Everybody with serviceable eyesight can see the Sun, weather permitting. The same is true for the Moon during the days approaching and achieving its fullness. Those are two important fundamentals for human beings to remember at this particular time on planet Earth.

So happens we are now in the days approaching the Capricorn Full Moon, which will take place this coming Tuesday, July 19. From now until then the illuminated portion of the Moon will be growing in size, until Luna is as fully lit as it can be.

In addition to “waxing” into fullness over the next handful of days the Moon will be visible during the early evening hours when most people are still awake. That’s how it works coming up to a Full Moon.

What the Sun and Moon are doing right now is something everybody can see so long as clouds don’t get in the way. The same cannot always be said for even the brightest planets. Even Venus, which is the only celestial object besides the Sun and Moon to shine bright enough to cast a shadow, can sometimes be elusive. Other planets are even less bright, and even more subject to being obscured by the lights and buildings of the cities in which so many of us dwell.

Fortunately, using the Sun and Moon alone we can at least infer a good deal of what is going on with the astrology. That’s especially true for the impending Full Moon, which will take place in the 28th degree of Capricorn shortly before 7 pm EDT (22:56:31 UTC) on Tuesday. That’s because the 28th degree of Capricorn is where Mars is exalted.

As Eric put it in the Planet Waves weekly edition yesterday, Mars is at “center stage” from its current position in Scorpio for astrologers right now.

Unfortunately, everybody can see how the front and center presence of Mars in our current astrology is now predominantly being expressed on Earth. The recent series of tragically violent events all over the world can fairly be correlated with the less fortunate downside of Mars. Yet, that’s not all there is to how Mars manifests in actual practice. There are in fact two sides to astrology’s Martian story.

Ancient astrologers divided up celestial objects into good guys (“malefics”) and bad guys (“benefics”). Beginning in the 20th Century, astrologers like the late, great Al Morrison challenged that antiquated prejudice based on how things actually work out in the world. Now, most modern astrologers agree with the greatest living astrologer, Robert Hand. In the October/November 2014 edition of The Mountain Astrologer Mr. Hand flatly declared that “There are no benefics and no malefics.” Instead, astrologers now interpret planets to be consistent with what everybody can see.

Based on actual practice, everybody can see that every planet, every sign and every aspect has both an upside and a downside. The question of which side is expressing at any given time is usually resolved by context — where one object, sign and/or aspect fits into the whole. That holistic way of looking at things will provide both a useful and hopeful framework in which the implication of next Tuesday’s Full Moon can be understood.

One way in which anybody can understand the world is that things often go as far in one direction as they can before they must swing the other way. That’s obviously true of many natural phenomena, such as the seasons. It’s also a pattern that tends to evince in both large and personal scale human events. Astrology is no exception either.

The Moon, as it goes through its phases, is yet another example of moving from one extreme to the other that everybody can see. Indeed, one common way of interpreting a Full Moon is as a culmination after which Luna can only subsequently wane. Therein is reason for you to believe that you can act and make a difference to turn things around in concert with the skies.

Planets do not simply express from where they are in the sky or on the zodiac. Mars, for example, can be found to manifest from the signs it rules (Aries and Scorpio) and where it is exalted (Capricorn) at any given time, even if it is moving elsewhere.

A Full Moon precisely in the exaltation degree of Mars (which does not happen very often) implies that the violent downside of the red planet has gone as far as it can go before it must turn back and begin manifesting in more life-affirming ways. Given the importance of context, however, a fortunate outcome is not certain. A turnaround must be made to happen. That, as always, is where you come in.

That’s because astrology is not a spectator sport. You are part of the holistic context in which astrology plays out. It’s up to you to manifest the potential of next Tuesday’s Full Moon. Fortunately, you or anybody can see how to do it.

In a phrase, eschew violence. Act without violent means. Speak without violent expressions. Advocate for love, and against war. Be an example for others to do the same. Indeed, in the U.S. at this time you can commit the equivalent of a revolutionary act by simply not owing a gun. You don’t have to take it upon yourself to change the world. You don’t have to do the impossible. You simply have to do your part by not bringing any additional violence into the world.

If there is anything to what next Tuesday’s Capricorn Full Moon is telling us, the best time to do your part is now. Everybody can see that there has never been a more appropriate time to become an advocate for love and peace.

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The Planet Waves Boutique has plenty of balm for your soul. Come pay us a visit, put your feet up, and enjoy discovering all the wonderful readings we have to offer.

