Summer '26 (astrology, obvs)
Since we're still in mostly Nothingburger astrology this week, I thought I'd reflect for a bit on the transits for this summer season.
Summer began Sunday, 6/21, at 4:24am (EDT/UTC-4:00) when the Sun entered 00° Cancer and ends on 9/22 at 8:04pm when the Sun enters 00° Libra. It passes through three signs: Cancer (water), Leo (fire), and Virgo (earth). Magically, Summer is a season of growth and expansion. It represents the months after the Summer Solstice, when the Sun has reached its highest point and the hours of light shift back towards equality; in this way, it can be associated with the Waning Gibbous phase of the Moon Cycle.
This is going to be a momentous summer, astrologically, especially during Leo season.
We start summer with the Sun, Mercury, and Jupiter in Cancer; Venus ahead of the pack in Leo, Mars in Taurus, Saturn and Neptune in Aries, Uranus in Gemini, and Pluto in Capricorn. At Summer's end, the Sun and Mercury will be in Virgo, Venus in Libra, Mars in Cancer, and Jupiter will be in Leo. The outer planets will not change signs during this time. Additionally, our lunar nodes will transit from Pisces and Virgo into Aquarius and Leo.
Most of this is business as usual and noteworthy mostly for its familiarity. The Sun, Mercury, and Venus moving through Cancer, Leo, and Virgo make up our summer vibes. We can note that Venus is already far ahead of the pack and moving fast; this means she is heading towards a retrograde later this year.
What is notable is that Jupiter and the South Node are about to enter the same sign (Leo) from opposite directions. Jupiter is moving forward (prograde), while the lunar nodes move retrograde relative to the planets.
This is going to create a vice in Leo, pressurizing the sign and heading towards a great inevitability. Jupiter conjunct the South Node is unavoidably fortuitous as it involves the Greater Benefic and fate itself.
This will occur later in Autumn during Scorpio season; stay tuned.
Jupiter enters Leo (6/30)
Jupiter is the Greater Benefic; it intensifies the energy of everything it encounters. Overall, this is positive, but it is worth noting that there can definitely be too much of a good thing. Anytime Jupiter changes signs is an opportunity to perform Jovial magic, and this, in particular, is an opportunity to perform fiery, leonine, Jovial magic.
Jupiter will sit at 00° Leo on Thursday, 7/2, and at 01° Leo on Thursday, 7/9; both of which are fortuitous in their own right.
Think of the lucky cat with its 9 lives. As the 5th sign, Leo is associated with the Sun and fixed fire. In astrology, the Sun and Leo hold the ego and the sense of self, both very important parts of the personality.
If you want to build up Jupiter in Leo energy, cast a spell on one of these days and then repeat over the next twelve months that Jupiter remains in Leo. There will be a couple of important aspects in the months ahead, but in other less significant months, simply refresh the spell on the day that the Moon conjuncts Jupiter.
In the months ahead, the Sun, Mercury, Mars, and the South Node will all conjunct Jupiter in Leo. These are many of the big days for the rest of the year.
North Node in Aquarius/South Node in Leo (end of July)
This, like Jupiter entering Leo, is the big movement of the summer; the other switchoff that will feel like a changing of the guards.
The lunar nodes aren't physical bodies in the sky, but rather mathematical points where the Sun and Moon would have to be at any given moment in time to create an eclipse. They always occupy a set of Sun sign opposites - the North Node represents what the focus of the population will be, and the South Node represents the energy we need to move away from.
From a wide angle, the North Node in Aquarius (and the South Node in Leo) is a time when society as a whole is being asked to work together more, rather than being more individualistic. Aquarius is a very collectivist sign, with both its mature energies and its immature.
Mature Aquarius is future-facing, an early adopter even. Mature Aquarius understands that the entire population of this Earth is all one, no matter what arbitrary lines have been drawn on a map. This is Uranian energy; the big flex is to understand that no matter what - all of us - not just the humans but every form of life - is in it together. This type of Aquarian energy supports technology that will work to better the planet, things like renewable energy sources and global vaccine initiatives. Mature Aquarius understands that when we help the salamander, we all benefit.
