New Moon In Cancer: Poised At The Crossroads

We have been born into our material existence with a spiritual agenda exquisitely etched into the map that is our natal chart.
A snapshot of the heavens as viewed from earth at the very moment we drew our first breath, it is  imbued with the energies of the universe at that precise juncture in time. It symbolizes our pure potentiality.  
Time keeps moving and the dance of  archetypal energies, the dance of the planets, in relationship  to our chart is at its essence the dance of our becoming.  We move forward and back.  Sometimes in a graceful waltz, sometimes in a breathless tango and yes, sometimes it feels as though we are in a mosh pit. 
Technically as an astrologer what I am looking at(both personally or when I gaze upon a client’s chart) to try to understand what lies ahead are what are termed the transits, meaning the current sky, and the progressions, symbolic of an inner unfoldment.  But the profound context of those “technicalities” is they reveal an unfolding a deeper pattern.   Either I or the client has come to a crossroad.  A crossroad in consciousness.

Our lives are an expression of  consciousness unfolding. Life (and we as an expression of it) is in constant motion.  Even when we feel stuck.  Ironically,  usually especially when we feel stuck.   Under intense planetary transits we usually feel as though we are on the precipice of imminent change. We desperately try to gaze into a hazy future that is calling to us like a siren song but we can only catch a glimpse a murky road ahead.  It’s discombobulating. 

Tomorrow evening at 6:17PM PDT a New Moon is Cancer is being born.   And since Cancer is a sign associated with birth I am intentionally using that imagery. Any birth, creative or literal, occurs at a crossroads. We symbolically find ourselves standing on the threshold of a new beginning.  For many of us this is a literal threshold as well.  

In essence this Cancer New Moon wherever it lies within your chart is offering a chance to renovate your “home.”  The Sun and Moon will be opposite Pluto, bringing up feelings related to power and purpose, control and release, birth and death. This New Moon heralds an important new beginning, yet receiving it might require releasing something you’ve been hanging onto in order to create space for the new.

A cardinal sign, Cancer represents one of the four angles in the chart in the natural zodiac. The angles themselves are thresholds, places where were move from one space to another and life takes a turn.  It is an initiation of sorts. In Cancer’s case it is the doorway of home, family, and  lineage that presents itself at this New Moon.  It symbolically embodies both our roots and our rootedness.  Where we find safety, nourishment and sanctuary.  

To access the energy of this New Moon it behooves us to be receptive. To pay attention to the dreams that visit us at night. 

The invitation offered through the sign of Cancer is to  profoundly attune ourselves to our feelings, to our own inner imagery and intuitions.  To harness this energy we must become still, gathering ourselves and pulling within from all of the outer distractions that constantly tug at us.  Within this sacred stillness we are asked to focus, to  weave a bridge between our uncharted and often neglected inner wilderness and the outer landscape of our lives.  To  be vulnerable and trust the voice of timeless wisdom that lies within so that it can more authentically be aligned in our outer day to day life.  As the Jungian psychologist James Hillman said “Our dreams recover what the world forgets.”

From the Cancer New Moon perspective, something that has been growing within wants to be be born.  Needs to be born.  Ask any woman who has physically given birth and she will tell you that when the child is ready the birth process  takes on a life of its own.  She can’t hold it back,  it’s literally impossible.  Her body has taken over and the very messy and painful but beautiful process is underway.  It is exquisite and entirely beyond her control.  

When we stand at the crossroads we often struggle in order to maintain a false sense of security in the known.   Consciously or unconsciously we may try to prevent what has been waiting, really gestating, from coming into being.   At these moments we are in essence the infamous woman who suddenly gives birth but somehow didn’t know she was pregnant.  Looking back she could see the clues all along but dismissed them because they didn’t make sense to her in the logical world. 

As Demetra George notes  in  Mysteries of the Dark Moon “The dark phase of the cyclical process is the womb of the soul.” When we stand at the crossroads we are being invited to  go within with an open heart and listen deeply from this profound place we can use our challenges to create a deeper understanding. We learn to see ourselves, others, and the world at large in a new light, in order to engage in that world with wise compassion.



                                                 A Ritual for The Cancer New Moon 


Cancer is a sign that moves between the sea and shore so If possible this is best experienced through the realm of water. You want to be able to create an environment that gives you a sense of home, of belonging, of sanctuary. You are  working at invoking a distinct personal  ambiance that in essence extends an invitation to your deepest self.   Take the time to create a sacred womblike atmosphere.  Light some candles or incense.  If you are taking a bath anoint the water with special oils or a bath balm.  Put on some soothing music.  Take a deep breath and relax allowing yourself to surrender to your own inner rhythm.  Don’t hurry yourself through this process, receive and welcome all parts of yourself both the heroic and the wounded. Create within a place of safety and loving acceptance.  Once you have arrived to this place of inner peace contemplate any of the following questions:  

Where in my life am I experiencing a felt sense of belonging?

Where do I feel lost or adrift?

What as outlived  usefulness?

Where am I not receiving myself?

What is wishing to emerge? 
Practice holding a welcoming presence for yourself.  Being hospitable to the unexpected answers rather than being dismissive of what doesn’t make logical sense in life as you are currently experiencing it.  

From this space of inner openness a new voice can emerge and begin to breathe into life.  
After you have listened deeply, journal about the experience and make three wishes to close.  Place them in a sacred place within or around your home.