Cancer New Moon 7º23'

Cancer New Moon 7°23’ 10:53 PM: A New Beginning of emotional growth and self-awareness in how we protect and care for ourselves, our homes, our families, and the vulnerable. A New Moon is a time when you can begin to implement the new habits and patterns that were learned during the last Moon cycle and to initiate a new course of intention. This Cancer New Moon is exact at 10:53 PM EDT, when the Sun and the Moon align at 7’23’ of Cancer, the Cardinal Water and 4th sign of the zodiac. Cancer is associated with the need for emotional closeness, warmth, belonging, protection, acceptance, and containment. Developmentally, it is in Cancer when we become aware of the emotional states of others and our connection to them. Cancer is also associated with memory - especially early childhood memories that we have carried throughout our lives and that have been integral to how we respond to those within our core and outside of it.
The Moon is the ruler of Cancer, so a Cancer New Moon can be thought of as the “ultimate” new moon - our annual opportunity to set intentions that honor our core emotional needs and that challenge the influence of our past. This is the season to become closer with your natal Moon - what sign is it in? What house? Does it make any aspects to other planets? This information can help you better understand what you need to feel nurtured, accepted, loved and how you have been conditioned to sympathetically respond to the emotional needs of yourself and others. Your Moon sign may be representative of your childhood relationship with your caretaker(s,) oftentimes the mother, but not always; and it is these relationships during your formative years that have had a direct influence on how you listen and respond to bids for nurturance and care - from yourself and others. What are your initial instincts towards emotional needs? Are you comfortable with rest and giving yourself care when you need it? How are your relationships with those who need extra care and love (like children, or those who are unwell?) 

Since 2018, I’ve been on a journey of re-discovering my Virgo Moon by examining what is or isn’t mine to hold. I was raised in a household that needed me to be competent, organized, self-reliant, and quick to respond to my environment. I always felt separate from my body - dissociation was my normal state - I just did whatever I had to do to keep the peace and not create more problems. Luckily, I always had my imagination to fall back on and I could stay alone for hours in my bedroom with a book and not make a single sound. My mother was unwell during my childhood years after she separated from my father - and I often felt like I had to earn my right to exist because my needs were not compatible with her needs - so I had to bend my needs, repress them, ignore them, and be easy to care for. I was really proud of how little care I needed - I was like that houseplant that thrives when you neglect it. And I remember being so annoyed at how much care my younger brother needed - I didn’t understand why he couldn’t figure it out that he needs to care for himself. For as long as I could remember, I was responsible for myself as well as my brother, and I resented it. I wanted to be more like the other kids in my neighborhood - like the ones who got rides to school when they were running late, or the ones who had someone who would make them a sandwich each day. I recently came across an entry in a diary that I had written in 3rd grade, and in this entry I had written, “today I made my brother make his own lunch.” That line brought so many old memories and emotions to the surface. I was sad for my childhood self that was responsible for caring for a child when I was only a child myself, and I was sad for my brother who had a child as a caretaker…and I know I wasn’t that great at it either.
These early childhood experiences provided the shape and container for my adult relationships. Since childhood, my relationships have been primarily with people who needed me to care for them, who needed me to prioritize their well-being, and who needed me to be easy. Sometimes I even sought them out. If a relationship didn’t need much from me, I would feel purposeless and bored. I wanted to be around people who gave me a job and used me to fill a void. Those relationships felt the most natural to me, so I figured they were the best for me or they were fated. It wasn’t until around age 30 when I started to see the similarities between the life I was living and my childhood experiences. Most of the people I surrounded myself with, including my ex-husband, needed someone to look after them and clean up after them. 
I reached a breaking point when I started wanting my own time - I was mentally and physically exhausted from the heavy lifting…and I was the one who started needing help. I became morbidly depressed, I could barely shower, I couldn’t sleep, everything around me was rotting, people around me were dying, so I began regularly seeing a therapist and everything started coming into perspective. They tried to help me communicate my needs to those around me - which I did…and the result was exactly as my subconscious had predicted - nothing. My requests were ignored. My ex-husband told me to hire people to do all the labor that he refused to do - which was nearly every aspect of caring for and tending to a home. My therapist started illuminating the trauma of neglect into my psyche. I had never once considered that neglect was abusive…and then I started to see just how much my childhood experiences of neglect have carried over into my adult life. 
I worked so hard for nearly 6 years to hide my reality - I pretended that everything in my life was perfect, and no one saw just how much work I was doing behind the scenes to make it appear that way. It is exhausting living a lie. So, one day, I decided to stop. I reclaimed my time, my labor, my life. I stopped neglecting myself and my dreams. I started saying no, which was completely revolutionary for me and led to the ending of many relationships, including my marriage. It has not been easy. It has been the most painful experience…extremely heartbreaking…watching others walk out the door after you say no because you chose to listen to your body is shitty. I don’t know if I will ever get used to that sting. But it has helped my body in so many other ways. 
My teacher, Dr. Glenn Perry, refers to the natal chart as a tool that illuminates an individual's personal myths and that within every horoscope there is at least one central conflict that dominates our personal stories. I had been living within a personal myth I had about myself that originated during my childhood - I believed I had no worth on my own and that my job was to protect and care for everyone around me. My natal chart is full of “hard” aspects: oppositions, squares, quincunxes - it is easy to just point at the aspects and say “I am the way I am because of this aspect,” but in reality, the aspects are telling us a story that started when we were born, and once we become familiar with them we can work with them instead of allowing them to control our lives. My natal Virgo Moon opposes my natal Pisces Mercury and both square my natal Sagittarius Uranus - this is referred to as a “t-square” and it is one of the most challenging configurations to overcome and integrate. My Virgo Moon feels accepted and loved when it is improving/fixing/caring, and it is always receiving information that someone or something is in need of help or is asking me to sacrifice something for them (Mercury in Pisces,) and without a second thought, my emotional body quickly responds for me (Uranus) - if I’m sympathetic or feel responsible for the individual, I minimize the cost to my own well-being and do whatever will improve the situation…on the other hand, if I’m feeling frustrated or resentful towards the other, I may coldly detach (Uranus) or I succumb to my impatience and respond explosively. My biggest lesson in this lifetime is learning how to control my Uranus and to take things slow. Jumping into something based on my environment’s emotional cues doesn’t normally work out well for me (though, on the other hand, I am exceptionally good at responding in emergency situations…but not everything is an emergency!) Unpacking my own personal myth that I must be quick to respond to any and all emotional information has helped me uncover other ways of being and has improved my relationships immensely. 

