This coming week, at the Superior Conjunction of Mercury, when we are at our most objective in the Mercury cycle, when Mercury’s wings are fleeting, and we are filled with clarity; the Sun and Mercury will also be opposite the stern and forbidding specter of retrograde Saturn. It’s time for a check in with reality.

There is a Full Moon in early Aquarius on July 23rd (or 24th). And retrograde Jupiter returns to Aquarius where it will remain until the end of the year. Some shifts and turns, and a point of culmination, revelation and fruition.

On Thursday, July 15th, Chiron joined the majority of the outer planets in their retrograde phases. The Chiron retrograde phase is a critical time of year in which we are being asked to pay attention to our own healing journey. For we cannot be good custodians to others, if we do not take care of ourselves.

We need to periodically replenish ourselves in the healing waters of the Cancer New Moon. Doing so gives us the strength to then go out and meet the world on its own terms. The New Moon in Cancer falls at 18º Cancer 02’, on July 9th at 9:17 pm (EDT) here in New York, 1:17 am Universal Time on July 10th.

What prevailing obstacles or challenges are you facing in your life? What needs to give? Change? or be transformed? We have been standing on the threshold of change all year. This could be a critical week in the process of that evolutionary growth and change.

Neptune stations for its retrograde phase on June 25th. Neptune can be weepy, and overwhelm our feelings and our senses. It can bring uncertainty and feel as if there are enemies lurking behind every bush. However, Neptune is also about that which is most meaningful and sacred in our lives. And it is during these critical retrograde periods of Neptune that we are able most to connect with that.

Welcome in the Solstice this weekend. One of the sacred 4 corners of the Solar Year. Mercury will station direct on the 22nd, and there is a Full Moon on the 24th, but it is the retrograde station of Jupiter that needs to be paid attention to this week, for each year these 4 month long retrograde periods of Jupiter are essential for our spiritual and moral growth.

Not only have we just navigated two eclipses, and not only is Mercury in the throes of its retrograde phase, but then on Monday we have the 2nd of 3 squares this year between Saturn and Uranus, the prevailing transit of 2021; caught between duty, responsibility, limitation & familiarity vs. freedom & a need for autonomy & change.

On June 10th we have an Annular (ring of Fire) Solar Eclipse in Gemini. Conjoined by retrograde Mercury in the heart of the Sun and the Moon, the eclipse also marks the beginning of the next Mercury cycle. But tied up with the Eclipse in this way, we are needing to see how this will all unfold, trusting our hearts, our conscience and our inner guides to bring us where we need to go.

Mercury stations Retrograde right in the middle of Eclipse Season this weekend, just a few degrees away from the Solar Eclipse on June 10th. Throw in a close square to Neptune, and clarity may prove to be at a premium these days.