NEW – YOUR MERCURY TURNING DIRECT READING
I’ve already started these readings as they were over-subscribed, so I made a start last week so as to get everyone in by the time Mercury comes out of shadow first week of July. So far they’re fascinating and it just goes to show how much can come out of looking at Mercury’s turnaround in connection to the other activity in your chart. These readings were all notably powerful in terms of connecting with some deep truths.
I’ll offer these again the next time Mercury turns direct which will be 18 October, intriguingly exactly the same date that Jupiter turns direct again and a week after Saturn turns direct. So these readings will be about all those three turning points in your chart, not just Mercury.
If you want to put your name down for one of these readings just let me know. You don’t have to pay anything until much nearer the time so this doesn’t commit you to anything, it just gives you first dibs and it’s really helpful to get a rough idea in advance of how many people will want these and how much time I’ll need to block out.
These readings are also for research purposes, hence the reduced price, but obviously nothing will be quoted from your reading without your written permission.
joannaw@otenet.gr or Whatsapp me for an appointment
Length of Reading – 45 minutes
Price – £75.00
The Astrology Blog 21 June 2021
All times in BST
“There is a tide in the affairs of men
Which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.
Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat.
And we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures.”
From Julius Caesar – Brutus urging his comrades to seize a fleeting opportunity in a conflict
THE SUMMER SOLSTICE
I covered the Summer Solstice at the end of last week’s blog as the Sun moved into Cancer in the early hours of this morning. Putting this into a bigger frame we can now see that the Sun’s first aspect on this new journey is the harmonious trine (4 signs apart, therefore always sharing the same element, in this case water the element of feelings/instincts) to benefic Jupiter.
Most people associate Jupiter with Sagittarius but the five planets of Mercury to Saturn all rule two signs each, one masculine and one feminine. Jupiter is now strong in his feminine sign of Pisces, even though this is something of a false start as he only got as far as 2 degrees of this sign before turning retrograde (yesterday).
The Solstice is when the Sun appears to stand still, here’s the Wikipedia definition –
The word solstice is derived from the Latin sol (“sun”) and sistere (“to stand still”), because at the solstices, the Sun’s declination appears to “stand still”; that is, the seasonal movement of the Sun’s daily path (as seen from Earth) pauses at a northern or southern limit before reversing direction.
As I said last week this then is the closest the Sun ever gets to any kind of retrograde symbolism and amounts to a pivotal moment, underlined this year by the fact that it coincides with Jupiter’s switch to retrograde just 12 hours earlier. Watching the news yesterday it felt as if the UK were holding its collective breath as the government debates yet again about the dates for lifting restrictions.
However, any Sun – Jupiter combination is still “benefic” but this time around it may also be about taking the longer view in connection to Jupiter’s themes, which include travel, higher education, opportunity, liberation, truth/justice and anything legal. Jupiter in Pisces also carries themes of vulnerability/protection.
The co-ruler of Pisces is Neptune, who is also in the picture and echoing the same theme, dignified in his own sign of Pisces, aligning by trine with the other benefic Venus but also turning retrograde. Here’s the full sequence –
Sunday 20 June
- Jupiter turned retrograde at 2.11 Pisces 16.06
Monday 21 June
- Sun ingress Cancer, the Summer Solstice 04.33
- Venus 23 Cancer trine Neptune 23 Pisces 14.59
Wednesday 23 June
- Sun 2 Cancer trine Jupiter 2 Pisces 11.13
Friday 25 June
- Neptune turns retrograde at 23.12 Pisces 20.23
When Mercury is retrograde it’s usually obvious – you lose your phone or your keys, apps stop working, someone stops talking to you, people go quiet, emails go unanswered, payments don’t land, your bank account or social media get hacked, your car or appliances break down and are difficult to fix, your flights get cancelled, you lose things, you regret decisions that have turned out to be wrong or a major pain, you get resentful over things that wouldn’t normally bother you or which you thought you’d accepted, you get bad news, you lose your motivation, your time management goes out of the window, you want to say things but you don’t know how, you make plans only to see them get stopped, you think you’re going mad, why is everything so complicated – and so on, yes thank you Mercury, very funny.
And it’s a regular event – Mercury in Mischief Mode for three weeks, three times a year – but when the slower moving planets turn retrograde they stay retrograde for a long time (see the end of last week’s blog for a full breakdown of all the retrograde cycles for this year).
