CANCER NEW MOON – Monday 8 July 2013

 Exact at 8.14am BST, 3.14am EDT

This New Moon has the potential to bring about great growth and healing if we are willing to honour and truly listen to our feelings. New Moons are a time to plant seeds and set intentions, contemplating what we really want for ourselves and what we might need to leave behind in the dark of the Moon. They are time of beginnings and endings and spark off a cycle of new growth. Whatever we are thinking or feeling at this time has the potential to grow and eventually bear fruit as we approach the Full Moon. The Sabian symbol for the degree of this New Moon is “The unfoldment of multilevel potentialities issuing from an original germ” which gives an impression that this New Moon can help us move up to another level of growth and actualise some more of the potential we were born with. It also gives the impression that something new can be born at this time, probably on an emotional level. Cancer is concerned with the core of our being formed in early childhood so we might find ourselves delving back into our past somehow in order to move forward. Indeed, this New Moon has the potential to help us get more in touch with our emotional roots and our feelings and leave behind any childish habits which no longer serve us behind in the dark of the Moon

The Sun and Moon are forming a union in the emotional and sensitive sign of Cancer who rules the home, family and our psychological roots. The key phrase for Cancer is “I Feel” which definitely puts the emphasis on our emotions and feelings this month. Cancer rules the past; our family life and childhood, which of course is where most of our emotional habits, patterns and irrational fears stem from. In these times of massive shifts and changes certain old, familiar patterns are simply not appropriate any more and now is a great time to let go of them. We may find ourselves falling back into these patterns in order to truly recognise that they no longer work for us or we may revisit our past somehow in order to understand where they came from in the first place. Some of the pain and holding patterns we carry might not even be our own - it may be ancestral. This New Moon gives us a chance to start anew on an emotional level - a kind of emotional rebirth; and encourages us to consciously think about what we need at a core level in order to feel emotionally nourished, supported and fulfilled. Cancer represents the springboard from which we move out into the world so it's important that we do the necessary work on ourselves to make sure that our emotional base is sound. This is a time to pay attention to and honour our feelings because they can give us important messages about what needs to change in our lives. The messages may be hard to ignore anyway with so much planetary energy in Cancer at the moment!

Saturn turns direct in Scorpio a couple of hours before the New Moon, having been retrograde since February 18^th, so his presence will be felt strongly and we might feel a shift forward with whatever we might have been dealing with on in recent times. He is currently back at the same point he was on November 15^th which means that we have a chance to review and reflect on all we have learned and experienced since then. Since October Saturn has been testing and challenging us in the Scorpio arena of sex, death, power/powerlessness, true intimacy and vulnerability and the concept of merging on a physical, material and emotional level. He has been forcing us to learn some profound lessons in these areas and to face our deepest, darkest fears as well as some quite deep, entrenched emotions and possibly even trauma. Between November 15th and February 18th was his first pass, introducing us to some rather hard tests and lessons, and since he went retrograde in February he has been going back over the same ground again, giving us a chance to process what we have learned. Now he is direct he will pass over the same ground for the third and final time, by which time we should have achieved some degree of understanding of and mastery over whatever challenges and lessons we have faced. If we have been working hard on ourselves we might even reap some rewards! Saturn is forming part of the lovely Grand Water Trine which is gracing us with her presence throughout this summer, providing us with an enormous amount of support for whatever emotional work we have to do at this time. While some very deep emotions may come up as Saturn turns direct, the Trine should help us explore, experience and examine them and then release them with compassion, forgiveness, love and, above all, acceptance. The Grand Water Trine is tremendously feminine and healing in nature but it is important to know that while trines are very supportive we must be willing to put in the work in order to get the most out of them.

The Pluto Uranus square is forming a challenging aspect to the New Moon which brings the potential for deep change both personally and collectively. These two have been forcing us to make some very profound changes to the structure of our lives in the past year or two, making us dig deep and get rid of whatever is holding us back from the truth of who we are. We have experienced many breakdowns and breakthroughs since then, globally and in our own lives. As they are connected to the Moon it seems like it is a good time to make some deep-rooted changes on an emotional level. We can take this opportunity to dig deep within and tackle any old, familiar, stuck emotional patterns which no longer serve us so that we can move forward and grow. In the meantime the Sun and Moon are forming a harmonious and supportive aspect to the Scorpio North Node which will help us move forward on a soul level towards mutual empowerment, true intimacy, merging with others and deep emotional honesty and vulnerability. The Scorpio North Node is currently helping us all move away from Taurus's tendency to hold on to the status quo and the material world, thinking that she has to do everything herself, towards Scorpio's gift of shedding unnecessary crap and admitting that maybe we can't do it all on our own, thus allowing other people's support and input. This Moon can help us move out of any ruts we might be in and experience emotional transformation and rebirth. However, we might have to revisit where we have already been in order to move forward.

This New Moon is the perfect time to practice being present with ourselves and listening to our bodies and emotions, for they reveal the truth of whatever may be going on deep inside and have so much to teach us. If we ignore or fail to recognise what our emotions are telling us they have a habit of revealing themselves regardless through the physical; through illness, tiredness, anxiety and, in the extreme, accidents. It seems like these are things that happen “to” us but really they are manifestations of our inner emotional state. This Moon, combined with the energy of Mercury retrograde in Cancer, invites us to revisit our past and recognise the root of our emotional habits and patterns, leaving the ones which no longer serve us behind. Indeed, this is a great time for connecting with our deeper selves and breaking childhood habits, so it is very important that we are honest about our feelings and are open to whatever comes up. Saturn is adding a great deal of emotional depth to the picture and asking us to review and reflect on all we have been through in the past few months, while the Grand Water Trine is providing some wonderful support, helping us to get in touch with our emotions and find healing and acceptance. This is a perfect time to think about what we need to feel nourished, supported and fulfilled on an emotional level and set some intentions along those lines. As always, when setting intentions we must make sure that whatever we ask for truly comes from our heart. This New Moon is a chance to work on our emotional foundation which is so very important because our inner world has so much impact on our outer world. We must make sure the soil we plant the seeds in is rich and moist so our roots can spread and we can grow to our full potential!

Much love

Amy

xoxo

Artwork by Amy Bird