The Cosmic Story: 1st Leo New Moon, July 23, 2017

The Cosmic Story: 1^st Leo New Moon, July 23, 2017

Sekhmet: The Sacred Power of the Sun

Constellation of Leo

This morning, just after Mars moved into Leo, I got a skype call from my grandson who’s just about to have his first Mars return. He roared like a Lion for me, showed off his stuffed animals and let me enjoy his playing. That’s Mars in Leo for you. With the Sun in the last few degrees of Cancer, family and fun, sons and grandsons can make your day!

We’re about to enter the twilight zone – a lunar month that begins with a Leo New Moon, which grows into a partial Lunar Eclipse in Aquarius/Leo and ends with another Leo New Moon that is also a powerful Solar Eclipse. This is the month when we reclaim our heart’s power to transform our life with love. This is a month to open to the power of creation and let it rip through our psyches until we are breathless with the fun and wonder of the Light. This is the month to step into our heart’s power.

Since Mars will be conjunct this 1^st Leo New Moon, he’s in the spotlight. In the past 6 week as Mars journeyed through Cancer, he dove deep into our emotional depths to explore what our souls really desire. Just after he arrived home (Cancer) on June 9^th, he made a delightful sextile to Venus in Taurus, who inspired him to envision a future full of environmental justice, love, peace and pleasure, perfecting just after the Sagittarius Full Moon and Jupiter ended his retrograde. Venus helped him get his head aligned with his heart regarding his deepest desires concerning partnership, family and our individual soul desires. What did you discover about your need for security, love, relationship and family?

Then a few weeks later on June 24-25, Mars was challenged by Jupiter to make good on his truth, instead of overreacting to his situation. Did you choose partnership over domination? Where you able to step into real partnership? On the 26^th he connected with Neptune in Pisces, the World Soul, embracing the wisdom that to be really happy and at peace, everyone else has to feel that way too.

Mercury joined him on the 28^th to make sure he was getting the message because on July 2^nd, Mars opposed Pluto in Capricorn, giving him the opportunity to choose to go back to aggression and domination or to align his will with the higher Will of divine evolution. What did you choose? On July 17^th, Mars squared Uranus in Aries, offering us the opportunity to shape and channel our own unique way of doing things – or letting things explode because the tension and frustration got too much for us. During those 6 weeks, Mars engaged the dynamic T-Square of revolution, evolution and equality on a feeling level. As he enters Leo, Mars has been reborn!

So now we find ourselves with Mars engaging this first Leo New Moon. There are two New Moons this astrological month, similar to when we have a Blue Full Moon. Every year and a half, the lunar cycle catches up with our solar calendar and the moon cycle flips. For the next year or so, after the 2^nd Leo Solar Eclipse New Moon, we’ll find that the Full Moon will be in different signs than the New Moon. This split will make us work a bit harder to integrate our shadow side and stretch us to allow the seeds of these New Moons to blossom in new territory.

At this Leo New Moon, our inner warrior nature will be filled with Light. And because Regulus, the star at the ‘heart of the Lion’ has just precessed into tropical Virgo, the underlying energy of our warrior will be decidedly feminine. Yes, we can look to Wonder Woman as an example of this new feminine warrior, dedicated to ‘saving the world.’ But I’d like to bring in another feminine solar warrior energy for us to contemplate.

Over 10,000 years ago, the Age of Lion held sway. Many people believe the Sphinx was created to represent that age. We also know of an ancient Goddess who probably comes down to us from both Atlantis and Lemuria. The Goddess is Sekhmet, the Lioness Goddess of Egypt. She was the original power of the Sun, way before she became Ra’s Eye (after patriarchy demoted her). 

Sekhmet

The Sekhmet Temple of Goddess Spirituality in Nevada

 

 

Sekhmet is called the powerful one, a warrior goddess who also heals. She was known by 1000 names, although only a few are known to us now. Here are a few of her Sacred Names.

Sekhmet,

Lady of Fragrance,

Source of the Words of Power,

At Whose Wish the Arts were Born.

Lady of Flame,

Whose Essence is Fire.

Eye of the Sun.

Powerful One who Empowers Us.

Lady of Enchantments

Who Controls the Waters of Life.

Lady of the Magic Lamp.

Mother of All the Gods,

Who Makest Sound Their Bones.

