The big news this week is that Jupiter enters Cancer, where it is “exalted.” This means that overall, when a planet is in the sign of its exaltation, it is considered to be doing its best work. Given that Jupiter rules such things as happiness and good fortune, one might be tempted to think that everything will be coming up roses for the next 10 months.
However: Jupiter never promised you a rose garden. This may seem particularly obvious on Wednesday, when the Moon is Void of Course virtually all day in North America, and just to top things off: Mercury goes retrograde. An astrologer should never make any sweeping pronouncements based on just one indicator, but in this case, a Void Moon plus Mercury retro equals “nothing gets done on Wednesday.”
Although Mercury retrograde isn’t the end of the world, between now and July 20th is a time when communications, agreements, and new projects are a little more likely to go off the rails than usual. Although undoubtedly there will be many good days ahead for many of you, let’s not assume that any one planet entering anyone sign is a magic bullet that will solve any problems. Nonetheless, a mood of “luck and good fortune” (if nothing else) should be more obvious than it has been during Jupiter’s long trip through Gemini, a sign which is considered to be a bad neighborhood for the solar system’s biggest planet.
So: if you find yourself with big dreams and aspirations on Tuesday, then find yourself disappointed on Wednesday when things go nowhere fast, Thursday might give you the opportunity to recover a bit. That’s when Venus enters Leo. The romantic forecast calls for increased drama and happy but bold little gestures of affection.
The upshot of this week is that if you have any major placements in your birth chart around the zero degree mark (plus or minus a couple of degrees) in any sign, you won’t be able to completely avoid the effects of Venus and Jupiter changing signs. Lucky you: both planets tend to have a gentle touch, and although there’s no guarantee it will improve your love life, odds are good your social connections will improve somehow.
So: since Jupiter rules gambling, and Venus in Leo loves a dramatic gesture, why not roll those dice and see if your love life is a winner this week?