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Starcast by Eric Francis for July 23, 2026 — Mercury Direct Listen to Starcast

By Elizabeth Shepherd

Lately we say this every week, but there is a lot happening this week! Mercury stations direct today; Saturn stations retrograde on Sunday along with the lunar nodes changing signs; the Sun moves into Leo and into an opposition with Pluto, directly followed by the big Full Moon with the Sun conjunct Jupiter and the Moon just separating from Pluto in Aquarius. Whew!

There are many resources covering this on the Planet Waves website, on Substack, YouTube, and here in this letter in the Almanack just below. Last week’s essay "Jupiter opposite Pluto: Who’s the Influencer?" is still completely relevant.

One thing that has not received a whole lot of attention but is a major part of the story is the conjunction of the asteroid Juno to Pluto in Aquarius. This is the second of three conjunctions over many months, brought about by Juno’s retrograde.

Eric’s reading of Juno’s discovery chart is particularly relevant right now, because there is a grand cross in that chart that connects directly to the current outer planet alignment of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. Transiting Neptune is conjunct the Juno discovery degree, right next to the Aries Point. There are many ways to read Juno, and Eric covers some of the mundane significations as well as the more personal themes in his 2012 article, The Mayans, Juno and The Abyss.

Over the weekend while I was settling into a delicious Sunday nap, I had a flash of insight about some of the personal memories and stories that had filtered into my conscious awareness that morning (and set off a brief, but powerful wave of grief). Juno is the Roman goddess of marriage and the protector of the community (she’s very complex and it’s worth a dive into her role in Roman society). It’s interesting that culturally we inherit most of the stories from her Greek equivalent, Hera, who is one of the more controversial characters in Greek mythology. Much mischief and drama are associated with the scandals she stirred up when faced with Zeus’ infidelities. Her story is complex and her nature is multi-faceted, as the discovery chart indicates, and emerges with big clues about the Family Constellation summer we are experiencing (see the featured articles below for an introduction).

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One facet of Juno rarely mentioned is the extreme change of status she experienced over the course of her history. Prior to becoming Jupiter’s partner and protector of the social order, she was Zeus’ consort on Mount Olympus and the Queen of Heaven; her lineage can be traced all the way back to the Great Mother goddess. The entire Earth and its cycles, and all its inhabitants were once under her care. Did it feel like an exaltation or promotion to be taken by sky god Zeus to live with him up on Mount Olympus, far removed from her children? Her story tells us maybe not.

I read this as a metaphor for the current state and general unhappiness of many women. I would like to offer questions rather than answers, because I think this is a highly individual and very poignant exploration. These do tread into sensitive territory, so continue only if you are game for some deeper inquiry.

For the women reading, when did you first lose your feminine innocence? When did you first feel that being a girl —the girl who would become the woman who can carry the miracle of new life in her body— was not enough? When did you learn that you had to be as strong and capable as the boys to receive love and attention? When did you first feel unprotected?

For many of us we can trace an experience like that to very early childhood, if not infancy. Not necessarily (but sometimes) the fault of our caregivers, these experiences were often accidents or resulted from misconceptions about the real needs of the very smallest humans (including baby boys). Cultural values (promoted in part by feminism) that favored the more masculine qualities of achievement, independence, strength and productivity also factor in. When I review scenes from my life that resonate with these questions, I find a deep well of grief and a feeling of having been tricked out of my birthright.

If you are a man reading this, can you see this pattern in the women in your life? A sense of being in ongoing competition with you? Did you receive what you needed from a woman delighted with her motherhood? I heard something recently that stopped me in my tracks. “Women get aggressive when they are afraid.” This landed deeply and brought into sharp, poignant clarity why some of my relationships have turned out the way they did.

Juno retrograde, conjunct greatly intensifying Pluto, is inviting these questions as a part of the family patterns we’ve been talking about this summer. As in the discovery chart, Juno is in a long square with Chiron, this time in Taurus, holding the tension for an embodied, feminine choice. When I shared this essay with Eric, he had this response, “Women almost always blame their “unhappiness” on their relationship and seek a divorce to be happier, without investigating the deeper underlying nature of their situation. Many come to regret their decision once they realize it was not based on their relationship but on something within themselves. With the Pluto conjunction, that matter would seem to be top center right now. Juno retrograde is saying “look within yourself.” For women who desire a different experience, this Full Moon is a doorway to the spiral path down from the sky realm and back home to the Earth, to our bodies and our blessed feminine existence. Nature already bestows us with everything, the only thing to “do” is to exhale and drop down into the truth of it.

Here are the important astrological events for this week:

July 23 — Mercury stations direct at 17 degrees Cancer — Coming right in the middle of some of the most powerful astrology of the year, Mercury may be revealing memories, paths, and the first fruits of any process that began at the New Moon.

July 26 — Saturn turns retrograde at 15 degrees Aries — Saturn finishes this year’s advance into Aries half-way through the sign. Where have you felt restricted in your self-expression? Where’s the friction in your process of finding or recovering your sense of self? True to its nature, Saturn will give us until nearly the end of the year to consider these questions and more.

—The lunar nodes leave Pisces/Virgo and enter Aquarius/Leo — as if five major ingresses weren’t enough this year, the lunar nodes are also ending their 18 month journey through the axis of Pisces and Virgo. The eclipses will now start occurring across the Aquarius-Leo axis (beginning in August), creating a building emphasis on Pluto’s presence in Aquarius and all planets coming into aspect through Leo. Look for karmic themes of self-expression, dharma, enthusiasm and individuality in dialogue with broad perspectives, collaboration, cooperation and appreciating the talent in others.

July 27 — Sun in Leo opposite Pluto — As if Jupiter were a practice run, the Sun next opposes Pluto, bringing the center of the solar system into the conversation. This is similar to Jupiter’s opposition, but more personal and emphasizes the themes of one’s personal dharma. People who have this aspect natally often experience a lifetime of figuring out how to let their Sun shine in the reflection of actual or perceived authoritarian-type control. It’s sneaky, but the Moon is crossing the Family Hunger Game pattern during this aspect, with a reminder of the family themes prevalent this month.

July 29 — Sun conjunct Jupiter immediately followed by....

— Full Moon in Aquarius at 10:36am EDT at 7 degrees Aquarius — still in aspect to Pluto. — This is the culmination of a big ten days of astrology, in a month of big astrology. Sun conjunct Jupiter in Leo can look a lot like Santa Claus, with the bright enthusiasm, generous goodwill and abundant resources we hope will leave us gifts under the tree. The remarkable and concurrent square of Venus and Mars is also exactly aligned with this pattern and adds an electro-magnetic quality to what looks like a massive energy injection into all things Leonine and Aquarian (with the support of the other outer planets), encouraging the honest masculine and feminine (Sun and Moon) to reconsider power dynamics, the games we play, collaboration and self-responsibility.

With love,

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Visit Juno's discovery chart to uncover how it represents our feelings and relationships, reconciled with the idea of planetary healing.

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Eric introduces the Family Hunger Game pattern that has formed the basis of so much of his work in recent years.

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Part 2 of Eric's introduction to the Family Hunger Game pattern.

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Get the Leo in Motion Birthday Reading Available Now With Early Launch Discount!

Preview and introduction for Leo In Motion birthday reading This presentation is the preview for the Leo birthday reading (previously called Astrology Studio). I do a brief run-through of the chart, a mini reading of its own. This reading is included with the Galaxy Pass and the Astrology Pass. Watch the Introduction