Mistress of Life.

Ancient One.

Goddess of the Galaxies.

Sparkling One.

Keeper of the Divine Order.

Light Beyond Darkness.

Great One of the Place of the Appearance of Silence.

Guide and Protectress from the Perils of the Underworld.

Guardian of the Gates of Life and Death.

Darkness Beyond Light.

Lady of the Place of the Beginning of Time.

One Who Was Before the Gods Were.

Encircling One.

Bringer of Wisdom.

Sekhmet’s’ prayer is: Sa Sekhem Sahu. Sa means the breath of life or life force. Sekhem means source, power or might. Sekhem is the power that animates the Sahu, the spiritual body. Sekhem is the power that leads one to spiritual consciousness. 

 Below is a video my fellow priestesses at the Sekhmet Temple in Nevada helped make with our beloved high priestess, Katlyn Breene.

1^st Leo New Moon 2017

This Leo New Moon occurs on July 23 at 2:45am PDT/ 5:45am EDT/ 9:45 am GMT.

The Sabian symbol for the Sun and Moon at 1* Leo is: Blood rushes to a man’s head as his vital energies are mobilized under the spur of ambition.

Blood from the heart rushes to the head, giving us the energy to act on our desires. Leo is the sign that rules Individuation, Carl Jung’s term for the process of becoming conscious of the soul’s purpose. So this New Moon energy calls us, not to an exaggerated sense of our own ego power, but rather to be the agent of our soul’s purpose.

The Sabian symbol for Mars at 2* Leo is: An epidemic of mumps. (Yes, sometimes these symbols seem strange!) An epidemic is something that spreads throughout society. Mumps is a childhood disease which affects adult males’ testicles. Another sign to me that we need Sekhmet’s warrior power instead of the old Mars power, which tends to dominate and compete. If we’re going to spread anything, we must spread the warrior power of LIFE.

Mars conjuncts the Sun on July 26^th at 4* Leo, initiating a new 2-year cycle of our masculine desire nature. Steve Eardley’s Sabian symbol for 4* Leo is: A pointy-eared man from the future flies through a time tunnel to find himself in a business man’s convention. This symbol seems to indicate that a Mr. Spock-like male energy is needed to bring about a change in our economic system. I can’t imagine Spock allowing the continued rape of Mother Earth or the repression of women and minorities to continue in business. It’s just not logical!

The rebirth of the masculine is once again offered to us as Mars meets up with the Sun. How will we use our energy, our vitality, our passion and our desires? Will the men of the world awaken to the path of Heart? Will we become vital, meaning essential to life, so that our light can shine out into the world? Call we all find the courage to discover and then follow our heart’s hope as we head into ‘the great American Eclipse’? This eclipse can be a bridge to a new life so dig deep this month into your heart’s most secret chamber so you know what lies there in preparation for the eclipse on August 21.

This New Moon makes what we call an ‘out of sign’ square to Uranus in Aries, challenging us to be our own unique selves, regardless of what others’ think. That’s a big lesson this month with the South Node in Aquarius. Now is not the time to try to ‘fit in’. Stay true to yourself and let the Sun’s power, and Sekhmet’s power, energize you for the big changes we’re all feeling. Find your community to support you on this much-needed journey.

These are some questions that my friend Divine Harmony asked us. They’re good questions for all of us to ponder.

What are you wanting to bring into manfestation in your life?
What is your greatest desire/inspiration/vision?
What is the obstacle to your desire manifesting or inspiration/vision materializing?
What are you willing to let go of to open up to your destiny more?

Watch what happens to you – and in the news – on July 24^th. That’s the day Mercury hits the Eclipse degree of 29* Leo, which it will go back to during its next regrade, which starts on August 12^th. It will prefigure what the Eclipse might hold in store for you and for our world.

Mercury slips into its home sign of Virgo on July 25^th. Venus moves through Gemini and into Cancer on July 31^st, so be prepared to put away your dancing shoes and stay closer to home.

On August 3^rd, Uranus begin its yearly retrograde at 29* Aries, whose Sabian symbol is: The music of the Spheres. It’s time to listen within to your inner Wisdom!

That’s all for now until the upcoming Lunar Eclipse on August 7^th.

Until then, Shine On!

