Planet Waves Monthly Horoscope for July 2016

Aries (March 20-April 19) — What is it about sex? I mean, what is it exactly? Have you noticed that the world seems driven by something that it’s simultaneously obsessed with and terrified of? It’s time for you to put sex into the category of what is natural: like organic apples, playing Frisbee with a dog or dancing at a concert. Any time you have a question or a concern, imagine one of those things. Any time a power struggle manifests, think of a border collie leaping into the air and gleefully snapping a flying object in its jaws. While you’re at it, be aware of the faux moral trips that people lay into one another on a regular basis. At a certain point, any mature, happy person must decree that such is utter nonsense, if for no other reason than it’s useless for anyone to mind anyone else’s business. With this comes one particular necessity: dropping the control drama. This may seem like too much to ask, but freedom is to sexuality what breathing is to yoga. You can hold your breath through your Sun salutation, but only at the expense of depriving your brain of oxygen and turning blue. You can now do something radical: allow yourself to be free, and openly encourage others to be free. What do you do with jealousy? Recognize it as the toxic emotion that it is, and put it down — just like cigarettes. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — The undeniable creative prowess of Taurus is rooted in the fact that you mean what you make down to your flesh and blood. Your words carry feeling. While your creative devotion goes in cycles, perhaps more distinct than other people’s, this is not a reflection of your talent, which is as solid and as alive as a magnificent old tree. You’ve reached a kind of harvest time around your creative gifts. Everything is aligned for you to tap into your potential. Not everyone is a writer, though you would benefit from at least experimenting with an idea you’ve been playing with, just to see how it feels. If you are a writer, the time is right to try something more ambitious, something you might ordinarily think is over your head. You may be calm on the outside, yet there is plenty moving and bubbling in you, and that energy is looking for a place to go, and to become. As you embark on this journey, you might find yourself going deeper than you expected, accessing something that feels like it’s ‘beyond you’. It’s not beyond anything: that’s actually who you are. One other bit: if you’re concerned that someone close to you won’t understand or appreciate what you’re learning, give them a chance. You’re closer to being on the same page than you may recognize. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — It’s time to go beyond any semblance of survival mode. This is particularly true when it comes to money. Your chart blends the theme of survivalism (accented by old lessons not learned) with the image of natural abundance, including financial. You might be wondering what the hang-up is. Money is its own special game, with its own skills and techniques. You are particularly susceptible to negative infiltration by ideas such as ‘money is bad’, or ‘people are corrupted by wealth’. Anyway, I don’t see your goal as being rich so much as having enough and some to share. There is a difference. One of the Gemini traits around finance is that you tend to run in cycles, and you must plan for those turns of the tide. You’re likely to be running on the abundant side more than usual right now, and that’s the time to set cash aside. In fact, you will sooner or later figure out that it’s always time to stash money aside, as a kind of religious devotion. One other bit: like many companies, you’re likely to have one profitable product. For you, fortunately, that something is likely to be a direct, tangible benefit to the people who take advantage of what you offer. Put some energy into that every day and you will have something that produces for you on a dependable basis. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

“I can’t imagine what I could ever suggest that could make your readings any more relevant or spot on than they already are. You are truly performing your true purpose during your sojourn here on earth, sharing your insights with the rest of us.”

— Cancer reader Lyn Quitslund

 

