Your Stars June 2012

Eclipses are traditionally not the most welcome portents in astrological thinking – one of the heavenly ‘lights’ of the Sun and Moon is darkened temporarily – but the British royal family seem drawn to them. King William was born at one, Princess Diana died at one. Both Prince Charles’s marriages coincided with one. So it’s no great surprise that the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee on the long weekend of June 4^th arrives at a partial eclipse of the Moon (exact at 11.11 AM GMT), though the eclipse point (14 degrees Sagittarius) holds no great significance for Her Madge’s birth chart.

Two days later, June 6^th, there is a ‘transit of Venus’ when said planet visibly passes across the Sun, shift changing her role from evening to morning star. Astrological thinking associates Venus with what we value, with attraction and pleasure, and this ‘transit’ (it’s actually a conjunction of Sun and Venus) with changes of heart, with the purification of feelings.

The planetary configuration that has preoccupied astrologers for some time is the 90-degree aspect between Pluto and Uranus/Prometheus, which becomes exact on June 24^th. As outlined in Your Stars 2012, this is a momentous aspect that will re-occur another four times between here and 2015. Meetings between these two planets are associated with social unrest and technological innovation, and this time round can be crudely summarised as youthful dissatisfaction (Prometheus in Aries) squaring up to the status quo (Pluto in Capricorn).

Although June 21^st is invariably celebrated as the midsummer solstice, the actual hour when the Sun reaches 0 degrees of Cancer this year is 11.08 PM GMT on June 20th though the time to sound your trumpet to welcome the event remains dawn on the 21^st – at 3.49 AM GMT, or when, shortly afterwards, the Sun comes into sight. Toot toot.

 Gemini

Gemini is a not a sign that struggles with change. Quicksilver Mercury is your governing planet, air is your element, and restlessness the norm. Sometimes it seems that your Twins blow and hot cold just for the heck of it.

You are, then, unlikely to be phased by June’s flurry of events. Not only because it’s birthday season, this is a pivotal month. A full Moon cum lunar eclipse on the 4^th promises to jangle relations with significant others, especially those about whom you are already having second and third thoughts. Venus in your skies along with the Sun grants you a touch of magnetism and radiance – dress up, not down  – but with Venus in reverse motion until the 27^th, it’s probably not the time to declare unwavering commitment to anyone.

A touch of patience and self-centredness is, frankly, more the ticket for June. The arrival of Jupiter in your skies on the 11^th is unlikely to bring an overnight development  – unless your birthday is May 20 (a solar eclipse, remember), in which case your antennae should already be twitching – but as this is the planet of big ideas, big travel, big money and big opportunity, you are nicely set up for the next 12 months. A second new Moon on the 19^th repeats the message.

Still, there may be combative issues involved. Pluto’s presence in the house of shared resources suggests an imminent or ongoing tussle about money and property, perhaps with a person or organisation that seems to hold all the cards. If so, the end of June should prove that your independence, with the support of your team, cannot be compromised. Where it’s an ‘ex’ involved, you can simply play for time, until this eclipse cycle is burned out in a couple of month’s time.

What these stars let do, abundantly, is to recast your image, reframe your fame, and emerge over the summer, as a different creature. Gemini is not a sign that struggles with change. Many happy returns.

 Cancer

Although your public life is far from shut down, it may have to settle for a secondary role until the season of the Crab arrives at midsummer. Always a significant moment in your year, the solstice carries extra clout in 2012.

As June opens, however, a second eclipse across the mind-body-spirit axis of your ‘scope emphasises that some of the most important work you do this month (or this year) will be in private or behind the scenes. Rest, retreat, scribbling furiously in your shed/loft, or gazing meaningfully at your navel while you dream up your next move all come under the aegis of the twelfth house, as does helping those in a pickle. The new Moon of the 19^th restates the point.

Jupiter’s arrival in this zone for a year’s stay on the 11^th makes this a long-term trend, though before then the giant planet may have a heartening professional gift to offer (contacts/money), the culmination of efforts you have expended over the last year. If so, celebrate with a crowd.

