For last year’s words belong to last year’s language. And next year’s words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning.
“The silver thread of the waxing and waning moon can guide you subtly through the ebb and flow of life’s tides. Attuning yourself with the phases of the moon, especially as they aspect your natal chart, can provide a beautiful living meditation that can permeate your life with lunar harmony.” ©JKG
The New Moon in Cancer on June 21st 2020, is the first of two Cancer New Moons that occur this year. Falling at the Summer Solstice, and a Solar Eclipse in some parts of the world, this New Moon at 0 degrees 21 Cancer, hints at profound new beginnings. Dane Rudhyar tells us that the essence of this particular degree of Cancer speaks of:
“A radical change of allegiance exteriorized in a symbolical act: a point of no return.”
The beginning of the yearly decan cycle, which has its known origins in Ancient Egyptian astronomy, starts now, 36 divisions of 10 degrees each, marking out the Solar year.
The Tarot card associated with this Decan, and this New Moon, is The Two of Cups, which I have shown flanked by The Empress and The Chariot, Venus & Cancer representing further the Astrological signature of The Two of Cups. I have shown examples below from The Mythic Tarot.
One of the most favoured cards in the tarot deck, the Two of Cups has long been associated with Love, as shown on the card above, where the first meeting of Eros & Psyche takes place, the very beginning of a relationship. The Empress is the epitome of fertility in this card, showing Venus’ connection with growth, fecundity and motherhood, whilst The Chariot, a perhaps less obvious image, represents the energies of Cancer, the strength of motherhood and the power of family connections. The chariot has long been used as a representation of how the body is a vehicle of the soul, and also too, how the mother is the “vehicle” of the unborn child that she carries.
All in all we have a beautiful and powerful combination here, suggestive of huge 
potential and the promise of positive new beginnings for anything rooted in the realm of creativity, nurturing, love and emotion. Perfecting on the 30th December with the Full Moon in Cancer, also falling in the first decan of Cancer, the next six-month cycle of growth begins now.
The key to the productivity of this dynamic energy lies in the balance required between the two aspects, in order to keep “The Show on the Road” as it were. In any partnership or relationship, both sides are required, to create the end result…. if one party were not there there would be no relationship. As an unborn baby cannot exist without the mother, so too a mother cannot be so without her child. There is a symbiotic relationship here, one which can become fraught at times, with conflict, competition and rivalry, but which promises the victory or sense of fulfilment and arrival that we yearn to manifest.
Connected in earliest times with the star Sirius, this period, which fell slightly later in ancient times, due to the precession of the equinoxes, was concurrent with the annual flooding of the Nile, and so marked the beginning of fertility and “new life” in Egypt; all things sprang from the floodwaters, and agriculture could begin again. Also connected with Isis, Annubis and later on Nike, (Zeus’ charioteer) the Greek goddess of Victory, this entire phase is powerful and full of hope for new life to begin again.
Depending on where the New Moon falls in your chart, it can be an extremely powerful indicator of dynamic change in your life. This particular New Moon is also an Eclipse of the Sun visible in some parts of the world, and ushers in too, The Summer Solstice.
“Cancer-I Feel with every atom of my being, my tides turning with the vagaries of the moon. I nurture and care, my home is my castle, and I protect all that reside there with fierceness and devotion. I am mother, seductress, queen of the sea, from limpid calm to savage storm I can turn, in the break of a wave. Fear not under my command, I am the carer, the source divine ” JKG
“NEW MOON BLESSING– I am the power of the bursting seed, dancing in the beckoning void, ripe with limitless potentials. A kaleidoscope of outcomes seduces, invites and tempts you, but be still in the darkness of the Moon. Sense the power of her black womb, and wait. Trust that in the stillness that I, the right “seed” for now, will find you, a vision for your soul to nurture” © JKG
The Astrologers Diary
The New Moon every month offers an opportunity to sow new seeds, and as an Astrologer, I find it to be a useful exercise for myself and in working with others, to use the energy of each particular New Moon, according to the Sabian Symbol that it falls on, together with the position in which it falls in the Natal Chart. Such considerations can be invaluable in steering through ups and downs, and in becoming “easy” with the ebb and flow of what life brings.
PHASE 91 (CANCER 1°): ON A SHIP THE SAILORS LOWER AN OLD FLAG AND RAISE A NEW ONE. KEYNOTE: A radical change of allegiance exteriorized in a symbolical act: a point of no return.
This symbol seems very in tune with the current trend for pulling down statues to “the old order”. It seems that so many things that I have read in the last few days are connected with the deposing of historically revered figures, who are no longer respected because of their connections with oppression and slavery. I see this really as an encouraging sign that people are becoming less tolerant of swallowing dogma without questioning it, and more confident in standing up for what they believe to be right, and taking actions that they deem to be necessary…. long may it continue. Pluto in Capricorn was always going to be about the crumbling of the old order…. and specifically I feel, about the end of the cycles of Colonialism and Capitalism. The USA will have its “Pluto Return” over the next year or two, and as the nation that stands today was founded in the main on genocide, war and slavery, at the behest of the English, it seems that much of what is ocurring there, and in the UK, has been coming down the track for an awfully long time. As the last New Moon which fell in a storm here augered an entire month of windy weather, I hope that the heavy rain forecast for the New Moon this month, does not mean that we will endure a wet 4 weeks! My garden project has not been finished yet, but I am hopeful that the first plantings will be undertaken after the New Moon has passed. I will take advantage of the symbolic “Innundation of The Nile” and dream of future crops! With the garden only started on the last New Moon… I am delighted with the huge progress that has been made.
I also meet with my co-creator Aia Leu to review the work on The Oracle of Change, which has benifitted from the “lockdown” environment I believe. Art has been emerging, so the next steps must be taken, to put the book together…. so exciting…..
For any intentions that anyone may have at this time, this particular New Moon brings an opportunity to close the eyes, to dream a new dream into being, to fill your heart with hope and love and plant seeds for future forests.
A blessed New Moon to you all, and may the Goddess watch over you. ❤
Knowing where the New Moon falls in your own chart, and whether it is in close aspect with any planets, can be an invaluable tool, along with the wider cycle of the Progressed Moon, for discovering the secret rhythms of your daily life.
A free natal chart wheel can be set up at www.astro.com
My name is Joanna Grant, I am an Astrologer, Tarot Reader and Writer, who lives for now in the South West of Ireland. Throughout my life, I have watched as the planets have woven their stories around me, for it is a truth that my love affair with the stars has been and will be life-long. I can often be found at home, deep in arcane research, or practising some new form of divination, usually whilst trying not to burn the dinner! My long knowledge of Astrology leads and informs my practice in offering guidance across the thresholds of life experiences as defined by the outer planet transits. Through combining Astrology with Tarot and Shamanic techniques, I work with you, the client, to open the way to self-empowerment and healing, helping you to lead a more authentic and magical life. You can read more about me here.
Joanna-Kate Grant 