Hi, my loves,
Happy Summer Solstice. We have returned to the longest day of the year again, when, astrologically using a Western framework, the Sun enters the sign of Cancer.
I like to welcome the shift into Summer and Cancer season by watching the sun rise near a body of water. This year I’ll also be hosting a Summer Solstice/New Moon in Cancer ritual and sound bath at Bewitched Denton. Registration can be found here:
In honor of the sun’s shift, I wanted to explore a bit of the current astrology and the fire signs. I will start by applying the fire sign designation used by Kathleen Burt as follows to our current astrological transits.
- Aries as body
- Leo as soul
- Sagittarius as spirit
Starting with Aries as body, I see this as the conscious awareness of our incarnation into physical form. We have this being that exists in these bodies. Aries, as the bursting forth of life is related to the action of the culminating buildup and release of life force energy. But it is also that life becomes aware of itself through the birthing process.
Then we have Leo as the soul. After going through the energy of Taurus, Gemini, and Cancer, we return to the element of fire in a fixed mode. A stabilizing of that conscious awareness of self. Here we step onto the stage of life to bare our souls. To express the Self and share it with others.
Lastly, we encounter Sagittarius, the sign of wisdom, hope-fueled justice, faith, travel, and philosophy. Sagittarius becomes associated with the educator or teacher, as when these attributes combine, we find ourselves polishing the knowledge we have gained through sharing and learning from others. Here we meet mutable fire. The experiences that change and shape us at our core. I think of fire as an element. We may project that fire has a drive, but we cannot know more than what we observe. What we can observe is the interaction of elements to form the flame, along with the need for air and matter or earth as fuel. We were brave enough to express ourselves in Leo, leading us to refine our self-awareness as we encounter something bigger than ourselves – spirit, essence, source.
Returning to this year’s Summer Solstice astrology, we are experiencing a lot of astrological shifts right now. Mars has just moved into Virgo, Saturn and Neptune are at 1 and 2 degrees respectively in Aries, Pluto is at 3 degrees of Aquarius, Jupiter at 2 degrees Cancer, and Uranus is at 29 degrees Taurus, preparing to move into Gemini in early July. This is a time of significant energetic adjustments.
Let us return to looking at the fire signs. Saturn has just entered Aries. Saturn is the planet of restriction, conservation, and most importantly, time. Time is a fundamental quantity that acts as a coordinate. We perceive time as linear due to our limited physical sensory systems. Saturn, as it moves through Aries, engages with our conscious awareness that we exist in the here and now in this physical form. Saturn in Aries asks, How consciously aware are you of your physical existence? Are you actively involved in connecting your awareness with your physical drives for survival? What does that look like? Are you currently in an active – doing state or a passive, observing state? If you are not at this time, the moment, consciously bringing your awareness to the Self, what needs to be stabilized to allow yourself to do that? In other words, Saturn invites you to change whatever is taking you away from feeling connected to your inner world and your physical form. Saturn is looking to create a stable form and sense of self in Aries. To do that, it will restrict and make anything that pulls us away from that stability unbearable.
Then we have Neptune, the planet of illusions, dreams, the unconscious, and cosmic force at 2 degrees Aries. Again, we return to this bursting forth of life force energy. The will to live and survive manifests due to our conscious awareness of ourselves in our bodies. Here, we are now bringing the unconscious into the equation. The underlying drives, beliefs, interojections, desires, characteristics, and experiences that we are not actively and consciously aware of. Aries may be conscious awareness of Self, but it is not geared towards awareness of the unconscious. What is going on beneath the surface. Neptune shifts that focus. Neptune heightens the ability of the unconscious and cosmic (the unknown external) to break into awareness through activations, dreams, and the increased awareness of the physical form. When we bring our attention to the body to consciously bridge the mind/body/emotions connection, we begin to notice things that we may have previously ignored or given little attention. How our bodies move, the physical sensations we experience being in a specific place, around certain people, as we think about taking or not taking an action. Our bodies respond to the conscious and the unconscious. What we do with this awareness is the task of Saturn and Neptune moving through Aries.
I will finish this blog post by looking at Mars, the traditional ruling planet of Aries, and the esoteric ruling planet of Scorpio. Mars has spent quite some time moving between Leo and Cancer, two of the signs that will take center stage during the summer before finally moving into our final summer sign, mutable Earth’s Virgo. Mars, as a planet, focuses on desire, will, and survival. We can think of Mars as the action taken as we shift between the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous systems in response to perceived external threats through freeze, flight, fight, fright, flag, or faint. Virgo is the cleanser and the accessor, preparing us physically for the change in the seasons and the return to a cardinal sign. Before we place our hearts upon Libra’s scale against a feather, we must gather and take note of what resides with the heart. We are given a chance to sort the matters of the heart and form. Virgo is less concerned with perfection or the idea that all toxicities are removed, but that, like alchemy, the impurities present will aid in creating the desired new metal. Will what is present create gold or remain a lump of lead? Mars in Virgo gives us the energy to engage with this assessment energy. How we act or respond depends on our environment and personal development.
Perhaps we are ready to face what needs to change and are ready to transform. Or perhaps that change feels overwhelming, and we are unable to take action. We freeze in the moment. Maybe we say, there’s nothing wrong with me or this situation! We go into denial. This assessment may make us want to fight back! To take some form of action externally. Or what needs to be changed may feel so deeply outside of our control that we find obedience to the stronger external force may serve us better in our desire to survive.
Mars in Virgo is complicated by transiting Saturn and Neptune in Aries. We are being called to become consciously aware of the unconscious and conscious drives that we are experiencing as embodied beings. Mars’ previous time in Cancer and Leo gives us the material that needs to be addressed concerning care, nurturing, our ancestors, and Mothering. Whereas in Leo we looked at what is needed to have the courage to bare our souls on the stage of life and to bring forth the inner child. With transiting Jupiter in Cancer, we are invited to increase our nurturing practices. To face our relationship with the concept of receiving and giving care.
This is the gift of the summer solstice this year. A preparation for the upcoming transits of winter 2026. But I will speak more about that later though.
To learn more about how to work with your personal Mars placement and the current Mars transit, grab a copy of The Mars Intensive.
Click Here to book an astrology reading with me. I offer birth chart reports as well as transit reports.
With love,
Kamilah Rose