Tag Archives: self-awareness

The Day of Emotional Stimulation: Birthdays and Planet News

If Your Birthday is June 28
The Day of Emotional Stimulation | Order Your 2019-20 Cancer Reading | All Other Signs

It would appear you’re fluctuating between two states of mind. In one, you really need to rouse yourself in order to push toward your goals; and in the other, you’re barrelling ahead at such a fast pace you’re liable to break the sound barrier. Finding a happy medium may seem like a challenge; the first thing to do is catch yourself when in either mode, and figure out what’s going on. Then plan out a pace that’s healthy and works for you. You don’t need to get it perfect every day; persistence is almost always a better friend than speed.

— by Amy Elliott
Hear Eric describe the impressive eclipses involving your Sun sign or rising sign in your 2019-20 Cancer Astrology Studio Reading

Written in the Planets

With the Moon in Taurus, your TGIF feelings could have you inclined to take the day at a leisurely pace. If your job allows for that, great. If not, it’s possible the Moon’s contact with Saturn in Capricorn will offer just the disciplined work ethic you need to keep plugging away until all the items on your task list are checked off. Some Neptunian influence could filter through in the form of especially imaginative or beautiful inspirations along the way.

Speaking of Neptune in Pisces: the ongoing square it’s receiving from Jupiter in Sagittarius remains a reminder to keep checking with reality as you formulate any dreams, schemes, or far-off, grand-scale plans. There is reason to be discerning in your dealings with others, particularly when your ideals are part of the conversation. Yet at the same time, the desire to help may be strong right now. You might feel tested — even thwarted — as you try to put your loftier convictions into tangible action, but that does not mean you’re wrong in doing so. It simply could signify that anything truly worth doing is worth making an effort to accomplish.

— by Amanda Painter

Did you know that Eric Francis recorded insight-rich videos for all 12 signs, specifically investigating Mars interacting with some of astrology’s most influential planets this season? His Call the Astrologer readings are available individually or as a 12-sign set to share with your loved ones. Check out samples here and here.

The Day of the Defensive Developer: Birthdays and Planet News

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If Your Birthday is June 27
The Day of the Defensive Developer | Order Your 2019-20 Cancer Reading | All Other Signs

You’ve come a long way and worked hard to get to this point in your life. The fruits of your efforts are beginning to show themselves, though try not to cling to any specific ideas about how they’ll pan out. This is a journey you’re still on, and what happens over the next few months will propel you toward the future, be it one of “fate” or of your own choosing. Be open to surprises, and if you’re feeling unsure or apprehensive, keep in mind that the achievements you’ve already made cannot be taken from you.

— by Amy Elliott
Hear Eric describe the impressive eclipses involving your Sun sign or rising sign in your 2019-20 Cancer Astrology Studio Reading

Written in the Planets

With both the Cancer Sun and Taurus Moon making contact with Uranus today, don’t be surprised if you surprise yourself — whether with suddenly shifting moods, or an urge to make changes to your surroundings. Just remember that if you’re caught off guard by your own choices and responses, chances are those around you will be, too. So be prepared to cut your loved ones or colleagues a little slack should they be slow to adjust, or if they’re busy seeking their own fresh stimulation and navigating their own moods.

At their best, these aspects could offer unusually insightful and interesting everyday encounters, especially the more you channel today’s energy into creative exploration. If you tend to be impulsive anyway, or if you’ve been trying to contain or ignore a need to do something different, today’s other standout aspect might be pushing that energy.

The Sun is making its exact square to Chiron in Aries. Do you carry any tension around the need to express all of who you are? Do you feel a little stuck trying to articulate your dharma, or sense of purpose, in relation to how you identify and present yourself to the world? If you think about your father, can you see any of his struggle in your own? Are you in a process of trying to fully acknowledge, claim or balance your so-called ‘masculine’, active or yang side? Consider that the Uranus aspects might offer the inspiration to act in answer to one or more of these questions; Sun-Chiron describes the need to follow through on it — and, ideally, a better sense of integration within yourself when you do.
— by Amanda Painter

Caring in Action: the Cancer Eclipse

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By Amanda Painter

Dear Friend and Reader:

Eric wrote at the beginning of the week about today’s Sun-Chiron square, and the collective healing needed to our inner masculine/yang sides. Then I looked at the chart for the July 2 Cancer New Moon and solar eclipse, and started thinking about the daily assaults on our empathy and capacity to care that are being made by the daily news.