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — Adjust to your physical surroundings as a conscious act. Notice your environment. Feel the heat for a moment before you flip on the air conditioning. Notice who is in a room when you walk in, and notice how air in the room smells. Notice how you feel. This is about being fully present where you are. If you can do that, you are likely to notice how supportive your environment is. Life is offering you a lot right now. You will experience that abundance and that support by harmonizing with your surroundings. That means being open and receptive to who and what is around you. Feel the natural tides of life and move with them. The result will be emphasizing the beauty of existence over and above any one task or goal. This, in turn, will make the things you do more meaningful. You have equally abundant opportunity for creativity, achievement and worldly success, though that is dependent entirely on your ability to tune in and see opportunities that other people would miss or misunderstand. It’s likely that your highest and most cherished goals involve things that have not been done before, or which are at least rare enough to find. This will require invoking calm focus and expanding your mind enough to embrace the unusual and the unlikely. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — Imagine a famous person who is really an introvert. It seems like a contradiction because so many people know their name and face. This is a fair description of you right now. You have a lavishly enterprising outer life, and yet you are an inwardly focused person; you must pull in and find a home within yourself. This is not optional; one way or another, it’s going to happen, so you may as well make some choices that work for you and give yourself all the space and time you need away from your usual activities. This will remind you what a private person you are. You might wonder how you engage in so much activity with so many people, and with so little time and space for yourself. Those are good questions and they are worth asking, and answering to the extent that you can. Your astrology, however, is encouraging you to take a more reflective view of life for a while. That means making fewer plans, not more of them. If you do make plans, such as to travel or take time off, minimize activity and give yourself plenty of time to sit on the porch and stare at the water or at some trees. This is not any kind of permanent state. Rather, you’re gathering your strength and awareness for the next stage of your journey, soon to arrive. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — Relax and feel appreciated. This is not easy for you, since you’re prone to doubt and rarely cut yourself any slack. Now would be a good time, actually. You know you’re in this moment where you must grow into a new form, even though it requires stretching. Depending on your psychological constitution and your life experience, this might be a significant challenge. It will help if you invoke the flexible quality of Virgo rather than the stubborn quality. It will help if you practice opening up in the face of feeling overwhelmed, rather than shutting down or resisting. There are two factors in your sign currently, and it’s rare to have them together. One is the North Node, which can feel like a magnetic pull toward a form of growth that you don’t necessarily trust. The other is Jupiter, which is making it necessary for you to fully engage with your relationships in a way that’s different from normal. You are experiencing increased sensitivity, and the seemingly external influences (mostly coming from your opposite sign Pisces) are unusually potent. Yet the real movement, the real tension, is entirely internal. You are having to consent to something that also feels inevitable. You know that the gig is up on certain persistent factors in your life. Yet you’re safe following this influence. The time is right. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — For most people this is the time of year to take it easier. For you right now, it’s the time to accomplish great things. Do your best not to be distracted by the social fashion of the season, but rather put it to good use when you do get involved. You need less recreation than you think; in the language of your chart, what you need is the satisfaction of creative achievement. Your soul is calling out for the kind of fulfillment that can only come from doing something of genuine significance, in your own opinion. You cannot fake this, because when you invest yourself in your work, you do it with your body and your soul. And that, I believe, is the thing that will give you both emotional nourishment and an opportunity to mature in the ways that you want to grow, particularly as a person of influence. Remember that your sense of contact must flow all the way through from your inspiration or drive into what you create, and how it influences people. The sign that occupies your house of career is the one usually associated with feeding people, with rearing children, and with taking care of a family. That particular sign is Cancer, and right now you have enough to feed many hungry mouths, or hungry souls. Rise to your purpose. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — At long last, Mars is returning to direct motion (on June 29). To the extent that you’ve been feeling out of sorts, you can now wiggle back into alignment with yourself. Mars, however, will spend the next month covering territory in your sign where it was retrograde. You are getting similar life lessons and life experiences in a new way. There are certain factors that you have to penetrate through in layers. In truth it’s taken most of the year, perhaps longer, to do this — though you’re at that point where you must get the point. You would do well to pause asking questions and look at what is blatantly obvious. That includes how you feel. Denial only works for so long. Then something else must take over: bold honesty, imagination, love, lust or all of the above. The nature of your life must be about who you really are, and if you don’t know, then the nature of your life must be about an honest experiment. The thing about that experiment is that you don’t know the outcome. That’s the whole thing. That’s the heart of the matter. However, it’s no longer possible for you to live only with what is predictable, or in ways of life that are pallid in comparison to the passion you feel inside. This is a rare time to move in daring new directions and, presently, the odds of success are stacked your way. