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The 2023 Cancer New Moon reaches its maximum phase at 11:32a PDT on Monday 17th July 2023 at 24°56’. This is a fascinating New Moon phase in that it shares the day with the ingress of the Moon’s North and South nodes into Aries and Libra respectively, only approximately 90 minutes after the New Moon’s maximum phase. All four energies – Sun, Moon, North Node, and South Node – will be in or moving into cardinal signs, capturing the “new beginnings” essence of both cardinal energy and the energy of the New Moon.
I use tight 3° orbs for transits most often, so connecting the Cancer Sun+Moon conjunction with the cardinal T-Square of the Moon’s Nodes and Capricorn Pluto Retrograde is a bit wide for my tastes (24-0° – a nearly 6° separation), but in regard to this 2023 Cancer New Moon event, I’ll let it pass. This would allow a powerful Cardinal Grand Cross configuration to be acknowledged, which indicates that if ever a time for us to move into new directions in new ways in our individual and collective lives, well, this is it.
Cancer, specifically, is a cardinal water sign, representing new emotional beginnings… if we choose them for ourselves. That’s the challenge for Cancer as its energy is also very much associated with the places and people we feel should provide us with emotional safety and protection – home and family. Home and family also (and often) represent our familiar emotional past, and as humans, we tend to default to what is familiar to us, even if it’s not “comfortable”.
What this 2023 Cancer New Moon initiates for many of us are new definitions for home and family, bringing up questions of what we’re willing to emotionally invest in, stand for, and/or protect in every area of our lives, but none more so than in our relationships with our individual selves. Yes, this New Moon will likely have you reassessing your relationships and pretty much everything else in your life, honoring your emotions and intuitions to acknowledge where, what, and who is really emotionally safe and supportive for you as well as who is detrimental to your emotional well-being. This is especially in the case of family members and longtime friends when we may not like how we feel about them and/or ourselves when we’re around them, yet we stay in the relationships because “they’re family” or because they’ve been “part of (our) lives for so long”. Many of us will be making choices about whether or not to continue these relationships, influenced by the energies of this 2023 Cancer New Moon to establish healthier relationships with ourselves and each other.
In wide opposition to the Cancer Sun and Moon is Pluto Retrograde in Capricorn (cardinal earth). This energy pertains to both our individual and collective experiences with our societal institutions and structures. What were formerly considered to be unstable institutions and structures are becoming (more) stable, strong, and effective in taking the initiative to positively transform themselves, their communities, their regions, and possibly the world; while structures and institutions that were once respected and revered are now losing their power and in some cases, disintegrating before our eyes.
These institutional strengthenings and weakenings will affect how we as individuals choose to navigate the world. Our standards of success may be redefined, our intentions may shift focus, our goals may change, and our ambitions may be redirected as result of the institutional shifts and how the various powers-that-be choose to respond to them. It would also be wise to keep in mind that many of those in the positions of power or authority are part of these institutions, and are most likely focused on preserving their own individual/personal advantages.
That last bit brings us to the Moon’s nodal counterparts moving into Aries (cardinal fire) and Libra (cardinal air), indicating that our actions will be determining our present and future courses, our karmic resolutions, and our karmic destinies for the next 18 months. This means it’s up to us to take matters of personal sovereignty and independence into our own (individual) hands. Our actions are intended to bring balance to severely imbalanced, unequal, and/or inequitable partnerships or relationships of any and all kinds.
Of course, many individuals coming together in common purpose increases the strength of the individual actions, and individuals coming together and acting as one unified force to preserve their individual human rights can be a very powerful collective effort. This is in order to balance the karma we get to work through and resolve regarding ways of thinking and communicating which some of us claim are intended to preserve civility and peace, yet are no longer effective in establishing or maintaining civility, balance, or peace.
Peace cannot be maintained when matters are severely out of balance or unequal. The conditions must be shifted in order to bring balance and restore peace. However, when matters have gotten so out of balance that diplomacy and negotiation are not effective, or once it becomes clear that one (or more) parties involved have no intention of negotiating peace, we begin to understand that sometimes, the only way to deal with these extreme imbalances is to take extreme measures.
Pay attention to the words and actions of both or all parties involved in any conflict of any kind – personal or collective – and feel your way through what is factual and what is false. Also, be prepared for the realization that you may not always be the one at a disadvantage. In some cases, you may have the upper hand, and you may be on the receiving end of efforts to balance and equalize.
Even if you don’t like the truth that you recognize, it’s important to feel your feelings about it as those feelings are likely what you need to know about yourself in order to make choices that are aligned with your Inner Truth.
