This will be a big month, for we have two major eclipses, one July 2 in Cancer, and the other July 16 in Capricorn. Eclipses are a big deal in astrology, because they are the most dramatic tool the universe uses to shake us awake and create instant change. If you know your rising sign, read for that sign as well, for both forecasts would apply to you, and you will have a 360-degree picture of the month ahead.

July will be a month of watching and waiting. Mercury, your ruling planet, will be retrograde all month. This planet of communication will become weak and sleepy—in retrograde from July 7 to July 31—but you will feel the haywire effects of this out-of-phase planet the moment the month begins. Furthermore, you began seeing delays and crossed wires as you approached July, as early as June 20. It is already too late to launch anything of major importance.

Your priorities are shifting—that is what happens when Mercury retrogrades—and you need to realize your judgment will be off, the reason you must not make any important decisions or announce any new ventures or launches until August. Avoid buying a car, any machines or electronic devices, and do your best not to sign a contract. Sometimes we must, and if you do, those contracts will need to be renegotiated later. If you worked on a deal for months and the contract arrives now, it does not matter if you started work on this venture a month or a year ago—it is when you sign that counts. (My friends all call me and try to have me say it’s fine to sign because the deal has been in the works for months. I tell them the same thing—it does not matter, for it is when you sign that counts.)

If you are being asked to sign now, chances are there will be missing information, and when you find out the entire story, you might wonder what you were thinking when you entered into the agreement, knowing what you will know later. It may not be that anyone will be duplicitous (they might be, but maybe not), it is just that the circumstances will change dramatically later in a way you can’t quite predict now.

Mercury will retrograde in your writing and communication sector at first (another reason not to sign a contract) but will retrograde backward into Cancer and your solar second house of earned income, and that means money owed to you will run late. Nothing will be exactly as it seems, so don’t make snap judgments.

Here is an important point to always keep in mind—do not try to outrun Mercury retrograde and sign this month, right up against the beginning of the retrograde on July 7. That would be a disaster. Mercury is always in his worst, wildest state on the bookend dates of the retrograde, the ones that fall near the start and end of the retrograde. As I said, you might not be able to delay acting until August, but if you can, sign on August 6.

    Changes in the source of your income and other financials are coming, due to the appearance of the solar eclipse in Cancer, July 2. You may change jobs, earn a substantial raise, or, if you are self-employed, you may see one client leave yet win a new client.

As frustrating as Mercury retrograde can be, it is not the centerpiece of the month—the two eclipses arriving July 2 and July 16 will draw your attention. Both eclipses will fall in your income sectors, so a new source is about to appear. With eclipses, often something ends, and something else begins, so you may have to give up one source of income for another.

Eclipses are the wild cards of astrology, and they come up every six months in pairs, first a new moon solar eclipse and two weeks later, a full moon lunar eclipse. Eclipses are very powerful, like a new or full moon on steroids. Often the news of an eclipse will take you by surprise, and it might take a while to assimilate and realize what you could do. A full moon will press on you to decide, but taking an extra day or two would be a good idea.

The eclipse family of signs in Cancer-Capricorn (the eclipses always fall in two signs opposite one another on the wheel) that we have now actually started last year on July 12, 2018, with the first one, a new moon solar eclipse in Cancer. You had another eclipse in this series on January 5, 2019, this year. Did anything come up at the time of these past eclipses? If you can recall something important, this month’s eclipses will advance the discussions you had on one or the other eclipse.

Sometimes an eclipse will deliver its news one month to the day before it appears (10% of the time) or one month to the day after it appears (15% of the time)—in each case, plus or minus five days. Astrologers work with bell curves, and we think of time differently than most people. You will most likely feel an eclipse within three days of the day it appears (75% of the time).

The series of eclipses that we have now is similar in both sign and degree to the family of eclipses came by in 2000, on July 1 and July 26, 2000. Of course, the other planets surrounding the eclipses are in different signs and houses of your chart, so no events in life are ever replicated exactly. If you can recall anything special that happened in July 2000, you might get a clue of what the theme of this eclipse will be.

Solar eclipses (new moons) usually are happy events, for they open a path. This one, in Cancer on July 2 at 11 degrees, will light your second house of earned income. The part I love about this eclipse is the gorgeous, sparkling beam Uranus will send to this new moon solar eclipse. Uranus is the planet of surprise. It seems you may be winning a new client or a new job and a new source of income. One way or the other, your income seems to be rising.

Saturn, however, will be acting badly and oppose the Sun and new moon directly on the new moon eclipse, July 2. If you do accept a new position or new project that will pay you generously, it appears you will have to work very hard—keep that in mind when you state your fee, and see if you can hire an assistant. You also may have to come up with a hefty amount to pay someone—it could be the taxes to the government, tuition for your college, or the fees for your little child’s camp. Or, it may be that your insurance company refuses to pay the full amount of your claim, which seems wrong to you.

Now let’s turn to this eclipse’s twin, the full moon lunar eclipse on July 16 that will light your eighth house of other people’s money, ruling such things as insurance payouts, financial aid, scholarships, work bonuses, prizes, commissions, bonuses, royalties, licensing fees, inheritances, and similar funds. The problem with this tough eclipse coming on July 16 (the most difficult one of 2019) is that Uranus will be in hard angle to Mars and Mercury, an explosive aspect, and Pluto will oppose the Sun and conjoin the full moon lunar eclipse. Pluto can present a VIP who will be terribly unfair to you, and your outrage will have to be contained—you’ll need to be strategic about how you respond. The fact that Mercury is retrograde means what you say could backfire, so be cautious.

