Steve Judd's Forecast for July 2011

The Cancerian new Moon on July 1st strongly squaring Saturn represents the beginning of the end of the period of pressure, stress and limitation that has pervasively dominated so many people’s live over recent months, but that does not mean that things are going to get any easier – probably the opposite. The Leo new Moon on July 30th will be strongly squaring Jupiter in Taurus, so instead of Saturnine pressure and authority, the world may have to deal with Jupitarian excess and wastage issues, particularly around the food chain, with GM grains and livestock issues once again surfacing. The Capricorn full Moon on the 15th is not a major role player is the unfolding patterns, but it does bring with it a degree of pleasure and elegance that’s not often there, so this month’s full Moon is definitely the more light hearted time of the month as opposed to the time of the dark Moon. But the main theme during July is that of diversity. After the recent line ups of planets in Aries and Taurus, the planets have now spread themselves thinly around the zodiac, there are eight different signs being occupied this month so the energy patterns suggest a multitude of experiences, a time of test and taste, trial, experience and experiment. And underlying it all, Uranus is drawing ever closer to square Pluto, with first exact pass less than a year away. The behemoths of the old are crumbling at more than the edges… Expect further consolidation of the old into just a few – or even just one – mega groupings as they desperately try to maintain the degree of control that’s been dominant in the past. At the same time, let new things develop, because all round the globe there are going to be spontaneous groups arising that are going to start new currencies, new politics and new moral codes of human behaviour – because if these things aren’t part of our future, what kind of future will it be?

Aries On the surface and at the day by day level, July is very much a flexible and adaptable month, where you can manoeuvre between the pitfalls of everyday life and continue life much as it has been. But not far underneath the surface lay a number of different potential challenges, some of which may be quite difficult. Firstly, Uranus starts to go retrograde in your sign during July, and those of you whom have had a random, unpredictable, disruptive and upsetting time this year so far are now beginning a phase where you’re going to start getting a more detached perspective on the year’s events so far. That’s not to say that the disruption will cease, but it is to say that as of this month things are unlikely to get any worse. And then there’s the other side of the same coin, in that those of you whom have found the last four or five months manic yet stimulating, unpredictable yet exciting and generally more exhilarating are in an excellent position to consolidate recent experiences, embrace the new and look forward to a novel future. Whether you like it or not, the future is based more on words like independence, freedom and liberty and the sooner you get used to that idea, the better. Don’t step back this month – the more talking and interacting you do, the more you learn, and in that context it’s better to try and fail than not to try at all. You’ve survived 2011 so far: now it’s time to put things into practise.

Taurus This is such an important month for almost all of you. How well have you learnt your lessons of value and worth? What is important to you in terms of material versus non material? Jupiter is still going through the early part of your sign with a fair degree of speed, and inherent in this are a large number of opportunities for development, big time. But hang on – some of you have been here before. The potential here for growth and expansion is very positive and helpful, only watched by the capacity for going over the top and stretching yourself too thinly, going too fast too much too soon. Bide your time. June through to August 2011 is a time of test and taste, wonder and awe. Decisions made now will be premature, and in the relatively near future you’ll find yourself regretting them. Instead, this time now is a wonderful time to take half of what is offered s real, and use that half to throw long term fishing lines into the future, aiming at January through to March of next year, when similar opportunities as now will be around, but then I’ll be saying take 90% as opposed to now, where I’m saying take half. The wise person knows when to say ‘I think I’ll stop here, I’ve had enough’. So do take chances, but don’t take risks and make sure that you can stop at any time and let the rest of your life catch up with you. Really – despite current energies, there is no rush.