Once you reach your birthday month, it’s time for tough decisions as the major planets that have been on your case for, oh, some two years now reach critical mass. Saturn’s halt in the sky is brings an end to prevarication over work and property matters, notably for birthdays from July 14^th onwards, July will involve taking a deep breath and striking boldly onwards to achieve your objectives.

Whether you are on a committed relationship or ‘just’ skirting around one, Pluto in opposition wants you surrender your power and acquiesce.  You should, however, have other ideas – a self-regulating independent self that answers only to your own conscience and inspiration is the idea. That mode applies equally to one-on-one relationships and to your professional status.

Happy birthday by the way!

 Leo

In terms of your social life and friendships, the total eclipse of the Sun, the Lion’s ruler, on May 20^th looks something of a game-changer, promising at least one intriguing, enriching new face, and perhaps reminding you why you are happy not to be hanging with people with whom you were once tight. The imminent lunar eclipse of June 4^th, the ongoing retrograde of Venus (the relating planet) and a change of sign by helpful Jupiter on the 11^th all press much the same buttons. Your loyalty is legendary, but it can be stretched to breaking point, and you are definitely not immune to excitement, even novelty.

Haggles over money my well be part of the scenario, not least if it is a lover rather than a friend involved. Here, patience rather than fury is your best option, as the situation – it looks foggy – promises to clarify towards the end of the month. Until then, promises of fatter purses from you-know-who are to be taken with a handful of salt.

Professionally you are in better shape than you perhaps imagine, at least within touching distance of associates and big shots who can help out. June is a month for networking, and re-invigorating old contacts. Individuals in your work zone who try to boss you around (and we’re not necessarily talking about an actual boss) are there to be resisted, combated with a mix of your natural fire and pride and your expertise.

The arrival of Mercury in your skies on June 26 has especial significance this year. Mercury is the talk-talk planet that rules communications, and since this year its presence includes a pesky retrograde phase that arrives mid-July, be cautious about what you promise others in the final days of June. You might forget, others won’t!

 Virgo

Virgo is the sign of perfection, and something like your ideal professional role looks on offer this summer. The flurry of planetary action in the most public, ambitious sector of your ‘scope spells new career possibilities, or perhaps forces them on you. The solar eclipse of May 20^th was the start of this process but only the start, and a further eclipse, this time lunar, on May 4^th is followed by the shift of Jupiter to the pinnacle of your ‘scope on June 11^th.

Jupiter’s role is enlargement and liberation, the opening of new vistas. This is the atmosphere surrounding professional issues through the next twelve moths, but especially up to October. Set your sights accordingly, and in June be prepared to assert your credentials in relentless fashion. High energy Mars, still in your skies until July, helps you maintain momentum. There is an ‘if not now then when?’ feel to these stars, something that may equally apply to romantics pursuing a mate or making up your mind about someone. Here, birthdays 8-10 August are especially in the frame.

In a different way, so are birthdays 24-27 August, who have been enjoying (one hopes) Neptune in opposition over recent months. The energies Neptune represents can be seductive and spiritual or foggy and involve loss. Whatever has arrived, with Neptune at a standstill as June opens, you are at peak experience – Neptune’s slow ebb over the next five months asks you to draw the necessary conclusions.

Your planet, Mercury, whirring through public and social skies, allied to the passage of the mighty Sun make this a busy month, with the last ten days especially conducive to pleasurable activity and self-promotion.

Romance? You are currently the seeker. Explore!

 Libra

You reached a tipping point with May’s solar eclipse, which opened a twelve month phase when you’ll be stripping out your belief system and checking for what, and who, really works. The arrival of Jupiter, the planet of faith (blind and otherwise) on June 11 for a year’s stay (in your solar ninth house, fact fans) begins this process in earnest.

After two years of coping with the demands of Saturn – even at their most constructive, as in being handed a super-responsible job, these tend to be inexorable, let alone the more destructive variety that confront you with no money or a sick parent – you may feel you’re not up to a further bout of change. Yet Jupiter’s touch is liberating where Saturn’s is constricting, and ushers in a series of invigorating fresh starts.

As much may be true in June itself, when the lunar eclipse of the 4^th and the new Moon of the 19^th shake up your social circle. Venus – your planet – continues its retrograde in the same zone ‘scope of your ‘scope, bringing old friends and flames back into your orbit, and helping you re-evaluate ongoing attachments.

