Cancer New Moon: Beginnings Birthed from Endings

'Birth' by Salvador Dali

Cancer New Moon:  Beginnings Birthed from Endings

Moon conjunct Sun-  7/20/2020 @ 12:32pm CDT

This New Moon (the beginning of the Corn Moon cycle here in the Heartland) is the second in the water sign of Cancer this year, as the first was on June Solstice.  This indicates that initiations this season are focused in on the Cardinal Water themes of Home, Family, Ancestors, Roots, Emotional Bonds, Privacy, and Protection.  For two lunar cycles, we begin here in the watery realm of our feelings…in the womb of the Mother…in the memory of our past.

And opposite this conjunction of our luminaries is Saturn Retrograde in Capricorn.  Moon is strong in her domicile of Cancer, and Saturn is strong in his domicile of Capricorn.  This is a formidable opposition…if your goal is to predominantly favor one side or the other at this time, it can be a heavy battle.  However, the cosmic lesson is to find balance between these two.  On one hand, we have the luminaries bringing the focus of our Feelings (Moon) and Consciousness (Sun) to private matters at home and with those closest to us.  And on the other hand, Saturn Rx (at its brightest and orbiting closest to Earth now) has some big re-structuring plans to orchestrate with the rest of the Capricorn Council in the societal, public sphere…a much more gradual process, but an important one for this year.  Both will have our focus not in one area of our lives, but two. 

Look to your natal chart to see where 28 degrees of Cancer and Capricorn are…what houses are they in, what natal planets are they interacting with?  This can give you an indication of the areas of life where your intention for this lunation can bring some balance.  For example, these degrees are right at the beginning of my 4^th and 10^th Houses (house cusps we refer to as the nadir and the midheaven)…so balancing between home/family contribution and public/world contribution is particularly highlighted at this time for me (story of my life, really). 

The Sabian Symbol for this 29^th degree of Cancer where Moon and Sun conjoin is ‘a muse weighing newborn twins on golden scales’.  This, again, alludes to balancing the scales between two things that are so very similar but hold different expressions.  We enter this lunar cycle feeling some pressure to soon arrive at a choice between opposites.  We are weighing options and alternatives, trying to find some balancing force that can address the concerns of both sides of the thing in question.  The Muse in this symbol indicates that forces beyond the intellect are involved in this decision.  If we are to resolve anything within this lunar cycle, intuition is key. 

'La Discordia'

But it’s not going to be easy (really, has any decision been easy this year?).  On this same day of the New Moon, Eris stations retrograde.  Unseen and unacknowledged as she often is, the Great Warrioress who has no qualms creating strife and chaos as a means to teach purposeful lessons has been a key player this year.  Her square with Pluto is an enduring one, a featured dynamic of the times we are in.  This year, the Pluto-Eris square has been exact 2 times already (in January and then again in June) and will be exact again in December.  However, because both planets (or dwarf planets, if you prefer…which I don’t) move so slowly through the degrees of the zodiac…the dynamics of their square hold throughout the years surrounding these exactions and continue to be an underlying theme of necessary action.  Essentially chaos pushing transformation, and transformation pushing chaos…a battle that urges us all to take action in no superficial manner. 

Apple of Discord:  "To the Fairest"

If you have natal planets around 22-26 Aries or Capricorn, the call to action may be stressing you in a very personal way.  But for all of us, as a collective, Eris has thrown her ‘Apple of Discord’ into the mix this year because we all need to accept this inevitable death and regeneration that means to transform us on the deepest levels.  It is no accident that structures are crumbling before our eyes…especially those that are unsustainable for the future of our planet.  There is great purpose behind what appears to be large-scale chaos this year.  The call is to keep our integrity through self-reliance (Eris in Aries) so that corrupt, unsustainable structures can fall away to make way for rebirth (Pluto in Capricorn).  And as she stations retrograde, these Aries themes of integrity and self-reliance will be unavoidably in focus and ready to shift into an alternative direction.

