Solstice 2020: Domino Effect

A domino effect is set off.  June 18 Mercury retrogrades in Cancer until July 12.  Summer solstice (Midsummer) is on June 20 (4:44pm, CT).  June 21 an annular solar eclipse & new moon occurs in Cancer (1:39am, CT).  June 23 Neptune begins retrograde in Pisces and June 25 Venus begins direct motion.

The days prior to Mercury’s retrograde, the trickster planet stands still as a statue before setting sail on a journey of reflection.  Mercury retrograde switches the flow of travel and communication; insights enter into consciousness via sleep state and the subtext of Freudian slips.  Take a step back to re-work plans.  The sign of Cancer symbolizes that place we call home.  During this retrograde we redefine our home, acknowledging the past to genuinely reflect the values of the people.

Midsummer on June 20, Mars in Pisces throws darts at moon in Gemini with a feistiness in the atmosphere and also a nebulousness of the unknown. June 21 the moon covers the center of the sun in an annular solar eclipse on the north node. A ring of fire (visible in certain areas of the globe) called an “annulus” is created by the sun’s light surrounding the moon. Lunar nodes are two points in space where the moon crosses the ecliptic path of the earth’s journey around the sun. The north node is the Dragon’s Head and the south node is the Dragon’s Tail. This eclipse is at 0˚ Cancer on the Dragon’s Head, currently at 29˚ Gemini. North node eclipses tend to push events forward. However, as Mercury’s in retrograde, more time may be taken to finalize forward momentum.

Both Midsummer and the eclipse redirect us on a detour.  The question remains: how can we love our family, blood related or not, during times of physical distance?  What are adaptations to different ways of satisfying our needs to connect?  In what manner does nurturing take place during unprecedented times?  Also, how can we support not just our blood relatives but also our neighbor or “global family”?

Venus retrograde’s not a time to ask pretty please with sugar on top- instead the claws come out.  Discord that arose came about to acknowledge the wrongs of the past.  Re-imagining the future seems possible, internalizing those new possibilities with Neptune’s retrograde June 23.  A long lost treasure, abstractly speaking, is rediscovered and enjoyed.  Venus going direct on June 25 clears the cobwebs of perception into focus after fuzziness, pressing the reset button.