Stellar Insights: July 17 - 23
Venus Retrograde Invites Us To Re-Evaluate What We Value
Here are some insights about the opportunities and challenges that this week’s astrology may offer. May they help you make the most of this moment. Remember that if you would ever like to see how the planetary movements are inspiring you, based upon your personal astrology chart, we can explore that in a Stellar Guidance Session.
We begin the week with a strong sense that something new is beginning thanks to two significant astrological events that occur on Monday.
The first being the Cancer New Moon, which offers us an invitation to initiate a new chapter related to our home, family, and sense of belonging. It’s a moment in which we can invoke our desire to be more connected to our emotions, finding ways to trust them and become more fluent in understanding and sharing our feelings. For more on what this New Moon may yield, see this article.
Additionally, on Monday, the Lunar Nodes shift signs, beginning an eighteen-month journey through Aries (the North Node) and Libra (the South Node). Given that they represent the axis of fate and destiny, the Lunar Nodes being in these signs casts a background note that will have us collectively pay more attention to both our individual aspirations as well as our affinity for partnership. We may have more capacity to see the ways in which compromise compromises our ability to stand for and assert what we truly desire. By bolstering our connection to our instincts, forging a stronger foundation of courage, and allowing ourselves to take more risks not only may we discover a greater sense of inner equanimity but also see how our alliances can become more resilient and rewarding.
All the while, with the Mars/Saturn Opposition occurring this week, it’s important to proceed slowly, being really thoughtful when it comes to how and why you embark upon movement. See how a slower pace not only lets you really tune in to what turns you on but how it gives you more time to crystallize a well-forged strategy.
This feels notably important because it seems like it’s going to be a week where things feel quite shaken and stirred. As such, being leisurely, rather than being swept away by impatience, could also curtail the potential for an explosion that you may later regret.
What’s inspiring the shaken and stirred? As I noted in the New Moon article, not only does this lunation connect with reveal-the-hidden Pluto but this planet of power opposes the Sun on Friday. Not only that: this Sun-Pluto Opposition (across the Cancer-Capricorn axis) squares the Lunar Nodes (residing in the Aries-Libra axis). And so, we may find that we can’t ignore an impulse to dig below the surface and/or to see what’s being uncovered, even if those heavy, dark truths are things that we’ve worked hard to avoid. There’s a sense that we must admit what’s real, that we must look at what’s true, that we must bring the darkness to light if we want to feel whole and usher in healing. While the Sun does make an opposition to Pluto each year, that they are connecting in with the Lunar Nodes feels quite remarkable: it seems that not only will the Plutonian themes of transformation, death and rebirth, unveil and reveal, and relentless dedication be intensified but that the realizations and events that unfold may be intricately connected to the ways in which we move forward in our collective evolution.
But wait, there’s more….
This is also the week that Venus begins its retrograde phase. Beginning July 22, and lasting through September 3, the planet of values and enrichment will appear to journey backwards through the heart-centered zodiacal sign of Leo. One of my favorite maxims for Venus Retrograde is to “re-evaluate what you value.” Doing so in the Venusian realms of relationships, what we find beautiful, how we opt to make and spend money, the ways in which we value (or don’t value) ourselves, and the approaches through which define and seek pleasure can yield great reward.
Remember that retrograde cycles of personal planets such as Venus give us time to pause and slow down. The flow seems different; it feels like we are encouraged to orient from a more internal place. Instead of being exceptionally active in doing, we may find ourselves more drawn towards a greater space of allowing. The movement is backward and inward rather than more focused on being forward and outward. We revisit people, places, and situations in our lives, and with that we can be gifted with gathering awareness that comes through re-attending to arenas we have already experienced, getting to re-experience them through another lens. From this, it seems that we can craft a more complete, and more holistic, understanding from which can stem a greater level of consciousness and empowerment that we then have in moving forward.
Also note that the days before and after a planet begins or ends its retrograde cycle, the archetypes with which it is connected may seem to be quite present in the collective. Given that Leo is associated with celebrities, pride, dignity, artistry, creativity, royalty, gold, and children, look for an upswing in realizations or events related to these motifs as the weekend comes into sight.
If you’re looking to gain more access to what may arise for you during this Venus Retrograde, I’d encourage you to look back to July and August of 2015, 2007, and 1999. The reason? These were the three most recent period when Venus was also retrograde in Leo. Given that it was doing its backward bustle in the same general realm of the zodiac, and therefore your personal astrology chart, you may find yourself facing similar terrain and reflecting upon related realms of life. You may also observe that what occurred then is reaching yet another phase in its evolution. (If you want to gather more personalized insights into what this Venus Retrograde is inspiring for you, we can explore that in a Stellar Guidance Session.)
On the same day that Venus goes retrograde, the Sun enters Leo. And with that we enter into a month in which we herald generosity, living through our heart, expressing our unique selves, and expanding our sense of soulfulness through connecting to fun, play, and romance.
Aah….as you can see, there’s a lot going on this week. To navigate the movements, I would encourage us all to really dive deep into our heart, within which we can swim in its reservoir of love and tap into its generative power of generosity. As we do, we can also rely upon it as a compass, guide, and lens, a vessel that allows us to see and perceive in more creative and compassionate ways.
xxStephanie
Astrological Highlights
July 17: Cancer New Moon; Mercury/Jupiter Square; North Node enters Aries
July 20: Sun/Neptune Trine; Mars/Saturn Opposition
July 21: Sun/Pluto Opposition (square Lunar Nodes)
July 22: Sun enters Leo; Venus Stations Retrograde
July 23: Mercury/Uranus Square
All days reflect Eastern Daylight Time (- 4 hours GMT)
Photos: George Pagan, Martino Pietropoli, and Merch Huset, all via Unsplash
If you live in the Seattle area, I’d love for you to join jeweler Wendy Woldenberg and I for our upcoming workshop at her beautiful store and atelier WEND. During this gathering, I will take you on a journey of Venus Retrograde, sharing what this six-week period inspires collectively as well as personally, based upon your astrology chart. Then Wendy will lead you on a creation of a sterling silver pendant to honor your personal Venus journey. The workshop is limited to 8 people, and we only have 4 spots left so I’d invite you to register soon if you feel moved to attend. For more info and the registration link, see this page.