Cathy

The Cosmic Story: Capricorn Full Moon July 8-9, 2017

The Cosmic Story: Capricorn Full Moon 2017

Finding our Ancestral Roots/Healing Our World

This weekend’s Capricorn Full Moon illuminates what we need to do to realize the gifts of the Summer Solstice, when we celebrated the union of Heaven and Earth. It’s a powerful Full Moon which can give rise to intense, disruptive feelings of fear about our security or it can bring us the wisdom we need to heal our lives and our world. Our personal needs meet up with political realities and we might not be very happy about it. That’s why we have to take charge of our own freedom.

 

The Capricorn Full Moon occurs this weekend on July 8-9: at 9:06pm PDT on July 8^th and on July 9^th at 12:06am EDT and 4:06am GMT.

The Sabian symbol for the Sun at 18*Cancer is: A Hen scratching the ground to find nourishment for her progeny. Just as a mother hen works to feed her chicks, we too have to find our grounding so we can nourish future generations. We have to take responsibility for our world. 

 

The Sabian symbol for the Moon at 18* Capricorn is: The Union Jack flag flies from a British warship. This symbol speaks to imperialist political power. How can we break the mold of patriarchal warmongering and domination?

Taken together, the symbols of this Full Moon asks us, What do we need to do to secure our future in the face of a dominating political power or ideology which works against life itself? The answers lie in the revolutionary energy of the waning Pluto/Uranus square which is accelerated by Jupiter in Libra joining the fray. As well as a missing ingredient. The Mother Love of Cancer.

Cancer is the sign of the missing leg of this year’s potent Cardinal T-square between Uranus/Eris in Aries, Jupiter in Libra and Pluto in Capricorn. Something is terribly wrong with our society—we are killing ourselves and our world and Pluto in Capricorn is exposing just how rotten things are. The rich and powerful are in charge and no longer hiding behind their false patriotism.

Vice President Henry Wallace said in 1944:
'They [the super-wealthy] claim to be super-patriots, but they would destroy every liberty guaranteed by the Constitution. They demand free enterprise, but are the spokesmen for monopoly and vested interest. Their final objective toward which all their deceit is directed is to capture political power so that, using the power of the state and the power of the market simultaneously, they may keep the common man in eternal subjection.'

President Jimmy Carter said that America, in large part because of Supreme Court decisions like Citizens United, has become 'just an oligarchy, with unlimited political bribery.'

Jupiter in Libra desires justice for all as we see the corruption in the political and corporate state. And so Uranus and Eris are demanding that we couragously take action and follow the dictates of our hearts. But we first need to be grounded within ourselves, in our emotional bodies. 

 

That’s where the energy of Cancer comes into play. Cancer poses the questions: What really makes us feel safe and secure? What ancient knowledge does our family lineage and soul wisdom have to say about what’s happening in the world? How do we own both our inner freedom and our political freedom?

With this Full Moon’s connection to the Pluto opposition to Mars, we can engage in power struggles or we can use this energy to transform our own lives. Mars is conjunct the Cancer Sun, giving us courage to search our souls and find our truths. Pluto’s conjunction to the Capricorn Moon can break up patriarchy’s hold on us – all those rules we’re been trained to live by such as ‘a good wife must put her needs aside for her husband and family’ or ‘a man is the head of the family’ (in reality, Mom is!) or ‘you’re a sinner/loser if you don’t have money, but saved/good if you do’. 

 

Our society’s rules, our religions’ rules are buried deep within us to control our behavior. But since patriarchy refuses to give equal importance to the feminine gifts of life, these old rules are killing our joy in life, our reverence for life and our belief in life. This Full Moon gives us the opportunity to throw off the chains of patriarchal control so we can find our balance with others. The fire trine between Uranus & Eris in Aries, the North Node in Leo and Saturn in Sagittarius can give us the courage to follow our passion and creativity to the next part of our lives. It’s time for a new story.

So to help you find that courage, I’m going to tell you a story.  This is where the Neptune in Pisces trine to the Cancer Sun comes in.   It’s a story I didn’t know about until a week ago when my son from Dubai was visiting me and got me to watch it. This movie tells the story of this Cancer/Capricorn Full Moon. You might have already seen it. It’s called Moana.