The Yod aspect pattern:
'Finger of Gaia'

This alternative direction for our Collective Soul purpose has some recent past to uncover in a new light.  Adding to the imperative tone of this gradual shift in direction is an aspect pattern with this lunation called a Yod (also called ‘Finger of God’ by many Astrologers, but called ‘Finger of Gaia’ by this Astrologer).  At the base of this Yod is a sextile between our luminaries in Cancer and Sedna in Taurus.  Sedna is a planet (also called a ‘dwarf planet’) that is named after the Inuit Goddess of the Ocean.  Her vibration is deeply connected to the Unconscious realms and all the life that swims within it.  In sextile with our luminaries, it is an opportunity to work harmoniously with both our conscious feelings (Sun-Moon) and the unconscious, underlying feelings…especially those that involve abusive power dynamics and trauma (as that is part of Sedna’s mythical storyline).

Through quincunx aspects (150 degrees apart), this sextile points the ‘Finger of Gaia’ directly toward the South Lunar Node in Sagittarius at Galactic Center.  The Goddess (our Earth, her Oceans, and her Moon that moves them) is urging us to take this opportunity, right now as we begin this lunar month, to understand that this recent past we are meaning to correct (the nature of the retrograde focus of this season) carries a much longer past with it…the Collective Soul’s past of the South Node and the greater story of our cosmos.  When we connect through the sacred aperture we call Galactic Center, we receive important information from multi-universes (The Star Nations).  In this internet age, we often refer to such receptions as ‘downloads’.  With the Moon’s South Node here, while she points with Sun and Sedna to it, there is an open channel…a line of communication exchange…between our galaxy and that which is beyond us.   

The following is something I have written about Galactic Center in a previous post (from 2019, at the time my beloved feline familiar, Ani, passed away):

“Many cultures around the world have a similar cosmovision of the black hole at the center of our galaxy, even thousands of years before it was scientifically proven that it exists. To try to sum up many sacred stories into one idea (for brevity), there exists the opening of a portal at Galactic Center where souls go when the physical body dies. Through this portal, they are reborn again into the Land of the Ancestors (much like through a wormhole, out a white hole, and into another dimension).  It is also said that light information, often described in deified form, emanates from this place to communicate with us...teaching us in individual transmissions our own pieces of the vast cosmic wisdom.

My understanding of this cosmic wisdom is that the more we share our own pieces of it with others, the more we integrate and connect our Collective Consciousness to the greater story of the Universe. Having Neptune (Retrograde, in my case) at Galactic Center when I was born is a spiritual inclination that is specific to my generation, an unseen and extrasensory inclination to transmit Cosmic Wisdom through Universal Love.

Others have different cosmic associations with Galactic Center, such as Uranus in the last degrees of Sagittarius for those born several years after me...which connects them to GC through awakenings of the Higher Mind. Many people alive today have connections to this Cosmic Passageway in different expressions, all of them part of the transmission of Universal Knowledge. We don’t all express it astrologically, of course, but our many ways are like the colors that come through a prism when light enters it. Each is an expression of our Spiritual Source through the Prism of our Matter, transformed through the colors of our Soul’s Expression.”

I always feel connected to the greater story in times when GC is activated.  That last time, I was saying goodbye to Ani.  This time, I am celebrating what would have been the 80^th birthday of my dear friend who passed away last month from complications with Covid19.  The Soul’s Departure can be quite literal for me in these times…but there are also collective transformations connected to these personal experiences.  The collective symbolism of this Finger of Gaia illuminating our South Lunar Node connection to Galactic Center speaks to the acceptance that death (or any commitment to transformation) is as beautiful as it is necessary. Such acceptance encourages us to embody the earthly role our Soul urges us to take in this life and move onward...trusting that we are in right alignment by following the direction of the Soul. We are always connected, no matter the physical form...so onward never means ‘without’. But it does mean progressing with new expression.

Image of Neowise by Miloslav Druckmuller

You may ask yourself as the New Moon shows herself in a few days time, ‘how can my release of the past transform into New Wisdom?’  It seems likely that Comet Neowise has something to share in relation to that ‘New Wisdom’.  Nobody quite knows what to expect when a comet appears…their expressions vary wildly.  However, what I’ve observed from nearly everyone who has shared their own experience of this comet with me is that people are often met with an earthly messenger at that same time, to ground that new wisdom into a personal expression.  Because of the animal medicine connected to Neowise…I am personally referring to this tailed messenger as Comet Kitsune, as fox medicine is what arises for me personally.  If you haven’t already, I recommend connecting with your own personal experience of this comet…without expectation, just an openness to whatever wisdom it may share with you.