Uranus in hard angle to Mercury, your ruler, brings difficult news that makes you unnerved. Uranus at odds with Mars in your third house of travel suggests you must be careful when driving—ask your mechanic to check over your car and tires. Do not drive late at night—generally, nothing good happens between 2 AM and 5 AM. It would be best not to travel at mid-month, for business or pleasure, for this eclipse seems to make everyone jittery, and even if you personally are not affected, the people you interact with will be tense and distracted.

Your third house, where Mars and Mercury are based right now, rules short-distance travel, but also writing and speaking—all communication—so Uranus’ hard line with these two planets could bring difficulties with a manuscript or other communications project. You may experience problems with a client on an ad campaign you worked on, or you could run into a public relations or social media dilemma. You won’t see this situation coming, but your ability to come up with alternate methods to deal with this will impress everyone around you. As they say, there is more than one way to build a house, and more than one way to fix what comes up. As a Gemini, adaptability and flexibility is something that you carry in your DNA.

The leading planet of the July 16 eclipse will be Saturn. Fortunately, Saturn will be in an exciting angle to Neptune in your tenth house of fame and honors, so despite the difficulties mentioned above, your career and reputation seem to be protected and intact and happily, will be shining brightly. That’s a relief! All you have done previously will put you in line for an elevated position in your field and also for a financial reward. You are known for your original approach to projects and your insistence on excellence. Those qualities will put you head and shoulders above the rest.

Sometimes an eclipse in the eighth house brings up an option to have surgery, for the eighth house is where transformation takes place. That is, the surgeon removes what is hurting you and transforms you to being healthy and pain-free again. For example, the surgery could be one you decide to have, for any number of reasons. If it is an emergency, then it would happen instantly, or if not urgent, it might happen in mid-August. The emphasis on money would relate to your insurance company and how much your provider would pay for your procedure.

July will keep bringing you news, for this month has a second new moon, on July 31, that will fall in Leo and put even more emphasis on your communications/writing/speaking/travel-oriented solar third house. At this new moon (not an eclipse), you will receive special benefits from a partner or collaborator, most likely a headhunter, editor, agent, publicist, or manager. If you collaborate with a writing partner or art director, you will be thrilled with the result. Jupiter, the giver of gifts and luck, is currently in your serious, committed-partnership and collaboration house, so this area of your chart will sparkle like diamonds in the Sun.

However, unpredictable Uranus will act up again, and this time, Uranus could bring re-dos and problems with your work project budget. Uranus will be at odds with three heavenly bodies: the new moon, the Sun, and Venus. Venus rules your creative fifth house, so perhaps other elements of the project, outside your purview and done by other members of the team, will not please the client, and I worry that your income could see a negative impact as a result. Uranus will suddenly challenge the new moon on July 31, and the moon in Gemini’s solar chart rules your earned income. If it is not a member of the team that causes things to go haywire, it could be that a column you wrote won’t appear in the publication, and so you’ll only receive a kill fee of 50%. As a Gemini, you have extraordinary talent in communication, so this seems not likely or even possible. Be on guard, however, and don’t spend too much in July, just in case.

The Gemini who will do best with this new moon will have a birthday that falls on May 28, plus or minus four days. Also set to benefit are those Gemini with Leo rising at eight degrees, your natal moon in Leo at that degree, or a natal planet in Aries, Leo, Sagittarius, Gemini, Libra, or Aquarius at eight degrees, plus or minus five degrees.

This won’t be a banner month for romance—you will be too preoccupied with money and projects to think about love. August will be a far better month, I promise. You will be able to travel and have fun, and the trying days of July will become a distant memory. Your adaptability and flexibility are your secret to success.

Changes in the source of your income and other financials are coming, due to the appearance of the solar eclipse in Cancer, July 2. You may change jobs, earn a substantial raise, or, if you are self-employed, you may see one client leave yet win a new client. Your work will need to be detailed, for Saturn will oppose the Sun and moon. You will need to take your time to be sure all you do is accurate.

You might have to give up a former source of income, but with more money possibly coming in, you seem to stay ahead of the game. You may need to speak to your accountant or another financial advisor to make sure you handle the extra income in a savvy way. Saturn and Pluto are in your house of other people’s money, so you will be learning rules and standards to follow, such as about taxes or insurance. If you are self-employed, because you are hosting Saturn in the eighth house, clients may be slow to pay—or not pay at all if one goes bankrupt. To protect yourself, ask for half of your fee up front.

By July 16, the full moon lunar eclipse in Capricorn will again emphasize financial matters and center on the money you owe others (taxes, loans, mortgage), as well as money others owe you (a court settlement, divorce settlement, or insurance payout, as some examples).

Neptune will be beautifully positioned at the time of the July 16 eclipse, so you may be on television or receive a great deal of publicity, and that will help boost your income as well. Your creativity will put you head and shoulders ahead of the competition this month if you give yourself the time and attention to generate ideas.

During July, Mercury will be retrograde, so your schedule will be peppered with postponements and delays. Schedule a short trip out of town, for Mars is brightening your travel sector. Choose a sunny, warm spot nearby—you won’t want to travel far—and make it a family vacation with your children, for they will bring bushels of laughter. With the new moon on July 31 also accenting travel, it seems assured that you’ll be traveling not only during July but also in August.

This month may find you preparing for surgery and will need to call your insurance company to be sure you have approvals for the procedure. If you are going in for a procedure, make sure your paperwork is received—it may go to the wrong department or become lost with Mercury retrograde, so follow up.

At work, your very best day to forge a deal will be July 25, when action (Mars) leads to accord and profits (Jupiter). Don’t formalize your agreement with paperwork until next month, well after Mercury has gone direct. Mercury will go direct on July 31, so August will bring a faster pace—consider signing on August 6. That same date would also be superb for negotiating the finer points of a contract as you edge closer to a conclusion on August 15.