Don’t let habitual reactions get the upper hand – stay awake!
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Cancer – the spiritual waters of life
. Whatever seed was planted in your life during the last New Moon at the beginning of Cancer, this New Moon will be growing it above ground, and it’s important to keep one’s spirits up because the necessary work could look daunting (Sun/Moon opposite Saturn). Any of the Cancer-style issues may have arisen: including birth into or out of this world; giving and receiving nurture; caring for children and old people; emotional reactions around family and closeness – or lack of it; connecting to Mother Earth, and to the great Presence within which we become aware. There is always more one could say, but the essence is immersion in the ebb and flow of emotions.
. Completing the Cancer-course brings us to the awareness of being held throughout our process of growth and maturing as part of the human family. The holding is in all we receive in our weakness, and in all we give in our strength, and in human life we often feel the ebb and flow between the two – mother and child. This New Moon at the end of Cancer is about having received everything we actually need to develop the maturity to give where we can. We shift from a small everyday self with wants and preferences and a sense of entitlement, into an aspect of the totality which seeks only to hold it all. Central to this process is our emotional experience.
. At this time, we are experiencing the fear of a virus and death, or of losing our autonomy and individual identity, the fear of losing our lifestyle or even our planet. Added to that is now anger and even rage, cynicism in the face of conflicting opinions, hopelessness and even despair. This is all part of the emotional sea we swim in, and what we feel may not be engendered within our own outlook or attitudes, but rather a wave of human emotion, partly hyped up by media coverage of events.
Break the flow of habitual thought – get present
. Since the end of May for over two months, our minds have been bathing in this ocean of human reactions (Mercury travelling through Cancer). There would have been an intensity of focus on past causes for three weeks in the middle of all that (Mercury retrograde from 17 June to 10 July). Especially since the Solstice New Moon at the beginning of Cancer, we have been dealing with these emotional reactions. We now know enough to recognise the need to see them, and be able to stand aside from their influence on our thinking. This is important!
. You will have experienced having a mood, and whatever flows through your mind is coloured by the mood. So rather than trying to control and change what we feel, we need to interrupt the flow. Stop, and focus your mind deliberately on just what surrounds you at the time. Being aware of life in and through bodily senses calms the emotional sea. Then choose to think about something you can achieve, about people you know love you, about how you might like to help someone else. And the feelings will follow the thoughts, instead of the other way round.
. We now have another two weeks to practise watching these emotions as they roll through, getting ourselves up to date with what really matters to us personally, and finding a place of steadiness deep inside (Mercury moves into Leo 4 August). Emotional reactions happen in human bodies, but thoughts and actions do not need to be driven by them. I try to remember never to make a decision when my mood is low because those are the ones I later regret. Depression closes one in on oneself, and so vision of possibilities is limited.
. Over the next months, our attitude needs to be observant, compassionate and definitely not impatient for action. Frustration and impatience are not helpful drivers just now (Mars through Aries square Capricorn). Action needs to follow a deliberate decision to act.
Full Moon 3 August – ‘be here now’!
. From the beginning of August, we will probably know what we need to do next (Mercury takes the New Moon position opposite Saturn). And we need to take special care not to rush our activities (Mars squares Jupiter and Saturn on 4 and 10 August). When things need to be done, do them carefully, mindfully. Be prepared to let some things go, and adapt to situations you discover as you go along. Imagine you are crossing a stream where the stepping stones only become available just as you need to step – you need to be balanced on one foot, testing the feel of the next stone before moving onto it, shifting your weight smoothly from the back foot to the stepping one – a kind of Tai Chi feel, or a meditative ‘slow walk’.
. There will be others crossing the stream, and they will need a helping hand, as will we ourselves. The help can be words of encouragement given in passing. And it’s important not to cling on, or we can all lose balance! (Sun and Moon square Uranus) So give what you know you can spare, hold only what you need. Let the ceaseless ocean waves wash around your knees as you tread sensitively and firmly on your path. This carefulness is not about being anxious for the future – who knows what’s there! It’s about being present with the difficulties and joys of life itself as the very process of growth and connection (Mercury into Leo on 4 August, as Venus moves over the North Node in Gemini).
. If we can handle the emotions, this is a great time for new ideas, finding out about what you want to understand, experimenting with different ways to run your life and relate to others. Let’s enjoy this newness wherever we can!
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Contemplation for this 2nd New Moon in Cancer
Dear ones – welcome to the present!
Life will present you with exactly what you need next.
You may not recognise it from the grass roots,
but allow your vision to rise into your greater self
and what you see will rejoice your soul.
All that is needful is given
all that is outdated falls away.
This is not a time to cry for the past,
the future opens to a new vista.
Be patient with your companions’ fear,
it is not yours.
The gift to you is the deeper joy hidden in each moment
where you seem to be alone only until you realise
you are one with all that is!
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