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — You are being pulled in what feels like the direction of your destiny. Factors that might otherwise make this particular movement feel strange or alien are balanced by confidence that you really can do what you’ve set out to do. I think that the most delicate challenge is balancing your wider vision with the microscopic details required to get anything done. I would describe this as one of the most elemental factors of being born under your sign. The key, I think, is to keep context. If you find yourself getting lost in the minutiae of something, ask yourself why you’re doing it. If you find yourself having wild, brilliant visions, acknowledge them and then notice if you take the steps toward making your visions real. You have the strength, the experience and the opportunity right now to blend practicality and vision. Just remember: in the end, this is a practical affair. Your vision does not need to be grandiose or even grand in order to be genuinely useful to yourself and your community. The outcome does not need to be certain. What matters is that you engage a specific idea with specific action — and strive to change yourself just a shade more than you’re striving to change the world. Ultimately you are not accountable to anyone or anything outside yourself. Good thing, too. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — While life is emphasizing relationships, and offering you so much, it’s possible that you’re feeling isolated. That’s not certain but it’s a potential that’s necessary to address, and it seems to be related to wondering what impact you have on others. What I would propose is that the thing you want is for others to have an impact on you: to be moved by them. Pluto in your sign is strongly emphasized right now, as many planets are going by in the sign Cancer, making oppositions to it. You can be sure that you’re having an influence on people: that they feel you, and want your attention. You can be sure that they notice you, even in those times when you feel invisible. The question is: are you actually moved by them? Do you let yourself be moved? By moved, I mean movement in all its forms, whether physical, psychic, emotional or metaphorical. And I mean moved in the direction of the other, in reality rather than in your head. Pluto in your sign is likely to be making you feel vulnerable, yet at the same time, not necessarily willing to express that openly. Work with your willingness. Offer the very thing you want the most. Give people a chance to trust you, by being trustworthy. Give them a chance to feel you, by feeling them. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — You must trust your own leadership. It’s true that when you have to take over and get the job done, not everyone is happy. But more people will be. It’s essential to recognize how much humans need and depend on leadership. Crooks and tyrants know this; it’s time for wholesome people such as yourself to figure it out. It’s time to assert a few significant goals, and rally the jamboree. Do this in a spirit of service, in the spirit of what is right and true. Offer people the good feeling of cooperation and of assisting one another, and of working for a larger purpose. Say that over and over again until everyone around you is humming it like a catchy tune. There is one thing I suggest you remember, though: a key to your success is exercising your flexibility. As one born under a fixed sign, you have to work at this regularly, and I suggest you do that at every opportunity. Every discussion is an opportunity to compromise and be accommodating. Do this in conscious, measured ways; open up the give-and-take aspect of every situation, and make sure you establish an environment where ‘negotiable’ is a working theme. If you notice someone taking advantage of you, say something sooner rather than later. Keep everything above the boards and state your goals openly. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — In many ways, the river of life is flowing. Mars is returning to direct motion on June 29 in your fellow water sign Scorpio (after a long retrograde, dating back to mid-April). Planets are gathering in your fellow aquatic sign Cancer. There already was plenty happening in your sign. Planets in water signs are good for Pisces, which otherwise can feel like, well, a fish out of water. Now, the thing to do is swim. Send out your dolphin sonar and listen for the return signal. Yes, the oceans are large and potentially perilous, though you have the power to get wherever you want to be. In addition to all this water energy, there is the picture of some form of direct contact in your solar chart (illustrated by Jupiter in Virgo), which feels like empathy and the ability to identify with the experience of another person. You don’t have to worry about ‘losing’ your identity; rather, you can only gain from this situation, because you’ll be exposed to ideas and experiences that will compliment what you already have going on. Life is a creative experiment, or it’s very little at all. Circumstances this month will call you out of your old routines, into new ways of expressing yourself. Take the time to explore. Take the time to remember who you are and what you want. Let one good thing lead to another. For your Eric Francis horoscope this week, please see this link.