Hello and welcome to July 2026!

July 2026 arrives with a rich and transformative current, weaving together emotional growth, relationship developments, communication shifts, and karmic lessons as several important planets and lunar nodes change signs throughout the month.

We are also stepping into the heart of retrograde season. Mercury, having turned retrograde on June 29th, spends much of the month moving backward through Cancer (going direct on July 23) while Saturn and Neptune also begin their retrograde journeys in Aries.

Mercury retrograde in Cancer turns our attention towards the emotional past. The challenge isn't simply communication mishaps or missed emails; our emotional history shapes the stories we tell ourselves in the present. But Mercury's backward motion is only part of the picture.

This month isn't about charging ahead at full speed. Before the next chapter begins, we're being asked to revisit the emotional narratives (Mercury), responsibilities (Saturn), and dreams (Neptune) that have been quietly steering our decisions behind the scenes.

Of course, it's not all cosmic homework. We also have to celebrate our spicy lionesses as Leo season arrives on the 23rd. After weeks of introspection, Leo reminds us to return to our creativity, confidence, pleasure, and unapologetic self-expression.

Hello and welcome to June 2026!

June 2026 arrives with a bright little cosmic pep in its step, bringing a fresh wave of growth for both your personal world and the bigger collective picture. With some powerful planetary pairings twinkling overhead, this is your invitation to dream big with Neptune, then team up with Saturn to give those dreams a lovely roadmap. It’s a beautiful time to listen to what your heart really wants, think creatively, and take smart, intentional steps in that direction. The universe is basically giving you a playful wink and a gentle nudge: you’ve got more magic than you think—go use it!

This month’s cosmic headline? Jupiter opposing Pluto is shaking loose old, outdated structures, while Jupiter trining Neptune adds a dreamy spark to creativity, intuition, and spiritual growth. Together, these alignments remind us to chase big goals without losing our heart—balancing ambition with compassion, and success with soul. And with Venus cozying up to both Pluto and Neptune, love and relationships get a little extra magic: think deep transformation, soulful connection, and a touch of romantic enchantment.

The Full Moon on May 29 in Scorpio turned the emotional volume all the way up, bringing powerful feelings, deep insight, and major transformation vibes. Think of it as the universe handing you a flashlight for your inner world—perfect for reflecting, realigning, and getting honest about what your heart truly wants. Then, as the Sun glides into Cancer on June 21, the energy softens and sweetens, inviting extra care around home, comfort, and emotional nourishment. By June 29, Mars zooms into Gemini, sparking curiosity, quick thinking, and a playful mental buzz. And as Venus and Jupiter step into Leo at the very end of the month, the mood shifts into full celebration mode—hello creativity, confidence, and a fabulous reason to shine.

May 2026 brings many opportunities to pause so we can stop and smell the roses. With so much fiery energy brewing all through the month of April, May gives us the chance to slow down and be more intentional about how we wish to move forward.

An exception to this is that on April 25, 2026, Uranus entered Gemini for a seven-year, long-haul stay until May 2033, revolutionizing communication, technology, and learning. This transit marks a shift from Taurus-driven material stability to Gemini's mental, electric energy, triggering rapid advancements in AI, transportation, and media. This transit initiates a significant "cultural and intellectual reboot.” It also encourages breaking free from old thought patterns and embracing a more versatile, yet potentially chaotic, approach to information.

May begins and ends with a Full Moon, the second of which is a rare Blue Moon. Having two Full Moons in a calendar month indicates a theme of release, letting go, and culmination, it seems that a chapter is going to come to an end for us in May, and we are likely to find ourselves wrapping up loose ends and making space for the new to arrive.

Pluto turns retrograde on May 6, initiating a months-long review of power and control. Pluto is the "Lord of the Underworld," ruling over things hidden or repressed. This period acts as a "personal reckoning," forcing you to face unpleasant traits, old hurts, and subconscious patterns you might usually avoid.

Hello and welcome to April 2026!

April 2026 is a high-energy "destiny reset" period focused on personal transformation, career shifts, and financial growth, driven by intense Aries energy and major planetary alignments. The month opens with a Libra Full Moon and features key shifts including Uranus entering Gemini on April 25.

With Mercury now fully awake and no retrogrades, this month has a “just do it” vibe that feels refreshing. The Sun in Aries (through April 19) keeps the energy bold and proactive. You’re likely still riding the high from last month’s fresh start, eager to push boundaries and make visible progress.

Worldwide, with Saturn now in Aries, other entities (corporations, countries and governments) are trying to assert control (Saturn) by contending with each other. But Neptune is also in Aries, causing those actions to trigger a backlash of enormous humanitarian and compassionate reactions. There are growing events and organizations aimed at fostering empathy, reducing suffering, and increasing humanitarian efforts. People are much more engaged in protecting and aiding each other, our neighborhoods, schools and communities. (Pluto is now in Aquarius).

