The Daily Astro for June 26, 2013

by Valerie Sylvester

TODAY’S ASPECTS:

The Moon remains in Aquarius today. The first major “happening” today is Mercury stationing retrograde in Cancer at 9:08 AM EDT. It will be retrograde until July 20. My day started off with a two-hour commute to work due, supposedly, due to some sort of vehicular mayhem. This is why I tell people to build in extra time when traveling or working against deadlines during Mercury retrograde. Things don’t always align with your preferred schedule when Mercury is retrograde. It’s a lesson in flexibility and becoming a zen chameleon. If one way doesn’t work, don’t sweat it, turn it into something else. Mercury is fleet of foot and tricksterish, so a little sleight of hand (or foot–the god Mercury has wings on his feet) is sometimes necessary. Take the back roads instead of the highway, bring reading material when in transit, explore incongruities.

With Mercury retrograde in Cancer, don’t be surprised if you get a few “blasts from the past” or find yourself feeling strong emotions related to home/family issues from eons ago. This retrograde brings to mind the 6 of Cups tarot card. You may feel like making a sentimental journey to the old family home or taking a vacation at the same places you visited as a child. Waves of nostalgic thoughts can flood in. Issues related to your childhood or family members may come up, and in some cases you’ll reconnect with people from the past. If there’s something you’ve held yourself back from saying, you may finally be able to express it now. Since this retrograde occurs at the beginning of the summer (at least where I live), and summer tends to be vacation time, it’d be a good idea to allow yourself some blocks of unscheduled, “off the grid” time for the next few weeks.

At around the same time as Mercury retrogrades, the Moon in Aquarius trines Mars in Gemini and we want to communicate our quirky or unusual ideas. I can see someone sitting with a drawing pad here — magical Rube Goldberg-esque drawings emerge. It’s a pastiche: a little whimsy, some surreal machinery and unexpected connections. We may find someone’s conversation inspired or hilariously, incongruously clever (like Robin Williams when he’s focused). And if you can’t get there from here, draw a bridge (or a drawbridge), or ask someone to toss you a lifeline! You may be part of a group that comes up with a really great idea that may not come to fruition for some time, but it’s still worth pursuing.

At 10:33 AM EDT a Moon/Neptune parallel is a spinning whirl of dreamy pastels and other worlds beckon, making it hard to stay on this planet. Note: The Moon’s Void of Course today, Mercury’s going-going-gone retrograde, and several aspects collude to divert our attention, so we might find that today’s not “productive” in the usual sense. It’s more of a “seed time” or gestation period for the future, so don’t fret. Things are happening; we just can’t put all the pieces together yet to see the overall pattern.

At 12:13 PM EDT there’s a Moon/Sun clash, so it’s one of those days where we may find we’re not sitting down to lunch at the table with the popular kids. We may feel isolated, either intellectually or emotionally, and beat a retreat to do our own thing/lick our wounds.

The Sun in Cancer trines Neptune in Pisces at 1:49 PM EDT and slips into the Grand Trine formation with Saturn in Scorpio. Energy flows easily; we can make magic. Take your dreams seriously now. Hard work coupled with an active imagination is a winning combination, if we don’t fall prey to escapism or give up too soon. This Grand Trine can help us clarify what it is that most inspires us and help us live up to our ideals. Remember you have to USE the energy; if it remains static it can dissipate into nothing more than a lovely dream.

The Moon inconjuncts Mercury at 5:00 PM EDT; this is a time when anxiety can cause us to jabber or blab. Or we just say something really weird that doesn’t go over well. If you don’t know how your words will be received, rehearse what you want to say prior to opening your mouth—that’s better than doing damage control later on!

As the day winds down, the Moon connects with Pluto (8:51 PM EDT) AND Uranus (12:06 AM EDT) and the Sun parallels Mars, so we’re not feeling particularly warm and cozy. We’re too intense and too detached all at the same time, and may feel that no one “gets” us. Don’t stomp on other people in your mad rush to the door. Jangled emotions can trigger some pretty strange reactions that seem to blast forth out of the wild blue.

THE SYMBOLS:

Sabian Symbol for today’s SUN: “Game birds feathering their nests.”

Kozminsky Symbol for today’s SUN: “A man spending money lavishly entertaining his friends, a clown hidden behind a curtain laughing at him.”

The Keyword for the Sabian Symbol is: “METICULOUSNESS.”

The Keyword for the Kozminsky Symbol is: “WASTEFULNESS.”

The Sabian Symbol’s emphasis on “feathering the nest” brings in the Cancer (home/family/heritage/beginnings and endings) emphasis. Since we’re talking about birds (plural), we’re dealing with the group, the flock, the tribe. The birds in this Symbol are moving into the neighborhood and setting up their homes. If you’ve ever seen a bird putting together a nest, you know that it takes quite a while–and those birds are very fussy about what materials they use (our mockingbirds favored stuffing from the cushion of our neighbors’ old beat-up lawn swing.)

This Symbol also relates to pooling skills and talents for the benefit of all members of society. It’s about community, cooperation, and being part of a cohesive group. Each person plays a role and is equally important. There’s a certain pride in being part of the clan. To broaden the symbol, we can also consider it a sign of pride in the home or heritage, interior decorating or beautifying your surroundings, improving the neighborhood or community you live in, taking responsibility and doing whatever is necessary to keep things going, passing on skills to the next generation, and establishing an environment that is secure and nurturing.

On the down side, this Symbol relates to shirking responsibility, not cooperating, or comparing yourself to others (“Look, the Mallards over there have silk strips lining their nest—ours are only cotton!”). It can also mean being too clannish or afraid to “leave the nest” or frightened of doing things independently. Too much “group-think” or over-reliance on what’s “normal”—the “We don’t do it that way here” syndrome.

The Kozminsky Symbol is like the 9 of Cups run amok. Here’s a guy whose cup is TOO overflowing. He’s throwing money around, the booze is flowing, but even the Fool/motley figure (the clown) is laughing at him. He may think he can buy friends with money, but they’re all of the fair-weather variety, and after the money is gone, no one sticks around. People talk behind his back or make fun of him. On a basic level, it’s about wastefulness and the easy-come/easy-go syndrome. It’s also about not making use of our gifts or wasting our energy or abilities on things that don’t matter. The interesting thing is that he can generate or receive, he just doesn’t know how to deal with that wealth once it’s in his hands. Misuse of assets and lack of discernment leads to ruin. It can indicate someone who is easily distracted or surrounds himself with a carnival in order to distract himself from other concerns.

Here’s a song that relates to today’s Kozminsky theme: “Temporary Beauty” by Graham Parker.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVkSZtGNukA

THE DAILY DRAW:

King of Wands / Queen of Pentacles

“Vision and Manifestation.” Here we have the Fire King (Aries time) and the Earth Queen (Taurus time). This is the time when seeds take hold and begin to grow, spring comes and everything warms up. The idea comes to life, the flame of inspiration shines from within. We learn practical applications for our ideas. We settle in for the long haul. With the King of Wands, there is a hint of discontent, and the Queen of Pentacles can have the “Other Woman” vibe, so perhaps our loyalty is being tested, or we’re not happy where we are and are looking around. Something is tempting us. There’s a desire to stray from home, a restlessness. Loyalty issues. Yin and Yang—integrating polarities and coming into balance. It can also mean it’s time to pay more attention to your health and well-being. Something that was initiated during the time of Aries-Taurus cycle is in the process of manifestation. On the political or world stage, we may hear of a powerful woman who has the stamina to stand up to a powerful man–they’re equally matched.