If you think you’re ready to be done with all the shifts happening lately… you are mistaken. Shifts have been coming through the previous Gemini Lunar Cycle, and it picks up with the Cancer Lunar Cycle.
The New Moon Itself
New Moon Cancer hits peak intensity at 24 Can 56’09” on July 17th, 2023 11:31:46 AM PDT / 6:31:46 PM UTC. The Moon is in its domicile in Cancer, and therefore has an increased influence regarding our home lives, matters regarding being and involving our mothers, our emotional states, and how we handle matters in our private lives. New Moon Cancer being in third decan Cancer takes on a minor Piscean/Neptunian influence. Pay attention to dreams, intuition, gut feelings, and addictive behaviors (be it self-medication, doomscrolling, etc.)
With Sun conjunct Moon here, how we feel at home and our actual home realities come into focus. As the New Moon is where we typically engage in new beginnings and starting new projects, we really need to be careful here this time. While this normally would be a good New Moon for home improvement projects, the current and upcoming aspects warn us that we need to be really sure about these changes and upgrades.
Shifts Occurring Around This New Moon and Lunar Cycle
Venus Retrograde Begins
Venus Retrograde Begins on July 22nd 2023 at 6:32:45 PM PDT / July 23rd 2023 1:32:45 AM UTC, almost a week after the New Moon. Matters involving money, relationships, art, and the things we are attracted to will all enter a revision period until September 2nd PDT.
Leo’s the fifth sign, so this impacts our themes of fun, short-term relations, children, and any form of relaxation. This also takes on a Mars/Aries theme being in third decan of Leo, so we really would like to take a breather and just chill, but many of us aren’t in a position to really sit down and relax. Even better, Venus makes this retrograde station while apexing a Yod from Pluto retrograde in Capricorn and Neptune retrograde in Pisces. For this lunar cycle, we have some serious adjustments needed when it comes to us wanting to unwind, and the mental work and restructuring we’ll need to even get close to that point.
Cardinal Grand Cross: Moon (then Sun), Pluto Retrograde, and the Nodes Changing Signs
This one’s going to be a lot of “fun.” While not in full effect at the peak of the New Moon conjunction, it starts taking effect immediately after as the Moon moves on. Effectively, New Moon Cancer helps complete a Grand Cross between Pluto retrograde in Capricorn, and the North Node in Taurus and South Node in Scorpio… which soon after the New Moon becomes North Node in Aries and South Node in Libra. Yes, the Nodes change signs within two hours after the New Moon peaks.
How to put this: We’ve got a series of new beginnings possible, particularly in our home and private lives and emotional states and core beings. But Pluto is opposing this in the last decan of Capricorn, so there’s some major career, reputational, and institutional disruptions miring us in some serious reality checks.
And then we have the Nodes… we’ve been dealing with reaping what we sow (Scorpio South Node) and trying to get our stability shored up or even patched up enough to survive (Taurus North Node). But this is coming to a head and affecting the relationship and partnership drama we’ve been experiencing (Libra South Node), and what this means for what we need to do to support ourselves and our own sense of selves (Aries North Node).
Yod: Venus Station Retrograde Apex From Pluto Retrograde and Neptune Retrograde
Combine the above with the Venus-into-retrograde Yod with Pluto and Neptune retrogrades, and we’re about to enter a season where our partnerships and entanglements are put to the ultimate test. Regardless if the shadow work’s been done, this will be a trying time. Without adequate work done by all parties involved, these partnerships and links will begin to implode, if not outright explode. With substantial shadow work? There will still be challenges, but these become more lessons to help strengthen the relationships meant to last.
International relations and relations between different companies and other entities will also find their alliances and conflicts put to the ultimate test. The WGA/SAG-AFTRA strike is one example of institutional partnerships put into the crosshairs. Whatever’s going on with the NATO meeting and Ukraine’s and Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s status regarding future NATO membership is another example.
I’m not sure what’s going to happen with either of these example in the end at this point. An easy solution is not coming with either one with these alignments. Don’t expect easy solutions now either with anything going on. You have to work at what you’re attempting, and the same old way of doing things will not have expected results now.
Other Aspects to the New Moon
Think Outside the Box
New Moon Cancer sextile Uranus in Taurus is one ray of hope here in the chaotic shifts happening. Uranus, while in detriment in Taurus, can still yield some potential pleasant surprises. This can take the form of finding something we can sell off in our homes to someone who can make better use of this. An example of this is finding some old baseball cards and finding that one of those is worth a few hundred dollars.
This sextile also notates the possibility of taking gratitude in what we have, and some surprising good news coming through to reward that gratitude. Or, perhaps an investment someone has had locked up is suddenly opened up. A recent split summary ruling regarding the Ripple (XRP) cryptocurrency token is one example of this. (In this case, XRP was ruled as not a security when dealing with programmatic sales on digital asset exchanges, but is a security when it comes to institutional investors). So this sextile also can denote mixed blessings.
New Moon Cancer trine Neptune retrograde in Pisces also adds to the intuition and creative thinking vibes about things. The third decan of Pisces holds some shadowy Scorpio vibes, so these intuitive notions we can receive right now can seem downright otherworldly. Pay deep attention to your intuition now. If something seems to good to be true, it probably is.
