The New Moon in Cancer is exact this afternoon at 3:57pm PDT. Cancer is the mansion where we pull back from the demands of the outside world and attend to the needs of our inner life. We move toward rest and restoration in Cancer, as this is the sign of home, family, and the preparation needed to meet life in the outside world. This is that put-your-oxygen-mask-on-first lunation, where we must increase our inner resolve to know what we need, and then meet those needs for ourselves. The idea of family as a protective community was invented in Cancer. Since so many of our family of origin stories are filled with pain and wound, we must recreate our own sense of family and protection as we move through our lives. Cancer helps us do this.
This is a New Moon designed to make sure that you are doing everything you can help you transcend deeply embedded patterns of emotional wound, and nurture yourself fully and directly. It is also interestingly sandwiched between two Full Moons in Capricorn, the first was two weeks ago. We enter this lunar cycle already halfway through a process of releasing deeply held limits and attachments to wounds of the past. While I don’t want to get too ahead of myself in this post, the Full Moon in Capricorn in two weeks packs an enormous punch. It is the second in row; that counts. It’s at the final, mastery degree of the sign; that counts. And it is exactly Conjunct Pluto, the Lord of the Underworld and the planet that brings death and rebirth; that counts a lot. More on this in two weeks.
Cancer is where we consider home, family, privacy, and all the behind the scenes aspects of consciousness. In the natural wheel of the zodiac, Cancer is at the bottom, and in this way, I like to think of Cancer as our root chakra. This energy center asks us the question, do I have everything I need? Not what we want, Cancer is about what we need to survive and thrive. In a world where productivity is the coin of the realm, Cancer reminds us that there is no accomplishment out there in the world unless you are well cared for at home. This is the New Moon to deepen your relationship to this dynamic, whatever it looks like in your current circumstances.
This can be literal, as this New Moon is good for initiating cycles involving the actual place you live. But home can be metaphorical, reflecting an inner sense of security in our private spaces such that we can meet our public spaces head on. This lunation can connect with your family dynamics, whether that means your birth family, or the family of choice you have created as you move through life. Intergenerational wounds is also a Cancer invention, so this is a good time to put some focus on the emotional patterns that have been handed to you from your past lineage. This is where we also create work life balance, by setting intentions to put self-care first. And lastly, if you know what house in your natal chart is ruled by Cancer, understand that is also an area of your life that this New Moon is likely to impact.
Venus is in Cancer, close enough to the Sun and Moon to be part of this lunation, and they are all in a Trine with Saturn. The Great Teacher is participating directly in this New Moon, but because the geometry is the easy and open Trine, we get to approach this moment with all our current wisdom available to us. Mars, the planet of our embodiment, is in an exact Sextile with Saturn, so our decision making is grounded, stable, and comes from a place of wisdom as well. No moment is ever free of learning, but a New Moon Trine Saturn with Mars in a Sextile, means we are not being tripped up by karmic lessons, and we can set intentions from a place of grounded, inner knowledge and awareness.
If you set intentions now that will require you to let some things go as you climb the mountain of your desires, the weeks ahead will bring lots of deep and profound changes. In fact, Mercury is Opposing Pluto in this New Moon, so in some ways, our mind is already aligned with the idea that we can put things into motion now that will in fact require us to let some old stuff go at a very deep level as we move through that second Capricorn Full Moon that is Conjunct Pluto. Even an emotional Square between Venus and Chiron is reminding us of our inner wounded spaces. We will feel the wounds in our heart as we approach the tenderness of this Cancer New Moon, so use that vulnerability to get in touch with what your deep inner needs truly are at this time in your journey.
Truly, these two lunar cycles, the one we are leaving and the one we are entering, are life changing. Many of us will be in very different places at the end of summer than we were in the spring during the last eclipse season. A New Moon is an alpha/omega startup moment, and Cancer is a cardinal sign, which is the energy of initiations, and forward movement. But as delicious as this moment is, and amidst all the help we are getting from the participating planets, there is some challenging energy in this New Moon that will color the entire lunar cycle.
This New Moon is forming a T-Square with the Nodes. That means there is a 90-degree angle of conflict and obstacle that is designed to help us move forward (North Node), but will also set us up to release the past in just as aggressive a manner (South Node). This is a fated lunar cycle as a result of this T-Square, and this lunar cycle is an activation of the March/April eclipse season, so things hinted at back then may be coming up for review and release now. Dig deep into your private spaces and find the most vulnerable aspect of your life that needs consideration and care. Then set intentions to amplify your commitment to put your needs above the needs of others, and have at it.
