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Astrological Overview: June 22 - 28, 2020
Astrologer Pam Younghans writes this weekly astrological journal based on planetary influences, and offers perspectives and insights to assist you in making the best use of current energies. This column is not intended as prediction. Your own experience will be more specifically defined by transits to your personal chart.
Highlighted Aspects for This Week
All times listed are Pacific Standard Time. For Eastern Time, add 3 hours. For Greenwich Mean Time, add 7 hours.
MON: Neptune stations retrograde
WED: Venus stations direct
FRI: Mercury trine Ceres, Mars square Nodes, Jupiter square Eris
SAT: Mars enters Aries
SUN: Mars sextile Saturn
THE EFFECTS of last night's Solar Eclipse extend into today, this week, and well beyond. All Solar Eclipses represent a major reset energetically. Their influence, while strongest around the exact date, lasts for at least the next six months, until the next set of eclipses occurs.
This Solar Eclipse was especially profound, being paired with the Solstice and occurring at an Aries Point/World Axis degree (0 degrees of a cardinal sign). When the World Axis degree is activated, we tend to see events that affect the global situation. Given our already-strong awareness of the interconnectedness of everyone on the planet, courtesy of the coronavirus, it will be interesting to see what new developments unfold under this eclipse influence.
A Solar Eclipse creates a pause, a space, an opportunity for a letting go and a new beginning. It also represents a time for karmic resolution and realignment with higher purpose. All of this is more possible now, supported by the cosmos.
THIS IS JUST the second of the three eclipses we'll have this season, so we continue to be in that surreal "tween" space for the next two weeks, until the Lunar Eclipse on July 4. This is a potent time to sense into the energies and to listen to the quiet voice within that is guiding us on our next steps.
This otherworldly feeling is enhanced this week because Neptune is stationary (appears to come to a standstill) on Monday. For the several days before and after a planet's station, we tend to feel its influence more fully, as it radiates its energies into one specific degree of the zodiac. When Neptune stations, we tend to live more in our hearts and less in our heads. We feel a greater compassion, creativity, knowing of Oneness, and spiritual connection.
We might, of course, also feel too spacey to get much done! But, given the stressful situations of late, this lack of mental focus could be a welcome break.
VENUS also stations this week, completing her retrograde (backward motion) phase on Wednesday and turning to go direct. This shift will no doubt be a welcome relief for many, as it represents a turning point for Venus-related areas of concern. These include relationships and partnerships, personal values, and our financial/material well-being.
Over the weeks that Venus has been retrograde in Gemini (since May 12), our task has been to review these areas of our lives, and to redefine our priorities. Over this time – when many have dealt with financial uncertainty – we've hopefully gained a clearer sense of what we value and what truly makes our hearts sing, perhaps in contrast to what our minds or others tell us we should want. From this new baseline perspective, as Venus moves forward and slowly picks up speed over the next few weeks, we are supported in making new relational and financial decisions, which may be different than choices we might made before this interlude.
WE ARE STIRRED into action and reaction later in the week, following the impulses of a string of planetary events. The most significant day is Friday, when Mars squares the nodal axis and Jupiter squares Eris.
While we may feel justified in taking certain actions with these aspects, the squares indicate that we will likely meet with resistance. The Mars square to the nodes, especially, warns of instinctive reactions that are born out of frustration rather than from clear intention.
THE JUPITER-ERIS SQUARE magnifies the energies of the Pluto-Eris square that was exact on June 14. This aspect relates to the protests for equal treatment and systemic reform that have found new passion and purpose in recent weeks. These aspects involving Eris have also been linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, which reportedly has its roots in another form of abuse, in the mistreatment of wild animals.
The square aspects between Jupiter and Pluto in Capricorn, and Eris in Aries, are determined that we not return to old forms. The old systems based in lack of caring for others cannot continue if humanity is to survive, much less evolve into its higher potentials.
MARS ENTERS ARIES on Saturday, June 27, invigorating and encouraging action in some area of our lives. (On a personal level, the house placement of Aries in our natal charts shows where we are likely to feel this energy the most.) The Mars-Saturn sextile on Sunday, in particular, provides opportunities for social activism, as long as we are motivated by the Saturn-in-Aquarian ideals of humanitarianism and equality.
Mars usually journeys through a zodiac sign for about two months before moving on to the next sign, but the Red Planet will be in Aries for more than six months this year. This indicates an extended period in which individual rights are a strong focus, and when people are more likely to act instinctively or impulsively. Those who need extra courage – an extra planetary caffeine boost – may find themselves more able to assert themselves during this time, but we'll also need to watch out for impetuous behavior.
