July 17 - July 24 : Crescent & First Quarter Moon

 

On the 17^th, the New Moon phase wraps and we move into Crescent,  then on the 21^stFirst Quarter.  Crescent is when we receive information for three days and First Quarter is when we act again.   Of course, this year, during both phases, the outer planets are dancing with each other forming trines and sextiles and so stuff is moving.  Yes that is my professional opinion during this big astro time that…. “stuff is moving”.   Probably of all stuff, ‘thought’ is moving and activating the fastest.     Watch the next week and see what comes up.   Especially after Mercury turns direct on the 23^rd.    

 

 

 

Crescent Moon Phase

July 17, 2026

10: 35 am (PDT)

 

 Crescent — Gathering Information

We begin to receive information. We research a bit more and perhaps get feedback on the seeds we planted at the New Moon. Sometimes we receive clues about something we planted. Even if you think nothing is happening, stop and look again. Who called you? What conversation happened? Even the smallest or most mundane events during this phase can contain a message. A parking ticket. An argument with a spouse. A refund check from the phone company. Pay attention. What information is arriving and how can it help?

Hero’s Journey: The hero begins exploring the unknown and gathering allies.
Creative/Science Process: Research — gathering information and materials.

 

Focus on:  What are you learning about details?  How do your emotions and feelings guide you when you need to take care of business?  How do your feelings serve others?   Do you emotions guide your daily practices including your body needs?   What is the emotions and feelings around exercise and diet? 

 

Planetary notes: 

 

July 19 — Mars sextile Saturn (14 AR) Actions and responsibility come together.   Hammer meet Nail.  Structures for strength and independence can be built.  Cooperation by tough guys. 

July 20 — Jupiter trine Neptune (4 AR) Big idea meets Big Visions. Intuition gets a big love.  Anything dissolves may bring something new. 
July 20 — Jupiter opposite Pluto (4 AQ) (see separate) 

 

First Quarter Moon 

July 21, 2026

4:05am 

 

 

 First Quarter — Taking Action

Now we act on the information we received. We pursue the idea again. What hurdles have appeared involving the seeds you planted at the New Moon? We make another call, reach out to someone, mail something, or stir the pot again. Sometimes this phase reveals that the goals we planted require more effort from us. Independence may need to be asserted. Others may resist our growth, even if they believe they have our best interests at heart.

Hero’s Journey: Crossing the threshold and committing to the journey.
Creative/Science Process: Commitment — the work begins.

 

Focus on:   How are the seeds you planted on new that tapped your emotions impacting your relationships?  How do you find balance in the middle of emotions lifting or dropping.   Balance is tricky when one is going up and zipping down the roller coaster.   How to relate to others in the middle of those zooming emotions can be difficult.  Look and see what partners have to say during this three day phase for insights.   

 

Planetary Notes:

 

July 21: Jupiter sextile Uranus (4 GE) (see separate)

July 22: Sun enters Leo 
July 23: Mercury stations direct (16 CA) Thank gawd.  

July 23: Sun square Chiron (00 TA) Money feels NOT-Enough.  Strength may not be practical.  Feelings put into a box. 

July 24: Venus sextile Mercury (16 CA) Joy and love are in sync with logic.  Conversations perhaps clearer.    
July 24: Neptune sextile Pluto (4 AR) (see separate) 

 

 

July 23: Mercury Direct. Yes this is happening.

 

Mercury

6/12: Mercury enters shadow (16 CA 19)
6/29: Mercury stations retrograde (26 CA 15)
7/23: Mercury stations direct (16 CA 19)
8/6: Mercury exits shadow (26 CA 15)

I gotta laugh about this Mercury retrograde.  Normally people are all twisted up when Mercury is retrograde.   But I wonder if Mercury stationing direct in the middle of all these outer planet aspects will even be noticed?    

I will assume for the sake of argument, yes, we will feel Mercury shaking free and moving forward again.   

During the retrograde, did any emotion come up that felt super old?  Something that might have emotional DNA to family or childhood?   Was some primitive part of your psyche pinged that made you think, “Wait, why is that coming up?”  How have you intellectualized some emotion or feeling and been able to get a new perspective?   What about the conversations you are had with others?   Was it more emotional than normal?   How about other people, did they come to you with their emotions?  