There is a light. Not at the end of a long, dark tunnel (though recent events may make it seem as though we are in one). Rather, there a light on the horizon. Some have already seen it. It is a light in the western sky after sunset and it’s just in time.

Venus is wrapping up a tenure of just over three weeks in Cancer (since June 17), and it enters Leo on Monday. It is also re-appearing as a light after dark. Reports have been received. Photos have been taken. Venus is back.

As is so often the case with astrology, there is an astounding serendipity in the re-appearance of Venus. After more than three long months of being out of sight as it traveled on the other side of the Sun, Venus has timed its return to visibility just as it is moving across the cusp separating the sign ruled by the Moon (Cancer) and the sign ruled by the Sun (Leo).

With each passing twilight, the sight will become more clear. That’s because Venus is moving relatively fast right now, gradually widening its separation from the Sun. You will see it as Venus showing up a little higher in the sky as one evening follows another into our still-new season.

Astrologically, you might say that Venus is currently functioning as both a leader and as an inspiration. Like a pioneer, Venus led the Sun and Mercury into Cancer as if to show the way into a new season of life on Earth. Now, like a torch bearer, it is pushing back against the night. This is not meaningless symbolism, either. Other than the Sun and Moon, Venus is the only celestial object bright enough to both cast and dispel shadows.

Like all things in astrology, the impending traversal of Leo by Venus has two complementary potentials. There is a shadow side, so to speak.

If you are careless in how you carry Venus into the world, it can express as an inappropriate sense of entitlement. It is also very possible for ‘bling’ to become a cause, when other, more selfless causes need you to lean in — together with others — to further a common good.

Rather than deny it, put the shadow side of Venus to work. There is no reason to go without makeup. There is no need to hide your jewelry. Instead, allow adornment to become something more than an end in itself. Let artful enhancements be just one of many means by which you further the cause of love.

For in the words of Robert Hand, “In its highest manifestation, Venus is love.” That, as usual, is where you come in.

While you may not have consciously chosen to live in such trying times, it is for you to choose how to live in them. It is thus for you to lead Venus, just as Venus is leading the planets around the zodiac and into what will be a great gathering of planetary lights in the western half sky later this year.

It is nothing new to say that love is the answer. Even so, the message continuously needs renewing.

Let Venus, the goddess of love, inspire you. Let it lead you into leadership. Rise up, so as to be better seen. Give love a chance to win, and it will.

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Attention anyone with a Cancer Sun, Moon or rising: Eric has recorded the audio portions of your birthday reading for the next 12 months — nicknamed The Cancer Illumination Kit. You can access them by ordering now; the video will be released after July 4. Not familiar with Eric’s audio or video readings? You can listen to last year’s reading here, as a gift.

If the course of human events had any lessons for us over the last several days, they would have to do with cooperation and conflict. Cooperation brought elation and success. Conflict brought sorrow and setbacks. It might be wise to keep both sets of lessons in mind so as to better see what you should do.

Perhaps the most outstanding example of cooperation came hours after yesterday’s New Moon in the sign Cancer. Yesterday night (or very early this morning, depending on where you live) a long collaborative effort culminated in the insertion of a spacecraft called Juno into orbit around Jupiter.

It was encouraging to witness the celebration of those working on the Juno project, as telemetry indicated the successful completion of their mission’s first phase. It was no small thing to overcome unprecedented difficulties and uncounted unknowns to reach that point.

Here on Earth, however, the days leading up to yesterday’s New Moon provided ample reason for sobriety. First in Bangladesh, then in Iraq, and finally in Saudi Arabia violence intruded where people very much like you and me were preparing to observe some celebration of their own.

Adherents of Islamic religions have been fasting from sunrise to sundown since their holy month of Ramadan started back on June 7. It is no small thing either. It is a test of faith that will finally end on July 7 with the celebratory feasts of Eid al-Fitir.

Ideally, the days leading up to the festival of breaking the fast are marked by an anticipation of joy, reward, relief and return to a less physically demanding daily routine. It seems especially senseless to intrude with indiscriminate violence at such a time. Even those of us who do not participate in Ramadan are compelled to recognize that no good can come from such conflict, and feel compassion for those who will now be impelled to mourn rather than rejoice.

Today, as the Moon moves on to Leo, we are all obliged to move on as well. The Independence Day weekend in the U.S. is over. In America, as in much of the world, another working day is upon us. Neither will the occasion of Eid al-Fitir wait. Yet all of us, regardless of nationality or belief, might well find reason in the skies to do something besides simply go on with life as it has been. If there is anything to what anybody can see by simply looking up, there is reason for each of us to do something to increase the peace.

