By: Mollie Moorhead, Soil & Stars | Resident Astrologer

New Moon in Cancer July 17

This is a very feelingful and possibly intense new moon. The moon is at home in the oceanic, emotional waters of the crab, where feelings are felt fully and deeply. This lunation occurs opposite Pluto, the planet which symbolizes the underworld and power. This could lend a certain intensity to our experiences here earthside. There is an opportunity here to embody personal power ('Do no harm but take no shit'), to excavate your own emotional terrain and accept any emotional triggers that may arise as opportunities to feel and integrate disowned parts of yourself, and to make peace with your past.

The Lunar Nodes change signs July 17 (or July 12th, depending how you calculate it)

The nodal axis is moving into Libra-Aries, where it will stay for the next 18 months or so. The nodes, which are always retrograde, have been in Scorpio-Taurus the past year and a half. The nodes are the points where eclipses happen, so as eclipses occur starting in October there will be more to say; as of now I don't think you'll notice anything.

Eclipses in Aries and Libra will mean very different things for you depending on how they hit your chart. If you track this, it would be a nice time to do a review of your experiences of this last cycle and how it has affected you. And if this is all new to you, don't worry about it unless you are intrigued, and in that case, you can read all about it online and/or book a reading with an astrologer to go deeper.

Mercury is in Virgo July 29-Oct 5

...and goes retrograde there too.

Everybody loves a good Mercury in Virgo. You can use this time, especially from July 29-August 13, to do some good thinking, writing, and crafting. When Mercury is in Virgo we can access more mental clarity, and communication of all sorts comes easier. Virgo also has the gift of seeing what isn't working - what's outmoded, inefficient, clunky, annoying or painful, but people have just been slogging through anyway. This is truly a gift, but can sometimes feel overwhelming or burdensome: Just take a breath, be kind, and take it one step at a time. During the retrograde period, it's more about reviewing and processing the past, perhaps refining and editing a project you have been working on.

Mars enters Virgo too July 11-Aug 28

Enjoy this transit to get some shit done. Mars will enter Libra next, which can be kind of a lazy vibe: You may just want to lie around, enjoy luxury and beauty, and contemplate life. SO, if you have a basement/spare room/closet/et cetera you have been wanting to clean out...sometime...this Mars in Virgo time is a good time frame to actually do it. Same for work tasks or digital decluttering and organization.