June 28th ~ July 5th
by H. Kopp-Delaney
Jupiter semi-square Chiron
Life begins at the end of your comfort zone. So if you’re feeling uncomfortable right now, know that the change taking place in your life is a beginning, not an ending. ~ Neale Donald Walsch
On Sunday/Monday, Jupiter makes an exact semi-square to the centaur Chiron. You should already be feeling this. Semi-squares bring a feeling of edgy discomfort. Not necessarily enough to do anything right now. Not quite yet. But it is time to take a few steps back along with the upcoming retrogrades of Saturn and Neptune, and objectively explore your current situation.
Questions that can come up with the Jupiter/Chiron semi-square are:
Am I living my life according to my own moral and ethical standards?
Am I using my skills and my talents and my resources to their fullest potential?
What is standing in the way of me achieving greater wholeness and healing in my life?
What is needed in order for me to live a life that is true to myself?
This is a time to reassess our current circumstances, but not not necessarily to take any action. This will be much easier to achieve later on this year and in early 2025 when Jupiter makes its sextile to Chiron which is an aspect of opportunity. Now we are being made aware of a problem, which in turn can inspire and motivate us to do something about it later, when the opportunities open up with the sextile.
This is important, because sextiles are not aspects of action, but they are aspects of opportunity. Therefore these sextiles can come and go with little to show for them. Yet if we were to make even the slightest effort in a certain direction during the sextiles from September to December and again next Spring, we will receive the guidance, help, and advice that is sorely missing at this time. Doors open with sextiles, but we have to make the effort. The semi-square that precedes the sextile, which we are having now, inspires us to do so.
Therefore stepping back and reassessing the situation, is indeed the best advice for this time. But having patience and waiting for the right time, will also help us to more fully explore and connect with what we are needing in order to achieve greater wholeness and healing in our lives.
Simultaneously this week Jupiter is also approaching its sextile to the North Node in Aries, which perfects to the True Node on July 9th. This is a transit of connection. And as is always the case with the Nodes of the Moon you get this feeling of the fates orchestrating things from behind the scenes. What is important about this sextile, is that we will find ourselves inexorably drawn in a certain direction. This can be towards a certain group, certain people, a teaching, or something that inspires you! And in some way these are likely to be connected with the next two Solar Eclipses on October 2nd and then March 29th. We may be jumping ahead of ourselves here, but that whole Nodal Aries/Libra dynamic has us all rethinking our relationships to others. And Jupiter is helping to facilitate that process. More on this in next week’s New Moon post.
Saturn stations Retrograde
Character - the willingness to accept responsibility for one’s own life - is the source from which self respect springs. ~ Joan Didion (Slouching Towards Bethlehem)
On Saturday, June 29th, Saturn appears to come to a standstill, stationing for its retrograde phase which lasts through November 15th. When Saturn stations for its retrograde, it makes it all too clear what is no longer sustainable. We back out of unpleasant situations, withdraw from agreements that are not working out, and become much more aware of what is or is not possible. It is not unusual at this time to regroup and go back to the drawing board. Plans need to be revised, redrawn and rescheduled.
The Saturn retrograde cycle works in stages. Initially we can either be filled with relief that things are finally ending, or conversely, feeling an urgent and oppressive foreboding because we are being forced to take a few steps back before we can proceed. That project you’ve been working on is finally finished, that problem is finally solved, or so you thought. Perhaps you become fixated on those circumstances in your life that are no longer sustainable, and now feel oppressive. Overcome by exhaustion or despair we look for a way out of our circumstances. But really what we are being shown are what needs to be fixed before we can proceed with our goals.
On July 10th, Saturn will trine the Sun. This is when we arrive at that point in the retrograde phase where we adjust to the reality of the retrograde Saturn. We see what is limiting us, and are committed to what most be done to either honor or accommodate those limitations. This is also when we come to a deeper appreciation of and necessity for cultivating our own inner Saturn, while learning the value of things like patience, organization, self-respect and self-restraint.
On September 8th the Sun and Saturn will make its opposition which marks the middle of the retrograde phase. At that point the Sun will shine a light on what is standing in the way of our progress, and what we can (or cannot) do about it. Saturn will overwhelm us with negativity if we only focus on what we don’t have or cannot do. But Saturn will also show us what we can do, even if it is not necessarily what we had wanted originally, or the way we wanted it. And in this way, Saturn can also empower and strengthen us.
For the months that Saturn is retrograde we have the opportunity to grow in ways that we might not have thought possible, developing our leadership skills, gaining a deeper appreciation of what it means to be responsible, honing our skills, and attaining maturity and purpose. Like a grown up. Like a grown up with a plan and a goal.
For the retrograde phase of Saturn which lasts from June 29th thru November 15th:
No More: This is when we say No More. We set appropriate limits, and become more clear with others and ourselves about where we need to cut back or set better boundaries. Not unusual for people to willingly relinquish those things that have become too oppressive or burdensome. This can also be a time in which others are telling us No, which can feel like rejection. Or perhaps that thing that we wanted is being taken away from us, leaving feelings of deprivation or isolation. And so we are compelled to not only honor our own limitations, but the limitations of others as well, even if we are not ready to do so.
Delays: It can often feel like we are being stopped in our tracks or needing to take a few steps back before we can go forward again at the retrograde station of Saturn. If that is the case know that this may be for a good reason. It may be that you are needing to go back over some very important details before you can proceed. But it can also feel like you are having to go back over old territory yet again. The past comes back to haunt you. You find yourself having to take care of problems that you had thought were already solved. Also know that new ventures begun in the retrograde phase of Saturn can be riddled with all sorts of delays and extra work. So new ventures begun during the retrograde may take a little longer. But if it is worth it, and you are up for the challenge, there is also so much to be learned.