Gemini July 2011 will go down in many of your history books as the month of action that changed lots of things in your life. This is not large scale drama, crisis or problem, but with Mars in your sign throughout the month you’re going to find a greater degree of vitality, energy, physicality, libido, enthusiasm and get up and go that at any other time in 2011, so make the most of it. Mars is proactive, dynamic, assertive and projective with the capacity for actions and decisions on the spot. But he also is the planet that represents the impulsive, volatile, aggressive and confrontational impulses within us all, so beware the tendency for rash and hot headed decisions and actions. You can get a lot of things done this month, but the ways that you do these things can be varied. Fact is, you’ve got this energy at your fingertips so how are you going to use it? If you come across like a bull in a china shop all feisty and too dynamic, all that will happen is that you will tread on others’ toes and they will then oppose you. But if you can be strong enough within yourself to not need to be so outwardly in other peoples’ faces, then you can operate with a cooler, detached and more effective attitude than normal and get real results. The lesson for July is simple – don’t tread on others’ toes, don’t let your buttons get pushed, but at the same time make things happen with your lasers of red hot ice.

Cancer You’re on the receiving end of a number of mixed signals, many of which are bringing a degree of both uncertainty and insecurity into your day by day life in the short term. There’s nothing actually wrong, or challenging that’s going to directly affect you, but there are a number of different influences around that seem to be almost menacing in their implications. On the one hand, don’t go out of your way to provoke or arouse opposition, but on the other there’s also a need to stand up for oneself if needs be, and to maintain your own ground. If you let things get too fixed and structured, then you’ll find a degree of stasis developing that will ultimately lead to real boredom. But at the same time, you can’t afford to take chances too much, because otherwise you will overstretch yourself. You’re treading a fine line between chaos and order, and this month is a test of your willingness to take the middle path. In that context – Venus is in Cancer for almost the entire month of July, so I don’t see any reason why you shouldn’t enjoy yourself. A combination of Venus plus the Cancerian new Moon on July 1st brings an element of pleasure and leisure into your life, so the temptation to let go of the worry and just surf the Venusian pleasures will be strong. By all means enjoy yourself this month, it’s a great time for doing so, but remember that the best things are enjoyed in moderation not large gulps.

Leo And now we get to the interesting part of the year…. At the very start of this month, Mercury moves into your sign and then due to its retrograde pattern, it will then stay there until the end of September. What this means is that particularly during this month, there’s going to be lots of news, information, words and developments that are all going to have a degree of uncertainty about them. It is primarily those of you born on or after the 10th of August who are likely to feel the brunt of this, but all of you are well advised not to take anything developing this month too seriously, as the results of July’s actions and words won’t become really apparent for a couple of months yet. The best advice here is to play the long game, and to let the world think that it is having its way with you whilst really a big part of you is just laying in the long grass and watching whilst at the same time your tail is twitching….. Play the game, do what is expected of you, but be advised that what you see is not always what you get and that sometimes words do cover up a multitude of sins. If you want specific answers this month, ask questions that can only be answered with a yes or a no, and you’ll find that although you won’t get the final picture of clarity you want until later in the year, at least you’ll know where you currently stand. At the end of July, Venus enters your sign – but that’s my secret weapon for August.

Virgo July is like the coat of many colours, in that it’s all a little bit higgledy piggledy and there’s stuff coming in from every direction and it’s difficult to know which thing to pay attention to the most. However, take away the superficial gloss of freneticism and immediacy and underneath you’ll sense the first clear signs evolving of the new future that’s been promised for so long. Many of you, particularly those of you born during August, are going to see July increasingly bringing a degree of opportunity and development that hasn’t been there for a fair few years. It’s a fairly safe bet for me to say that for the vast majority of you, the hardest times of 2011 are no over. The temptation now is to sit back and let the waves of warmth and comfort encompass you, relax and not do very much. Well, OK, you can but what a waste of opportunity. The first half of this year has almost been designed to get you up to speed so that now you can practise archetypal Virgoan words such as efficiency and accuracy with a greater degree of effectiveness than has been possible so far in 2011. It would be a waste to now just take things for granted. If you maintain the same degree of effort as you have so far this year, you’ll find that the brakes are coming off and your potential for greater result from the same effort is a really viable option now. Do you want the easy life, or do you want to be successful?

