Cancer New Moon - July 2 - 3

This is the third SuperMoon of 2008.

A SuperMoon is when the Moon is both near perigee (its closest approach to the Earth) and syzygy (in a New or Full Moon phase). SuperMoons generate stronger gravitational pulls on coastal tides, weather patterns and tectonic plates. Our psyches are more easily shifted as well: emotions surge and viewpoints change. Though not as strong as an eclipse, a SuperMoon increases the electromagnetic force both of the Sun and the Moon, making it easier for us to break up old patterns and construct new pathways.

The Moon is in Cancer, the sign it rules. Cancer reminds us that we all are children and mothers, that we must receive as well as give. What feeds us and how we nurture others are specific to each person and will vary at differenct stages of development. What was nourishing at one point may stifle us later; what helped us sprout may not foster our blossoming. Like a plant, we grow toward the light. This New Moon asks us to reflect upon what we require and also what currently blocks our growth.

Ceres at 9 degrees Cancer conjoins the Sun and Moon. In Roman mythology, Ceres was the goddess of agriculture and a daughter of Saturn, another ancient fertility figure. Her name (as well as the root of "create" and "increase") comes from the Indo-European root ker, meaning "to grow."

Known to the ancient Greeks as Demeter, Ceres played a central role in the Eleusinian mysteries -- the sacred rites of birth, death, and renewal -- that connect her with both spiritual and physical sustenance.

Ceres (now designated a "dwarf planet") was the first asteroid to be sighted. It was discovered in 1801 and its association with a goddess rather than a masculine arechetype coincided with an emerging women's rights movement.

Ceres, in conjunction with this New Moon acts as a reminder of what has been splintered off from our collective psyche: the power of the feminine, the importance of knowing where we came from, and the value of knowing where we belong.

Venus in Cancer conjoins this New Moon and exactly opposes Jupiter in Capricorn, further expanding our view on home and family.

The Sabian symbol for 12 degrees Cancer indicates that we need to nurture the part of us that already knows the truth.

"A Chinese woman nursing a baby whose aura reveals him to be the reincarnation of a great teacher."

This New Moon reminds us: "We are star stuff harvesting starlight...We are a way for the Cosmos to know itself...We are, in the most profound sense, children of the Cosmos..." (Carl Sagan)

excerpted from "Cancer New Moon -- July 2-3" by Stephanie Austin June/July 2008 issue of The Mountain Astrologer.

This New Moon conjuncts my natal Venus in the 11th house. It is a reminder to me that nurturing myself nurtures the collective. If I hope to be a vehicle for positive change, I must do those things that make me the best possible person - inside and outside.

Rumi says: "Let the beauty you love, be what you do." And fortunately, I am able to do this. I go outside each morning and visit my plants. I see their progress and what change they have made. What is blooming, fruiting or going to seed. Then I walk up the road behind my house and notice what is going on there. Today I actually saw quail. I thought I heard them days ago, but was not sure it was quail until I saw one run across the road. I realized I had not seen quail for years, despite them being our State Bird.

I spend hours a day online, again doing what I love. Communicating information that I have found helpful and interesting. Today I saw a blog that focuses on 'boredom'. I realized that I am so fascinated by so many things, I don't have time to be bored. Just look around you. There is so much to experience. Right where you are at any moment. If you don't understand this, let me know and I will explain.

For me this New Moon is also about re-dedicating myself to a meditation practice. Many years ago, a psychic by the name of Betty Bethards, taught me a meditation technique and prescribed it as a means of restoring my aura. I had proof that her recommendations were valid. I continued to meditate for several years, then sort of dropped off. Last night at Rio Olesky's Tuesday Night Astrology Class, I remembered Betty Bethards and how she had helped me. So today, I started again.

It's never too late to start again.

Rumi says: "Come, come, whoever you are.
Wanderer, worshipper, lover of leaving — it doesn't matter,
Ours is not a caravan of despair.
Come, even if you have broken your vow a hundred times,
Come, come again, come."

We have to remember that making change is difficult. We have to forgive ourselves for forgetting, being lazy, stubborn or stupid. With the dawning day, start afresh.