With its ingress to Leo, the Moon will return to visibility as a thin crescent in the West just after sundown. That’s a very auspicious sign for those of Islamic belief. For astrologers, at least, a fire trine from the Leo Moon to Saturn in Sagittarius will suggest sobriety at least, and sympathy at best. In addition, the promise implied by a waxing Moon will be reinforced by the three prominent sign rulers it is leaving behind.

The Sun, Mercury and Venus remain in Cancer, even as the Moon moves on. Over the next few days, those three objects will, in emblematic effect, be reaching out to the rest of the solar system.

Indeed, the process has already started. With thoughtful Mercury’s brief but auspicious water trine to imaginative Neptune in Pisces earlier today, you might have noticed how even a little good news (from the Juno spacecraft or otherwise) can function to encourage you even if there is no immediate or tangible effect on your life.

Tomorrow, affectionate Venus will follow the lead of both Mercury and the Moon. With a water trine of its own to Mars in Scorpio, Venus will be reminding us that cooperation is easier than conflict. In addition, with its own return to visibility in the twilight, Venus will shine with a palpable indication that things can and do get better. All it takes is just a little help from (and for) your friends.

Finally, through the remainder of the week it is as if the entire crew in Cancer will be pulling their oars together. Venus will move on and reach out to Eris and Uranus in Aries, as well as Chiron in Pisces. The Sun and Mercury will conjoin and extend in union to Pluto in Capricorn and Jupiter in Virgo. Of course, the most important oar will be yours to pull.

It will be in your everyday life this week that a difference will be made, and it will not be rocket science to get it done. It will be as easy as cooperating whenever possible. It will be as simple as refraining from unnecessary conflict. While you will almost certainly be required to challenge yourself upon occasion, there should be nothing about your part in increasing the peace that you cannot bring yourself to do.

There has been enough of sorrow and setbacks. There is a great need for elation, however muted. We could all use some success, however small. Look to be like the Moon. Move on and show up. Try to be like the Sun, Mercury and Venus. Reach out. None of us are without injury, but to be healed we must finally come around and realize that we are all we’ve got.

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Attention anyone with a Cancer Sun, Moon or rising: Eric has recorded the audio portions of your birthday reading for the next 12 months — nicknamed The Cancer Illumination Kit. You can access them by ordering now; the video will be released after July 4. Not familiar with Eric’s audio or video readings? You can listen to last year’s reading here, as a gift.

It’s a new month. The Mars retrograde of 2016 is over, although Mars remains in the same degree of Scorpio where it turned around on Wednesday. On Monday, we will have a New Moon in the sign Cancer on the anniversary on the U.S. Declaration of Independence. Any fireworks displays you see Monday night will thus take place in a moonless sky.

Also on Monday, a robotic spacecraft called Juno will, if all goes as planned, begin a long orbital errand around Jupiter (which has about two and a half months left in Virgo). The purpose of Juno’s mission will be to give the people of Earth a greater understanding of the largest planet in our solar system.

The fact that a new page on the calendar, a new lunar cycle, a new space mission and a new year beginning for the U.S. are all basically taking place as Mars resumes direct motion gives you reason to think about a fresh start. There is meaning in that. After all, before anything can be achieved, it must first be conceived.

Of course, a reason to conceive does not stand much chance of manifestation without belief. That’s where you come in. What’s perceived in the skies above has at least one thing in common with what is experienced on Earth below. That common thread goes through you. Whether one is addressing deities, planetary correlations or the course of human events, your belief (or lack thereof) has a big influence. Perhaps even more important is whether and how you act.

Action makes things real. Unless you act, everything inside your head stays there. In your hands is the power to transform conceptions into achievements. Of course one person alone does not usually amount to much in a big world, but that’s where things must begin.

What has been proven to amount to something in the world is human beings acting together. To cooperation we owe our very existence. Through communal action the world has been changed, and will continue to be changed, for better or worse. That’s how you come in again.

The single greatest factor determining whether group action makes the world better or worse is the conscience of the individuals who make up the group. It may be true that you are born with a intuitive sense of right and wrong, and even a concern for the greater good. Even so, it is also self-evident that teaching and learning play a role in determining whether and how people participate in society.

It is not only individual and collective actions taken, but also the examples you and the rest of us set that contribute to turn the wheels of history and determine what will happen next. If the civil calendar, celestial cycles, history and ongoing group achievements are any indication, a whole heaping handful of wheels are now going around to come around at once.

