Astrology of June 2008 by Henry Seltzer (www.astrograph.com)

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The Astrology of June features Mercury, Uranus, Venus and Pluto. Mercury remains in retrograde motion from the end of May, and while it regains its direct motion on the 19th, the day after the Sagittarius Full Moon, it stays within its retrograde shadow until early July, so the period of missed communications and mechanical breakdown might be expected to continue beyond the end of the current month. As Mercury stationed in Gemini last May 26th it squared Uranus almost exactly, coloring this entire period with surprising mental combinations and unexpected epiphanies. Mercury with Uranus brings the unexpected ideation, and reveals details of the architecture of the universe that we might normally be unaware of. As Uranus shines his lightening-like and fitful insight into the synchronicities of our lives, he brings the long arm of seeming coincidence into helpful aid for our understanding of cosmic principles. You might want to take a good look around you at whatever magical happenings seem to be taking place during this period, to catch the hidden meaning of these events. There will undoubtedly be lessons that we can all prosper from in figuring out where we are going and why.

There is in fact a lot going on in Mercury's sign of Gemini this month. Mercury spends many weeks there, retrograding backwards though it until the 19th, and not regaining its lost zodiacal ground until after the July 4th holiday. The New Moon in Gemini on the 3rd is followed by a triple conjunction of the Sun, Mercury and Venus there on the 7th to the 9th. We might feel most intensely the blockage of normal communication flow along with the desire to relate to others around us, and the increased chance to look inward and reflect on our situation. This will be quite a magical period of time, the heart of the retrograde period, when our inner world might well prove more compelling than the outer one.

This month will also be an important time of looking into our depths and re-examining our relationship dynamics, because Venus is moving into exact opposition with Pluto around the time of the mid-month Full Moon. The First Quarter Moon of the 10th is a powerful time as well, since the Sun conjuncts Venus while the increase of tension indicated by Sun and Moon in square aspect with each other also triggers the nodal axis and the powerful sextile from Jupiter to Uranus that has been with us for several months now. Chiron occupies the midpoint in this current configuration, meaning that old patterns of relationship that have ruled us from below the level of our awareness might be ready to yield more or less gracefully at this time.

The June 18th Full Moon is quite intense also. Not only does the Sun conjunct Venus and oppose Pluto, while the Moon in late Sagittarius conjuncts it, but also Mars is directly across the Zodiac from numinous Neptune. This is a shape-shifting aspect, and it means that we will all be subject to our imaginal realms in odd ways. We can be chameleon-like at this time, appearing to ourselves and others in many different guises depending on the situation. We may be drawn into our own fantasy or that of others, since outright deception is one possible reading of the symbolism.

Then too, as we deal with the retrograde of Mercury in its own sign of Gemini this month, on June 13th Pluto slips back into the opposite sign of Sagittarius for one last pass before leaving it forever in favor of sterner Capricorn, which it re-enters in November. These times are therefore quite pivotal. The June 18th Full Moon in the last degrees of Sagittarius emphasizes this transit, which might be seen as a summing up of the last twelve to thirteen years of Pluto in Sagittarius, when fundamentalist religious ideas prevailed over common sense as we saw the best and the worst of what those ideas could come to represent. We may be pulled back into sectarian disputes of all kinds during this five-month period, unless we make the conscious effort to transcend them.