On the other hand, you could act on a flash of inspiration and just intuitively alter your plans or designs, and wind up with a better outcome. Perhaps changing the shading on a painting or digital art piece just looks better than what was envisioned. Or, perhaps you decide on a whim that a red vase works better on the table than the yellow one. Be open to creative changes.
Do Watch For Hidden Dangers
We also have New Moon Cancer conjunct fixed star Pollux to deal with. There’s a risk of accidents with this placement. In particular, accidents that could potentially scar or disfigure your face (which fits with the opposition to Capricorn Pluto retrograde, involving reputation and our public reputation).
This placement can also imply the revelation of scandals. Be wary of false accusations, and have a plan to recover in case of true accusations. If we’ve been aboveboard in our dealings, we may not have to worry about the true accusations thing as much.
Given another aspect forming with Mars in Virgo opposite Saturn in Pisces, injuries or worse from violence is possible. Use your best judgment.
Other Noteworthy Aspects During the New Moon
Coming to Blows
As mentioned above with the New Moon/Pollux link, Mars in Virgo opposite Saturn retrograde in Pisces is volatile and not to be dismissed easily. Mars is passion, drive, energy, but also anger, rage, and can be violent. Saturn retrograde can indicate self-imposed obstacles, restrictions, and unexpected roadblocks.
This opposition can be a problem. We’re trying to move forward with plans we’ve probably had for awhile. In other ways, we’re attempting to make up for lost time and move previously-blocked plans forward. But Saturn here with its opposition is throwing as many monkey wrenches into the works as it can, and probably a few monkeys holding wrenches too. Things will not go exactly to plan with this aspect. They cannot, really. Be flexible without giving in to unreasonable demands.
Speaking Salty Truths
Jupiter in Taurus square Mercury in Leo at the onset of the New Moon is a different sort of challenge. Jupiter in Taurus tends to be optimistic in terms of money, stability, and gain. The square to Mercury in Leo, this notates some overexcitement in expressing that optimism. Do not expect others to understand your more optimistic ambitions right now.
This square also indicates that we may be thinking a little too optimistically of our chances in getting things going. There’s a good chance of some detail being overlooked right now. On another note, overoptimism could lead to some serious downfalls with the cardinal Grand Cross going on right now involving the New Moon, Pluto retrograde, and the Nodes. Messages from others indicating that we’re not being realistic in our plans right now are very likely.
The other side of messages is that you actually may have a realistic plan. It’s just that it’s not to the liking of others right now. Cold, harsh realities can heat up our ire right now.
Tempering Our Hopes
Jupiter in Taurus sextile Saturn retrograde in Pisces is a splash of cold water in our face to wake us up. The sextile here gives us a chance to pause and reassess our more ambitious ideas. We can intuit the flaws in some of our best-laid plans, and take steps to overcome those flaws. For other pursuits, we’ll probably have to back-burner some of our ambitions until a more optimal time.
This sextile is urging us to be a little more realistic in our approaches. We’ll have to apply some inner discipline to make sure we succeed.
Opportunity
Venus in late Leo trine North Node as it crosses from Taurus to Aries indicates we have some opportunities available to us. Given that the trine is an “easy” energy, it’s easy to miss this chance with the other contentious energies now.
The North Node is what we strive for, our goal state if you will. Venus is money, relationships, what attracts and draws us in. If we’re observant and fortunate enough, we can see the chance in front of us. It could be a chance purchase of something we needed, or a chance encounter with someone who can be of great help in reaching our dreams.
The side effect is Venus sextile South Node in early Scorpio into late Libra. We can see now where we’ve invested in things that haven’t borne fruit. Time to let that stuff go. It’ll be a little easier to walk away from those previous binds now.
What Can We Let Go Of?
Black Moon Lilith square Uranus in Taurus, and trine Chiron in Aries points to a mixed bag of events. Black Moon Lilith is the mystery that runs underneath. She is the shadow, planning and waiting in the dark. She is the hidden. Lilith is what we’ve pushed out of view.
Uranus in Taurus is, of course, shaking up things in terms of stability, comfort, resources. The square to Lilith indicates events and machinations that have brewed under the surface until it rises up and forces us to face the shadows.
Chiron, meanwhile, is the wounded healer, and in Aries, we’re dealing with the wounds to our own identity and sense of self. With the trine to Lilith, we can discern more of what’s beneath the surface that’s been gnawing away at us. Lilith in third decan of Leo (so Aries/Mars energy), and Chiron sitting at the end of second decan Aries (so giving Leo/Sun vibes), we’re facing the wounds we’ve hidden in terms of the more enriching aspects of life we feel we deserve.
This set of aspects tells us we need to let go of our need to control everything regarding to money, and allow other lighter things to help heal us. Take a walk in nature, go for a drive, do something to break out of routine and get a fresh perspective. Even if it’s only for a short time, it can help.
To Sum It Up
This New Moon in Cancer is heralding a lunar cycle of serious changes in our lives. As we are approaching Leo season, we just have to accept that there are matters regarding who we are, who we’ve been with, and where that leaves us in home and out in the world. Also, the same old ways of trying to get ahead just aren’t going to cut it.
We’re heading to a shake-up. So the question is, are we going to hide under the desk, or will we grab the surfboard and ride the wave? It’s a choice and a chance you have to take. Could wind up sliding into the ocean either way. But at least with the surfboard, it may be a little more fun.
We’ll be seeing just how many foundations were built on sand over the next month.
Steer into the skid.
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