Skywatch for June has been posted, offering a tantalizing look at the delicious planetary opportunities in store for us this month. Here’s a tidbit:

Welcome to June! Because we have a number of planets changing direction this month, turning retrograde and direct, the influences of the outer planets are particularly strong now. When planets change their apparent direction (of course they are not actually turning backwards, it just looks that way from earth) they slow down, just as a car does when it prepares to make a U-turn.

Mercury is retrograde for the first few weeks of the month and turns direct on June 19, so until then it’s important to slow down the mental process and be sure you have all of your details organized. Miscommunication and confusion are likely under this influence and expect to have breakdowns in telephone and computer equipment.

Neptune turned retrograde at the end of May and Uranus reverses direction at the end of June, so both planets are still moving extremely slowly; they will cover only about a half a degree’s distance in May. This intensifies their power, particularly for any of us who are going through planetary transits of Uranus and Neptune to planets in our birthchart. Uranus seeks change and asks us to break out of the restrictions that keep us from living an authentic life; Neptune reminds us that the material world is only fleeting and urges us to seek an experience that transcends the physical. Honorable planets both, but their influence can create havoc in a life that desires stability.

In May we noted the conjunction in early may of Neptune to the (true) North Node, and the conjunction of Chiron to the North Node in late May. The Nodes are not planets; they are signposts in the sky that mark the places where the Moon crosses the path of the Sun’s passage through the zodiac. The signposts point to our past (the South Node) and to the future (the North Node). Throughout May Neptune and Chiron both conjoined the North Node, signifying an important event to facilitate inspiration (Neptune) and healing (Chiron). When planets conjunct the North Node they by necessity oppose (180 degrees) the South Node, setting up a tension between the influences that hold us back (South Node) and the pull to continue evolving (North Node) by fully experiencing the wounds of the past and then letting them go (Chiron).

Chiron is retrograde now and until mid-October, so we will find ourselves going back over areas of our life which we may have thought were healed and finding other points of growth to bring us greater wisdom.

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