Moana is a Polynesian girl who’s destined to become her island’s next chief (Capricorn). But she is also called and chosen by the Sea (Cancer) and longs to go beyond the barrier reef. Her father, Chief Tui, refuses to allow her those dreams because he is afraid of going beyond their island, Mata Nui. He struggles to get her to stay put and take care of her own people rather than dream of exploring the vast ocean of life. All the Cancer elements are here: the Ocean, family, security and nourishment, along with the struggle between doing what is expected (Capricorn) and wanting to follow her soul’s urges (Cancer).

Baby Moana at the Ocean

Little Moana, however, is enchanted by her grandmother Tala’s stories of an ancient demi-god, Maui, who stole the stone Heart from the goddess Te Fiti, wanting her life-giving power for himself (Capricorn!) But when he steals the stone, the islands begin to crumble and die, and death and destruction slowly seep across the ocean’s islands (a perfect example of Eris in Aries – discord: ‘going against the heart’ because of his own hubris). Maui is exiled and his magical hook is lost. But there is a legend that one day the Chosen One will find Maui and help him find his magical hook so he can restore the Heart to Te Fiti and heal the world. 

 

Gramma Tala, who is definitely an Ocean priestess and a self-proclaimed ‘crazy lady’ knows that Moana is the chosen one, but her son’s fear won’t allow the girl to go beyond ‘the field they know’. Moana learns how to be a leader to her people, but when crops and fisheries fail and the island begins to die, Moana determines to go find Maui and get him to restore the Heart. 

 

That’s when her grandmother shows her the secret cave where their ancestors hid the sailing ships they came in. For her ancestors were journeyers, traveling the ocean currents to discover new lands. Through the years, though, death crept over the ocean, and they hid the boats and forgot they were journeyers, settling into a life of ease and security on their island. (Just like we have lost our founders’ revolutionary courage.) When Moana discovers the boats, she reclaims her ancestral wisdom (Mars and Sun in Cancer) and taking one of the ships, leaves the island as her grandmother dies so she can send her manta ray spirit to guide Moana over the reef and into the unknown.

Tala and her Manta Rays

This Cancer Sun/Mars opposite the Capricorn Moon/Pluto story also includes the energies of the Aries Uranus/Eris opposition to our Libra Jupiter. Moana sails by herself (Uranus in Aries) until the ocean brings her to the island where Maui is exiled. Maui is such a stereotype of the masculine ego that he’s funny (Pluto in Capricorn bringing on the ridicule). He’s a shape-shifter, con-artist, macho-warrior who thinks he’s the hero of mankind. (Sound familiar? This movie came out in 2016—I love synchronicity.) It’s all about him and his exploits. All he can think about is himself and at every turn, he tries to leave Moana behind, but she is never stopped by his betrayals.  She couragously follows him to the underwater hideout of the giant crab Tomatoa, (another Cancer motif), whose shell is covered with gold and jewels and Maui’s magical hook – another aspect of the Cancer-Capricorn axis: hold onto what you’ve got to stay secure.

Moana keeps thinking that Maui is the one who has to restore the Heart to Te Fiti – that old patriarchal belief that man is the hero who will make all things right. But she is the couragous one, for while Maui deserts her, she believes in completing her mission – a very Jupiter kind of thing to do.  When it comes time for him to fight the lava demon and return the stone, Maui is afraid, afraid to face the Goddess. And in the end, it is Moana who recognizes the Goddess behind the evil lava demon Ti Ka, and restores the Heart to the Goddess and the healing of the world begins.

When Moana returns to Mata Nui, she helps her people reclaim their ancestors’ wisdom of the waters, and they set sail on those ancient ships to a new land.

Great Sailing Ships

This story touches the heart – everyone I’ve mentioned it to has the same reaction – they love it. If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s available on Netflix and other outlets. Good stories feed the soul and that’s what Cancer is all about. When our souls are nurtured, we gain the emotional security we need to face anything our world can throw at us. 

 

It’s a beautiful story for this powerful Capricorn Full Moon. We need to find our courage (Aries) to leave behind the death and destruction that our governments and patriarchal rules glory in (Capricorn) so we can nurture ourselves and our people (Cancer) and bring about a new, more balanced world (Libra).

To swimming in the ocean of life!

