Welcome to the first full moon of Summer 2026 and the Cancer Solar Festival Cosmic Weather Forecast!
Your intrepid hosts Jane and Curtis have been stargazing again.
Chart of the constellation Cancer and neighboring constellations, from Fortin's 1776 Atlas Celeste de Flamsteed,
We've been enjoying the nightly spectacle of Moon, Jupiter, Venus and Mercury all more or less conjunct in Cancer in our Western skies for the last couple of weeks, which has been synchronous with a feeling of ease and grace, a felt sense of gentle flow threading through our lives.
We hope you have also been enjoying the generally positive skyscape enfolding us since the last Cosmic Weather Forecast and the Festival of Humanity.
Now the tempo of life accelerates, and we must all get up and dance to the music of the celestial spheres!
This week the Strawberry Full Moon in Capricorn lights up the night sky, featuring a complex, dynamic set of planetary aspects, setting the stage for America's 250th Fourth of July Independence Day celebration.
Throughout July we will experience a set of unprecedented astrological configurations that could indicate the beginning of the end of the current world order, and the emergence of a set of new global power players whose interactions will define a new chapter in humanity's evolutionary journey.
The Sabian Symbol for this Capricorn Full Moon is An Angel Carrying a Harp, signifying humanity's recognition of the transcendent spiritual realms of being that nurture and sustain us in our earthly existence.
Summer is the time of the yearly seasonal cycle when will forces are rising within human beings, plants dance toward the sun, and all of nature is energized by Mother Earth’s outpouring of Universal Life Force energy.
This outpouring energy is directed by the Archangel of Summer, Uriel, who presides over the activities of the angels, devas, nature spirits and elementals in the mineral, vegetable, animal and human kingdoms.
These beings of Light help minerals, vegetation, animals and humans to grow and develop to manifest the physical embodiments most closely corresponding to the energetic templates outlining each individual Earth being’s development in accordance with karma, environmental conditions, weather patterns and many other variables.
Mosaic of the archangel Uriel in St John’s Church,
Boreham Road, Warminster, Wiltshire, England
James Powell and Sons of the Whitefriars Foundry,
Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Archangel Uriel, who presides over the summer season, is the Master of Universal Life Force Energy, which originates as Subtle Fire in the Divine Mind and descends through the subtle energy realms until it penetrates material reality, infusing the physical plane with the loving wisdom that is the Living Light, the Holy Spirit.
This Subtle Fire is the Source behind the Source of life that burns at the core of Mother Earth, the secret fount of kundalini energy. This Subtle Fire emanates from the Spiritual Sun and ignites the magnificence of the physical Star we know as Sol.
Uriel presides over the marriage of Energetic Forms found on the causal plane of existence with the appropriate flavor and measure of Universal Life Force energy necessary to provide a template for the birth, growth and complete development of minerals, plants, animals, planets and stars.
This energized growth template, or morphogenetic field, as biologist Rupert Sheldrake calls it, surrounds the space in the material world where the physical being manifests, and this energetic template triggers the birth of and guides the growth of stars, worlds, plants, minerals, insects, animals and humans alike from the beginning of their life cycle until the end.
To commune with Archangel Uriel, the Elemental Kingdoms, and the entire web of life on Earth, during the summer months, observe the growth patterns of plants developing from sprouts into mature beings and feel the energy fill the air around you, including the flying insects and “creepy crawlies” we find in abundance in our yards, gardens and farms.
Timelapse of growth of a strawberry, captured for about 40 days and post-processed
Tomas "Frooxius" Mariancik, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Observe the outpouring of energies in all of the elements of nature.
Water is full of life too.
All this life is busily engaged in the most important and constructive phases of these life forms' yearly life cycles.
Sit and meditate upon the pattern of growth that any one of these beings is experiencing.
Meditate upon the pattern of growth of all the beings in a small grove of trees, in the weeds, or a small pond, or a stream near you, or your garden or your lawn.
Imagine them in their various elements and see them in fast-forward in a movie in your mind’s eye as they transform from spring’s promise to the fulfillment of summer’s joyous dance of life and light.
The first notes of that dance-tune are sounding now!
For more on the summer season, and for a guided meditation to connect with the Great Mother during this season of fruits, flowers and fertility, we offer you our blogpost entitled Summer Solstice, Archangel Uriel and St. John's Day.