Love and Gratitude,

Felina Lune Kavi

P.S.  In honor of my dear friend, Judy, on the birthday she wanted to celebrate with her friends and loved ones…a song called ‘Saturn’ by Sleeping At Last.

Mercury in Cancer, Part Three: The Direct Station, Epilogue, and Release

'Speaking from the Heart' by Isabel Emrich

Mercury in Cancer

May 28 – August 4

Part 3 – The Direct Station, the Epilogue, and the Release (July 12 – August 4)

Mercury’s direct station begins the epilogue portion of this extended lesson in communication through this cardinal water sign.   Cancer communicates the Tribal Heart and what is closest to our roots.  Our thoughts, ideas, and words during this journey have been largely focused on discovering the connections between memory, emotional bonds, and the instinct to protect and care for our tribe. 

In a year where much has been drawing us closer to home, this long journey of Mercury through Cancer has been helping us to better understand the kind of care that is needed now.  Of course, there’s been plenty of what we often call ‘stir-craziness’ this year.  On one hand, the focus has been at home…and on the other, where the Capricorn planets urge us to contribute with a farther reach, we’ve also been feeling the call to get to work.  And since Mars has entered Aries (June 27^th), there’s an additional urge to strike out on our own combined with Chiron Rx in Aries guiding us toward self-care. 

But right now, the Collective Mind is most concerned with family matters (which extends to a larger sense of family such as neighborhood and nation).  How do we care for those closest to us?  In a time where my own national family (the United States) is still dealing with the rising challenge of this pandemic…the whole country is still trying to balance our reasons (Mercury) with our needs (Cancer).  We still have much to learn, and now Mercury guides us all through integrating what we have just re-learned. 

Below, I have included the vibrational flow of this part of Mercury’s voyage through watery Cancer.  Because Cancer is ruled by the Moon, she is guiding the flow of these lessons.  So I have also included her interactions with Mercury.  Moon moves quickly through the signs, so each Moon-Mercury aspect is like a momentary mood that passes through on the day that is listed.  However, momentary as those aspects are, these moods are key to Mercury’s journey through this sign.

7/12:  Mercury stations Direct- Mercury pauses to shift back into direct motion on this day, focusing on the medicine within this 6^th degree of Cancer.  The Sabian Symbol here is ‘game birds feathering their nests’.  It’s a very Cancerian degree to begin with…evoking feelings of home, family, and the preparatory protections that this water sign is known for.  In all the tumult going on at the beginning of June, when Mercury first entered this degree and began the Prologue portion of this journey, we were bound to miss some of the lessons inherent in this degree.  Now we return to them and give them a much more concentrated focus…shifting our perspective again toward what we can do to provide a better environment for new beginnings to grow.

7/13:  Moon-Mercury closing sextile- Still in this same degree of Cancer, Mercury is blessed by his current guide, Lady Luna, as he shares his message with her.  The exalted Moon in Taurus provides some harmonious illumination to what the Collective Mind has been brooding about.  As we shift back into this direct perspective of Mercury in Cancer, allow your emotions to wash over you and flow through your body.  There is a subtle opportunity here to fully tap into the message of this time and share the wisdom of it.

7/18:  Moon-Mercury conjunction- During the last conjunction of Moon and Mercury in Cancer (6/22), the focus was on our memories that were emotionally connected to abundance.  Now, in this 8^th degree of Cancer, the lunar lesson has shifted toward mirroring the guidance of others who have shown us the way to protect and care for those we love.  The Sabian Symbol for this degree of Cancer is ‘rabbits dressed in clothes on parade’.  If we take the symbol literally, it may seem very silly.  However, the symbol refers to modeling after those who have shown a certain code of conduct that has brought them into alignment.  For many of us still dealing with the worst of this Covid crisis, we might do well to imitate the countries who have shown the way to handle this mess we’re in, for one thing.  And on a personal level, there may be a guide who has been through what you are going through now…what wisdom is their past experience offering for your present?