Cathy

East Coker V (excerpt) -- T. S. Eliot

Home is where one starts from. As we grow older
The world becomes stranger, the pattern more complicated
Of dead and living. Not the intense moment
Isolated, with no before and after,
But a lifetime burning in every moment
And not the lifetime of one man only
But of old stones that cannot be deciphered.
There is a time for the evening under starlight,
A time for the evening under lamplight
(The evening with the photograph album).
Love is most nearly itself
When here and now cease to matter.
Old men ought to be explorers
Here or there does not matter
We must be still and still moving
Into another intensity
For a further union, a deeper communion
Through the dark cold and the empty desolation,
The wave cry, the wind cry, the vast waters
Of the petrel and the porpoise. In my end is my beginning.

Mars in Cancer opposite Pluto in Capricorn: Reclaiming our Ancestral Memory

 “we are continually overflowing toward those who preceded us, toward our origin, and toward those who seemingly come after us. ... It is our task to imprint this temporary, perishable earth into ourselves so deeply, so painfully and passionately, that its essence can rise again “invisibly,” inside us. We are the bees of the invisible. We wildly collect the honey of the visible, to store it in the great golden hive of the invisible.” ―Rainer Maria Rilke"

http://ionamillersubjects.weebly.com/

The Moon moved into Scorpio just after Mars in Cancer opposed Pluto in Capricorn this morning.

We heard from the President of the United States how he dealt with it: He made a video of beating up CNN. That's one way to use this emotional energy. Probably not the best or most mature.

The Plutonium radioactivity of our culture is forcing us to dive deep into our ancestral memories (Mars in Cancer) to reclaim our instincts. His instinct is to lash out. Unfortunately, that's what children do, not a great leader. So America got the President that resonates with a big part of our American psyche -- our male adolescent attitudes of entitlement, competition and selfishness. How the West Was Won! We seem to be 'eating' ourselves -- creating our own genocide as American men with guns keep killing scores of people. Who needs Islamic terrorists when we have our own homegrown ones? 

We are living in the breakup of our civilization--we can misuse this energy to gain power or work consciously with it to get back in touch with what heals the soul -- ours, everyone's, the Earth's. My Mars-in-Cancer son works hard to support his family, his friends and the Earth. I'm so proud of him. If he can do it, so can you all.

We often pick on Mars in Cancer -- over-emotional, possessive, security-minded. Sensitive. Let's not forget he can also be a great father, a protector and provider, someone with emotional intelligence and gut instinct. So this is your chance to balance any of these qualities.

The Scorpio Moon will help you get to the bottom of it - Scorpio loves to solve mysteries. Explore the mystery that is you. A great way to spend the days we celebrate our FREEDOM.

Become your Self -- out of the tapestry of your ancestral line -- combining both your physical ancestors and your own incarnations.  The wealth of wisdom on how to live on our dear Mother Earth is priceless.
  

The Robe of Glory

The Great American Eclipse, August 21, 2017: Cathy's Special

 The Great American Eclipse Special

North America is about to experience a potentially transformative total solar eclipse on August 21st on the royal star Regulus.

If you have any planets around 26-29* Leo/Aquarius/Taurus/Scorpio -- you will be impacted by it in powerful ways.  This eclipse's influence is already being felt and that influence will continue through next year and possibly beyond.

If you want to know how the eclipse is affecting you and your destiny, I have a special for you this summer.

A 1/2 hour eclipse reading for $55.00.  We'll look at which planets are most effected and what parts of your life will be impacted.  Email me for an appointment at cathy@wisdom-of-astrology.com

 

As a student of astrology, numerology and Women's Spirituality, I've just had my very first "Eclipse Reading" from, Cathy Pagano, Jungian Psychotherapist, Astrologer, Life Coach. Very Interesting, eye opening info was rendered to me on this upcoming and very potent August 21, 2017 Leo Eclipse. For info please check out her FB page and her site. Gotta Leo Moon tonight...go for it!!!

Chickie Farella,   -  http://mrwonderful.us/ "A Kinder Brand of Patriarchy!"

More on the eclipse:

Did you know that America is hosting a total Solar Eclipse, country-wide, on August 21^st, 2017? The eclipse crosses the Continental US on a diagonal from the Oregon in the Northwest to South Carolina in the Southeast. (See Map below.) Because it crosses the country, millions people will experience full totality and the rest of the country will experience it as a partial eclipse. 
    

