It has been a crazy week. Mercury’s return to Gemini seems to have brought resolution to several issues I was having, but now I’ve fallen way behind in my work, another common occurrence when the Messenger is in reverse mode.

It took the better part of the week to troubleshoot my Internet connection, which has been working properly for three days but is showing signs of instability. This is totally not funny. The rug situation, however, continued to get more and more ridiculous. If I wrote a sitcom based on this transaction, the producers would criticize it as too contrived. There is no way I could make this stuff up.

I’m hoping the trend of resolving issues will continue so that I can get caught up. That includes revising my report menu.

If Mercury runs low on tricks, Mars will make more than enough trouble as he closes in on a square with Uranus, the third of a three-part aspect. The first was on Christmas Day and the second was on April 23, with Mars retrograde at the height of the cardinal grand cross. The third one is this Wednesday. Even though you may be under enormous stress, try to think back to the middle of April and see how it compares to the pressure back then. I know I’m not the only one who experienced a shift around that time, and so I am right there with those of you who are facing the stress of adapting to a new and unfamiliar environment. As I’ve said many times, even positive change is stressful.

In terms of world events, the changes are continuing, with a lot more breaking down necessary before the rebuilding can begin. Last week’s post was getting long, so I saved my analysis of the Cancer ingress for this week. Ingress is just fancy astro-speak for “entering.” The Cancer ingress is the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, when the Sun enters Cancer.

Because the Aries ingress chart for the United States has cardinal sign Cancer on the Ascendant, it is valid for only three months, and new ingress charts must be cast for each subsequent seasonal change. As I noted in my analysis, both the Aries and Cancer ingress charts for the United States have 13 degrees Cancer on the Ascendant, conjunct the U.S. Sun by exact degree. This suggests that summer is a continuation on a theme, but with a couple of important differences. That’s true for other countries, too, but the United States charts are particularly noteworthy. I wrote previously that there would be something fated or destined for the country, a landmark event. Potential candidates include the crisis in Iraq and possible cooperation between the United States and Iran. My gut instinct is that it does have something to do with the Middle East, and that Israeli involvement, although always a factor, will be more of a driving force. As I write, Israel has launched air strikes on Syria, which it says were in response to a cross-border attack in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The dominant aspect in both U.S. ingress charts is a cardinal T-square, with the Uranus-Pluto square as the foundation. However, the March 21 chart had Jupiter as the third leg of the T-square, while in the June 21 chart, Jupiter has moved out of range, and now Mars forms the third leg. This week, Mars forms an exact opposition with Uranus, a potential trigger date for serious disruption. Mars opposes Uranus in the tenth house, which concerns the government – the president in particular – and the country’s standing in the world.

The Moon, which represents the people, is especially important in the Cancer ingress chart, since the Moon rules Cancer. In the 2014 Cancer ingress chart for the United States, the Moon is in Aries in the tenth house, in an approaching square with Jupiter and wide conjunction with Uranus. I’m a bit concerned about this element of the ingress chart, because it suggests that the public might back going to war. There might even be a public outcry to invade a foreign country, such as there was after the September 11 terrorist attacks, when President George W. Bush rallied widespread support for the Iraq War by implicating Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

With Uranus in the mix, support could come quite suddenly, as a result of an event out of the blue. It’s hard to imagine what that might be, given that Americans aren’t likely to be fooled again by a similar PR strategy. It certainly didn’t work last summer when conservative factions in the U.S. and U.K. sought public approval to bomb Syria. Nonetheless, the Cancer ingress Sun is in a wide out-of-sign conjunction with retrograde Mercury in Gemini, also in the twelfth house, suggesting that it might be possible to sow enough confusion to stir up righteous anger to rival that against Saddam. In mundane astrology (the astrology of world events), Mercury represents the media. It’s no secret that what passes for news anymore is more like state-run propaganda. The Fourth Estate has been assimilated. Meanwhile, events in the Middle East are volatile, with Iraq in crisis and Israel in a dangerous operation to annihilate Hamas, which in turn is threatening a third Palestinian Intifada. These situations are so complex that it isn’t difficult for the powers that be to spin them in a way that a majority of the public would believe.

