We are now through the doorway of the Cancer New Moon solar eclipse, which shot us across a stark line of demarcation between the past and life as it now is and will be. This eclipse took the merging of masculine and feminine energies that has been going on for most of year and embedded it within us cellularly. The concept of nurturing has been permanently transformed as a result. Nurturing is no longer something with primarily an outside focus. It is not something that we direct outside ourselves and receive from sources outside ourselves. It is an act, a rite and a right that we bestow upon ourselves first. When we proceed into the world with our hearts fed, satisfied and secure, we will no longer be expecting and demanding sustenance from others. Watch the change in the quality of your interactions with family and loved ones. Watch the change in your attitude toward your home, toward your childhood days, toward your career and public ambitions. A purity of interaction is now possible in emotional exchanges. And with this, it is becoming clearer to each of us what we want and truly need in our private and public places in the world.

Some situations are already shaking (or breaking) up; others are breaking open. As those initial volleys begin to play out, the skies are less dramatic and dynamic this week and add little to muddy the action. We are largely dealing with what has already been set in motion, no new factors, simply fluffing, burnishing and slim-lining the existing ones. The relative calm is part of a phase of regrouping and assimilating until the final eclipse of the summer, the Leo Full Moon on August 5.

The major activity of the week follows a theme that has been in place since the spring and is with us throughout the year. Every time a fast-moving body changes signs, it contacts the Aquarian triple conjunction and Uranus on the way out the door, then confronts Pluto on the other side. This is what’s been happening with the Sun, Moon and the inner planets (Mercury, Venus and Mars). As each comes to the end of its time in a sign, it takes on an escalating, expansive vision, connectedness to spirit and new community and a therapeutic ease. At the same time the affairs ruled by that planet open up in some way, either in perspective or structure. As soon as the planet changes its mode of expression, it undergoes streamlining, reshaping and focusing. The process is like clockwork: a heightened expression plus liberation, a gear shift, and then purification.

This week two planets run that gauntlet — Venus, who moves from Gemini into Cancer on Friday, and Mercury, who moves from Leo into his second home of Virgo late Sunday. Venus is entering the turf of the summer’s first two eclipses, and her presence there will underscore and implement their meaning. The goddess of love, money and all that we value, has been under the dominion of Mercury, who rules our mental processes and communication. Venus enjoys the lightness of Gemini, where she can flit from one thought (or person) to another and allow the heart room to play. When she shifts in Cancer, she is in the territory of the Moon and takes on an emotional, nesting and care-taking personality. The freedom and chatterfest of Gemini no longer appeals to her; in Cancer, she wants to fluff pillows, bake treats and set up soft, cozy surroundings for herself and the people and belongings she cares about. The Moon’s sign gives Venus a protective and maternal bent. She comes into Cancer this time around, however, after having spent months in union with her cosmic lover, Mars. Her entry is also immediately after the paradigm-altering Cancer New Moon solar eclipse of July 21, which moved responsibility for nurturance deep and directly into each individual and forever transformed family, marital and home dynamics. As a result, Venus’ expression of nurturing qualities will be less smothering and demanding now, and more balanced and more self-focused. She may still whip up a batch of cupcakes for the object of her adoration, but she’ll lick the icing off the beaters herself and take the first bite before bringing the serving platter out of the kitchen.

More importantly, Venus comes into Cancer after having danced with the triple conjunction and Uranus. The week begins with a post-midnight trine (EDT) between her and Jupiter, the planet of expansion and good fortune. An easy flow of energy between the ruler of relationships and the most easy-going guy in the sky imbues the atmosphere with optimism and warmth. A gentle golden glow colors the entire day with the sense that all’s right with our world. Over the course of Monday and Tuesday Venus enjoys the same easy flow with Chiron and Neptune, then hits Uranus in an action-demanding aspect. Expand your concept of what is possible for you in relationships, finances and your expression of your talents and worth. Bask in inspiration and harmony. Watch (and ask) for indications that the wounds that held your heart back in the past are no longer in control; watch (and ask for) lucky breaks that make your heart and bank balance sing. Arrangements can escalate into the stuff of dreams, so don’t apply brakes, yet. Dream big, and bigger still, for now.

Brakes and scaling back come later in the process, when Venus opposes Pluto on Saturday after she has settled into Cancer. Primal forces take hold. We may be caught in the throes of magnetic attraction and a compulsion to control and possess. We will not, however, be able to hold on to everything we have placed in our basket of goodies. Whatever we fluffed up and polished in relationships and money earlier in the week may now undergo a paring back that takes it down to the bare, raw essential. Or it may result in our having to change our attitude toward or let go of something else in our life that we previously viewed as valuable. Helpful questions to examine this weekend include: What do I truly value? What feeds my soul? What am I willing to cut out to have it?

Meanwhile, Mercury is a few steps behind Venus in this progression. Our mental processes and communication are right behind the heart in undergoing this process of expansion, gearshift and refinement. Mercury is in his last week in the sign of Leo, where the child within takes center stage. Mercury in Leo is warm and playful when the child’s needs for attention are being met, dramatic and demanding when they are not.

Mercury begins his journey through the aspect gauntlet conjunction two days after Venus clears the triple conjunction. On Thursday, he opposes Jupiter and Chiron and faces off with Jupiter on the ecliptic as well. On Friday, he opposes Neptune and makes an adjustment aspect to Uranus. On Saturday, he has a showdown with Neptune on the ecliptic, too. This is the furthest distance Mercury and our minds are going to get from the triple conjunction. These two days bring the greatest distance and perspective on how the conjunction has been operating in our lives. The vantage point may show us things we missed when we were closer to the clouds. We could feel like we’re walking in a dream world. (This will be especially the case Thursday morning when the Moon is void of course from 8:55 AM EDT till 2:10 PM. Her last contact before the void is a trine to Uranus, so the morning could well be filled with daydreaming about new and novel possibilities.) Communication will not follow normal channels. It could be weird and foggy, especially when social networking is involved. Computers and technology could act up; use snafus, as Stephanie has suggested, as a reflection of the current state of your own communication with the world. (What needs adjusting? Could you choose a different operating system or tool, perhaps?) Watch, too, for messages that cut through the fog, that expose deception or illusion, that challenge us to use a wound as a springboard to empowerment, and that shed light on the greater picture of our personal and collective existence. You will not proceed unchanged by these revelations. Insight will put you to a choice.

Emotional processing of these gauntlet runs ends the week. The mental information and shifts are easy to take in, as the Moon trines Mercury a couple of hours into Sunday morning. The heart’s response is quite a bit more passionate. The Moon conjoins Pluto and opposes Venus as the day begins. Desires are tenacious and deep and are not going to give way easily in the face of existing social arrangements. If you’re in a teetering relationship, your heart (and probably every cell in your body) will tell you loud and clear what it really wants.

Talking things out dispassionately goes more easily come evening, after Mercury moves into Virgo. This is one of his two residences, and his time there brings discernment, discrimination and intellectual distance to thoughts and communications. It’s easier now to gravitate to the fine print, after the mind expansion of his contact with the triple conjunction, and hone in on obligations, responsibilities and ramifications. (This last part will become increasingly natural as Mercury moves toward his conjunction with Saturn mid-month.) His first task next week will be trining Pluto. Get ready for fog and cobwebs to clear away.

Kathy has podcasts, mp3s, a discussion forum and more on the eclipses, the Aquarius/Pisces traveling party and the Saturn/Uranus opposition at her site, FortunaWorks.com. To join her mailing list, send e-mail to kbiehl@fortunaworks.com.