Transits to the U.S. Chart

As we mentioned last month, Mercury's station as it began its retrograde period on May 26th was in conjunction to U.S. Mars while transiting Uranus squared it and transiting Chiron/Neptune trined it, indicating the possibility of further questions regarding the role of the U.S. military in resolving disputes and that perhaps deceptions in that area as well might come to light at this time. There were also powerful aspects to U.S. Mercury, representing among others things the media in this country. Of course the big news on the ground last month in this regard came only two days after the celestial event, with the release of Scott McClellan's tell-all book about his experiences in the early days of the Bush White House as its spokesman. McClellan's commentary focusing on the run-up to the Iraq war touched off a firestorm, especially with his assertion that information was manipulated in order that the war be promoted and even forced into existence. He also gave further evidence of complicity at the very top levels of the Bush White House, if indeed any more were needed, in the matter of the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame. This is interesting from a purely research angle, since Chiron always seems to be involved in this incident. On the date of his book's publication, transiting Chiron was near the midpoint of transiting Jupiter and Uranus, trined by a stationing Mercury and opposing U.S. Mercury again representing the media. For more information, and some conclusions regarding the symbolism of Chiron in this shameful tale, see my article The Ides of June.

In the current month, the New Moon of June 3rd conjuncts the U.S. Descendant, indicating that foreign policy matters could come up for reassessment within the current Mercury retrograde cycle, while the First Quarter Moon of June 10th conjuncts U.S. Neptune as Uranus exactly opposes it. Since Jupiter is opposed to U.S. Sun and Mercury at this time as well, ultimately beneficial information of a surprising and even a shocking nature might well come up. An optimistic mood could possess the nation, perhaps even overly so. We know of course that the democratic presidential campaign is getting really hot at this time, so that there may be news that brings the high ideals of the country into sharper focus and may perhaps reveal the truth behind appearances in that context as well.

This is the time of the transformation of America, a process that is now only beginning. We may edge a step closer in the current monthly time frame, since Pluto ingresses back into Sagittarius, the sign of the U.S. chart's Ascendant, and as it does so makes a last pass on its sextile with U.S. Moon, signifying the public. Since the Full Moon that takes place on Wednesday, June 18th, activates transiting Pluto and U.S. Moon as well, this mid-month period may be important and lead us to further revelations of what is really going on in this land of dreams.

For more information on the U.S. chart and its Mars – Neptune square, see our new Zodiactivism section.

June 3rd New Moon
This New Moon in Gemini is notable as it conjuncts Venus and exactly sextiles Mars, lending plenty of energy to the process of inner awareness signaled by the beginning of the Mercury retrograde period in concert with Uranus toward the end of last month. It is fascinating to note that Venus is the esoteric ruler of Gemini and that its traditional ruler, Mercury, is also nearby. All through this monthly period, we will be looking within ourselves and also toward others with an eye to the deeper meaning. Mercury and the Sun come together a few days later, on Friday the 7th, in a triple conjunction with Venus for another highlight of this beginning week of the month.

June 10th First Quarter Moon
This is a significant Quarter Moon, since the Moon opposes Uranus. At this time also, Jupiter sextiles Uranus with Chiron at the midpoint. As the Sun and Moon trigger this powerful combination, we will be given concepts that may move us beyond petty concerns and old conditioning toward novel and more ideal solutions.

June 18th Full Moon
This Full Moon in Sagittarius conjuncts and opposes Pluto while Venus newly in Cancer and a few degrees away also contributes her energy. Pluto dipping back into Sagittarius, dating from the 13th, gives energy to the possibility of rising above sectarian concerns or else succumbing to them. With Venus opposite Pluto we also might find ourselves peeking under the covers for the true motivation behind our relationship desires and concerns.

June 20th Summer Solstice
As the Sun joins Venus in nurturing Cancer, the energy shifts remarkably. Mercury is also now direct, although still within its retrograde shadow until after July 4th. Mars, closer and closer to his opposition with Neptune, indicates the capacity for fantasy as was indicated in the first section and for looking deeper into the productive void of universal process.

June 26th Last Quarter Moon
This lunar phase, called by Rudhyar the "crisis of consciousness" represents a summing up of the previous three weeks of the lunation period. Following the Summer Solstice, when the Sun entered Cancer, the Moon in Aries reflects action and emphasizes the Mars - Neptune opposition, just past. We might be ready at this time to accept ourselves more fully and to admit our failures. If we keep our eye on the prize, we might even be ready to move beyond them.