As I sat down to write and study the planetary and lunar cycles this morning, it seemed like a good time to get some perspective. We live in a dynamic universe, one always shifting and changing, and yet there are cycles and patterns that can be observed and understood. With astrology, there are both long-term and short-term cycles and trends. Depending on who we are and what our perspective is, we often respond to just a few of those cycles/patterns, not taking into account others that have an important impact on our lives.
The Moon’s 28 ½ day cycle is the easiest to observe, and yet how often do we wonder ‘what’s going on today” when we feel suddenly more energetic or more light. If we notice the lunar cycles changes that happen every 3 days, we can find how easily our emotional and physical bodies can be affected by ‘something outside ourselves’. If you like to fish or spend time by the ocean, you understand the impact the moon has on the tides. As women, we understand how our personal cycles are similar to the moon’s cycles, and in fact, are aligned with them.
In this article, I am going to include an update on just where all the planets are in their cycles. This might help us all get a little more perspective of how these cycles might be affecting us.
Today, Sunday, the Moon entered Cancer while we slept, and is still in the dark of the moon phase, meaning the final degrees of where it was one lunar month ago when the New Moon in Cancer and the eclipse happened in June.What was triggered and going on then is culminating now. Today is a time for reflection, clearing, releasing, resting, and taking good care of ourselves. It’s been a month akin to an emotional rollercoaster.
NEW MOON IN 28° CANCER in close opposition to Saturn in Capricorn is in the third decan of Cancer. A place of mood swings, artistic temperament, and emotional excesses, polarities are the key challenge and gift. The New Moon in Cancer also occurs when the North Node (Gateway to Change) is exactly conjunct the fixed star Betelguese, one of the brightest stars in the sky, it sits on the shoulder of Orion the Hunter. A rapidly shrinking star, it is predicted to possibly explode into a supernova within the next few years. It takes on the qualities of Mars and Mercury, and its passage through the North Node symbolizes great changes to come. So this New Moon in Cancer finds us preparing by finishing up what needs to be completed, amassed, or prepared as we prepare for a new world.
The New Moon in Cancer opposing Saturn requires us to face the hard realities of the present, but also asks us to “screw our courage to the sticking point” (Shakespeare’s Macbeth), with full knowledge that we have within us what we need to cope with whatever we have to face. We need to overcome our fears, and seek assistance when we need it. We won’t get it if we don’t ask. The New Moon and its aspects all heighten our desire for a new start. We must honor our deepest feelings, and our need for safety, security, and a harmonious home (sense of being at home with ourselves, our community,our environment). A good time to accept support and start a new project aimed at improving our domestic lives (and that of those we support and work with).
It’s an excellent time to make important and necessary changes. Time again, for a fresh start. And a great time to make plans. Don’t be deferred by current stalemates, challenges, or seeming dead ends.An important time to develop new ways to enhance our family and domestic lives. A good time to establish ways to develop a greater sense of security/safety, based on what really matters, not what may worn out, outdated, or no longer relevant or possible.
It is a time we will all be struggling with blocks, and like I’ve said to my nearest and dearest, Saturn assures us as does the Moon, the struggles will always be to help us grow in the places we most resist or find it difficult to cope with. Chiron, the Wounded Healer, is also squaring this New Moon in Cancer, pushing us to face healing from whatever needs to be healed from the past. The combination of emotional and deep-seated energy being triggered by this new moon, make it a time when we may struggle mightily. Struggles with outside resistance, rules, expectations (our own and those of others), and power structures, all move us closer to full awareness that it’s time for a fresh start.
Those with aspects between 24-30 degrees of Cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn) and 0-2 degrees of Fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius) will see the greatest impact.
Tomorrow, June 20 at 10:34 a.m. PDT/1:34 EDT is when we experience the New Moon at 28 degrees of Cancer. In its final few degrees of Cancer, just two days before the Sun moves into Leo, we find ourselves at a critical point. The New Moon in Cancer is exactly conjunct with the Sun, and is in a tight opposition to Retrograde Saturn in Capricorn. Saturn just recently moved back into earthy Capricorn. We just entered (July 1) Capricorn’s retrograde or finishing-up cycles-- July 1-Dec. 17, 2020. At that time Saturn enters Aquarius where it will transit until March 7, 20203. As you can imagine, there will be a dramatic shift and focus of Saturn’s energy at that time. For now, however, the next 6 months will be a time of completing and finishing up. To see where and how this might be affecting you (although if you’ve been paying attention, that should be evident), look to see what houses/parts of life Saturn is influencing.
Mercury in Cancer (May 28-Aug. 4) is providing a time when we focus on moving from quantity to quality. We cannot hold onto everything, so we need to prioritize and decide what is worthy of our time, energy resources, and heart. We become more engaged in personal issues and our emotions have a broad range of expression.
Venus in Gemini (April 3-Aug. 7) finds us bouncing all over the place, trying to be all things to all people, interested in everything. Curiosity reigns supreme. We feel connected more on a mental level than in a deep or profoundly emotional way. Notice how your need for harmony, beauty, and artistic expression reveals itself to you, and use what you can to build a treasure chest for projects for the future when you’re more down to earth.
