Astro Notes for Cancer Season 2023
We are in an interesting phase at the moment where the new moon is occurring in one sign just before the Sun moves into the next sign. For example, this weekend we have a new moon in Gemini just before the Sun moves into Cancer on June 21. This means we have more of a blending of zodiacal energies during each astrological season than usual, which may be a tad confusing energetically. The general milieu of Sun in Cancer is one of emotional sensitivity, kindness, and inwardness. We are supported to feel our feelings, to take time to heal and be gentle to ourselves, and to enjoy nurturing our loved ones. With the influence of the new moon in Gemini, this year’s Cancer season may have more of a sped-up, mental quality than usual — we are being invited to stay curious in order to find new solutions that help us to heal.
New Moon in Gemini - We don't have all the answers (but God does)
This weekend’s new moon in Gemini brings pleasant feelings but it might be hard to feel like we are making strong progress toward our goals. The ruler of the new moon, Mercury, is in sextile to Venus, which brings a sweet and relaxed vibe. But the new moon is also in an exact square to Neptune in Pisces. Hard aspects (like squares) to Neptune can make us feel ineffectual, since our normal drive to achieve simply dissolves into the ocean of being. This might result in us feeling weakened or depleted in some way. The deeper purpose is to compel us to surrender to a higher perspective to find a new way forward. It’s not all up to us!
Jupiter sextile Saturn - Grounded hope for the coming age
If Gemini season was dominated by an intense pressure to change (wrought by a tense t-square between Pluto, Jupiter, and first Mars, then Venus), Cancer season brings more harmonious opportunities for growth. The stand out aspect is a beautiful minor grand trine between Jupiter, Saturn, and Sun/Mercury that is strongest around June 26-30. Jupiter in Taurus in sextile to Saturn in Pisces (strongest from June 14-22) is a significant transit in its own right as it is the first major aspect between Jupiter and Saturn since the so-called ‘Great Conjunction’ of Jupiter and Saturn in December 2020. That conjunction occurred at 0 degrees of Aquarius, and was thus seen to represent a seed for the emerging Aquarian Age.
If the conjunction represented an Aquarian seed, the sextile offers an opportunity for that seed to become visible in a concrete form. Regardless of our age, we are all growing into that version of ourselves that is in resonance with the principles of the dawning age. With Jupiter, the archetype of wisdom, in sextile to Saturn, the god of time and structure, we have the chance to gain insight into the long-term commitments we need to make to support our growth into what we are becoming. With Jupiter in Venus-ruled Taurus, these insights can include a clarified awareness of what it is we truly love, so that we can bring into the structure of our lives more of the joy and meaning that makes it all worthwhile. When the Sun and Mercury join the party toward the end of June, we have a beautiful opportunity for this vision to become fully illuminated by our conscious awareness, and to experience a balanced, grounded confidence for our future. The full moon on July 3 also involves a number of harmonious aspects that will further extend this window of opportunity.
But it’s not all plain sailing.
Mars square Uranus - unexpected shift of fortune
On June 25, a square between Mars in Leo and Uranus in Taurus may present an unexpected shift in material circumstances that compels us to make an abrupt adjustment to how we express ourselves creatively. While we may not initially welcome the change, it’s a necessary re-alignment that will ultimately serve to enhance our creative freedom.
Pluto in Capricorn - the final purge
Then we have the movement of Pluto back into Capricorn, which occurred on June 14. Pluto will remain in Capricorn until January 20, 2024. It will then be in Aquarius until early September 2024, when it returns to Capricorn for a short final stay before re-entering Aquarius ‘for good’ in mid-November.
Pluto in Capricorn has been with us since 2008. In that period we’ve witnessed the world being pulled deeper and deeper into crisis. Pluto brings total transformation to whatever it touches by remorselessly exposing to consciousness whatever is out of alignment with reality. In Capricorn, this has involved the pulverization of the established public structures of society — politics, finance, media, health, medicine, education, and so on. Nothing is working anymore.
In its final passage in the last degree of Capricorn over the next year and a half, Pluto will finish the job. Any structures — whether in the world or in ourselves — that are misaligned with the emerging operating system of the Aquarian Age will not be able to get through the gate. It’s a tough lesson. It’s not going to be pretty for our legacy institutions. It’s not going to be easy for any of us.
Yet Pluto’s goal is not to destroy us or our world, but to let the old forms die to make room for something new to be born. Humans have lived through countless times of crisis in the past, which have always served to activate within us deeper reserves of courage and fortitude than we thought we had. We’ve all heard stories of people who lived through periods of crisis like wartime speak almost fondly of those times for what it brought forth in themselves and their communities, despite the great strain. We are being asked to discover a new level of grit within, one that cuts through the more superficial layers of our personality to access something more real and substantial.
Summary
These transits exemplify the ‘preview and post-mortem’ dynamic that is an overarching theme of this astrological year. With Jupiter sextile Saturn, we have an opportunity to set our sights with optimism on the developmental journey that will carry us forward into the Aquarian era. With Pluto in Capricorn, we confront an immense evolutionary pressure to discard old structures that are no longer serving our growth. Holding the tension between these expansive and constrictive forces is one of the primary tasks of our moment.