The bright kingdom of the Sun is about to reach the heights of its power: in a few days, the Sun will pass from Gemini into Cancer, and we will witness the longest, brightest day of the Year.

This transition symbolizes the zenith of power that the light achieves over the dark - a major turning point in the wheel of the year known as the summer solstice. This transition will occur on Thursday, June 20th, at 4:50 pm eastern time. Happy Summer Solstice to all my readership!

This is a special annual moment that we have been building up to since the winter solstice 6 months ago. At that time, the darkness of winter predominated over the light, and daylight had reached its nadir with the shortest day of the year. However, ever since then the days have been lengthening and steadily accumulating more light and power until winter’s power was broken. Now, with the entry of the Sun into Cancer, the promise of summer at the winter solstice will finally come to fruition, and we will officially enter into the golden age of the Sun King.

Cancer is the first season of summer, another portion of the year alongside spring in which the length of daylight overpowers the length of nighttime. The three zodiac seasons of Summer continue springtime’s emphasis on light and warmth, and it is during this season that the Sun King continues to steward his realm. At the same time, it is at the summer solstice that the length of days begins to shorten and diminish. Just as the Sun was reborn at the winter solstice, the power of the dark is reborn at the summer solstice. While the light still overpowers the night, darkness begins to ascend.

On an agricultural level, the movement of the Sun into Cancer indicates the arrival of one of the easier and more gracious seasons of the year. Much of the planting and work of food cultivation that happened during springtime is over; all that is required now is gentle tending and nurturing of the work begun during previous zodiacal seasons, and there won’t be any more serious labor required until the first harvest at the beginning of Virgo season. This is a time for rest, gratitude, and celebration of the journey accomplished thus far.

In keeping with this theme of gentle tending and nurture, Cancer is ruled by the Moon, the celestial mother of the heavens and Queen Consort to the Sun King. In this time of achievement and celebration, everyone has their needs met and is totally provided for by the archetypal mother figure of the heavens. Whatever work or tasks we do have to accomplish can be done without without stress or agitation - all things happen in their own time, at their own pace. Cancer promotes a kind of unqualified maternal acceptance of everyone and everything that can only happen when all the agendas and intentions of the previous seasons are released.

This celebratory, nurtering quality of Cancer, as well as the low-stakes timbre to this period of the year, promotes a wistful, carefree atmosphere. Cancer encourages open-ended inquiry and exploration one’s inner landscape. The openness and supreme maternal acceptance of this seasons allows free room for the nuances of our inner lives to roam free. Cancer season encourages the exploration of the inner life, the dreamtime, and the unconscious realms - all traditionally under the dominion of the Moon who stewards this season. The celebratory quality of Cancer also bestows its famous nostalgic, romantic sentiments as well.

In many ways, Cancer season is a close reflection of paradise; it’s position in the wheel of the year at a time where the stakes are very low and there is little work required of us creates the kind of grace, ease, and even bliss that many of us dream of having one day. The birth of the Sun at the winter solstice promised redemption, and now that redemption is here.

Though Cancer is a golden age, it also marks the beginning of the end of an era - the days are now beginning to darken again. Just as the Sun king was reborn at the winter solstice, the dark is reborn at the summer solstice; each apex sows the seeds of its own antithesis. With all paradise, celebration, and achievement comes a kind of softness and relaxation of tension that opens the doorway for a descent and return back to the dark. What goes up must come down.

Cancer is well-aware of this inevitable descent, and very clued into the initial tremors that the good times won’t last. For one, it contributes to Cancer’s famous nostalgia and wistful qualities. But it also creates Cancer’s strong impulses for compassion and care for those who are suffering - it’s strong desire to heal and care for other people comes from the strong desire to maintain paradise for as long as possible. Cancer’s wisdom is that heaven on earth is only maintained through our continued alleviating of suffering in each and every moment.

Our work, as the Sun moves into Cancer, is to celebrate. A special kind of wisdom is fostered when we unburden ourselves and simply revel in the joy of living. The gratitude that you feel during this period for everything that you have achieved will fuel you for the rest of the Sun’s cycle until the next summer solstice. This kind of gratitude can become an extremely powerful spell in its own right.

This is the time to engage in your work, jobs, and any activities you do without any attachment to results. Let things evolve and change without trying to control them. Let circumstances take a life of their own without trying to force them to conform to a pre-established agenda. Make nurture and care for others your priority during this period. In a time when nothing needs to get done, you are asked to tend to the needs of those around you, and do your part to maintain peace and paradise.

This is also an excellent period for dreamwork and internal exploration. Try keeping a journal, and let your thoughts and ideas be nonlinear. Allow your intuition and inner vision to speak to you in its own language without consciously shaping or directing it. Automatic writing, divination, and any other practices that help you connect to your own unconscious will be strengthened during this period.

During this Cancer season, Venus and Mercury both form conjunctions to the Sun. This ensures that good relationships remain present during this period. Good communication and agreeable interactions with be easy to maintain, and you’ll find a lot of success coming your way from working on projects alongside other people.

This season, we also see a superior trine from Saturn to the Sun, and a superior sextile from Mars in Taurus. Though both of these malefics are in benefic signs, and formingsoft aspects, they will still create small periods of short-lived difficulties and obstacles. Expect bursts of frustration from sources that, though irritating, are also easily resolved.

Give yourself permission to celebrate the golden age of the Sun. Revel in gratitude and appreciation for everything that you and the entire cosmos have accomplished to get here. Practice releasing attachments to agendas and intentions, and use the extra space this creates to explore your own inner landscape and deepen awareness of yourself. If, along the way, you can do your part to preserve paradise and tend to the needs and pains of others that are presented to you, then you will succeed in honoring this period.