​The Sun enters Cancer at 11:33pm eastern on Sunday, June 20, marking the Summer Solstice in the northern hemisphere—called Litha in the witches’ Wheel of the Year. The Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year, at which point the days begin to grow shorter and the nights grow longer. From the peak of its strength, the Sun begins to move toward its symbolic death and rebirth at the Winter Solstice. This year, as the Sun moves into Cancer, its ruler the Moon is in Scorpio, the sign of its fall or depression. The brightest light of the year is revealing where our needs feel unmet, the places that feel neglected or abandoned. The Moon is in the waxing quarter lunation phase, a time of pressing through resistance, overcoming challenges, and establishing the viability of this cycle—proving what is possible even when the support we may be seeking feels absent or unavailable. The Moon is also square Saturn and opposing Uranus in Taurus, wading through the residue of this week’s exact Saturn/Uranus square. Our foundations may feel shaken and unsteady. But the Sun is also applying to a trine with Jupiter in its domicile of Pisces, and it is co-present with Venus in Cancer. Provision may not come from the sources we expect, but there are resources available to us is we follow where the currents are carrying us. As that which you have been grasping is shaken from your trembling hands, surrender to the flow, moving in the direction of abundance rather than clinging to the places where it feels as if there is never enough. May we each trust that our lives are simply tributaries streaming into tides that nourish us even as we pour ourselves into them. As we move from the longest day toward the longest night, may we remember that we are never alone.
 
[First image reads “Astrology of the Wheel of the Year: LITHA, 20 June 2021” in golden letters on a dark green field of flowers and stars. Second image shows the chart for the moment of the Sun’s ingress into Cancer, and reads “Litha, the Summer Solstice, 20 June 2021, 11:33pm, Columbus, OH, USA”]

June 14 is the second exact square between Saturn in Aquarius and Uranus in Taurus. Saturn is retrograde, and the Moon is in Leo, making an exact T-square with them—opposing Saturn and squaring Uranus. Without essential dignity here and heavily maltreated by the opposition to Saturn, this aspect with the Moon could be especially hard on our bodies and emotional well-being. Remember the pleasures that have sustained you before this moment, the desires that have taken you down revolutionary pathways, but also be prepared to create considerable space for rest and recovery this week. Seek support whether from movement practices, somatic healing, bodywork, sexual healing, or co-regulation with other bodies where you experience grounding and trust. With Saturn retrograde, we might find ourselves dragged backwards or regressing through pressures and conflicts that we thought were already overcome or resolved—or perhaps reliving old fears or tired narratives that limited or foreclosed what we could feel. Like buildings swaying amidst an earthquake, we must cultivate flexible, enduring tensile strength—strong enough to hold on and flexible enough to remain standing. These squares between Saturn and Uranus this year are teaching us lessons in resilience, how to come into right relationship with change, where to commit to holding stable shapes and where to resist rigidity in order to open to radical change.
 
[Images reads: SATURN SQUARE URANUS 14 June 2021 in chartreuse letters on a brown background.]

​Jupiter is still in Pisces until July 28, but stationing retrograde later this week.
Several nights ago, the Moon was in its domicile of Cancer, applying to a conjunction with Venus, both receiving a superior whole-sign trine from Jupiter. It was a night for ritual and reverence, connecting with these celestial bodies and inviting their support.
May abundance and ease find each of you in the midst of all of that we are struggling for.

On June 10, there will be an annular Solar Eclipse at 19º Gemini—9º from the North Node. This eclipse is conjunct Mercury retrograde in Gemini and square to Neptune in Pisces, both of which are signatures for potential confusion, misunderstanding, and miscommunication. Mercury is within one degree of its inferior conjunction with the Sun — moving into the heart of the Sun or cazimi. It could be that just as we come to some kind of clarity regarding Mercury’s retrograde, a shadow is also revealed, a side of the situation that we could not see before.
 
Do not expect to fully understand the events around this eclipse and anticipate that more will become clear with distance. Gemini is often concerned with information and communication, gathering and synthesizing data to develop a particular point of view. But at this eclipse, these are precisely the kinds of processes that may experience disruption.
 
Remember, eclipses can describe unpredictable events, sudden or dramatic changes unfolding in different areas of life. Most often, solar eclipses—which occur when a new moon is within close proximity to the Moon’s nodal axis—describe significant or dramatic beginnings. These events can unfold suddenly or over the next six months. Look to the signs in which the eclipses occur in your own chart to see which areas of life they might be describing. If they occur within a tight orb—I use 3º—of a planet or angle in your natal chart, these eclipses are more likely to indicate more significant events in your own life.
 
