The summer solstice (which for 2017, came Tuesday, June 20th) is the longest day and shortest night of the year, and it marks a shift in the light as the days will now start waning toward fall. Cancer is one of the four cardinal signs (the cardinal signs being Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn), and like the other three signs of the cardinal modality, Cancer initiates a season. The sun’s ingress into Cancer coincides with the beginning of Summer. The days turn hot and languid. Folks flock to pools, beaches, rivers, oceans, and lakes. The wet, sweaty heat makes folks crabby. And soft. And hard. And tender. And loaded with feels. Like the moon that rules this sign, Cancer waxes and wanes. Cancer’s feelings are vast and deep like the ocean, swinging in and out like the tide. The first decan of Cancer, called “A Mother and Child” by Austin Coppock, is Cancer’s most well-known face. In this face we see intimacy, nourishment, reciprocity. In this face we see the ancestors and the descendants. We see all of the many ways we show up to nourish each other.
Coppock’s take on this decan is too good not to quote generously. He says: “Though thoroughly romanticized, the actual dynamic entailed herein is a mixture of hunger and sweetness. Love and need blend together here. Yet there is an alchemy, for the energy circulates between the two participants. It is as if the two reside in each other’s wombs, simultaneously devouring, and being devoured, yet neither is depleted. It is this miracle of entwined vessels that many long for when they dream of the love that will save and strengthen them.”
The new moons have synced up with the ingresses of the sun so right after the beginning of Cancer season we have the new moon in Cancer happening June 23rd. The new moon in Cancer always feels especially potent and this year it is flanked on all sides by juicy, powerful, Venus & Mars goings-on. Mercury joins Mars and the Sun in Cancer Wednesday, June 21st so we are definitely in some hot, mercurial Cancer waters right now. This is an excellent concoction for moodiness, tenderness, and some pinchy crab claws to come out if you feel that you are not getting the reciprocal nourishment you need from a loved one.
Saturday, June 24th, Venus in Taurus will trine Pluto in Capricorn. Earth trines can denote increased pragmatism and the stabilizing support of the material world. This is pretty much the most grounding astro-weather we’ve got this week as we wade through hot water and neptunian dream-worlds so even though this might not traditionally be considered the nicest of aspects, it might be the best we’ve got right now. This might mark a moment when the transformation of a relationship in your life is needed so that you can make sure your material-world needs are being met. Also Saturday, Mars in Cancer will square Jupiter in Libra. The Cancer-Libra square, as a combo (and especially between Jupiter and Mars) can surface brewing resentments around relationship needs and family and home life desires. If something is not balancing out just-right (Libra) tender Cancer will take it extremely personally. Beyonce’s Hold Up in which she is dressed in the classic garb of Osun (The Venusian Orisha who rules sweet water) will be an anthem for this Saturday.
The week caps off Sunday with Mars in Cancer trine-ing Neptune in Pisces. “Water trines suggest a facility at being able to hold, support and protect each other” says Sue Tompkins. Mars in Cancer, the warrior in their most protective stance, who says that the best offense is an impenetrable defense, gets a chance to melt a little under the empathetic gaze of Neptune in Pisces who wants to imagine a boundary-less world where we feel every other person as if they were ourselves. Sunday, allow yourself to sink into these deep waters, and in doing so we can all learn something about how to hold each other a little better, a little more sweetly, a little more tenderly.
mabel vautravers 