7/21:  Mercury square Chiron Rx (part 3 of 3)- There is another clash between the Messenger and the Wounded Healer here…one that we first encountered on June 5^th and returned to on July 1st.  This time, we may understand more of it…and perhaps how to better address it.  Squares are dynamic aspects that can’t be ignored…and this may come across as thoughts or words that exacerbate the wound.  As before, the necessary action that this square means to inspire is greater awareness of how we can communicate healing rather than more wounding. This is the time to integrate the idea inspired in those previous squares and put it into action.

7/22:  Mercury sextile Uranus (part 3 of 3)-  All sextiles provide a good rapport between planets that can lead to harmonious opportunities.  However, sextiles are subtle…and we actually have to respond to that subtle opening to reap the benefits.  Our first chance was on June 5^th, when Mercury was in direct motion.  Then again, we had a similar opening through Mercury’s retrograde perspective on June 30^th.  Did we catch that glimpse then of what we’re returning to now?  A new idea, an unusual perspective we hadn’t considered, or maybe even a slight shock that provided a peek into what is usually unseen?  If you missed it then, it’s coming up now in a ‘third times a charm’ way.  Perhaps now that you’ve had some experience with what this sextile has to offer, you’ll have a greater chance of homing in on it.  And with Uranus in this sextile, it still might surprise you.  As before, be open to the weird. 

7/23:  Moon-Mercury opening sextile- Virgo Moon provides an opportunity to clean up something that has been clouding the mind.  Moon and Mercury are in mutual reception (Moon in Mercury’s sign, Mercury in Moon’s sign), so there is a solid understanding between the mental functions of feeling and reasoning.  Make use of this good rapport by getting your thoughts, and priorities, in order.

7/25:  Moon-Mercury opening square- Libra Moon may have us feeling wide open to the emotional states of others…while Mercury in Cancer already has us wrapped up in our own private and personal feelings.  This mood of the day is one of frustration, as these two combine with Mars in Aries to create a pattern called a ‘T-Square’ that pools some stress into Mercury’s mental functions at the apex.  This dynamic can create an increased need to take action in response to the stress…so be mindful of your own ways of communicating how you feel, and try not to take it too personally what others might say.  The initial instinct will be, of course, to take it personally.  Acknowledge where and why it hurts…but don’t cling so tightly to it that it causes you to react from that hurt.  We’re almost past the Epilogue part of this journey where we are integrating the mental medicine of Mercury’s previous retrograde.  This is one last dynamic to test how well we’re able to fully integrate those lessons through a challenge.

7/26:  Mercury Release from Epilogue, conjunct Sirius- On June 18^th, Mercury stationed retrograde in this 15^th degree of Cancer…and now, after all of our backtracking, we return again to this degree and this conjunction with Sirius.  The Sabian Symbol for this degree is ‘in a sumptuous dining hall, guests relax after partaking of a huge banquet’.  Conjunct Sirius (the ‘Spiritual Sun’), the lesson here is about spiritual abundance.  We were not quite ready to fully integrate this lesson in June…we had more to learn and re-experience first so that we could come to this point with some revised ideas.  Abundance has so often been considered a concept that splits the whole of the human family apart into ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’.  Overindulgence and greed, which are choices so often applied in the reception of abundance, are what furthers such a divide…but abundance itself is not the problem.  Truly, abundance is meant to be generously shared…creating not a lack but even more instances of abundance.  This is not a concept we have been collectively, or even largely, in agreement about.  So what have we learned from what we have recovered over the last several weeks?  We  return to this degree now to integrate the true wisdom of abundance, satiety, and satisfaction so that we may move forward into new lessons.