Libra Finally – finally! – Saturn has stopped going retrograde, and now is beginning the laborious task of moving forward once again. Viewed positively, this means that the majority of you born before the 3rd October are now beginning to realise that the pressure, stress, limitations and restrictions of recent times are now beginning to ease off and there’s a greater element of lightness coming in to the equation. Seen in a more gravitational way, those of you born after October 10th are going to find that the later we get into 2011, the more pressure and density you will find yourselves as putting up with, even if it is only for a short time. It is those of you born between the 3rd and the 10th of October who are being asked the hardest of questions. Look at the last nine months and ask yourself who and what has fallen by the wayside, and look at how few are left standing. But those still around have seen both the best and the worst sides of you, and they are still coming back for more, so in these precious few people you can see the roots and foundations of quality long term friendship. For all of you, this is a month of summary, where the turn around point is, and from here onwards there are new circumstances developing that no longer have the seriousness that the first half of 2011 has brought. Don’t be scared to cut your losses now – you’re finally beginning to emerge into clarity, just don’t run before you can walk.

Scorpio The insistent deep rumblings of recent times are beginning to get closer to the surface, and vents of steam are beginning to come out of the depths… there’s a growing sense of frustration at what seems to be the lack of either ability or opportunity to make things happened – the waiting is driving you mad! But be careful what you wish for, because sometimes it does indeed come true – big style. In just over a year from now, when Saturn starts his thirty month visit, you may look back on these times of relative inaction with longing. I realise that the boredom and frustration at what seems like impotence is probably doing your head in, but the option of being out there in the outside world whilst you’re still in embryonic stage doesn’t feel right. And because there’s not that much either stopping you or pushing you forward now, because you seem to be in a detached space compared to many, I suggest that July and to a lesser extent August are times of excellent opportunity to step within, hone yourself and become more effective. It’s a great opportunity to sharpen your existing skills for when they’re going to be needed, and to do a thorough systems check. But the underlying message remains the same – it’s not quite your time yet. Soon, but not yet. And until that time does arrive, the best use of your energy is to accentuate your skills and downgrade your negative attributes – become more effective.

Sagittarius It’s that time of year where you can do almost anything you want and get away with it as long as you don’t go large. The rest of the world is not looking at you now. Sounds bad, I know, but once you get over the ego thing of being relatively ignored, you will see that as a result of this absence of attention that you can really get on and do things without anyone else standing in your way and without the normal level of obstruction or blockage. Simply because the world’s attention is elsewhere, you can work more effectively alone this month than at almost any other time this year and get results. In fact, with Mars in your opposite sign the recommendation is to work alone – either that or in groups. But just for July, working in a tight one to one situation isn’t going to be easy, as a lot of your more independent buttons may get pushed. So while the rest of world isn’t watching, why not do a few things that symbolically represent either letting your hair down or/and stretching your boundaries? I’m not suggesting anything inappropriate here, just that there’s a greater degree of lassitude around you now, you can slip through the holes unnoticed and permeate yourself into any situation without fear of getting caught up. This is a month to hone your natural tendencies of flexibility, adaptability and acceptance to a quality of degree that you haven’t seen for at least a year. The only real challenge this month is laziness and becoming a couch potato – how’s your discipline when no-one’s watching?

Capricorn With both Saturn and Uranus, the forces of order and chaos, both squaring up to you and offering a degree of challenge, this is not the easiest month of the year. In fact, perhaps it’s time to step back and let yourself have a break to an extent – there has been and will be easier times this year, so when the opposition is strong why fight? Simply step back and wait things out. If you swing too much towards the ways of conservatism and discipline, you’ll find that you miss chances and get stuck in a rut. But if you swing too much towards the experiential, you’ll find yourself on unsteady ground. Step back from the fray to a degree, and don’t put all of your energies into any one area, instead knowing how to bide your time. This month isn’t so much a time of growth, expansion or new beginnings, it’s more a month of letting older things, people, situations and environments go, knowing that this is not loss, merely weeding and pruning. It is the Capricorn full Moon during July, further symbolising the theme of closure, releasing and ending and the letting go of the old so that the new can come in without having to negotiate old baggage. Take time out this month too re-assess direction, and ask yourself if the things that you are working at to maintain and sustain are bringing you enough reward to justify their continuance.

