This is the only kind of biting that should be going on today. ‘Isabella’ By John Everett Millais c1848 {{PD}}

What we are ignoring or denying will almost certainly come back to bite us in the a**, most especially if we are vain enough to believe we are in control of the matter. We exaggerate our own effectiveness, our reach, and are nothing but surprised when the wider world smacks us down, or delivers the aforementioned bite. How to avoid the pain of discovering we’re not empowered in quite the way we think? By listening to instinct, to the still, small voice within, not the one of ego, but the one that knows. Too often we’re insistent on pinpointing just how we learned what we know, but today that’s a waste of energy, and plays right into the trap of not understanding our own position. So listen, mostly to the inner landscape, which knows the truth about those issues ignored or denied, it knows what we should do about them–listen and accept, as it’s the only way to dodge the biter.

(Juno contra-parallel and Venus sesq Black Moon Lilith, Jupiter trine Juno, Venus contra-parallel Pluto, Merc sxt Sedna, Sun enters Leo and sesq Jupiter)

The table’s all set for a Happy Birthday. ‘Open Door on a Garden’ By Konstantin Somov 1934 {{PD}}

For those born with the Sun at 29 Cancer. Check your natal chart for the correct Sun degree (you may want to read both the degree number and the one that follows, if you have minutes on your Sun position–together these offer a more complete picture of your year ahead). You enjoy unusual emotional harmony this solar year, through to your next birthday, dear Cancer, and that’s so even if external events aren’t exactly smooth sailing. It’s this feeling equilibrium that will serve you well, and that could turn difficult, even fated turns of the material scenario to your advantage, as you’ll have a true ability to see how a particular event has saved you from something else, and how you now have a whole new set of opportunities as well as friends and support. You may need to deal with the last of some past realities, loose ends and farewells, but you’ll reach your next Solar Return both surprised at the capriciousness of the Universe and fairly pleased with what it’s set before you. Good luck!

‘African Riddle’ by John Mainga, Photo by Todd Schaffer CC BY-SA 3.0

Here are our guidelines, and they will bedevil us: what’s beautiful, attractive, of worth, supports our health and the overall balance of our lives, but in some way to indulge in it right now is unwise, impractical, or may require skills we don’t have. It’s like a riddle with no right answer, as for each individual it will fit in some very particular way their life scenario at present. We may be able to get more specific by looking at what Venus rules in the natal chart, and/ or what subjects are covered by the House it’s currently transiting. These energies or subjects should have at least some involvement in the puzzle we face today. Another hint: having just undergone a Lunar eclipse, the feeling experience of that event may have a great deal to do with, may even have directly precipitated, the dynamic of beautiful/ healthy vs. unwise.

(Venus sq Pallas, parallel Hygeia, and conj NN)

The table’s all set for a Happy Birthday. ‘Open Door on a Garden’ By Konstantin Somov 1934 {{PD}}

For those born with the Sun at 25 Cancer. Check your natal chart for the correct Sun degree (you may want to read both the degree number and the one that follows, if you have minutes on your Sun position–together these offer a more complete picture of your year ahead). Dear Cancer, this solar year, through to your next birthday, your instincts involving material matters will be spot on–it’s the emotional ones that may be unclear to you. And that’s okay–you don’t need to make any pronouncements about your feelings right now, no matter how it seems–it’s much more important for you to get the material landscape of your life into good working order, so that it supports your needs and your wants. It’s vitally important that you trust those instincts in all areas–your health may depend on it–and acknowledging that your mind temporarily isn’t as sharp or receptive as it needs to be will only work in your favor, steering your efforts in their most effective direction. Good luck!

The Atacama Dry lake, in Chile. At the horizon, the Tumisa, Lejía and Miñiques volcanoes. Photo By Francesco Mocellin – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16388421

The world may seem to be divided between the smart and the powerful (and you know what kind of scenarios that implies, usually stupid moves on one side and impotent carping on the other), but the reality is more like this: the truly smart will realize it’s not the time to exercise power, but it is the time to solidify it, to stealthily position things so that they become, in some essential way, immovable. Note: the loudest are also the weakest, putting up a wall under your own control against what you don’t want is as effective at this time as actually reaching for what you do want, and that the fewer things about ourselves we’re trying to hide, the less friction we’ll find between ourselves and the material world. So, putting on the brakes creates the breaks, in ways we hadn’t thought of before, as the method is so oblique–and yet so effective.

