The Glorious Grand Trine in Water

With all the talk over the past year or so about the fearsome and feared Uranus-Pluto square, an equally important, powerful, and rare "good witch" aspect was ignored: a Grand Trine in the Water element involving Mars conjunct Jupiter in Cancer, Moon (plus North Node) and Saturn in Scorpio, and Neptune in Pisces.

As if this was not already enough Water, the Sun and Mercury are also in Cancer, bringing us to a total of seven planets in Water. Although the Moon in Scorpio triggered this Grand Trine on Tuesday evening, even after the Moon leaves Scorpio at 1:54 p.m. (ET), the Grand Trine will still be in effect, as Mars has yet to trine Neptune and Saturn on Saturday (3:53 p.m. and 5:34 p.m., respectively) and will then conjunct Jupiter at 3:35 a.m. on Monday, with the Sun in the last few hours of Cancer.

What this Grand Trine is about includes mastery of the emotions, as this is the domain of the Water element. Expansion, faith, and risk taking are in tune with contraction, structure, and hard work, which in turn supports dreams, inspiration, and intuition. This could be a watershed moment for popular (or unpopular culture) and the collective unconscious, but the Moon in Scorpio has made this Grand Trine highly personal -- and what is continuing to energize the Grand Trine is the red planet, motor of our the solar system.

Mars is said to be in its "fall" in Cancer, yet Jupiter is said to be "exalted" in this sign -- so this conjunction could go one of three ways: Mars could dominate (bringing much energy but possible conflict into the home and family), Jupiter could dominate (bringing blessings and bounty into the home), or Mars and Jupiter will manage to cancel out each other's worst and best qualities. However this conjunction plays out for you personally, there will be a magnification (Jupiter) of the emotions (Cancer), a spotlight on home and family (Cancer), and a DIY spirit toward home improvement (Mars in Cancer).

Discretion is the better part of valor (or is it velour?) so I cannot go into detail about how I managed to snap out of my Mercury Retrograde funk and dive headfirst into the waves of this extremely rare Grand Trine, but it was possibly the best post-birthday gift I ever gave to myself. Among many other things, I learned how to breathe.

Shifting Gears: Welcome Jupiter in Cancer; Hello Mercury Retrograde; Crab Cake Deluxe

Now that summertime has officially arrived, and we finally had a Full Moon that was not a Lunar Eclipse (albeit one that appeared bigger and brighter than usual because it was closer to the earth than all other Full Moons for 2013), we are about to experience some major changes: Jupiter departs Gemini and enters Cancer at 9:40pm ET, and less than twelve hours later Mercury turns retrograde in Cancer. Venus is also in Cancer, although not for much longer; it enters fun-loving, party-animal Leo on Thursday. But there is still a lot of Cancerian energy out there, especially since Jupiter magnifies whatever sign it's in. If you are a Cancer, you will definitely be feeling it -- and if you are someone who keeps company with a Cancer, you will definitely be feeling it by proxy.

Cancerian energy is paradoxical in nature: Cancer is a cardinal sign, meaning it likes to lead and excels at getting whatever ball rolling. Yet Cancer is also of the water element, so it is introverted and reflective, and needs a lot of downtime. Cancer could never be mistaken for the premier cardinal sign Aries: while pioneering, hotheaded Aries must be at the front of the line at all times and at all costs (and fellow cardinal sign Libra is so other-directed it can only define itself by its relationship to others, and cardinal sign Capricorn's natural place is at the top of the literal or figurative mountain), sensitive Cancer prefers to rule the roost. And the roast.

This does not mean there are no famous Cancers -- far from it. Many Cancerians have the uncanny knack of intuiting what the public wants before the public is aware of those wants, and can embody lunar magic at its finest, weaving a spell on hundreds of thousands of earthlings. This is because Cancer's ruling planet is the Moon -- which rules the public. That said, it's also common for Cancerian celebrities to have a strong 10th house, or planets in Leo (increasing the desire for attention and glamour), or a strong Jupiter (increasing the likelihood of luck). A "pure" Cancer with Sun, Moon, and Rising Sign in Cancer, or a heavy emphasis on the 4th house, is more likely to want to be a homemaker, or if this is not possible, then work from home and be a confirmed homebody, the unofficial mother (regardless of the native's gender) of the neighborhood. Of course, a stable home can be a space in which Cancer's natural creativity and imagination can blossom -- so even a "pure" Cancer could wind up becoming a celebrated writer or artist.

Jupiter is said to be exalted in Cancer. On the surface, this seems odd; Jupiter is the ruling planet of Sagittarius, which has literally nothing in common with Cancer. However, before Neptune was discovered, Jupiter co-ruled Pisces, a sign that is extremely compatible with Cancer. For the next year, as Jupiter traverses Cancer, the urge to expand and the occurrence of good luck will be concentrated on the home, family, memory, imagination, intuition, collecting, antiques, nostalgia, women's issues, travel by sea, the sea itself, and recycling (Cancer is extremely environmentally aware). On July 17, we get two potentially magical Jupiter trines: Jupiter will trine Saturn in Scorpio immediately followed by a trine to Neptune in Pisces, just two days before the trine between Saturn and Neptune. This configuration is called a Grand Trine, in which three planets of different signs, but of the same element, are in perfect tune with one another. In the water element, this Grand Trine will encourage emotional depth. You may feel, however briefly, that you can achieve a balance between risk taking (Jupiter) and hard work (Saturn) -- and you can safely follow your dreams (Neptune) because both luck (Jupiter) and structure (Saturn) are in rare agreement with each other.

True, Mercury will be Retrograde for the next three weeks -- so yes, there will be delays, second thoughts, and secrets. But Mercury in Cancer is reflective and likes to take its time hatching its plans anyway. Mars's entry into Cancer on July 13 (my birthday!) should add some interesting heat and spice to this current crustacean-filled brew.