July is about protecting our creative and emotional energy. While the Sun is in Cancer, our personal planets—Mercury, Venus, and Mars—travel through Cancer, Leo, and Virgo in close succession. Together, Cancer and Leo are like our cosmic parents. Leo makes sure that we’re expressing our authenticity with confidence. Cancer looks out for our hearts and cares for our tenderest parts. Virgo, meanwhile, creates a safe container for us to share our gifts and receive the gifts others have to give us. This month’s energy invites us to reflect on what our creativity needs to truly thrive and how to manage and tend to our emotional lives so that we feel regulated and capable.

Togetherness is the central theme this month. June bridges Gemini and Cancer Season—the former being the sign that rules close relationships and communication, and the latter ruling emotional nurturance as well as the boundary between the self and others. The planets underscore this theme through their positions in the sky this month. All the heavenly bodies are moving in pairs, except for Pluto in Aquarius (and the Moon, which moves the quickest through the zodiac). The resulting energy serves as a reminder that we do not move through this world alone and we don’t achieve anything by ourselves either.