July 2018: Friends or Lovers or How is this gonna work?

The July 27 total lunar eclipse at the full moon will bring up for many people that age-old dilemma: are we friends or lovers?

 and how is this gonna work?

The Leo Aquarius eclipse brings the instinctual Lion energy in opposition to the conceptual human. In a sense they represent ancestral past and evolving future - after all the Age of Leo prevailed in the time of the Great Sphinx 4 or 5,000 years ago and the Age of Aquarius is where we are gradually transitioning to in the present century. So how is this going to work ? -for humanity in general, so accustomed to living through the romantic impulses of the heart of the Lion and less used to the detached and independent style of relating more as friends than mutally possessed objects with sometimes life or death consequences. Leo is all about drama remember whereas Aquarius say "chill".

This is a very fixed eclipse - all the zodiac signs related to stubborn patterns are featured - Leo Sun, Aquarius Moon, Leo-Aquarius lunar nodes, Mars in Aquarius, Jupiter in Scorpio and Uranus in Taurus - and they all play a role in making this a turbulent time in trying to resolve the dilemmas around relating dynamics.

All the fixed signs are very intent on their survival - money, power, attention, independence are all in this mix -along with insecurity, jealousy, possessiveness, love, hate, shared assets - as well as the typical Aquarian cool, intellectual detachment, intent on the freedom to come and go and preferably not make any big commitments.

This issue of what are we? now strongly faces people in their attempts to connect.

Trying to find words to define something that may be experimental and against the norms or prior personal experience. This is the age of wide spectrums so in theory anything goes - until the primitive emotions try to get on top and control the situation. 

The shifting tide is towards Aquarius so there's opportunity on your side to try doing things differently to how you have done them in the past when it comes to the sequence of meet, like, feel attracted, lots in common, sex, living together and commitment. The recipe can be rewritten.

The costs and benefits of your relating dynamics are on the table during the 6 months of this eclipse period and for many this will come down to choosing friendship over sexual intimacy or intense friendship over being in a lovers arrangement.

Some relationships will be restored, healed, intensified through well reasoned mature arrangements under the effects of this eclipse.

The commitment or freedom argument is still likely to arise for many but the most successful responders to this eclipse can use compassion and empathy to resolve issues of insecurity, possessiveness and challenges to ego or self esteem in order to take a chance on relating in a way that blends freedom with commitment.

Some will crash and burn due to excessive unrealistic expectations and projections -not seeing the other clearly, as they really are - or where the mind-altering effects of drugs, alcohol or fantasy really create an out-of-touch, wishful thinking bubble in which relating is expected to succeed. It wont.

This eclipse is paired with one in early July which has strong themes of relating in a general way

Astrological factors considered:

The collection of synergised energies from 2-6 degrees : Uranus, Chiron, Saturn, Mars, Sun, Moon, lunar nodes. The fulcrum of these is the Saturn-Mars connection and these two link exactly to the Venus Pluto trine using 24th harmonic.

Jupiter trined with Neptune pick up Venus and therefore Pluto tags along.

Adverse conditions challenge Thailand Cave Rescue

In Chiang Rai Thailand a team of 12 local juvenile soccer players and their assistant coach entered a complex cave system on Saturday 23 June after football practice.

Due to a flooding event there were quickly forced further into the system and unable to make an exit.
A rescue operations base has been set up in the system's third chamber which is 1.7kms inside.
It is believed that none of the boys can swim which severely challenges a plan to teach them quickly enough to safely use scuba gear..
Detailed timeline of the cave entrapment & early rescue phase

Astrological factors in effect

A cave/mine or tunnel is an environment reflecting Pluto  energy

Saturn is an obstructive restrictive energy.

These two forces synergised give the potential for being trapped underground.
Water energy is Neptune
Flooding is Jupiter combining with Neptune.

The Entry Date: group enters cave complex

Saturday June 23 Saturn 6 Capricorn. Pluto 20 Capricorn. Synergy point is 13 Capricorn. Capricorn is the energy of rocks and walls. Saturn and Pluto combine to describe a difficult confining environment. Jupiter 13 Scorpio joins in as potentially a freeing energy but since March 9 2018 its retrograde status causes a holding pattern to prevail over action or movement.
Since June Jupiter has been combining with the water indicator Neptune bringing extreme water in diverse world locations. The cave complex is a prime venue for these forces due to regional monsoon factors which occur seasonally from early July.

