Mars sets off the Cardinal Cross this month, igniting our gnarliest issues. Problems that have been dogging us for years make themselves known, daring us forward.
If we’re smart, we’ll dive right into them.
“Can you cook and sew, make flowers grow?” (1)
Mars is now in Cancer (6/4-7/20), a moody, close-to-home placement. In this sign the martial impulse is security-conscious and subjective.
Mars is the urge to self-assert; Cancer is the instinct to protect. The combination points us towards activities that shelter and 
nurture other living things.
Less productively, this placement stimulates our ego defenses and can resurrect old family rancor. Dramas like this are possible when Mars opposes Pluto as the month begins. Peaking on July 2nd, the opposition sets the tone for July.
Pulled underground
When Mars (agitation) messes with Pluto (breakdown/ breakthrough), our deepest sore spots 
are provoked.
All of us have insecurities, abandonment fears and self-protective habits. To the extent that they are toxic, these behaviors pollute our greater organism, and have to be purged. Before this can happen, their underlying motivations have to be exposed.
These cyclical provocations have been part of our lives ever since Pluto went into Capricorn in 2008. You may find yourself pulled into your own private Underworld every time Mars passes through a cardinal sign: this is when the two planets collide in a conjunction, square or opposition.
Live grenade
The next step in the cardinal riff peaks July 17-18, when Mars squares Uranus.
Mars kicks into the foreground whatever planet it is transiting. When this is Uranus, what’s getting kicked is a live grenade.
Right after the Mars-Uranus square is exact, the Sun takes Mars’s place. This prolongs the agitation for another few days, through a least July 21st. During this window, some sort of
Jack-in-the-box (Uranus) may catch us off-guard. There may be a dark edge to the mischief (Pluto), all the better to get our attention.
Whatever gets sprung upon us this month, although it may seem to be coming from the outside world, is part of our soul’s learning curve. Uranus (revolution) and Pluto (destruction/ re-creation) are the engines behind these dramas.
Their purpose is to jolt us out of stagnation, and to remind us that everything in life must be 
let go of, sooner or later.
We’ll get the most out of these transits if we accept that Uranus’ cyclical shake-ups and Pluto’s breakdowns are part of life.
Bespoke lessons
The external circumstances that coincide with July’s squares and oppositions are cosmically tailored for each of us, depending on our ability to take a hint.
The gods select just the right events to match our need to absorb the truths behind them.
Note
1 From “Is Your Love in Vain,” on Street Legal.