An immature Aquarius can get stuck in a Saturnian mindset. They only see limits, and they can get very hidebound out of a desire to preserve what they think is "theirs". This is the mentality that prioritizes individual tribes over civilization as a whole; it also assumes humans are the only thing that matters.
In a world that seems increasingly polarized, the North Node in Aquarius is likely to further this divide, at least in the beginning. Those who will feel this the strongest are those with Sun, Moon, Saturn, or the lunar nodes in Aquarius or Leo. But we will all sense it somewhat, at least in how it impacts us from the general population.
Sun conjunct Jupiter (7/29)
Once a year, our Sun passes over Jupiter; this is always considered to be one of the most fortuitous days of the year. What makes this especially potent is that this year's conjunction occurs during the full moon at 06° Aquarius.
This powerful lunation will be made up of three aspects:
Sun in Leo opposed Moon in Aquarius
Sun conjunct Jupiter 06° Leo
Moon in Aquarius opposed Jupiter in Leo
The moon is our best friend, magically, because it moves so quickly. Its not always the strongest planet on its own, but it makes up for that in consistency.
This is a rare chance to cast some major magic - augmented by a full moon while the Sun is in its domain in Leo, and then re-up this magic every month when the Moon once again enters Aquarius and opposes Jupiter in Leo.
To be a bit outdated, this is a king-maker aspect; where do you want to rule your own life? What would you want if you could have anything?
Because the lunar nodes changed signs, our eclipses will now start to occur in Aquarius and Leo instead of Pisces and Virgo. This happens over time - this eclipse season, we will see a mixed eclipse, the first on the Leo/Aquarius axis and the second in Pisces/Virgo. This can make the upcoming eclipse season feel especially unhinged, as some people will be living in the present, while others are still stuck in the past.
(That is a major Aquarius theme in and of itself, as I mentioned above)
Eclipses have the reputation for making people extremely uncomfortable - for being unlucky even - but we are modern astrologers, and we take a more nuanced approach. Eclipses tend to shake things up, but they are also a moment of realignment. Your personal lunar nodes represent the focus of the people born in your year (whether you align with that path has a lot to do with whether your chart interacts with the lunar nodes, or not).
If you are not open to change, eclipses hit like a lead zeppelin. If you are, they can be expansive and enlightening. But no guarantees either way because more than anything, eclipses defy expectations.
There is old (but still modern) astrological wisdom that says you should stay aware of what enters or exits your life during eclipse season, and trust it. That has never steered me wrong.
All bets are off; that can work in your favor, or not.
Eclipse season advice can be similar to that of retrograde advice in that the more you can roll with the waves and/or get out of your own way, the easier things will unfold. Let go of your ego (Sun in Leo) if you can, or at least the parts of your ego that are holding you back.
Total Solar Eclipse 20° Leo (8/12)
Since the South Node is at 29° Leo, this is actually a wide stellium between the Sun, the Moon, and the South Node, which is highly impactful, even outside of its exactitude. It will draw in some of the energy of Jupiter, sitting at 09° Leo, and retrograde Pluto, sitting at 03° Aquarius. It's the real deal - blocking out the Sun's rays when the Sun is in its own domain; this will feel HUGE to some people.
It's also the first eclipse on the Aquarius/Leo axis since the nodal change, which always carries significant weight.
This eclipse won't be visible in most of the US (the totality is viewable for Greenland, Iceland, and parts of Spain and Portugal, and a partial eclipse is visible in the Northeast as far South as North Carolina, so far as I understand it), but total eclipses are felt whether or not you can see them.
If you have your Sun, Moon, Mars, Saturn, or either lunar node between 20°-29° of Leo or Aquarius, and to a lesser degree, Taurus and Scorpio, I would pay a lot of attention to this eclipse.
