Cancer New Moon
This Cancer New Moon is tender AF. Cancer New Moons, when considered in a vacuum, are about acknowledging our feelings - connecting to the wisdom of our bodies and our inner knowing. Checking in with the “yeses” and the “nos” that come from deep within that can often get ignored or pushed aside in reverence to “logic.” During Cancer New Moons, we want to talk about our feelings, but we want to find the people who feel safe to expose our vulnerability to, underneath our hard shells. This New Moon, we are taking inventory on multiple levels about what we need to feel safe and secure in ourselves, not only in our physical environments but within our beings - where, what, who do we anchor to when life is chaotic? Is this sustainable? Life-affirming? How does it feel? How do you want it to feel? How can you create your daily practices to resource yourself from within so that you can move towards your desired feeling state? What if you let your feelings steer? Feelings are different from emotions. Feelings are those intuitive gut feelings where we just *know* if something is right or not. Emotions, as Dane Rudhyar says, are reactions to feelings. If we listen to our feelings and respond accordingly, often our emotions can be steered by our will, rather than the other way around…
Pluto sits opposite the Moon and Sun, all of which are squaring the Nodes of the Moon. The lunar nodes represent our destiny, both collectively and individually (look to your chart to see where the nodes are currently transiting to understand the way they are affecting you - this can be very insightful and validating information, especially when you are feeling a pull that you aren’t sure you should heed to). Pluto has been squaring the nodes pretty much all year, forcing all of us into a cycle of decay, whether directly, in our immediate sphere, or more indirectly, in the interconnected lives related to our friends, families, networks of people we are connected to, job environments... Endings are happening left and right as Pluto decides what is standing in the way of you and your evolution, as well as the evolution of humanity as we know it. We are being met with really uncomfortable, seemingly insurmountable challenges - initiating us into our hero's journey, so that we may conquer a part of ourselves that is no longer serving us, so that we may emerge on the other side ready for bigger and better things. Something must be released so that what is waiting for you has room to flow in. This energy builds and intensifies as the Sun approaches an exact opposition to Pluto on the 22nd.
The nodes of the moon change signs the same day as the New Moon, ending our Taurus/Scorpio cycle and beginning the Libra/Aries nodal transit for the next 18 months. Because the south node of the moon is leaving Scorpio, Pluto’s domain, this gives this aspect an extra flavor of release and big transformations. These don’t happen overnight. Pluto and Scorpio energy can often get a bad rep, since they tend to be heavily associated with death and destruction - however, these are also the most powerful energies in the zodiac - so with these endings, know that behind them is immense power to rise like a Phoenix from the ashes.
Venus is currently direct but on the day of the New Moon, she stops at 28 degrees Leo, where she will station retrograde on the 22nd. Do your homework to prepare yourself for this 40 day transit. Get really clear about what you value in all of your relationships, including the one with yourself. Who are you? How are you expressing your vitality out into the world? Do you like this person? If you could be anyone or anything, who or what would you be? Do you feel permissioned to be your authentic self around the people in your life? Sometimes we grow out of friends, jobs, industries, towns, our aesthetic, even our families. What’s feeling like it needs a makeover in your life? Leo energy is joyful, playful, it’s big and expressive, full of light and life. Leo in its fullest expression is confidence, not by conformity, but rather through deviation. If you really want to move through this Venus retrograde with intention, look to where Leo is in your birth chart. (If you don’t know how to do this, I’d be happy to look it up for you and give you a brief rundown on how to use your chart as a tool).
Venus is in a quincunx to both Pluto and Neptune - Pluto and Neptune are sextiling each other. This aspect is called a Yod or Finger of God (I talked about it in a previous blog post). This is creating some tension around our journey to finding ourselves - on the one hand, we have Pluto pulling us through literal shit (not really literal, but it feels like that sometimes), and on the other hand we have this tension with Neptune in Pisces and the desire to escape, abort mission, and numb in all the ways with all the things. Venus is the anchor, telling us to come back to the heart, back to courage and strength (Leo), to face the monster head on for the love of God (ahem, I mean ourselves, but same same). Find ways to ease the pain of the journey without bypassing the lessons. Prioritize time to play, create, run outside, stick your hands in the dirt. We have to set down our work periodically, personal and professional. We have to stop reinforcing the mentality that we can only rest after we have produced x amount, or that we don’t deserve to tap into joy because there’s too much stress and sadness and that would just be selfish. Be selfish. And also, recognize the people in your life that support you, all of your journey, and make sure that you take the time to listen and hold space for them to spill their guts to you. We all need a safe container to spill into. Let’s hold each other through this f*ckin wild ride.
Food for thought… What was going on in 2015 for you? How were you changing then? Who were you becoming then, and who are you now? In the beginning of 2015, Pluto was squaring the nodes of the moon, and in the summer of 2015, Venus was retrograding through Leo. It’s fun to see the way we are spiraling through life…
That’s all I have for now. Thank you for being here. Here, reading my words, but also, here on the planet. Doing the work. It’s not easy, and I see you.
Stay kind, stay weird, stay curious.
