July opens with Mercury retrograde in Cancer and Venus in the shadow of a retrograde which begins July 27. That this pattern of “personal modifiers” (Venus, Mercury and Mars) is set to continue trading off being in retrograde shadow or actual retrograde through January 2008 is the metaphysical signal that the balance of this year is not as much about who we are in the external sense as who we are inside.

Is there any discernable "cosmic purpose" to this process? Yes—with....