We have an eventful week ahead, with the summer solstice and the biggest Full Moon of the year.

By “biggest,” I don’t mean astrologically, but literally. Next Sunday’s Full Moon in Capricorn occurs just 22 minutes after the Moon reaches its closest point to Earth in 2013. It actually will appear larger in the sky than usual. This is the closest the Moon will get to the Earth until August 2014.

You can find a terrific article about it on EarthSky.org. I love that the author discusses the history and meaning of the term “supermoon” without dissing astrology.

Rather than breaking down the week by individual transits, I’ll discuss the week’s astrology through the Cancer ingress and Full Moon charts. That will be plenty, I’m sure. Starting with the Cancer ingress, I’ve set the chart for Washington and will base my interpretation on the United States, with apologies to my many readers around the world. I have to set the chart for somewhere, and this happens to be where I am. So, with that caveat, let’s have a look.

The Ascendant is 27 Pisces, with ruler Neptune in the twelfth house. The Ascendant in mundane astrology represents the general condition of the nation. This combination smacks of secrecy and deception. Neptune and Pisces also are related to epidemics and mental health. Before declaring that the whole country is going stark-raving mad – or, legitimately, that we have a serious mental health crisis on our hands that could well be called an epidemic – I decided to look up the Sabian symbol.* As it turns out, it’s quite a lovely image: A fertile garden under the full moon. (Gee, could that be Michelle Obama’s vegetable garden?)

There’s no doubt that we’re starting out the season with a debate on the surveillance state, which is described perfectly by Pluto in Capricorn in the tenth house. See last week’s forecast for more on that topic. We also find Uranus, planet of rioting and rebellion, in the first house and still in a fairly close square with Pluto. It’s hard for me to imagine people rioting in this country over privacy issues or even low employment, which also is a tenth house issue. Be that as it may, there does appear to be some serious discontent on the way in the next few months.

It’s interesting to note that the Sun in this chart is in the fourth house, closely conjunct Jupiter on the fourth-house cusp. In mundane astrology, the tenth house represents the party in power, while the fourth house represents the opposition. The Sun represents the country’s leaders, especially the president. According to the rules of mundane astrology, the leaders of this country, including its president, are more in the camp of the Republicans than the Democrats. Then, as John pointed out in an excellent comment on last week’s post, there’s not a whole lot of difference anymore. And, as it also so happens, Jupiter in mundane astrology represents banks and bankers. I don’t know how they could be any more in cahoots than they’ve been in the past, but this chart suggests an even closer relationship – or, at the very least, a significant event on the way rooted in these shady connections.

We also see a very tight inconjunct (technically, a quincunx) from the Moon to Jupiter and the Sun. The inconjunct says “nothing in common.” You don’t need an astrologer to tell you that our political and financial leaders are totally out of the touch with the people. It’s not so much that they don’t have their interests at heart, but that they don’t even know the meaning of the word “public interest.” However, the Moon and the Ascendant are in perfect harmony, so even if those at the top don’t “get it,” comprehension may be dawning within the public at large. Yes, hope springs eternal.

Despite the “fertile garden” image, there are several indications in this chart of death and sorrow, whether from epidemics, severe weather, or some other cause. Planets on the fourth-house cusp can indicate weather patterns. Jupiter suggests very big ones, and in the air sign of Gemini, we’re probably talking violent winds. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration already has said that we can expect a extremely active hurricane season in 2013. This chart would seem to reinforce that assessment, and I think it’s also possible that the summer’s spectacular grand water trine also could make for some massive storms involving flooding. I concede that weather astrology isn’t my forte, so we’ll have to wait and see.

Venus and Mercury are conjunct by exact degree. Venus represents peace and diplomacy, while Mercury represents commerce and the media. This would seem to be indication of positive developments, but Mercury is stationed, about to turn retrograde on June 26, and neither planet makes aspects to other planets in the chart. Moreover, they are in the fifth house, a sort of “light-weight” placement. Whatever these two have to say likely won’t be taken seriously this summer. However much we value programs to educate and protect our children, it may be that other issues are going to take precedence.

There is more I could write about the ingress, but let’s turn now to the Full Moon, which occurs on June 23. The Moon is in her detriment in Capricorn, but the Full Moon in Capricorn always falls with the Sun in Cancer, the sign the Moon rules. This gives us a week or so of inner angst and collective tension. The word “lunatic” derives from an old belief that people acted crazier at the Full Moon. With the Moon at her closet to the Earth and the motion of the Sun “stopped” as perceived from Earth, I’d say it’s a good bet there will be a lot of craziness. Add to that the connection to the 2010 cardinal T-square by degree, and we’ve got the makings of a perfect storm, be it symbolic or literal.

As you can see in the chart, the Sun makes a lovely grand trine with Saturn and Neptune, an early reflection of the rare configuration about to take place with Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune. The trine with the Sun will be more exact toward the middle of next week, and then the trine with Jupiter will be exact on July 17. I’ve written before that this astrological phenomenon indicates a window of opportunity to make headway in some of your most cherished goals. You should know by now what they are, and hopefully you’ve been doing the work. In world affairs, this is also a time to make some progress on issues that have been at a standoff. However, the political will to do so must exist, and I’m not sure I’m that optimistic.

At the most fundamental level, Cancer and Capricorn represent mother and father. It’s no accident that throughout history, people have referred to their countries as the “fatherland” or the “motherland.” Governments and their leaders often represented parents, with an expectation that those parents would take care of their children. Many of us still have those expectations, although they vary wildly. At the most basic, we expect our government to protect us from foreign enemies. But it would seem – in this country at least – that what we’ve got is more like Saturn devouring his children. Lest you find this metaphor somewhat morbid, remember that in the Greek version of the myth, the children were saved by mother goddesses Rhea and Gaia, who hatched a plan with Zeus (Roman Jupiter) to give Cronus one hell of a bellyache so he would vomit the children back out. They then overthrew him and became the twelve gods of Olympus.

I’ll end on another personal update, since I know that many of you are still waiting for reports. Also, a couple of readers have written to ask whether there will be a summer StarGuide. I have started writing reports again, but it’s very slow going. I’m hoping I’ll continue to improve, but I’ve learned that I need to stop making promises, because I never know what to expect from one day to the next. I feel better today than I’ve felt in a long time, but I could wake up tomorrow with a splitting headache. In order to get through the backlog, I’ve posted a notice on my report order page that I’m currently not accepting new orders. Of course, I’ll post a new note when that changes.

That means I won’t have the summer forecast up before June 21. It could be two or even three weeks before I have the time to do the prep work. In the meantime, I’ve decided to offer the transit section of the report at a reduced cost of $19 for those who want to know what’s ahead. I can produce these fairly quickly. I’ll post a sample shortly so that you can see what you’ll get. Just so you know, there will be no Full Moon or New Moon interpretations, no “best days” graphs, and no fancy formatting – all the things I do that distinguishes StarGuide from other transit reports you can find online. But for now, it’s the best I can do, and it seems like a workable compromise. [UPDATE: Click here to see the sample report.]

Wishing you all much love and courage,
Pat

* From The Sabian Symbols in Astrology, by Dr. Marc Edmund Jones. The author, an astrologer, channeled this work in 1925 with the help of Elsie Wheeler, a gifted psychic. There’s one symbol one for each degree of the zodiac, and we can use them to gain insight into charts.