7/27:  Mercury square Mars (part 2 of 2)- We first experienced this square on July 8^th, while Mercury was retrograde.  Now we return to it with both planets direct and ready to push the necessary action forward and outward.  This dynamic feels like a clash between what we are thinking and feeling and what we desire.  Mars is strong in his own sign of Aries…there is a lot of force here pushing us to move ahead and cut all ties with that which has been holding us back.  Keep in mind that Mars will eventually go retrograde in this fire sign later…so Mars will be returning to this degree in November with a different, more focused, perspective.  However, squares with Mars are often the most difficult to slow down in to focus…so right now, it will feel more like ‘go, go, go!’.  Squares are much like Mars energy, making that desire to take action that much stronger.  Just try to be careful with your words and what you are communicating outwardly…otherwise the frustration of this energy may have you saying things you’ll regret later.

7/28:  Moon-Mercury opening trine- This flowing trine combines with Neptune Rx and Jupiter Rx on this day to form a pattern called a ‘kite’.  All the harmonious flow of Moon, Mercury, and Neptune Rx in the three water signs has an anchor from Jupiter Rx in earthy Capricorn…allowing us to manifest the creativity and ease of all those watery feelings (in good vibration) into something tangible. 

7/30:  Mercury opposite Jupiter Rx, trine Neptune Rx- There is an inclination toward big ideas under this opposition, yet the details may be a bit fuzzy with the Neptune trine.  ‘It takes a village’ may be a significant part of this combination of planets…where optimistic ideals may need a bit of help from interactions with others to make the dream work.  There will be a lot to talk about, and Neptune will likely bring it to a creative and imaginative place.  Overall, this combination can be very inspiring…even uplifting.  Best to take in some constructive advice from others though, because not all of these creative ideas floating about are going to land.  Those that do, though, can be very beneficial.

8/1:  Mercury opposite Pluto Rx- This opposition can aid the Collective Mind with a deep and penetrating focus.  However, some ideas may need to die first…or, more specifically, go through a process of transformation.  In this vibration, we are not content to just study the surface level of what is being communicated.  We are more apt to want to find the deeper meanings…and for that, we may have to uncover some darker truths behind the surface.

8/2:  Moon-Mercury opposition- The mood of the day is tense as we try once again to find some balance between objective (Capricorn Moon) and subjective (Cancer Mercury) viewpoints. The key to this vibration is reflection. 

8/3:  Mercury opposite Saturn Rx- Ah, I was born with this aspect (though in the other cardinal signs, Aries and Libra).  In general, there is an inclination toward wisdom as well as depression.  It may be difficult to communicate your knowledge in an understandable way.  From personal experience, taking the time to write it out helps a great deal…allowing for more time to construct what it is you are wanting to say.  Heavy thoughts may hang over the Collective Mind like thick cloud cover under this influence…as there is a big dose of reality to take in and consider.  However, there is a lot of wisdom to be gained from such a reality check.  Responsibility (Response-ability, as I like to look at it) will be on your mind.  Try your best not to succumb to the feelings of ‘I can’t’.  Saturn does tend to put a halt to things…but this, too, shall pass.

8/4:  Mercury enters Leo

Love and Gratitude,

Felina Lune Kavi

Full Moon in Capricorn / Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: Withstanding the Test of Time

'The Old Tower at Dusk' by Vincent van Gogh

Full Moon in Capricorn / Penumbral Lunar Eclipse:  Withstanding the Test of Time

Moon opposite Sun- 7/4/20 @ 11:44pm CDT 

This Blessing Moon is the final eclipse in this triple-eclipse season.  All the ingredients are within the cauldron now…all the lessons that will play out over the next 6 months, all the shadows we’ll face, all the medicine we’ll need.  As we close this lunar cycle, we stir and bless the contents before we collect it for the coming months.

The Full Moon in the Cardinal Earth sign of Capricorn unearths essential and foundational wisdom that endures beyond our modern perspectives.  The Sabian Symbol for this 14^th degree of Capricorn is ‘an ancient bas-relief carved in granite remains a witness to a long-forgotten culture’.  As the penumbral shadow of our Earth so subtly touches this Full Moon, we are asked ‘are we creating anything from our generation’s experience that will provide something substantial for generations to come?’