Jupiter is close to resuming its active phase but progress in any related field [such as adventure, exploration, sport,] is likely to only pick up from the 9th or 10th of July.
The question is whether the big release of energy when Jupiter recharges at that point will coincide with extreme monsoon flooding and intensified life-threatening conditions.
The themes of the building solar eclipse which have already cast their shadow back into June due to the effects of Saturn and Pluto intensify exactly as Jupiter unleashes and build further in the 7 day window either side of the exact eclipse on July 13
With the prevailing forces posing elemental [water/Neptune] and environmental [cave confinement /Pluto-Saturn] challenges along with the inexperience of a young male group [reflected by Mars currently in Aquarius [attached with some significance to the lunar nodes] the high risk indicators surrounding the solar eclipse [the pairings of Pluto-Saturn  Neptune-Jupiter and Uranus-Chiron being all potentially hazardous this situation will cause great concern for the professionals tasked with extracting the group.
The wait it out or try to dodge the monsoon dilemmas will cause much indecision as both options pose problems and threats to life. A true Catch 22 situation.
For expanded detail on the overriding themes of the July 2018 solar eclipse -refer to Lessons in Relating

Astrology notes:
update July 11 The best possible outcome occurred on July 10 local time with all the team rescued. The energy of Jupiter going direct would have brought about immense supportive energies and due to the combined collective willpower of millions of global observers tuning into the combined energies of Jupiter Neptune and the Sun occurring in all of the feeling signs - Scorpio Pisces and Cancer the energy was transmuted from potential flooding disaster to beneficial supportive and compassionate assistance both in practical terms and in all the mind energy focussed on success. Compare this situation to the conditions present in severely flooded areas of Japan where in excess of 150 deaths so far have occurred due to big water flooding causing loss of homes and suffering for families. In Japan the worst possible outcomes of current energy were played out - compared to the global support directed to Thailand which would have undoubtedly played a huge role in raising the best energy.

A Twitter post sums up the gratitude for the global input:

Another tweet on July 11: recognition of "the power of love"

[update July 12 - Boys were given sedative to control any risk of anxiety during rescue In astrological terms  drugs in general, especially mind altering medications or recreational drugs are signified by Neptune. ]
Night
One of the trapped boys called Night turned 16 on 23 June [the same date the cave was entered by the group] giving him a birthdate of 23-6-2002. On his date of birth the north node at 18 Gemini has Saturn conjunct at 20 degrees. The south node 18 Sagittarius has Pluto conjunct at 16 degrees. These factors alone describe entrapment in a cave on an excursion with a sports team.
His pre-natal eclipse [June 10 2002] at 20 Gemini reinforces this imprint.
Natal Jupiter at 21 Cancer opposed by transiting Pluto at 20 Capricorn on June 23 2018 may have profound effects on his family bonding & his future parenting.

Background news reports & relevant commentary with ongoing updates:
Entries in descending order

July 2 The locating of 12 young Thai boys and their team coach after 9 days within a 10kms long cave system - miles/kms -current position reported variously at several kilometres deep from the exit/entry point of rescuers raises the connection with prevailing forces -especially the Jupiter [big] Neptune [water] factor as their predicament was due to flooded channels in the caves.
Rescuers were told to think of the boys "as their own sons''

This event impacts many families and resulted in an international co-operative rescue effort - two themes that also reflect in advance the July solar eclipse themes noted.

Time is definitely critical in this situation given the forces of nature reflected by planetary factors in the mix . An efficient recovery of the trapped group in a life-threatening situation is urgent in advance of the potential issues indicated by the mid month eclipse
Thai army says boys could be in cave for months due to monsoon rains if they cannot be taught quickly to use scuba gear to enable their own exit. The rescue is regarded as highly complex and complicated.
With Jupiter's direct movement from mid July it will then quickly accelerate to reach much closer contact with Neptune [exact trine is August 19] as a weather indicator this is a sure sign of severe flood events in diverse global locations through August.

