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).
The Future: That period of time in which our affairs prosper,
our friends are true and our happiness is assured.
-- Ambrose Bierce
 

June starts out stormy, in the aftermath of the annular solar eclipse at 9 Gemini on May 31. Expect an upsurge in strong storms with high winds and heavy precipitation, inland and coastal flooding, and moderate to severe seismic activity (including Richter 5+ quakes and volcanic eruptions), all the way through the 7th. The whole world is subject to elevated geophysical stress during this period, so there's no place where it's safe to be unprepared for natural upheaval of one kind or another: have your emergency kit handy, allow extra time for weather delays if traveling. That said, there do seem to be areas of special risk for natural catastrophe through the 7th, based on astro-locality mapping and eclipse visibility considerations. These potential danger zones, if you will, include Scotland, Iceland and Greenland, parts of the Middle East, Africa, and Europe; plus northern Canada and parts of Alaska; also along a north-south line running from Copenhagen down through Rome and into Lebanon and along the southwest coast of Africa.

Frankly, the lunar dynamics of early June are such that the storm and seismic risks will remain elevated all the way through to just past mid-month. That's because the solar eclipse window merges immediately into the northward lunar equatorial crossing on the 9th, which in turn melds with the lunar perigee on the 12th; and then the June 14 full moon effect takes hold and hangs on 'til the 17th.

Powerful forces are unleashed not only in the sky and crust of our home planet, but also in the human collective, under the aegis of the May 31 solar eclipse. As I mentioned last month, this is the first central eclipse in Saros Series 147, which began in 1624 (a time of rapidly expanding European colonialism, as well as the middle of the Thirty Years War, the last of Europe's great religious conflicts). Given Jupiter's opposition to Neptune in the eclipse - just a few days before their exact alignment - ideological extremism is the norm in the solar eclipse window that stretches from May 24 to June 7. The road to hell is paved with good intentions at times like this, as fanatics sacrifice anyone who gets in the way to advance their so-called noble ends. Deception, fraud, financial and economic delusions and the like are part of this trend too: watch major world markets scramble to an unsustainable crescendo. It all builds toward a peak in late May-early June, under the solar eclipse and the Jupiter-Neptune opposition. Gold and oil, after a brief retreat, strengthen as the dollar slips from a temporary plateau. The turning point comes around the time of the full moon on the 14th, I suspect.

There's a strong Uranian theme to June, what with Uranus making its retrograde station at 3 Pisces on the 7th and Mars aligning with Uranus at that degree on the 23rd. SARS and other infectious diseases will likely burst out of containment here and there around the world all month - but especially around these dates. It's not just SARS mind you, and it isn't even just natural outbreaks of disease. Mars-Uranus could indicate poisonings, deliberate or accidental - the latter likely due to transportation accidents and industrial mishap. And the former of course, what with that ideologically-charged Jupiter-Neptune alignment early in June, would be just the kind of thing some fanatical terror group would love to engineer "for the betterment of the world." (Suicide of a more private and puzzling sort may be on tap as well, perhaps involving a cult, perhaps just a few tormented souls content to take themselves out and leave the bystanders be.)

A rough time for offshore oil rigs, ferries and the like - especially from the 14th (full moon) through the end of the month, and perhaps most notably around the 23rd (when Mars and Uranus align, Mercury and Venus oppose Pluto, and the Sun is conjunct Saturn). On the plus side, June somehow looks very positive for space exploration and undersea adventure: surprises are due. Speaking of which, an unexpected turn of events in the North Korean and Iranian nuclear standoffs could help defuse what will otherwise develop into an uglier kind of surprise this summer. There's even an off chance that a clique of terrorist thugs might announce a stand-down, hoping to snooker their intended victims into relaxing their guard.

After a relative lull following the full moon, storms and seismic activity pick up again from the 21st through the 23rd (as the Moon crosses the celestial equator northward), and again from the 26th through July 2nd under the aegis of the new moon at 8 Cancer on the 29th. Watch for headline-grabbing storms (high winds and heavy precipitation) and moderate to severe seismic activity (mainly Richter 5+ quakes, possibly volcanic eruptions as well) during this period; also some coastal and inland flooding. Somehow, it looks as though farms, ranches and mines will suffer most from heavy weather as June turns into July; although some agricultural bread (and burger) baskets will take a beating from unseasonable drought and heat. Remember to have your emergency kit ready and keep your gas tank full, just in case. If you must travel, allow enough flexibility in your schedule to work around weather-related delays during this geocosmic risk window.

SPECIAL FEATURE: This month's birthdays of the famous and infamous (with astrological birth charts)