by Robert Wilkinson
The Northern Hemisphere Summer Solstice occurs 1:51 pm PDT, 9:51 pm BST June 20. It's the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, said to be the time at which "free will" acts more powerfully than any other time. It is a point of decision, and kicks off Summer, the season of work, play, productivity, and lots of sunshine for those of us up north. If you're "down under," remember to have a little compassion for us up here when December 21, the Winter Solstice, rolls around and we're freezing while you're enjoying the beach! What follows explores elements we all can expect to experience over the next 3 months, regardless of where we live.
The June Solstice is the end of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere, the end of Autumn in the Southern. If you’re wondering how I reconcile the seemingly opposing energies between the hemispheres, when you’re done here please take a look at The Mirroring of the Northern and Southern Hemisphere Year Cycles in Astrology. It may help readers “down under” see how the important points of seasonal change, though opposite in physical manifestation, actually have similar challenges at each point of shift.
The Solstices and Equinoxes are excellent times for looking at what began in the past 90 days, whether new growth or signs of what is ending, what is emerging and what has slipped down the timestream. In any case, the Solstices are points of radical reorientation, whether toward emotional self interest in the Northern Hemisphere or personal power in the Southern.
The next 90 days are in any case a time to decide, consolidate, express, stabilize, and work toward what will shift at the Autumnal Equinox (or the coming of Spring if you’re down under.) The charts for the Summer and Winter Solstices provide guideposts for the symbolic and actual weather that will follow in the 90 days after those points in time, just as charts for the Vernal and Autumnal Equinox each show what will follow in the period after those points in time.
Decan and Element Distribution and the Solstice Jones Pattern
This Summer Solstice chart shows 6 planets in the first decan of their sign, 2 planets in the second decan, and 2 planets in the third decan of their signs. This indicates a three month period of activity involving a huge preponderance on the actional-material, and a balanced diminished focus on the emotional-social and individual-mental and spiritual levels.
In this chart, we have a 5 planets in Water, 2 in Air, 2 in Earth, and 1 planet in a Fire sign. This will be a slightly hotter than cooler season with a preponderance of Feeling and a deficiency of Fire.
Because all the planets are between mid-Sagittarius and early Cancer, we are now in an imperfect “Bowl” Jones pattern which leads with the Moon and ends with Mercury. This pattern accents divisions between what we have and what we lack, since the Bowl is always aware of what it contains versus what it doesn’t. Make decisions with an eye to the future, and regard this season as a moment of “cosmic pause” where we need to be alert and ready to act while not falling into distress at not knowing what’s ahead.
Dispositors and Solar Aspects
In this chart, we find the Sun ruled by the Moon, and the Moon in Sagittarius ruled by Jupiter in Gemini. Mercury and Venus are also in Cancer, Mars is in Taurus ruled by Venus, Jupiter is ruled by Mercury, Saturn’s ruled by Jupiter, Uranus is ruled by Venus, and Pluto is ruled by Saturn, with Neptune as a “standalone dispositor.”
This makes Jupiter, Mercury, and the Moon as the “chain of dispositors” ruling all the other planets except Neptune. So this is a season of future-oriented actions, a search for knowledge which can ensure power or well-being in the future, and imitation as a means to ease into a different expression.
At this “turning point in the year,” the most powerful Solar aspects are a Sun septile Mars and biseptile Saturn. Aspects to the transpersonal triad are a decile to Uranus, a separating square to Neptune, and an exact quincunx to Pluto which I discuss in greater depth later in this article. This is the first exact square between the Sun and Neptune at a change of seasons, and portends Neptune's future conjunction, squares, and opposition to the Equinox and Solstice Suns in 2025 and 2026.
The septile to Mars is the most important of these, since it puts us at a fork in the road about how we can bring light in dark times and hope in the face of hopelessness. Zones most affected are 7-11 Taurus, 29 Gemini-3 Cancer, 20-24 Leo, 12-16 Libra, 3-7 Sagittarius, 25-29 Capricorn, and 16-20 Pisces. If you have something in one of these zones that part of your life will hit a fork in the road this Summer!
