CANCER New Moon 2008

By Tracy Cook

Many years ago I studied lunar phases with Robert Buz Myers.  It is my hope that he would be proud of my work today.  Blessings to you, Buz! 

 

*** ALL TIMES ARE PACIFIC DAYLIGHT TIME***

 

 

July 2, 2008

 

Cancer New Moon

 

 

7:18 PDT

 

11 Cancer 32

 

Sabian Symbol: A Chinese Woman nursing a baby with a message

 

http://www.amazon.com/Sabian-Symbols-Astrology-Symbol-Explained/dp/094335840X

 

 

What is a New Moon?

 

A new moon is when the moon is between the sun and the earth and the illuminated part of the moon is very small.   Technically, when you look up in the sky you only see a small, skinny section of moon.       

 

And the not so technical point of view?

 

Well, similar to farmers and indigenous people, who have used the different phases of the moon for eons, Astrologers also utilize the different phases of the moon.  Certainly on the New we know it is time to plant seeds.  But the other seven phases are equally important.

 

 

Where should my focus be during this next 28-day cycle?

This lunar cycle is very healing for many of us.  We spent last year with so many stressful new moons but this spring has launched a series of nicer moons including July’s Cancer’s new moon.  Do we remember how to be nice and soft?  Now is the moon to find it again.

 

 

“Is it me, or is everyone going backwards?”

 

For most of last year and until April of this year, the New Moons had some decent aspects but they also had hard ass aspects (say that twice).  In some cases they were downright gross.  It was not until May that things began to shift.  The Taurus and Gemini lunar cycles were not as rife with troubling aspects as the previous 15 months.  And now here we are with a nice cozy Cancer New Moon.  Curiously as the New Moons have lightened up, the outer planets have systematically gone backwards.  One after another has turned retrograde, Jupiter (May), Uranus (June), Neptune (June) and Pluto (April). The only outer planet spinning in a direct motion is Saturn.  And it only went direct in May.

 

The outer planets are in charge of events and energies that are bigger than our little narcissistic selves.  If Mercury, an inner planet, is all about how you and I think, then Uranus, an outer planet is all about how groups of people think.  Or, if you prefer, Mercury rules notes, Uranus rules computers.  See the difference?   And while all these outer planets retrograde they are shifting the greater world.  What will come out of the retrograde?  Certainly something involving community and groups from Uranus, something involving compassion, illusion, drugs and oil from Neptune, and something involving revolution and power from Pluto. 

 

In truth, we won’t know what it all means until late in 2008 and 2009 (even then it will be just the beginning) but in the meantime we can access the primitive nature of these new moons and work with them.  The last two moons were free of huge astrological speed bumps (squares) so their organic nature was easily accessed during each twenty eight day cycle.  During Taurus we worked on our resources and during Gemini we were busy connecting with others.  Now, in Cancer we are dealing with our home, our food, our emotions, our feelings, our families, our roots.   

 

It is almost as if these gentle new moons are allowing us to go  home to the basic tenants of astrology so that we will have our ducks in a row when the big picture planets bring on the new world order.   Whatever the eff that looks like.

 

 

 

Beached out

 

Cancer the crab, is the first water sign of the zodiac and its watery nature makes it a very tender sign.  It can be sweet and gentle, highly empathetic and sensitive.   If you ever had the pleasure of having someone in your life with a pronounced Cancerian chart then you know about their sensitive nature.  A thoughtful gesture here, a compassionate gesture there, they have a real gift to show up at the right time with the right thing.  That is Cancer’s nature.  But at the same time their sensitive nature can also be thin skinned.  Prickly when they are in a mood, cold, clammed up, the Cancer’s hard shell can be a real test. Ah, many a man and woman have been tested by The Crab’s pinchers.  Ask all those women who married Ernest Hemmingway.  And then them he went and offed himself! 