Demonstrators gather to protest against the separation of immigrant families at the border in Austin, Texas, on June 14, 2018. Photo by Amanda Voisard / Statesman.com via AP

Demonstrators gather to protest against the separation of immigrant families at the border in Austin, Texas, on June 14, 2018. A year later, things are no better. Photo by Amanda Voisard / Statesman.com via AP

And it all cascaded together in my perception of what amounts to the ongoing psychological and physical torture of immigrant children separated from their families and being held in detention at the U.S. border. I’ll get to the astrology in a moment.

I’ve been seeing a lot about this in my Facebook feed and my email inbox. The strongest recurring theme, however, is an overwhelming sense of paralysis: not knowing what we can do; wondering ‘why isn’t anyone organizing a mass protest?’; asking ‘who is organizing something I can join with?’; feeling completely at a loss regarding which actions will help and which might actually make things worse.

Continue reading →

Today is The Day of Stamina: Birthdays and Planet News

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If Your Birthday is June 26
The Day of Stamina | Order Your 2019-20 Cancer Reading | All Other Signs

You seem impatient to reach a new phase in your professional life, though it would help to ensure you follow all the necessary steps. If you want to fit into a specific role but don’t yet have the qualifications needed, get the training, or apprentice yourself to someone who will teach you and answer your questions. You are never too old to learn new skills, and few prizes worth gaining require zero effort. Set aside any preconceptions you have of how things ‘should’ be, though your enthusiasm can serve as an excellent source of fuel to drive you onward.
— by Amy Elliott
Hear Eric describe the impressive eclipses involving your Sun sign or rising sign in your 2019-20 Cancer Astrology Studio Reading

Written in the Planets

Our current sky appears to be describing a particular idea a few ways: who we are in our sexual identity, how we express that, and the ways that such a personal matter has taken on out-sized political significance in Western culture. Astrologically, these ideas are described by the Cancer Sun (consciousness and self-expression) square Chiron (awareness, healing) and Salacia (sexual secrets and ‘scandalous’ material) in Aries, in a T-square with Eros in Libra (what turns you on, in any sense).

It’s worth bearing in mind that while the sign Cancer has that spark of initiative all the cardinal signs are known for, there can also be an element of indirectness to it. Think of the way crabs run sideways for an image of how that can work. Many people go to great pains in order to sidestep any kind of direct acknowledgement and overt embodiment of such topics as their most private sexual longings and leanings, their deepest wounds to identity, and even any kind of passionate excitement or curiosity (gotta be cool and ironic, right?). You can probably see the potential for tension here, even if you’re not feeling it yourself.

If you are feeling tension around these themes, communication — at least of the verbal sort — could feel less vulnerable after Mercury enters Leo later tonight, at 8:19 pm EDT / 00:19:17 UTC Thursday. You don’t need to be dramatic to claim your right to be who you are; even small experiments in self-expression could feel bold and get results.
— by Amanda Painter

The Day of the Sensitive Receptor: Birthdays and Planet News

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If Your Birthday is June 25
The Day of the Sensitive Receptor Order Your 2019-20 Cancer Reading | All Other Signs

What might seem like a challenging or stressful situation in terms of your career path has the potential to serve as a spur that drives your development. You’ll need to engage with it actively: take that course, seek out the promotion, start your own venture — and make it your own. If you’re bored, irritable or restless, check whether you’re angry. You might not need more stimulus; you might need to address a situation you have not considered before. Though the idea may seem scary, it’s a necessary step toward acknowledging your true capability and sense of purpose.
— by Amy Elliott
Hear Eric describe the impressive eclipses involving your Sun sign or rising sign in your 2019-20 Cancer Astrology Studio ReadingWritten in the Planets

Written in the Planets

Today’s the last quarter Moon: a square between the Moon in early Aries — conjunct Chiron — and the Sun in early Cancer. This indicates at least a couple of things. One is that you may notice an emotional or intuitive sense of some Sun-Chiron themes.