Did any memories awash you during this cycle?   

And how did you navigate family in the middle of all those emotions, memories, and conversations?

Some of the themes that first appeared when Mercury entered its shadow on June 12 may return one last time before Mercury exits the shadow on August 6. If they do, pay attention. They may simply be asking for one final conversation, one last decision, or one more chance to see something differently.

As Mercury turns direct, take care of your mental health. Find whatever feels cozy for your heart, especially if a recent kerfuffle bruised it. Bruises heal.

Sometimes they even teach us something before they heal.

We. Are. Here. The Outer Planet Dance-A-Thon

 

Image from SageGoddess 

July's Outer Planet Dance-A-Thon

So, let's get into the main show and talk about the big ol' aspects landing in July.

A few years ago, maybe around 2022, I was futzing around looking at future Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto aspects and thought to myself, "Hmmm...those planets are eventually going to form a web of trines and sextiles. Interesting."

What I didn't realize until I started digging through an ephemeris was that all those trines and sextiles would perfect within days of each other during the summer of 2026. That got my attention.

Apparently, it got the attention of a lot of astrologers because more and more people started writing about July 2026. One of them was Jessica Davidson, who, back in 2023, reminded readers that these aspects are the first harmonious chapters since the original conjunctions that began each planetary cycle.

The Neptune-Pluto cycle began in 1891-92 and has now reached its first sextile.

The Uranus-Pluto cycle began in 1965-66 and has now reached its first trine.

The Uranus-Neptune cycle began in 1993 and has now reached its first sextile.

Nothing like 1891, 1965, and 1993 all getting a planetary chiropractor adjustment during one week in July 2026. I encourage you to read Jessica's article because she does a nice job explaining the waxing aspects and how they relate back to those original conjunctions.

As I mentioned earlier, what I find fascinating is that while all this is happening, the Cancer New Moon itself is remarkably quiet. Our emotions may rise and fall, but Mercury sitting on top of the New Moon gives us a chance to think about what we're feeling while these outer planet aspects do their thing.

Here's the lineup.

New Moon Phase

July 15 – Uranus sextile Neptune (4° Aries)

July 17 – Uranus trine Pluto (4° Aquarius)

Crescent Phase

July 20 – Jupiter trine Neptune (4° Aries)

July 20 – Jupiter opposite Pluto (4° Aquarius)

 

First Quarter Phase

July 21 – Jupiter sextile Uranus (4° Gemini)

July 24 – Neptune sextile Pluto (4° Aries)

Technically, even one of these aspects could make for an interesting lunar month.

Six?  Who knows.

People are going to feel something during Cancer's lunar month, and now you can see why I think Mercury sitting on the New Moon may be a gift. Bringing a little intellect to all these emotions may not be a bad thing.

Quick Astro 101 – Outer & Inner

Now is probably a good time to remind everyone about the difference between the inner and outer planets.

The inner planets speak to the ground game each of us is playing as we move through our lives.

Venus asks, "How's my love life and my wallet?"

Mars says, "I've got to get through this to-do list."

Mercury asks, "Where the heck did I put that piece of paper with the address?"

The outer planets are different.

They describe the larger themes unfolding for humanity over many years.

Take Uranus in Gemini. The last two times Uranus traveled through Gemini we saw the telegraph transform communication in the 1860s and radar reshape warfare in the 1940s. Those developments changed how society communicated, how wars were fought, and how ordinary people lived their lives. Uranus moved into Gemini just last month.

Neptune in Capricorn (1984-1998) coincided with the collapse of the Soviet Union, one of history's great institutional dissolutions. At the same time, the internet began transforming commerce with companies like Amazon, Yahoo!, Netscape, eBay, and eventually Google. Build the vision and people will come. That feels very Neptune in Capricorn.

Pluto is different still. Pluto doesn't tweak society.  Pluto transforms it. I remember Pluto in Scorpio vividly. In the spring of 1985, I woke many nights to my neighbor sobbing. Over the next several months I watched AIDS take its toll on him in real time. That was my first lived experience of Pluto in Scorpio.