Children in foil blankets
US-Mexico immigration crisis and Thai cave rescue both involve children and confinement in the June to July period.
Saturn is the main signifier of confinement and restriction
Leo is the energy of children and Aquarius is group energy.
During June 2018 Saturn was aligned with the lunar nodes in Leo-Aquarius, locking in place the challenges seen to unfold for both groups -including the long slow progress in resolving their plight -aggravated by the involvement of Saturn energy but worsened by Mars [action] being retrograde in Aquarius - late June to late August.
Fast resolutions are increasingly looking unlikely in both situations

JULY 5

plan of the cave system

Challenges evident in rescue plan for boys in cave

July 6 A Thai Navy SEAL diver has died around 2am local time after running out of oxygen during transit of the cave complex. This reinforces the degree of adverse forces surrounding this event currently and in effect right from the initial evening when the cave was entered

July 8 after a clear decision was made 18 divers entered the cave system from 10 am local time for the purposes of phase one of a rescue plan. Water levels were regarded as at their lowest since the entrapment occurred on June 23 allowing some sections to be walked and providing a small window in which to act.

four boys were rescued.
July 9 with sustained pumping of water out of the cave system and despite some rainfall conditions allowed for a second rescue attempt: four more boys rescued

Lessons in Relating -Dissolving Fixed Patterns July 2018 eclipse

Humanity's biggest challenge lies in the territory of relating: all of the Cardinal signs - Aries, Libra, Cancer, Capricorn have this as their core essence and these signs being structural markers of the four seasons show how intrinsic in nature this balancing of forces is, of necessity

the four seasons corresponding to the 4 Cardinal signs

July 2018 at mid-month New Moon features firstly a potent cardinal sign solar eclipse with Sun Moon in Cancer directly opposite Pluto in Capricorn.

Saturn in Capricorn and Chiron in Aries lock in a strongly overriding theme of relating through the 6 month period of effect.

As typical with eclipses pre-triggers reveal the theme in advance

"significant events cast their shadow before them" 

US 2018: children separated from immigrant parents

In America the nation [echoed by the observing world] arose in mass protest over the hardline Trump policy of separating and placing children in cages & in internment camps as highly punitive method of dealing with illegal immigration.

The Cancer-Capricorn themes stand out immediately - families, parents, housing - as people outside of the US southern border seek to relocate for better opportunities to raise their families. The hardline energy arises under Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn. Chiron in Aries shows how wounded people feel by being treated inhumanely.

So with this theme highly profiled in America -and being played out wherever in the world that people are desperate to exit their dire circumstances for the promised land -it looks set to continue to be clear that major changes in how relating energy is used, how we treat other humans [as well as any other species] is high on the agenda.

Bearing in mind that energy is a highly mutable phenomenon and when multiple energies synergise the product of those combined forces can express anywhere along the spectrum of very positive to very negative - depending upon the response of the person or group or environment that the energy is affecting - under that same array of forces some of those affected will rise and progress toward greater goodness while others will regress, decline and become more debased.

The relating factors reflect the cardinal sign prominence at this eclipse - but the key changes required involve the mutable sign dissolving energy [courtesy of Neptune & linked in factors] to overcome fixed patterns [Taurus, Scorpio Leo and Aquarius feature significantly and are being urged to be expressed differently due to Uranus, Jupiter, the lunar nodes]

This summarising interpretation of prominent forces 

being expressed at this eclipse applies to all of us.

When considering potentials of an event such as an eclipse [eclipses have collective significance] the most alarming aspects are importantly raised as an advisory against being pulled back further into degraded patterns of behaviour. At the same time as that risk occurs great opportunity arises to resist worsening the collective problem - in this context it is how we treat other people - this critical juncture is a point at which each of us can say I am no longer part of the problem I am part of the solution. 

July 2018 at the mid-month eclipse the balancing force in play in an effort to moderate the hardline approach of Trump comes courtesy of Neptune and the relevant contributions from Jupiter Uranus and Mercury . 

These 4 factors occupy 13-17 degrees  -either directly [JUP MERC, NEP] or by semisquare - Uranus - and Chiron can be seen to tag along with a 17 degree semisquare -showing that the woundedness people feel in mirroring the separation trauma [SAT squ CHI] drives a passionate belief [Jupiter in Scorpio] in empathy, compassion, humanitarianism [Neptune in Pisces] 

The stress, confusion and insecurity generated [Uranus in Taurus semisquare Neptune] by witnessing or experiencing such a primal loss as the tearing apart of families, of parents from children [Pluto in Capricorn = the state as an abusive parent, acting as a destructive force, an overreach of power [Pluto-Saturn = Jupiter midpoint] ...the collective pain is a transformational opportunity. 