So with the bigger planets it’s not simply a matter of all those planets’ concerns unravelling for months on end. More accurately, it’s the turning points that are the dates worth noting, whether it’s from retrograde to direct or vice versa as we have this week. Here’s a quick reminder of the Jupiter and Neptune cycles, as they’re the ones that are happening now –
Jupiter turns retrograde every 13 months, for four months at a time and backtracks 10 degrees –
- Turned retrograde at 2 Pisces yesterday 20 June and will turn direct again at 22 Aquarius on 18 October
Neptune turns retrograde once a year for five months at a time, backtracks around 3 degrees –
- Is now “stationary retrograde” at 23.12 Pisces, with the exact turning point on 25 June and will turn direct again at 20 Pisces on 1 December
As above so below, watch out for the turning points in your own life. Some things will just unfold naturally anyway, in spite of us or anyone or anything else, but there are other things which we may recognise as opportunities, moments to be seized – Carpe Diem.
If you’re a Pisces, or if you have strong Jupiter or Neptune themes in your own horoscope, or planets/Angles at or very close to the degrees featuring in this week’s aspects then this is likely to be a key week for you. This also applies if you have planets or Angles close to 2 or 23 degrees of the opposite sign of Virgo. Where have you been swimming against the tide?
Pay very close attention to the dreams that may have suffered along the way or the sacrifices that you may have made for others. Even when made with the best of intentions and in the name of love, there’s a limit. Neptune is Poseidon, god of the seas. Neptune turning retrograde is the tide going out and wanting to take you with it. Even if you’re not familiar with Shakespeare’s work you may well recognise the famous quote from Brutus above, one of my personal favourites. Don’t miss the boat.
Look out for the Rescuer/Victim roles. Do you find yourself constantly wishing and wanting someone else to sort your life out? Are you constantly sorting out other people’s lives? Even if someone makes you think that their difficult life is your responsibility, it isn’t. One of the most important things that astrology has taught me is the fact that we’re all on our own journeys. Retrogrades are great for taking a big step “back” and to stop doing the things that don’t work and which maybe have never worked.
MERCURY & THE MAGICIAN’S HAT
The turnaround themes of this week are of course powerfully underlined by Mercury turning direct tomorrow evening, hurray, the moment when he exchanges the con artist’s Trickster’s Hat for the Magician’s –
Tuesday 22 June
- Mercury turns direct at 16.07 Gemini 23.01
Turning around in his own sign is good news, universally and personally, especially if you have planets of Angles at or close to 16 Gemini or the opposite sign of Sagittarius. In particular, as Gemini is the Twins, look out for themes of duality or multiplicity, choices to be made, options to investigate or realising how much time has been wasted on the wrong thing or the wrong person. In affairs this is ultimatum time as the double life comes under scrutiny or people get found out. Whichever way a matter swings what’s needed now is an insistence on answers, ones that are true, ones that will stick even if they’re not what we wanted to hear. There’s a lot of symbolism going on this week in terms of finding out where you stand. Look out for those reality test moments, even if it’s finding that your diamonds were really only quartz after all …
At the end of the blog you’ll find the usual checklist of the other kind of things to expect or the things to do as Mercury turns direct, a list that is valid between now and 8 July which is when Mercury will come “out of shadow” – ie get back to the same degree at which he originally turned retrograde, 24 Gemini.
In terms of trying to settle an issue with Mercury still retrograde, remember the story last week about my neighbours coming to visit the dogs in the evenings and the 3 year old opening the gate and letting them out? The next time they appeared I did explain to the mum what had happened, as gently as possible as the last thing I wanted to do was get a 3 year old in trouble.
But you know that thing when you’ve rehearsed your words as carefully as possible, especially as this conversation was in Greek, trying to cover 100 bases but ending up covering 99? She made all the right sympathetic noises but then looked at me without flinching and said, “The gate was already open when we got here.”
Well I didn’t see that one coming. For a moment I had to check my own conviction! I had to remind myself that I heard the gate being opened, a very distinctive sound, and that there’s NO WAY that gate was open as I’ve been closing it behind me for nearly four years, I would do it in my sleep, I’d been home at least an hour and the dogs would’ve escaped almost immediately. I so wanted to say Bull…shit!! But of course I didn’t. That’s a retrograde Mercury for you …. blatant lies/biting your tongue. And collusion. We agreed that it was a mystery, but the point has been made.
VENUS – PLUTO & THE FULL MOON
Venus is love, Pluto is power. Any kind of abusive or dysfunctional relationship can reach critical moments when these two planets come together by difficult aspect, likely to be most obvious throughout Wednesday –
Thursday 24 June
- Venus 26 Cancer opposite Pluto 26 Capricorn 00.38
- Full Moon 3 Capricorn 19.41
For some the key questions will be is this love or control, is this love or co-dependency, is this love or just a really bad habit? Pluto is also absence or endings of the no going back kind so if it’s you that needs to get out of any horrible situation, again, seize your moment. If it’s someone else, offer fearless support. Remember that the time of the Full Moon is notorious for domestics of all kinds.