The Moon
The Moon rules Cancer, so it's the ruler of the Sun. In this chart we find the Sun and Moon are in a Gibbous Lunar phase, indicating the next 90 days are a search for a revelation, a new form of expression, and a quest to find how we can contribute to our world in a creative way. Much will become known in early August when Jupiter and then Mars opposes the Solstice Moon at 16 Sagittarius, and then again in late August and early September when Mars conjuncts the Solstice Sun and septiles the Solstice Mars and biseptiles the Solstice Saturn.
The Moon is at 16 Sagittarius and the opening planet to the Bowl, promising a Fire Dance this Summer! It’s on a degree of “Sea gulls watching a ship” indicating we now have a season of “pause to refresh,” but also have to be vigilant to maintain our best interests amid the give and take. Be alert to opportunity, and even if you have to let go, remember that creates the space for something else to present itself.
The Moon is extraordinarily important in this chart. Besides being the leading edge of the Bowl, it’s quadranovile Venus, biquintile Mars, square Saturn, quadranovile Uranus, biseptile Neptune, and semisquare Pluto. And it’s involved in two very important special evolutionary configurations!
The first is its square to Saturn and semisquare to Pluto reactivates Saturn semisquare Pluto, creating three points of an “8 Pointed Star Requiring Right Action.” This brings a lot of internal friction to planets or points we have around 1-5 Aquarius, Taurus, Leo, and Scorpio and 16-20 Pisces, Gemini, Virgo, and Sagittarius.
The other Lunar configuration involves Venus novile Uranus with both being quadranoviled by the Moon, making the Moon the focus in this Kite configuration. This is an intensely spiritual configuration, setting a “9 Pointed Star of Revelation” into motion for the next 13 weeks. This affects 4-8 Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces, 14-18 Leo, Sagittarius, and Aries, and 24-28 Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn. If you’re affected, expect a lot of spiritual realizations in the coming season!
A Season of Major Choices and Changes
The third configuration involves Sun septile Mars and Mars septile Saturn, “collecting the light” creating a Sun biseptile Saturn. This configuration involving 7th harmonic “destiny producing” aspects made by the three power player planets (Sun, Mars, Saturn) shows the coming season will bring major forks in the road for the entire world.
As they are all waxing aspects, this is emerging irrationality with important shifts in direction to consolidate and anchor a “steady pulse into the future” for the season. I gave you the affected zones a few paragraphs above. You can bet all of these will be triggered by inner planet transits through the late Leo zone and mid-Libra zone over the next 13 weeks.
One of the more important manifestations of these “fork in the road” energies will be September 3-10, when Mars conjuncts the Sun and Venus in mid-Libra biseptiles the Solstice Sun, triseptiles the Solstice Mars, and triseptiles the Solstice Saturn. Add the Moon in the Libra and Sag zones, and you can bet something big will happen that week!
Here I’ll give a nod to the Moon biseptile Neptune and both Mercury and Venus triseptile Pluto. As these are also 7th harmonic aspects creating two more sets of seven zones and they involve three inner planets and two of the outer spiritual field, it seems that Jupiter and Uranus are the only planets not involved in pushing destiny forward this season.
If things don’t make sense, they don’t have to. The only thing that matters is to know how to focus and not get distracted by the craziness in the atmosphere. When we learn how to move gracefully through the irrationality, then we are unmoved by outer disturbances.
Other Important Factors
Two very favorable influences are Mercury and Venus both sextile Mars and Mercury tredecile Saturn, bringing interactive unique gifts and circumstances. Mercury/Venus sextile Mars will prove favorable to planets we have in the first decan of Earth and Water signs, and the tredecile will bring serendipitous events for those with planets near 1-4 Gemini/Sagittarius, 6-10 Cancer/Capricorn, 12-16 Leo/Aquarius, 18-22 Virgo/Pisces, 24-28 Libra/Aries, and 30 Taurus/Scorpio.
The North Node shows us the line of greatest development. This one at 13 Aries encourages us to reveal different parts of ourselves while not getting impatient. A new identity beckons for some, to be expressed in balanced, natural ways. Be imaginative and playful as you reject all which falls short of your highest expression.