The 70 mile corridor of totally will offer up a spectacular show – the day will turn to night, and the stars and planets will shine out for about 2 ½ minutes. Check out the map and if you live within driving distance of totality, I suggest you go and experience the mystery and magic of a day turning into night.

The whole Earth gets quiet.

This Solar Eclipse occurs at 28*53’ Leo and it conjunctions the Royal Star Regulus, the Heart of the Lion. So the first thing we know is that we have to be ‘lion-hearted’. 
  

Constellation of Leo

Regulus 'Heart of the Lion'

 
Then the Sabian symbol for this 29^th degree of Leo is: A mermaid emerges from the ocean waves ready for rebirth in human form. While mermaids have a vast mythology, their psychological meaning is a ‘personification of a stage of awareness still partially enveloped by the ever-moving and ever-elusive ocean of the collective Unconscious.’ (Dane Rudhyar: Astrological Mandala) Mermaids sing a siren song – they beckon us on with an intuition of something spectacular, that’s just beyond our reach. Will the intuition be reabsorbed back into the unconscious or will it emerge into a concrete form? This symbol expresses our deepest desire to live spiritually, consciously and creatively. Can we grow legs?

What an invitation to awaken to our creative essence! What a gift from the cosmos at this most chaotic time.

If you have any planets at 26*-30* of Leo and Aquarius as well as Taurus and Scorpio, this eclipse is calling to you.

Eclipses occur in series that last over 1300 years and that repeat every 18+ years, so we can study some of the results throughout history. Each eclipse has a meaning we glean from the first eclipse in the series. The first eclipse occurred on January 4, 1639 with the Sun and Moon at 13*49’ Capricorn. The Sabian symbol for 14* Capricorn is: An ancient bas-relief carved in granite remains a witness to a long-forgotten culture. It is an eclipse series that demands that we remember what values are important and let go of the inconsequential things. At this moment in history, we have to let go of our consumerism and neglect of our Mother Earth. We have to rise up to defend life!

This powerful eclipse can bring us a new reality based on the spiritual laws of life. Bernadette Brady rocks the astrological eclipse world and she says this is the meaning of the August 21^st total solar eclipse: the unexpected fortunate turn of events. Expectations that are unrealistic but success comes through an older person or those where you least expect it.

The Cosmic Story: Summer Solstice & Cancer New Moon 2017

The Cosmic Story: Summer Solstice & Cancer New Moon 2017

Sacred Marriage

The Sun goes into the sign of Cancer at the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year, on the night of June 20th--June 21^st. And this year, the Cancer New Moon occurs on the third day when the ‘Sun stands still’ at the Solstice before it turns back South. So this Cancer New Moon is supercharged with the blessings of the Summer Solstice, the Marriage of Heaven and Earth.

Summer Solstice, when life is abundant with heaven’s blessings, is also a time to come home to yourself so that Sacred Marriage can happen within you as well as out in the world. This is the season to find your inner Beloved and marry that energy to your consciousness. You will birth something awesome this next year if you do. 

 

Summer Solstice chart 2017

This year’s Solstice chart has the Sun in Cancer and it’s ruler, the Moon, in Taurus, the sign of its exaltation. That means the Moon is very happy in Taurus where it can ground in its nurturing power to make things grow. The Moon is conjunct Taurus’ ruler, Venus, and receives a power boost from Pluto in Capricorn as well as a little magic from Neptune in Pisces. I would say this Solstice chart invites us to manifest our deepest dreams with love, intelligence and grace, both for yourself and for the world. We have to birth a new society that will bring our deepest ideals into reality. We do that by living those ideals. The American Revolution is in its second phase: the future is calling our names.

Summer Solstice has always been a time of joyous celebrations, for the Light is bright, the Earth is fruitful and life’s pleasures are appreciated, because we know that soon the Dark will Rise, for the Dark is as important to life as Light. Unfortunately our society no longer honors the Dark for its true gifts of inner vision, possibilities and silence; rather we misunderstand it and twist it into our cruelty to life, our fear of death and our unconsciousness. So at this great festival of Light – embrace the kernel of darkness within you, the seed of future possibilities, without fear. Change is the only constant.

