The Sun enters Cancer II The Walled Garden (in the naming conventions of Austin Coppock) on 1 July 2024 at 4:31 am EDT. Associated with the Three of Cups in Tarot, this decan was named by T. Susan Chang as Seize the Day, somehow apropos for the part of the chart associated with Hercules, the strongman of Greek myth. Yet it's message-bearing Mercury that is the planetary administrator of this decan, which overlaps with the Egyptian terms of Venus, Mercury and Jupiter.
It's weird that it's Mercury, though, because this decan is associated with Hercules. You know, the guy with the big muscles and the lion-skin armor? We tend to picture Hercules as looking like a muscle-bound, hulking he-man with tousled black curling hair and biceps like Volkswagen Beetles doing parking maneuvers on his shoulders. Mercury?
Maybe we should look to a different story besides the Twelve Labors, though. It's relevant that after the Labors, Hercules was pretty burnt out and depressed, and suffering from a high level of anxiety and stress around what his life had become. His colleagues and king had sent him off to the Trojan War to fight for ten years. We know, or rather suspect, what kind of horrors arise in soldiers' minds, being in direct, face-to-face combat with the enemy for years on end — and when you add onto that, another era of chasing violent monster all over the countryside, it's hard not to imagine that Hercules had gone crazy, and needed a little therapy. Or a lot.
He got it. The Delphian Oracle sent him off to live with Hippolyta, the Amazonian queen. She put on his armor and lionskin, and fought her own battles. He put on a dress and did his hair up like a woman, and sat with her spinners and weavers for a year and a day. At the end of his time with them, he was cured of his madness. Since his insanity had driven him to slay his wife and children, it wasn't an easy thing, even so — but at least he was no longer a frightening, fearsome beast of a human being.
The Walled Garden is also associated with the Three of Cups. In the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot deck, this is depicted as three women raising their goblets as they dance, celebrating the union of friendship and alliance in a hidden grove. It's powerful, I think, to realize that Hercules, the epitome of masculinity, was welcomed into the women's garden in the palace of the Queen of the Amazons... as long as he put on the garments of femininity, and humbled himself to do the work of women alongside them. The greatest hero of Greek myth did not consider himself so proud that he refused to do the laundry or mend clothes or cook —indeed, in these ordinary tasks he found his own peace of mind. We should all be so humble as to see that there's not really any cultural work that's truly, exclusively the domain of one sex or another — if Hercules can find healing in knitting, and Hippolyta can best a foe or two for personal satisfaction, so can anyone.
The dodeks of Cancer II are like 2° 30' segments that repeat these signs of the Zodiac: Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, and Aquarius — in these, they follow the path of the horny teenager, who doesn't understand this urgent excitement arising in their loins. The new wetness or hardness is a potion or a poison that can't be slaked. As a result, a a new fire arises in them, which uses all its technical, human, and feral prowess to seek release wherever it can be found. Whether that release comes in the form of a kick to the crotch, furtive masturbation, or awkward love-making, is the goat-fish's domain... and hopefully, the teen awakes like Aquarius in the morning, a little wiser and a little more cynical, but mostly none the worse for wear.
Planetary Placements
With the exception of Pluto in Aquarius, all the planets are on the eastern (or orientall) side of the chart, implying that this is a good month for initiating your own projects and programs, rather than waiting to respond to what other people do. Two and a half stellium are also active, with both Taurus and Cancer having three planets in them; and Pisces is not far behind with two planets just ten degrees apart. We're looking at a night chart, too, with the Sun below the horizon in the second house — making money and financial decisions one of the key themes to examine in your own life in the next ten days. Your temptation will be to pretend it's not a problem, but it's worth shining a light there, all the same.
The fact that it's a night chart gives considerable weight to the activity of Moon and Mars in Taurus in the twelfth house, who will reach a perfect conjunction later today (11:38 am EDT) in the ninth house. As they do so, they're likely to smear a range of challenges and emotional upheavals across our long-range plans (6 months to 6 years out), our friendships (who's been gossiping, who's been spreading ill-will?), our professional roles (the boss is yelling again), and our travel plans (this flight has been significantly delayed, again). Throw one hand up to heaven on Sunday night and pray for a good week, but expect a fair number of objectively bad situations to arise come Monday morning across a broad swath of issues.
But recognize that these are your issues to fix — alas, all these initiating planets are on the eastern side of the chart, and Jupiter in particular is in the house of self, in the part of Gemini called The Apple of Eden. Put those hands to work, and do what you do best.. Hold back the emotional upset, and get to work. Don't just stand there bitching and moaning about what's not working — claim whatever authority you can with gentility and graciousness, ask for voluntary assistance, and solve the problem.
Uranus is also in that twelfth house, by the way — and in the part of the chart called The Prayer Beads. There are some things that only prayer is going to fix, and if you haven't started a regular meditation practice yet, this might be a good time to start. Again, though — initiate, don't react. Take on what feels right to you, not what someone else tells you.
Up in the tenth house, Neptune and Saturn are a little more than ten degrees apart, and bringing energy to two basic problems: on the one side, your employer or supervisor may be in the throes of some exciting new commercial possibility or some new contractual arrangement — that you know is pie in the sky if not outright fantasy. Yet it's literally your job to support this crazy idea however you can. Are you going to drink from the firehose of crazy this week, or are you going to fish for the evidence that demonstrates what a colossally bad idea this is? Or... are you somehow going to do... both?? It's true that there might be commercial success in the midst of this mess, and that it will bring a lot of money to the firm you work for — but the place to concentrate on is the long-term question of who does the work, and what do they get paid? You may be able to save a few people's jobs by the correct application of negative information or positive enthusiasm — and one of those jobs might be your own.
Down in the second house, the Sun, Venus, and Mercury are activating the latter two decans of Cancer — this Walled Garden and The Overflowing Cup. How are you putting your resources to work, and what sorts of tasks are you trying to accomplish? Shine your flashlight into the dark corners of your personal possessions, and take the time to balance your checkbook. Are you doing as badly as you feared? Are your necessary expenses greater than your income? It may not be time to ask for a raise yet, but there's something to be said for knowing your worth and value right now, in real dollars-and-cents terms. You're obviously worth more than the mere monetary components of your life — but you need to know where the lucre is going as well as where it's coming from.
The Nodal Axis runs between Aries and Libra for about another six months, but you can consider that the countdown to their entry to Pisces and Virgo is starting to get serious. For now, assume that you are going to want to spend more time in the company of friends and allies, and on networking with professional colleagues — but that these bits of schmoozing will come at the expense of your hobbies or children. It may hurt to miss the soccer game or the first family cook-out of vacation... but you may need to go to that after-work farewell to a colleague who's moving on to a new job... you might be their next hire.
Most of all, remember to act, rather than react, this coming week. Starting your own thing is better than answering to someone else... and blowing up at someone who's done you harm or put difficulty in your path, won't be nearly as useful as setting your own plans in motion.
Horoscopes by Rising Sign
Decan I of any sign (usually covering the 21st of the month to the first of the following month) is free to all visitors; Decan II is only available to Patreon and Ko-Fi.com subscribers; and Decan III is available to Patreon, Ko-Fi, and MailChimp subscribers.
Gemini:
Cancer:
Leo:
Virgo:
Libra:
Scorpio:
Sagittarius:
Capricorn:
Aquarius:
Pisces:
Aries:
Taurus:
Colophon
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I use Christopher Warnock's The Mansions of the Moon as the basis of my Moon placement delineations, and Austin Coppock's 36 Faces for much of my planetary delineations. Neither gentleman endorses me.
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