This week's Full Strawberry Moon offers us an ideal moment for contemplation of the natural world, which will provide a welcome respite from the demanding and conflicted energies visible in the starry skies.
At the time of the Full Moon on Monday June 29th, we have a Cardinal T-Square with Sun in Cancer and Moon in Capricorn, both tightly squaring Neptune in Aries, and with both luminaries broadly square to Saturn in Aries.
Tension is high.
Stress abounds.
Patience is in short supply.
The collective consciousness is high-strung and tends to over-react.
The planetary aspects align with relationship difficulties, general emotional frustration, and physical ailments associated with stress.
Chronic conditions can surface for healing at this time. Be gentle with yourself and others.
Saturn Devouring His Son, Francisco Goya, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Saturn in Aries gives us the Zodiac's Grand Taskmaster on steroids, and you can best flow with this energy by accepting the need to work harder to reach your spiritual and material goals.
Up your game or let it go with Saturn in Aries.
Saturn square Sun and Moon tends to stifle emotions and self-expression, but if we can remain relaxed, open and grounded, we can best exercise our will forces, deepen our concentration, focus our energy, and achieve more than we ever thought possible in every area of life.
Saturn in Aries will reward us for embodying our inner spiritual warrior! No pain no gain in every area of life!
Saturn and Neptune together in Aries support disciplined consistent work involving creative projects and spiritual practices, ritual, meditation, movement, music and dance.
When we harness the combined energies of strict, disciplined Saturn and imaginative Neptune, we can enjoy accelerated progress in all these realms of life.
NASA Webb telescope’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) image of Neptune, taken on July 12, 2022, brings the planet’s rings into full focus for the first time in more than three decades.
Processing by Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Naomi Rowe-Gurney (NASA-GSFC)
As you can see in the picture above, between the ice giant's faint rings and its cloud of dust bands extending deep into space, Neptune's boundaries are far from clear.
This Full Moon we would do well to exercise discernment in every dimension of life.
Propaganda and attempts at mind control will proliferate.
Creativity can flourish when we work with Neptune's powerful impulse to fuse with the collective consciousness, and we can use the increased sensitivity Neptune confers to penetrate intuitively to the heart of all situations in our lives.
Empathic connection to others can be strong, and discernment is required to separate our own emotions from the leaky energy of all those with whom we are connected.
Personally, I have been performing a special meditative technique designed to sever the unwanted cords of subtle energy connecting me to those people who are perhaps inadvertently transmitting toxic emotions and thoughts to me for one reason or another.
We offer a step by step to guide to this releasing work in our blogpost entitled The Archangel Michael Meditation.
Archangel Michael Defeats Satan, painting by Guido Reni circa 1636,
On the mental plane of existence, discernment is also a requirement with Neptune in fiery Aries.
We can easily be overstimulated during this Saturn/Neptune in Aries transit.
There is a tendency to develop an emotional attachment to the flights of fancy we experience at this time.
So if you have a sudden brainstorm at 3 am that inclines you to change the direction of your life, you might want to wait a few days before committing to a completely new love, career, or religious tradition.
Another kinetic aspect energizing the sky this Full Moon will be a Mars/Uranus conjunction in Gemini.
As we promised in last month's newsletter, "for months to come, Uranus in Gemini, the Planetary Joker in the Zodiacal deck of archetypes, electrifies humanity's collective consciousness, jolting us into action -- for good or ill!"
Mars/Uranus conjunctions in Gemini are associated with sudden eruptions of violence.
Mushroom cloud over Hiroshima as smoke billowed 20,000 feet high and more smoke from the atomic explosion spread over 10,000 feet at the base of the rising column. George R. Caron, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Mars and Uranus were conjunct in Gemini on August 6, 1945, when an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima by the United States Air Force.
There is the potential for sudden, dramatic military actions, acts of terror, mass shootings, and brief outbursts of collective and individual mayhem this Full Moon, and beyond.
On a personal level, beware of rash or impulsive behavior no matter what the provocation.
If life just doesn't make sense, or if you are presented with unexpected, burdensome challenges, trust the Universe and respond in a Spirit of loving wisdom, secure in the knowledge that accelerated spiritual development requires intensification of our spiritual practices to meet the demands of the dawning Age of Air and Fire!
Fortunately, there are positive, supportive aspects to both Uranus and Mars in Gemini this Full Moon.