 

Lucky for us, this new moon is not loaded down with hideous tense aspects, which brings out Cancer’s worst nature.  Instead, the Sun and Moon are conjunct with soft Venus.  Cancer rarely likes to hit anything head on.  And having Venus there makes it even more muted.  Cancer likes to float along like a good water sign until they land at their preferred destination or if they do ‘go for it’ they almost always take a sideways approach.   

 

Imagine a crab running on the beach.  How do they run, straight ahead into the sea?  Nope.  They run from side to side.  They still make it to the ocean but not from a direct head on approach.  The same thing is true for Cancerian energy.  They feel one thing- that sends them to the right, then they feel another thing and that sends them to the left.  They always reach their destination but how they get there involves a little sideways dance. 

 

This is the climate we are under for the next twenty eight days.   We will all benefit by floating along and seeing where we land.  It does not mean we should be passive, but we don’t need to suit up and fight the good fight.  And anyway, aren’t we all exhausted by last month’s Gemini cycle?  Of course there are those people with pronounced fire signs (Aries, Leo, Sag) who like to get on the phone make one call and be done with it.  “Head on” is the fire way.  But during this cycle the best approach may not be so head on.  Instead, we need to consider the crab and wiggle to the right and wiggle to the left.  And even if we do hit something head on, don’t be surprised if we are then overwhelmed with waves of self doubt, another Cancer trait, “Shoot, maybe I should have done it this way, or that way, maybe I was too direct”. 

 

Cancer is a cardinal signs and they are highly motivated usually they let their emotions activate them but underneath their emotions is their gut.  In an ideal situation they can communicate to their gut easily but often they get in trouble when their nerves and self doubt muffle their gut.   If you want to spare yourself a world of doubt, then give yourself a lot of wiggle room with all you say or do.       

 

 

Don’t forget to pack the shell!

 

One very definable trait of Cancer the Crab is their shell.  The crab carries its home on his back.   And when a Cancer is clouded down by too much information or feeling too pressured, they retreat to their shell.  Once they get behind their walls they can find quiet, calmness and they can hear their gut again.   This is the month where we should be like the crab and build our own shells.   If you are being pressured to come up with a solution or a decision that is very black or very white and your gut is saying ‘be grey’ then put up the wall, turn on the phone machine, block annoying emails, throw your cell into the bottom of the purse and go on vacation.  Even if it is not a real vacation, you can still be unavailable.   

 

Expect stories in the news where people were pushed to extremes and they went off.  Perhaps they would have benefited by a shell?  Like a wealthy patron in renaissance Florence, put yourself into a walled villa and find your space.   

 

     

Survival of the fittest

 

Of course, there are times when it is important to be quick, be decisive, be “On-it-doggone-it”.  Obviously, one can’t delay when it involves a sick child, a family crisis, a financial emergency, sure those are times when you need to get out in front and take care of it.  In those times we need to cut to the chase and speak to the drive inside us that wants to survive.  There is no, “Can I get back to you?”  Instead, you need to reach down into your roots (cancer word) and know the right thing to do and not give it a second thought.   

 

And during this cycle many of us will be asking ourselves, “Do I know how to access my survival instinct?”

 

I am not suggesting that because it is Cancer we are all going to be in Life and Death situations like a Will Smith movie. Nope, not that kind of drama, rather this energy is subtle.  Survival instinct can be as simple as knowing the right lawyer to call, the right doctor to call, the right person to call to for feedback on a troubling situation.  Or if you prefer, you can drill and drill all over the place looking for water.  But wouldn’t it be easier if you had a Water Diviner so you only had to drill once?  Well that water diviner is within you, it is in your roots.  It is all a part of a survival instinct.  Which all of us have in us. A simple history lessons makes that point.   

