Cancer - spirit expressing itself through the waters of love

We arrive on earth with a watery womb protecting our vulnerability, and the water of the emotional world continues to be a buffer for our experience - an early warning system for what is about to happen, an empathic medium between people, and a connection between ideas and forms allowing our desires and feelings to manifest in the physical world. And the meaning and power of our words is largely carried by the emotion in their delivery.

Through pre-birth and babyhood, our earthly costume is formed from the blood and milk we receive, all carrying meaning and power from the past, as well as the emotional field at the time. No wonder parental and ancestral bonds are so strong, whether we like them or not! And here is the crucial importance of mother-love (Moon, mother/child, rules Cancer) to off-set the limiting aspects of reality (Saturn, father/discipline, rules the opposite sign Capricorn); best when the love comes from the birth mother, but if not, that love must come from somewhere or the growing is restricted.

Accepting what’s true is a relief

This month continues to offer the window of opportunity, begun in May, for transforming our emotional take on life, making lasting adjustments in our emotional lives and relationships (Jupiter takes the third point in the ‘wisdom triangle,’ and Mercury is still in Cancer). It is most intense late June and through July, so even little situations are likely to trigger huge emotions from the past. Any realisation you have about yourself during this month will most probably be true, even though it may be out-of-date, and difficult or distasteful to accept. However, if you can accept what is revealed (that means not judging yourself or what you’ve seen) the attitudes and behaviours that are not in harmony with your true self can simply fall away. This is an opportunity to take many steps quickly into the person you really are, the adult, the wise self, the one who is in touch with what’s happening and makes the best decisions (Neptune trine Saturn, with Jupiter now taking the third point in the triangle).

Separating judgement from emotions allows us to feel them

When memories rise, you will find that the old emotions rise too, even with those situations you feel sure you’ve dealt with and let go. Don’t be shocked or upset - this is an opportunity to weed out even the last, hidden, connections to old pain and hurt. This is a time of emotional transformation, recognising where we may have been holding on to a painful memory because it feels like the only connection left to a loved person, or to a situation where you feel you could have done better or behaved differently, thinking there could have been a different outcome. Let yourself have your emotions - they are spirit expressing itself on the emotional level.

Have compassion for your regret and remorse, for your distress or your sadness, and see that it is an attempt to make the past be different - impossible, of course! Cry your tears, be angry or whatever, while at the same time gently telling yourself it is all over now, past, gone. Feel it all flow away out of your heart, away from your body, and be with what you can feel, see, hear, now. The window of emotional transformation is wide open for us all and, if we can focus on being present with what is here now, our letting go will be grounded, allowing deep change in our relationship with life. Then, open your eyes and let yourself see clearly what is here, and you will see a new and brighter world. The past is no longer happening - except in your head.

Reacting towards another hurts us more than them!

This whole month is characterised by blasts of illumination, suddenly seeing how we stand within our own behaviour patterns when we hit out at what we perceive is affecting us adversely (Uranus first square Sun/Moon, then square Mercury). All we hit, of course, is our own surrounding space, which bounces back at us, often painfully. It’s hard to see oneself doing this, or even when someone does it to us. But it’s often quite clear when we see another person getting angry with someone they blame - the blamed person may hurt, but the one blaming is damaged, not only by reaping the karma of causing pain (that is, drawing pain towards themselves), but what they are blaming about is still there - they are stuck!

If someone hits out at you with misplaced anger, see if you can stand clear of their judgement without reacting, giving them the opportunity to see what they are doing, and maybe they can realise the real reason for their anger. Can we do this for ourselves? Can you see how your emotional and judgemental reactions are only to what you think is ‘out there’? And how the judgement keeps you stuck with your problem?

First 2 weeks - caring and humour

During the first two weeks of this month, there is a sense of rightness to our flow through these disturbing waters (Sun/Moon making a triangle with North Node and Chiron). Up to 20 July, our work is likely to be internal realisations coming fast, recognising and breaking through our unconsciously stubborn blocks, and changing our attitudes (Mercury retrograde until 20 July).

It is our loving care of each other, and the humour of the whole situation, that can heal the old wounds, as long as we respect how horrible such situations feel while they are going on (Venus in Leo quincunx Chiron). Because, in the midst of an emotional reaction, it feels like the truth, and even the relief of finding we are wrong can have judgemental overtones - feeling self-consciously foolish, or that ‘I should have known better’. Let’s give ourselves and others encouragement to continue accepting our life’s process.

Second 2 weeks - understanding and service

During the second half of the month, we will be more likely to understand what’s happening (Mercury completes the North Node/Chiron triangle), while finding that we have the energy to act in accordance with our discoveries, to actively change the way we do things, the way we think and relate (Mars joins Jupiter at the Cancer point of the wisdom triangle). As long as we have been kind to ourselves, we will also be more able to give caring and tenderness to others, and, please - also accept caring and tenderness from others. From the Full Moon on 22 July, there will be a lightening of mood, and ways of outwardly manifesting our inner changes become clearer and easier (with Venus moving into Virgo and joining in the pattern of wisdom). Go for it!