If you were expecting some kind of sun sign nonsense, forget it. This is real astrology. See the section above. Please note: this forecast is expressed in terms of Universal Time (UT).
Things are heating up in the heavens this month. In some cases this a continuation of trends from last month, as for example the Mars retrograde. It began May 11 and intensifies this month, as the Red Planet partakes in alignments with Jupiter and the Sun June 12-13. As I warned - and as validated by the escalation in Arab-Israeli conflict and the intensification of the Macedonian civil war since Mars went retrograde in May - this is part of a cycle that emphasizes violence and conflict, fires and accidents. It's a cycle that continues throughout June, peaking right around mid-month but never really fading away or backing off. A couple new elements this month further stir things up, including Mercury's retrograde (June 4-28) and the June 21 solar eclipse. Rounding off to the nearest degree, the same spot out in space is key in both cases: 0 Cancer is where Mercury begins its retrograde, and it's where the solar eclipse takes place.
June is one of those months when you either keep your wits about you or you get mowed down like a summer lawn. With Mercury retrograde from the 4th through the 28th, most of the month is under the dominion of Murphy's Law: whatever can go wrong delights in doing so. Double-check everything, sleep on it, and then check it again before committing yourself. Figure that no one is giving you the straight story the first time around, and ferret out the facts. Beware depending on the commitments others make in good faith: something unforeseen is apt to screw them up, and that can make you vulnerable. Communication and transport are a special focus anytime Mercury's involved, and you can expect snafus aplenty in these areas throughout this retrograde period. Have a backup plan ready, book direct flights only, figure on weather delays and people hanging around waiting on people who were supposed to come through but didn't. On a more positive note, Mercury's retrograde cycle is excellent for fixing mistakes and organizing old records - if you can stay on-task.
A special feature of this Mercury retrograde is its concurrence with the Mars retrograde and in particular the Mars alignments of June 12-14. (Mercury joins the line-up on the 16th.) Temporary breakdowns in major transportation, power and communication infrastructure are to be expected just about all month, but the really dramatic ones are due around mid-June. Fires, accidents due to human error or even criminal intent, and weather are contributing factors. Be ready to leave the beaten path, to be as independent as possible. Otherwise, be prepared for the consequences.
Speaking of criminal intent, the mid-June Mars alignments represent a peak in the murder and mayhem generally associated with the Red Planet's retrograde cycle. You know the drill: more atrocities (on both sides) than you can shake a stick at in Israel; more ETA terror bombs and assassinations in Spain; civil wars heat up in Indonesia and Macedonia and elsewhere, etc. And more saber-rattling in the Middle and Far East . . . not to mention ingenious terrorist attacks directed toward Americans at home and abroad. No sweat, no Armageddon . . . but a lot of innocent victims nonetheless.
As I wrote in last month's forecast, these Mars alignments are planetary configurations, and so they apply to everyone here on Planet Earth. If you don't think this means you, you're in way over your head. That said, the sign and planet combinations involved in this year's Mars retrograde do seem to point at a few targets in particular. The US, Spain and the Middle East are among the indicated focal points: domestic crime and terrorist attacks are likely to be on the increase in these areas, unfortunately. (This comes at a time when the US Declaration of Independence chart is experiencing multiple major alignments from the planets in space around us.) Astro-locality special risk zones for this alignment include Mexico and Central America, the upper part of the Indochina peninsula and western central China, as well as northern Japan. Islamic fundamentalists are bound to be at the bottom of some of the most notable terror attacks to happen during this cycle. But they are far from being the root of all evil at times like this.
Look for more of the same kind of major equity market trends I described last month: mainly choppiness, nothing catastrophic. Some of the smart money is likely to be locking in profits by selling off (or shorting, more likely) when brief panics set in around the 6th, 15th and 29th - give or take a couple days either side of each date. (Bigger, longer-lasting panics are due in August and late October or early November.) If you're a real investor with a time horizon greater than three years and you own quality stuff, you're okay to sit tight anyway.
While there are several lesser risk periods - see my 2001 lunar perigee and declination tables - the heavy hitters on the geocosmic front this month are the usual dynamic duo: the full moon on the 6th (in effect June 3-9) and the solar eclipse new moon on the 21st (in effect June 14-28). These are the periods to watch for an up-tick in storms and seismic events (volcanic eruptions and Richter 5 or greater quakes), severe storms with heavy precipitation and strong winds. Flood risk will be higher than usual as well, due both to high tides and heavy precipitation. You know the drill: keep an eye on the skies, have fresh water and batteries and candles handy, be ready just in case.
The whole world is prone to the seismic and meteorological extremes of the June 21 solar eclipse, but Western Europe, south-central China, the Pacific coast of the US and Canada, the Rocky Mountain and New England states, south-central Mexico and the whole of New Zealand appear to be at particular risk.
SPECIAL FEATURE: This month's birthdays of the famous and infamous (with astrological birth charts)