We honor the Great Mother of Life as the Sun rises high in the North, just as we honor Grandfather Spirit when the Sun travels to the deepest South. (Happy Winter Solstice to everyone down there!) Cancer the Mother symbolizes the primordial waters/womb that give birth to all life. As Above, So Below. Cancer also symbolizes our emotional bodies, just as our particular Moon (ruler of Cancer) shapes our unique emotional body. The emotional body processes the emotional energies that activate and carry us through life, reflecting how we experience life. Do we embrace life to the fullest, or try to hold back and control it? Do we meet life as an adventure or as a responsibility? Do we love to sink into a depression and stay there or do we let the river of our emotions flow unimpeded so when we get pulled under by depression, we pop right back up and take a breath and see what else life has to offer? An Aries Moon will process her emotional life differently than a Cancer or Virgo Moon. Their emotional wounds will be different.

This month as the Sun travels through Cancer, most of us will turn our attention to home, family, nurturing, beach, relaxation – whatever says mother love and nurturing to you. It’s a season of self-care and abundance, so don’t miss this opportunity to pamper yourself in all the right ways. Excess is sloppy and not really nurturing. Unwind and get centered.

A few hours after the Sun enters Cancer, Mercury, who just raced through Gemini after trudging through Taurus, leaps into the arms of Mother Cancer and then dances with the Sun in the early morning. When I was a kid, early summer mornings were the best – soft breezes blowing through open windows, bright light filling the room and best of all, no school! In that relaxed, happy moment, I was totally at one with the world. That’s what Mercury in Cancer’s mission is. A dive into the watery depths of life to bring back the heart’s messages on how to recapture that peace, pleasure and at-one-ment. The emotional security of home.

Cancer New Moon

Cancer New Moon 2017

This year’s Cancer New Moon slips home on June 23rd during the window of the Summer Solstice. All New Moons are energetic births and beginnings, but the Cancer New Moon stands out because Cancer is the Moon’s domain. The Cancer New Moon re-births our emotional body, asking us to dig ever deeper to find our true home. To feel most ourselves.

The Great Mother ocean, symbolized by the sign of Cancer, gave birth to life on this planet and continues to give birth to each of us on Cancer’s New Moon.

The Cancer New Moon occurs on Friday, June 23rd at 7:31pm PDT/ 10:31pm EDT and Saturday, June 24th at 2:31am GMT.  

The Sabian Symbol for the Sun and Moon at 3* Cancer is: An arctic explorer, following up reports of a unicorn, brings back a reindeer instead.  (the Revised Sabian Symbols, Steven D. Eardley)   So here we set off to explore the unknown, expecting to find magic.  The Unicorn symbolizes the magic of self-ownership, a purity of spirit, for he only comes to a virgin--a woman who belongs to herself.  And that leads to infinite possibilities.  But expectations can cause trouble, so this symbol cautions us to let go of expectations and see what happens.  Reindeer symbolizes wisdom, resourcefulness, cleverness, knowledge, creativity, inventiveness and cleverness. That's the real way to embrace magic!

The Great Mother

This Cancer New Moon is very juicy. The Great Mother is cooking up a sweet and spicy stew for us. Its taste is fiery, bold, rich and sweet – a truly subtle blend of spices. Just what the Mother ordered to nurture our emotional bodies so we can embrace this summer’s Great American Eclipse that occurs on ‘the heart of the lion’. So we can embrace our soul’s work in the world.

As a base note, the bone broth has been cooking since the mid-60s – an initial blast of evolutionary fire sustained by an ever growing, awakening consciousness. It’s been deepening ever since, and took on a new depth and richness in the last 5 years. The multiple flavors add zest while the chaotic undertones add excitement. This stew is cooking!

Nested within this soupy broth, the Mother added a magnificent contradiction: How to bring light and dark, sweet and sour, fiery and cold together? Or Heaven and Earth/ Neptune and Saturn? How to get down to business, how to re-imagine a society, how to contribute to society as spiritual beings? This past year she’s had to separate out the truth from the lies, what is unhealthy from what feeds the soul. Skimming off waste so the true taste can shine through.

The stew is thickening. Now it’s time to bring in the big taste that will bring it all together. Pluto bursting out through Jupiter in Libra has been exposing all the ways we are not a fair and just society everyday in the news; it’s also been bringing out the peacemakers and justice seekers to rectify imbalances. Uranus beaming through Jupiter offers its unique take on the world. This big taste has to be added with a light hand, or instead of being the perfect blending agent, it could tip the scales into something too hot or too bland. Don’t take your individual mandate too far in either direction. We’re meant to work together on this new creation. 
 The fires of Saturn in Sagittarius, Uranus in Aries and the Leo North Node bestow the gift of transformation on us.  Let your passionate inspiration and vision come through in your creation. 