The Crystal Village came to our rock shop here in Austin, Texas from Diamantina in the heart of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Diamantina means “diamond” in Portuguese and alludes to the mining town’s historical diamond mine and diamond museum, while Minas Gerais translates to “General Mines,” alluding to the rich mineral resources of the landlocked Brazilian state, including gold, diamonds, and other precious gems. Although countless deposits of quartz such as amethyst, rose quartz, smoky quartz, and a wide range of “included” quartz containing fuchsite, tourmaline, rutile, and lithium are known to occur in Minas Gerais, we were introduced to a unique family of etched smoky citrine quartz crystals instead. We were not looking to purchase a high-dollar collection like this one, but they found us, and we could not ignore the call. Here's the story of how the Crystal Village found us...

At the International Tucson Gem, Mineral & Fossil Show, we went to visit one of our Brazilian vendors, Gabriel, on 2/11 to pay for an order of fluorescent phantom amethyst he had shipped to us before the show. We arrived at the venue at 11:11 a.m. We conducted a short interview with Gabriel to learn more about the unique amethyst find we got from him for our Trunk Show and then proceeded to look around his booth. We saw many different varieties of naturally dual-colored quartz, but we were trying to spend conservatively this year due to the build-out and big move of 2025. Despite our attempts to allay the siren’s call of the countless beautiful crystals, minerals, and jewelry we saw, Karen stopped at a large etched smoky quartz crystal that we would later come to know as “the Father.” She commented that it looked like it had writing on it. Our friend Alex picked up the piece, allowing light to flood into it from behind, revealing it to be a smoky citrine and further accentuating the grooves and etched markings.

Hello and welcome to March 2026!

It’s here! The new energetic era that astrologers have been talking about for years has finally arrived as we continue settling into 2026.

There are many astrological events that are getting attention in March. We just had a solar eclipse on February 17th, but most importantly we had the conjunction of Saturn and Neptune on February 20th which is a seismic shift for months. One which we haven’t experienced since 1861. Of course, that was a turning point in history, and the year the American Civil War began. If you haven't already felt similar rumblings of dissent, you're about to. History tells us there will be a seismic impact. This moment marks a turning point; one we’ve never seen in our lifetimes. The energy is fierce, urging us to embrace our own power to shape reality.

Gone is the mystery about where people stand on the issues. The masks are falling away and many invitations to conscious action are revealing themselves. How can we do things differently? That’s a question that won’t simply hang in the air in 2026. It will become the grounds for testing amongst people, groups and countries. As structured Saturn and spiritual Neptune unite at 0º Aries (the Aries point and the start of the new Zodiac cycle), we will see a “great reset” everywhere. Fresh approaches, new alliances, and courageous decisions among people, cultures and countries are moving into unscripted territory.

It’s here! The new energetic era that astrologers have been talking about for years has finally arrived as we begin settling into 2026.

2026 is the Year of the Fire Horse and it gallops in like a wild stallion full of maverick energy. Unlike 2025, which brought dizzying pendulum swings that left everyone unmoored, 2026 is unapologetically decisive. Gone is the mystery about where people stand on the issues. The masks are off and call to action is more than audible. How can we do things differently?

Pluto—the planet of transformation—leads the way now in Aquarius as it becomes activated by Mercury and Mars during the entire first week of the season. On January 27, 2026, a highly intense Mars-Pluto conjunction occurred in Aquarius, marking a peak moment for power, transformation, and action-driven change. This conjunction merged Mars's drive with Pluto's intensity, forcing confrontations with deeply buried truths and accelerating structural shifts in personal or global life.

Hello and welcome to January 2026!

It’s an futile exercise to try and distill down the chaotic astrology of 2025. In part, that’s because the planetary movements last year were far more active than in any of the 35 years I have been researching and writing these articles, and also because there were planetary events last year that have not happened simultaneously for hundreds of years.

There are so many changes this year, so much newness – which isn’t to say that it is bad or scary or negative – it’s simply new. I don’t think any of us have moved through the last several years without feeling a pressure cooker of energies. We can all feel that things are shifting and yet, we don’t know what is coming. The focus has been on fractures, polarities and endings rather than speaking about what our part of the world could be like on the other side of such dramatic times. Which is why we had a planetary “time-out” in December, encouraging us to take some dedicated time to plan for our next steps.

2025 felt like it went for about four months rather than twelve, such was the frenetic pace of it all. Now, in this new year we have a few of the same astrological movements happening once more, though in 2026 those planets will move signs and then stay put, rather than to-ing and fro-ing between signs. Overall, it feels like last year was the prologue and this year is the first chapter, one in which the storylines can really get some momentum behind them.