You’ve probably heard the myth of Icarus, but I’ll tell it again, because it’s a good one to keep in mind over the next few months.

Back in the days of King Minos, who was the son of the gods Zeus and Europa, a craftsman named Daedelus built a labyrinth for the king. Minos needed this labyrinth to contain the Minotaur, the homicidal half-man, half-bull child of his wife, Pasiphae, with a white bull that…well, it’s a long and complex story involving a pissed-off Poseidon, extreme sexual calisthenics, and an ambitious, morally-challenged king. You can read more about it here.

But for our purposes, we need only know that once Daedalus had built the labyrinth, King Minos decided that he and his family must never be allowed to leave the labyrinth because they knew too much about that oh-so-embarassing Minotaur. Both Daedalus and his son Icarus wanted out, so Daedalus set about building a set of wings for each of them, because the only way out of the labyrinth was up. (Icarus’ mother was a slave, so apparently she didn’t get to go with them. The patriarchy has a long and storied history.)

Daedalus built the wings of feathers and wax, and warned Icarus that he should take the middle way, being careful not fly too close to the sea, because the drops of water from the spray would weigh down the feathers, nor too close to the Sun, because it would melt the wax. Daedalus would lead, and Icarus should follow his path.

But when the time came Icarus was overcome by the joy of flying, left Daedalus behind, and soared high into the sky. As his father had warned, the wax melted, and Icarus fell into the sea, where he drowned.

There are a number of morals we can draw from this story. My favorites are “It’s generally a bad idea to take on secret projects for kings”, followed by “Listen to the engineers when they tell you the limitations of their creations, especially if your life depends on it”, and “Don’t lose track of the relationship between your body and the planet, no matter how much fun you’re having.”

But the moral we need to particularly keep in mind over the next few months is this one: “Discipline and realism are necessary components of life here within the limits of time and space.”

The chart of the Summer Solstice, (Winter Solstice in the southern hemisphere) is one of four “cardinal ingress” charts astrologers use to make predictions for the world in political, social, and cultural matters. I find that they also hold insights for us as individuals, particularly regarding our relationship with our country and communities.

These charts mark the exact moment of a solstice or equinox. Casting the ingress chart for the capital of a country (or a state, or a specific place) gives us insight into the events that can be expected for that place in the months ahead. (How many months? At least three. In this case, maybe six. If you have questions about these technicalities, feel free to bring them to my Facebook page.)

I’ve cast the chart for Washington, DC, but much of what I have to say about this chart will apply globally. I’ll get into specific USA stuff in a bit, but for now, let’s get back to Icarus and what we, as individuals, need to learn from his fatal error if we want to navigate the upcoming months without crashing onto the rocks.

The aspects we are dealing with are unquestionably challenging, though how and in what areas of life they will affect you and how you can work with these challenges to create the best outcomes depends on your personal natal chart. (Contact me if you want to know more, and we’ll set up a consultation.)

On a personal level, we need to focus on keeping our emotions — particularly our tempers — under control. There will be a general tendency for people to react emotionally rather than rationally. If we can harness our own emotional reactions — not deny or repress, just control them — we can be the ones who come up with solutions to the problems at hand. The world needs all the cool heads it can get right now — please try to be one. At the very least, don’t throw gasoline on a fire.

The middle way we need to find in the months ahead for ourselves is the way between getting lost in waves of emotion (the sea) and burning ourselves out in the pursuit of our individual goals and dreams (the Sun).

To do this well, we need to pay attention. We need to watch where we are going with our minds and emotions as well as our bodies. Emotional and psychic constructs of fear and violence are being built around us by governments, big business, and the dogmas of fear-based religions.

If we buy into those constructs, we strengthen them. We must face our fears, plan as needed, then put them aside. We cannot allow them to paralyze us. We must remember that violence, however justified it may seem, is never the best, and rarely the most effective response.

It’s important to remember that our thoughts and emotions are what set the vibration we each emanate into the world. Our combined thoughts and emotions form the zeitgeist, the psychic constructs of shared reality that drive collective behaviors. What will your personal vibration contribute to the collective? Can you find a source of peace within? Do you remember what joy feels like? Who and what do you love? Can you hold that peace, joy, and love in your heart, and radiate it out into the world? We live in a time of profound change, and those of us who are connected to a larger spiritual reality are tasked with holding the dream of what is possible and bringing that dream into reality.

We can do better than this. But only if we insist that we *will* do better than this, if we work to dismantle the constructs of fear and violence, and replace them with constructs of peace and justice.

Use your meditations, prayers, and magical practices not just to bring yourself peace and prosperity, but to influence the world around you for the better and help you determine what actions to take. If you aren’t sure how to do that, I went into some detail about making magic to influence better collective outcomes in this post.

It’s important to dream dreams of a better world, but the process of bringing them into manifestation demands that we acknowledge the limits of time and space, of our earthly reality. It demands that we work on both a spiritual and a physical level to implement change. We have our work cut out for us.

