By: Janette Dalgliesh – Confluence Daily is your daily news source for women in the know.
19 July – 17 August 2020
Over this weekend, we will experience the Dark Moon in the sign of Cancer: heartfelt, compassionate, connected and emotional. (Exact times below)
Dark Moon is always a good time for resting, resetting, and plenty of self-care and self-support.
Dark Moon in Cancer is like that, but on steroids, multiplied by a hundred.
Practice self-nurture of the body: good food, plenty of resting, hydration, fresh air where it’s safe – you know the drill. Ask your body what she really wants, and do that.
AND practice self-nurture of the mind and spirit: proactively engage kind thoughts about yourself, flow forgiveness for past mistakes, take a rest from any sense of pushing or a need to be super-productive.
In other words, REEEE-lax. Flow kindness inwards, in radical quantities.
Take a social media break if that helps.
Let it go.
Because this is the lead up to a Cancer New Moon which activates both Jupiter and Saturn in the sky: the Lord of optimistic expansion, and the Lord of fine detailed “get shit done“.
These two characters operate very differently, but ultimately they are both on our side.
Visionary Jupiter says ‘anything is possible – let’s go beyond the known!’.
Rigorous Saturn says ‘let’s do it properly and make it real’.
We benefit when we make space for BOTH.
Release any heavy Saturnian angst about ‘not good enough’ and invite more of the Jupiterian dynamic of infinite horizons.
With the Dark Moon, we prepare by asking questions such as “how am I already really good at what I do?“ and “what delightful things have I already achieved that I can celebrate?”
If the initial answer to those questions is “I don’t know”, I invite you to keep asking – your brain will eventually come up with answers that you like, as long as you decide that those answers exist (and they do!)
With the New Moon lighting up Mercury and the Lunar North Node, this will be a perfect time to use our words in order to be kind, to connect, to explore those new and innovative possibilities, and to insist upon having what my colleague Karen Hawkweed calls a ‘right relationship with power’.
It’s an opportunity for us to have kind and gentle conversations with ourselves about our own relationships with our own personal power, and the concepts of power within our society.
Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand, reminds us that even in a party-based political system “yes, we need a robust democracy, but you can be strong, and you can be kind“.
This New Moon also awakens goddess asteroid Vesta, who represents the flame of passion in our hearts and our hearths: whatever we are dedicated to, it’s the Vestal flame which fuels our momentum.
And it lights up Venus in Gemini, activating our capacity to speak the truth of our own unapologetic desires – especially if we haven’t yet been fully honest with ourselves.
All of these energies operate both internally and externally; both personally and politically.
We can use this Lunar cycle to set things in motion towards a much larger dream – and with all that lies ahead of us, that’s a smart move to make.
Remember, this year is about the significant Jupiter / Pluto / Saturn dance, which set the scene for a radical overhaul of how we humans manage ourselves as individuals, and how we manage our relationships with governance and authority of all kinds.
With the New Moon in Cancer, we are invited into a deeper sense of connection with our own hearts, exploring what we truly want; and we can tap into the energy of fierce love and determined compassion.
We also want to remember that three hours after the New Moon moment, the Moon herself moves into fiery, radiant Leo – home of the Sun and our yearning for full self-expression.
This is not a time to be holding back from our truth; it is a time for honouring and prioritising our own emotional needs.
And then being willing to shine forth. (If that sounds scary, do please reach out for help from a trusted therapist or coach** – the world needs you to shine your brightest right now)
With Mercury also in the sign of Cancer, we put our feelings and desires into words, and we make some decisions on who we want to be.
And we plan ahead for the rest of the cycle. I’ll be writing in more detail for each key moment, but gently planning things out is a great way to formulate the month ahead, and definitely fits in with Cancer Dark Moon activities IF you do it with love rather than nose-to-the-grindstone heaviness.
First Quarter Moon in Virgo – a time for building what we decided to initiate with the New Moon. Virgo is about the movement from the intangible and chaotic to something tangible, ordered and real.
That could look like systems and structures, solid plans, clear descriptions, procedures and protocols, daily habits of thought, daily ritual magic.
Full Moon at 11° Aquarius – a time to launch what we’ve been preparing and planning out into the world.
In Aquarius, this is going to be a sharing of ideas, concepts and knowledge with the collective, and it’s likely to have the flavour of subversive, innovative rebellious. It’s a perfect moment to challenge the status quo.
What do YOU want the world to understand?
Third Quarter Moon in Taurus – we begin to see the harvest of our efforts in tangible form; we experience results that we can touch and see and smell.
And we celebrate what we’ve made with our own hands, ready for the next Dark Moon, in Leo.
All of this is supported by Mars in his home sign, fiery Aries.
It’s a perfect month in which to activate boundaries, to curate our communications and our social media with a clear eye to our own big vision.
Intellectually, we know not to indulge in time-wasting arguments on Facebook.
Emotionally, sometimes we get passionately devoted to the idea that we have to change other people’s opinions in the red hot moment.
Sometimes it IS possible to help someone understand things in a new way. Sometimes, we might as well whistle down the wind. And the truth is, you know which deserves your energy and thoughtfulness.
With Mars in Aries, we will have no trouble finding the fire we need in order to fuel our own boundaries.
We might need the occasional reminder not to burn it all down.
I find it helpful to ask ‘what would Jacinta do?’ – very often, the answer is ‘step away from the flamethrower, take a deep breath, focus on what you DO want’. (I’m not sure she would actually say this, but it’s a good way for me to pause before flaming!)
When in doubt, move the body and burn off adrenaline, rather than torching a precious relationship.
AND of course, feel 1000 percent free to unfollow, unfriend or block, as you need to (online or in person).
This Cancerian cycle is all about what your heart wants, including the fulfilment of your purpose, and protection from hurtful experiences.
On the broader stage, it’s about navigating a path to a kind and fiercely compassionate relationship with power and our fellow humans.
It’s time to make the most of it.
** if you’re feeling overwhelmed or inadequate, or unsure how to move forward right now, it’s time to reach out for support. Some suggestions include Lisa Marie Hayes, Jacqueline Gates, Cindie Chavez or yours truly.
Exact times (US Eastern timezone):
- 20 July, 1:33 pm – New Moon at 28° Cancer
- 27 July, 8:32 am – First Quarter Moon in Virgo
- 3 August, 11:58 am – Full Moon at 11° Aquarius
- 11 August 12:44 pm – Third Quarter Moon in Taurus
Janette Dalgliesh helps rebel progressive women create their 5-year dream in three months (even if they don’t know what that dream is yet). Her international clientele — the poets, the politicians, the artists and the entrepreneurs — all use their unique skills and talents in the work of dismantling outmoded systems, both external and internal. Janette uses her unique blend of astrology and neuroscience-based coaching to help women come home to themselves and their inherent, world-altering power, so they can do work which makes a difference, makes good money, and makes their hearts sing. Find Janette at her website.
