Astrology

New Moon in Cancer 2014: Respecting Emotional Power

This year?s New Cancer Moon occurs on June 27, at 5 degrees Cancer at 4:09 AM Eastern Time. New Moons are an exciting time, indicative of new beginnings and the ability to manifest renewed purpose, motivations, and changes within your life. A New Moon is an intensification of the sign?s energy that it occurs in, as well, creating a super-charge in the general atmosphere of this sign?s principles and themes. This is always significant, but the fact that the New Moon is occurring in Cancer is even more so.

The Cancer New Moon, as well as the Full Moon, always makes a very strong impression. It?s subtle, like Cancer prefers to be, but undeniably impactful nonetheless. Why is this? Well, because Cancer is the sign ? and the only sign at that ? that is actually ruled by the Moon. It represents all things lunar: the primal, emotional, protective, reflective aspects of our human nature. So, with a Cancer New Moon, expect for there to be a much less ?logical? or ?practical? vibe swirling through the air.

If your birth chart is low on an influence from Cancer or the other just as highly intuitive Water signs (Scorpio and Pisces), then this can make the Cancer New Moon a bit of a challenge for you. However, if your birth chart is strongly influenced by Cancer, the Moon, or the other Water signs/planets, then this New Moon can be an extremely welcome time of recharge and release. In fact, it should be for all of us; a day where we can truly refill our well and access our inner selves.

We live in a world that so values hustle and bustle. So many people are unwilling to sit still, to reflect, to take the risk of simply going along with the current of life. In a culture that places such emphasis on taking action and claiming agency over your life, the word ?passive? has quite a negative connotation. Cancer is called one of the ?feminine? planets for this reason. Not because its expression is particular to the female sex, because that?s not true. Feminine, in this sense, just means the yin side of life that reacts and reflects instead of acting and accomplishing.

For both sexes in our society, this has, often unfairly, come to be looked down upon as some sort of character defect. Men ? so traditionally seen as the dominant forces in our world ? have been long conditioned to repress or project this feminine energy. There are lots of evolved men in our world now who don?t see things this way and own their feminine sides without fear. But, old habits die hard and too many men are still overly concerned with being ?man enough.?

With women, it?s taken on a different tone. The feminist waves of thinking in the past several decades have derided such yin-driven images of womanhood. Every time you hear women either praising or criticizing images of females in the media, it?s always about the woman being hailed as an empowering force or rejected for being too passive and too controlled by the events and people around her. And while this is a valid criticism (as women, of course, do have yang-fueled ?masculine? energies as well), this fight for equality can veer the image of the feminine into another one-dimensional representation, devoid of the richness of the yin?s experience.

Basically, our lunar goddess Cancer doesn?t get as much respect as she deserves, not even in comparison to the other Water signs. Though Scorpio and Pisces get their share of negative stereotyping, at least there?s something larger-than-life about these two signs? profiles. Scorpio is seen as the most powerful of its element: with an irresistible sexual magnetism, gritty intensity and unwavering focus that make it an unstoppable force. And Pisces is the most transcendent of artists, capable of using its limitless imagination and psychic gifts to create breathtaking and inspirational new worlds.

Cancer, meanwhile, is usually portrayed as the dull housewife: stuck at home, doing all the cooking, taking care of the kiddies in its notoriously maternal fashion and probably riding one of the volatile states in its equally infamous series of mood swings. But, this sign is much more than that. During this Cancer New Moon, we?re demanded to get in touch with the depths of our soul that the enigmatic Cancer-ruled planet of the Moon exerts such an immense sway over.

The element of Water represents all that?s emotional or intuitive. In our society, this realm has been so wrongly identified as the least powerful. We?re more comfortable correlating power with putting ourselves out there in the world with confidence (Fire), gaining financial and professional stability (Earth), or trumping those chaotic emotions with pure logic (Air).

But, Water is actually the most powerful element. By power, I don?t mean brute force or obvious strength. I mean, the deeply felt influence that the element has over us (we are primarily made up of Water, are we not?). It?s a power that both men and women can fear. It?s so mysterious, so profound, so intangible to touch and to reason, that it often seems easier to just ignore the power that emotions can have over us. But, to repress this energy is to not make it to go away but reenergize it, which will only allow it to eventually emerge with even more chaos and force.

While Scorpio?s emotional power is over the darker corners of human nature and Pisces? emotional power focuses on the invisible threads that weave mankind together, Cancer holds an emotional power over the sheer inner workings of the unconscious mind. This is where the childhood memories go, as well as the old wounds and hurts and the dreams, nightmares, insecurities, and emotional needs that unconsciously drive us from day-to-day. Cancer rules our inner child and our inner mother, which can be the literal voice of our mother as well as the sort of nurturing figure we become ? male or female ? to others.

We all have a Moon sign that represents all of the abovementioned qualities and this is our more Cancerian side at work. If we ignore these needs, these fears, these defenses and wounds that call out for our attention, then Cancer will have her revenge. The lunar goddess is a real force of nature. But, again, she?s quiet and subtle about it. We don?t notice that we?re being driven closer and closer to howling at the Moon ? lashing out at others in sudden fits of emotion, shutting down, breaking down ? until it suddenly happens and we wonder, ?Where did that come from??

The Cancer New Moon requires you to find out. But, you must take the risk of disconnecting ? in any way that you can ? from all the distracting worldly noise, as well as the equally distracting voice of the conscious mind that wants to block out anything ?too irrational.? Intuition is Cancer?s greatest gift and we must all get in touch with our own to live lives of a deeper, more profound truth. You might not be able to explain why you feel this way or why you have this hunch. But, so what? You don?t need to explain it. You just need to take the risk of following your gut wherever it leads you.

Doing this, we recognize the power that can be found in ?passivity.? It?s the same power that allows creative individuals to channel great emotion and imagination into their works of art, while not being able to logically explain where it comes from. It?s the power that acts as a wise, old inner compass, steering us away from troubling or dangerous situations before we even have a chance to think about it. This power also allows us to access our own inner lives, which is probably the richest source of stability that we can achieve as individuals. More than money or success or approval from others, finding inner peace and emotional security is the only way to be truly happy, as well as to know how to make others around you feel genuinely happy and taken care of. This is the power of Cancer and the Moon. Respect it.

Spend your day during this New Moon, then, immersed in quiet reflection. Just try to lie around silently for at least half an hour, truly exploring your inner life and without the worry of ?not getting anything done.? Though Mercury is retrograde in Gemini, as well as positioned in Venus, don?t let restlessness get the best of you. It?s also a good time to delve deeper into intimate relationships, whether it?s a close friendship or romantic relationship. Really share your feelings with someone, without the fear of being too vulnerable. If you have children, now?s also a perfect time to deepen your connection with them, to really take the time to listen to and attend to their true needs.

It?s actually an ideal time to deeply get in touch with your Moon sign, as well, whatever it might be. Allow it to eclipse the showiness of your Sun for a while. Just do whatever you can to feed this sign?s needs in a healthy way. Feed yourself. Do some delicious home cooking. Cancer also loves to reminisce about the past, so it can be the perfect chance to delve into that old photo album or call Mom up to have a nice chat about the good old days.

But, let the reminiscing instill feelings of warmth within you. One of Cancer?s flaws is dwelling too much on past hurts and re-opening old wounds. What?s done is done. What happened to you to as a child or even a couple years ago doesn?t have to be carried over into the now. Instead, think of yourself as constantly riding the currents. Instead of living in the past, let yourself drift to the safety and security you can find in the present. The Cancer New Moon is teaching us that it?s okay sometimes to purely react instead of act. But, only react to the present. Because that?s all we have.

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