Aquarius The sensible ones amongst you will experience July as though you’re looking through a lens, able to study specific parts and people of your external world in a way that only brings focus onto what is important. The less sensible make not have that much understanding of the value of self imposed boundaries as opposed to those boundaries imposed upon them, and as a result find themselves between a rock and a hard place when it comes to being and telling the truth. There’s a simple philosophy for Aquarius in July – if you always tell the truth, then you never have to remember what you’ve said, and this month has a great deal going for it if you keep it simple. There will be lots of words spoken, most of which will be unreliable and only hot air. But the more reptilian mind and the lower gut instinct will keep you on track, so trust your natural bodily instincts as much as if not more than your emotive or mental faculties this coming month. Don’t let other individuals sway you from your course. You may indeed change course over the coming three months, but only as result of your deliberations, not because of pressure from others, and you won’t find clarity on any specific issue related to one to one encounters until early September, so be aware that not everything is as it seems. It’s a month of direct experience, but not of long terms plans or decisions.

Pisces During the last four or five months, you’ve had a taster of the forthcoming influences of having both Neptune and Chiron in your sign, for the first time in at least fifty years. After the challenges, confrontations and sudden and dramatic changes of recent years, there’s a new pattern developing that suggests a greater emphasis on the sensual and a lesser one on the proactive. It’s not so much that people or situations are changing these days, it’s more that your perception of these scenarios is changing, and that begs the question that if you’re watching a constantly changing movie from behind your eyes, then who’s writing the script? One of the side effects of recent times is that you’ve been able to appreciate the more subtle elements of the world, a greater empathy and receptiveness to both the beauty and the pain. You wouldn’t have this receptiveness if you didn’t also have the ability to put your shields up when necessary, so there’s no fear of doing the normal Pisces thing of getting consumed or absorbed unless you’re really going to let yourself get seduced, in which case more fool you… July is a time where you can almost stalk the world, watching your interactions at the daily level from an objective perch and steadily learning and evolving. It’s not a bad month but neither is it a time of radical new developments or choices. The world is your oyster – play with it.

About Steve Judd

Steve was born near Southampton in southern England in July 1955. After leaving the army at twenty, Steve found his first astrological book in 1980, and spent the next years buried in books studying astrological basics, leading to his first consultations in 1982. He is totally self taught. Over the next fifteen years, he expanded his ability by doing 4,000+ chart readings.

In 1994, after many years working at the Glastonbury Festival Green Fields, Steve was a founding members of the Big Green Gathering and is currently on the Board of Directors. Since 1998, Steve has increased his astrological career many fold, starting when he began work for the astrological phone lines. He wrote for Jonathan Cainer, as well as contributing to Jon's web site and column in the Daily Mirror and the Daily Mail. During 1999 and 2000 Steve worked as a real-time internet astrological consultant for World International Television. He now works solely for himself.

In the last eight years, Steve's number of consultations has increased to the point where he now has records of over 20,000 horoscopic readings, with a loyal client base, many of whom return for monthly and yearly updates.

Steve has considerable experience of dealing with different media. He has appeared on local radio stations in Cornwall, Bristol, Hereford, Stevenage and the highlands of Scotland amongst others, on local TV in the HTV and GMTV areas, and has national TV appearances to his name. He has his own brand of idiosyncrasies which endear him to his many clients and fans, which coupled with his bohemian and sometimes direct attitude makes him a unique individual.

In September 2003, Steve began studying for the Master of Arts Degree in Cultural Astronomy and Astrology at the Sophia Centre, Bath Spa University. He was awarded his Masters Degree on July 22 2005.

If you enjoyed his forecast, please visit Steve’s website at www.stevejudd.com or email him at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .