Think of July as the calm before a wildly busy August, when your home and family will be the center of your attention, with plenty of choices and a number of decisions to be made. I will explain more about that later, but in the meantime, I want to focus on the start of July, where the planets will be coaxing you out of the house to travel. Take the opportunity to go, for you will be needed at your base in August.

The full moon on July 8, at 17 degrees Capricorn, may find you either coming back from a very distant trip or be a day when you have scheduled an event during your trip. It appears you can make money on this trip, so it is logical to imagine this journey will have a business purpose, or you might be selling family real estate. Capricorn, the place of this full moon, is a fellow earth sign that blends beautifully with your Taurus Sun, indicating that this full moon should be your friend. The full moon falls very close to Pluto, so it appears you may be traveling with your collaborator, agent, publicist, or your mate, and this person will be especially helpful to you.

As you see, you might be traveling to a foreign city or island that requires a passport for entry (very likely), or you may be finishing an international deal on email and telephone, without ever needing to leave home. Alternatively, you may be concluding a contract or handing in a written document or research project, giving a major speech, finishing a translation, or finishing up something involving your aim to gain an advanced degree or teach at a university. This month you may be applying to graduate school, taking a qualifying exam, or defending your thesis. Pluto will be conjunct that moon and will give you quite a bit of power, so you will easily hold others’ attention. Mars will oppose Pluto, however, so you will have to be persuasive, but this aspect will be waning by the full moon, July 8, for Pluto will oppose Mars directly on July 2, a week earlier. With each passing day, negotiations will get easier and you should be able to find accord.

Now, turning to another subject, something big is definitely also about to happen regarding your home or family, for Mars will soon be traveling through your home sector from July 20 to September 5. If you want to make changes in your living condition, you will have the green light and an open road to do so now. You’ve not had Mars’ help for two years, and once Mars moves into another sign in early September, you may miss his high-level energy to assist you to move things forward. Do your best to settle home-related matters in July and August. If you have a parent who needs your attention and care, you can also find solutions for your beloved mother or father because the fourth house of home rules not only the physical environment you live in (or other property you own or rent) but also your biological or adoptive parents. Even if you have found no workable solutions that you found likeable in the past, you can now move ahead with certainty.

Yet there is MORE evidence that you will be focused on your home. The new moon this month in Leo at 1 degree on July 23 will also light your home, property, and family sector and bring a plethora of choices.

    This month’s new moon, July 23, is sure to open a window of opportunity with home and family-related matters in the weeks that follow it. This will be the first of two new moons in a row, each one set to light your fourth house of home.

The full moon next month, August 7, will be a lunar eclipse, making it a new moon on steroids. To say you have plenty of cosmic energy being laser-beamed to your home and family area is an understatement.

You can choose the things you’d like to do – move, renovate, decorate your space, clean out closets, add a roommate, join Airbnb or a similar company (if you feel it’s safe to do), sell or buy a house, rent a vacation home, or buy or sell furniture, as several examples. Even on a small scale, you can do such things as paint a room, send out the rugs to be cleaned, order the window washers, buy new dishes, or choose new linens. Doing any of these actions would lift your spirits. If you love the way your home looks and feels as is, you might be directing this home-related energy to assist a parent or other family member.

Financially, you have will have every opportunity to do well, as Venus will move into your second house of earned income as Venus glides through Gemini, the sign of twins. This suggests that you might uncover two new lucrative sources of income. If you are in sales or own a company where you’d like to bring in new clients, this month would be a good time to advertise, hire a publicist, and meet with new clients. Consider designing a sleek home office. It looks like profits would flow from the work you do there, but keep in mind, to trigger your luck this month and next, you must work at home, not an office or shared office space. Home is golden for you!

Two days stand out as especially helpful to you for making money, and they certainly would be first-rate for signing a contract, making a presentation, or having a key meeting or negotiation. Here they are:

The first day would be July 18 when Venus and Jupiter will be in perfect sync, and the transiting moon will favor you by being in Taurus. This is a wow of a day to see money come in or to buy something you dearly want that is quite beautiful.

The second point in the month that will bring you good financial news will be over the weekend of July 29-30. That’s when Venus in Gemini will contact Uranus in Aries, a day filled with surprise that could help you find a bargain, be given a check, find money on the sidewalk, or in other ways see a small windfall.

Romantically, this month if more about home and family and travel than romance. That will change in August, when Venus moves into highly compatible Cancer on July 31. Having said that, I will admit the weekend just discussed, July 29-30, might be special for a blind date. If you are single, it would be worth letting your friends set you up on a date. If you are single, for your very best prospects for love, you will need to wait until the new moon September 19. I do feel you will have opportunities prior to that date, but September is due to be your biggest and best month of 2017 for love.

You have so many exciting things happening for you before that, so don’t be blue! In August, huge developments in home and career are coming, so fasten your seat belt! I feel you will like all that occurs.

Many people choose August to take a vacation, but you might want to choose July for the most fun. Mars will enliven your travel sector until July 20, an indication of where the main part of your attention will be drawn. August will bring massive news and changes in your career and in regard to home or other property you may own or rent, due to two major eclipses due on August 7 and 21, so you will need to stay at home base then to keep up and make decisions on the fly. Before news swirls in August – some of it due to be quite exciting – this month you may decide to rent a cottage in a verdant, wooded setting or by the sea. (A full moon in Capricorn on July 8 and Mars in Cancer would point to either or both settings as perfect for you.) It appears you can make your trips regular escapes throughout the month.

During the very first days of July, Venus, you ruling planet and planet of beauty, grace, and love, will still tour Taurus, ensuring you will find life heavenly during July’s first three days. If you cannot go away in early July, then plan a shopping excursion, treat yourself to a soothing spa treatment, or schedule an appointment with your hairdresser for a chic, new cut.

Travel will be a strong emphasis at the full moon, July 8, but not short travel – you seem to be coming back from quite a distance. Neptune will be on hand to bring inspiration, so it seems you will go to a city near water, and where mountains will be close and visible as well. Mars will be conjunct the Sun, giving you energy and drive. Pluto will be close to the moon, so you may explore caves or places underground.

Home is becoming a big theme, and you’ll see the truth of this as soon as Mars transfers to Leo, July 20. You may be intent on moving or fixing up your home, for a crowd of planets will gather in your home sector, and those planets will be getting ready to welcome the eclipse of August 21. Usually we have but one new moon per sector per year – 12 sectors, 12 different new moons – but this year, we have two new moons in a row in the same sign that will light your home sector, one this month on July 23, and the next one a powerful eclipse, August 21.

Eclipses are some of the most powerful tools that the universe uses to create memorable change. If you want to move, renovate, do repairs, paint, buy expensive new furniture or other accoutrements, or simply do a thorough cleaning, you will have all the cosmic energy you need to make it happen. You can start now and see how well things go!

If you need money to make your dearest home-related desires materialize, you will have luck on your side. Venus in Gemini will make you a money magnet throughout the month. Put a star on July 18, an outstandingly special day, when Venus and Jupiter will be in sync, linking salary / fees with new business, or if you work for others, you may receive a new assignment. You will do well.

Another amazing day for good news about money will be July 30 when Venus and Uranus will work together on your behalf. News will come either shortly before or after this date – you’ll be surprised and thrilled.