July is nigh  — the heat of summer and the codependent claws of Cancer season are upon us.

This is month when both Saturn, the zodiac’s zaddy, and Neptune, its strung-out, sleepy-eyed sage, are retrograding in Pisces. When these heavy hitters start doing the backstroke in the murky bath waters of Pisces, our responsibilities edge towards albatrosses, and the scurvy of existential crisis kicks in.

July also finds Jupiter, the good-time-loving planet of luck and levity, in the heady climes of the air sign Gemini. Jupiter in Gemini encourages us to express and connect while ensuring our words ring clear, clean, and true.

The brilliant astrologer and tarot card reader Elise Wells of Planet Poetica is on hand to shed light on the planetary movements at play.

Wells imparts that Gemini is associated with the Lovers card in the Major Arcana of the tarot.

With Jupiter in the mix, we’re encouraged to expand our definition of what true communion, twin flames, and braiding of oppositional forces can be, both in our romantic relationships and the sacred bond we hold with ourselves.

Wells notes that major themes for July include the marriage of the real and the fantastical, perception and poetry “like a rainbow, and elements like the earth itself, which is seemingly still yet constantly moving.”

Here’s to keeping our feet on the ground and our minds attuned to wonder. Read on to learn more.

“The North Node is still working through your sign alongside Chiron. Between the two, you are gifted with double fire and the power to cauterize past wounds and burn through karma: searing, sealing, welding, and melding,” said Wells.

“This scorching calls to mind Moljinir, the hammer of the god Thor, forged in the heat of a dying star. I encourage all rams to find a similar talisman of protection and purpose. Carry it to light the way for the rest of us working to move from indecision to action and from conflict to resolution.”

Wells has words for the people of the bull.

“Mars (action) and Uranus (chaos) are traveling close together in Taurus, and their conjunction can translate to surprises of every kind; flashes of genius, upended perspectives, shifting drives, and radically new desires. Use the force of this lightning storm to sow fresh seeds from the ground up as the earth is the steadiest and only place to start.”

Ahoy Gemini.

Wells explains, “Jupiter, planet of big bets and good luck is in your sign, expanding how you communicate. This isn’t just about expression or monologues; it’s about truly opening yourself to dialogue! Open to the back and forth, to the what words, books, songs, phrases, and poems fill our cup and what and who overflows it. This is your territory- you are Mercury blessed and fortune favored! If you can listen as well as you speak, you will be rewarded tenfold.”

Happy return of the sun to you, Cancer!

Wells expounds for moon children, “This is your season, and it could herald all kinds of unexpected gifts: falling in love with yourself, a home or the home you make of another, giving your shadow a place at the table, and/or bowing to the terrifying prospect of being vulnerable. All of your growth will come from this parallel witness of self that simultaneously witnesses the other. When you remove your armor, you make it safe for those around you to do the same.”

Mercury, the planet of the mind, and Venus, the planet of the heart, will stroll hand in hand in your sign this month, Leo.

“These conspiring powers create an opportunity for you to use your flair for the dramatic to meet your needs. The alignment of heart and mind allows you to be truly sovereign. This sureness is the spark that illuminates your realm. Here is the candle by which you work, which softens and makes magic from the familiar.”

The month of July looks like a serious study for the Virgo contingent. Wells suggests to the children of these stars,

“Get ancestral guidance about your lost and unrequited loves. This is a knot that only you can untie, but it doesn’t mean you can’t ask for help. Study your own narrative and the stories, true and untrue; you have self-soothed with. Revisit these tales to retrieve your power so you might start again with a blank slate and a fresh page.”

Wells urges the Libra ilk to lean into new and radical ways of relating.

“The South Node in your sign reminds us that we are all born relational beings, the challenge is to engage in relationships in ways that strengthen rather than diminish our individuality. You can forge a bond without losing yourself. If you can let go of the outcomes, dynamics, and rules of the past, you might find that you’ve changed yourself and the game altogether.”

This month, you are asked to consider where you belong; Scorpio.

“Ever able to go within and without for long periods of time, you are learning to trust yourself and the group dynamics that birth belonging. The ties that hold us up and down- not back. What does your version of utopia look like? You’re not allowed to say ‘alone on a desert island.’ You have already mastered the art of solo survival; now, you must become an integral part of a sustainable whole.”

Attention archers, talk can be medicine this month! According to Wells:

“Your ruler, Jupiter, is in Gemini, so be prepared for your conversations to carve even deeper and more lasting routes into your psyche. You’re in the process of deep transformation, Sagittarius. Don’t fight the cocooning; you are the noble knight of the zodiac, and here and now is the forest where you learn to love the stuff you are made of.”

“With the sun and moon on the Cancer/Capricorn axis this month, you should be able to lock in instead of getting locked up, Capricorn! No feast or famine for you, but rather the glorious middle ground of satiety. Your ruling planet is getting close to Neptune this month, fueling feelings of fear, especially around people and things you don’t understand. Yet, if you allow yourself to get curious rather than cautious, you will find who and what you need.”

Wells explains to water bearers: “Pluto, the mover of mountains and power planet of buried treasure, is retrograding in your sign this summer. In the novel “Plutonia,” as the inhabitants of an underworld society go deeper and further into the earth, they encounter prehistory, a wealth of beings and ancient life forms that illuminate and educate. This stands as a metaphor for you, Aquarius, as digging in and looking back will fuel your journey to the future.”

Wells tells the people of the fish that July is made for going in and getting deep through structured healing.

“Saturn, our lord of time, is sitting in Pisces. With the world’s weight in a water sign, you can shower, dip, bathe, baptize, surrender, and deep-dive to all the places that didn’t have a concrete entry point before.”

To book a birth chart, tarot, or past life regression reading with Elise Wells, visit her website here.

Astrologer Reda Wigle researches and irreverently reports back on planetary configurations and their effect on each zodiac sign. Her horoscopes integrate history, poetry, pop culture, and personal experience.