Because Venus is in Cancer on a degree of “karmic correction,” show caution as you see what to turn away from. This degree shows us we do not have to pursue a line of action which will lead us to destruction or another form of “self-cancellation,” so if you feel you’re going too fast, or something has become reckless, slow down and take a new look at your priorities and responsibilities. We have obligations; some we outgrow, some we cannot fulfill in the old ways, and some just require that we don’t do anything which could interfere with our ability to fulfill those obligations in the way we choose.
Still, with Venus where She is, it will be a productive season of “responsible relationships,” where many will find they have to make relationship adjustments if they want to shed fear and anxiety and find a measure of peace in between activities. Venus in Cancer requires self-nurture, or nurturing a growth process through deep integration of Spirit (Sun), Attractions (Venus) and Mind (Mercury). As these three all make important aspects to the other planets, move cautiously forward in productive steady ways, anticipating what is to come while taking time to refresh and let go of stress at not knowing what’s ahead.
With the Moon in Sag ruling Venus, dare to explore a wider view, let go of “likes” which are leading your life into alleys where you don’t want to go, and see how your relationships are in alignment with your truth or not. You can find out how to dance with your inner Venus to bring forth people and experiences you can value and enjoy by getting your copy of my book, The Magic of Venus: Friendships, Soul Mates, and Twin Flames. The book explains how Venus operates in all the signs as well as when it’s retrograde, and why certain signs like other signs or not. This work also offers how Venus changing signs bring changes in our likes and loves, so please get your copy!
Venus in Cancer is tender, loving, and caring, a bit protective and very family oriented. With the aspects in play described above, Venus and Uranus in novile should bring us glimpses of our heart’s desire after a long time waiting for its appearance, and the Moon shows us how, when, and what that looks like. Many will reject old standards or anything restricting their ability to enjoy life.
This is a season of initiating experience, where we realign with larger or more distant horizons and relationships. This is a time to interact, to explore, to discover, to listen, to communicate and to learn so that we may make informed decisions. Still after all is done, take the time to feel everything you need to feel that makes you remember life is alive, life can be fun and playful, and that “pleasure shared is pleasured doubled.”
The Pluto Factor Past and Present
After 15 Summer Solstices with Pluto in Capricorn, this is the first Summer Solstice with Pluto in Aquarius. This begins a new phase of Pluto’s dance with the Summer Solstice Sun as last year’s quincunx from 1 Cancer to 30 Capricorn has now become the quincunx from 1 Cancer to 1 Aquarius.
The long term movement of Pluto relative to the Solstice and Equinox Suns are extremely important in terms of long term transformation in each season. For example, when Pluto was near the Galactic Center around 29 Sagittarius through 2 Capricorn, it was a huge factor in the major changes going on between 2006-2010, because it was squared by the Sun at the Spring and Autumn Equinoctial points, and opposed the Sun at the June Solstice point during those years. The squares and oppositions of those turning points released a lot of energy, and either blocked or propelled events. Certainly those were seasons of great friction where many seeds were released into our gardens of Life.
Then, just as the Sun no longer made frictional aspects to Pluto during the Solstice and Equinox, Uranus began to make an exact square to Pluto, showing very volatile Plutonic energies in play. This began at the June 2010 Solstice, and except for the December 2010 Solstice, a mundane or actual square remained in play until the March 2016 Equinox. The last time the square happened was the December 2016 Solstice.
At this Summer Solstice, the Sun makes a powerful quincunx to Pluto, showing adjustments and sacrifices for the next 90 days! This powers up themes of related to the radical transformations in play since December 2020, with a need to greet allies as things intensify, but also a need to see how the parts relate to the whole as we go through a form of a “liberating ordeal.” Be practical and optimistic, open to the larger view while being alert to details.
Given the Solstice and Equinox charts show the weather patterns to come, the various configurations and weightings give us a huge amount of insight about the season to come. I give you more about the outer planet aspects in the third Full Moon article coming tomorrow, so that should fill in any questions you might have.
Onward Into Summer!
