I feel we all live in our heads so much of the time that when we are faced with a circumstance that forces us to acknowledge that we really do have a body to care for, it sometimes comes as a bit of shock. I suppose if you are an athlete and reading this, you are laughing at me. It’s true, as an astrologer and a writer, I spend most of my days thinking.

When I was wheeled to the outside of the operating room on the morning of June 12, wearing the special blue paper surgical gown and shower cap to cover my hair, it occurred to me that some things in life have to be faced straightforwardly, and gone through by ourselves without help. I feel these experiences make us stronger and also more compassionate of others.

Yet, then I thought about how lucky I was – so many of you, dear readers, said you would send a prayer for me when I posted on Twitter and Facebook that I was about to have an operation. You responded so warmly, far beyond my expectations, and it made my heart swell. Thank you so much.

Your life is on fire! So much activity! Transiting planets are mainly on the angles of your horoscope wheel, which corresponds to the north, south, east, and west points of a compass. These points define future direction. When planets gather on these points, they become very energized, far more so than usual. The busy parts of your chart are shown to be your career (tenth house), your home (fourth house), your serious committed relationship if you have one (seventh house), and finally at the last and most important point, your personal dreams and desires (first house). If you have no spouse or steady date, you may have an important collaboration in the business sense who is figuring prominently, or soon will.

As you begin July, you may feel you need to take a rest. Mars went retrograde on June 26, and will stay retrograde until August 27. When the energizer bunny Mars is napping, we see how slowly the pace of life becomes. Mars is the gas you put in your car, but with no gas, you can’t get very far.

Pluto, your other ruler (Scorpio has two ruling planets), also has been retrograde since April 22, and will go direct September 30. Of the two planets, Mars is the more important one, for planets that orbit closest to earth (Mercury, Mars, and Venus) have the most noticeable effect on your daily life when retrograde.

Mars goes retrograde only rarely, every two years. Because Mars is one of your two ruling planets, this period is sure to affect you, and you will need to be patient. The best way to handle Mars retrograde is to go back and rethink your plans. Tweak projects you are working on now, and find better work methods. Mars is retrograde in your home and family sector, and will stay there until November 16, so you will be fairly obsessed with making changes to your home or lifestyle. By November, you will feel much more settled.

In terms of business, this would not be the right time to launch an important new product or service. Mars rules courage, determination, and drive, as well as the will to win over competition. When Mars is retrograde, however, you may lack motivation to be the best and feel overwhelmed with the strenuousness of the task.

To add to this situation, Mars’ brother, Mercury, will go retrograde from this month on July 25 to August 18, you can see how it will be nearly impossible to make progress. Clients and executives whose approvals you need will be hard to reach, and if you do finally link up, you will find top management to be indecisive, perhaps because they need further feedback from others, too. Mercury rules communication, so while it is a good idea to test the market by sending up trial balloons to refine your strategy, it’s not the time to run with the banner for a full-blown product or service introduction.

    If you can take a vacation, do it in early to mid-July, your very best time to go. August, with an eclipse in Leo, will bring shifts in your career, and you will need to be back to home base to oversee all that is happening.

Now let’s look at July in detail. When the month begins, you will have a gorgeous aspect, one of the best of the year, on July 5. That is when Jupiter in Scorpio will receive golden beams from the Sun. If you will be on a trip at this time, you will have chosen a wonderful time to go. This is an outstanding day, perfect for key meetings.

A week later, a new moon solar eclipse is due, July 12, in Cancer 21 degrees. This eclipse has some sublime aspects to it, but one very tough one. First, the eclipse will fall in your ninth house, ruling foreign people and places, international relationships, citizenship, immigration, visa, and green card. It also rules academia, and the media in terms of publishing and broadcasting, as well as the legal system. This is basically an intellectual house of learning and sharing information, too. Ancient astrologers always felt that travel was one of the most important ways of learning about the world around you, especially foreign travel and working relationships.

Something will come up on or just after July 12 that will draw your attention to one of these areas. A very bossy, difficult client or manager in your company seems to be on the rampage, and may be pressuring you unnecessarily over a matter that does not warrant getting so worked up about. If it is not a client or boss, it may be a ruthless competitor who seems to be suddenly pulling out all the stops to get a bigger market share by taking away part of yours.