That is the level of consciousness needed to counter the destruction unleashed. People need to find their goodness through this type of calamity. The energy forces of Jupiter and Neptune are working to offset the disempowerment and terror.

Fundamentally this eclipse meaning is about relating in every context -from the Self to the Other to the familial , local  and global: valuing the self in a self nurturing way, valuing others as fellow humans, demonstrating true parenting and valuing that role as a provider and nurturer, showing collective leadership in mentoring fellow citizens towards emotionally healthier communities.

Families and homes are so intertwined -both in life and in astrology [Moon and Cancer] that this energy of force promoted in the eclipse period also places homes housing and shelter under threat [update: July 4 Israel plans to demolish a Bedouin village in the occupied West Bank. A land confiscation notice was left by military, bulldozers brought onsite in preparation ]
[update July 7 -allegations of historic sexual abuse in New Zealand involving pedophilia and a pedophile network show the push back against the excesses and control mechanisms of patriarchal power [Capricorn and Pluto energies]

All these levels need to be effectively functionally in place for the four cardinal energies to provide the structure in human life as they do in the cycle of the seasons. We are not distinct from nature. We are nature.

Having said that...the disturbed energies amongst the human collective are fed back into the natural environment, perpetrating sustained turbulence in the energy currents.

The level of effect of human consciousness has far more of a role to play than pollution does - though that behaviour reveals the impact of collective disturbances of mind.

Our current state of shared thought consciousness is unbalancing natural forces and resulting in extreme environmental events. The worse we become so too will the consequences escalate and this eclipse of July 2018 continues to indicate the effects of excess water and the consequences upon the land, structures, dwellings and shelter with consequences for people and lifestyles.
Whether extreme water prevails or hazardous fire dominates a local landscape is related to localised resonance with the elements in play.

[updates July 6 - the high northern hemisphere temperatures with associated fatalities correspond to the destructive power of Jupiter in Scorpio mass deaths theme. Canada stands out with 33 heatwave-induced deaths in Quebec.  Other locations on other northern land masses declaring record high temps. In this context Jupiter increases Neptune energy & is very weakening to the point of life-threatening. Mars [heat/fire] attached to the lunar lodes is a general indicator of the combustibility potential - and human anger in a rising tide as the month of July unfolds ] 

[update July 6 -Tourist boat sinks July 5 evening off Phuket Thailand - another big water event with mass fatalities ]

[update July 8 The New York times headline for July 7 is 

Japan Reels From Heavy Rains; Dozens Killed and Millions Evacuated -this being an expected outcome of prevailing forces particularly Jupiter in Scorpio joining with Neptune in Pisces - mass deaths from extreme water is a worst case scenario of this combination in whatever global locations have the relevant energies in place for this outcome ]

The meaning is clear in human affairs that have human as well as environmental consequences: the fundamentals have to be restored. 

further additions and updates from July 2 onwards

The Thai cave rescue story is highly relevant to the eclipse themes. The story has evolved to the extent that a dedicated post has been created including content shown below with further analysis & updates:

Adverse Conditions Challenge Thailand Cave Rescue

Detailed timeline of the cave entrapment & rescue phase

The boys entered the cave system with their coach on Saturday  23 June after football practice.
A rescue operations base has been set up in the system's third chamber which is 1.7kms inside.
It is believed that none of the boys can swim.

           

Children in foil blankets
US-Mexico immigration crisis and Thai cave rescue both involve children and confinement in the June to July period.
Saturn is the main signifier of confinement and restriction
Leo is the energy of children and Aquarius is group energy.
During June 2018 Saturn was aligned with the lunar nodes in Leo-Aquarius, locking in place the challenges seen to unfold for both groups -including the long slow progress in resolving their plight -aggravated by the involvement of Saturn energy but worsened by Mars [action] being retrograde in Aquarius - late June to late August.
Fast resolutions are increasingly looking unlikely in both situations