That last part – about feeling your feelings – is the essence of this 2023 Cancer New Moon. Too many of us have moved too far away from ourselves in thought and practice to trust our intuitions and emotions in making choices and taking actions in our lives. We’ve become so accustomed to seeking and/or chasing what “feels good” or “keeps the peace” with others that we often cannot stand to feel any discomfort nor allow ourselves to acknowledge and express when something feels off or wrong to us.
Instead, we seek confirmation or affirmation from others outside of ourselves, but in doing so, we often forget that most others are going to respond with whatever makes them feel emotionally familiar, safe, and/or protected. In these situations, especially if you have a significant role in their lives, they may not be supportive of any changes you make in your life direction as your change will mean your role in their life may change.
We can expand that last part to our societal structures and systems. When certain individuals evolve or progress, their role(s) in our society shifts, and that means the society as a whole will shift. The way systems are organized or maintained must change. Some people are invested in making and possibly accelerating these changes, while others are invested in preventing if not reversing them. Part of our learning during this 2023 Cancer New Moon is to notice what’s happening around you, who’s resisting if not fighting against change, and who’s embracing and advocating for if not fighting for change. Also consider why that is the case.
Then, as you look at each component of these changes, notice how you feel as you think about each one. Genuinely pay attention. What is your truth?
And if you don’t like the truth that you discover within yourself, what are you going to do about it?
What are you going to choose to align with through your actions and words?
The most peaceful path, no matter how unbalanced it may be… or the most conflicted path, no matter how much balance may need to be figuratively or literally fought for?
Are you going to speak your truths and take your actions to restore balance in your life and in the world, no matter what it takes to do what feels like the right thing to do by not only yourself but for the individual rights of all human beings on this planet?
The choices are up to you, and they will determine the course of not only your own individual life, but the lives of everyone around you…
…but you’re only responsible for how you feel.
And that’s the most important lesson to learn and remember during this 2023 Cancer New Moon:
You’re not responsible for anyone else’s emotional truth.
Those are their feelings, and they get to figure out what their truth is by how they feel as result of their own beliefs and choices.
Your choices serve to turn their focus back to themselves, and understand that others will respond based upon how ready and willing they are to take on the truth about themselves that their emotions bring to the surface. This does not make your feelings right for everyone else – it only makes them right for you. You’ll come to understand that “right” and “wrong” are matters of both personal and collective belief, and that if your feelings aren’t in alignment with the majority of the individuals around you, you may be the one who needs to seek new environments and communities to be part of.
This is why the goal of this 2023 Cancer New Moon phase is to get each and all of us – individually – back in touch with our Inner Truths again, to reconnect us with our emotions and intuitions, to reestablish trust in ourselves and our intuitive abilities. This New Moon phase helps us remember how to feel our way through our lives as our soul always knows the way.
We must feel our own feelings and choose our own paths for ourselves. No one else is responsible for our emotions or our choices. We feel those and make those all by ourselves… but in order to feel empowered in our lives, we must trust our own inner knowing, our own inner “voice”, our inner feeling. We must also be able to discern when any fearful feelings we may have are fears are of the future we’re being called to step into (which means fears of leaving our past behind and of our lives and lifestyles changing), or fear of something that we know even if it no longer inspires us (which means staying attached to our past and present because we’re afraid of our future). More and more of us are feeling the call to change now, and that’s largely due to the current numerological energies pulling us toward the future.
Numerologically, the 2023 Cancer New Moon reaches its maximum phase on a 22 Universal Day in the western nations and a 5 Universal Day in the eastern nations. Everyone will experience this New Moon under the influence of a 5 Universal Month and a 7 Universal Year. Making this notation, the 5 numeric energy of change, variety, versatility, and the ability to adapt to changes will be especially strong for the eastern nations, many of which are actively engaged in implementing structural and systemic changes both (individually) within and (collaboratively) outside their borders at this time.
Meanwhile, you’ll notice a strong “community” or “network” component to how change is taking shape in the western nations, with individuals and independent entities coming together in common purpose. Expect major shifts in mindset and/or awareness in these regions at this time as individuals start to recognize that they’re not alone in their feelings and intuitions, and begin taking collaborative actions with others through a sense of collective empathy.
In both the 22/5/7 and 5/5/7 groups, the common themes are change and mental focus, and the strengths and weaknesses of our societal institutions and structures are becoming more obvious now more than ever before. Changes need to be made, almost all of us feel the need for change, and the only question is which actions we choose to take to either progress or prevent our evolution.