Constellation of Gemini, Alexander Jamieson Celestial Atlas, 1822
Alexander Jamieson, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Mars and Uranus in airy Gemini both form trines to Pluto in Aquarius and sextiles to Neptune in Aries, so the collective consciousness is tuned for maximum communication on the superconscious, conscious and subconscious realms of existence.
Take advantage of this golden opportunity to share hopes and dreams, wounds and fears with those in your circle of family, friends and workmates.
Be sure to listen with compassion to those around you.
Make it your practice to create space for others to share their stories, even if you are tempted to tell them so much about your story that you leave them no room to respond in kind.
On July 4th, as America celebrates its 250th birthday, Uranus and Mars will still be conjunct in very early Gemini, so the inflammatory planetary energy will still be in full force, lending a distinctly martial vibe to the nation's celebrations, and potentially triggering military action in one or more global hotspots.
Nine of Swords, Waite Tarot
This card and planetary placement indicates agonizing mental machinations, especially a somewhat paranoid attitude towards the rest of the world, and an aching sense of vulnerability that can be transformed into belligerent attacks on everyone around.
There is no peace of mind here.
There is also the potential for schizophrenic, two-faced interactions with others, especially with family, friends, neighbors, and perceived enemies.
America's founding rested on a culture of cruel slavery. That correlates with the Nine of Swords.
America's Civil War was a totally schizophrenic reaction to the horrifying collective guilt arising in slave culture, and cruelty was a hallmark of that bloody conflict.
America has been involved in a grand total of 242 military conflicts since its birth. It's easy to see a correlation with the Nine of Swords and Mars in Gemini.
The United States birth chart as calculated by London astrologer Ebeneezer Sibly, which is commonly used by the astrological community, features Mars at 21º 22' Gemini and Uranus at 08º55' Gemini, so although the two planets are not at all conjunct they are both in the mutable sign of the Twins.
This Mars/Uranus in Gemini alignment in the US birth chart, indicates an affinity with the Nine of Swords and a tendency to engage in explosive attacks utilizing advanced technologies to dominate other countries.
As we celebrate America's 250th birthday, and ponder the US birth chart, it's worth meditating upon the course of the 25 year long Global War of Terror which has cost the US an estimated 8+ trillion dollars and resulted in 900,000+ total deaths.
Lone Survivor Wanders Through War Torn City, Alex Shuper For Unsplash+
Licensed under the Unsplash+ License
Yet today, America obviously does not feel safe despite its 25 year long global Crusade.
We are at war with Iran, we are involved in a prolonged bloody proxy war with Russia in Ukraine, and we have just kidnapped the President of Venezuela and coerced the Venezuelan government into opening their country to exploitation of their minerals and fossil fuels by US companies.
President Trump is blockading Cuba and clearly attempting regime change there.
We have just increased our yearly military budget from $1 trillion a year to $1.5 trillion, so that we can be prepared for direct conflicts with Russia and China.
We have weaponized the entire global dollar based financial system and all the Silicon Valley technologies we sell to the rest of the world so we can wage economic war on our perceived multitude of enemies, and at the same time lock them into a technology supply chain that provides US companies with outsize profits and unlimited opportunities for spying on enemies and allies alike.
And yet we do not feel safe or secure in the richest country on Earth, so we are planning to expand our wars of choice around the world.
Hopefully this July 4th will not see any dramatic new escalation of existing conflicts.
We don't need fireworks like that.
On July 4th, the Sun in Cancer squares Saturn in Aries, indicating potential blockage of authentic self-expression, so any number of factors, including the political polarization in America, economic issues, or even military actions abroad could dampen the holiday spirit.
The Moon in Pisces squares the infamous Uranus/Gemini conjunction, which will inflame sectarian feelings, feed intolerance, promote insecurities, and create a general atmosphere of nervous tension.
By July 4th, Jupiter will be moving through the first degree of Leo, opposing Pluto in Aquarius and in trine to Neptune in Aries.
For those on the path of Spirit, Jupiter in Leo brings a sense of joy into life, activates the energy of Ray 2, the Ray of Love and Wisdom, and supports spiritual practices designed to bring the lower mind into alignment with Higher Mind and Higher Purpose.
Jupiter in Leo is the perfect antidote to the potentially explosive energies of the Mars/Uranus conjunction in Gemini!
So that's lucky!