This chart also indicates great potentials for innovative creative work, as well as spiritual breakthroughs. There are also strong opportunities for what I will call “grace” — the concept that joy that can be found in connecting with something larger than yourself, and in just being present. But you need to want these things, and do the work to achieve them. They won’t just fall in your lap.

On the National Stage

As always, an individual can optimize the planetary energies of any given time by working with them consciously. But overall, most people are going to go for the path of least resistance, which often leads to difficult outcomes. I’ll look at the upcoming probabilities for the nation as a whole now, but first, a few words for the astrologers among you.

Astrologers: Cast the chart for June 21, 11:55 a.m., Washington, DC. The ascendant is 14° 54’ of Virgo. I’m using the Equal House system. Here’s what I’m looking at:

The rather hellish aspect of Mercury conjunct Mars and the North Node in emotional Cancer in opposition to Saturn and Pluto and the South Node in hard-ass Capricorn is separating, but still within orb — a tight orb of 1° for Mars-Pluto. Dwarf planet Eris at 24° Aries squares the opposition. This is a violent, even warlike signature. Note that Mercury rules the AS and MC and disposits Venus.

Saturn is within minutes of exact conjunction with the South Node, is in its domicile, in and ruling the 5th, and disposits both Pluto and the Aquarius Moon, which itself rules the planets in Cancer — Sun, Mercury, and Mars. Also keep in mind that Moon always rules the people of a country in a mundane chart, and is strongly connected with childhood and childbirth.

The co-dispositor of the Moon — erratic, explosive, radical Uranus — is in a wide but approaching sextile to Sun. Sun is in the 10th, ruling the 12th.

Then we have that interesting T-square of Jupiter oppose Venus, both square a stationary (and therefore influential) Neptune. This is the latest triggering of the ongoing Jupiter-Neptune square that will make its last pass in September. Note Venus in the 10th, on the MC, square the AS, and in a separating trine to the Moon. Moon is also sextile Jupiter.

Also note the house rulerships of these planets. Particularly Neptune and Jupiter — both strong in their own signs, and both co-rulers of Pisces, which is on the 7th cusp. Neptune is in the 7th. In mundane work, the 7th rules our relationships with other countries.

Now let’s look at what this all means. I am particularly concerned about our relationships with other countries, which will be prone to major trust issues, deception, delusion, and exaggeration. International finance is highlighted and contentious. (Astrologers: Note Mars ruling the 8th, in its fall, oppose Pluto and Saturn.) This is not just about the USA either. There may well be financial upheavals in other countries — quite possibly related to climate change — that affect the global economy.

There is another option though. This option is a compassionate, spiritual, even pacifist understanding of how we relate to foreigners and foreign countries. Yeah, it’s not likely coming from our government, but there is a possibility of these ideas coming into bloom among large sections of the populace. Protests are likely with this chart, and we may see the beginnings of another peace movement, similar to (but perhaps less naive than) what we had in the 60s. One can hope.

Ongoing weather issues, particularly flooding and fires, are likely. Earthquakes are also a concern. We’ll be hearing a lot about climate change, and seeing increasing anger from the citizenry around the antagonistic, mindlessly greedy, delusional approaches to the problem that have been displayed by those who can do anything about it. Whether or not those people will get their heads out of their (or others’) posteriors anytime soon is another question entirely. Delusion, denial, and corruption are rife these days, but the reality check is in the mail. (More about that as we get closer to 2020.)

Oil spills, release of poisonous gases, and water pollution are likely, both in events and increasing awareness of the problems.

Unfortunately, there are strong signatures of violence in this chart, mass violence as well as violence that may involve children. Of course, violence against children is ongoing in our immigrant concentration camps (which the Encyclopedia Brittanica defines as “[An] internment centre for political prisoners and members of national or minority groups who are confined for reasons of state security, exploitation, or punishment, usually by executive decree or military order”. Representative Ocasio-Cortez is absolutely right about this.)

Violence against children is also endemic in the sex trafficking that too many of us like to pretend doesn’t exist. But we are becoming more and more aware of pedophilia and child porn through high-level associates of Trump, like Jeffrey Epstein and George Nader . This chart is likely to take it to a new level — hopefully through increasing awareness and law enforcement.

Spying and espionage, including corporate espionage, is also highlighted in this chart. There may be some major scandals.

On the bright side, we have multiple options for manifesting practical compassion, such as reuniting families, protecting children, and working to feed and house the homeless. If the opportunity to do something helpful for your community or country presents itself, take it!

If this all seems pretty intense — that’s because it is. We are in a time of profound, lasting change, during which we will see destruction and dissolution of all kinds of aging structures — physical, cultural, and psychological. It’s Tower Time. (Follow that link to find a great book to read if you’re feeling discouraged.)

But keep in mind that how we rebuild depends on how well we can dream. Dream your best dreams for our world. Write them down. Share them with others. In this Summer of Limits, hold your dreams close to your heart and nurture them. There will come a time when they will be both needed and heard. There will come a time in the not-too-distant-future when you’ll feel the wind under your wings — and those wings will not be made of wax.

Blessings of the Solstice to you!