Only do magic during this eclipse if you are okay with the total lack of sun energy. Remember, the Moon is about to completely block out all light of the Sun, and fire benders should be at a disadvantage (even if they didn't follow through with that correctly). This would be an extremely powerful time to bind or obstruct somebody who is very fiery in nature, especially if their fire comes from the Sun or Leo energy. (Proceed with a lot of caution on all accounts)
Expect people to be burning down bridges and acting quite erratically on either side of this exactitude. Expect some temper tantrums, expect the burning dumpster fire to be on full display.
Remember the art of walking away from what isn't yours during that time.
Sun conjunct South Node 29° Leo (8/22)
This is the inevitable midpoint of this eclipse cycle, where the Sun passes over the lunar nodes. Here, we are in Leo season, home of the South Node, so this is - to a greater or lesser degree - a lesson about letting go. In Leo, we are encouraged to let go of selfishness (the Sun is our sense of self) and to understand that we are actually deeply tuned in with the collective, whether we want to be or not.
Some people will get really Woo and claim the Age of Aquarius, and that we should let go of the ego altogether and become one human consciousness, but we aren't into that cult shit here. Right?
A little ego is a good thing. We need Leo just as much as we do all eleven of the other sides; we don't need to shit on the astrological royalty just because they like sitting on their thrones.
It's just not the time for thrones and subjects.
If you don't like the volatility of doing magic on the eclipses proper, this is the second-best date to do eclipse magic.
If you do magic on this date, you need to do so before the Sun enters Virgo at 10:18PM (EDT/UTC-5:00).
Partial Lunar Eclipse 04° Pisces (8/28-8/29)
This is our last eclipse on the Pisces/Virgo axis, as the lunar nodes have moved into Aquarius/Leo. It is doubly an ending, as Pisces is the 12th and last sign in the horoscope. Things are likely to get wet and weepy.
How you approach this ending should have a lot to do with how you experience the Pisces/Virgo divide. Do you trust in life, or do you try to fix things? Do you go high and pray, or do you get down into the earth and dig a new way forward?
Neither side of this is more accentuated than the other anymore, because the lunar nodes aren't in these two mutable signs anymore.
You may feel directionless and unmoored during this lunation. If you do, know you are right on time.
Pay attention if you have your Sun, Moon, Mars, or Saturn around 04° Pisces or Virgo, and then Gemini and Sagittarius.
Even though the Sun is still conjunct to the South Node, it's past its exactitude and the South Node is in a different sign, so we can willingly ignore it - if we want to.
This will be an easier day to cast magic for most, but it lacks a lot of the oomph of the earlier total solar eclipse.
Venus enters her pre-retrograde shadow 22° Libra (8/31)
Much of the rest of the year is going to be dominated by Venus's retrograde from 08° Scorpio to 22° Libra in the Fall. Venus only retrograde every year and a half; so this tends to be highly significant. This effects relationships of all kinds as we all have to take a look about the ways that we get along with one another.
This retrograde will be significant for a couple of reasons. The first is that Venus will be retrograde in one of the signs of her domain, which puts Libras in the hot seat. The second is that Venus will not enter Sagittarius because of this retrograde, meaning that her benevolence doesn't reach the sign of the archer for an entire year.
This is the first pass of Venus's journey; she will travel from 22° Libra through to 08° Scorpio on 10/03, and then retrograde - working her way backward towards 22° Libra.
Anybody with Sun, Moon, Venus, and Mars between 22° Libra-08° Scorpio should be paying extra attention, as should anyone with the same planets between 22°Aries-08° Taurus, 22° Cancer-08° Leo, and 22° Capricorn-08° Aquarius. Additionally, you should pay attention if Venus is your Chart, Solar, or Lunar ruler.
This is just the beginning, its hard to say this far out where it is headed. We need to get through some of the eclipse shit first.
Autumn is going to be intense. Venus will be retrograde from early October until early November, and Mercury will also retrograde during this time. Then, during Scorpio season, Mars will traverse Leo, conjuncting Jupiter and the North Node in the process. All while square to our Scorpio Sun.
It could be fun. Again, a lot will depend on how eclipse season hits.
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