Venus is money and valuables, Pluto is black holes. Be extra vigilant about your home security or keeping a close eye on your belongings when out and about. Also think about the biggest drains on your income? One of mine is my mobile phone, because it’s on a contract but I basically don’t use it for what I pay for, ie sms and phone calls. I now do nearly everything on Whatsapp which is free and I only use the internet on my desktop so I need to check out a cheaper package, which also fits with Mercury (communication, incl phones) going direct.
The other one is “popping out” to the local shops and their extortionate prices. I made an effort this weekend to get to the open market in town, only on Saturdays, and filled two huge bags with fresh produce for 10 Euros. That would’ve been three times the price locally and of a far inferior quality. So identify your cash bandits.
Venus is beauty and fashion. I would avoid ordering anything online midweek and, more seriously, it’s a no for any kind of cosmetic surgery.
Another point of craft that’s worth noting is that when an aspect echoes one that is also in your own horoscope then again it’s likely to be extra significant for you. An extreme but hugely important example, Bolsonaro has a Venus – Pluto opposition (Venus 20 Aquarius/Pluto 25 Leo) and it’s terrifying to read about how much power (Pluto) he has wielded over his people (Aquarius rules the collective). His actions, or lack of them, amount to genocide, his popularity is now at an all time low and over the weekend with both Mercury and Jupiter stationing the rebellion started to break –
In the capital, Brasilia, thousands gathered in front of Congress calling for the president’s impeachment, and demanding more vaccines … The far-right leader has consistently opposed lockdown measures, arguing that the damage to the economy would be worse than the effects of the coronavirus itself. He has also told Brazilians to “stop whining” about the situation … Mr Bolsonaro’s government never responded to an offer that would have seen 1.5 million doses of the US pharmaceutical giant’s vaccine reach Brazil last December (BBC)
VENUS NEW CYCLE
The final event of the week is Venus changing sign, following Mars into Leo –
Sunday 27 June
- Venus ingress Leo 05.28
Venus will be travelling through Leo until 22 July. The slower moving Mars moved into Leo ten days ago but so far hasn’t been involved with any other planets, but is going to play into the big Saturn – Uranus square next week, so I’ll be talking about this next time, and Venus will do the same thing the week after that, coinciding exactly with Mercury coming out of shadow. It feels as if this week is when a lot of things will get set in motion and the full new picture and consequences will become clearer during the first week of July.
For now enjoy Mercury turning direct!
Until next week, with love from Greece
Joanna
MERCURY STATIONARY DIRECT
What to Expect – out of our control
- Decisions dropped on us, tipping points and turnarounds for the better – even if it doesn’t seem that way we’re being steered onto the right path
- Events that started around three weeks ago reveal their full significance or consequences. Matters that have been stuck now start to pick up speed OR are no longer important
- Breaking news, expected or unexpected, that affects you or someone close to you
- Information comes to light, the truth outs, secrets are revealed or feelings are declared – you’ll have the chance to see things as they really are
- Your own or other people’s changes of heart/mind either way – ie from no to yes or vice versa
- Light bulb flashes of the “I get it now” type insights
- People get back to you or you get back to them – deals get done and papers get signed
- The right person appears to deal with the frustrating problem beyond our own expertise
- The reappearance of someone or something that was first important three to four weeks ago
- Finding what you’ve been looking for – whether it’s lost objects, spiritual needs or the right partner
What to Do – within our control
- Engage fully with who or what enters your life or springs back to life, especially with who or what is motivational for you
- Say yes to a date, or do the asking yourself – this person could be a whole new journey of discovery
- Initiate conversations – you’ll be amazed at what they reveal and where they lead
- Have you been over thinking it? Resolve to stop talking about something and just DO IT!
- Turn negatives into positives, take head out of sand, muster your courage and determination – there’s at least one thing that, with some renewed energy and a fresh approach, can now come good
- Stop people pleasing, pretending or avoiding – be true to you and tackle the things you’ve been putting off
- Make those decisions, especially when changing anything that’s suited others but which isn’t that great for you
- Make job applications or chase up one already made – insist on an interview, it could be the best thing you ever did
- Update and upgrade your phone, tablet or desktop, and get your head around using new technology of any kind that could be useful to you
- Fill up your diary with things to look forward to, out in the world where possible or online. Plan in immediately at least one thing that you absolutely love doing and can still do regardless of whatever restrictions you’re up against – life is still to be enjoyed, not endured.