On the other hand, the Jupiter in Leo opposition to Pluto in Aquarius provides energetic fuel for any megalomaniacal Plutonic tendencies floating around in the collective consciousness
The Jupiter/Pluto opposition will feed the Plutocratic classes' uncontrollable urge to utilize their power to control us and enrich themselves.
This powerful Jupiter/Pluto opposition also comes with a warning label for anyone concerned about their financial situation.
Pouyan Zolfagharnia who writes for Merriman Market Analyst, a popular financial astrology newsletter, is warning that the Jupiter/Pluto opposition of 2026 could coincide with a financial market meltdown -- and a major American war at the same time!
"Seven of the last 10 transits [of Jupiter in Leo] resulted in a 4-year or greater cyclical trough in the Dow Jones Industrial Average," warns Financial Astrologer Pouyan Zolfagharnia . ". . .The opposition of Jupiter to Pluto in early Leo is also indicative of an abrupt bursting event. Therefore, I am looking for the 18-year market crest and trough to occur within the upcoming transit of Jupiter through Leo."
Let's analyze the situation by looking at events in financial markets. First, I'll go over some historical background, and then we can see if Zolfagharnia's predictions seem credible to us.
In the last fifty years there have been three major financial market meltdowns that have accompanied deep recessions.
First, in 1971-73 -- "With inflation on the rise and a gold run looming, President Richard Nixon's team enacted a plan that ended dollar convertibility to gold and implemented wage and price controls, which soon brought an end to the Bretton Woods System," according to the Federal Reserve History website.
The US had organized the Bretton Woods global monetary management system to structure, stabilize, and control financial markets and money flows around the world, at the end of World War II, creating the IMF and the World Bank in the process.
The Nixon Shock, as it was called, triggered a global financial crash and recession.
The S&P 500 lost 43% in 1973, the same year OPEC put an oil embargo on all countries supporting Israel, creating the infamous global oil shock that turbocharged inflation and generated tremendous economic pain.
Elvis meets President Richard Nixon at the White House, Washington, D.C, 1970
Ollie Atkins, chief White House photographer at the time. See ARC record.,
To recap, an Imperial Presidency blows up existing global structures created by the United States in 1944, imposes vast surcharges on imports, and imposes command and control systems on the American economy while war in the Middle East creates a global oil shortage.
Oil and monetary flows are weaponized as a result, contributing to the debacle.
This all sounds familiar.
President Trump wants to have the US government invest directly in all AI companies, which is very much command and control economics, not free market economics.
Trump is blowing up global financial and military alliances, and the international monetary and trading frameworks that underpinned decades of global free markets.
Trump, siding with Israel, has succeeded in weaponizing the economics of global trade while losing his war with Iran -- so far.
Now the Iranians control the Strait of Hormuz and will be collecting tolls from all ships passing through it, if it ever reopens, if the current negotiations ever result in a lasting peace.
So this is probably just as bad as the OPEC embargo of 1973.
So yeh, as you can see multiple major causative factors that led to the 1973 global crash and recession are present today.
The Legendary Pets.com Sockpuppet,
The second major financial crash and recession began in the year 2000.
The Dot Com Crash was caused by investors in the warm embrace of irrational exuberance who invested in new technology companies at insane valuations, far in excess of their profitability.
Pets.com was one of the most celebrated dot com highflyers, and the Pets.com crash was historically memorable.
"Its popular sock puppet advertising mascot was interviewed by People magazine and appeared on Good Morning America," according to Wikipedia.
The sock puppet is pictured above.
Now we have the recent SpaceX Initial Public Offering.
Elon Musk's company IPO'd three weeks ago at a record $1.77 trillion valuation.
The stock has since collapsed from $225 to $153, a 32% drop in seven trading days.
"SpaceX generated $18.7 billion in revenue and had a $4.9 billion net loss in fiscal 2025," explainsThe Motley Fool, an investment website that rose to fame during the Dot Com bubble. "The company also incurred $20.7 billion in capital expenditures, which was higher than its fiscal 2025 revenue. SpaceX is trading at a very rich valuation of nearly 118 times fiscal 2025 sales."
Is SpaceX worth 118 times its 2025 total sales figures over the long run?
And what about Oracle?
Tech billionaire Larry Ellison's superyacht Musashi, Tony Hisgett from Birmingham, UK,
CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Silicon Valley billionaire Larry Ellison's boring old technology infrastructure company, Oracle, which was historically valued at a robust 30X earnings, is suddenly supposed to be worth 64 times earnings because of a $300 billion cloud deal with OpenAI, and promises of about $500 billion in future orders, contingent on OpenAI becoming profitable enough to pay Oracle.