Saturn’s halt in your skies on June 25 is another, equally significant tipping point, and a point of some pressure if your birthday is 14-16 October. Over the last two years, you will have been confronted by one or another of Saturn’s Big Issues, be it professional, an irksome property deal (is there any other kind?), a relationship bust-up or a major success and its consequences. In the final phase of the ringed planet’s transit – until your birthday – you can, by hook or crook, resolve matters.

No rush, in fact most of June gives you some breathing space, but be aware of the timetable. The solstice, when the Sun is at the peak of your ‘scope, moves matters on, and with the first momentous clash of Pluto and Uranus/Prometheus hard on its heels, expect some powerful developments in the last ten days, notably if you are a September born Libran. Single? You’re in experimental phase, when the old rules simply don’t apply.

 Scorpio

You begin June somewhat between times, with the midsummer solstice opening a promising new phase in both personal and work affairs. You are still mopping up any spills and thrills from May, especially developments with significant others. Jupiter, the planet that has enhanced or loosened partnerships in recent months, remains in opposition until the 11^th, meaning there is still time for an introduction to an inspirational teacher or to drop off the key, Lee, and set yourself free – scenarios that apply especially to birthdays November 20-22.

What might you expect from Jupiter’s change of sign and subsequent residency in your solar eighth house? You have likely had a recent taste of what’s to come in terms of a deepening relationship, or even a tangled, secretive affair. The eighth house is Scorpio’s realm, a place where the mysteries of sex and psyche are explored, and rebirth takes place. This is also the place where you benefit from other people’s money, and with Jupiter (a money planet among other things) there for a year, a good financial adviser is something to schedule in over the next few months.

If that reeks of too much intrigue, even for a Scorpio, planets elsewhere in your ‘scope describe an outgoing, even frantic schedule. Mars, your governing star, now breaks new ground in terms of your social circle, making you very much a team player (and partygoer) throughout June, with 1^st/2^nd and 28^th/29^th especially well starred. All dates and travel arrangements benefit from early planning, while Mercury is still well behaved.

The season of Cancer, a fellow water sign, opens at the solstice, increasing the pace of events, especially those concerning work. Any surprise offers in the last week deserve your close attention.

 Sagittarius

Brace yourself. The full Moon of the 3^rd/4^th is in your skies, with the usual ramifications – a touch of lunar craziness, waking up the day after not knowing what happened the night before, with werewolf movies on your mind. That this year it’s accompanied by a partial lunar eclipse adds extra significance to events over the first weekend of June.

You have already experienced its precursor at the solar eclipse of May 20^th (a new Moon in your opposite sign) and with a further new Moon arriving on June 19^th, this looks quite a time for your most personal relationships. Add the rare transit of Venus across the face of the Sun on the 6^th and the imminent arrival of the Centaur’s planet, Jupiter on the 11^th – both in your opposite sign of Gemini – and something is clearly cooking.

Eclipses are game-changers, chapter endings and beginnings. It follows that one particular association may have run its due course, or that a recent fling now shows signs of flowering into something more permanent. Though eclipses are here-and-now moments, requiring attention to what happens and who you meet, their fall-out tends to be long, and with your planet Jupiter touching these eclipse points in mid June and late September, it may need months to decipher what is going on.

Best not make any big decisions in a hurry. The planetary scenario will be way different by the solstice, and so, correspondingly, will be your own. As Jupiter rules big distances as well as big ideas, travel may well deliver something or someone special. In all events this is an upbeat, optimistic period, whatever wrenches are involved.

Work remains demanding, but with Mars pushing into new territory after several months in a somewhat stale cycle, you can finally fight adversaries for your turf in a more open-ended way, or simply blaze a solo trail. Developments in the public, professional realm are swift and need instant response – prevarication holds no advantage. If you’re the creative stripe of Centaur, you are urged to blaze away without too many second thoughts about what you are producing. The only caveat is that you need to get paid in full for your efforts – especially, resist manipulative types during the last ten days of the month. You’re a Centaur, you don’t take orders.

Saturn’s turn around in the final week of June is another signal that any feelings of being locked-down are fading fast. If you’re a boss, assemble your team without sentimentality. If you’re a drone, advantage comes from being a team player.