 

During the 14^th Century, The Black Plague circled the planet.  When the plague had finished its work over 100 million people had died, one third of the world's population.  Poof! Just like that lines of families disappeared.  However, all of us who are alive today are here because seven hundred years ago there was at least one man and one female in our family tree who would not be killed by a plague.  They would survive. And from them came you, came me and came everyone else on the planet and clogging my highways (but that is another discussion).  Anyway, this would be a great lunar cycle to remember those ancestors and their strong survival instinct.  And remind yourself, you have it in your body right now. It flows through your blood via your DNA.  And sure, life is tough and there is so much that overwhelms us all, but if you think you are weak and you can’t take it, you are wrong.  You just need to get quiet, get in your shell and talk to those ancestors who made it through hundreds of years ago.  They survived and so can you.  Just learn to access your roots.

 

Expect to see stories in the news where people exhibit a strong will to survive and the extraordinary lengths they go ensuring their place and their future generation on this planet.

 

 

“Heal,” said the dog whisperer to the bitch.

 

Cancer rules home and things that are cozy.  It also rules crabbiness, bitchiness and super sensitivity.  In the middle of all this is where we find family.  And yes, Cancer rules family.  Not just family of birth but family of choice.  And when we get close to someone it can bring out the worst in all of us.  Our feelings get hurt, we vow never to speak to that person again. We push people out, we cut them out of our life, we do all kinds of things to make sure we are never vulnerable to that person’s actions again.  And you know what?  It probably is the most perfect response.  And sure some of those people need to be ditched. But at the same time there could be a person who needs to be forgiven.  It does not mean that what they did was not bad.  It could have been perfectly hideous.  But at the same time, perhaps it is no longer such a hideous grievance.  Perhaps they were careless but are not truly mean spirited?  Perhaps they just had an off day.  And perhaps in some long standing issues, time has melted some of the bitterness and that person is missed.  This would be the cycle to reach out and take stock.  “Am I still pissed at ________?”  Is it taking more energy to be pissed than it would take to just call them up?  There is power in forgiveness.  Not just for the person being forgiven but more for the person doing the forgiving.   Again, I’m not saying go willy nilly and take back all the mean spirited asses.   Please don’t do that!  But if there is a person or situation that needs to be healed, please begin to do that work.  However you can.  If for no other reason than to clear you plate of past pains.    

 

 

“Do I have to save the world today, can’t I just sleep in?”

Jupiter in Capricorn is in opposition to the Sun/Moon/Venus in Cancer.  If we were to speak of any negativity in the chart it would probably be this aspect.  There is tension between our responsibilities to the world versus taking care of number one.  Emotionally we will want to stay home, stay cozy, be with our family but at the same time Jupiter is challenging us to get out in the world and take care of business.  We have to show up for others.  In some cases we know we need to show up because if we don’t do it, truly no one else will do it.  But as much as it annoys us and we complain that we wish there was someone else who could do it, it is easier to just bite the bullet and do it.  And remember when you are out there on the end of the branch doing whatever it is you HAVE to do, take a moment and look around you, there are a lot of other people doing the thing that they wish someone else would step up and do.  You are not alone.

 

Of course this aspect will put the emphasis on the stock market and our economy and expect more of that hideous CLUNKING sound.  This aspect can bring out more negative indicators.  Expect numbers to be down.  And expect more food issues in particular food shortages in the news.  Also there is a conjunction between Mars and Saturn which will tighten spending.  It is occurring in Virgo which is the sign of daily activities.  So, it is not just vacations that are being hit by the economy (Jupiter in Cap) it is also the daily stuff.  This conjunction has been building for awhile , many people have officially moved their belt to a tighter notch, but on July 10^th it will be exact and that is going to bring a new wave of people who finally ‘get it’ that their dollar can only go so far. And they may actually stop their trips to Walmart or wherever they like to spend their money.   Expect a ripple off this that will be significant.   

 

 

 

One more thing---Don’t forget the Treasure Map!

 

So, for those of you who have been following these new moon discussions since spring, you know that it is during the Cancer New Moon when we look at our Treasure Maps made during Aries New Moon.  What has come in, what has not come in?   What looks like it might be coming in and what still seems far off?  Take the time during this cycle to re-energize your goals.  Now would be the time to make more big efforts to realize those desires.  Send the right letter, make the right phone call.  Stir the pot. Look at your map and breathe.

