Eat Good Food, Stretch Your Spine, and Surrender to The Wave: A Reflection on the New Moon/Solar Eclipse in Cancer
It’s that time — Eclipse Season.
Eclipses come in pairs — solar eclipses during a new/dark moon and lunar eclipses during a full moon. Solar eclipses initiate, while lunar eclipses tend to end. Solar eclipses tend to be more external, while lunar eclipses tend to be more internal. As the dependable lumination of the sun or moon is eclipsed, so too can things that seem obvious in your life disappear suddenly. When what you’ve expected and grown used to is all of a sudden cut off or vanishes, you’re left in a sort of darkness in which you can see things differently than you have in the past. You may feel things that you wouldn’t normally feel. Eclipse seasons can force you to navigate the world entirely by feeling — especially this month, with a solar eclipse in Cancer (on Tuesday, July 2nd) and a lunar eclipse in Capricorn (on Tuesday, July 16th).
Cancer is an energy of leaning into your emotions, your intuition, and uncertainty. This season will be about navigating the world more by feel than by facts — a horrific reality for Capricorn, the sign of linear rationality! Over the next two weeks, GO WITH YOUR GUT! Even if something doesn’t make “sense” at the moment, trust the sensations of your body — even (especially) the subtle ones. But to be honest — the sensations inn your body during this intense energetic time probably won’t be that subtle …
Eclipse seasons can leave you feeling like a rug has been pulled out from under you — and that doesn’t have to be a negative thing. The challenge of eclipse season usually has less to do with terrible events and more to do with immense change that seems to occur at higher rates than normal. The space between eclipses becomes a portal where time and space function differently and you can move across dimensions fluidly. Once again — this is especially true in the axis of Cancer and Capricorn which rules how we conceive of and organize time. How strongly you feel eclipses and in which areas of your life depends on how they fall in your chart. Nonetheless, each sign and lunation carries themes with it that will affect many (if not most) people.
The new moon on July 2nd will bring an eclipse in Cancer (the moon’s own sign), which could initiate something in your private life, your home, your family (however you define it), or your foundation (something I discussed during the Full Moon in Sagittarius). The beginning of one thing could ultimately bring an ending to something in your career or your public identity. Most likely, what will end is some sort of illusion about who you are or who you have to be in order to succeed, support yourself, and feel safe. But this Cancer/Capricorn axis is also an axis of sacrifice.
You will always have to sacrifice for what you want. There’s always a price of admission — so this new moon/solar eclipse wants to make sure that your sacrifice is worth what you’re sacrificing for. The Cancer/Capricorn axis is the axis of safety and protection. If you can surrender to the energy of this new moon/solar eclipse, you can find immense clarity in your emotions. Your gut instinct is always right. Your intuition will never steer you wrong.
FOLLOW IT!
Cancer is an intuitive, nurturing, nourishing energy. As human beings, we need to be nurtured and nourished. What is nurturing and nourishing is different for everyone. We are each responsible for nurturing and nourishing ourselves and for ensuring that the people, things, and energies we invite into our lives are also nurturing and nourishing. If someone or something doesn’t feel right to you (even if it sounds good or looks good on paper), don’t do it. Most importantly, under this energy, take time with and for yourself to be very clear about how you want to feel in your life so that it’s easier to discern when a decision makes you feel that way and when it doesn’t.
Solar eclipses tend to be associated with external events or circumstances. But ultimately, all eclipse seasons are about shifting our internal landscapes and bringing them into alignment with our being. They are like a good semi-annual chiropractic adjustment (especially this month, given that Capricorn rules the bones). You might see stars momentarily, but you’ll remember how good it feels to be aligned with your purpose. The goal, ultimately, is to remind you of what you need to remain aligned each and every day. That spinal adjustment is important — but ultimately, it’s your responsibility to stretch and strengthen the muscles that support your spine and maintain good posture.