But what about the children born during that era?

In 2017, astrologer Marjorie Orr noted that journalist Ronan Farrow, whose reporting exposed Harvey Weinstein, has a Pluto-Mars conjunction in Scorpio. Many of the people who stepped forward during the MeToo movement also belong to the Pluto in Scorpio generation. Confronting trauma, abuse, and hidden power structures is about as Pluto in Scorpio as it gets.

See how different that feels?

Your wallet... versus the age of the internet.

Your to-do list... versus the MeToo movement.

That's the difference between the inner and outer planets.

So, everyone wants to know what all this means. To which I continue to answer:

We don't know. Uranus brings innovation. Neptune speaks to dreams, inspiration, faith, and sometimes illusion. Pluto transforms whatever it touches. All three are now in new signs and they’re figuring out something fresh no doubt.

No one alive has experienced this combination. Some of what begins this summer may not even become obvious for years. There weren't many people standing on the beach when the Wright brothers first flew. Very few watched Clara Barton tending wounded soldiers during the Civil War. No cave painting captures the first time someone harnessed fire.  History can happen in the margins and then change the world.  

We'll get another round of these aspects during the summer of 2027, with final echoes continuing into 2028. More will be revealed.  For now, it's enough to know that something is underway.

Barbault's Basket

Part and parcel of this late July astrology is something the late astrology Andre Barbault wrote about a dozen years ago.  Many astrologers are calling it Barbault’s Basket.  You can find my write up HERE.   I do not know what this all means because it is so big it is a bit hard to comprehend but I do know this is structural changes that will later have been implications.    Era defining implications even if it takes a year or two for us to fully ‘get it’.     In the meantime if you have planets between 2 and 6 degrees of any sign you will be feeling this in a personal way because the outer planets are talking to it.   

Astrology: July 5 - July 14: Disseminating, Last Quarter & Balsamic - oh boy!

 

Disseminating, Last Quarter & Balsamic Lunar Phases

We are in the final ten days of the Gemini 29-day lunar cycle. The big Capricorn Full Moon has ended. The first Mars-Uranus conjunction has perfected, and now we have the rest of the Disseminating phase playing out, including a fabulous Mars trine Pluto on July 5. This is a great time to gird up our loins and get some stuff done with others and groups. World Cup games may very well reflect that planetary lineup.

On July 6 we have the biannual Sun square Saturn, where everywhere we look the cup seems half empty. There is independence, there is family, and trying to honor both can feel difficult. Finding the right leader, or becoming the leader yourself, may also be part of the story. 

On July 7 Neptune stations retrograde. This is the first Neptune retrograde to take place entirely in Aries. When I looked back at the last time Neptune made a similar move through Aries, I was blown away by the historical themes. May we all have a similar experience over the next five months, where leaders emerge and fresh, independent ideas begin to percolate. Who knows? Maybe it's you.

Also on July 7, the Moon moves into the Last Quarter phase, where communication and fresh thinking, grounded in on-the-ground facts, help us discover new paths to independence. Breaking free can be liberating on many levels. During this three-day phase, the spotlight shifts to Venus, bringing opportunities for love, joy, and creativity. Nice.

Then, on July 10, we move into the Balsamic phase, where the need to release becomes more pronounced. Scattered thinking, flaky behavior, mixed messages, and duplicitous tendencies, whether ours or someone else's, are ready to be released into the ethers.

Buh-bye.

One note about the Balsamic phase: Venus square Uranus is a wee bit rough. Feeling weird or a little too unique can stir up insecurity. If that happens, try to process those feelings rather than react to them. Remember, it's Balsamic. Sometimes the things we release are the stories we've been telling ourselves.

Then on the 14^th Cancer New Moon rolls out on shores and we start a whole new thing.  

 

 

 

 

Disseminating

July 3, 2026

5:53pm PDT – 

   

Disseminating — Sharing Insight

Reflect on what has transpired during the month and even earlier. What have you learned? How can you share some of your knowledge? What past experiences are you drawing upon? Sometimes we feel the need to teach. Other times we recognize that it is time to seek a teacher. A mentor, therapist, rabbi, minister, or guide may offer perspective that helps us understand the experience more fully.