[Image reads: SOLAR ECLIPSE IN GEMINI 10 June 2021 in yellow-grey letters on a dark background]

​On June 3, Venus in Cancer will make a trine with Jupiter in its domicile of Pisces, both at 1º. I think this June 3 trine between Venus and Jupiter may be one of the most auspicious aspects of the year. Venus is the planet of love, union, relationships, desire, pleasure, beauty, aesthetic harmony, and justice. Jupiter is the planet of abundance, expansion, growth, wisdom, faith, and belief. Jupiter is in its domicile, and Venus is the ruler of the water triplicity by day. Together they create supportive conditions for collaboration, for investing in shared beliefs and values, for connecting our personal desires and pleasures with something larger than ourselves, for making art and love that can guide us to more expansive wisdom and perspectives of the world.
 
Consider prioritizing pleasure and connection today. Notice what feels good and move in that direction. Remain sensitive and responsive to your own shifting desires as well as what your friends, lovers, companions, and colleagues want as well. Follow ease and flow and see where they can take you.
 
Venus made a conjunction with Jupiter in Aquarius back on February 11, which was the start of a Venus/Jupiter cycle. It may be worth recalling what was coming up for you around then and notice how it has grown and evolved to this point now.
 
[Image reads: VENUS TRINE JUPITER 3 June 2021 in light aqua letters on a light blue background]

“What I hope is becoming clear is that sex and sexuality, even in their most mundane forms, involve our already more-than-human bodies mediating more-than-human sexual partners, incorporating more-than-human technologies with consequential entanglements with a much larger world that is far more than human. ‘Ecosexuality’ is a term for these and many other entanglements of human sexuality with the nonhuman world. Broadly speaking, ecosexuality directs attention toward various ways in which sexuality is already ecological, and the ways in which ecology might be understood as sexual or erotic. This term has come to be used by artists, academics, activists, environmentalists, people working in sex industries, and others. Its dimensions can be practical, material, biological, metaphorical, representational, conceptual, and philosophical.”

Excerpt from “Ecosexuality: Toward Pleasurable Relationality With the More-Than-Human World,” a short piece I published in UnBound Zine Issue 9: “Awakening”. Many thanks to executive director Lashonda Love for inviting me to contribute.
I wrote my doctoral dissertation on ecosexualities in performance, and this piece summarizes some of the important ideas that have continued with me from that work. I write about how I understand ecosexuality, the work of Beth Stephens and Annie Sprinkle who first introduced me to ecosexuality, the ways ecosexuality can disrupt human exceptionalism and anthropocentrism, and awakening to the deep pleasure of belonging with-and-in this world.
I hope you check it out!
https://www.unboundartscollective.com/current-issue

HAPPY PRIDE!
​
[Images above include screenshots of the article described above, in two-page spreads on a light green background. Image below shows the cover of Issue 9 of UnBound, an illustration of two nude brown figures woven through vines and flowers.]

On Saturday, May 29, Mercury stations retrograde at 24º Gemini, and will remain retrograde until June 22 when it stations direct at 16º Gemini. This is our second Mercury retrograde period on 2021.
In Gemini, Mercury is in its domicile, so it has access to the resources in needs in order to accomplish its goals. But for these weeks, the goals that will be best served are reflection and review, particularly in terms of communication, the transmission of ideas, how we access and process information, how we articulate our perspectives, as well as the movements of material goods and travel.
Mercury stations retrograde in a conjunction with Venus and square Neptune in Pisces. How we communicate in relationships of all kinds may require extra care and consideration. With Neptune involved, we may not be hearing one another as clearly as we believe we are. Check your own projections. Exercise patience. Practice deep and deliberate listening. Be intentional in reflecting back what you heard and understood.
There is a moment of vivid clarity possible on June 10 when Mercury is cazimi the Sun, bringing some of what has been clouded into bright focus and revealing what is at the heart of this transit for each of us.
Mercury will make one last square with Neptune on July 6 then clear its retrograde shadow on July 7. Between now and then, pay close attention. Gather information. Develop multiple possible plans and contingencies, holding off making final decisions or determinations—because you very likely will not have all the information that you need in order to come to such conclusions. By the end of the first week of July, it will be time to put what you’ve learned out into the world.
 