(Pallas contra-parallel Ceres, Saturn sq Pallas and parallel Pluto, Sun sesq Black Moon Lilith)

The table’s all set for a Happy Birthday. ‘Open Door on a Garden’ By Konstantin Somov 1934 {{PD}}

For those born with the Sun at 23 Cancer. Check your natal chart for the correct Sun degree (you may want to read both the degree number and the one that follows, if you have minutes on your Sun position–together these offer a more complete picture of your year ahead). You may feel, dear Cancer, as if you’re an open book–but reactions to you and your efforts this solar year, through to your next birthday, may reflect the way others feel either that you have something to hide, or that you are ignoring or denying something vital to the health of the relationship they have with you. It’s important to get this sorted out, but it’s likely to be difficult, so strongly will you give the impression of both being in charge and of seeming independent, in the sense of not needing others. Letting those to whom you’re devoted know how you feel may be a good first step; reassessing how, when, and with whom you communicate is another. Positives this year for you include smart moves socially and the ability to bring values to life within relationships–both will serve you well. Good luck!

‘Nymphs Hunting’ By Julius LeBlanc Stewart 1898 {{PD}}

All you need to know today is this: instincts are healthy and right-on; thinking is confused, obscured by illusion or misunderstanding, or too influenced by our wishes to be accurate. Go with the inner voice, the quiet one that saves you from yourself and prompts you to do the ‘right’ thing.

(Perfecting today: Hygeia conj Sedna, retro Mercury sesq Neptune)

The table’s all set for a Happy Birthday. ‘Open Door on a Garden’ By Konstantin Somov 1934 {{PD}}

For those born with the Sun at 20 Cancer. Check your natal chart for the correct Sun degree (you may want to read both the degree number and the one that follows, if you have minutes on your Sun position–together these offer a more complete picture of your year ahead). Dear Cancer, your Solar Return brings a period, lasting through to your next birthday, that can best be described as an Earthquake. Now consider: earthquakes can be long and frightening as the ground rolls and heaves beneath you, or they can be abrupt as the two plates whack together, or they can be imperceptibly slow, with change coming inch by inch. This change may be obvious, or may be unnoticeable until much later, but in any case offers you a re-making, as well as a new emotional take on your personal authority and how to exercise it, with a consequent opening up of your belief system, your reach, and your world. Good luck!

‘The Parable of Wise and Foolish Virgins (unfinished)’ By Peter von Cornelius c1815 {{PD}}

Could we really have too much wisdom–is that even possible?–or is it that an abundance of practicality surfaces, making for effective decisions even as it may cut us off from creative influences? Balance may be the key today, as it seems duality of choice is ours. Actions and choices may hurt or heal in a big way, simultaneous with either a denial of or pressure from group demands or a denial of our own originality and uniqueness. The central issue, it seems, the one that’s distorting our understanding and so our ability to interpret the energies around us, is a personal conflict we may be experiencing around our ambitions and heart’s desires. What do we want, especially in matters of aesthetics, cooperation, love? (Zeus in Libra) Answer that, and everything else, what we want to change, what we want to secure, falls into place.

(Jupiter sxt Pallas, Mars trine Chiron and sq Uranus, Sun sq Zeus and contra-parallel Pluto and Saturn)

The table’s all set for a Happy Birthday. ‘Open Door on a Garden’ By Konstantin Somov 1934 {{PD}}

For those born with the Sun at 19 Cancer. Check your natal chart for the correct Sun degree (you may want to read both the degree number and the one that follows, if you have minutes on your Sun position–together these offer a more complete picture of your year ahead). Change is a comin’, dear Cancer–you can sense it ’round the next bend, can’t you? Really, you should know that the anticipation you feel will cause more upheaval than the actual endings and beginnings, when they come. Take advantage of your current internal emotional harmony and get yourself ready, chiefly by re-thinking the role you want to play and the image you want to have, and be very conscious of what you envision this solar year, through to your next birthday, as you have an unusually compelling ability to create it or draw it to you–so make your ideals your dreams. Good luck!