Hero’s Journey: The hero shares the wisdom gained.
Creative/Science Process: Publication, presentation, or exhibition.

 

 

Focus on:   Are you sharing your friends? Are you sharing your group activities? Or are you sharing what you've learned from your friends and groups? What have you learned from your friends and groups since new moon launched on June 14?   

 

 

Planetary Notes:

7/5 : Mars trine Pluto (4 AQ 46) Actions that support community get support.   Thoughts that are on the ground fresh are helpful. 

7/6 : Sun square Saturn (14 AR 23) Crank day.  Seriously crank.  There is one nerve left and everyone is standing on  it. 

7/7 : Neptune station retrograde (4 AR 25) (Separate Post)  

 

Last Quarter Moon Phase

July 7, 2026

12: 28 pm (PDT)  

 

Last Quarter — Practical Adjustments

Now we make the final adjustments to the seeds planted at the New Moon. We make the final call, send the final letters, and follow the trails that still make sense. Other paths are allowed to fall away. This phase favors wise action and thoughtful decision-making.

It is a time for living the spirit of the Serenity Prayer:

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.

Hero’s Journey: Rebuilding life after the transformation.
Creative/Science Process: Critique and evaluation.

 

 

Focus on:

What actions are you taking that are informed by your own needs, emotions, and goals?   What actions are helping you tap a new independence?   What novelty are  you bringing to self-agency?  Or what new facts are you bringing to your ability to take care of number one? 

 

Planetary Notes: 

 

7/9: Venus enters Virgo.  A month of crits.  Correction, loving crits. 

7/9: Venus trine Chiron (00 TA 35)  A door opens that leans into practicality, finances, land, and valuables

7/9: Venus oppose N Node (00 PI 39)  Values that connect to our empathy sympathy and compassion will assist us today. 

7/10 : N. Node sextile Chiron (00 TA 36)  A door opening up that leans into practicality and finances and land and valuables.   

 

 

Balsamic Moon Phase

 

July 10, 2026 

10:05 pm (PDT) 

 

Balsamic — Release

This phase closes the lunar cycle. We release what has run its course so the next cycle can begin. By letting go we clear space for the next New Moon. Reflection, rest, and closure allow the mind and spirit to reset before the next intention emerges.

Hero’s Journey: The return and completion of the journey.
Creative/Science Process: Rest and incubation before the next idea.

 

Focus on:  How are you releasing How are you releasing being scattered? How are you releasing analysis paralysis? How are you releasing “Busyness”?  How are you releasing shallowness?    

 

Planetary Notes:

7/12: Sun conjunction Mercury (20 CA 42) Insights where we almost missed something important may show up now. 

7/13: Venus square Uranus (4 GE 18) Weird is great. Using "weird" to keep ourselves from others is something else. We may see that in ourselves or in someone else today.

 

New Moon (21 Cancer 59) July 14, 2:43am PDT 

Neptune Retrograde July 8 - Dec 12 -- An Influence of Independence

 

Claude Monet Impression, Sunrise (1872)

Neptune Station Retrograde 

July 7, 3:54am  PDT (4 Aries 25) 

Dec12 2:17pm  PST (1 Aries 36) 

 

On July 7 Neptune retrogrades from 4 degrees to 1 degree of Aries.   This is the first Neptune retrograde entirely in Aries since the 1860s.   

Looking back to the 19^th century, we see some remarkable stories during that first Neptune Retrograde in Aries where Neptune traveled from three to one degree of Aries which is roughly the  same degrees we will be covering in our cycle.    Stories that are worth our attention because the themes from then can be lenses to now.  

I will bring you four people who were doing some heavy lifts during July 7 – December 13, 1862.  