But Oracle does not have the data centers required to fulfill the OpenAI cloud contract.
They will have to borrow even more money to build them super fast over the next five years, because Oracle is highly leveraged already.
"The total debt for Oracle (ORCL) stock was $129.541 billion for the period ending in May 31, 2026," according to FinanceCharts.com. "That's up 39.94% from the same period last year."
Wall Street investors have noticed that Oracle has jumped the shark.
"Oracle’s stock fell 19% this week, the steepest drop since August 2001, the depths of the dot-com bust," CNBC reported on Friday June 26th.
Can Oracle, already burdened with high debt, afford to spend billions more borrowed dollars expanding its data center infrastructure in order to fulfill its part of the bargain with OpenAI?
So far OpenAI has not shown any profits.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says he expects the company to lose $44 billion by 2029.
In 2025, OpenAI generated $13 billion in revenue, far below the $60 billion annual payment to Oracle.
The fate of OpenAI relies on what is increasingly looking like an uncertain prospect: they need hundreds of millions of people to pay a lot more money for software tools and services in the near future.
What could go wrong? We're just blowing bubbles after all.
Bursting Bubble, by Point Normal For Unsplash+, Licensed under the Unsplash+ License
The relatively opaque derivatives market made once in a lifetime profits during the boom by selling huge amounts of Collateralized Mortgage Securities, and then the bubble burst, exposing the large Wall Street trading companies and banks to vast, unexpected losses.
In 2026, relatively opaque private credit giants like Apollo, KKR, BlackRock, Blue Owl, Cliffwater, and Partners Group, are financing the debt that tech giants and AI companies are onboarding to maintain their world historical spending spree on AI.
"Private credit continues to provide a majority of early-stage AI infrastructure development capital, while private equity remains active in platform-scale data center investments, mature AI-enabled buyouts, and add-ons that help embed AI across portfolio companies," according to the May 2026 Artificial Intelligence Q1 2026 Global Report, by the white collar law firm of Ropes and Gray.
It's not a good sign that these private credit black box entities have begun gating redemptions on their evergreen funds.
In plain English, if you invested your money in those firms, you might find that they would not allow you to take your money out of the fund you were in. Only a certain percentage of investment dollars in total could be withdrawn by all investors during any given time period.
So, as in 2008, massive investment companies operating outside the purview of traditional financial regulators are fueling an unprecedented tech boom much larger than the Dot Com bubble ever was, and investors are already being denied access to their funds.
What, me worry?
In 2026, AI companies are driving the entire American economy, while in 2000, the Dot Com bubble was mainly confined to the NASDAQ stock exchange and did not cause a major recession outside the world of high tech firms.
AI analyst and New York University Professor Gary Marcus has pointed out the fragility of the American AI Bubble publicly and loudly for years.
In a recent article in the Financial Times, Marcus says that "In placing massive hyperscaling bets, investors are setting lavish expectations about future earnings. But LLMs are not likely to replicate the near monopolies that have made the market power of current tech giants hard to assail. A better analogy for them might be airlines, which are hobbled by small margins, intense competition, high expenses and dependence on hardware created by outside vendors.”
Yet, history doesn't repeat itself, it rhymes.
Financial markets, economies, countries, cultures, seasons, and people all move in cycles.
Planets move in cycles, and voila, astrology is born!
Simplified Kondratiev Financial and Economic Cycles, 2009,
On Wall Street there's a science of long term cycles, short term cycles, and micro cycles.
It's part of what's called technical analysis of stocks and markets in general.
To recap, here in 2026, as a former financial editor and writer, and as a former Executive at Ameritrade during the Dot Com bubble and crash, I am seeing a lot of echoes of 1973, 2000 and 2008 right now, in summer 2026.
Imperial President. Check.
Wars and oil shocks in the Middle East. Double check.
Tariffs fueling inflation and disrupting global supply chains. Check.
Anti-free trade policies. Check.
Command and control economics. Check.
Irrational exuberance in stock markets. Check.
Massive flows of financial capital from black box pools of hot money driving historically unprecedented credit sprees. Check.
I don't offer investment advice, nor do I advocate market timing strategies, but it's clear that in 2026 we see the simultaneous presence of the underlying causes of the financial meltdowns of 1973, 2000 and 2008.