For more insights into the energy dynamics of this 2023 Cancer New Moon, here are the astrological transits within 3° orb (with a couple of exceptions) at the time of the New Moon’s maximum phase:
(Cancer Sun conjunct Moon) square Aries Eris (24-25°) – Emotional connections may be challenged by one or both individual’s sense of “otherness”. It may be time to deal with and heal one’s self-identity wounds in order to develop the ability to form healthy relationships with first yourself, and then other individuals.
(Cancer Sun conjunct Moon) sextile Taurus Uranus (22-24°) – Finding group/community in which values are shared and emotional support individual and collective human evolution are encouraged and extended freely.
(Cancer Sun conjunct Moon) trine Pisces Neptune Retrograde (24-27°) – Emotional connections and/or family connections are empowered or amplified by ideals/visions/dreams of how they’re supposed to be, encouraging honoring one’s emotional truth.
(Cancer Sun conjunct Moon) semi-sextile Leo Venus (24-28° – wide) – Emotional self-awareness leads to new awareness of (and new assessment of) one’s one-on-one relationships and partnerships of all kinds. This may be a time in which the quality vs. quantity debate find its moment.
(WIDE) GRAND CROSS: (Cancer Sun conjunct Moon square Taurus North Node/Scorpio South Node square Capricorn Pluto Retrograde (24-0°) – This configuration becomes a CARDINAL energy Grand Cross approximately 90 minutes after the New Moon’s maximum phase! The Taurus North Node and Scorpio South Node ingress into Aries and Libra respectively. This is POWERFUL initiative energy, strongly encouraging if not pushing us into new beginnings. Those of us who have been resisting doing something new may not have much of a choice but to move into a new way of doing and/or being in one or more areas of their lives now.
SEQUENCE: Aries White Moon Selene semi-sextile Taurus Jupiter semi-sextile Gemini Vesta (10-13°) – Honoring one’s Highest Self leads to evolving personal values, which lead to a determination and dedication to learning new ideas and concepts.
BLESSING TRIANGLE: Aries White Moon Selene sextile Gemini Vesta sextile Leo Mercury (11-13°) – Honoring one’s Highest Self not only supports one’s dedication to learning new ideas and concepts – it also empowers the fullest and brightest individual self-expression one can generate from themselves. This encourages each and all of us to express ourselves fully in the world as a matter of personal sovereignty.
YOD: Pisces Neptune Retrograde quincunx Leo Venus quincunx Capricorn Pluto Retrograde (27-29°) – Societal ideals being forced to shift – rose-colored glasses shattered as partners/others help and see who you truly are One’s Light.
Cancer Juno square Aries White Moon Selene (11-12°) – Commitment to emotional Truth challenged by the call to Highest Self.
Cancer Juno semi-sextile Leo Mercury (12-14°) – Commitment to one’s emotional expression is encouraged, for better or worse.
Aries Chiron trine Leo Black Moon Lilith (19-22°) – Self-identity healing empowered and amplified by ego expression and the need for individual acknowledgment. There’s a bit of “if no one else will do it for me, I’ll do it for myself” here, and that could be a good thing for those who tend to put too much stock into other people’s opinions and perspectives.
Aries Eris trine Leo Venus (25-28°) – “Otherness” of individuality/self-expression empowers unique or special connections/partnerships.
(Virgo Mars conjunct Pallas Athena) opposite Pisces Saturn Retrograde (4-6°) – Pattern-driven behavior balanced by/confronted by boundaries/discipline of vision. Yet is the pushback you may be receiving letting you know that it’s time to change your habits?
Taurus Jupiter sextile Cancer Juno (11-14°) – Growing awareness/expansion of new social values supported by honoring one’s emotional Truth and/or emotional commitment to oneself.
Taurus Jupiter square Leo Mercury (11-12°) – Growing awareness/expansion of new social values challenges beliefs about unique individual self-expression. Have you actually been less free to be yourself than you actually believed yourself to be? Do you now feel safe enough to let others see all of who you truly are?
Taurus Uranus square Leo Black Moon Lilith (19-22°) – Evolving social values challenged by ego’s need for creative acknowledgement.
The energy of the 2023 Cancer New Moon will be felt from Friday 14th July through 20th July 2023. Remember the goal of this 2023 Cancer New Moon – to reconnect with your emotions and your intuitions, to reconnect with your ability to trust yourself and your feelings, and to bring all areas and aspects of your life into alignment with your emotional Truth.
This 2023 Cancer New Moon is a call to feel your way to something new – to a life that feels true… to you.
~ Light, Love, and Blessings,
Grace