Abraham Lincoln was shifting the focus of the war.   It stopped being primarily a fight over preserving the Union and started to become a fight over slavery itself.   Two weeks into the retrograde Lincoln signs an Act that moves federal policy further against slavery and then he presents a draft of the Emancipation Proclamation to his cabinet.  It was not public yet.   September was the battle of Antietam, the bloodiest single day in American history.   Confederate General Lee was stopped.  A week later Lincoln issues publicly the Preliminary Proclamation.  Now the purpose of the Civil War had changed, along with the future meaning of freedom itself. Can you feel the Neptune retro in Aries?  Lincoln was 53 

 

Mathew Brady In October 1862, Mathew Brady's team photographed the dead at Antietam and exhibited the images in New York under the title The Dead of Antietam. People had never seen war like that before. The New York Times famously observed that Brady had brought "the terrible reality and earnestness of war" home to the public. The war was already eighteen months old by this point, yet Americans were seeing its human cost in a completely new way. Can you feel Neptune retrograde in Aries? Brady was 38.

Clara Barton In 1862, Clara Barton, an unmarried schoolteacher with some nursing experience, was becoming known as the "Angel of the Battlefield."

That summer and fall of 1862, she collected supplies, organized donations, lobbied officials, traveled to battlefields, and provided direct aid to wounded soldiers.

During Neptune's first retrograde in Aries, Clara Barton was not waiting for permission. Religious and independent, she stepped into a role that did not yet exist. She organized supplies, traveled to battlefields, cared for the wounded, and created a model of civilian action that would lead to the American Red Cross. Barton wasn't just responding to events. She was redefining who was allowed to participate in them.

She wasn't a general. She wasn't an elected official. Yet she became influential because she saw a need and acted. Can you see Neptune retrograde in Aries? Clara was 40.

Claude Monet In 1862, Claude Monet was at a small art studio painting, talking, and bonding with other young artists. Specifically, Monet met Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, and Frédéric Bazille after enrolling in Charles Gleyre's studio in Paris.

During the July–December 1862 window, these young artists were still trying to figure out what art was supposed to be. The official French art world was dominated by the Salon: big history paintings, classical subjects, mythology, and academic rules. I would argue boring.

The future Impressionists were beginning to ask a revolutionary question:

What if we painted what we actually see?

The official launch of the Impressionist movement would not happen for another ten years. But can you feel Neptune retrograde in early Aries? Monet was 21. Renoir was 21. Degas was 28. Berthe Morisot was 21. Pissarro was 32. Cézanne was 23.

Their question was no less revolutionary than Galileo asking, What if the Earth moves? Or Lincoln asking, What if the Union cannot survive with slavery? Or Clara Barton asking, What if ordinary citizens help directly? Or Mathew Brady asking, What if people actually see the battlefield?

Each, in their own way, was challenging the accepted reality of the time.

 

Telegraph / Information Networks

Also beeping through wires during this period was the telegraph, transforming communication across countries and the world. Information moved faster than institutions were accustomed to handling.

Sound familiar?

The Parallel

What fascinates me about the 1862 Neptune retrograde is that it wasn't only about the Civil War. It was about a revolution in how people experienced reality.

Lincoln was redefining the purpose of the war around slavery and emancipation. Mathew Brady was changing how Americans saw war by bringing battlefield photographs into public view. Clara Barton was creating a new model of civilian participation and care. The telegraph was moving information faster than institutions were accustomed to handling. And in a Paris art studio, a 21-year-old Claude Monet was meeting Renoir, Sisley, and Bazille as they began questioning the rules of the Academy.  

None of these stories were finished in 1862. They were seeds. The first Impressionist exhibition would not occur until 1874. The Red Cross did not yet exist. The war was far from over. Yet the foundations were being laid.

Today we are facing our own revolution in information and perception. Social media, AI, smartphones, citizen journalism, and rapidly changing technologies are transforming how we create, distribute, and experience reality. Brady's photographs did not create the Civil War, but they changed how people understood it. Photography forced artists to ask what painting was for. AI may force us to ask a similar question about writing, art, creativity, and even expertise itself.

The question for us may not be what happens during this Neptune retrograde. The better question may be: What seeds are being planted now that we will only recognize in hindsight?

On a personal level, look at where 1–4 degrees of Aries falls in your chart. Which house does it occupy? What planets does it contact? Neptune will no doubt be talking to you through that house and those aspects.

Just saying, as someone who has transiting Neptune sitting on her Ascendant during this retrograde. 😉

Cancer New Moon:July 14, 2:43AM (PDT)21 Cancer 59

 

Image: Encyclopedia Brittanica 

Cancer New Moon: Quiet Moon. Big Sky.

