Carl Young, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
New Moon @ 24 degrees Cancer 56'
July 17, 2023
11:32 AM PDT
2:32 PM EDT
This month's New Moon occurs in tropical Cancer, the Moon's home sign and place of dominant power. A New Moon in Cancer amplifies the sign's inward, psychic, intuitive, and domestic dimensions, opening space for nurturing and nourishing all of the new potentials emerging alongside it. A New Moon in Cancer offers a less rational and more feeling-based approach to decision-making and finding our way forward.
New Moon's are monthly start and restart points, and especially in the sign of Cancer, they're opportunities to check in with ourselves to recharge and bring forth something new. What arises from a New Moon may not be an entirely new goal, vision, or plan, but often a new element or perspective for whatever we've been striving for. Yet, within the Cancer archetype, it will likely relate to a reinforcement of security, a healing process, or a self-explorative journey.
Pluto's somewhat wide opposition to this New Moon and Chiron (and Eris') square represent some points of conflict and tension within this process, but also catalysts for digging deeper and taking action with whatever we're feeling, realizing, and reflecting upon. This final Pluto opposition to a Cancer New Moon (since Pluto is moving on into Aquarius) represents perhaps a deeper descent within to bring forth valuable and authentic truths for personal and communal transformation.
Chiron and Eris won't begin making exact conjunctions until around May 2025, but this year brings forth Chiron's closest approach to the chaos goddess yet, coming within a nearly five-degree zone before its retrograde station July 23. The centaur object Chiron and dwarf planet Eris may open up volatile collective wounds and trauma (especially related to cultural/political divisions), yet also, paradoxically, rapid shifts of perspective and awareness that lead to profound healing breakthroughs.
Alongside this New Moon, there may be an emerging awareness of and a way to move forward with some seemingly paradoxical and divisive situation within ourselves or our personal lives. Combined with Pluto's opposition, rising truths and realizations might be uncomfortable but undeniably profound and necessary.
Lastly, there are some potently supportive aspects to this lunation such as a trine from Neptune in Pisces and a sextile from Uranus in Taurus. Neptune's trine magnifies the intuitive and psychic dimension of this lunation, as well as bringing forth profound conduits of emotional depth, fantasy, and escapism. Uranus excites possibilities for changing up our spiritual and inward journey, adding surprising new elements and creative innovations.