Image: Moon, Jupiter, Venus and a very faint Mercury line up, following the sinking Sun.
Happy Summer!
June brought many changes, including the official entrance into Summer and the beginning of a notable transit.
This month I’d like to focus on the season from the perspectives of both Āyurveda and Astrology. I have noticed how thoroughly the nature of the transits can be colored by the season ‘on the ground’ and the state of one’s health. Even though it can be said that the transit themselves are having a physical influence, we are all receiving them in different locations and environments and will thus be filtering them through our individual bodies and minds differently.
Āyurveda
Practically speaking, summer is generally a time of extroversion, activity, travel, irregular schedules and less-than optimal diets.
Āyurvedically, summer is the season when both pitta and vata can become aggravated (especially if you live in a hot AND dry climate), and when the recommendation is to not overexert oneself. Both overall strength and digestion are weakened by the heat and diets need to be modified accordingly. Light, cooked, cooling and easily digestible food eaten at regular times is best.
The qualities or guṇas in the environment tend to be hot, dry and sharp. Foods and activities with these qualities should be avoided or reduced, and those with opposing qualities—cool, oily (or moisturizing) and slow—should be favored.
Slow time out-of-doors around sunset and less in the direct daytime sun can be a great way to bring in more cool and slow and reduce the hot and sharp of summer. If you are not careful to moderate your internal heat, you may notice the guṇas of the season manifesting in your behavior. If you find yourself being sharp with others, and feeling very reactive, then some simple measures to pacify pitta will be helpful.
When it comes to foods and tastes, those which are bitter, astringent, and sweet can control the heat of the season. Seasonal vegetables and greens, fruits and easily-digestible grains are great right now. Heavier foods such as fatty meats, dairy, dense grains and other difficult-to-digest foods should be saved for fall and winter, when they can be properly digested. Fresh herbs like mint and dill are excellent for aiding digestion while cooling also bringing down the internal temperature.
Classical recommendations involve lighter meat (deer, birds), thin soup, sweet drinks prepared with fruit juice, dairy taken with sugar only, and little or no alcohol consumption.
Astrology
While the season may be keeping things hot, the astrology actually has some potential to reduce tensions and deliver much needed peace to the collective. While the Jupiter transit which began last month is not a panacea for all of the ills of society, it should certainly have a positive impact on current conflicts and gradually reduce some of the volatility that has been palpable worldwide.
Current transits need a healthy dose of context. Some of you may remember a post I wrote way back in 2020 when pandemic era chaos was ensuing, wherein I discussed how 2020 opened a new 200 year cycle for the world—a cycle which is often associated with the rise and fall of civilizations. The Saturn-Jupiter conjunction in Capricorn opened the doorway for massive, heavy-hitting changes which cannot be called gentle. It is literally an ‘earth-moving’ transit, as is the era which it brought it. Transits occurring within this time need to be read in light of the backdrop of that period whose color is particularly dark and unsettling.
That being said, an exalted Jupiter in transit is always something to celebrate. If you’ve felt any renewed optimism, sense of spaciousness or ability to just be present, this may be related to the healthy space element which just entered our lives through Jupiter.
Venus joined Jupiter in Cancer in early June, flavoring the transit and centering Jupiter’s expansivity and benevolence in the realm of love, relationships, comfort and luxury. Venus will leave Cancer on July 4th and enter into some very different themes in Leo with the south node Ketu. This placement of Venus will also break the Kala Sarpa or free-will-limiting combinations that have been present in the sky since March. If you have felt like you’ve not had as much choice as usual since then, things may start to open up for you with this transit.
Mercury also joined the mix in Cancer on June 22nd, and proceeded to turn retrograde on the 29th. He’ll move back into Gemini on July 6th to address whatever unfinished business he may have had there until August 5th (though he will go direct on July 23rd).
The Mercury-Jupiter conjunction in Cancer is an excellent combination for learning of all kinds, but especially learning related to emotional intelligence, inner wisdom and maturation, as well as practical learning that relates to the home, health and family, such as subjects you might find in a Home Economics class: cooking, cleaning, repairing household items or making useful things, anything related to care and care-taking and early childhood development. It’s a great time to improve both the structure and function of the home, and to make yourself a student of the domestic sphere. After Mercury returns to Cancer he’ll be there until August 22nd.
The other transits that are significantly impacting the moment are the nodal axis and Saturn, all of which have been in their current positions for a little over a year, now. Saturn in Pisces began with an extreme eclipse involving most of the planets in the zodiac in March of 2025. In some ways, nothing has really been the same since.
Saturn in Pisces is a powerful transit which impacts the collective unconscious. It brings a deep structural transformation to the psyche which is so slow that it is not always discernible. Its position shows a formidable internal pressure that is unrelenting, and can contribute to symptoms such as depression, fatigue, disturbed sleep and a general sense of doom. This is amplified by the aspect of Rahu from Aquarius, which creates a wind-storm effect and can eventually make clear thinking and focus very difficult.
The good news now is that Jupiter is aspecting Saturn from Cancer, so the chaos and uncomfortable changes (which can actually tend toward deterioration) have support to be recognized and repaired. This first part of Jupiter’s transit might therefore be a lot of ‘problem identification’ and waking up to what’s not working. Once the problem is identified, not only is healing possible, but the entire process can lead us all to ask some very deep questions which are in need of answering. The Jupiter-Saturn combination can give somewhat of an existential dilemma flavor and tends to lead to some very deep thoughts and places. This is not necessarily an easy combination, but it can be a very productive one.
Saturn will go retrograde on July 26th— a subject I will discuss in depth next month.
I recommend identifying the areas of your life that you know are in need of an overhaul, and begin putting together a plan to make a change there. Taking small steps toward a larger goal over the next year or so would be a worthy use of this transit. An example would be, in the case of lingering depression, choosing a psychologist or enrolling in a meditation program to begin to address the mental health issue. Getting outside help is in keeping with this transit and the support which is on offer through Jupiter.