The coming week is packed with planetary motion that will make you feel like the entire cosmos is circling in vacation mode. While you may feel ready to take on things at work or in your personal life, your boss, partner, or friends can cross items off their lists while they prepare for a vacation break. Learn to love this cosmic exchange and you too can calm your mind into vacation mode.

Sunday June 20th marks the summer solstice of 2021, and Monday June 21st marks the first day of cancer season, which feels like a warm hug from your coworker, whether or not you can communicate in person. The feeling comes from feeling open to a long-awaited respite from the mental energy that the past month has required. After battling deadlines and bumping into walls with abundance of rough transits and setbacks, we can finally throw our books in the air and enjoy the 2021 summer solstice carefree. Life is good and – at least cosmically speaking – we can breathe out.

Life is good and – at least cosmically speaking – we can breathe out.

On Tuesday, June 22nd, Mercury will finally be stationed directly, but it takes him a second to catch up on all of these emails, just like when he comes back to the office after a break. Known as the “shadow” period, Mercury will retrace the steps it took in late May. To maximize that time, think back to what you finished before he left the office, so to speak. Everything that happened for you will be displayed again, just like the e-mail you left “unread”. Even if it takes all in you not to take upon yourself to catch up with Mercury, try your best to just sit back and allow him to do so in his own time.

As Mercury gets back into its routine, two other planets become OOO this week: Jupiter and Neptune, both in Pisces. Jupiter will be retrograde from June 20th to October 18th, highlighting the growth of the past six months. During this transit, we have the opportunity to track growth, similar to what can be the case in a school semester. Use this time to pat yourself on the back or send yourself to summer school to hammer your goals home before he returns right away. And Neptune will be retrograde from June 25th to December 1st, 2021. Considering this planet is so much farther from Earth than Jupiter, we won’t feel its effects quite as strongly as we would with other personal planets that are retrograde, but this planetary transit can still slip you out of reality Acknowledge this as you embark on serious escapism.

And at the end of a hectic week before Christmas, the full moon lights up in Capricorn on Thursday, June 24th. The first moon after the eclipse will feel like another warm hug from the universe as it looks much more familiar to us. The Cancer / Capricorn axis reminds us of the maternal / paternal influence, and in this case the sun in Cancer faces the moon in Capricorn. The moon rules Cancer, so this influence can feel a bit like it embodies the opposite of ourselves. You may be encouraged to see things from the other side, which can be a little disorienting. However, the lessons learned from this exercise come in handy when it comes to appearing how you would like others to see you.

Alex Caiola is an astrologer and psychological intuitive coach based in New York City. She founded the mystical wellness platform High Priestess of Brooklyn on a mission to help people achieve modern enlightenment. She uses a unique blend of astrology and tarot to provide practical, pop culture-related guidance to her community. She regularly contributes astrological content for brands and is co-host of the podcast Prescribe priestesses.

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