Mercury Retrogrades As Mars Makes its Final Pass Through the Cardinal Gauntlet

Communication planet Mercury is slowing to station retrograde in early Cancer on June 7 (5:56 a.m. CST). The retrograde period will last until July 1 (6:50 a.m.). As the communication planet slows to a crawl, we can expect the information flow to slow down, as well. Continuing full speed ahead on mental/verbal/communicative fronts now could cause us to trip ourselves up.

We're wrapping our minds around some shifting circumstances now as Mars in Libra moves into a square to Pluto (June 14) and an opposition to Uranus (June 25). This is the final set of aspects Mars in Libra makes activating the cardinal points it has been setting off since December 2013.

Events occurring this June have roots to the cold, cold, "polar vortex" winter of 2013, particularly around the time of the holidays. Social frameworks have been shifting in immediate and substantial ways since then, and this is the final Mars push into new territory and new social order. Big changes start to be visible and new orientations in relationships come into working practise as we move through June and July.

It's officially time to move on from certain people, scenarios, and social dynamics that have proven disappointing. Mars direct in Libra, heading through the last pass of the cardinal gauntlet, helps us go beyond rigid social forms and expectations, moving out of stifling or unsatisfying relationship dynamics - but only if we have the courage to make the necessary moves at the right times.

Until Mars leaves Libra for its domicile of Scorpio on July 25, we are working with the concept of social balance. Social and relational moves made now should not unbalance us or others around us - unless we are throwing people off balance as part of a necessary defense or re-direction strategy.

We sense things are a little tense, a little raw, a little unpredictable, and a little highly-strung this month, and this can cause some mental anxiety and stress with Mercury slowing to a crawl in sensitive, protective Cancer.

Cancer is a sign that, for the most part, likes things to stay the same. So we are working through some tendencies to looking at the past as the answer to our current struggles. Nostalgia for what we perceive were better times. Though we can certainly draw on elements of past and roots in successful ways now (with luck planet Jupiter finishing its exalted transit of Cancer), there were, ultimately, no better times way back when. We are always moving forward for a reason. The best time is now, in the current moment, in the only moment that exists. We have to remind ourselves of this as we choose a new and fresher track through current circumstances. There's no going back now.

We are breaking some mental habits here related to excessive nostalgia, insular thinking, emotionally-clouded logic, and a mindset that does not extend further than the immediate family and friend circle.

There is a lot of uncertainty afoot - at times, not knowing what's going to happen next is the only constant. Again, this is hard with transiting Mercury in Cancer, a placement that likes to know where it stands.

Love, money, and relationship planet Venus in Taurus is also moving into a potentially tense opposition to Saturn Rx in Scorpio, exact June 12 (10:09 p.m.). This opposition spins a lot of relationship detritus off, tightening things up there considerably. We're going soul-deep as far as personal values, determining who we're compatible with when the chips are down and who we are not, who can be counted on and trusted when the chips are down and who cannot. There is not much in-between at the moment. If we aren't receiving full value, particularly social value, for what we do, it may be time to move on from certain scenarios.

This Venus-Saturn opposition indicates some hard-won emotional breakthrough moments, particularly related to subtle mistreatment or devaluing received socially or in relationships.

Finances are tighter than tight for many as we move into this Venus-Saturn opposition, and we may be tempted to accept less than we deserve or to make the wrong moves in an attempt to alleviate the pressure. Things come to a head on this front around June 12, as the Moon grows full in Sagittarius. 

People will be getting under each other's skins this month in particularly karmic and catalytic ways. There is a little social wiggle room here, but be sure to heed points of anger and intolerance in yourself and others as they rear their heads. A little space goes a long way, as does a little bit of crafty avoidance.

Mercury will re-enter Gemini, a sign it rules, on June 17, and things start to rev up on the "buzzing social bee" front. 

Mercury in Gemini will then move into a trine to the North Node in late Libra as it makes its direct station July 1. Some major social and relationship progress is underway at the end of June and during the first three weeks of July.

We don't have all the answers now as far as what happens from here or whom it happens with, but things will be getting more settled on that front as Mercury moves out of its retrograde shadow and into new territory by the middle of July.