Mars in Aries (June 27-Jan. 6, 2021) is at home in this energy, and Mars serves to be a power shake for us, giving us more energy, more positive, forward thinking, and a great supply of courage. Mars in Aries finds us more action-directed than we have been in the past months/years.
Jupiter (Dec. 2019-Dec. 2020), planet of benevolence and good fortune has been in Capricorn since December 2019, and will remain there until December 2020. Making what might have otherwise been a time fraught with despair and anxiety, more bearable and positive. Jupiter reminds us we have much to be thankful for, if we look for it and appreciate it. Often we forget the inner strength and outer support we have. Much of what supplies, nourishes, and sustains us, cannot be calculated on a ledger. What really matters to you? Where do you find your supply?
Uranus in Taurus (May 15, 2018-Nov. 2018/March 6, 2019-2025/2026) brings about changes and often surprising twists and turns, that require that we rethink what we value. This includes money, material possessions, ways we calculate security/wealth. We find we must free ourselves from material constraints by finding innovative ways to make ourselves more comfortable and a home with the lives we are living. We become less inhibited, and more embracing of the simple pleasures and ways of life that we may not have valued or understood before. Abrupt changes (which we’ve already seen manifest) in resources, money, things of value, and possessions, find us reshuffling and reevaluating our priorities in non-traditional ways. We are learning new ways of doing things and new ways of approaching our view and our ways of living.
As the week begins, the New Moon in Cancer goes void of course almost immediately (for a few hours) and we may feel a let down. Coupled with the Sun’s opposition to Saturn there may be a dampening of confidence. Be aware, it’s not you. Well it’s not just you. Outer circumstances are creating a reality that is difficult. Our inner resources may be depleted, yet it’s now we most need to nourish and feel support from those who can provide that. Seek that support and rest assured that what is meant to be will unfold, and you have what it takes to cope with, adapt to, or manage whatever that is.
Mercury forms a square to Chiron, the Wounded Healer indicating a strain in communications. Misunderstandings are possible, especially since everyone seems to be on edge and/or feeling more emotional than usual. When we’re all forced to face the challenges we are in the process of coping with, it makes for a fraught environment. Keep your buffers up and avoid confrontations and the self critic that binds you to unrealistic expectations.We cannot know what other people mean or experience, so we need to be protective of our vulnerable selves right now. Often when we’re in such a period of time, we react out of the unhealed or unknown parts of our own shadow side. The past is always present in how we respond and react. Try to be more conscious of how you have handled things in the past, and focus on what healthy spiritual and emotional practices are more sustaining for you.
Mercury is sextile Uranus, so believe it or not, it’s a great time for meetings. Encourage creative, innovative ways and welcome cooperation. Also, vary routines to break up energy that gets stuck in patterns. What worked last year, month, or week, may not be appropriate for now. Keep the energy flowing.
We feel a sense of urgency at this New Moon in Cancer. No wonder; our world is in disarray. However the best thing we can do for now, is to feed and nourish ourselves and each other in whatever ways are positive, sustaining, and kind. A strong wave of energy is moving over and within us. It may make us feel a bit restrictive. Try to keep in mind that our emotional responses and reactions are influenced by our past and how we learned to navigate the rough emotional waters of change.
Time to align with our highest good, connect to the Divine within and around us. It’s neither time nor possible to fix or control everything. What we can do is determine what we need, what True North is for each of us. What do we need? What do we have control over? What seems to be calling you? When you’ve been in uncharted waters in the past, what sustained you? What sparked love, trust, compassion? What touched your heart and soul? Seek guidance in these areas now, and listen and watch for the answers. You have the power to seek and find.
Saturn has provided some grounding, again. It’s time to remember what we’ve gathered, learned, discovered and mastered in the past. The tools that helped us then, are available now. Connect in what ways you can as you bring balance into your daily routine. When life is slowed down or blocked in some way, it opens the way for other offerings/opportunities. Use your time to consider how this pause, this block, this challenge can serve us. How can we make this work for our good and the good of others? We are faced with a choice between aligning or struggling. We can align ourselves with what is working, possible, or attuned to what good is emerging. Even if it’s not clear to us, we can behave ‘as if’.
Open your treasure chest of powerful spiritual tools. We’ve all learned and used principles that have helped us traverse rough times. Though those tools may change, our need to keep trying has not. Take some positive actions to create what you want to see grow in your life. A powerful metaphysical principle is to act as if. Mohammad Ali once said, “If you want to be a champion, act as if you already are. Even if you’re not, act like you are and you will become one.” We can all take some steps, mentally, spiritually, and physically to become more of what we want to be or to attain some goal we set out for ourselves. Use your toolbox, and create ways to feed your dreams.
“Hold fast to dreams, for when dreams die/ life is a broken-winged bird/that cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams/ for when dreams go/Life is a barren field/frozen with snow”
--Langston Hughes
Now is the time to rely on the power of our precious gift of being and life. Clear things up. Clean up the clutter, Let more light in and keep the air and energy circulating. Fill your senses with fragrances, and get your hands in the dirt, feet in the sand/grass, and head into something inspiring and beautiful. Enter the new lunar path with a heart full of thanksgiving.