[Image reads: MERCURY RETROGRADE IN GEMINI May 29-June 22 in dark olive letters on a bright yellow background]

Lunar eclipses tend to describe significant or even dramatic culminations in whatever part of the chart they fall. Especially as this lunar eclipse occurs with the Moon just 5º from the South Node, this could describe a striking decrease or clearing out, potentially unfolding between now and the Solar Eclipse in Sagittarius on December 4. The events described by eclipses are often unexpected or unpredictable, as an eclipse is an interruption in the light of the Moon or Sun. However, letting go and bringing things to completion—even in unexpected ways—need not necessarily be traumatic. This eclipse is not only ruled by Jupiter—because the Moon is in Jupiter’s domicile of Sagittarius—but the Moon and Sun are also in a T-square with Jupiter at 1º Pisces. Jupiter is in its domicile of Pisces and witnesses this eclipse, offering currents of cohesion and compassionate growth through whatever passage this eclipse describes. This suggests a more benevolent and supportive quality to whatever events unfold around or following this eclipse. In Sagittarius, this could describe changes in our beliefs and how our views of the world impact the particular part of our charts occupied by Sagittarius. What beliefs have you outgrown or outworn? What perspectives of the world are expiring, creating space for new experiences and emergent observations? The loss of belief can be a time of crisis, but as our familiar points of view disintegrate, pathways to more freedom can come into view.
 
[Image reads: LUNAR ECLIPSE IN SAGITTARIUS 26 May 2021 in light grey letters with a red-orange glow on a dark grey background.]

Today Jupiter ingresses into Pisces where it will be until July 28, foreshadowing its longer transit through Pisces throughout 2022. Pisces is Jupiter’s nocturnal domicile, a mutable water sign where Jupiter’s abundance can be oceanic, where its growth comes from its adaptability, and its deepest beliefs are in our capacities for connection and dissolving the barriers between us. More becomes possible with Jupiter in Pisces. Perhaps we become more possible or simply we become more. More abundantly more. More sensing, more feeling, more than one, more than two, more than a single point of view, more gracious, more loving, more compassionate, more passionate, more opening and expansive, more available to more, more of ourselves, more than ourselves. It has been approximately twelve years since Jupiter moved through Pisces, and it’s been since December 2, 2019, since Jupiter was in a sign that it ruled. While Jupiter’s ingress into Aquarius in December 2020 marked an improvement in its condition from being fallen in Capricorn, as it moves into Pisces, it will have access to all of the resources it needs in order to bring about that which it signifies—especially when it is moving direct from May 13 until June 20. Whatever Jupiter is responsible for in your chart—depending on the houses that it rules—this period has the potential to deliver the most resources and support that those areas have had since the end of 2019. Do note that Jupiter will have a trine with Venus in Cancer on June 3, making this part of the year even more promising amidst the other sky stories of 2021.
 
[Image reads: JUPITER ENTERS PISCES 13 May 2021 in bright blue letters on a dark blue background]

​Today Venus in Taurus perfects a square with Jupiter in Aquarius, just before Venus leaves its domicile for Gemini, and just days before Jupiter ingresses into its domicile of Pisces. While the square is the aspect associated with the qualities of Mars—contention, conflict, crisis, and the demand for adjustment—in Hellenistic astrology, the square can also be a very dynamic form of bonification from the benefics. Today the two benefics bonify one another—Jupiter overcoming Venus in a superior square, Venus hurling rays back to Jupiter from the inferior position. Both are offering support and affirmation, particularly in the area of favorable relationships. This could be a potent time for forming powerful alliances, as well as for building deeply meaningful connections in our intimate partnerships. Jupiter describes the principles of expansion and inclusion, whereas Venus describes the principles of union and pleasure. How can we form relationships—personal, political, and professional—that encompass more of our capacities for pleasure and joy? Asking for what feels good and supporting others in experiencing satisfaction can create important solidarities between us. As Audre Lorde writes in “Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power,” “The erotic functions for me in several ways, and the first is in providing the power which comes from sharing deeply any pursuit with another person. The sharing of joy, whether physical, emotional, psychic, or intellectual, forms a bridge between the sharers which can be the basis for understanding much of what is not shared between them, and lessens the threat of their difference.” How might you center the sharing of joy in your relationships today?

