This Far and No Farther
For many months, now, the astrological message has been about challenging and repeated emotional releases, confusion and indecision. That will almost surely change dramatically in July.
Neptune, Chiron, Nessus and Saturn have softened the ground. Positive aspects have planted seeds of hope and aspiration and begun paving a way forward.
Beginning very soon, as soon as July’s New Moon makes itself felt, we will define a goal for ourselves. We will experience a grim and righteous determination to achieve that goal, even if that means outright confrontation with those who resist us.
The Moon’s Work
Cancer, presently being transited by the Sun, is the Moon’s home sign. Both Cancer and the Moon are closely associated with the psychologically and spiritually vital 4th house.
Cancer, the Moon and the 4th house are all closely associated with the weaving and reweaving of patterns in our unconscious mind. These patterns affect our spirituality and our psychology. They strongly influence, if they do not simply determine, our attitudes and behaviors.
Moon to the Nth Degree
Every July, the Sun transits Cancer, placing its energetic emphasis on the deep psychological and spiritual processes governed by Cancer, the Moon and the 4th house. In July 2015, a number of factors will dramatically heighten this focus, intensifying, accelerating, amplifying and spiritualizing these psychological and spiritual processes.
There are three Moons in July 2015.
July 2nd, Full Moon in Capricorn.
July 16th, New Moon in Cancer.
July 31st, Full Moon in Aquarius.
This surplus of lunar energy will, by itself, put psychological and spiritual processes into overdrive.
But there is more.
Some Serious Sirius
Sirius is by far the brightest star in the heavens. It is also the most sacred of the stars. Located in Cancer, I think of Sirius as the light of higher consciousness shining through the psychological and spiritual processes governed by Cancer.
The patterns we weave in the course of the Moon’s monthly cycle must not be so dense as to obstruct the light of Spiritual Intuition that shines steadily through Cancer, providing insight, guidance and support. In symbolic terms, this means that we must not shut out the light of Sirius by weaving rigid and opaque patterns in our unconscious.
With relatively few exceptions, the New Moon conjunction will produce a beam of Sirius energy strong enough to soften and penetrate even the most rigid and opaque patterns in our subconscious. Although some may be brittle enough that they snap under the strain.
It is worth noting that, historically, the Cancer/Capricorn axis has proven powerfully sensitive. Pluto’s transit of this axis, whether in Cancer or Capricorn, has consistently correlated with major historical events.
At the moment of the New Moon on July 16th, Mars, Mercury and Sirius will conjoin. This triple conjunction is closely opposed to retrograde Pluto in Capricorn. For astrological purposes, the distance between Mercury, Sirius and Mars is negligibly small.
This exact conjunction and opposition is highly unusual. I checked as far back as the 1600s and found nothing comparable.
Mercury at 14º 11’ Cancer.
Sirius at 14º 17’ Cancer.
Mars at 14º 21’ Cancer.
Pluto at 14º 02’ Capricorn
Sun and Moon conjunct in Cancer at 23º 14’ Cancer.
The New Moon in July marks the beginning of the Moon’s annual cycle of New Moons, another factor that increases the significance of this conjunction/opposition.
If you use Greenwich Observatory (UT) as the birthplace, as I do, this potent opposition will fall across the financial access of the chart, heralding a profound shift in global economic attitudes.
Drawing Lines in the Sand
A strong Sirius imparts a clear and strong, often relentless sense of spiritual mission. It can also cause life-changing events that return us to alignment with that mission.
When Sirius aligns with Mars, passion and initiative combine with a strong, distinctly spiritual kind of inspiration. Through Mercury, Sirius infuses thought and language, spoken and written, with spiritual inspiration.
Sirius, Mars and Mercury, then, will create a kind of righteous, spiritually inspired determination in us and impart a solid psychological confidence in ourselves and our mission. We will become convinced of the rightness of our goal and of our ability to achieve it.
We will become increasingly convinced that we should and can overcome the seemingly innumerable challenges we are now facing. It will also bring a continuing series of spiritual and psychological changes in us.
The exact opposition from Pluto can add an obsessive, self-righteous tone to our determination. We can become demanding, domineering, impatient and combative, overlooking or even overriding the rights and expectations of others. No doubt, some will behave this way.
By Any Means Necessary
It would be hard to underestimate the power and intensity of this influence. On the individual level, it will grant many of us the determination and direction we’ve been lacking. Others of us can become obsessed and controlling.
On the macro-level, this influence will almost certainly cause extreme and fanatical acts.
Mitigating Factors: Retrograde Motion and Mutability
Saturn, Pallas, Ixion, Pholus, Quaoar, Chariklo, Pluto, Ceres, Nessus, Chiron and Neptune will all be retrograde at the New Moon in July.
By itself, the Pluto/Sirius/Mars/Mercury opposition should be considered dangerously volatile, even explosive. However, retrograde motion predominates in the chart.
Retrograde motion encourages thoughtful, reflective, introspective responses and stimulates discussion. The circumstances and resources needed to act, or overreact, tend not to be available.
But the retrograde motion will also make the world permeable to this intense burst of spiritual energy, which will sink in and percolate through the many layers of our reality.
Last month http://on.fb.me/1d29yEV, I discussed the significance of the retrograde motion of the dwarf planets that govern collective consciousness. The transformative discussions taking place as a result of these retrogrades will now be infused with the distinctly spiritual energy of the Pluto/Sirius/Mars/Mercury opposition.
Again, if, as I do, you use Greenwich Observatory (UT) as the birthplace, all these retrograde dwarf planets fall in mutable Sagittarius in the 7th house, foretelling a profound transformation in our ideas about social relationships and our obligations to each other as members of a society.
Many of the most significant placements in recent charts have been in mutable signs. This mutable energy will also tend to soften and dissipate any harshness.
Supportive Aspects
There is a generous assortment of trines in this chart. Most notable, perhaps, is the Grand Trine between Chiron, Saturn and the grouping in Cancer. This trine will dramatically facilitate the change of worldview required to allow these radical new Sirius energies to express effectively.
Furthermore, Pluto sextiles Chiron; Chiron, in turn, trines the cluster in Cancer. This will channel the disruptive energy of the Pluto opposition into constructive, transformative dialogue.
All of the trines complement the bracelet of minor positive aspects in place long-term.
Mixed Messages, As Usual
So, in July, as in previous months, our opinion about whether things are falling apart or coming together will depend on which signals we are reading. And again, as in so many previous months, if we focus on the inevitable negative events, we will overlook a rare and profoundly transformative astrological event, one that marks a historic turning point in key social and economic attitudes, world wide.
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The Cluster in Cancer
Chart of the New Moon in Cancer