This sounds overwhelming, but keep in mind that an eclipse in Cancer is highly compatible with your birthday Sun in Scorpio, a good sign that whatever matter you will need to untangle will be something you can do with ingenuity. If your birthday falls on November 13, plus or minus five degrees, you will be in a very good position to benefit from this eclipse, in terms of love, travel, matters related to children, leisure time, the media, legal moves, and academia. I say this despite the bossy person nearby – or that mean competitor who will do anything to get a piece of your pie – you seem to have plenty of good things happening elsewhere in your life at the same time when this eclipse occurs.

I had said that this eclipse has a number of sublime aspects, and those will come from not one but TWO golden triangles that will appear in the heavens at the very same day of the eclipse. This is extraordinary! I can’t ever recall seeing TWO such heavenly triangles of harmony appear at once, yet that is what is occurring on the July 12eclipse, a new moon. No matter what, it will open new opportunities for you, especially in terms of foreign trade, despite the antics of the domineering, self-absorbed, and very unfair person or competitor.

The first golden triangle will link Jupiter, ruling your happiness and your deepest desires. Jupiter in Scorpio will beam Neptune in Pisces, found in your fifth house of love, fun, leisure, romance, and children. Both planets, separately, will send beams in a triangular formation to the solar eclipse in Cancer, falling in your ninth house of travel. This is as divine as you can ever hope to see. It’s near impossible to get these planets in perfect mathematical harmony, but that is what you have now.

The second golden triangle will link Venus in Virgo in your house of friendship and events. Venus will link in a friendly way to Saturn in your house of quick short travel, and to Uranus in your partnership sector. You may be invited to a party or other celebrative event where many friends will be present and that will only be a short drive from where you are based. If you have a spouse or steady sweetheart, that person will come with you, too.

It is alternatively possible that you will be the one giving the party, perhaps for your engagement or actual wedding. In this case, Pluto might come in the form of your mate-to-be or as an in-law who is insisting on a pre-nuptial contract. In that case, talk it over with your sweetheart, and if necessary, enlist a lawyer help you navigate this touchy subject diplomatically.

The month’s next eclipse, a lunar full moon eclipse, will be the tougher of the two, and I feel be the hardest eclipse of 2018. It will arrive July 27 in Aquarius, 5 degrees, drawing your attention to your home and family. If July 27 is not moving day for you, perhaps you are looking at spaces and will find one within days after this full moon eclipse arrives. Or, at this time, you may settle on a plan to move in February. One way or another, you seem very set on changing the nature of your space, either by moving or redecorating.

The difficulty with this eclipse is that Uranus will be in hard angle to the moon and the Sun at the same time, in both cases sending a 90-degree square beam, which denotes unforeseen obstacles. Your Sun rules your career, so you will have two fronts to juggle, demands of your home life and that of your career. Things will happen very quickly at eclipse time, so you will have to stay on your toes. If you travel in July, make sure you are back by month’s end, for you will want to be there when things start to happen regarding your home, other property you may own or rent, or regarding a family member, most likely a parent or someone you think of as a parent.

Travel is written all over your chart and will give you the needed rest and rejuvenation you so dearly need. A short trip that you may have taken at the end of last month, at full moon, June 27, seems to have been for business. If that was true for you, it was not exactly an easy trip – finding client agreement would not have been easy, and you may have decided this deal will take more time to complete. If you took that trip for pleasure, it’s clear you had a very clear-cut goal to complete, and it would take a lot of will power to make it happen. Having said that, wild horses could not stop a Scorpio from his or her quest – the smart money is on you, dear Scorpio. I am convinced that you could accomplish anything you put your mind on.

At the same time, last month, a family member, whether a parent, sibling, cousin, spouse, ex, or other relative, may have brought news that concerned you, too, so as you enter July, you may feel everyone, in every corner of your life, needs you to drop everything and attend to their needs. There seems to be no other option but to spend early July tying up loose ends on all fronts.

One of the best days of July will happen quickly, on July 5. If you find you will be away on a trip at this time, you will have chosen a blue-ribbon four-star day to be on distant shores. You have the possibility for so much fun!

