This week has an unusual constriction:  A double opposition.

Oppositions in general can be tricky to read, and a double even more so.  So lets see what’s going on here.  Firstly (but not primarily (though it probably is primarily)) we have Venus in opposition with Mercury.  Love/peace/sex/femininity v. news/change/luck.  Were Venus in either Scorpio or Cancer, this would warn of an STD outbreak, but fortunately that’s not the case here.  Oh wait, Venus IS in Cancer.  Crabs it is then.  The other part of this double is the Sun v. the Earth, the most likely outcome is that your A/C is going to break down, though a house fire is not ruled out, nor is an insect invasion out of the question.  But that’s only if you read these parts separately.  Reading them together as part of a larger whole give some sort of disruption caused by summer weather that quashes an otherwise lovely romantic outing.  There is also another way of reading it which is “good news ruins a good thing” or “justified complacency causes you to miss an opportunity.”  A Mercury-Venus-Mars alignment can mean “peace talks” (and it still could) but in light of all the other rather negative signs, I think it’s more likely that there will be high-profile marital squabbles this week.  So go out and grab those snaps, paparazzi!

Leo comes into its own with Mercury (the bringer of luck) entering.  Venus in Cancer encourages everyone to go to the beach.  Aries is telling us that the civil unrest fracas will continue with the moon joining Mars there.

The cards are predicting a kind of downer week.

Leo:  Ace of Swords – Motorhead concert (no wait, that’s Ace of Spades) – Triumph, the excessive degree in everything, conquest, triumph of force. It is a card of great force, in love as well as in hatred

Virgo:  The Hanged Man reversed – Selfishness, the crowd, body politic

Libra:  10 of Swords reversed – Advantage, profit, success, favour, but none of these are permanent; also power and authority

Scorpio:  Ace of Coins reversed – The evil side of wealth, bad intelligence.  People trying to leverage your lifestyle against you.

Sagittarius:  Queen of Cups reversed – distinguished woman but one not to be trusted, perverse woman, vice, dishonor, depravity.

Capricorn:  2 of Wands – Riches, fortune, magnificence, physical suffering, disease, chagrin, sadness, mortification

Aquarius:  3 of Swords reversed – Mental alienation, error, loss, distraction, disorder, confusion.

Pisces:  Temperance reversed – Bad things involving churches, disunion, unfortunate combinations, competing interests

Aries:  2 of Cups – Love, passion, friendship, affinity, union, concord, sympathy

Taurus:  8 of Swords reversed – Disquiet, difficulty, opposition, accident, treachery

Gemini:The Lovers reversed – Failure, foolish designs, romantic troubles

Cancer: 3 of Coins reversed – Mediocrity, puerility, pettiness, weakness