Confronting our inner Saturn blocks: This is when we confront all the things that hold us back: our fears, our attachments, our resistance to change, and our need to be in control. By working through these we can overcome any stagnation, avoidance, procrastination and that feeling of being stuck in a rut.
Cultivating our internal Saturn: In some way we are being asked to embrace, process and internalize the better qualities of Saturn. That can include activities and experiences that foster self-discipline, self-restraint, organization, responsibility, commitment, self-respect, developing a strong work ethic, and being someone that you can be proud of. Saturn teaches us to be the grown up in the room, rather than looking for someone else to have all the answers. And so we learn about self-reliance, learning to trust the process and having the patience to look at our long term goals, while exploring the strategies that will allow us to get there. Activities or goals that require us to focus on the details and perfect our skills, develop self-discipline and concentration are what Saturn loves most. And so we might all ask ourselves: What long term goals or objectives that require a little extra self-discipline would I like to aim for over the next 5 months? What strategies, plans and goals am I wanting to achieve?
Neptune stations Retrograde
Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach all of them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow them. ~ Louisa May Alcott
Since both Saturn and Neptune are in the same sign, and within only 10º of one another, they will station for their retrograde phases within days of one another. Next year Saturn and Neptune will form a conjunction, in the very first degree of Aries. So you will see this gradual intrusion within their mutual shadows. These are planets with very different attributes, and they can have this abysmal tendency to bring out the worst in each other. But when you get down to the final analysis, both planets are essential and necessary parts of our ability to function in the world. And we certainly would not want to sacrifice one for the other.
Therefore these retrograde phases of Neptune are just as important as those of Saturn in processing and internalizing the qualities of Neptune within the context of our natal charts, our lives, and our aspirations. On July 2nd Neptune stations at the very last degree and last few minutes of the sign of Pisces, at 29º Pisces 56’. There is a sense of finality to this last degree in the last sign of the zodiac, on the verge (but just not quite) of beginning a whole new 164-year Neptune cycle. First we are needing to go back, review and tie up some of the issues and pieces of the prior cycle which began in 1861, that still persist, if only existentially, within the hearts and minds of the populace even now. But what we are also going to be asked to do is to take what humanity as a whole has learned and achieved over the decades, and cultivated out of the seeds that were being disseminated in the dawning years of the previous Neptune cycle, and use these to create the seeds for the new cycle to come.
The previous time Neptune was in Pisces Thoreau was emerging from Walden Pond, and our noble crusaders of the Underground Railroad were plotting a course for salvation, while giving birth to the American Civil War in 1861. We may wonder where the Neptune in Pisces heroes of the current era are. Know that they are here. Walking among us in another guise. There’s no telling what the final chapter of the current Neptune in Pisces era will be, nor what will be the first chapter of the cycle to come.
When Neptune stations it is stronger. It heightens our feelings, but also confounds them with glamour, deception and the delusion of seeing what we want to see and ignoring the rest. It can obscure our vision or enhance it with an inner knowing. It can baffle our understanding as well as deepen it. Abiding in the far reaches of our Solar System, Neptune does not translate well into the mundane world. It is transcendent, and serves as our own personal conduit to that which is divine within. It is that which connects us to the divine, but is also a doorway into oblivion. For those who are already steeped in sensitivity, Neptune transits can feel overwhelming.
Neptune opens up these inner psychic channels, and thins the boundaries between worlds. And there are both positive and negative influences within these Neptunian realms that lie beyond the veil. Which is why it is so important, particularly during these retrograde phases of Neptune, to create a center of attraction for positive Neptune to cultivate compassion, kindness, understanding, and altruism; while avoiding those activities and experiences that attract negative Neptune or increases the confusion through denial, blame, prevarication, and intoxication. During the retrograde phase we are needing to feed the psyche and cultivate the Divine.
The retrograde phase of Neptune which lasts until December 7th, is a good time to work on those inner and outer senses that serve as a portal to your own divine center: when walking on the earth dare to feel the breeze on your skin, notice the light touching the grass, listen for the sound in the silence. Pay attention to your inner knowing, your heart center, your conscience. All those subtle internal senses that tune you in to what is going on in and around you. Pay attention to your dreams, as these are more likely to speak to you during the retrograde phase. Be inspired. Be kind. Be present.
Ways to connect with your own inner Neptune during its retrograde phase:
Get lost in your imagination: Draw, paint, play music, sing, dance, write poetry, watch a good movie, read a good book, and dream.
Practices that help to align you with your spiritual center: Meditate, Pray, Chant, read something spiritual. Take long walks in nature, near water, or seek solace in sacred spaces.
Let go of that which you no longer need to carry and is taking up too much room: Release. Forgive. Shake off the old leaves of regret, anger, dismay and sorrow, in order to make room for something better to take root.
Connect with yourself: Reflect, journal, lay out the cards, read the I Ching, dig out the pendulum & oracles
Do activities that connect you to Neptune: Perform acts of compassion and random acts of kindness, say a kind word, stop to listen, be present for others. Volunteer your time or your resources for a good cause.
Slow down: Pay attention, See, Hear, Feel, Be present in order to honor and fully appreciate each moment.
For how these retrograde stations may impact your sign, click the horoscopes tab below: