posted July 03, 2008 07:16 PM         

http://www.astrologyzone.com/forecasts/monthly/leo_full.php

Your July Horoscope by Susan Miller

July will be a quiet month, and this may be very welcome news. You need a month to catch your breath, especially since August will be the most important month of the year for Leo and the most vital and life changing since 1999.

August will bring two legendary eclipses: the total eclipse of the Sun in Leo on August 1 and a full moon lunar eclipse in Aquarius on August 16. Both eclipses could change everything about your life, from the inside out, for an eclipse is the most dramatic method the universe uses to create necessary change. If your birthday falls within four days of August 1 or 16, then the eclipse that falls closest to your birthday will have an indelible effect on you. You will really feel these eclipses quite personally.

Next month I will get into the detail of these eclipses, but we need to look at July now, for certain things will be going on now, too.

The new moon will appear on July 2 in your house of strategy and confidential thinking, so you will probably want to spend a great deal of time behind closed doors thinking and planning. This part of the chart also symbolizes the primordial waters of creation, or the time that symbolizes the phase a fetus spends in the womb prior to birth. This month therefore marks a very potent and creative period.

The fact that it will be so lit up suggests you should set aside time for working in solitude on a project dear to you. Solitude would be necessary because this part of the chart rules going deeply inside one's psyche and plumbing one's own depths to find the answers - alone. Most creative people enjoy having time alone, as alone time can be a luxury in a very busy, loud world. If you resonate with this feeling, then treat yourself to a little quiet time in early July, either as part of a day here or there, or by actually taking time out of town, perhaps spent in a little cottage by the sea where you can write, draw, compose, sew, design, choreograph, weave, cook, focus on a script, or do any other creative project.

You can use this energy to also generally sketch out your future. The twelfth house rules dreams, memories, and all subconscious thoughts, but it also rules all right-brain visual thinking. I would like you to imagine your future as if a little movie this month. You are the director of this movie, so you can make it just the way you please. If you can SEE your future in great detail, you can make it happen.

This same time of the month, the first half, July 2 to 15, would be an ideal time to see about all the little medical checkups and procedures you know you need to do but haven't had the time to do. See your dentist, or ask your doctor to run a few annual routine medical tests. Have your eyeglasses checked, too. If there is a habit you'd like to drop, or a troubling fear you'd like to dispel, this would be the month to enlist the help of a professional.

It's worth keeping your health strong because eclipses, which will come by next month in August and then again later - next year in late January, early February, and August 2009 - may sometimes point up a weak link. Should you find anything, you can get the jump on getting advice. It would be worth taking the time this month to nip it in the bud.

August is going to be an extremely busy month, where so many new developments come up that it's unlikely you'll have much time to yourself. Eclipses stir our emotions too, so you may be distracted with all the various things you'll be feeling and the answers others will be coming to you to hear. Even very good news can be a bit exhausting! Use July to take a little time off for relaxation, if possible. This seems more possible in early July, but not as you get close to the full moon, July 18.

Mid-month, near July 18, you will likely be racing against meeting a work-related deadline. This project seems to be one that could net you an unexpected profit, and also that could get you more work in the future, so you'll want to put in a good effort. You seem to be working with financials at this time (along with whatever else you have to do) as I see you working with numbers, checks, ledgers, or budgets. You will be more than up to the task, and you will feel a certain pride when it's all done.

Speaking of financials, your own income and outgo has vacillated quite a bit in recent months. This month, with Mars tearing through your second house of income from July 1 to August 19, you will likely see expenses go up again. Be glad you don't have months of this, in the way the Gemini had recently! (Gemini was slammed with ever-rising expenses from end of September 2007 through early May 2008 and is only now able to get full control of things. By comparison, your phase will be easier to manage.) This month, if you don't need to buy a certain high-ticket item, you might want to put off buying it until you see what comes up. You may need to write checks for things you had not anticipated. I am sorry to have to even suggest this, dear Leo.

Mercury will begin to go retrograde again at the end of September through the first three weeks of October, so if you want to buy an expensive item later, I would say to plan to do so at the end of August, after this expensive phase has finished. This way you can look into your bank account and see what's left!

Your problem is Saturn in the second house, and with Mars moving so close to Saturn in the early part of July, you will be mindful of the need to be conservative. But wait! There is lots of reason for hope this month, so let me explain.

Mercury rules your second house of earned income, and when Mercury has strong and positive conversations with other planets, you tend to do well. Happily, Mercury is no longer retrograde as it was in June, and except for one cranky point of the month, when expenses are likely to climb, July 4-5, you can find lots to cheer about on the days I will now list.

Circle one of your very best days of the month, July 14, when the Sun (your ruling star) will send Uranus a golden beam. This will be a fantastic day to hear any news about money! You may hear that you've been approved for a grant, mortgage, infusion of venture capital, insurance payout, or generous scholarship, or even that you won a prize. (Buy a scratch-off ticket on July 14, dear Leo!)

July 22 could bring outstanding, sudden news about money, and when you get it, it will be the LAST thing you expected to hear! This could be a golden day, and the Sun will help out by moving into Leo - no small advantage! Birthday time of the year will have arrived on this day, and suddenly you'll find you're feeling stronger and much more optimistic. All the backroom strategizing you've done will end, and you'll be ready to announce plans. Keep in mind that the August 1 total solar eclipse will change certain conditions, so you may want to wait to see what comes up then before you make any big moves.

One other gold-star day for finances will fall on July 26 when Mars will contact Jupiter on your behalf. On this day, or the day prior, Friday, July 25, you may hear of a job that pays so well that it helps you pay many bills and even allows you to have some money left over. If you are self-employed or work freelance, this particular day will be excellent for you.

Romantically, your social life will pick up beautifully in the second half of the month.

Venus will move into Leo for the first time in twelve months on July 12 to August 6, great news for you! This will be the perfect time to meet new people. If you want to try Internet dating, or have a friend make an introduction, do so during this phase.

Also at this time, after July 12, see about refreshing your appearance. If you want to take a risk, such as to restyle your hair or choose a more updated look for your wardrobe, do so during this phase - the compliments will come!

Single or attached, watch the two days of July 13-14, which should prove to be ultra saucy and sexy.

By the time the Sun moves into Leo from July 22 onward, joining Venus already there, you will come into your own, looking radiant, confident, and ready for you new birthday year.

Most romantic evenings: July 4-5, 9, 13-14, 22, and 31.

Summary

As the song goes, "Summertime, an' the livin' is easy." No need to rush this month, dear Leo, not with planets stacking up in your most restful, private, and reflective part of your chart. Soon you will reach birthday time, so as you wait for the anniversary of your glorious birthday, stop and think about what changes you'd like to make in the coming year.

Next month will bring two major eclipses, and both will affect you. The first one will fall in Leo (August 1) and bring you through a new and very important threshold. Whether you feel ready or not, change is on the way. The other eclipse, a full moon, will fall in your opposite sign of Aquarius (August 16) highlighting one close relationship. Both eclipses will radically speed up the pace of your life, and afterward your everyday experience will have a new look and feel. There'll probably be adjustments to make, for eclipses tend to shake things up. The very idea of change often sends Leo into a panic. You're a fixed sign, but trust that you have nothing to fear. The changes that are coming are ones you are ready for - it's time to grow into a whole new role in life.

Before all the news hits, it would be wise to clear the decks and also to think about what your priorities are. When offers do arrive, you will know what you want and be confident about your decisions.

In July, at the time near the new moon, July 2, you may begin to have a series of confidential meetings. You'll be wheeling and dealing quite a bit, but doing so in private. There'll be no reason or need for your co-worker in the next cubicle to know about your talks, nor should you let things leak out to your competitor across town. Everyone in your life seems to be curious, but you'll be right to keep things under wraps for now.

Financially, unusually high expenses seem to have put you in a funk. You either feel that you don't have enough money coming in, or have too many unexpected expenses going out - or both. This shortfall of cash will be most prevalent while Mars moves through your income sector from July 1 to August 19. During this time, you might want to space out purchases. Thankfully, things should improve in late August.

Yet there will be a few happy financial spots too, and if you are eagle eyed and quick on the draw, you can take full advantage. A side job or new piece of business could come through the door at the full moon on July 18. Keep alert for it, for it would be something you'd want to snap up. Elements of this project will intrigue you - the work, the people, or the way it teaches you something completely new (or, hopefully, all three). Whatever it is, it seems special AND lucrative.

In terms of health, it is now halfway through 2008, also a good time to take stock of fitness goals. If you are not far along on your original fitness resolutions made at the start of the year, you can now get down to business near the full moon July 18. Your energy and determination will be sky high then, and that will be a great help if you want to set down a plan to exercise consistently. This would also be the right time to book medical and dental checkups you've been putting off. If you're feeling a bit drained (possible) then get more rest during the coming weekend.

Romantically, if single, someone you're introduced to by a friend on July 14 could be an intriguing someone you'd want to see again - and again. This will be your favorite day of the month!

You'll be radiant when Venus starts to move through Leo, from July 12 through August 5. Use this phase to indulge in pampering spa and salon treatments and begin shopping for new things for fall.

Venus will increase your magnetism enormously too, so this month will bring many unexpected romantic pleasures.

Stage confidential talks: July 2 plus 2 weeks.

An unexpected new assignment could be lucrative: July 18 plus or minus four days as well as on July 26.

Your favorite day: July 14

Attend to health and fitness needs and goals: July 18 (- or + 4 days)