In many countries in Europe, the heat is hitting mercilessly this summer. It is certainly not the first summer that there are problems with heat and fires, but it seems to have become more intense this year. There were very worrying reports from France, although the highest alert phase is now over. Nevertheless, there are still forest fires in the south and a new heat wave – canicule – is on its way this week. Although warming is a global trend, astrology can be used to estimate how things will go in a country, how much it will be affected.
Cancer
The ingress is the mundane chart that is very suitable to look at that and then of course, because it is about summer, the Cancer ingress, astrologically the beginning of summer. The Cancer ingress is the chart made for the exact moment that the Sun enters Cancer, calculated for the capital of the country, although you can also look at the capital of a region. In large countries this can make quite a difference, but in Europe it usually doesn’t. The planet you are looking at in particular is, of course, Mars, the energy of the scorching Fire. A Mars without essential dignity and in a dominant place in the ingress chart, indicates extra problems with heat and fire.
Cancer Ingress
The planets in an ingress charts are in the same signs all over the world, it is the houses and the cusps, especially the angles, that make the difference per country. A look at the Cancer ingress for summer ’26 is immediately disturbing. The Fire Planet Mars is not only in detriment in Taurus showing its worst side, but calculated for France, it is also the highest planet, in “elevation” in the tenth house. The planet in elevation shows a very important theme, in addition to which Mars is conjunct the catastrophic Algol (not right on it but close by). That is a fairly dangerous combination and where this Mars-conjunct-Algol has a lot of influence through the angles, you can expect serious problems.
Donkey
That is the case in this chart for France, because Mars squares the Ascendant/descendant axis with a small orb of two degrees square. Moreover, Venus the lord of the tenth house, with the first house one of the two most important houses in the ingress, stands on the Southern Donkey, which is part of the other crisis zone around Praesepe. Both the crisiszones are activated in a way specific for France. Traditionally, the MC indicates the south and the Asc the east and so the line on which Mars manifests itself strongly runs to the south and somewhat to the east (seen from Paris). Exactly there are now large forest fires for which even the Tour de France has to make way. Of course, you can expect more heat in the south, but Mars on the southern MC line emphasizes these problems once again.