Thursday, June 22, 2017

New Moon Cancer 6/23 The Mother of All Summers


Mother is a Verb. A Fertile Mind. Brain Child. The Mothers of Invention.

I had a lot of alternate titles for this astro report. Just as a mom can love all of her children the same amount, but differently, there are MANY ways to TALK and THINK about this new moon that aid GROWTH. I love them all, but I had to pick.

We have a weird lunation coming up. It’s a Cancer/Gemini dealio. Weird but workable. Wonderful and powerful if you can keep your head in the game while exposing the soft underbelly of your feelings.

This Cancer new moon occurs in the constellation (astronomy) of Gemini conjunct Mercury. This looks brilliant for new beginnings. New beginnings that are emotionally connected, which means impact. There is a tendency to only think of the deeply emotional, and inherently nurturing qualities of Cancer. It is the watery sign of the home, the family, the mother, and the past. We tend to forget that it’s a cardinal sign too, which means ACTION. When you put a strong emotion behind an action you get results. In fact in some ancient astrology practices Cancer, not Aries, is the leading sign of the zodiac. Pair this new moon with the summer solstice (which happened on 6/21) and you have fertile ground. THINK carefully about what you want to plant. It will grow (poisonous plants and weeds do happen). We have unusual abilities to synthesize head and heart during this time.

Even though this moon has a lemony-fresh-clean-slate smell, it is not pure. Let’s consider that healthy dose of Gemini in the mix. The seeds that are planted in that fecund new moon Cancer soil look like they’re coming from thought forms, communication, ideas, and mixing it up with people who snap us out of ruts and outworn thinking. Cancer and Gemini have very little (ok nothing) in common, but it’s not complicated.

Here are some possible combinations for this odd couple (and a little astro test to see if you can identify the Gemini in the Cancer):

Inventing new definitions of home, family, and the maternal.

Ferociously protecting our right to live and love creatively.

Using language to nurture and bring all different types of people together.

Analyzing emotionally entrenched patterns from our past objectively to aid the process of change.

Feeding our ability to be flexible.

Allowing ourselves to remain vulnerable when threatening ideas trigger an emotional defense response. Getting curious about knee-jerk reactions.

And there will be knee-jerk reactions. I can’t speak to the meteorological climate this summer, but it will be emotionally hot. Cancer represents what’s unconscious and closest to the bone. It’s our emotional security. It’s the parts of us that formed before we could say our name (that’s the 5th sign, Leo). It’s the instinct to survive, which is why it’s so powerful...for better or worse. Its symbol is the crab. That little guy who takes its home everywhere it goes. Whose insides are as gushy as its shell is impervious; who sometimes forgets that what makes it feel safe can also be what makes it feel burdened. The Gemini influence on this new moon is a gift. It will help us catch ourselves in the act of reacting, and give us the opportunity to practice responding with inquisitiveness. It will throw us a life raft if the emotional waters get too choppy.

Use this time to feather your nests, nourish yourselves, and each other. Get your homes and tribes in order by having conversations about your feelings. We’ll all need soft places to land this summer. We can create those spaces for each other and ourselves by finding points of connection and building bridges. But if we can’t find the courage to question our friends and ourselves in a most vulnerable way, we can’t know our deepest needs much less meet them. We’ll go hungry. A good mama doesn’t let her babies go hungry.

What are you pregnant with? What are you midwifing? What are you feeding? What are you keeping safe?

THE BIG QUESTION:
Can we figure out a way to fortify the real seat of security, and invest less in representations of safety that are mere illusions?

Like:
How we’ve always done it.
How we’re comfortable doing it.
Locking it down.
Locking it up.
Making our external environment “just so.”
Perfection.

Basically, all of those examples are just examples of a lack of curiosity...not taking in the new.

When Cancer goes awry, it’s in these types of ways. Clinging to precedent and tradition; using them as talismans of safety and ignoring the one place where safety lives. It only lives in constant change. Cancer knows this in its DNA. It’s the sign of the moon, tides, and cycles. Cancer in its most healthy and natural expression feels safe because things are always changing. When we can feel comfortable in the midst of constant change, there is less to feel threatened about.

