New Moon/Annular Solar Eclipse @ 00 degrees Cancer 21'

June 20, 2020

11:42 PM PDT

June 21, 2020

2:42 AM EDT

June's New Moon is an annular solar eclipse in tropical Cancer. It also occurs alongside the solstice (summer in the northern hemisphere and winter in the southern). The eclipse will be visible from most of Africa, parts of Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Russia, Indonesia, and Melanesia. This New Moon/solar eclipse represents the epicenter of the current eclipse season, a brief period of rapid inner and outer changes occurring in both personal and collective fields. Eclipses can correlate with increasing intensity in relation to developing events, but they also have their own specific correlations that can take time to gestate and manifest.

What makes this encroaching eclipse unique is that it falls on the first degree of Cancer, activating the cardinal axis of the tropical zodiac. The last eclipse to occur at this exact degree was a total solar eclipse on June 21, 2001. And before this, the last eclipse to activate the cardinal axis occurred on December 22, 1889, at the first degree of Capricorn.

While I won't go into the details of these past eclipses and their (delayed) correlation with significant historical events, I will say that considering the challenging astrology of 2020, this eclipse is likely to be significantly involved in much the same way. Yet, at the moment, let's first look at this eclipse as a potent new beginning, a collective and personal reset moment that can seed potentially powerful potentials and possibilities.

New Moons are always a fresh start, but when they're also a solar eclipse (especially nearly total), that symbolism becomes exceptionally pronounced. Occurring on the cardinal axis and very close to the lunar north node, this New Moon/solar eclipse has a powerful outward and mobilizing thrust. Such is the nature of cardinal energy--dynamic and catalytic.

Solstice means "sun stands still." During the summer solstice, the Sun stops ascending and begins descending toward the autumnal equinox. During the winter solstice, the Sun stops descending and begins ascending toward the spring equinox. Both solstice points symbolize the attainment of a point of limitation in either a peak (summer) or a trough (winter). They indicate moments of reflection and achievement of perspective from a position of pause or rest.

The sign of Cancer has the notorious correlations with the inward dimensions of life experience, commonly emphasizing domestic concerns--safety, security, and protection. Cancerian energy can also relate to the stimulation of nationalism or relate specifically to national security and stability issues. This New Moon/solar eclipse likely marks a decisive turning point in several domestically related concerns or questions.

Yet, Cancer is also symbolic of the healer and nourisher, carrying significant symbolism relating to the womb, a place that gives and sustains life. If we also consider the archetype of the home, we must go beyond the standard vision of the nuclear family to the heart of humanity's earliest tribal bonds. Cancer symbolizes a connection to our past as well as our need for loving intimacy and trusting relationship.

Cancer encapsulates a sense of longing for belonging and the understanding that the world is sometimes a dangerous place. Having a place of refuge and safety can provide protection and reassurance, but also, over-attachment to safety can lead us to endure a dull and passive existence. Yet, at heart, Cancer is not passive. It is cardinal energy after all, and it symbolizes taking the initiative to secure oneself and others from external threats.

Current events strongly speak to these themes. We are amid much civil unrest here in the United States, relating to abuses of power negatively harming the health and safety of the people. Specifically, black Americans are disproportionally the victims of violence inflicted by police. Calls for defunding, reforming, or abolishing police departments nationwide are currently getting louder alongside the peak of this eclipse and season.

Yet, while magnifying current events, this eclipse also seeds new events and developments that will likely unfold when the eclipse degree is re-activated. Mars activates this solar eclipse by conjunction on April 24, 2021 and then again Jan 21, 2022 by an opposition. Globally significant events around those dates are likely. Mars may play a significant role in this eclipses' future manifestations, considering its square aspect to the eclipse from Pisces.

And alongside Mars, Neptune widely squares this eclipse, stimulating the imaginal potential of Cancer. As with the lunar eclipse two weeks ago, there are still some elements of obfuscation related to this New Moon/eclipse, but there is a creative and visionary catalyst as well. Mars can relate to a heightened level of aggression, outrage, and defensiveness, but also the arrival of motivation needed to begin creating or dreaming a new foundation.

The challenge of this eclipse lies in its push to reach out and be proactive. Cardinal energy requires action, and so this is an essential point for pushing in new directions. However, consider also Mercury's retrograde cycle reinforcing the inward dimension of Cancer and the New Moon generally. Typical advice includes caution with pushing too fast or too hard.

Use this eclipse to step back and gain perspective and gently and mindfully plants the seeds of change. With the occurrence of this Cancer solar eclipse, and both Venus and Mercury retrograde, this moment also brings us powerfully to the past to revisit, resolve, release, or re-create. At least as I imagine it, we are merely consciousness moving along a spiral of change and expansion. Naturally, we will come back to places we've been before or feel drawn toward nostalgic experiences and encounters. This moment is imbued with such revisiting.

Trust is a potent keyword for this New Moon/solar eclipse. Saturn's quincunx aspect from Aquarius speaks to the challenge of being vulnerable and susceptible to limitations wrought by authority. There are restrictions placed on this New Moon, delaying or withholding a complete heart-opening and connection. Harsh realities that must be accepted.

However, limitations aren't necessarily a bad thing. My mantra for the Saturn/Pluto conjunction era (a period lasting until roughly the end of 2021) is "creativity thrives in uncertainty." In uncertain moments, we're forced to be adaptable, flexible, and willing to accept an undetermined future. Uncertainty can free us from the trap of redundancy and push us to take new risks. Of course, be cautious and take your time, but trust what's emerging and coming forward with this New Moon/solar eclipse.

And while the past can be enticing, consider this eclipse's close conjunction to the lunar North Node. Embracing the future doesn't mean ignoring, subjugating, or erasing the past altogether, but using the wisdom from the past to build a more sustainable and fully informed future. With more challenges that lie ahead of us amid the historic conjunctions of this year, we could use a moment to pause, step back, and carefully plan the next big move.

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