Cancer New Moon - July 18/19, 2012



Enoplometopus Debelius Lobster



The New Moon in Cancer is always the sign of summer in the northern hemisphere. The symbol in nature that represents the sign of Cancer is the crab. But, there are other crustaceans that have also been used in the past; lobster and crayfish.  The nature of the sign of Cancer is as diverse as the actual sea creatures that represent it. They can come across as some "tough cookies," yet they have a vulnerable nature, as well. In looking for some images of nature's representative, I came across some beautiful images of  crab and lobster. Here is one from Frédéric Fasquel. If you want to enjoy some more photos, there is a great variety of crustacean images located on seafocus.com. I particularly loved the sangian crab on SeaFocus with the intricate and delicate white spines over its tiny little purple body. Moving along to the energies of the New Moon in Cancer. As explained in the Lunar Living article, we have a very unusual chart this year. There are five planets interacting in a fierce combination to form both a cradle pattern and a T-square, collectively. Whatever develops as a result of this New Moon is likely to have a lasting impact on our lives.

Mercury is retrograde now until August 8 in the sign of Leo. This transit is likely to change our perceptions of our children. Additionally, it would be advisable to rethink our desire to take chances or gamble with our limited resources. This is not the most opportune transit to try to risk it all. Mercury ties into the base of the cradle pattern with Jupiter in Gemini. Together, they meet up with the base holders of the opposing T-square, Uranus in Aries and Mars in Libra. The apex of the T-square is Pluto. We moved into this Diamond Cut pattern a couple of days ago, and will continue to experience the combination of power-packed energies to approximately July 27.

Let's look into future for a moment, before I head out. There is a "calendar" blue moon next month on the 31st of August. Astrologically, there is no significance of two full moons occurring in the same calendar month. However, there will be another cradle pattern (sans the T-square) with that full moon holding together the top of the aspects in Virgo and Pisces while Mars and Pluto hold together the base in Scorpio and Capricorn. That Pisces Full Moon should bring together another interesting collective of energies.

Newsletter Server - July 16, 2012

There have been a series of issues occurring this past weekend with the web server that the Lunar Living newsletter software is operating on. I keep the newsletter separate from the Lunar Living site and, if necessary, I can send the newsletter out on a backup resource if the matter isn't resolved in the next day or two.  The web techs are working on the server attempting to stabilize it but it may be down for a few hours (again) today. Of course, this would evolve into a meltdown during the Mercury Retrograde! Thanks for your patience. 

Capricorn Full Moon - July 3, 2012

The Full Buck Moon in Capricorn is encouraging us to find balance between work and family. While there are a few aspects during this Full Moon that could cause us to trip up, the majority of the transits are encouraging us to be very productive and opportunistic. The full report is available at Lunar Living. We've been using some of these productive aspects to our own benefit by updating/upgrading Lunar Living's web pages.

Saturn stationed direct on June 24th and Venus stationed direct on June 27th. Jupiter ingressed into Gemini on June 11th, Mercury ingressed Leo on June 26th and Mars ingresses Libra on July 3. The cumulative influence of these transitions could have us second guessing our current positions. This should start to settle down soon, however, be aware of the fact that Mercury will station retrograde on July 15. We have a small window of time to put transactions together before we start to feel the impact of Mercury in retrograde motion. Mercury's retrograde will end on August 8.

Gemini New Moon - June 19, 2012

With all the fanfare of the Solar Eclipse a month ago, most people don't realize that this is the second New Moon in Gemini. Two New Moons in the same zodiac sign is a little like a blue moon event.  It happens, but not every month. As with each major moon event, the new article is available online at Lunar Living.

Gemini energies are quite strong now with Jupiter and Venus both in Gemini during this New Moon. Mercury is pounding the pavement far out in Cancer to get as far away from the Sun now, as possible.  This always happens just before Mercury stations for retrograde motion. It is a bit like Mercury is on a tether with the Sun, gradually speeding up the farther he gets from the Sun, and eventually, BAM, he hits the end of the leash which whips him into retrograde motion. Venus is also on a bit of a leash with the Sun, but the allowable distance is a little longer and Venus doesn't hit the end quite as often as Mercury does.

Summer Solstice in the northern hemisphere (Winter for southern) is just around the corner.  This is the period of time when the Sun has stretched out to the Tropic of Cancer (okay, so really the earth has tilted so that the Sun can be directly over the Tropic of Cancer) at it's farthest declination and the solar energies are always a bit edgier during the last few days of Gemini and the first few days of Cancer. The transitional longest (or shortest) days of sunlight during the year depending on where you live.

Sagittarius Lunar Eclipse - June 4, 2012

The Sagittarius Lunar Eclipse will have a stronger impact on us, as eclipses always do. The affects of the eclipse are already being felt and will be felt for at least the next three to four weeks. This Lunar Eclipse is also the Strawberry Full Moon. I tried to figure out a way to create an animated eclipsing moon with shooting strawberry stars in the background, but I'm just not that good with those types of artistic creations.

The combo of Sagittarius and Gemini energies have us restless and adventurous. If you are anything like me at this time of the year, there are way more plans than can ever be accomplished in a day, week or even month! I'll try my darndest to not bounce around too much here. First off, don't forget that Jupiter will be moving into Gemini on the 11th. Neptune will begin a retrograde motion about 10 hours after the peak of the eclipse. Mercury will ingress into Cancer on June 7th, then into Leo on June 26, making this month a three-sign transit frenzy for the winged messenger. Mercury is also transiting Out of Bounds until June 19. Venus returned back into the standard declination on June 3. This will help reduce some of the biting attitude that retrograde Venus has been throwing our way.

This month will mark Lunar Living's 11th year online. Our first article was about the Solar Eclipse of June 21, 2001. Well, let's move along. I'm getting restless and you probably are too. I included a map and extra charts for the Lunar Eclipse Saros 140 in the article ready for you to read at Lunar Living's site, so I'll let you get to it.