 

A reminder, even if it looks like your map is NOT working.  You need to remember the bigger picture you had in mind during Aries intent.  For example if you wrote an affirmation, “I have financial freedom” and you got fired from your job then you might think,  “My map is a disaster.”  But in truth, you may have had to lose that job in order to get to another place and job that will truly offer you financial freedom.   Thank spirit for what gifts the map has brought you and breathe about the other stuff to come.  The next time we take a look at the map is in The Fall during Libra New Moon.  Let’s see what happens between then and now. But right now, make some more efforts and never give up on your map.  Try to find the positive, even when the big emotions of Cancer can sometimes get low..breathe

 

 

 

 

 

July 2

7:18pm PDT

 

New moon: Plant seeds, make calls, activate, start projects.   Activate something that will ideally lead you to more.  This is the phase where INTENT is critical.  Even if the results are not immediate, the intent is there.  You may not have all the answers or road map but you should put out your Intent.  

 

Focus on: Family, emotions, healing, food.  Where do we need to flow? Where do we need to relax like a trip to the beach on a summer day?  Are we worked up so tight like a cold winter night?  Now is the time to remember how to flow.   How is our family of choice and birth?  Is there healing that needs our attention?

Finally, what is going on with our treasure map?  Does it need our attention.  Take Stock of all that has been attracted into your life since April.   And build on it.

 

 

 

 

 

July 6

3:36am PDT

 

Crescent:  We will receive information, we will research a bit more, perhaps get feedback on stuff that we planted on new.  Perhaps get some information that will help down the road on a seed we planted a while ago.  We can collect some data now.  Even if you think you are not getting information, stop, and re-look at everything.  Who called you?  Even the silliest things, when they come up during Crescent are note worthy.  A parking ticket?  An argument with a spouse?  A refund check from the phone company?  All of it needs to be considered a message from the universe.  How can this information help you?

 

Focus on:  Shining like a star.  Be out in front of the crowd.  What information is coming to you that shows how you are a leader?  How are you a champion?  Expect some feed back that makes it clear you are royal. 

 

 

July 9

9:35 PM PDT

 

First quarter: We do more actions based on the information that we just received.  Or we feel our instincts guide us on something.  We pursue again.  We make another call or we see someone. We mail something.  We stir the pot again.  This can be a time when we realize that the goals we planted on New need more action from us, perhaps actions that involve breaking away.   Are there people who say they have our best interest in heart but fear us growing away from them?  Maybe we need to get help from others not the usual suspects.  Some independence may need to be exerted.

 

Focus on:  The actions that need healing may be your relationships. How is your partner? How is your business partner?  The seeds you planted on New moon do they include your partners?  Perhaps you can adjust yourself to include them.  Also has are your relationships with inanimate things such as food and pleasure?  

 

July 10

11:11 Am PDT

 

Mars Conjuncts Saturn

 

5 Virgo 26

 

Sabian Symbol:  Merry Go Round

 

What a perfect sabian symbol for the degree Mars conjuncts Saturn.   This aspect puts the focus on daily activities. The things that we use every day. Expect a shit report from Wall Street.  Probably somebody is going to have some numbers that are way off and there is no way to soften the information.   The question is, what are we going to do with it? Are we going to keep spending and spending around and around like a crazed merry go round?  Or are we going to restructure our life to the simplest things. Where we learn simple things are the most fun, like a merry go round?

 

Don’t be surprised if any over the top plans you made before this date feel so lame now on the other side of this aspect.  We finally get it…. LESS IS MORE!