This is a tender and caring season, with major decisions to be made. Just remember to feel the flow into new ideas and new perspectives and don’t clutch if you have to slam on the brakes. Imitate to learn, and if you are perplexed as to what to do, get new information or a new understanding of how to flow. This is a season of discovery on the social and emotional level, with the ability to generate happiness in dark hours.
It should be a productive season, even if things don’t make sense from time to time. Destiny is definitely on the move across almost every area in our lives, so stay calm, stay open, allow your heart’s desire to come forth, and be ready to come to the feast once you stop worrying about things which can’t be solved by your worrying. August will bring important developments, as will early September, so get ready to move forward or sideways or up or down as needed!
Obviously, with 8 planets in the 108 degree span between Saturn and Mercury, the areas between 20 Pisces and 8 Cancer will be a huge focus of activity wherever these signs are in our charts. As the Moon is the leading planet of the Bowl AND the nozzle of the novile series configuration, 16 Sagittarius may be the most activated place in our chart.
Because Saturn has been and for many months will continue to make a semisquare with Pluto, if you’re confused by a swirl of activity around you, do not look outside yourself for guidance; BE the way-shower, BE the pathfinder you need to translate your compassion into functional understanding within the new role you’ve been playing since January. Go deep within to know what to do and when. We’re now headed for “our feast at the end of our day of labor” coming this Summer, so keep using Saturn’s productivity to flow into spiritual growth through “feeling-knowing.”
Though Saturn can feel heavy and bring serious life lessons, it is the part of us which can take charge of our lives and destiny by using Saturn’s virtues in the right way and time. Our ability to steer our “ship of personality” into its rightful “role of destiny” has brought us to the threshold of new parts to play on the stage of Life.
Saturn will make favorable aspects to Uranus for many months to come, helping us blend understanding with originality, awakening to our ability to become conscious in how we use spiritual power. I explain how Saturn and Uranus work together to awaken us to our Higher Powers to take command of our destiny in my book Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend. Saturn helps us give form and structure to our quest for greater awareness and effectiveness. In recent years we learned to accept and use personal power so we could make a greater contribution to our world. Coupled with Uranus having awakened us to the fact that it’s already a new time, a new way, and a new day, we’re “breaking on through to the other side” into an unfolding Higher awareness.
The book was written for both astrologers and non-astrologers. Even those with little or no understanding of astrology will benefit from understanding why you had to make certain choices at crucial times that shaped your life in profound ways.
Each time you read any section of this book you will find new insights about your power to throw off all the attitudes and memories which hold you back from finding and living the life and purpose. If you’ve haven’t already gotten your copy, you can go to the Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend page on Amazon and this should be all you need to order your copy. It’s also available on Amazon and as an ebook on Kindle, so if that’s more to your liking, go for it! If you would, whether you’ve gotten the ebook or the paperback, please write a review on the Amazon site, since the more reviews, the more of a boost they give it.
A Final Note
Be at ease and optimistic as you relax in anticipation of the next call to growth. Much can be discovered, much can be realized, with rewards for generating positivity in the midst of negativity. Open to discovering that which can bring you wealth, power, or a sense of well-being, update your perceptual files, dream the future you want to see manifest in 2025, and let your genius bring forth a picture of your heart’s desire on the balcony of your life and mind.
We stand on the threshold of a new way of experiencing our connectedness with all other Beings. Pluto has led the way into Aquarius, and Neptune now invites us to dream our wildest dream. Uranus is awakening an element of our heart’s desire which will lead us all to a “genuine rejuvenation” beginning in August. So turn the corner, make a decision, consolidate your security systems, let go of activities which are taking you where you don’t want or need to go, and discover what you need to discover.
Because of the changing signs of Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto between now and next Summer, open to your vast connection with all other Beings as we prepare for the phenomenal global leap in awareness beginning 2025! This is a time to trust our connection with self, others, the world, and source. While it may get intense from time to time, it’s great for knowing at the core of our Being what life is all about.
Aum, blessings, and Happy Northern Summer and Southern Winter Solstice as we stand on the threshold of a new season of life! Let go of fear, let go of the past, let go of feeling stuck in old limitations, and stay focused on the blessings to come your way that expands your life.
© Copyright 2024 Robert Wilkinson
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