Venus and Mercury both change signs. We experience the first conjunction of Mars and Ketu in Capricorn, and Mars turns retrograde, making Mars center stage this month.
Venus enters Cancer June 9 till July 5
Venus begins June in the sign of Gemini, Mercury’s air sign, a welcoming environment for Venus, encouraging us to put energy toward creativity and relationships. This good influence of Venus in Gemini was amplified when Mercury entered Taurus on May 26, putting Venus and Mercury into parivartana, exchange of signs, which empowers each of the planets to act with the strength it would have if it was occupying its own sign.
By June 9, Venus moves into Cancer. During this current transit of Venus through Cancer, Venus will be the first of a series of planets to move past Rahu, who has occupied Cancer since August 2017 and persists there through March 2019. While association with Rahu can be anywhere from confusing to surprising, Venus as the natural significator of relationships, comfort, assets and social contracts will feel the bold presence of Rahu as it moves through Cancer.
Rahu tends to amplify and agitate the energy of the planets that he closely affects. This could be both positive and negative. For example, a Rahu and Venus conjunction could trigger a “fluke” meeting that turns into something much more profound. This is a good time to be open to twists and turns that may seem inappropriate in the moment but that lead one toward a valuable end.
Mercury Transits Gemini June 9 – 25
On June 9, as Venus moves into Cancer, Mercury moves into Gemini, filling the void that Venus leaves. Retrograde Saturn and Jupiter will both be placing their gaze on Gemini and Mercury therein, again with the same retrograde-based unexpected results discussed above for Venus. If both caution and hope are built into the Mercury plans during this fortnight, it could be possible to safely and joyfully cover some ground.
Sun moves into Gemini
The Sun joins Mercury in Gemini on June 15, taking the standard month to make it through Mercury’s air sign and exiting to Cancer on July 16.
While in Gemini, Sun moves into opposition with his enemy, Saturn. This enemy relationship stems from the Sun rejecting Saturn as his offspring in Vedic mythology. The Sun is the archetypal king and sovereign, and on a personal level in the horoscope will show how we express our individuality and manage our ego. Whereas Saturn aims to destroy the illusion of individuality by reminding us of the temporary nature of life through whatever means. This tug-of-war between “I am ME” and “I am NOTHING” is an eternal struggle for the balance in which both statements are true and coexisting.
The exact opposition of Sun and Saturn occurs on June 27, the day of the full Moon, when Moon will join Saturn in Sagittarius. We can expect some intense energy during this last week of June due to this tension between Sun and Saturn and the full Moon.
New Moon in Taurus Mrigashira Nakshatra June 13
After the full Moon in Scorpio on May 29, the Moon wanes, passing Saturn, Mars and Ketu, finally falling into the arms of the Sun on Wednesday, June 13 at 29° Taurus, Venus’ earth sign, at 7:43 pm GMT. This region of Taurus is also the beginning of Mrigashira nakshatra, the lunar mansion that spans Taurus and Gemini, ruled by the planet Mars.
Mrigashira is a nakshatra known as the “wandering” star, with its symbol the head of a deer. Deer are extremely alert and observant as a defense mechanism, which is needed as they wander nearly ceaselessly in search of safe and abundant grazing.
This lunar mansion carries the influences of both Venus and Mercury, the rulers of the signs that it spans (Taurus and Gemini), as well as having the rulership of Mars and the deity known as Soma, who is associated with the Moon. There is a mix of feminine, neuter and masculine energy here that speaks more of general survival in natural environments, using the senses to observe as we search out safe spaces to nourish ourselves so that we can move through creative processes.
Mercury, currently active in own sign of Gemini, will want to keep going, but we risk reprimand from Saturn, who is giving Mercury an aspect, if we neglect to fill up our tanks with real rest and good food.
Mars and Ketu Conjunction June 13
Another reason to slow down on June 13 is that Mars and Ketu will be having their first exact meeting through the six-month transit of Mars through Capricorn.
By mean node calculations, Mars and Ketu meet at 14°6′ Capricorn on June 13. This will be the first of three passes. Mars begins a retrograde cycle on June 27, turning him back into step with Ketu, conjoining again on July 18 at 12°16′ Capricorn. Mars resumes direct motion on August 27, and rams into Ketu again for the last pass on September 22 at 8°48′ Capricorn. From there Mars moves away from Ketu and toward Aquarius, where he reaches in early November.
Both planets are associated with the fire element and are located in an earth sign at the moment. Ketu represents past karma and its conjunction with Mars can bring old karmic issues, leading to anger and aggression or unresolved issues about power. Four signs most impacted are: Aries, Scorpio, Cancer, and Capricorn. For Aries and Scorpio, both Mars and Ketu rule their first house. So, the lagna lord is situated in 10th house for Aries, whereas for Scorpio, it is their third house. Capricorn is hosting the planets and thus, they are directly impacted, along with Cancer where the drama takes place in the 1-7 axis of relationships. Watch for feelings of anger, aggression, impulsive thoughts connected to past events/situations.
Mars Retrograde June 27
Mars goes retrograde on June 27. This brings a third planet into the retrograde club, along with Jupiter and Saturn. Jupiter will resume direct motion on July 10 and Saturn resumes direct motion on September 9. With Mars going retrograde in tight conjunction with Ketu, a naturally retrograde shadow planet, we will witness seething anger and tension build up by reversal of behaviour that comes from retrograde motion of planets.
Because of the Mars-Ketu combination, we will have extreme focus on the Cancer-Capricorn axis during this summer. All of this retrograde energy may feel like we are not gaining ground and forward progress is impossible. Indeed, this could be a time where it would a great struggle to begin new things. A more harmonious approach to being sandbagged by the planets in this way could be to let go of the need for new pursuits in favour of quite contemplation, meditation, and re-assessing our lives in the areas where Capricorn-Cancer axis exists in our charts. We have an opportunity to root out weakness, reinforce foundations, fertilize crops that are already in the ground and clean up the abundant messes around us.
When Mars is exalted, we expect the best results from Mars, which is seeing power channelled into constructive projects rather than being spilled in anger or frustration. But when Mars becomes exalted and retrograde at the same time, we must be vigilant about where we are directing our power, as Mars’ best intentions for good could be twisted by the retrograde motion. The other factor is that Ketu, the headless one, is known for causing mistakes and mishaps. This added to the firepower of Mars could be a recipe for disaster. When dealing with anything of great power during this time, please step back and double check all connections to ensure the safety of all involved. Double check all equipment, boats, cars, fuel, resources and most importantly, fire. Keep your head on straight and don’t risk adding intoxication into any situations in which you are responsible for managing power.
Full Moon in Sagittarius, Mula Nakshatra on June 28
The Moon at 13° Sagittarius opposes the Sun at 13° Gemini on Thursday, June 28 at 4:53 am GMT. This occurs just hours after the Moon passes by retrograde Saturn as Saturn exactly opposes the Sun.
In the neighboring signs, we are also getting strong opposition energy with Mars+Ketu in Capricorn opposing Mercury+Rahu+Venus in Cancer. The only planet not involved in the opposition situation is Jupiter, still retrograde in Libra. We count on Jupiter and Venus to smooth out difficult situations and with Venus involved with Rahu and Jupiter retrograde, it may be difficult to find our diplomacy skills in the moment if things begin to heat up.
The Moon and Saturn will be in Sagittarius, ruled by the currently compromised Jupiter and within the lunar mansion of Mula, which spans the first 13°20′ of Sagittarius, ruled by the planet Ketu and the goddess of calamity, Nirriti. Adding up all of this opposition and retrograde energy, we can expect some intense times throughout June and into the remaining months of summer.
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