Cancer New Moon, July 2-3, 2008
This Cancer new Moon is the 3rd Super moon of the year - the Moon is at its closest to Earth. Look for stronger tides, emotions, energies. Since the Moon rules Cancer, this month might bring us a deeper awareness of our needs as well as our fears about our security. Especially now, as we see the beginning of the deep changes that Pluto in Capricorn will bring to our culture, we need to find our own internal security to keep our balance in a world that at the moment is in chaos. Don't forget, it is important - if we want real change - to endure the chaos, so that something entirely new can be born. In Greek myth, before Gaia, the Earth, was formed, there was Chaos.
Cancer is the archetype of the Mother. Cancer provides the security we need in the midst of chaos, by calling us inward to find our own roots – both familial roots as well as our soul roots. Instead of the Gemini search for experience in the outer world, Cancer calls us within to explore our feeling nature. Subjective, creative, sensitive, protective, Cancer is the womb in which we can gestate the new soul life we've called to by world events. Cancer opens up the deep dimensions of the psyche for us to explore and enjoy. It is time to FEEL, to move through the waters of life and discover what really nurtures us as if we were held in the arms of an all-loving Mother. Cancer wants us to learn to love, to trust and to accept life despite what's going on in the world.
You might want to explore your mother, your beginnings, your birth, your past lives, your first dreams. I remember my first recurring dream: I am in a bathysphere (one of those round things that can go deep into the ocean). I watched as giant behemoths – large, ugly whale-like – swim by. It is sooo cold, a cold like the cold of outer space. And I am alone. This dream made perfect sense to me once I knew my birth chart, with my moon in Cancer and Sun in the 12th House. I am here to explore the unconscious and the ancient archetypes, which go back to the beginnings of time.
Like the explorer in the bathysphere, we need protection when our feelings are highly sensitized. That's the gift to you from Cancer – to sensitize your feeling life. Cancers will tell you that we ARE the most sensitive sign of the zodiac, and that's why we have our shells to protect us! But we have to have a permeable shell, one finely balanced between allowing in the experiences and opening up to the feelings those experiences evoke.
Cancer is certainly one of the most imaginative signs of the zodiac and one of the most creative. Its rich gift is to nurture that Imagination which comes from the soul. So take your imagination for a spin and let the nurturing waters of the Unconscious tell you a story this month. Make it a new story about why you're here and what your purpose is. And then keep telling yourself that story over and over again like a child, until you have it memorized.
The Sabian symbol for this new Moon at 12 degrees Cancer is: A woman nursing a baby, haloed by the light of a single star. This is a degree of spiritual guidance, the inter-penetration of the divine with the human, taking the spiritual evolution of the human race to heart. It is within one degree of the star, Sirius, which represented the goddess Isis and her mysteries of life.
While this symbol might speak of the marvelous children – like the Indigo or Crystal children – being born at this time, I want you to contemplate the inner child that is the 'star within'. This is the time to nurture your inner divine child like the goddesses Isis and Mary. Call up the divine Mother within you, and nurse this child.
This new Moon (joining of Sun and Moon) is conjoined with the asteroid Ceres, the great Mother of agriculture and fertility, as well as Venus, the goddess of Love and Connection. This is such a beautiful energy for us. Take full advantage and spend time with yourself this week before you go out to celebrate the Birth of our Country.
Aspects this new Moon:
Venus in Cancer is opposite Jupiter retrograde in Capricorn: Create opportunities in the world to enjoy yourself to the fullest. But use your senses – don't overwhelm them with too much eating and drinking. Don't drown out the delight by overindulgence. Venus met up with Jupiter on February 1, 2008, starting a cycle of beauty, elegance and grace – gifts of the feminine spirit to our dark and ugly world. Let's continue to nurture those qualities in ourselves and in our creations.
Mars conjoined with Saturn in Virgo: Mars enters Virgo on July 1st, and meets up with Saturn on Thursday July 10th. Leaving behind the drama of Leo, Mars slows down, maybe even frustratingly so, as it comes to the end of its cycle. Mars and Saturn are like senex and puer – the old and the young coming together.
Mars and Saturn last conjoined at 9 Leo on June 18, 2006, beginning a new cycle which is ending now. The sabian symbol for 9 Leo is: Glass blowers shape beautiful forms with their controlled breathing. This is a degree of craftsmanship, of breathing life into our creations, of building beautiful forms from our imaginations. These last two years have called many of us to put our energies into creating a vessel so we can help heal the world. When Mars meets up with Saturn this month, look at the form you have created for your talents. Now take it into the world!
Mercury in Gemini trines Neptune/Chiron in Aquarius and squares Uranus in Pisces. Mercury is within a degree of its retrograde station from last May 27th, and is ready to continue its journey. Neptune and Chiron communicate the collective story and Uranus opens us to other dimensions – the collective unconscious. Listen to your intuitions, your visions, your dreams.
I will be writing a dreams and astrology blog for Astrology.com (msnbc & iVillage) starting in mid-July. I'd love to hear your dreams, which I'll use in my blog and on my dream show (which will be up and running again soon.)
I'm beginning with the recurring dreams of our childhood. If any of you want to share those dreams with me, please send me the dream and your understanding of it and how it's affected your life. I will not use names.
Astrology shows us the blueprint of our lives, while dreams fill in the blanks with how we're actually dealing with our lives. If you feel stuck, confused or mystified, consider setting up an appointment with me. Call at 310-741-7013 or email me at Cathy@wisdom-of-astrology.com