10:33 am PDT July 20, 2020

  5:33 pm UTC July 20, 2020

New Moon in Cancer

This is the second New Moon in Cancer in a row. This relatively rare occurrence this year doubles the importance of Cancerian qualities, nurturing, kindness, support for each other and for the generations to come after us, and ultimately for the Earth itself. Each of the two Cancerian New Moons bookended the sign, last month’s New Moon was at 0˚, this one is at the last degree of the sign.

This New Moon has a signature of reckoning to it.  Saturn, the planet of karma, of time, of endings, is almost exactly in opposition to this New Moon. Oppositions astrologically ask us to turn around and look at things from their seemingly contradictory viewpoint, and ultimately to connect the dots of their interrelationship. Cancer’s concerns are for Life, protecting it and nurturing it, while Capricorn wants to develop and build, create boundaries, accomplish things. Since Saturn (and Pluto) are dancing together in the sign of Capricorn, the reckonings are in the arenas of accomplishing, doing, building, developing.

As a civilization which is highly over-developed, overpopulated, over-producing, overly concerned with control of its resources, the more Cancerian traits of sharing and cooperating with each other have grown into deep shadow. Control, structure, discipline, these Capricornian traits are necessary in our lives, but as with any polarity, too much of one pole creates shadow and desperation in the other. And we are navigating the shadow lands of an overly developed and controlling society. We are being faced with major representations of rulers in the world who reflect back to us our obsessive need to control each other, our resources, our behaviors and our beliefs. An out of balance masculine energy must use of force and violence to squelch any representation of the Cancerian traits, the archetypal feminine. We subconsciously associate races of color, gender fluidity, sexual preferences, “primitive” peoples with the archetypal feminine, which we believe is chaotic and unable to be controlled, and dangerous to a rigid system of order and control. At its root, it’s deeply frightening and undermining to the other polarity. The recent image of a naked woman sitting herself on the ground in front of police in Portland is a perfect representation of the archetypal polarization we find ourselves in presently.

As we’ve been saying for some time, Saturn and Pluto are pushing us to the extreme. We are not going to be out of their grip for quite a while. Winter Solstice brings a crossing-over point, when Jupiter, also now in Capricorn, and Saturn conjoin in the beginning degree of the sign of Universal Humanity, Aquarius, on December 21^st. Even then the proverbial shit will still be hitting the fan. But the seeds of reckoning are being planted now and will begin to sprout in the coming years.

In this chart, Mars and Chiron are paired in Aries, in opposition to Juno in Libra. Action-oriented Mars has recently been conjoined with Chiron, receiving a bit of humble pie in its now six-month-long journey through Aries. This duration will be giving us many reflections of the different sides of our aggressive nature, which Aries rules, as Mars will form harsh angles to the Capricorn (read karmic) planets. In this chart, its opposition to Juno, the principle of maintaining relatedness for the long haul, in Libra, the sign of relationship, indicates the need to revamp our priorities along the lines of cooperation rather than competition. Forming a Grand Cross to these two is Athena, warrior goddess whose wisdom in battle is about protection rather than aggression, opposed by Vesta in Cancer who asks us to light a candle at the hearth and center of what we love and care for. We must at times wage a battle, in whatever way is our best form, to protect that which is sacred.

Neptune, the planet of the depths of awareness, of archetypal forces, both inspirational and delusional, is the most positively aspected in this chart, which reflects to us that this is a time for deep introspection, for connecting to our guiding spirits, developing and perfecting a sense of clarity in those connections, which we will need in the coming months ahead. Its sextiles to the Capricorn planets brings possibilities of systematizing our meditation and contemplation practices, making a time each day to connect with Spirit in whatever way you name and frame its guiding Presence. Capricorn’s energy can help us in learning to tell the difference between true insight and our ego’s tendency to fill in the blanks with its own agendas. With Venus in Gemini now, lighting the way as she rises in the early dawn, we are on a beginning journey of learning how to communicate with our inner wisdom, to turn away from the “madding crowd” of news and media voices, and to instead regain a trust in the insight that is available to us if we turn our attention towards it.

With a visible comet now streaking across the skies, more omens are showing us that this is the end of an era. Comet NEOWISE (new wisdom?) with an orbital period of 6767 years, was last visible in BCE 4747, and according to astrologer Stephanie Austin, was the era of the decline of the goddess cultures and the rise of patriarchy. If this is so, we are beginning a new era of the integration of both the archetypal masculine and feminine, outflowing and inflowing energies, blending them into the human psyche and society. Alas, periods of transition are always turbulent, but how we navigate transitions is what determines their effects, both personally and globally. Pay attention to your dreams, and share them with others as a way to navigate these waters together. Help is available to us from the deeper wisdom within.