 Capricorn

Make the most of the early part of June, as Jupiter – jolly and expansionist – completes its passage through your fellow earth sign of Taurus, rounding off the theme of liberation that’s been active since your birthday. The 5^th-7^th are especially potent days for pleasure or pushing yourself forwards.

Thereafter a more focussed atmosphere prevails. The cluster of planets in Gemini asks for attention to work and routine, and to the resolution of any distracting conflicts with an individual there. A simplification of your duties and a purge of your infrastructure fit the frame, though it’s an ongoing situation rather than one that can be solved in one clean sweep (the kind of solution Caps favour).

Mars, a mythical figure whose determination chimes with your own, at last breaks new ground after six months of to-ing and fro-ing – helpful for those of you on a quest or a foreign foray, especially for birthdays after January 5^th.

The midsummer solstice, marking the halfway point of your personal year, ushers in a more pressured month. The Sun in opposition asks you to monitor your energy levels and not ask too much of your stamina. December birthdays, who have been confronted by Pluto this last year or so, are those particularly under pressure; if confronted by apparently do-or-die situations, take the long view (as ever) and resist the temptation to use your money and power (you have ‘em) to bludgeon opponents or capricious lovers. Time is your ally.

The turn-round of your planet, Saturn, from retrograde to forward motion on the 25^th should be a welcome turning point. Pressures at work, or over property or money issues, don’t magically disappear, but with the taskmaster planet thereafter heading for the doors in October, weighty issues can be grasped and dealt with in your usual capable fashion.

You will likely have to wait a while before any troubled one-on-one relationships reach resolution. The intricate dance of Venus, the relating planet, is taking place somewhat out of your zone of influence, though with Mercury active all month, open dialogue is on offer and helpful.

 Aquarius

Matters closest to your heart supersede practical considerations for now. The solar eclipse of May 20^th is followed by a partial lunar eclipse of the 4^th, and as both events, plus the new Moon of the 19^th, all concern the axis of your ‘scope concerned with friendship, romance and children, a reconfiguration of your affections seems underway. A new arrival, whether a lover or a child, is one scenario described by these stars. Alternatively, you may surprise yourself by deciding that one particular association has run its course.

Until Venus completes its backslide at the 27^th, however, emotional matters remain in flux, with a wait-and-see attitude a sage policy.  This is, however, very much a time when seeing and being seen promises results, and when you can probe for answers from recalcitrant suitors and partners. Though outcomes remain uncertain, you are empowered.

That message is repeated by the arrival of Jupiter in the same ‘heart’ zone on June 11^th, a happy omen that arrives only every dozen years. With Jupiter in residence for the next year, this is very much the time to begin a creative, artistic or business endeavour. You can cruise through the next four months, but since these are unusually auspicious times, and not to be mistaken for ‘normal’, boldness and ambition are a better option. With Saturn turning to forward motion at the end of the month, you have a helpful wind blowing even from official quarters.

The solstice on the 20^th changes the mood a little but only a little. With the Sun in the zone of your ‘scope concerned with work and routine, cracking on with the tasks in hand is much favoured. Sudden offers of help from a friend, relative or someone behind the scenes are not to scoffed at, only examined for their practicality, and to examine the agenda of those offering aid.

 Pisces

Events have a habit of picking up speed around eclipses, and with a solar eclipse just behind (May 20^th) and a partial lunar eclipse just ahead (June 4), you can expect developments. That applies especially to your domestic scenario; your home (if indeed you have one right now), your flatmate reshuffle, complex relationships within the family, or a desire to give up and relocate somewhere utterly different. The arrival of your ruling planet Jupiter at the root of your ‘scope on the 11^th facilitates any changes you wish to set in motion, either as a short term fix or over a longer period – the coming year, say, with particular attention to the next four months.

The slightly mysterious, if celestially spectacular, retrograde of Venus adds intrigue and uncertainty to relations within your clan or home, and await a likely outcome at the end of the month, when the planet re-assumes forward motion. You can push and press for answers but they are likely to remain conditional.

As much may apply to romance, though here you are moving out of a six-month phase of possible siege warfare, as Mars finally moves out of opposition, a process complete by the end of June.