This week, external events could lead to internal changes that shift how you express yourself in the world. Mercury is also in his shadow and will retrograde less than a week following the new moon. This could increase the chances of old people re-entering your life and, most likely, will lead to some emotional (yet honest) communications. Whatever enters your life during this time (whether it feels good or bad, whether it’s short-lived or long-lasting) is for you, your heart, and your soul. Eclipses can bring surprising events and during this new moon/solar eclipse, you might feel like — where did this come from!? On one hand, beware that strokes of luck and deception can look the same. Things are not always as they appear — so feel into it and watch out for the smoke and mirrors! On the other hand, if it feels right, it probably came from years of work that you’ve integrated so thoroughly into your being that it’s no longer work.
Perhaps you’re being offered an opportunity to create or find a new home that can truly nurture and support you (whatever any of that means to you). Amazing people, things, communities, and opportunities could enter into your life during this time. And yet, everything in life comes at a cost. Everyone and everything comes with a price of admission. And so I return to the question: Are you willing to pay the price of admission? Is it worth what you’ll receive in return? Accepting this person, place, thing, or opportunity will require deep transformation. If you accept it/them, the transformation could occur very quickly — especially given the ways in which time and space function between eclipses. You will be forced to let go of parts of yourself as a result. And that’s the challenge.
The eclipse portal that’s opening with this new moon/solar eclipse could cause you to change your mind about how the world “should” work, or even how you’ve always believed it works. If you’ve always thought things happen a certain way, prepare to be proven wrong. If you’ve always thought that structures are fixed (in politics, in relationships, in religion, in education, in society generally), prepare to be introduced to new ways and realities. Old containers are crumbling and this fluid energy is overflowing to redefine its shape. Just because something’s always been done a certain way doesn’t mean it has to be done that way forever. Healthy Cancerian and Capricornian energies can shift how we perceive of and organize our world from emotional maturity. The last lunar cycle highlighted data, information, and theory. During this cycle, Cancer and Capricorn (the parents of the zodiac) can derive wisdom from the theory that Sagittarius developed with Gemini’s data … if you allow yourself to see it.
Gemini and Sagittarius master knowledge, but Cancer and Capricorn master the most important thing of all — oneself. Mature emotions guide intuitively, rather than controlling or seeking to control. Sagittarius can be the arrogant professor who always believes they’re right and loves teaching to destroy students’ illusions while ranting and criticizing the world. This can be seductive and entertaining, but it’s unlikely to facilitate healthy and sustainable transformation. It doesn’t nurture other people in the way that Capricorn and Cancer can when they cooperate with one another.
Under the influence of this new moon/solar eclipse, let yourself flow as much as possible. Surrender and allow things and people to flow to you. Cancer is the most receptive sign. Be open to receiving all of the good, comforting, nourishing things, people, messages, energy, and experiences available. Eat a delicious meal that also truly nourishes you. Embrace people, places, foods, and energy that are nutrient-rich, not those that are just empty calories. If it tastes good but lacks substance, it doesn’t nourish you.
The Capricorn/Cancer axis is about commitment and the immense change and nourishment that can come from healthy worthwhile commitments to people, places, practices, and things over extended periods of time. This axis can also be conservative (especially compared to the Gemini/Sagittarius axis we recently bid farewell). Under this energy, make decisions that you’ll still support tomorrow, next week, next month, and next year. Set as many boundaries as necessary, prioritize heavily people with whom you share deep connections and common interests, and embrace those with whom you can be vulnerable and share your whole self. Who are the people who know you best? (like — REALLY know all your shit, and still love you!) Those are the people with whom to connect right now.
This is a soft vulnerable eclipse. You could feel many things — but the power of this energy lies in the emotions. Allow yourself to swim in your feelings and ride the waves all the way to the end. Have a beautiful solar eclipse and new moon! May you feel loved. May you feel nourished. May you feel supported and held.
❤, Hilary
**If you want to know more about how these energies affect your chart or how to use astrological energy to guide and transform your life, email me at Hilary@instituteforearthbasedliving.com to set up a personalized session with me.**