That’s where the personal planets make all the difference. Know yourself and how you uniquely express these universal energies. Then see how those birth energies are influenced by these added textures.

As mentioned, Mercury slipped into Cancer just after the Solstice, so the Mind takes on a watery depth, dispersing through the stew to pick up intuitive clues about our emotional state. Since Mars is also in Cancer, just beginning to connect with Jupiter before hitting Pluto’s power and then Uranus’ awakening, expect some hot and spicy exchanges, especially with family and friends – probably about politics. Try to listen, because the other person probably won’t.

Mars in Cancer can steam up quickly and first the Moon and then the Sun and Mercury will gather steam as they move through the sign and connect with Jupiter, Pluto and Uranus. There’s a need to protect your people, not just yourself. Fiery, revolutionary energy is around for this 4^th of July. This must have been what our forefathers and foremothers felt like before the Revolution. Dissatisfied and electrified and listening to what their emotional bodies needed. Freedom from tyranny.

Venus is in her own sign of Taurus, bringing music and laughter, art and dance, love and sensuality to the mix. This goddess holds ancient wisdom and we need to embrace what she brings to our lives. It is our creativity, our enjoyment of life, our love and self-worth that make life rich and fulfilling – just like the Mother’s stew. As in the Solstice chart, Venus is offered Pluto’s powerful energies as well as Neptune’s creative imagination to do her part in making this life, and stew, worthwhile. She’s also resonating with the new lunar nodes in late Leo, offering her gifts and talents for our much-needed Self-expression.

All in all, the Mother is offering us deeply satisfying nourishment at this Cancer New Moon. She can help us re-birth ourselves through a deeper, fuller connection to our soul’s desires. Help to strengthen our emotional body for the work ahead – it’s time to bring your new form into the world, a form that is juicy with life and light and love.

Because these Cancer planets are re-activating the deep energies of revolutionary awakening, remember that these emotional energies can scare you as well as enliven you. Try not to retreat behind Cancer’s hard shell when you fall into fear. Just let it flow out of you and acknowledge the experience. Don’t hold onto the emotions; rather, ride the waves. Fear and guilt are society’s control mechanisms. Let them wash through you and free your heart. It is magnificent! Let it do its work of nurturing the seed of light within you.

Blessed Be!

Cathy

In Praise of the Earth - John O'Donohue
Where there is no vision, the people perish.
-- Proverbs 29:18

In Praise of the Earth

Let us bless
The imagination of the Earth.
That knew early the patience
To harness the mind of time,
Waited for the seas to warm,
Ready to welcome the emergence
Of things dreaming of voyaging
Among the stillness of land.

And how light knew to nurse
The growth until the face of the Earth
Brightened beneath a vision of color.

When the ages of ice came
And sealed the Earth inside
An endless coma of cold,
The heart of the Earth held hope,
Storing fragments of memory,
Ready for the return of the sun.

Let us thank the Earth
That offers ground for home
And holds our feet firm
To walk in space open
To infinite galaxies.

Let us salute the silence
And certainty of mountains:
Their sublime stillness,
Their dream-filled hearts.

The wonder of a garden
Trusting the first warmth of spring
Until its black infinity of cells
Becomes charged with dream;
Then the silent, slow nurture
Of the seed's self, coaxing it
To trust the act of death.

The humility of the Earth
That transfigures all
That has fallen
Of outlived growth.

The kindness of the Earth,
Opening to receive
Our worn forms
Into the final stillness.

Let us ask forgiveness of the Earth
For all our sins against her:
For our violence and poisonings
Of her beauty.

Let us remember within us
The ancient clay,
Holding the memory of seasons,
The passion of the wind,
The fluency of water,
The warmth of fire,
The quiver-touch of the sun
And shadowed sureness of the moon.

That we may awaken,
To live to the full
The dream of the Earth
Who chose us to emerge
And incarnate its hidden night
In mind, spirit, and light.

~ John O'Donohue ~

(To Bless the Space Between Us)