desires and our ideal vision for the world. The Capricorn Full Moon offers potential containers for the endless stream of human feels.
This lunation highlights the contrast between material and emotional security. Indeed, home isn’t always where we are rooted, but home is about who is by your side. However, the Capricorn Full Moon reminds us that it doesn’t hurt to have enough rice to go around. Let’s be honest: the paralyzing effects of late-stage capitalism deny many of us from accessing a dignified living space. This means that the symbolic correlation between the root chakra, the nervous system and a sense of nourished roots creates a collective spiritual crisis of sorts. The Full Moon is ruled by Saturn, still in tight square formation with Uranus – a defining aspect of 2021 in which all the overarching structures of our lives are brought into question. How supportive are these systems, really? Cabin in the woods? More like an Air BnB in the woods for many of us.
The Full Moon arrives within one half of a degree from the Christmas Eclipse of 2019 – the coronal eclipse directly linked to the outbreak of the pandemic – the core catalyst for all of the structural renovations we are in dialogue about now. This week, 3 planets station and change direction, correlating with major reversals and shifts this week. Additionally, Mars begins to agitate this Saturn-Uranus square, instigating friction for another two weeks. We also have a hopeful sextile to Jupiter in Pisces. Though Capricorn is a sign which values tradition, the Full Moon seems to emphasize the fundamental need to consider new possibilities for how we live.
Neptune stations retrograde (6/25)
At 3:21 pm, Neptune stations retrograde at 23°12’ Pisces. For about 4 days on either side of this transit, we can expect to experience a pervasive sense of fogginess, grogginess, or spiritual longing. We might feel more sleepy than usual, forgetful or in a daze. Neptune’s commanding presence will also invite us to indulge in some good ol escapism. Edibles or mushrooms are always a good time, as well as extended yogic naps, meditations, gong baths and movie marathons – anything to temporarily relieve us from the burden of gravity, gluing our feet to the concrete against our will. If you’re arms are feeling heavy these days, definitely carve the time to space out. At its most intense, a Neptune station can inspire a sense of overwhelming compassion and simultaneous sadness about the human condition. A good cry is always recommended during a Neptune station – and especially during emo Cancer season!