July enters quietly, but make no mistake – you are entering the most important time of 2017, starting in late July, and excitement will be heightened more in August when the eclipses come by, to fall in Aquarius and your sign of Leo. For now, the first three weeks of July will give you time to think about changes you might want to make to become happier and to see all the right progress in your life. You will have time to breathe and let go in the first part of July. Because you are about to enter a time of great change, with plenty of choices to make, you will need to take a rest now. If you do go on vacation, make it a soothing and relaxing one near water, as planets stacking up in Cancer are suggesting that a seaside or lake setting will hit the spot. If you can’t take time off because your work is simply too demanding these days, then find time to enjoy family, and make it a point to be around children, for they will make you laugh and bring out the child in you.

It’s very possible that work IS busy these days, for the full moon in Capricorn 17 degrees, July 8, plus four days, you will likely bring a current project to fruition and completion. Capricorn is a big money sign, so you may also be working on budgetary appropriations or you may be finishing up an important negotiation. If you need to hire someone at work or in your home life (like a nanny, gardener, or personal assistant, for example) you can hire that person within four days of this full moon.

Mercury will be retrograde from August 12 to September 5, so you would be wise to schedule your most important actions in July. If you want to buy a new computer or any new electronic item – do so immediately.

Often in life we are so busy doing that we forget that we are evolving and in a new phase of maturity and development. Eclipses in your own sign come by just about every nine years, and during that time, coming by for two years, every six months, they give us a chance to catch up and adjust our vision of ourselves, and to also reexamine dreams and goals to make them more suitable to who we have become, who we want to be, and to eschew the old vision of who we used to be. You are a little older and wiser now, and you can decide if your former goals still hold or need to be adjusted.

Once Mars moves into Leo, July 20 to September 5, you will notice life will move at a much faster pace. Having Mars in your sign is a great advantage for you will be favored in all activities. People will want to be on “team Leo” and want to help in any way they can. Life cannot always be this sweet, but while it is, take full advantage, and be happy! This is a once-in-two-year privilege and indicates you are beginning a new personal cycle. You’ll have presence and drive, and others will sit up and listen to all you have to say. It will be easier to get things your way in July and August, rather than have to dilute your ideas in a compromise to please others. That’s not going to happen now!

In addition of having Mars in your sign, you will ALSO have the new moon, July 23 in Leo, 1 degree, too. This is so fortunate! A new moon takes the energy swirling about you and packages it in such a way that makes the good opportunities coming up easily accessible. A new moon in your own sign always allows you to choose how you will direct its energy. What is most important to you, dear Leo? Usually each month I tell you where a new moon is falling and the type of possibilities that will arise for you. However, a new moon in your sign gives you carte blanche. You can choose to go after the goals that are important to you, and if you don’t have the opportunities you need, you can uncover them if you look. The reason I feel certain Leos will be in the headlines is that the July 23 new moon won’t be the only one in Leo.

Next month, on August 21, another new moon will fall in Leo – and it will be a total solar eclipse in your sign! Eclipses are massively powerful, exerting the influence of three new moons rolled into one. This is extraordinary! Usually we get one new moon in each of the twelve signs, one in each of the 12 months. It’s rare to see two new moons in a row in the same sign, and lucky you, this is happening in YOUR sign. Plus, to have that second new moon be a solar eclipse, that’s quite special. This means that needed, welcome changes are on the way to you, dear Leo. If you felt stuck and that nothing was quite clicking, or if ideas were on the stove, cooking, but nothing was being approved or started, you may have been antsy. That is all about to change with the big blast of energy that will come through your window. The fact Mars will be moving through your sign from July 20 to September 5 tells me you will have a great deal of control over the way events play out. You already know that Mercury is about to retrograde, so make your biggest decisions, launches, and starts at the front end of Mars’ visit in Leo, in July.

At the new moon in Leo on July 23, you will have the Sun, new moon, Mars, and Mercury in Leo, and Mercury will play a big role at that moment. Mercury rules news, and the news coming to you at month’s end will be exciting and not what you are expecting, for Uranus will be beaming strong, positive energy to Mercury.

You must ever underestimate the power of a new moon. I remember when I was about 15, I said to my mother, gee, I have the best planets you told me, but nothing good is happening. She was at the sink washing dishes. Little Mom turned to me, dried her hands on her apron, and looked at me with her big blue eyes, and said: “Susie, do you have a good new moon? Without a new moon, nothing will happen – that new moon will take all the good aspects that you have, package them, and present them in a big box with a bow. You need a new moon!” Dear Leo, you need the new moon, and you HAVE it, times two! July 23, and August 21, and the one next month is going to be so powerful and beneficial it will be like having three new moons in one day, if that were even possible!