 

 

 

July 10

1:13pm PDT

Mercury enters Cancer

 

http://www.astrologyweekly.com/learn-astrology/mercury-in-cancer.php

 

 

 

 

July 12

11:38am PDT

Venus enters Leo

 

http://www.astrologyweekly.com/learn-astrology/venus-in-leo.php

 

 

 

 

July 13

11:21 PM PDT

 

Gibbous Moon

Gibbous:  We refine our information.  We pick and choose, we discriminate, we organize, we tend to be ‘virgo’ like.  We sort through details.  Have we missed something?  How are we sifting through the information?  Go back and make sure something hasn’t been neglected.  Refine our actions. 

 

Focus on:  Fine tuning our beliefs.  What did we miss that impacts our beliefs? Or have we forgotten our beliefs and need to bring them back into the front burners?   Are we simply ‘walking our talk”  and how is it working for us?  Also, are there some advisors we should reach out and get some feedback so that we don’t miss something important?

 

 

July 18

12:58 am

PDT

 

26 Cap 04

 

Sabian Symbol: A mountain Pilgrimage

 

 

Full Moon:  We make the needed adjustments on the things we planted. Usually emotions are up and running and for those people who perhaps did not utilize the new moon and the rest of the waxing moon, this is when emotions can get the better of us.  There can often be a big emotional break, for no other reason than to get back on track.   Some partnership will offer up some balance.  The moon is bright and full and there is no room for shadows, what is reflecting on you? 

 

Focus on:  Where do you feel a chill?  Are you cold to protect yourself?  Do you need to hide a bit?  Do you need to let your emotions flow in private?   Or do you need to be out in front like a employer?  Are you cold and matter of fact simply because you have a lot of responsibilities to attend?   Sometimes we just need to be Chief of Staff and once we take that position it loosens us up in other ways.

 

 

 

 

 

July 21

9:34pm PDT

 

Disseminating: Share information, find a teacher or someone who has more knowledge. Perhaps there was a big ol’ blow out on the full and one feels in need of support and help, this is the phase to reach out to one who knows more. This is when we find a rabbi or a minister or therapist who gives us more insight.   And of course, you too may be ready to teach and share your own information. 

 

Focus on:   Things that are mystical, spiritual, dreamy.  Things that are a wee bit woo-woo.   Where do you need to share your spiritual nature? Where do you need to share your dreams?  Where do you need to unwind and let your dreams guide you?   Is there a teacher who can benefit by your wisdom and whom you can benefit by their wisdom?

 

 

July 22

Sun enters Leo.

 

Do not scrimp on this birthday gift.  Make it big and thoughtful.  Not just big.  Not just thoughtful.  It needs to be both!

 

 

July 25

11:41 am PDT

 

Third Quarter moon:  Now we do the final adjustments to the seeds we planted on new. The final call, the final letters to send, we follow all the trails that came up that still make sense.  And we let the other parts lay fallow. It is a time of action but wise action.  It is a time for living  “The serenity prayer”

 

God, grant me the Serenity
to accept the things
I cannot change Courage to change the
things I can, and the
Wisdom to know the difference.

 

Focus on:  How are your resources?  How are they hanging in there?  Do you need to go back to the well and expand on those resources?   Is there a way you can bring in more? Is there an new source for you to pursue?   Has something come up in the last three weeks that made you wonder if there was another way to bring in more sources?  

 

 

July 26

4:48am PDT

Mercury enters Leo

 

http://www.astrologyweekly.com/learn-astrology/mercury-in-leo.php

 

 

 

 

 

July 28

8:05 pm PDT

 

Balsamic:  We release.  We let go.  We prune, we discard, we ditch stuff. We house clean. The things that no longer work, we let them out of our life.  We release so we can clear our unconscious and dream.  We prepare our unconscious to be ready for the next New Moon. 

 

Focus on:  Releasing the endless mind chatter.  The mind is going so fast that it needs to be released.  Let it all go.    How can you release your small thoughts?  The thoughts that hold you back? The thoughts that take up so much of your time?  Release them now so you will be ready for the Leo New Moon and Solar Eclipse! 

 

 

 

Leo New Moon August 1

3:13am SOLAR ECLIPSE