The Cancer New Moon will soon arrive, and I have to admit, I had a bit of a bee in my bonnet about this one.

With all the talk about the extraordinary outer planet aspects landing in July, I kept wondering what the New Moon itself would look like. Surprisingly, the chart is quiet. In fact, it is remarkable quiet.

That sent me down one of my favorite rabbit holes.

I looked at previous 21-degree Cancer New Moons over the last 240 years, explored Saturn's retrograde in Aries, revisited André Barbault's work on long-term planetary cycles, and dug into the outer planet dance unfolding over the next few weeks.

Is any of it predictive?  No.

But I think it is fascinating.

If you'd like to take a deep dive into the Cancer New Moon and the extraordinary astrology surrounding it, you can read my full article here:

This Summer of Big and Barbault's Basket

 

July and Andre Barbault 

Back in January I wrote that 2026 would be a year for the ages. I was not the only astrologer going long on the planetary placements and aspects. I remember Austin Coppock describing 2026 to Chris Brennan as "a year punching above its weight."

I would agree.

As astrologers have assessed the year, there has been a consistent expectation that July would deliver much of that punch because of an extraordinarily rare alignment among the outer planets.

The astrologer most associated with researching these long-term planetary cycles is the French astrologer, André Barbault.

A few years ago, maybe around 2022, I was futzing around looking at future Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto aspects and thought to myself, "Huh...those planets are eventually going to form a web of trines and sextiles. Interesting."

About a year later I stumbled across André Barbault and learned about his work. What really got my attention was that he had written decades ago about a major global crisis and pandemic centered around 2020.  Well...That certainly made me pay attention.

Since then, I've seen more and more astrologers discussing Barbault's work on the outer planet configurations of the mid- and late-2020s. It was SJ Anderson whom I first heard use the phrase "the Barbault Basket."

 The "basket" refers to a brief period when the four slower-moving outer planets cluster around the early degrees of Aquarius, Aries, and Gemini while Jupiter, although much faster, also arrives at 4° Leo.

This particular pattern forms roughly July 18 through July 21.

Of course everyone wants to know...

What does it mean?

I'd like to answer that in the biggest font possible:

Who knows?

What we do know is that this configuration is exceptional and rare. We just don't see Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and Saturn weaving together a network of trines and sextiles while Jupiter completes the pattern with an opposition.  It is kind of a thing.  

I have not yet read Barbault's complete work in translation, so take this as a summary rather than a scholarly review. My understanding is that he viewed the early 2020s as the period when everything breaks at once. The middle of the decade, however, is when we stop  reacting and begin choosing.   Of course, choosing what you want doesn't guarantee wise choices.

It simply suggests that we enter a period where new structures become possible.

Is it happy days are here again?   Nope, because there is tremendous risk if we try to use new power in the same old ways. At the same time, there is an opportunity to build something more honest because hiding becomes difficult.

To which I say... Yeah. That tracks.

The outer planets working together in air and fire signs suggest people become less interested in performative behavior. Hypocrisy becomes harder to hide. Old systems are challenged. New ideas circulate rapidly.

Some of that will undoubtedly be uncomfortable. Some of it will be exciting. And somewhere in all of that...there will be possibilities that are inspiring.

Also, this basket isn't a one-and-done event. During the summer of 2027 we get an echo of the pattern. Then we will have Jupiter moved on and instead, Ceres becomes the trigger.

By 2028 some of the final aspects continue the story, but Saturn has moved into Taurus where it begins pressuring Pluto from a different angle. The emphasis shifts from possibility to implementation. If something isn't working on the ground, it probably won't survive.

We'll worry about 2028 after we get through 2027...and first, after we get through the summer of 2026.

There are plenty of astrologers talking about July, André Barbault, and this extraordinary planetary pattern. I could send you a dozen links, but instead I'm sharing one video that I thought did an especially thoughtful job explaining the configuration.

I am not sure I have listened to Kathy Biehl before, but after watching her presentation I came away impressed. Then I read her bio and discovered she was a former attorney before becoming a professional astrologer. I thought... "Well, that's an interesting combination."