Included could be such things as: the ways your self-expression has in the past been damaged or stunted; issues around your father, particularly how well he was or was not able to be fully himself; other struggles around expressing your identity, including but not limited to your sexuality; how you balance your emotional/receptive and physical/active sides. Other minor objects in the aspect pattern suggest some possible tension between how you feel compelled to express yourself now and the prevailing story you tell about how your relationships came to be the way they are. Is it possible that leaning into the expressive side could actually help you to integrate the rest of it?

The other thing to know about this last quarter Moon is that it’s the final Moon phase on the way to next week’s Cancer New Moon and total solar eclipse. That happens on Tuesday, July 2, and is the first of a pair of eclipses this summer on the Cancer-Capricorn axis. I’ll have more about the solar eclipse chart in the coming days.

In the meantime, continue to keep a finger on the pulse of your frustration, anger, resentment and desire, as Mars in Cancer is still in a square to Eris in Aries. Have you been able to express those emotions constructively? Or is it proving difficult to own your reactions and be direct with the other people involved? Being honest with yourself about this first may make it easier to communicate more effectively with others.
— by Amanda Painter

The Day of the Blissful Wizard: Birthdays and Planet News

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If Your Birthday is June 24
The Day of the Blissful Wizard | Pre-order Your 2019-20 Cancer Reading | All Other Signs

If you want to be trusted, first resolve to be trustworthy. That means knowing what you want and how you feel, and expressing that honestly with everyone. You will earn other people’s confidence as they notice you being consistent and handling challenges with maturity. You don’t have to get it right all the time — just keep aiming in the direction you need to go, and be prepared to admit to and repair any errors or oversights along the way without being told. Such an ethos is a sure sign of responsibility.
— by Amy Elliott
Hear Eric describe the impressive eclipses involving your Sun sign or rising sign in your 2019-20 Cancer Astrology Studio Reading

Written in the Planets

Notice whether anyone you interact with today is reflecting familiar familial patterns back to you. This could be especially prominent in the workplace, but any situation with another person has the potential. The Cancer Sun is opposite a minor planet called Quaoar, an indigenous creation deity associated with dancing the other deities into existence. You might think in terms of rhythm: how have your ancestors ‘danced’ through life? Do you recognize any of the steps happening around you?

Venus in Gemini is also exactly square Neptune in Pisces today, with Saturn in Capricorn in contact with both. If you can see the relationship between your spiritual and material needs, what do you need to do to build your life on both equally? How is your innate idealism helping you along, and in what ways is it a distraction or a red herring?

If you’re feeling inclined to lots of fantasizing, and those fantasies center on a partner or someone you have your eye on, be aware there’s real potential to over-idealize them currently. Do a reality check; pay attention any time you’re tempted to gloss over their statements about who they really are and what they really want. Notice whether your ideas about them match up with what they say and with their actions. You have the potential to make some breakthroughs in your understanding if you’re realistic about what you’re doing. That could require continual small adjustments.
— by Amanda Painter

The Day of Interpersonal Enchantment: Birthdays and Planet News

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If Your Birthday is June 23
The Day of Interpersonal Enchantment | Pre-order Your 2019-20 Cancer Reading | All Other Signs

Success in any form — whether personal, professional or in some abstract sense of the word — usually calls for a bold approach. The message of your solar chart this year is fearlessness about being different. Often concern around standing out is one of those lurking debilities that most people never overcome. Yet it’s inevitable that you will, so you may as well get over yourself sooner rather than later. You’re not like the other kids. Cash in on that fact.
— by Eric Francis Coppolino
Hear Eric describe the impressive eclipses involving your Sun sign or rising sign in your 2019-20 Cancer Astrology Studio Reading

Written in the Planets

Do you feel like getting physical, or do you just wanna flirt with someone? Is ‘the usual’ a total turnoff today, and are you in the mood for adventure, the unusual, or the unexpected? Would a part of you be perfectly content engaging in these urges from the comfort of your own home? While the Sun newly in Cancer speaks to the homebody option, a couple of other aspects are putting a spin on what you may feel like doing there.