By then the important way-marker of the solstice will have arrived; always a positive date for Pisceans, and especially so this year as the Sun makes helpful aspects to Neptune, now stationary early in your skies. Neptune’s possible lessons, which apply chiefly to birthdays February 19-24, were outlined in last month’s forecasts – suffice to say that idealism, glamour and photography get a large tick (even drilling for oil if that’s your thing), and that anything that smacks of subterfuge is a no-no.

The Sun’s passage through Cancer, a kindred water sign, favours an outgoing, sunny disposition, the seeking of parties, pleasure and flirtation. As messenger planet Mercury is onside throughout the moth, you look something of a social secretary and information hub, someone who can draw people to your cause.

The professional outlook? Also in flux, though with Pluto strong in the mix at the end of the month, powerful people are there to be courted, even as you assert your own fragile independence. It’s a balancing act, and one that you will be asked to reappear over the next couple of years.

 Aries

A light touch and an open mind serve most of you best in June. It may not seem that way to birthdays between March 28-31, who are confronted by the double whammy of a Pluto-Uranus aspect, with its attendant ‘Oh-dear-now-what?’ associations, though even here a refusal to be panicked into rash actions serves you well. You do, however, have to resist any bullies who try to browbeat you into doing what they want.

All Aries remain in a phase of sprightly independence, not just for this month but for the next several years, as Uranus/Prometheus completes its long transit of your skies. Said planet’s somewhat uncompromising energies are to the fore in June, linked to the flurry of planetary activity in Gemini. In terms of meeting, greeting, finding a new gang with whom to hang, or bumping into old pals and old flames, this is your month.

If you’re in the professional world of education, writing, IT, or travel, you’re also in luck, with even apparently adverse developments actually working in your favour over the weeks ahead. The new Moon of the 19^th is a helpful seed moment.

Thereafter the month of Cancer raises the pressure by degrees. Saturn’s long opposition – over the last two years – is rarely an easy ride, but it’s usually decisive in terms of life choices and, indeed, relationships. The ringed planet stops in its track in late June, ready to rumble forwards, on and out of your life by October. In terms of handling officialdom or hostile ex’s, June is the perfect time to despatch business promptly and with a minimum of fuss. Delaying matters until July (a month of Mercury retrograde) won’t help. Birthdays 22-23 April? Tough things out, the weight of opposition lightens shortly.

Romance is, for now, when and where you find it. Your partner planet, Venus, is in a sate of uncertainty this month, and not given to making commitments, though you can profitably ask questions and prepare the ground for the more abrupt month of July.

 Taurus

Although the zodiacal Bull hates to be rushed, you can be pretty nimble when required, and with Jupiter about to leave your skies on the 11^th, it’s worth putting on a spurt before then to capitalise on the changes that the giant planet has wrought over its twelve month transit of your sign.  Jupiter is by tradition ‘lucky’, but it’s also about liberation, and its transits have a habit of unyoking one from unsatisfactory situations and enlarging one’s worldview and prospects.

June’s first task, then, is to recognise and round off the useful changes the last twelve months have brought. Jupiter’s shift into your ‘scope’s money zone for a year’s stay is good news – this is the planet of swollen pockets – but the solar eclipse of May 20^th, and the imminent lunar eclipse of the 4^th need to be negotiated first, and their fall-out digested. Autumn looks a time when you might anticipate extra funds. Meanwhile the retrograde of Venus in your cash zone asks you to chase debts and complete accounts.

Making your voice heard, exerting your influence (throwing your weight around, maybe) and being seen as a player in your chosen profession are all in favour thanks to the onward march of Mars, as the red planet finally breaks loose from the confines of the last few months. With Mars so active in the zone of your ‘scope concerned with self-display, pleasure and red-blooded romance, finding an outlet for your desire and, indeed, your creativity have rarely been so well favoured.

The ‘outer’ planets (ie beyond Saturn) are long term fixtures, but with both Neptune and Pluto strong in June’s mix, developments and people from way outside the normal run can come crashing through your routines. Accommodating strong personalities and their promises may, again, need time. Fortunately, Bulls are not ones to be rushed, even in the face of temptation.