My sweet friends, perhaps you’d like to take a deep breath and notice if there’s any stress in your shoulders before you sit down to read this. Not in a bracing-yourself-for-the-worst kind of way, just in a “I’m someone who takes in a lot of information all the time and maybe I can take a moment to relax right now” kind of way. There’s going to be a lot of information in this post about all kinds of wacky astrology happening right now, and before we get into it I want to remind you that 1) there’s almost always something wacky happening astrologically and 2) we are all still carrying pain and uncertainty into this present moment which means we need to be slower, gentler, and more attentive as we navigate paying attention to the future. From a traumatized space, every future looks like the worst parts of the past coming back to get you. So my short pro tip is don’t read these horoscopes from that traumatized perspective. The astrology of this month has just as much potential to spur you towards deep insights and healing as it does to overwhelm you or bum you out. So use your agency and your self-compassion as you read on.

I invite you to take this breather because we are in the midst of eclipse season and moving into some of the harder energy of the year. In this month alone we have a solar eclipse on the 10th, Mercury will be retrograde until the 22nd, Jupiter will turn retrograde on the 20th, and we’re getting the second exact square between Saturn and Uranus on the 14th. This is, in short, a lot. So let’s take them bit by bit:

Eclipses usher in big openings and closings, dramatic revelations, sudden reversals, emergent information that unsettles and remaps our lives. Eclipse seasons last about six weeks (from the lunation before the first eclipse to the lunation after the second eclipse) and for most of us they create a kind of background sense of unsettledness. This solar eclipse on the 10th will affect you more personally, though, if you have any planets close to 19 degrees of Gemini, Sagittarius, Virgo, or Pisces. If that’s true for you, expect the next six months to be a time of rebirth of sorts, in which you may find yourself living into a different version of your life than what you expected.

The Saturn square to Uranus happened once already on February 17th, and will happen once more this year on December 24th. This is the big theme of this year, astrologically, and it’s all about the tension between structure and chaos, responsibility and freedom, commitment and flexibility, government and revolution, heteronormativity and queerness. Culturally, we’re seeing this playing out in fights about how to control the pandemic, as well what collective responsibility looks like for huge social problems that have been with us for a long time, like racism and capitalism. Personally, you might feel this influence in the ways you’re torn between doing what you have to in order to survive (Saturn) and living into the most audacious and liberated version of your life (Uranus). It’s not going to feel easy right now to just wave one of those flags and say to hell with the other side — we’re all feeling the crunch between how we would like to be more free and the compromises we have to make with reality and survival. In our relationships, this is accentuated by all the ways we’ve been less free throughout the pandemic. Whatever you’ve been doing, you’re probably ready for a change. Whatever change you’re longing for, there’s probably something you still need to be cautious about. None of it’s going to be easy right now, so be patient with all that is unsettled in your heart, as Rilke says.

And then, on the 20th, Jupiter stations retrograde. Jupiter is our cosmic gay cheerleader, and when she goes retrograde it turns down the volume on our faith in joy and adventure. Specifically, it’s a time of questioning our faith. What have we been trusting that we maybe should have investigated a little more? What did we used to believe dogmatically that we now need to see with more nuance? What happens when our faith slips and our identities need to shift? For people with Sagittarius planets, this transit is going to feel a little extra tender. For all of us, it can help us do some reality testing and get curious about stories outside the ones we usually tell ourselves, but watch out for a sense of deflation or disappointment. Jupiter will station direct on October 18th, so the next few months all carry this theme. If you want a sense of what this retrograde might kick up for you, think back to the last Jupiter retrograde, from April 10th till August 11th of 2019.

Finally, all this is going down while Mercury is retrograde. Sometimes, when times are chaotic and our hearts are feeling tender and we are poised on the brink of transformation in uncertain and transformational times, we just need that extra reminder that sending emails efficiently is not going to save us, you know? Any frustrations, glitches, or mistakes that come up for you during this Mercury retrograde, I invite you to take them as reminders from the universe that you’ve got bigger things to be concerned with right now. Don’t just cry if you lose your keys, y’know? By which I mean: do cry if you lose your keys because that moment of small frustration can actually open up much bigger feelings that have been waiting for you to claim them, and in letting yourself slump to the floor and cry might be the kindest thing you can do for yourself in that moment. And being kind to yourself, you can be kind to your friend or lover or coworker who is also finding it hard to keep their shit together right now. Which should really be the motto of this month: June, 2021: We have no time to be mean to each other because none of us have our shit together.

My books are closed to new clients till later this summer, but you can always find a deeper dive into the astrology of the month at my Patreon and follow me @corinadross for updates on astrology, artwork, and all sorts of things.

Good luck out there this month. Cry when you need to. Let the world transform you. Participate in your own healing. I’ll see you all in July!

Aries

Stay with the trouble: Acknowledge that part of you likes to throw yourself into big dreams and projects, while another part of you wishes you would root down a little more and make sure you have the resources you need. Name the different desires for wildness, experimentation, and revolution on the one hand and security, stability, and abundance on the other hand. Know that both these sets of desires are valid, even if you can’t yet find a way to integrate them. Recognize that some deep-held beliefs might shift this month before you’re even aware of them. Learn to love the chaos of loving without knowing what happens next.

Taurus

Stay with the trouble: This year’s tension and transformation is hitting you where you live, and who you are becoming is at stake. Remember that your process of reinvention can be slow and thorough, that change can move at the pace of your own energy. Expect discomfort but don’t welcome exhaustion as a sign that you’re doing enough. Acknowledge the world might be asking you for more than you have energy to give, and that you don’t have to comply. Consider how much less you could be doing right now, and still manage have your shit as together as it can be in times like these. As Jupiter moves retrograde, you may have some doubts about big aspirations, especially if they involve a collective or community you belong to. Trust your gut on specific situations that aren’t the right fit, but don’t give up on the bigger dreams.

