With so much emphasis on Cancer and Capricorn for the next few weeks, we are coming up on a lot of charts that have themes associated with home, emotions and security. These include the Summer Solstice, as well as the Capricorn Full Moon on July 2 and the Cancer New Moon on July 17.

Before going into those charts, let's check in with the Venus retrograde, which ends June 29. This particular retrograde involved the rare Venus transit of the Sun on June 8, where Venus actually crossed the disk of the Sun as if making an eclipse. This event, representing the rebirth of the feminine aspect of God, came in with a roar and will have effects that last through the next eight years. So much will change in that time that it's barely worth going into; most predictions will not even come close.

I think as times like these continue to develop -- we have seen a lot of change in the past five years, too much change, really -- we need to weave family and community as a conscious act. It would be nice if our unintentional communities did the job, but unfortunately they do not. And we are so filled with ideas about what is right and wrong, trustworthy or not, from early childhood experiences it is little wonder that people can barely get along even under the best of circumstances.

However, we will be needing security and authority of a kind that we can only provide to one another as a conscious and loving act. That will require us to have our inner authorities, those inner parents, fully at our access, protective of ourselves and our brood. This is a fine theme for the Sun's transit of Cancer, and the Full Moon in Capricorn.

Aries (March 20-April 19)

I suggest you go to my old friend Morgen, a woodworker, and get a sign carved that says "You can say anything you want here." Then hang that on your front door. We do have some things to talk about, here beside the rising tide, and what separates your home from that of your parents is your choice to enforce the right of free speech rather than to suppress it. In one respect this is the generation gap. And if you are not going to up and leave your ancestral home, you can surely up and leave behind your ancestral ways.

Taurus (April 19-May 20)

By now you should know where you stand financially, and I mean this in the biggest sense: what your choices are, where your wealth is best invested, and what you feel your economic worth really is. I think you will discover that you are embarking on one of the most assertive times of your life over the next few years, and they can begin now. Getting clear with money is, as you may be perfectly aware, one of the most important steps to grounding on the planet. Luckily this is one of your most natural talents.

Gemini (May 20-June 21)

This is a good time to get ready for major renovations to your home, however you happen to define major. Depending on who you are, this ranges from mopping to adding a third floor to your house; from cleaning the toaster to putting in a new kitchen. Beware, as this may become an obsession. Consider whether you want to be elsewhere altogether. In any event, I see a time of probable big revisions of your living space, for which the next three or four weeks are a kind of preparation. A little planning or getting rid of junk goes a long way toward cleaning the sink.

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

The word "Cancer" is astrological shorthand for home. Actually it comes from Latin, carcer, which suggests an enclosure, like a crab's or turtle's shell. But as you have learned lately, the real enclosure or environment of experience is your mind. You are also enclosed by your community, particularly your friends and your children. At the moment you are the one with the plan to protect all of this; your guardian spirit is in true form, and your most important work of the seasons involves finding any possible security flaw and making it right.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23)

You have maintained a privacy factor, even among your intimates, as you have worked out some deep emotional material; my guess is this dates back about a year. Lately though your charts suggest you're taking a more assertive position about who you are on those levels about which you don't normally speak. A turning point in this respect strengthens both your professional commitments and your quality of life. You discovered a long time ago the only person you could be is you; but it's nice to remember.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22)

There may be very different events unfolding in the sanctity of your home and in your professional life. As ethically sensitive as you are, you may be inclined to obsess over what seems like a contradiction or personal flaw between your outer presentation and your inner or domestic life. I strongly suggest you set aside all such ideas and take genuine solace in the progress you are making. So few people bother to get their lives together. But I'm sure you will agree that it makes an excellent first priority.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23)

The world of possibilities that opened up so recently is still open, and it is still inviting you to explore. The most important message I believe you will take from this season is that the world is your home. This is an enlightened view, and it will lead you to an enlightened way of being. There remain certain matters of what I will call marital influence that seem to bind you to old ideas about what you can and cannot do in your own space, and what you can and cannot do in the world. Spend a lot of time outdoors and you will feel better.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22)

Confine certain matters of psychological healing that relate to sexual issues to your home, and your healing process will work a lot better. Not that you're the type to announce such matters on the bus, but creating the safe container will help you precisely to create the kinds of boundaries you will benefit from the most. And boundary is the word. Most of the issues along this theme involve what happens when minds exist in proximity. Keep clear; know who's material is who's, and who's socks.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22 - Dec. 22)

It is worth the work you are doing to have the life you want, and it will be worth the many seemingly erratic changes you are enduring to get to the place you need to be, and to find a space where you are really comfortable with your feelings and your environment. Recent seasons have brought along more chaos than even you can take for long, yet at the same time, you are learning to put first things first. Anyway, in practical terms, you need more light in your house or apartment.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20)

I suggest you be a lot less sentimental and a lot more plain old mental. Usually this seems easy for old Capricorn, but you and your astrologer know the truth. Inside, you are a mush ball, and you want other people to be a lot mushier. But the general flow of events is, presently, in the other direction: toward clarity, strategy and having a concrete understanding of feelings. I suggest you have any and all discussions of these matters with your intimates out of bed or the bedroom. Beds are for sleeping.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19)

I would propose that recent developments have taught you about the risks you are willing to take and those you are not willing to take. I would guess that you're capable of taking bigger chances than you reckoned previously, or than your psychological patterns once permitted. Taking any chance depends on your ability to have faith. Gambling is no fun if you're more worried about losing than you are about playing the game, and the name of the game is dare.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)

Last month's magnificent planetary alignment -- the Venus transit of the Sun -- occurred in your fourth solar house, where you seek grounding, security and make home. Pisces is able to think in very large ideas and also rather slippery fantasies, but what has played out in your life has been something unexpectedly solid. It is as if the bricks, beams and windows have mysteriously all fit together. Home is where your heart is, and where you fix the leaks yourself. It's also where your feet feel like they connect with the ground.

Eric Francis is a horoscope columnist, investigative journalist and counselling astrologer. His monthly and annual horoscopes are now free. If you don't want to wait a whole month, you can get his subscriber-only horoscopes every Monday and Friday by subscribing here. As a subscriber you get horoscopes, astrology news and articles twice a week by email from Eric, plus access to our subscriber-only website. Check out the details here or call us toll-free on (877) 453 8265.