Six months ago—during the Full Moon in Cancer, no less—I had a dream that I was on a quest through a wild landscape. I was running with a crew of strangers that felt more like we were thrown together by fate rather than by choice. It was night and there was an air of panic. Jungle forests opened up to the convergence of two ominous rocky ridges.
Suspended over the black canyon between them, where one would expect to find a rope bridge, was one long glass arch reflecting the moonlight. The frantic group started to run across but as we did a fog rolled in quickly to cut us off. Several people stopped short, some ran back to the jungle from which we came. Screams, shouts of warning. Those who had run ahead were lost in the fog, unable to move because of its obscurity. The group was devolving around me, and I had a knowing that we couldn’t go back. I looked down and saw the depth of night beneath me through the glass. The fog swirled like foamed milk, but about two feet ahead of me was clear.
So I took one step. As I did, the fog in front of me cleared a few more feet. I took a breath and then another step, trusting that the solidity of the glass walkway would be there. And it was. The fog waited until I moved and then receded a few feet with each advance so that I could see where to place my foot next. In my excitement I called back to the group, “You have to trust! And go slowly!” Step by step, and breath by breath we began to cross the dark expanse. The dream ended before we reached the other side, but the sky was lightening through the fog as if dawn was only a few feet away.
Trust is not blind, like faith. Trust must be carefully placed. Trust is earned.
Trust requires symbiosis; both parties must agree to the terms and expectations in order for trust to be supported. Whether it is between two people, a person and an animal, or a person and an entity, trust is a balance of power.
I think of trust as an inherently Cancerian quality. Cancers trust with their whole heart. They want to bring you into the fold. However, the crab—as a symbol of Cancer—has a hard shell to protect a vulnerable belly and claws disproportionally stronger than their body to defend against those who would take advantage of their peacefulness. When you lose their trust, you are met with fierce defenses that are not so easy to open again.
If trust has been broken, we gather it back to us. We feel our feelings and then, with clear minds, we reassess who is deserving of our trust in order to build a new foundation there.
We have come to the New Moon in Cancer. Our emotional stability and feelings of safety are closely tied to our ideas of home and our family as it is chosen and made. We must be able to trust those with whom we are building community. And when trust has dissolved or has been blatantly disregarded to the benefit of one party, we are no longer safe. As it is a new moon, we are invited to firmly close the door on the last lunation and begin anew. Perhaps hardened a bit more, perhaps slower to trust the next time, but wiser.
This New Moon in Cancer is square Jupiter, which can create a need for external validation, a tendency toward idealism, and an aversion to commitment. However, Jupiter is sextile Venus (and Venus happens to be semisextile the Sun and Moon), so we should be trending in a more expansive and fortunate direction as these planets work together. I've learned that this formation is called a Learning Triangle and the positive outweigh the negative aspects. They are so aligned to teach us something about ourselves. Our values are being influenced by fortune and our emotional worlds are experiencing an upgrade. Mars is also sextile Saturn which will offer a boost of confidence and dedicated energy to accomplish tasks, create new order and make informed decisions.
It will serve us to focus our energy on one thing at a time during this lunation. To place our feet in front of us, one at a time. Too many projects will scatter our energy, and diminish its potency. Do not underestimate the power of containment. (Containment ≠to the repression of feelings—NEVER the repression of feelings.) When we can process our feelings before taking action, however, we build a clear channel through which to funnel our energy directly where it will be the most transformative.
FOR THE BODY
Cancer rules the chest, breast, stomach, womb, lymphatic system and the pleural membranes of the thorax.
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If you have breast tissue, schedule that mammogram!
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Chamomile is known as a guardian herb for Cancer. Drink soothing chamomile tea or add the flowers to your salads or desserts.*
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Build a fort of pillows and tuck in with a favorite book or some nostalgic music. Create a physical shell around you for a few hours. Remember this cushy feeling when the world starts to get loud again.
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Embrace water medicine. Go to the beach or find a river, lake or pond to spend some time with. Notice how the water moves, explores, and takes up space, transforming what it touches. Wash your face with this water, touch it to your heart space, and let it cleanse your inner vision.
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Work with moonstone to reflect the light from within.
*I am not a doctor nor registered dietician. Please consult your PCP to make sure that any changes are correct for you and your body.
During the New Moon's zenith, the Sun and Moon will be in Gate 52.4—The Mountain, also known as the Gate of Stillness. This is an energy of restraint, of self-discipline in the face of temptation for the purpose and benefit of assessment. The Mountain is not inactive, but it is still. It is the highest vantage point from which to ascertain one's location in space, time, and in relation to the near environment. It provides clarity as well as a pressure for alchemy beneath the surface. To underline the planetary aspects of this New Moon, Gate 52 values stillness, focus and attention.
Self discipline is also a practice of trusting in your capabilities and yourself. To make the choice to assess before taking action/before reacting to temptation, is to value your own wisdom and experience. To take the moment to pause is to trust in time. Even with Sacral and Splenic Authority which are immediate responses and messages, there is a moment of assessment before action.
What is the message?
What does my next move look like?
How do I make it a sustainable action?
Western culture loves to rush us into action. If you saw my stories this week, I talked about how it is habitual to respond form the emotional energy triggered by alarming news. We have become increasingly conditioned to “jump into the streets, into the feed, into the conversation first.” There is a harmful value placed on this knee-jerk exertion, and it works to any oppressor's advantage: by keeping our sympathetic nervous systems constantly activated through the media, we become exhausted all the more quickly and cannot sustain the energy necessary to build the foundations and systems requisite to structural change.
There is great value in being informed. There is value to gathering, to marching, to screaming, and also to burning. Of course. Let us also lean into the immense power that can be cultivated through focused and finely directed energy through a clear and sustainable channel.
Outlive the emotion.
On another note, how are we already at the end of June!?
Below, find the Office Hours available for July. These seats go FAST! I love that folks are jumping on this opportunity, and have been having so much fun meeting you to geek out on your Human Design and embodiment.
I trust that you and I are standing together in this. That we are hand in hand as this world turns and we grow through each experience. I'm in awe of your resilience and you inspire me in mine. As always First name / my dear friend, I hope that this resonated with you. If it did and you want to share the Moonsletter with others, feel free to pass it along! And if you're reading this and you haven't signed up, join here!