[Image reads: VENUS SQUARE JUPITER 8 May 2021 in pink letters on a dark purple background]

Tomorrow, April 22, Venus in Taurus makes a conjunction with Uranus. Venus’ conjunction with Uranus offers grounding connections to sustain impulses toward authenticity and freedom throughout the ongoing Saturn/Uranus squares. Notice how Venus entices us to cultivate radical new patterns of relating throughout the year, particularly on July 8 when Venus in Leo makes a square to Uranus, on August 3 when Venus in Virgo makes a trine to Uranus, on September 23 when Venus in Scorpio makes an opposition to Uranus, and finally on November 19 when Venus in Capricorn makes an overcoming trine to Uranus. The trine on November 19 occurs the same day as the lunar eclipse in Taurus, just two days after the Mars/Uranus opposition, suggesting that whatever is culminating and breaking through in mid-November has the potential to bring us into greater loving connections with others, with beauty, and with justice. Tomorrow’s conjunction is the start of this Venus/Uranus cycle, so attend to what is being seeded now in order to witness how this story unfolds in the year ahead. Commit yourself to revolutionary care, and then devote yourself to the process of daring to love in ways that break from established patterns—your own and those you have received from society—knowing that doing so is necessary for our freedom. As adrienne maree brown write, “We need to learn how to practice love such that care—for ourselves and others—is understood as political resistance and cultivating resilience.”

[Image reads: VENUS CONJUNCT URANUS IN TAURUS 22 April 2021 in bright pink lettering on a chartreuse background]

​On 14 April, Venus ingresses into its domicile of Taurus where it will remain until May 9. In Taurus, Venus draws us back to sensual pleasures, to the grounding resources of touch, feeling our feet on the ground and our fingers in the earth, our skin pressed against the skin of another, the taste of the world unfolding through flavors on our tongues, the scent of satisfiability lingering in the air around us. Venus in Taurus insists on taking all the time that we need in order to feel more and feel good. Once we have known our capacities for these depths of feeling, they can become a standard for the quality of life we can demand from ourselves and our world. As Audre Lorde writes in “Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power,” “The erotic is a measure between the beginnings of our sense of self and the chaos of our strongest feelings. It is an internal sense of satisfaction to which, once we have experienced it, we know we can aspire. For having experienced the fullness of this depth of feeling and recognizing its power, in honor and self-respect we can require no less of ourselves.” Venus in Taurus in an invitation to ground ourselves in our own physical, sensual experiences of satisfaction, and to hold ourselves and our lives to the standard of that fullness of feeling. Co-present with Uranus, Venus is ruling revolutionary terrain, reminding us that our bodies already hold all that we need to know about our own personal and collective liberation. As we not only root deeply into our pleasures but also, as adrienne maree brown writes in Pleasure Activism, “prioritize the pleasure of those who are most impacted by oppression,” we tend the gardens of justice, in which everyone has access to what they need—including feeling good. Throughout the next several weeks, how can you not only prioritize your own pleasure and satisfaction, but also use whatever privilege is available to you to support more pleasure and satisfaction for those who are most marginalized and denied pleasure in our culture?
 
[Image reads VENUS INGRESSES INTO TAURUS 14 April 2021 in light green lettering on a rose colored background]

​March 20 is Oestara, the Vernal Equinox in the northern hemisphere, when the Sun ingresses into Aries—the sign of its exaltation—and we celebrate the start of spring. The day and night are equal in length, held in balance before the lengthening days overtake the shorter nights. It is a time for honoring new beginnings and appreciating the return of life after the months of winter hibernation. This year, as the Sun enters Aries, its ruler Mars is in Gemini just two signs away. The waxing crescent Moon is also in Gemini, while the ruler of Gemini—Mercury—is in Pisces, the sign of its antithesis and fall, conjunct the asteroid Pallas. The Sun is exalted in Aries in part because of the days growing longer than the nights, an indication of the Sun increasing in its influence, authority, and strength. Aries is cardinal fire, sparking the flames of new beginnings and the ignition of initiative. With Mars and the Moon in Gemini, this equinox is also a time for gathering information, formulating perspectives, and determining how to act on the knowledge we’re creating. Mars is applying to a trine with Saturn, encouraging principled, deliberate action and bringing long-term, focused discipline to what we choose to initiate. While Mercury may struggle to manage details in the emotional tides of Pisces, its conjunction with Pallas suggests strategic thinking, the wisdom to direct power well, and tenacity to protect those who are made most vulnerable. Pisces carries currents of compassion and inclusion, so at this equinox, as we celebrate the return of life, may our compassion inspire strategic wisdom for protecting the livability of all. With whatever we are beginning or initiating, may we collect the information and data that we need in order to synthesize actionable analyses with long-term vision. May we boldly speak up and dare to make connections that require us to adapt and change our perspectives. If you ritualize the equinox, I hope these words can inspire your rituals.
 
[First image reads “Astrology of the Wheel of the Year: Oestara, 20 March 2021” in golden letters on a dark green field of flowers and stars. Second image shows the chart for the moment of the Sun’s ingress into Aries, and reads “Oestara, 20 March 2021, 5:38am, Columbus, OH, USA”]