That's just an oversimplified view of the current SuperBubble in the stock market by a former financial journalist, utilizing the most basic techniques of historical analysis.
Take all I say with a grain of salt.
But when astrologers come to the same conclusions about financial markets as market analysts with a historical perspective then I know that it's time to pay close attention, mitigate risks wherever possible, and prepare for the possibility of financial meltdown and economic crisis.
I think most people see a new Jupiter in Leo cycle as very positive, regal, dramatic, expressive and generally bullish.
But that common perception may be mistaken, especially with a Jupiter opposition to Pluto in the mix.
Jupiter's climate features larger than life storms after all.
And we may be in for stormy military conflicts during the Jupiter in Leo cycle, not just financial hurricanes.
"Since World War II, this cycle has shown a particularly notable correlation with heightened conflict and instability in the Middle East during Jupiter’s transit through Leo," Pouyan Zolfagharnia explains in a recent edition of Merriman Market Analyst. "The Gulf War and the Iraq War both took place during this transit."
It may be that the Iran War is not at all winding down this summer, after all, if this message from the stars proves correct.
As I write this on the evening of Friday, June 26th, the ceasefire in Iran has been broken by Israel in Lebanon, by Iran, which fired on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, and by the United States, which attacked targets in Iran in retaliation for Iran's attack.
Given that Benjamin Netanyahu has a long history of using ceasefires in Israeli conflicts with Arab neighbors as a time out so he can rebuild his forces and prepare for bigger attacks, it may be that Donald Trump is simply doing what he has observed his lifelong friend, Benjamin doing for many years.
Maybe Trump needed to refill the strategic oil reserve and replenish depleted stocks of munitions and the ceasefire isn't really intended to turn into a lasting peace.
There are a host of cynical voices, realists in foreign policy matters, who suspect that could be true.
Maybe the Iran war could be a start-stop war, like the Israeli wars in Gaza and Lebanon, only much, much bigger and more consequential for the entire Middle East and for the global supplies of liquid natural gas, oil, fertilizer, nitrogen, and much much more.
And if America does engage in yet another major war of choice with Jupiter in Leo amplifying the animal spirits of our war loving Mars in Leo Commander in Chief, Donald Trump, the results may not live up to the Donald's habitual hype.
As legendary astrologer Maya del Mar pointed out in 2005, "The U.S. progressed Mars is now in the process of turning retrograde. It will travel in reverse mode for the next 80 years."
President Donald Trump speaks with the press at the White House Easter Egg Roll,
Monday, April 21, 2025,on the South Lawn. (Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok)
"With a retrograde, behavior is not mediated through conscious reaction to a realistically perceived world," explains Maya del Mar.
"Rather, we are driven deeply into unconscious motivations, which seem unpredictable, and over which we do not have control," says del Mar. "Prisoner torture, and the acceptance of it, is an example here."
"We also tend to live in the past, and to respond to conditions as they were in our past, rather than as they are now," del Mar continues.
"The retreat of much of the U.S. into its Puritan and evangelical origins, including the denial and ignoring of scientific findings, is one among many examples of moving backwards," the legendary astrologer concludes.
But military adventures abroad are not well aspected.
With the US progressed Mars retrograde in Libra, the sign of Mars' downfall, there are questions about the readiness of the US military to fight a major war.
It would be typical of such a transit for the US to engage with an enemy in a major conflict, then quit halfway through, only to decide later to resume the war, without achieving victory at all.
If that scenario reminds you of the Iran War, you are getting the big picture with clarity.
Any seasoned astrologer would caution the US President against military adventurism in 2026, but with Jupiter in Leo triggering Donald's Mars in Leo, rash, unpredictable, arrogant belligerence could become Trump's default setting.
On the other hand, the 80 year backwardation of America's Mars indicates that Trump - and America - could suffer as a result of Trump's compulsive impulse to conquer and rule the world through military aggression, economic warfare, and subterfuge.
With Mars in Gemini hooking up with Uranus in Gemini in July, there could be fireworks all through the month.
Restraint is in very short supply.
To make matters more interesting, July 2026 marks the beginning of the US Uranus Return, as the Rebel Planet returns to the same degree of Gemini it inhabited in the US Birth Chart, pictured below.