Happy new moon and summer solstice. May we find our sense of security in our curiosity and adaptability. XC

Wednesday, June 7, 2017

Containing a Wildfire. Jupiter stations direct. Full moon Sagittarius 6/9/17


Jupiter: What we believe.
Saturn: What is.
 
We can see how this duo can be each other’s worst nightmare or best friend. Taken with the worldview that whatever materializes (Saturn) is whatever we believe (Jupiter), we make a strong case for clarity about what our beliefs are, and where they come from. When we fail to take responsibility for what we believe and why, it can be very easy to view reality (Saturn) as encroaching upon our aspirations (Jupiter). It doesn't have to be this way. It is well within our power to realize our dreams if we are willing to take responsibility (Saturn) for them, and put faith (Jupiter) in ourselves.

BTW, if you feel you’ve been doing this work consistently already, congrats. This could be a celebration moon for y’all.

Sagittarius has been having its moment for the past couple of years because/in spite of Saturn occupying it. 2016 was about the Saturn/Neptune square (Sagittarius-Pisces. Facts vs. illusion. Dreams vs. reality), and this year is about the Saturn/Uranus trine (Sagittarius-Aries. Tradition vs. innovation. Earthquakes that re-structure).

Jupiter rules Sagittarius, and this full moon. Our only Sagittarius full moon of the year, and it peaks within spitting distance of, you guessed it, Saturn. It’s not a tight conjunction, but close enough for Saturn to make sure that this full moon doesn’t get carried away (party pooper).

The Sagittarian archetypes: the crude loudmouth, the xenophile, the adventure-seeking nomad, and the evangelist/guru/philosopher. Jupiter is about E-X-P-A-N-S-I-O-N. It’s characterized by zeal. It’s unrestrained enthusiasm from the pulpit, behind the podium, and on the soapbox. It wants to go beyond in thought, word, and deed. Beyond what? Boundaries. Limits. Boundaries are Saturn’s gig. Saturn has been in Sagittarius for two and an a half years with 6 more months to go.

Traditionally Saturn and Jupiter are thought of as antagonistic to each other, but applied well, they can be quite complimentary. We associate a lot of positivity and luck with Jupiter. It’s a benefic planet, but you can have too much of a good thing. Unchecked Jupiter is where we indulge, become careless, and bite off more than we can chew. It’s where we attribute too much to luck, faith, and an incomplete grasp of the machinery that makes something work. This is where Saturn can be quite valuable.

I’ve seen many a face drop when we get on the subject of Saturn. It’s usually a signal of some dedicated effort ahead, a reigning in, a scaling back, due diligence, a test. Saturn pops Jupiterian bubbles. But if you want any of those lofty visions to take hold in a real-world type of way, Saturn’s your only hope.

Back to this full moon, and Jupiter station. That’s a lot of Sagittarius coming at ya, plus the element of fire in general. We are at the tail end of a fire trine (Saturn /Sagittarius, Uranus/Aries, North node/Leo). Aries is the igniting spark, Leo is the well-cultivated campfire, and Sagittarius is the voracious wildfire that spreads as wide and as long as there is fuel to feed it. In the case of Sagittarius that fuel is anything that bolsters conviction. Sagittarius likes laws, philosophies, dogma, etc., because it’s on a quest for the truth of something. It can forget that truth doesn’t lie anywhere “out there.” It can forget that the truth is subjective. Truth (Jupiter/Sadge) does not equal fact (Saturn/Cap). Sagittarius sometimes conflates the two. The difference is how we give meaning to something. Inherently, facts have no meaning at all.

Wherever this full moon and stationing Jupiter fall in your chart is where your personal truth and conviction will be fired up AND tested. It may feel extremely liberating or very uncomfortable, especially if it causes friction with the structures you’ve created in your day-to-day, or feelings like ungrounded fervor are overwhelming for you. If you’re anything like me, I kind of get off on that feeling of being 100% right (whether or not I am), of being unbound by convention…which can cause other problems. Remember that when we get a full moon, we have the opposing Sun’s energy at our disposal. Use some detached, prismatic Gemini energy to examine your convictions. 

Do you believe in them more than you believe in yourself? Are your fantasies fit for planet earth? Are you passions yours, or are they convenient “truths” you’ve adopted without sufficient scrutiny? Can you catch yourself in the act of confirmation bias?