That’s how you might want to consider the next several days to be a special time. There is meaning implied in what is happening now. More to the point, however, there is meaning to be conferred. By you. By us. Upon the Earth, even as it is in the heavens.

May your holiday weekend be safe and fulfilling.

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Attention anyone with a Cancer Sun, Moon or rising: Eric has recorded the audio portions of your birthday reading for the next 12 months — nicknamed The Cancer Illumination Kit. You can access them by ordering now; the video will be released after July 4. Not familiar with Eric’s audio or video readings? You can listen to last year’s reading here, as a gift.

There’s an old saying that goes something like this: “One swallow does not a summer make.” That aphorism might be said to apply to the astrology right now. That’s because Mercury will enter the sign Cancer tomorrow, less than 15 minutes before retrograde Mars resumes direct motion in Scorpio.

At its fastest, Mercury moves around the zodiac at a rate of more than two degrees per day. Hence, Mercury changing signs is neither rare nor unusual. Even so, tomorrow’s Mercury ingress is part of a recent trend to populate a core part of the zodiac which has long been fallow.

The adjoining signs Cancer and Leo might arguably be considered a core of the zodiac because of the objects they correlate with. Cancer is the only sign ruled by the Moon. Similarly, Leo is the Sun’s singular dominion.

When you get right down to it, the motions of and relationships between the luminaries (Sun and Moon) form the core of astrology. Both are very bright and familiar to anybody blessed with eyesight. When the Sun and Moon oppose for a Full Moon, they form the template for all astrological aspects, called an opposition. The same is true for how a New Moon (which takes place when the luminaries conjoin to share the same degree of the same sign, roughly once a month) defines all conjunctions. The examples go on and on.

It is thus undeniable that the Sun and Moon combine to constitute the framework upon which astrology is built. Whether one is speaking of aspects, ingresses or nearly any other form of celestial phenomena as perceived from Earth, it is fair to say that the so-called “lesser lights” (planets) are interpreted to be in emulation of the two greater lights (Sun and Moon). In a way, the same goes for the two signs ruled by luminaries.

On either side of Cancer and Leo on the zodiac wheel are Gemini and Virgo — both ruled by Mercury. Keep on going around in both directions and you come to Taurus and Libra — the two dominions of Venus. After that, you reach Aries and Scorpio, both originally ruled by Mars. Following come Sagittarius and Pisces, which correspond to Jupiter. Finally (on the other side of the zodiac from Cancer and Leo) you arrive at Capricorn and Aquarius, the classical domains of Saturn.

Continuing the theme of how the Sun and Moon are the essence of astrology, it is almost as if the layout of the zodiac itself blossoms like a flower from the emblematic bud formed by the two signs ruled by the luminaries. Interestingly, for the last nine months or so (until Venus led the way into Cancer 11 days ago), there were no sign-ruling planets other than the Moon traversing Cancer and Leo.

So, for an unusually long time there were no major aspects (other than lunar) from or within the most definitive section in the circle of signs. Recently that started to change, and rapidly. Following the Venusian ingress to Cancer on June 17, the Sun entered Cancer to precipitate a season-changing solstice on June 20. Tomorrow, Mercury will follow suit, making its own contribution to begin what might fairly be called a precipitous sequence re-populating the core of the zodiac.

Given the often-proven dictum “as above, so below,” it would thus not be surprising if we were to see some apparently precipitous events here on Earth during the current season. As Venus, the Sun and Mercury make their rapid way through Cancer and Leo during the weeks to come, you might note or experience some things which, by themselves, give the impression of being unprecedented or game-changing — long after Mars has left its retrograde period behind. If so, you would be well advised to take those things with the proverbial grain of salt.

Just as there is nothing new under the Sun, it is not advisable to take any earthly or astrological event by itself. It’s important to see the whole, and how all of its parts relate to one another. While the Sun and Moon (both in and of themselves, and also represented through activity in the signs Cancer and Leo) do count for a lot, nothing is everything.

In all probability, as our current season plays out over the next several months, what you will experience and observe will not represent anything truly new. It is more likely that any seemingly precipitous events coming up will only emulate a significant rainstorm after a long drought, functioning as part of a bigger picture and a longer cycle now moving towards balance once again.

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Attention anyone with a Cancer Sun, Moon or rising: Eric has recorded the audio portions of your birthday reading for the next 12 months — nicknamed The Cancer Illumination Kit. You can access them by ordering now; the video will be released after July 4. Not familiar with Eric’s audio or video readings? You can listen to last year’s reading here, as a gift.