The third Uranus return of the United States at 8° 55' Gemini occurs in July 2027, but Uranus will be activated in the US chart from 2026 – 2029. The Sabian Symbol for 8° 55' Gemini is A Quiver Filled with Arrows, symbolizing America's propensity to use highly advanced Uranian military technologies in unexpected, even revolutionary ways around the world.
Uranus was in Gemini in 1774 and in 1775-1781, spanning the entire Revolutionary War and the building of the new nation.
Uranus returned to Gemini at the onset of the Civil War through the 1860s, which saw the rollout of the transcontinental railroad, a novel technology that revolutionized life in America.
Three cent stamp -- Transcontinental Railroad 75th Anniversary single, 1944
U.S. Post Office -- U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing,
Uranus appeared again in the sign of the Twins from August 1941 through June 1949, spanning the era from the most intense fighting of World War II to the beginning of the Cold War, including, as we have seen the first use of the Atomic bomb.
One way or another, it's highly probable that by the time Uranus has exited Gemini, foreign military engagements, partisan internal political battles and revolutionary new technologies will combine to drastically reconfigure life in America.
Expect a transfiguration of the American political system and of the global American Empire.
And that's just the tip of the Uranian influence in 2026.
In July 2026, Uranus figures prominently in a set of complex outer planet aspects that many astrologers say will redefine human civilization completely.
Astrologer Andre Barbault,
Andre Barbault was one of the most significant French astrologers of the Twentieth Century.
He pioneered a psychological approach to astrological interpretation that became extremely influential in France, and beyond.
In 2011, Barbault predicted a global pandemic would occur in 2020, and this prediction has cemented his fame worldwide.
In his book Planetary Cycles: Mundane Astrology Barbault made a prediction about 2026 that has triggered a tsunami of astrological commentary online, in social media, and on YouTube channels this year.
“The next conjunction of 2026 is centrally placed at the beginning of Aries and is in a triangular quartet of planets with a double sextile to a trine between Uranus in Gemini and Pluto in Aquarius," Barbault explained. "It is the most benefic configuration of the century, and its interplanetary partnership will work for the best in a splendid relaunch of civilization.”
Neptune and Saturn were conjunct at the Zero Point of Aries on February 20, 2026 and both were sextile to both Uranus in Gemini and Pluto in Aquarius at that time. Pluto in Aquarius was trine Uranus in Gemini.
Astrologers call that configuration Barbault's Basket.
Saturn Neptune Conjunction at Zero Aries Point February 20, 2026
The Saturn/Neptune conjunction at the Aries Zero Point is a long cycle event that marks the transition to a new phase of human civilization. The last time astrologers had seen that planetary duo at that exact point, the beginning of the entire Zodiac, was over 6000 years ago.
We discussed the importance of this epochal astrological event, and its historical antecedents in great detail in our August 2025 Aquarius Full Moon, Leo Solar Festival Cosmic Weather Forecast and in our Preview 2024-26, Leo Full Moon, Aquarius Solar Festival Cosmic Weather Forecast.
But the Saturn/Neptune in Aries conjunction is just one part of Barbault's Basket, a much larger, more complex outer planet configuration, indicating even broader and more far reaching civilizational implications.
Saturn, Neptune, Uranus and Pluto will remain in the same signs they occupied in February 2026 more or less continuously through 2028, making a series of harmonious aspects to one another during that time, so the full power of Barbault's Basket will extend for years to come.
And that's just the beginning of the influence we will feel in the aftermath of this epochal astrological spectacle.
This appears to be the beginning of a new 6,000+ year long cycle in human history, and we are privileged to be on Earth at the time when this new civilizational cycle is being born!
Practice discernment and seek clarity, because the downside of these powerful long term outer planet aspects is that political and financial interests will use technological innovations, characteristic of Uranus in Gemini, and monopoly power, typical of Pluto in Aquarius, to manipulate the collective consciousness of humanity for their own benefit.
It is true that Barbault's Basket could amplify the power of the Plutocrats who control the Uranian cloud capital embedded in our advanced technologies and the politicians who want to use this technology for surveillance and control.
The same constellation of smooth, flowing outer planet aspects also will empower groups who want to use the combined energy of Saturn and Neptune in Aries to envision and manifest new political paradigms and new ways of being in the world over the next decade and beyond.
The old consciousness of the Plutocrats, based upon rational materialism and pseudo-Darwinian neo-Eugenics, relies upon force majeure, technologies of mass surveillance, and vast sums of campaign finance funds to achieve domination of the many by the few.
