Welcome to the Cancer New Moon. It’s the time in the lunar calendar when we turn our attention to home and family, roots and foundation. Cancer activates our most primal needs, which is to be cared for by others. The new moon is exact on July 17, 2023 at 2:32 pm ET, 24 degrees Cancer. That’s 11:32 am Los Angeles, 7:32 pm London, 8:32 pm Johannesburg, 4:32 am Sydney on July 18, and 6:32 am Auckland.
New moons are new beginnings. They create a new container for experience. They create events and feelings through the archetype of the zodiac sign. They bring renewal to all things governed by that sign. In some cases, a new moon can bring us to a crossroads.
A Cancer New Moon initiates us into a new season. Cancer, a cardinal sign, reminds us that home and family are one of the four pillars of life. Without a sense of connection and belonging, which is not just physical but psychic and emotional, we can really feel that something is missing. Where is home? Who is home? Perhaps these will be questions that we will be asking ourselves over the coming days and weeks.
This isn’t an ordinary new moon. It comes at the midpoint of the eclipses, echoing back to the Aries New Moon of April 20, 2023. We’re at a crossroads or inflection point, a time when events seeded back in April can come to a head. We’re also three months before the Libra New Moon solar eclipse on October 14, 2023 at 21 degrees. Curiously, we can see events from October come up now.
Adding to things, the new moon makes a powerful opposition to Pluto in Capricorn. (In fact, this is the last time a Cancer New Moon will oppose Pluto in Capricorn for 250 years.) Pluto energy, especially as an opposition, demands transformation and reformation. Sometimes we have to face something. And in the case of Cancer, it could be something about the past, home, and family. In a way, this is a coda on a larger story that has been unfolding since 2008, when Pluto first entered Capricorn.
As a result, we may be navigating intense emotions over the coming days and weeks, ones that pull on memories or feelings from the past or childhood. We may feel as though we are in the midst of a rebirth. Or, we may see something for what it truly is. Pluto pulls away any illusions.
In addition, Mars in Virgo opposes Saturn in Pisces. This aspect alone is one of the major aspects of the year. Mars opposite Saturn can be a stopping point, a moment when we have reached our limit or shown that something is not working. For some, coupled with the energies of Pluto, the coming days and weeks mark a dynamic transformation, the product of a lot of hard work over a length of time, especially years.
This is a lunar month that is not to be underestimated, one that brings us back to what is important, whether through a reality check or a deeper realization. Use this energy to overhaul, remake, and reorder. Get back to the basics, even if it means clearing away the past.