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Hamilton, the Broadway musical that has become a force in itself, has also become a force for me lately. The hip-hop inspired musical about the “bastard, orphan, son of a whore” who became America’s “10 dollar founding father” has broken fertile ground on Broadway and opened it to new directions and a new future inspired by a fresh genre of music that easily translates itself into storytelling.

Cancer, being a Cardinal sign, kicks off the season, sets the tone and the template, not just for its own solar transit, but for the whole Summer. A Cardinal sign initiates the new season, hits the reset button—it sows the seeds that will come to their fullest expression and fruition, and be harvested, later on.

                The New Moon in Leo occurs this year just as the Leo solar transit begins. The Sun rules Leo, and is enthroned there when it returns, deep in the hottest days of Summer, the Solstice long past, looking at Lughnasadh is on the horizon. A Fixed sign, Leo’s heat and light reflect the intensity of the heart of this extreme season, when everything is growing, blooming, and bearing fruit. Under the intensity of the Leo Sun, the immense power of life force unrestrained. With Sun, Moon, Mercury and Mars all in Leo, the fiery power of Summer becomes even more potent.

Do you lead a beautiful life?

Ethicist Magenta Griffith once observed to me that beauty is a moral quality.

This strikes me as one of the most profound—and useful—statements on the topic that I've heard in years.

When making decisions, I frequently have cause to ask myself: What is the right thing to do? What is the honorable thing to do?

But maybe I also need to be asking: What is the beautiful thing to do?

We err if we restrict consideration of the beautiful to aesthetics. Beautiful behavior is something that we all recognize when we see it, even if we can't define it.

What is the beautiful thing to do? Well, Socrates could give you a better rule of thumb than I can. But I'll be happy to name some specifics.

Yes, it looks like a wild, fasten your seatbelts kind of month ahead, and the days leading up to the New Moon will be pretty interesting, too. (Then, of course, we have the powerful New Moon eclipse in late August, but more on that later)

If you recognize the title, you know it’s a quote from our era’s beloved princess/General of the Resistance, Carrie Fisher.  Up until this point, we have been cautious, sister #QueensInExile.  We left our respective courts in the middle of the night like ghosts, we’ve been Final Girl ready, we’ve taken what goods we can carry.  We’ve been hiding.  We’ve been casting our witchcraft in the dark of the night with our blood bound sisters. We’ve been planning.  We’ve been plotting.  We’ve been encrypting and decrypting.  We’ve put on our best dress, done our hair up pretty, put on our nicest lipstick.  We sit in our new tiny living rooms, our borrowed rooms with our hands neatly folded in our laps, perfectly made up.  Waiting.  Waiting.

Waiting.

   Each day I do a Tarot reading. The time of day varies--Sunday is really the only day I do a morning reading. Sometimes it's when I get home from work around 4:30 and I am sitting with a mug of tea. Other times it's after dinner at 7:30. Most usually it's just before I go to bed, and by that time it's late enough where I don't do a full reading  and instead do a single-card draw.

     For the last three months or so, the single card I regularly select is the Queen of Pentacles. I use Kris Waldherr's Goddess Tarot, and in that deck the Queen of Pentacles is depicted as a beautiful silk-draped Indian woman, regal and self-assured. (In Waldherr's deck the suit of Pentacles is associated with the goddess Lakshmi.)

 Summer is a time to have fun outdoors and enjoy the beauty of the green world. With so many plants growing and blooming, there is magic aplenty in our own backyards. Even if you live in a city, you can enjoy the magic of herbs grown on a windowsill. Alternatively, buy cut herbs at a farmers’ market or dried ones at a health food stores.

With a strong spicy aroma, it is probably no surprise that basil (Ocimum basilicum) is one of the most popular herbs today. It was also favored in ancient times. The Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans used basil for medicinal and culinary purposes. During the Middle Ages, sprigs of basil were scattered on floors to freshen and clear the air as well as to protect against witches.