Brussels, Friday, July 7, 2006
To subscribe or upgrade, call (206) 567-4455
For daily blog and photo, click logo above.

All 2005 birthday reports can be found here:
http://www.planetwaves.net/bdreports2005/

Current horoscope is here:
http://planetwavesweekly.com/dadatemp/1768236812.html

Happy Birthday Cancer!

Money is the focus now, and the starts suggest strongly that you are going to a new level of both awareness and success. One likely result will be a level of soul searching that is somehow based on a change, probably an improvement, of your financial situation.

With your material needs taken care of, something more personal has space to express its questions and its ideas about life. Frequently it happens that struggles around money mask another level of reality. Problems often have a way of substituting for one another, and the thing that's on top of the list rarely (thought sometimes) is the real situation.

Your astrology is perfectly situated to go through some of these layers. Here is what it looks like. Remembering that astrology is a symbolic rather than mechanistic system, this based on your solar houses. As one born under the sign Cancer, you have Leo as your 2nd solar house is Leo. Since the 2nd solar house covers your resources, including your money and self-esteem, you could not want a better 2nd house.

Leo the sign of the Sun. The Sun definitely has cycles, but it shines, day and night, rain or shine. The suggestion here is that those born under the sign Cancer are among the most resourceful people there are (though this attribute of resourcefulness can come from other attributes of the chart as well). The important thing about Leo is that it's inherently self-aware and has a natural kind of sustainability (symbolized by the nuclear fusion of the Sun).

Cancer itself is a more cyclical sign -- that of reflected light, and waxing and waning phases. So this stability afforded by a strong 2nd house is valuable and balances out the temperamental nature of Cancer by creating a strong source of energy beneath the cycle. Note, the Moon's cycle is one month and the Sun's is one year. With any financial matter involving Cancer, the keywords are One Year.

Okay, now we have a rare Mercury retrograde that begins by Mercury creeping into Leo; stopping there; and then backing into Cancer. Astrology can work a little like a comic book; the story is easy enough to follow. Mercury is often said to represent money, but more to the point, it represents the awareness, including the awareness of abstract ideas. So Mercury arrives in Leo, your second solar house; making you aware of how resourceful you are. Then it retrogrades back into your sign and there are some weeks of inner searching, growth, and exploration around this theme. Mercury then stations again and heads back into Leo.

So there is a process, and it involves going through layers of yourself, and moving through those layers with awareness. At the moment, the layers are where your sense of "I am" (1st house) relates to "I have" (2nd house) moderated by some rather subtle ideas about yourself (Mercury, ruler of Gemini, your 12th solar house) as well as your thought patterns (Mercury, ruler of Virgo, your 3rd solar house). This kind of basic logic is how you think astrologically. No matter how advanced your astrology gets, coming back to this basic syntax works.

The late, beloved Lois Rodden of Astrodatabank has said that Mars is the money planet. You currently have Mars in Leo, your 2nd solar house; there, it is joining Saturn. Mars gets action; Saturn gets long-term results. Mars is the money planet because unless you're super duper lucky, you have to go get the stuff, or create and initiate (Aries-Mars theme) ways to get it. Mars grants the bold initiative that is going to get you what you need. But Saturn as I said grants long-term stability and the need for independence;  you currently have both factors working for you in your solar return chart.

But most important you have the Mercury factor granting awareness. That awareness, by all rights, will take you past the doubts that you may have about yourself as a water sign and as one given to responding to a doubtful world emotionally.

It would be wise to remember every day that you are not the person you were so recently. This is because you have lived through a long transit of Saturn in your sign, which compelled you to make some pretty big changes in your life. You are not the person you someday will be, because you are growing and because there are some very strong planets helping you rearrange many factors and get clear in your key relationships; and the person you are today is someone who has learned to both trust and value your place in the world.

More next week -- looking at the 8th house, Chiron in Aquarius, for Cancerians.++

Check out our new Eros area!
http://planetwaves.net/eros/

Published by Planet Waves, Inc. of Vashon Island, WA. copyright ©2006. All Rights Reserved. Planet Waves is a trademark of Planet Waves, Inc. To subscribe or for all editorial inquiries, please call (206) 567-4455. The horoscope originally appeared in a slightly different form as Destiny #6 in Woman magazine in the United Kingdom.

Subscriber Services: chelsea@planetwaves.net
Webmaster: anatoly@planetwaves.net
Reach Eric: francis@planetwaves.net