June 21st - 22nd - Moon in Cancer
Happy solstice! We get to start this week off right with a new moon in Cancer, the day after the solstice. This is extraordinarily auspicious for new moon ritual, given the nature of the time of year and the essential dignity of the moon in Cancer.
As always, the Moon in Cancer is an excellent time for reflectivity. As a yin sign, Cancer supports introspection and more receptive, passive activities. This is not an ideal period for trying to get a lot done quickly (wait for a fire sign to do that), but there is a great potential for productivity and success if you engage in activities that are supported by the Moon’s movement through Cancer. Issues related to emotional exploration, self-care, nurture of the self and others, and dreamwork will all be greatly supported during this time, especially given the water-sign nature of this placement. The moveable (cardinal) nature of this sign will make any major events or activities started during this period less likely to endure: focus on the present, and don’t worry about making any long-lasting changes.
The moon forms a trine to Mars, who is currently less malefic and aggressive as he travels through Pisces, the mutable, feminine home of Jupiter where he has rulership by triplicity. Passion abounds, and emotions will be strong. There is more drive and power in listening to one’s feelings and inner voice, and greater inspiration to act on them. This is an excellent time to meditate on what your heart and emotional core wish to accomplish and act upon.
The moon also conjoins Mercury. When the Moon and Mercury are together, communication and verbal activities in general become much easier. Speaking your truth takes less effort, and your own thoughts and ideas will be more transparent to you. With this conjunction happening in Cancer, the timbre of communication with oftentimes involve the emotions. This is a good time to engage in activities with other people which involve emotional vulnerability, or at least to introspect and journal if you are feeling more solitary.
June 23rd - 25th - Moon in Leo
After her stay in Cancer, the Moon moves into Leo on the 23rd at 1:33 PM UTC. Though not as essentially dignified here, she shares light with the sun. This hearkens back to a classical doctrine called homozonias or like-engirding, which gives the Moon a semblance of essential dignity in the sign of Leo, even though she is without any rulership. Simply put, the Sun supports her significations so much that she may as well be in her own sign. So even though the moon does not form a classical aspect ot her ruler the Sun during this period, she has a lot of support for grounding her significations and making activities upbeat and productive.
The Leo moon is an excellent period for being productive and getting a lot done. After going inward during the moon’s travels through Cancer, you can take the insights and wisdom received there and apply them towards something practical. Being a fixed fire sign, Leonine energy burns brightly but also consistently. Thus the Moon in Leo has a focused drive to accomplish quite a lot, since the fiery passion to act combines with the steadiness and reliability of a fixed sign.
The Moon forms a sextile to Venus as well. While this sextile will create greater potential for interpersonal harmony and artistic inspiration, you will be best suited using this energy to a more inward approach, given the retrograde nature of Venus. Doing some analysis on the way you relate to other people, letting go of old patterns of relating to others and beginning to bring in new ones will be supported now. Rebranding is excellent for people in the design or self-employed sectors, and exploring new avenues of artistic expression will be great for sculptors, musicians, composers, etc.
The Moon opposes Saturn on the 23rd, which can bring in outer circumstances that keep you from getting what you want. If you are actively pursuing a particular goal, some roadblocks may keep you from achieving it at first. If you are a strongly Leonine or Aquarian person, you may feel some depression or mental confusion at this time, though the fact that Saturn is essentially dignified in Aquarius makes this less severe than it could be. This opposition will end early on in the moon’s journey through Leo, so don’t expect it to get in your way too much.
June 25th - 27th - Moon in Virgo
The moon moves from Leo into Virgo on the 25th at 6:04 PM UTC.
Virgo moons are on their own generally good times to get your ducks in a row and sort your life out. Cleaning, organizing, and doing activities which lead to more control and mastery over the details of your life is more successful here. Doing taxes or payroll – really anything involving details and precision – will be more successful now. The earthy nature of Virgo is makes concrete work and activities meant to ground you such as exercise, house chores, etc. much more effective. the bi-corporeal or mutable nature of Virgo helps to ensure that the work done now will be more successful long-term.
The moon is peregrine here, but since Mercury is currently an evening star he is of the nighttime sect, and so the moon is in the place of a sect mate. Your activities are more likely to be successful, and the moon still contains a modicum of beneficity and support for our actions during this time.
The Moon forms a sextile to her ruler Mercury, which will more overtly create greater ease of communication and interpersonal relatability. Since Mercury can see his place of rulership, the idea in classical astrology is that this planet can “keep an eye on things” and make sure that nothing gets out of hand. This helps to ensure that any difficulties or problems related to the moon’s ill-placement do not have any long-lasting or permanent effects. This also means that she will have help in manifesting her significations and ensuring that the work done during this time is successful. You can expect to be more productive than usual during the next few days.
The moon also forms a sextile to the Sun. The sun-moon sextile indicates harmony and cooperation between our own inner drives and desires (the sun) and what our environments and contexts provide for us to do (the moon). For this reason, being productive and accomplishing a lot will be even easier, since your environment and surroundings will more naturally support what you want to do. This aspect is doubly positive insofar as the Sun is the moon’s current sign ruler, so there is a greater chance that the projects and goals which you initiate during this time will be fruitful.
The last aspect of note is the trine that the Moon makes to Jupiter. Since Jupiter is currently very debilitated - retrograde, in fall, and conjoined Pluto - the help from this planet will be negligible, but it still may provide us with more emotional bouyancy, enthusiasm, and optimism than it would otherwise in the melancholic sign of Virgo.
Fortuantely for this Virgo period, the Moon is averse to both malefics, so there will be less roadblocks and tension in general during this period.
As always, if you have any questions or would like to explore this more thoroughly in your own natal chart, feel free to book a session with me. I would be more than happy to explore these transits with you in more detail.