New Moon in Cancer

This is today, the 4^th of July, around noon GMT.

We have a big stellium in Cancer for this new moon: sun, moon, Mercury and Venus. So this is a heavy dose of Cancer energy.

I think it's much-needed after the crazy mutable intensity of the past month. This is like a big soothing duvet over our frayed nerves and minds. It's a bit of a break – a chance to retreat, regroup, lounge around at home eating nice food and rebuilding our reserves.

Cancer is about home, family, our roots, motherhood, nurturance, emotion. It is ruled by the moon, and can be as changeable – it is a moody sign, with a lot of fast-shifting emotional intensity.

Our Cancer stellium this new moon opposes Pluto in Capricorn. So expect the emotional intensities this Cancer season to be a bit amped-up. Please cut yourself and others some slack if things get kind of PMS-y and hormonal... It's probably not a big deal, and not worth starting WW3 over. It's just a mood that will pass. Maybe it's a mood that you need to examine and go deeper into, instead of acting it out with others or trying to block it out.

Despite the Pluto opposition, the new moon is well aspected overall. It looks good for emotional catharsis - Neptune in Pisces and Jupiter and the north node in Virgo send support. Maybe there's some emotional processing to be done after all the shifts and WTF moments of June. Things have changed pretty drastically – we are all trying to get our heads around the changes and what they'll mean in a practical sense. (And with Saturn squaring Neptune, this is extremely hard – the road ahead is lost in fog.)

This month looks like a good time to let our hearts catch up with our heads. There are probably a lot of pent-up feelings we haven't had time to look at, busy and buzzing as things have been. I think it's a chance to focus inward and let those feelings come up and be acknowledged.

 

Not in a melodramatic way – with Jupiter and the north node in Virgo, the point of this kind of emotional processing is very practical and sensible. It's about reaching a point of calm in ourselves, because what's ahead will not be this calm again for a good while.

So please use this month to be kind and motherly to yourself and others. Eat well, rest and focus on healthy, practical things. There are more intensities ahead – August looks quite cruel, as the t-square across mutable signs regroups and tightens, and Mars (now direct in Scorpio) catches up with Saturn in Sagittarius. I think retreating a bit now in order to rebuild the reserves is not a bad idea.

Neptune is very close to the south node, so beware of using drink and substances to blot out stress. The hangover will be pretty swampy. (This is a good influence for anyone who wants to make art, though. This month is full of creative potential.)

 

And please remember you can't go far wrong if you focus on the Virgo stuff: health, everyday routine, humility, order, service to others. The current Cancer stellium - which is all about emotional nurturance - supports this focus on Virgo themes. So taking care of ourselves and others in a very practical, gentle way is what the sky is asking us to do this month.

 

That includes letting yourself feel what you feel - not beating yourself up over it, suppressing it, or using it to construct a sob-story that perpetuates your suffering. Pluto is about purgation and clearing-out of old gunk. So Pluto's involvement with this new moon indicates it's time to let whatever's emotionally dammed up or stagnant in you start flowing and moving again. You're allowed to feel what you feel and to let it flow through you.

You don't have to use it against anyone - please don't! But it's important to honour your own feelings, and make the space and time for them to come up out of the watery depths. It's healthy and pragmatic, irrational as it may feel.