The tenth house also rules the employment rate. It’s not a stretch to foresee a public rebellion against high unemployment and the export of jobs overseas. Again, there likely would be sudden developments to trigger protests. Jupiter represents the banks and the nation’s wealth, and he’s in Cancer in the first house, which represents the overall condition of the country and its people. Cancer is one of Jupiter’s power signs, so this sign and placement of Jupiter suggests continued prosperity, or at least economic recovery. This is the most positive feature of the ingress chart, and yet with a square from the Moon, there’s something not quite right here. It may be nothing more than what we already know: that people are fed up with the rich getting richer and everyone else getting the dregs. Further, they are angry with their elected representatives for doling out benefits to their wealthy campaign contributors at the expense of voters. This is a time bomb waiting to be detonated, but it doesn’t look like that will happen over the summer.

In both the Aries and Cancer ingress charts, Pluto is on the Descendant, or cusp of the seventh house of allies and open enemies. The potential is there for the revelation of information that sparks protests against the government, possibly having to do with secret deals with Wall Street, corporations, and the wealthiest few. It’s possible that this information will concern unemployment, which could be the tipping point. It also looks like there might be an orchestrated crisis to divert public attention to threats of terrorism.

Obama will be working largely behind the scenes, and his speeches and press conference statements will be for public consumption only and have little bearing on what’s really going in secret. That’s not going to help his approval rating. The twelfth house rules “secret enemies of the country.” If you define the country by its citizenry rather than its political institutions, then those enemies aren’t some secret terrorist organization we’ve never heard of or “evil empire” such as Russia. There’s a huge opening for conspiracy theories here, especially those regarding a shadow government and a small group of elites driving policy, not just in the United States but among its allies as well.

Likewise, the Cancer ingress for Moscow is similar to the Aries chart, but this time Mars is within 2 degrees of the Ascendant. The country may be openly at war by fall, and while many Russians will be against it, President Vladimir Putin should enjoy high approval ratings. Still, he will be hemmed in by powerful forces. Without a lot of room to maneuver, his options will be limited, and he’ll need to watch his back. Ironically, some of his best support could come from outside the country.

Returning to this week, other than the Mars-Uranus opposition, there’s the New Moon in Cancer. At 5 degrees Cancer, the Sun and Moon are in a very wide opposition with Pluto and an even wider square with Mars and Uranus. The Full Moon on July 12 will be in closer aspect to Mars and Uranus. Nevertheless, the New Moon increases the amount of cardinal energy, which is about initiating change. Further, the Sun and Moon in Cancer increase the number of planets in water signs to five, with three planets in air signs. Hurricane season in the Atlantic began on June 1. As I’ve said many times, I’m not an expert in weather astrology, and so I’m not making any predictions but just noting the astrological conditions.

The New Moon makes a lovely trine with all-embracing Neptune in Pisces, favoring art, music, creative writing, photography, and other projects that require inspiration, a fertile imagination, and the ability to channel deep emotions into artistic expression. Although Mercury is still retrograde, it’s a good time to start researching, gathering materials, and jotting down ideas. Once you put your muse to work, she’ll leave you clues in the form of synchronicities, events that help you along and let you know you’re on the right track.

The New Moon occurs on Friday at 4:08 a.m. EDT, 1:08 PDT. The Sun forms an exact trine to Neptune on Sunday (June 29) at 3:22 a.m. EDT.

The only other major transits this week involve Venus, who leaves her own sign of Taurus on Monday and enters Gemini. This is the social butterfly Venus. These days, that means the social-media butterfly Venus. With Mercury retrograde, texting glitches may be more frequent than usual. Do be careful when sending sensitive or potentially embarrassing messages, whether it’s by text, e-mail, or social site. It’s so easy to hit the wrong contact in an address book.

On Sunday, Venus squares Neptune, the classic “rose-colored glasses” aspect. The typical interpretation includes an advisory not to put your partner on a pedestal, to remember that he or she is human and fallible. I say why not be cheerfully oblivious to your partner’s flaws for a day or two? With Mercury retrograde, trying to have a serious discussion could be a losing proposition anyway. Put on those rosy lenses. Better yet, look for each other’s perfections.

Much love, courage, and patience to all,
Pat

© Pat Paquette, RealAstrologers.com, 2014.