The new consciousness of those who seek to establish a new post-hydrocarbon civilization is based upon recognition of the primacy of energy and consciousness, and the unity of the entire web of life.
This new consciousness relies upon the development of goodwill and right human relations everywhere on Earth and relies upon creativity, intuitive insight, and collective political action to empower the people to optimize their shared future.
Those who participate in group work to manifest collective solutions to the world's pressing problems will be empowered by the energies of Barbault's Basket as we begin a new 6,000 year cycle.
Those who seek inner spiritual guidance from the highest realms of the collective consciousness will be empowered by the very same aspects that fuel the dark machinations of the Plutocratic masters of our global economy.
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That is the promise that the Mystery School Guides and Teachers of the East and West have made to suffering humanity.
Theosophists say that in 2025 the activation of a stream of the first ray energy of will and power by the forces in Shamballa will create a choice point for humanity and they will choose either to cooperate in a spirit of goodwill or face purification by fire and water and steam.
Either way humanity's collective daydreams will soon come to an end.
The new consciousness is visible only in embryonic form at this time, and even its earliest stirrings are shrouded in astral, Neptunian fog, but we can expect that this new way of being in the world will reveal itself more fully during the next few years, while Barbault's Basket hangs in the sky, and for many years to come after that.
But make no mistake, there will be a global struggle between the Plutocrats and the people, and it will be waged in the collective consciousness of humanity.
The next few years represent an apocalyptic battle for the soul of humanity which will be visible in the astral realms, inscribed with figures composed of fire and air.
We will individually and collectively choose either peace or war, compassion or exploitation, empathy and right human relations or unbridled greed.
These choices are representative of the higher and lower vibrations of the energy of Saturn in Aries and Neptune in Aries.
The lower vibrations of Saturn and Neptune in Aries can manifest as extreme fundamentalist religions, racist political formations and predatory ruling classes engaged in a war of all against all on the world stage.
Such exclusivistic group minds create rigidly hierarchical Saturnine societies replete with autocratic rulers, rapacious elites, and powerful priestly castes.
They utilize Neptunian tactics of propaganda and mass deception to control and militarize the members of the group mind in preparation for wars of conquest and exploitation.
These Neptunian societies often unite to elevate warlords who extol purity of race and bloodline, reinforcing the Saturnine boundaries between the superior human beings who possess the true faith and/or superior genetic inheritance and the sub-human outsiders who are to be exploited, suppressed and even killed.
The Last Angel, painting by Nicholas Roerich, courtesy Wikimedia
The higher vibration of the Neptune/Saturn conjunction in Aries represents the infusion of the subtle energy of the fire element into the Neptunian collective consciousness -- the awakening of Higher Mind catalyzed by the presence of the Holy Spirit-- and the Saturnine grounding of this fiery energy of Holy Spirit in new social relations, new inventions, new artistic creations, and new religious experiences, unmediated by any priestly elite, and unbound by the scripture found in any holy book of revealed truths.
It is up to each of us to choose our destiny at this moment of the Saturn/Neptune conjunction at the Aries Zero Point.
The choices we make as individuals and as a species will ultimately be reflected in the world around us.
The collective consciousness gives birth to humanity's New Age, an age of Fire and Air.
Curtis and Jane, Selfie, Reynolda Gardens, Winston Salem, NC 2025
We send you Reiki Blessings, love and waves of light from our garden spot in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains.
Meditation Moment: Prelude to a Revolution, by Traci Brimhall
We go to prison windows and pass cigarettes, tangerines
and iodine through the bars. Anything we think
could heal a man. Assassins kiss our fingers.
Mercenaries sing us songs about unbroken light
as we mend their shirts. The bilingual murderers recite
lamentations in one tongue, and in another, young myths.
We fold and unfold our shawls, and the men squint
into the sunlight, dumb with hope. Some days they confuse
the walls of their cage with their skin. Some days,
the sky. They see their deaths in the sweat darkening
our dresses. To sweeten the hours we share scandals
from the city, how curators removed an elephant's heart
from the museum because it began beating when anyone
in love looked at it, how the coroner found minnows
swimming in a drowned girl's lungs. They ask if it's true,
if slaves are chained together on ships to prevent suicide.
We say they'll never be free. They warn us one night soon
the judge will wake to find his bed alive with wasps,
while across town the night watchman will stare stunned
at the moths circling before he realizes he's on fire.