Complicating matters, Mars will be retrograde from September 9 until November 13, and will be tightly square Saturn (in Capricorn) at the end of September. We'll know more about how this is likely to manifest when we see how events unfold between now and then, but late September-early October is shaping up to be a highly pivotal time in the conflict between individuals and authorities.
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IF YOUR BIRTHDAY IS THIS WEEK: Your dedication to home and family is deepened this year, as well as your emotional sensitivity to others. It will be important to have strong boundaries and to take care of your own needs for nurturing, so that you do not take things personally. Others are likely to be very self-absorbed, which can be especially difficult when you tend to be the caregiver and are not making your own self-care a priority. Remember to use the Crab's ability to sidle, to temporarily remove yourself from a situation, so that you can gain a more objective view. As you do this, you are supported in seeing the higher purposes of what has occurred, so that you can shift into a new perspective. (Solar Return Sun conjunct Vesta, square Mars, square Juno, square Chiron, sextile Uranus)
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For previous weeks of the Astrological Journal, click here.
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WEBINAR THIS WEEK! My "Transmutations & Rebirth" Zoom webinar is this Thursday! The class will cover the last half of 2020, which promises to be just as life-changing as the first half has been. To learn more, please read through the class description below.
Quick link to register:
https://newpamjuly2020.eventbrite.com.
Everyone who registers receives a replay link by email after the class airs, so you can listen or re-listen at your leisure.
Hope you can join us! I look forward to seeing you in the Zoom gallery!
About this Event
Transmutations and Rebirth ~ Rising from the Ashes
Astrological forecast for July to December 2020
With Pam Younghans, astrologer, and Elsie Kerns, moderator
Airing LIVE on Thursday, June 25, at 4pm PDT | 5pm MDT | 6pm CDT | 7pm EDT | 11pm GMT ~ Recorded for replay. For registration go to: https://newpamjuly2020.eventbrite.com
WE ARE ENTERING the final phase of an incredibly transformational two-year journey that began in early 2019. As promised, the first half of 2020 has been exceptionally powerful, driven by the Saturn-Pluto alignment in January. These energies were then magnified in March-April as Jupiter and Pluto aligned.
The end of June promises to be yet another significant time, with a dynamic Solar Eclipse on the Solstice (June 21) and the second Jupiter-Pluto conjunction on June 29. With so much going on during the last 10 days of June, it’s the perfect time to explore the meanings of all we are experiencing, and to take a look ahead.
Far more than just a time of transition, we are in a time of transmutations. The Merriam-Webster dictionary says that the word transmute means “to change or alter in form, appearance, or nature, and especially to a higher form.” Through the experiences of this two-year period, we are being deeply changed, both in ways we can see and on levels we may not yet perceive.
To start this webinar, we’ll talk a bit about current energies to get our bearings and to set the stage for what comes next. We’ll then dive into what the planets reveal about the remainder of 2020. An overview of major themes gives us the larger context, and then we’ll move through the highlights of each month, capturing the opportunities and challenges the cosmos have planned for the rest of the calendar year.
As always, Pam will do her best to “bring the stars down to Earth,” explaining in practical terms what the planets are doing, how they are likely to affect us, and how we can best navigate these momentous times by focusing on the higher purposes and deepening our capacity for spiritual maturity.
Here are just some of the transition points that we’ll explore in depth:
- The Lunar Eclipse on July 4-5, the third in a trio of eclipses this year, and especially powerful for those who live in the U.S.
- Opportunities for spiritual and creative expansion when Jupiter sextiles Neptune on July 27 and October 12
- Surprises, breakthroughs, and breakdowns in early August
- August through October, a repeat of the energies we worked with in February and March 2020
- On August 29 and November 7, Pluto reactivates the degree and the effects of January’s Saturn-Pluto alignment
- Fireworks in early October as Mars conjoins feisty Eris and squares Pluto
- A pivotal New Moon and shake-up mid October
- An exceedingly potent time of transformation and revelation early November, as Jupiter, Pallas Athene, and Pluto all align
- A very eventful Solstice week in December, as the long-awaited Jupiter-Saturn alignment in Aquarius occurs on the 21st, followed by Mars conjunct Eris on the 22nd and Mars square Pluto on the 23rd
We hope you can join us for this webinar! And, if you can’t attend live on the day of the event, no worries – the webinar will be recorded and the replay link sent to all registrants.
To register or to learn more about the webinar, please visit https://newpamjuly2020.eventbrite.com Once you register, you’ll receive confirmation and follow-up emails from
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About the Author
Pam Younghans is a professional astrologer, editor, and writer. She lives in a log home northeast of Seattle, Washington with her beloved animal companions. She has been interpreting charts professionally for over 25 years. If you are interested in an astrology reading, e-mail