Even more travel is indicated for you at and after the new moon solar eclipse July 12, and this time, may have you traveling farther away, and for joyful, personal reasons. Good fortune Jupiter in Scorpio will beam fine rays to this eclipse, so you are likely to enjoy luxurious accommodations, and have a very good time. You need time off, so by all means consider taking a vacation in early or mid-July. Choose to go to a new location – somewhere that you’ve never been before but always wanted to see. Jupiter in Scorpio is expanding your horizons and helping you see that this year, the world is your oyster. Neptune will send beams to this eclipse from your true love sector too, giving you inspiration and possibilities for experiencing breathtaking romance.

Pluto, however, will be in difficult direct opposition to the Sun and new moon solar eclipse on July 12, which may bring a distraction from one of a number of sources. You may have family tensions or concern about housing. Your ninth house will be brought into the discussion; so alternatively, you may need to untangle a legal matter, or one involving an international relationship or immigration matter. Or, instead, you may be concerned that a media story has portrayed you incorrectly.

If you work in publishing or broadcasting, alternatively, you may be concerned that if you are not present at the office, others will be making decisions for you, and of course, those won’t be ones you would have made. If you are in college, you may need to address a situation with an official, perhaps to line up your date to take an exam, hand in a paper, or defend your thesis.

At the time of this eclipse, someone near appears to want to dominate you, or act in an unfair way that makes it clear this person will want you to follow their rules, like it or not. You may feel contained, overwhelmed, or checkmated by this person in a highly unfair way. For now, you may feel powerless to turn events to your favor.

When Pluto forms an opposition, as it will on July 12, it can bring on a feeling of being dominated, with no recourse to negotiate. To mount a resistance to this person may seem akin to fighting City Hall. The decision is yours as to whether to do battle or remain silent, but it may help to know that things should gradually improve in months ahead. Still if you are outraged, stand up for yourself.

Your efforts to find a new apartment, house, roommate, or contractor or to deal with any other topics related to home will come to an important point, or even a conclusion, at the lunar eclipse, a full moon in Aquarius, 5 degrees, July 27. Some sort of change seems to be bubbling up, and changes will be happening quite suddenly regarding home and property or in relation to a family member, and you will need to stay alert.

Mars will again be in hard angle to surprise-a-minute Uranus, from July 27 to August 1, the very planet ruling your home sector. This aspect can bring on emotional or physical results. Think back to May 16 and see what happened then. This aspect happened then, and is repeating at month’s end. You may be able to get a clue of what might come up, although with Uranus, you can never know. His very nature is to bring on all things unexpected.

To be careful now, never leave a room unattended while candles are burning, and be careful not to overload electrical outlets this month. If you are not sure about the condition of the wiring in your house or apartment, ask an engineer to have a look. This is important advice when Mars and Uranus are not in sync – Uranus rules the electricity in your home and Mars rules candles.

Sometimes Uranus, when clashing with Mars, can trigger arguments at home, so tread carefully if you are dealing with a family member, a roommate, or someone involved with your home, like a contractor, landlord, or decorator. This is not the month to discuss politics or other controversial matters.

No one of any sign will find the last week of July easy, as completely unexpected events are likely to surface suddenly like a geyser shooting out of the ground. For example, you may not see eye-to-eye with your broker’s advice, or in a different way things may work out, you may not get along with your roommate. If you want to buy a house, a seller may not accept your bid, or worse, accept it, only for you to find out you will need to make costly repairs you that were never told about at the sale by the seller or the appraiser.

Mars, one of your ruling planets, will be retrograde in July and August, so a setback is possible but may actually be a blessing in disguise. Mercury will be retrograde from July 25 to August 18 too, and this will not help matters – wait, for this is not a favorable time to make major home or family-related decisions, nor to make any decision on any front for that matter.

Later, in hindsight, you will see that what you “lost” you really gained, for you dodged a bad situation. Admittedly, your nerves will be on edge near July 27. Full moons bring information to light and help you move on – you will get another chance to buy or rent a new space or to create a beautiful decor in September or in early February 2019, but maybe just not now.