Personally, in this time, both shadows and wisdom from our own past will seep into our memory, as if some stone-carved relic we’d buried long ago has been re-discovered.  Because this Saros Series 149 of Eclipses is just in its beginning stages, it may bring up memories from the first two eclipses of this series (1984 and 2002).  For our own life cycles, this is past that is relatively long ago.  For our world, these lessons are fairly new.

Saros Series 149:  Our Genetic Memory

In the first subtle beginnings of this eclipse series, we were in that Orwellian time of 1984.  And though Apple MacIntosh advertised their first computer in one of the most memorable Super Bowl commercials, drawing upon Orwellian themes and saying “you’ll see why 1984 won’t be like ‘1984’”…there were still elements of that book that surfaced that year.  This is the year that Genetic Profiling was first used forensically.  By the next eclipse of this series, in 2002, racial DNA profiling was coming into use…albeit amidst debate.  Now, in 2020, we are seeing all this and more being abused for methods of control and surveillance.  In China, for example, they are using U.S. made tests to collect the DNA of tens of millions of men and boys throughout their country to grow their surveillance capabilities.  Not exactly the ‘Thought Police’ as in Orwell’s book, but an easy way to track ‘dissidents’ and harass their families (among other things).  So it seems the tracking of DNA is part of the shadow of Saros Series 149.  Penumbral as it is, this shadow will develop over many centuries…so it is our future generations (2489 – 2781 CE) that will experience the totality of its effects.

 

Our DNA brings us back to that symbol of the ‘bas-relief carved in granite’…it is something that is relatively ‘carved in stone’ about who we are and where we come from.  It links us to our ancestors and our descendants.  And yet, some of it can be activated by various choices we make or even by events outside of our control.  And while viruses like Covid19 can wipe out a significant portion of the world’s population…viruses also become an essential part of our genetic makeup, which we pass on to our next generations.  In some cases, viruses provide raw material for our evolution.  For example, syncytin, a gene that’s essential for creating placenta, came from a virus.  Of course, there’s no telling what traits the survivors of this pandemic will pass on to their descendants…we only know that it will happen.

Sun conjunct Vesta

Art by Pamela Matthews

While Moon is in Capricorn with the recently re-assembled Capricorn Council (Saturn Rx just re-entered Capricorn on July 1^st after a brief visit in the first degrees of Aquarius, joining with Jupiter Rx and Pluto Rx still in this sign), Sun is in the Cardinal Water sign of Cancer.  In the same degree (Cancer 14), is Vesta…the asteroid named after the Goddess of Home and Hearth, Priestess of the Sacred Flame.  Vesta’s vibration has much to do with focus (which comes from the Latin word for ‘hearth’), devotion, and dedication to Sacred Work.  Where Vesta was when we were born indicates what we are devoted to doing, often for the benefit of the whole.  In Cancer, Vesta is focused upon the emotional bonds and protection of home and family.  So for our collective at this time, that is where our Sacred Work is.  Sun joining with Vesta illuminates this devotion strongly and provides fuel for that Sacred Fire.

The Sabian Symbol for Cancer 14 is ‘a very old man facing a vast dark space to the Northeast’.  So the focus (Vesta) of our conscious awareness (Sun) is directed toward the Northeast.  What are the symbolic implications of that direction?  According to Dane Rudhyar, ‘In occult terminology, the northeast is the direction from which spiritual-cosmic forces enter the Earth-sphere…the True North…because the polar axis of Earth is inclined by some 23 degrees away from the exact perpendicular of its orbit.’  Northeast in many spiritual traditions relates to that time in between Winter and Spring in our seasonal cycles…between death and rebirth…the great Void which holds us in her womb.  The winds of this time are cold and harsh…and if one has the ability to face these winds (like the Buffalo with its head into the storm), they have learned patience and endurance.  Therefore, this direction indicates the trials we must endure before the dawn (East) of rebirth. 

So as we focus our devotion and care in the area of Home and Family (which extends, in the broader scope, to our nations), facing the darkness of the unknown (like, for example, the implications of returning our kids back to school in the near future during a pandemic)…this Blessing Moon asks us to consider what is wise and will help us withstand the test of time.

Love and Gratitude,

Felina Lune Kavi