Gemini

Stay with the trouble: Name your restlessness, and trust that all the big ambitious desires for adventure and love and learning are still in your future. Name your confusion, your frustration. Trust that the fogginess of this present time won’t last forever. Recognize that as you step into a new year of life, your flexibility is your best asset. Entertain all options and keep your options entertaining. Keep your imagination strong, your heart open, and your curiosity ever at hand. Remember that you are more than how you are seen. If the eclipse on the 10th is affecting your Gemini planets (any between 17 and 21 degrees of Gemini), expect this month to surface things you haven’t been able to look at until now. Don’t feel you have to make rushed decisions about the new information, just watch and learn.

Cancer

Stay with the trouble: Remember that falling apart is an essential part of being human. You get to dissolve, you get to be fragmented, you get to put yourself back together again in new configurations. And it’s not just you—you’re in good company, there is a vast constellation of other humans falling to pieces and reassembling themselves right now. Who knows what shapes y’all are going to end up taking? Who knows what new combinations will be possible? As you’re in that free-fall just remember that some people jump out of airplanes for fun. This, too, can be an adventure.

Leo

Stay with the trouble: It’s easy to dream of reinvention, of showing a different face to the world, of coming up with a stage name and a new social media handle and playing into some highly curated version of your ideal life. And then there is the reality of your actual relationships—the people who know the best and worst about you, the people who sometimes get irritated with you and have feedback about when you miss the mark. Loving yourself more means having less to prove to the world, and more to say to those people who are in it for the long haul with you. Accept the challenge to be more honest and more vulnerable with the ones you trust. Let love be the foundation of all your ambitious plans. And remember that healing is always possible, no matter how old or big the wound.

Virgo

Stay with the trouble: Which daily rituals are keeping you soothed and grounded, and which ones are just keeping you from being present with your feelings? As your sense of possibility is shifting, as you’re learning more about how your future might look, what does it take to stop planning and drop into the reality of the here and now? In relationships, this often means making room for fear of all the things you cannot predict or control. Let this fear pass through you instead of pushing you toward more activity. It can be hard to trust that the people you love most are going to make all the wisest choices you want them to make, and this month will expose what’s at stake in choosing to trust or not trust your important people. How do you make those decisions? How do you know when someone has earned your trust?

Libra

Stay with the trouble: Intensity isn’t always a bad thing. As much as you strive for equilibrium, sometimes that just means bouncing back and forth between different desires and priorities. Welcome your restless urges, those sparks and flares that mean you’re getting un-numb. And notice what lies underneath them might have you reaching again for anything that can numb you. Find a rhythm that you can sustain as you shuttle between these states. Find a pace that feels gentle and curious. And don’t be too disappointed if your efforts at self-care don’t always feel caring to your full self—release the responsibility to always be at your best.

Scorpio

Stay with the trouble: You can’t go home again, but you do get to redefine what home means. If you’re feeling trapped or confined, trust that this won’t last forever. Relationships are a source of wild inspiration and possibly wild stress right now, as you’re navigating a new way of understanding partnership and commitment. The balance you’re looking for is that space where you can stay grounded while being open to change. What helps you find that balance? And if you’re feeling disappointed by love right now, remember that every failed romance has taught you something and you’re not doomed to replay that one story over and over.

Sagittarius

Stay with the trouble: To be honest, you’re not going to love this month. This is not the month you emerge from your quarantine cocoon, ready to fall in love and get picked up by a record label and generate all kinds of buzz for your upcoming bestseller about how your health and your creativity and your relationships all got so much better during a global pandemic. Nope. This month will find you in process, damp-winged, fluttering a little on a nearby leaf, wondering when you’ll feel strong enough to fly. Which is a totally normal and necessary state of being after big changes (or in the midst of big changes). Mostly you just need to remember that there is still joy, ease, and love to be found in these times, and that it’s not going to feel this exhausting forever. If you’re having deep feelings about home and family right now, make some space to grieve or to plan visits or to process what’s coming up. And let your day-to-day routines be informed by exactly what you feel ready for, not what you think you should be doing.

Capricorn

Stay with the trouble: When you’re under stress, you’re good at being a mountain climber. Which is to say: you can endure harsh conditions for a long time with the minimum of resources. Feeling that cold wind whip around you, feeling that ache in your muscles—that can feel like a kind of safety, or at the very least like what’s familiar. This month asks you to take a different kind of risk that has everything to do with not being in control. What kind of mica wonderland is starting to glitter under the snowmelt? What if this gets to be more magical? Are you afraid of falling into a crevasse or causing an avalanche if your heart opens? How can you stay grounded and resourced while lifting up your eyes and taking in what you see with love and awe?

Aquarius

Stay with the trouble: Stay open to the possibility that your identity isn’t fixed, despite the reality of your history. Refuse the burden of being predictable. Notice, instead, how much you change in different environments and also what remains constant. Above all, don’t believe that the past is the sum of your story. Even as Jupiter retrograde may spin you into a tiny whirlwind of cringe about your past beliefs and behavior, keep your full self in view: a multidimensional being of many shapes and sizes patterning across this present moment and into unknown futures.

Pisces

Stay with the trouble: So much can happen behind the scenes. In the edges. Between sleep and waking. Between knowing and naming. If you feel buffeted between those currents—back inward to remember your dreams, reaching out to name what happened—let yourself float. If you feel the riptide pulling you farther and farther from shore, remember that you are made of water and can become the waves themselves. Let yourself break and reform and break again, just as you do in dreams.

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