For one thing, today’s Venus-Jupiter opposition could contribute to just hanging out, laying back, and indulging in whatever’s enjoyable (with Neptune in Pisces adding to the daydream believer / armchair traveler vibe). Yet Venus and Jupiter are in signs that are pretty mentally active and crave stimulation: Gemini and Sagittarius. This ups the conversational potential (and the likelihood of flirtation), along with the need to seek new experiences.

“New experiences” is also a theme of today’s Vesta-Uranus conjunction in Taurus. This aspect feels more intimately personal and less broadly social than Venus-Jupiter, though as Eric wrote this week, “Vesta conjunct Uranus is a revolutionary aspect. The time has come to question sexual conventions and expectations, which so often lead to dark, unloving places. In the spirit of Uranus, every person has their individual sexual orientation and ‘identity’ — which means their distinct journey.”

Even if you’re not quite up for a full-on revolution in your bedroom (much less your psyche), you may consider staying open to surprises — whether in the form of unexpectedly enjoyable physical sensations, an urge to disrupt a long-held sexual habit, or a sudden shift or question about your core values around sex, relationships or your body. Maybe this is something you feel like talking about; maybe it’s something you prefer to hold close to the vest and mull for a while. Either way, you can hold space for yourself to find out.
— by Amanda Painter

The Day of Romantic Exaltation: Birthdays and Planet News

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If Your Birthday is June 22
The Day of Romantic Exaltation | Pre-order Your 2019-20 Cancer Reading | All Other Signs

You’ve been through some unusual events the past year and a half, by which I mean on a lifetime scale. The thought of another year may be filling you with a sense of both optimism and some concern about repeat performances of some challenging situations. You are well past most of them, though one particular scenario involving your family will benefit from your sustained attention. Do not get dragged in; take it to therapy. It’s time to learn this lesson and move on.
— by Eric Francis Coppolino
Hear Eric describe the impressive eclipses involving your Sun sign or rising sign in your 2019-20 Cancer Astrology Studio Reading

Written in the Planets

Myths involving both Mars and Eris don’t get a lot of airtime; usually we hear about Mars on his own (whether as fighter or wooer), and Eris on her own (sowing subversive discord with the golden apple that catalyzed the Trojan War). Yet Mars and Eris were siblings, and she is said to have accompanied him on the battlefield, which gives a major clue to their shared energy. Today the planet Mars in Cancer squares Eris in Aries, the final stage of this season’s often-challenging (and at times combative) Mars aspects.

Could this square be interpreted as a sort of sibling rivalry — possibly for someone’s attention? Do you feel as though some facet of yourself is jockeying to be expressed more strongly than another? Or like you have dual urges: to be direct and assertive on the one hand, and to be indirect and passive-aggressive on the other? Is some situation triggering a sense that your identity or security is being threatened?

Even though Mercury in Cancer is right in the thick of it, and also square Eris, it may hold a key to navigating these dynamics. Consider speaking in “I” statements about how you feel (not how someone else has “made you” feel), while staying sensitive to your environment — which includes the feelings of others.

With the Cancer Sun exactly opposite the centaur planet Pholus today, the ripple effects of how you present yourself in the world could reach far. The more you can think a few steps down the line in terms of possible consequences (or understand the sequence of events leading to your current position), the better position you’ll likely be no matter who you encounter or what the situation. A little empathy and understanding often go a long way, whether you offer it to another or to yourself — which, to be honest, can be a great starting point.
— by Amanda Painter