July Horoscopes

Astrology of July
Current Configurations
Past Months

Aries	Libra
Taurus	Scorpio
Gemini	Sagittarius
Cancer	Capricorn
Leo	Aquarius
Virgo	Pisces

July 2007

Current Astrology

	The Sun is in Gemini
	The Moon is in SagittariusThe Full Moon is in Sagittarius: All day
	Moon Void of Course 8:24 pm to 6/5 12:31 am
	Next Mercury Retrograde Aug 23 - Sep 15

Current Configurations

by Henry Seltzer

The Last Quarter Moon of July 7th traditionally represents a "crisis of consciousness" regarding the impulse that was seeded at the time of the New Moon from June 14th and what elements of that impulse are viable for the future and what part must be abandoned. Either way, knowledge is gained, a most precious commodity and much needed in today's world. This configuration is accompanied by a separating Venus – Saturn conjunction that has been prominent since the very beginning of the month, indicating that our relationship energy is slowed for this first week of July, and that we are playing for keeps in this department of our lives.

Saturn and Venus have both been gloriously visible in the evening skies just after sunset. In the first days of July their conjunction was very close. Venus is bright in the sky right now because close to the Earth. Soon the Earth will swing past her, changing her apparent motion to retrograde. Venus enters Virgo the day after the mid-month New Moon.

The New Moon of the following weekend, taking place on July 14th, is another powerful lunation, and triggers the Saturn – Neptune opposition that is still close in orb, although now fading. Mercury is now direct, having stationed on July 9th. Saturn and Neptune represent in opposition a collision of forces that are irreconcilable, for stubborn practicality and real-world limitation on the one hand, and for wild-eyed idealism, even deception, on the other, but which must somehow be reconciled. This is the task to which we must set ourselves if we are to gain in our spiritual understanding, through embracing paradox to discover a third way.

This New Moon also closely squares Eris, the new planet that was only recently named last November for the goddess of Strife and Discord. There has been some evidence lately of this emerging archetype in the world situation. Mars almost exactly squares Chiron at this time, so that issues of self-assertion and even of violent struggle could be evident on this anniversary of the storming of the Bastille that initiated the French Revolution in 1789.

The First Quarter Moon of July 21st takes place in the last degree of Cancer and of Libra. This time represents a moment of tension in the progress of the energetic impulse that accompanies the New Moon. In the last degree of any sign, the qualities of that sign are given a "last chance" to shine, so we might find ourselves concerned at this time with both the nurturing qualities of Cancer and the relating qualities of Libra, or more closely examining the connections that we have with our fellow travelers of the earthly plane of existence. This is especially true since the ruler of Libra, Venus, is slowing down in the sky at this time.

A few days later, and just two days before the Full Moon, Venus turns to retrograde motion in Virgo on the 27th. Venus will eventually retrograde backwards into Leo, there to once more conjoin Saturn in early August. The entire Venus cycle takes several months; she makes her symbolic journey through the underground beginning August 12, which ends with her Heliacal Rise on August 24th or 25th as the Morning Star. Venus finally turns once more to direct motion on September 8th. It is not until October however, that she regains her lost Zodiacal longitude and re-enters Virgo for the second time. This entire period may be thought of as a Venus oriented time, when we will more than usually aware of the significant relationships in our lives.

The Leo – Aquarius Full Moon takes place at nearly the very end of the month, on July 29th, and represents the flowering of the impulse that arose at the time of the New Moon, and a chance to share the feeling and the manifestation of that process with others around us.