This Cancer New Moon will be forming a near exact square to Jupiter in Aries. Jupiter is associated with truth, meaning, justice, hope, optimism, ethics, and expansion. Jupiter expands whatever it comes into contact with - which can be good at times, but too much of a good thing can be dangerous. The thing with Jupiter, it requires moderation. Jupiter can have us overextending ourselves, overestimating our abilities, and blowing hot air. The square between the Sun/Moon and Jupiter, in Cardinal signs, may mean a lot of new ventures are starting up this Cancer season. We may feel overly optimistic about the future and our part within it - we may be throwing all of our logs into a fire to keep ourselves moving towards a new life or way of being. But moderation is key! Maybe hold onto a few of those logs. Take a pause before committing to something. Ask yourself if you have the emotional capacity to keep that fire going. Ask yourself if your expectations are grounded in reality. It isn’t lost on me that this Cancer New Moon is square Jupiter right after the Supreme Court’s overturn of Roe v. Wade. Cancer is associated with women, and in mundane astrology, the public, and Jupiter is associated with the courts and judiciary system. It feels like a lot of people will be willing to take a stand for what is right (Jupiter) and they will likely be ready to fight (Mars in Aries.) The Sun and Moon are forming an opening square from Jupiter, which is a Cancerian aspect, and it likely means that we may observe highly reactive behaviors and acting out of raw emotions, but ideally, we’ll see behaviors that are protective, sympathetic and considerate of the “Lunar” individuals among us. (Lunar individuals are sensitive, empathic, feminine, caring, tender, vulnerable, etc.) 
It is important to note that there are multiple planets in their domicile during this New Moon - the Moon, Mercury, Mars and Neptune - so that means all four of these planets are extra potent and not easily integrated…they are kinda doing their own thing. I’d imagine this may look like heightened emotional responses (Moon,) lots of verbal exchanges and learning (Mercury,) following our immediate instincts towards personal gratification (Mars,) and escapism or an overactive imagination (Neptune.)
The Sabian Symbol for this New Moon is Cancer 8: “A Group of Rabbits Dressed in Clothes and on Dignified Parade.” Lynda Hill in 360 Degrees of Wisdom (2004, Plume publishing,) interpreted this symbol as “abilities can take a leap ahead of normal development simply by making an attempt to be or to do more…project into the future a higher sense of being or thinking forward into a more intelligent, more successful level of life…Project yourself with a sense of confidence and dignity. Don’t be restricted by class, or status - excel other’s expectations, and don’t let anyone ‘pigeonhole’ you.” I found this symbol to fit perfectly with the Sun/Moon square to Jupiter - it hints at growth, leaping forward towards higher ways of being, and attempting to do or be more than you are used to doing or being. 
Mars in Aries is also forming an opening square from Pluto (exact on July 1st,) and this aspect is indicative of power struggles - Pluto is in authoritarian Capricorn and Mars is in competitive Aries - we may feel a strong compulsion to take control of all that is happening within our environments or areas of influence. This aspect is certainly ambitious and many may feel called to move mountains during this Moon cycle. But be careful with conflicts - your survival instincts may be at the crossroads with someone else’s unhealed patriarchal wounds, and applying more force may end in absolute destruction…though, that may be exactly what you’re aiming for. Look to your chart - find 25’ Aries and 27’ Capricorn to see where ruthless fights for power are likely to show up for you.