Does your birthday fall July 23-28? You will feel this new moon with double strength. The same is true if you have Leo rising 1 degree, or the moon in Leo 1 degree, both plus or minus four degrees. Or, you might have a natal planet in Leo, Aries, Sagittarius, Gemini, Libra, or Aquarius at 1 degree, plus or minus four degrees – that planet will benefit from this new moon too. (If you were born on August 21 or near that date, you will feel the changes next month more than this month. Does your birthday fall in the middle of these two dates? You will benefit – you will see!)

Before I go, I will point out a few sweet dates for you to circle on your calendar. July 5 brings the Sun and Neptune in ideal angle – that’s a fantastic day to find creative inspiration or to celebrate the love you feel for someone special.

July 14 will be a wonder day to travel. The moon will be in fellow fire-sign Aries, and Mercury and Jupiter will be in perfect sync. You’ll love the short trip you take as it will be very refreshing. Do NOT travel on July 17 when Mars and Uranus will be at sharp odds.

Finally, over July 29-30 you might want to travel to a distant point with a friend, or travel to SEE and be with a friend. Either way, you’ll love every minute of that weekend, and you might just want to extend your stay a little longer.

Lots of big things are bubbling up for you, but you won’t see the fullness of all that is about to come to you until the Sun moves into Leo in the last third of the month. As you enter July, you will be in a quiet, planning mode. Taking time to think and to plan is the right approach, for soon you will be so busy you won’t have time to reflect on the changes being wrought and coming at you at record speed. Specifically, you have two friendly eclipses coming in August, a lunar eclipse on August 7 in your opposite sign of Aquarius, pointing to a change or a decision about a relationship (business or romantic in nature) and a solar eclipse in Leo on August 21 that will help you know your own mind and see all sorts of possibilities in life that didn’t exist before the eclipse came by.

Mars will enter Leo this month on July 20 to stay until September 5, big news, for the arrival of active Mars in your sign heralds the start of a new life chapter. If you can wait to launch your dearest efforts to during this period, you will have an outstanding chance of succeeding. While not all ventures do well, most do, mainly because you will be so passionate about what you will be presenting that it will be nearly impossible for others not to join you in your quest, whatever it might be, professional or personal. Mars will bring out your attractiveness and confidence, too, so you can count on a joyous time ahead.

At the end of this trend, Venus will enter Leo, from August 25 onward, so until September 5, you’ll have both Venus and Mars in your sign, making you quite charismatic and unforgettable. You may need new things to wear, so get ready now for the next seasons by scouring the Internet the latest things that you feel are just right for you. For now, Venus will be in Gemini, another good place for you, for Venus will stir up events with friends that you’ll enjoy to the fullest. With Jupiter in your third house, you will have lots of opportunities to travel in July, and through August too. I feel you should choose July to go, however, as too much will be going on in August to take off.

On July 8, the full moon in Capricorn may intrude on this lyrical interlude by forcing a work deadline that you will have to meet within four days of this date. Your creativity will be very strong, and if you find that you are working on an artistic project, you will have the ability to come up with a brilliant moneymaking idea.

On July 14, Mercury in Leo will be in fine angle to Jupiter, giver of gifts and luck, positioned in your third house of communication. You will express yourself skillfully at this time, and you may also hear good news about money that is on the way to you. Additionally, you may also hear from a friend who seems to have happy news to share. (Mercury rules both your solar money and friendship houses, explaining these divergent possibilities.) You may be taking a short trip mid-month after you turn in your project, or if you are in sales, celebrate the completion of a complex deal. With the full moon of July 8 conjunct Pluto, you’ll feel powerful and confident, and you will be that and more.

Late month will be your favorite part. On July 20, Mars, the high-octane energy planet, will enter Leo for the first time in two years, and you will have Mars’ prime support until September 5. Mars will almost surely guarantee a memorable period where you will find yourself to be the center of attention. You will have energy, determination, and control over the way things go. If you need to see a certain VIP or want to get the eye of someone you hope to turn into an admirer, you’ll have your chance in coming weeks.

On top of this, you are about to come up on the first of two new moons in a row in Leo, an unusual situation that will favor you in a grand way. The first of the two new moons will arrive on July 23, precisely conjunct this energetic Mars. You will be eager to get your dearest plans in place, and it’ll be the right time too. You will notice this new moon’s assistance if your birthday falls within five days of July 23.

Next month, remarkably, the second new moon in Leo will arrive on August 21, and it will arrive as a triple-strength solar eclipse. If you were born within five days of August 21, you will feel this eclipse more than the one this month. No matter how you view this, with two new moons in a row in Leo, with one a solar eclipse on steroids, your life is about to move in fast forward. If you felt things were dull, they won’t be anymore.

Best of all, both the new moon on July 23 and the August 21 eclipse next month will be supportive and friendly, and you will get more news in August. The August 7 lunar eclipse that will arrive earlier next month will affect a close, committed relationship. Lots will be going on! Buckle up, dear Leo! You will benefit from the changes that will come your way in a matter of weeks.