Between Worlds: Awaiting Jupiter in Cancer

Crab Nebula

This past week, Mars returned to the same zodiacal degree where it stationed retrograde in December, at last placing a commemorative ribbon atop our Mars retrograde story. Meanwhile, Venus returned to Aries, wrapping up a month-long conjunction with Saturn on the north node, which helped us to sort out relational and financial conundrums in a big way.

These major Venus and Mars retrograde stories defined the first quarter of 2025, where we were tasked with solving significant equations in our lives. Hopefully you cracked the code to keep the inspirational fire alive in your world - and to find out once and for all if the relationship can weather the storm. Whew! It’s all finally over. Are you as relieved as I am?

The long, drawn-out Cancerian portion of the Mars retrograde saga occurred in my first house. It began with an intense wintery exhaustion. I’ve found that sometimes, what feels untimely and undesirable in the moment can prove to be the very thing you didn’t know you needed. In hindsight, I realized how aligned the need for rest was because halfway through the Mars retrograde, we jumped on an opportunity to move. Thus began a very Martial period of departure - packing, carrying, cleaning and moving. This was our very first move as a family, and therefore, a Mars retrograde I will always remember. Oh, and I also had my very first biopsy during this Mars retrograde. Thankfully everything is fine, but in hindsight, the astrological symbolism is just too good.

Over the past few months, I’ve had the pleasure of assisting others reassert their direction via Mars’ retrograde. And more recently, relationships. Venus in Pisces revealed our highest aspirations in love, met with Saturn, a willingness to do the work (or heed the limits). While reformulating our inner resolve is not always an easy process, I truly hope that these significant retrograde periods of Mars and Venus have ultimately proved to be supportive in your worlds.

Mars retrograde in Cancer asked us to call our energy back. Like the crustacean who draws back into its shell when threatened, Mars retrograde in Cancer called for retreat. The wisdom of Cancer reminds us that when we aren’t clear on how to proceed, the best thing to do is to pause, go within and refrain from unnecessary expenditure. When the knife loses its edge, its best to pause and sharpen. What feels like a set back, in fact, is not. Having a sharper tool allows one to be more effective in the long run. Rest allows us to rise with increased vigor. Mars retrograde in Cancer asked us to get clear on what deserves the most protection in our lives. What is worth preserving? With this wisdom in mind, Mars retrograde in Cancer helped us to get clear on our true desires, and to redraw a new strategy to reach our aims - some of which doesn’t require energetic output at all, but rather, setting clear boundaries.

From a traditional standpoint, Mars retrograde in the sign of its fall proved to become even more malefic on the world stage. In the USA, xenophobic rhetoric skyrocketed with Mars’ Cancer ingress in September 2024 with the Trump campaign’s big promises to deport immigrants. Clannish Cancer has strong connections with nationalism - and with offensive Mars in defensive Cancer, the message around protecting Americans from immigrants with criminal records abounded. Currently, ICE raids are terrorizing communities and deporting people without due process. Trump currently debates whether or not he should abide by the constitution, which guarantees the right to a trial to anyone who is arrested for any crime. This is autocratic leaning is mirrored by Mars’ triple opposition to Pluto.

Hopefully now that Mars has moved on from Cancer, we will see immigration tensions simmer in the Americas. The trade wars, however, seem to involve Neptune’s move into Aries, and Uranus’ incoming Gemini ingress. A whole new era slowly uncoils before our eyes.

And now, we move on to a new story.

Now that these retrogrades are over, many of my clients have reported feeling “in between.” This is a very accurate sentiment. Specifically, look toward your Cancer house, where Mars has provoked and prodded since September 2024. Here, we anticipate the arrival of benefic Jupiter - a planet bearing gifts of opportunity, gratitude, celebration and bounty. Everyone’s Cancer house is in for a major glow-up which begins on June 9th, 2025 and lasts for a full year.

Think about the ways in which Mars retrograde helped to sharpen your resolve. Mars retrograde may have clarified what is worth protecting. Consider the new space this has opened for you and be OPTIMISTIC about what is to come. Mars has tilled the soil, making way for the fertile potential of Jupiter - a planet of ease, joy and possibility. Mars is the sander; Jupiter is the lustrous new stain. Mars is the drybrush, Jupiter is the rejuvenating body butter.

Where Mars falls, Jupiter is elevated.

Jupiter is exalted in Cancer. While Mars is understood as “in a pit,” or depressed, in Cancer, this same place crowns Jupiter upon a throne. It’s not just any gift-giving Jupiter. No, it’s EXALTED Jupiter, the best kind of Jupiter we could possibly get.

Here, Jupiter’s tendency to overdo is curbed. Instead, Jupiter in Cancer reminds us that beyond the benefits of material abundance exists relational abundance - the kind of beneficence bestowed by a sense of belonging, community, family and friendship. Jupiter in Cancer has the power to link us up with people who love and support us. Jupiter in Cancer also boasts of friends in high places, friends who open their doors to welcome us, and friends who connect us with others in helpful ways.

My hope is that Jupiter in Cancer will help steer us away from economic recession (citing Jupiter in Gemini). I’m not certain how this would look yet (lowering interests rates and tariffs to start please!) but Jupiter in Cancer is nonetheless inclined toward providing prosperity. With open hands, let’s be open to abundance in all of the senses! Giving and receiving!

And yet, we still have a month until Jupiter arrives. We’ve already cleaned up after dinner, but we are still waiting for the dessert. Mars has said “goodnight” and left the stage, but it feels like an encore is coming. That sense of an impending Jupiterian hoorah is palpable.

On the same token, Neptune has already entered Aries (to stay for 14 years), and Saturn is due to join Neptune in Aries one month from now. On July 7th, Uranus enters Gemini. Pluto is officially anchored into Aquarius for the next two decades. A whole new set of energies, slowly unleashes into the world and into our charts. What does this mean for us? Our entire reality is changing before our eyes.

For a more enriching collective perspective on the significance of all of these shifts occurring at once, I direct you to my article, 2025: Astrology’s Epochal Year.

On a personal level, those with early degree planets are due to feel these new transits first. I’d love to connect with you more on how these outer planet shifts will invite evolution into your world. Let’s chat about these epoch-shifting transits - alongside the opportunities of Jupiter in Cancer - within your next Astrology Reading + Forecast!