As the editor of the Arizona Society of Astrologers newsletter, I compose an overview of each month. Today we take a look at the primary factors for the month.

This year the month of July features the phenomenal intensity of Jupiter conjunct Pluto, with the benefit of Jupiter sextile Neptune all month, giving us expansive intuition and connectedness within the larger collective field. We continue to have Jupiter teaching us about Capricorn energies as it continues to expand the long term conjunction effects set into motion between January and March of this year.

Since early May, we’ve “graduated into a new realm of Being,” and now that Venus is direct, it will continue its stay in Gemini occupying its shadow zone through the end of July. As Mars has begun its long term stay in Aries, we begin to deal with greater power, greater conflict, and greater potential, given that Mercury is square Mars all month, coupled with the oppositions from Cancer to Capricorn.

We also have another very weak Penumbral Lunar Eclipse this month! It’s unusual to have two consecutive Lunar Eclipses in back to back months, so enjoy this rare event which will begin to remove old Gemini/Sagittarius AND Cancer/Capricorn detritus from our lives. As all Eclipses are “cosmic recyclers” removing that which we no longer need in our lives, it seems the wisdom of this year requires us to “let go let god” and accept that in “moments of pause which presage change,” it’s best to be alertly ready to act, and not fall into distress at not knowing what’s ahead.

Of course we’re still “under the beams” of the Solstice Solar Eclipse on the critical degree of 1 Cancer, affecting that part of our chart and life for years to come! This Cancer/Capricorn Lunar Eclipse will continue to shut down old business in those sectors, given we’re all changing our allegiances based on what’s leaving, or aligning ourselves with a larger or greater reality. This is the second month of the North Node in Gemini era, showing our line of greatest evolutionary development is through seeing the many ways to learn and communicate a given thing, especially with an eye to raising the standard of our understanding or what we’re offering our world.

We continue to be in a time of “tag team retrogrades,” with Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, and Pluto all retrograde. That means we’re still retracing planetary themes related to their respective shadow zones. We got our first experience of their spans when all were direct, before going retrograde; we’ve now begun the second transit of the span which will yield different perspectives on that span of experience. The third is when the planet is again direct, when we should be familiar with whatever we have to learn from that span.

As I told you last month, these retrogrades will demonstrate in several major ways. The houses where Jupiter, Saturn, and Mercury are retrograde will continue to be an area of focus, and planets and houses in our charts involving Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces are all in review mode. By mid-month Mercury goes direct while still square Mars, bringing a hard edge to the atmosphere. This friction shows throughout July we’ll all need patience, balance, perspective, patience, fairness, self-discipline and an organized practical approach to life. And patience.

The beginning of the month Mars makes very favorable quintiles to Jupiter, Pluto, and Saturn offering high specialization to any planets or points we may have around 23-30 Capricorn, 5-12 Aries, 17-24 Gemini, 29 Leo-6 Virgo, and 11-18 Scorpio. If you have something in any of these zones, unique gifts and talents are in the air to be cultivated and demonstrated!

The end of the month gets a bit sticky, given the Sun will square Uranus, Venus will quincunx Jupiter and Pluto, and Mercury will oppose Jupiter and quintile Uranus. So a month of Mercury square Mars culminates in the oppositions to the planets in Capricorn, just as Mars begins its extraordinarily intense August of major squares between Aries and Capricorn. That ushers in 4 months of Mars in Aries making squares to Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto, first when direct, then retrograde. That means planets and houses in our charts involving Aries and Scorpio will remain governed by Mars in its home sign of fiery initiatives which flames up on a moment’s notice!

This time of transition and intensifying friction will last through January 2022. Adjustments and sacrifices this month will help us focus our magnetism and cultivate heart strength, while the retrograde planets will give us a chance to rehearse, research, reconnect, and remember we are here to bring Spirit into manifestation. Again, pay attention to details, cultivate a sense of organized service toward a better future, and remember to laugh at the absurdity of many things.

Since I also include this in the newsletter, I’ll offer it to you here:

PLANETARY MOTIONS IN JULY 2020

SUN – 10 Cancer through 9 Leo
MERCURY – 10 Cancer back to 6 Cancer, then forward to 22 Cancer. 
VENUS – 7 Gemini to 24 Gemini
MARS – 2 Aries to 18 Aries
JUPITER – 25 Capricorn back to 21
SATURN –1 Aquarius back to 28 Capricorn
URANUS –10-11 Taurus
NEPTUNE –21 Pisces (all month) 
PLUTO – 25 back to 24 Capricorn
TRUE NORTH NODE – 30 back to 29 Gemini

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SIGNIFICANT ASTROLOGICAL OCCURRENCES IN JULY 2020

FULL MOON LUNAR ECLIPSE; July 4; Sun 14 Cancer, Moon 14 Capricorn
CHIRON STATIONARY RETROGRADE – July 11 at 10 Aries
MERCURY STATIONARY DIRECT – July 12 at 6 Cancer
NEW MOON – July 20; Sun and Moon at 29 Cancer
SUN ENTERS LEO – June 22

(This month is an anomaly, since only one planet, the Sun, changes signs. This hasn’t happened in over 10 years, and won’t happen again until September 2023!)