Darkness Comes to Light - Cancer New Moon
The Cancer New Moon is a time to look at the shadow side of our home life, how we receive nourishment, dynamics with our mother, and how we fit in with those that are familiar to us. That this New Moon is opposite shadow master Pluto in the last degree of Capricorn puts even more focus on maternal-paternal relationships and not in a strengthening way. The 29th degree is one of mastery, but also carries a weakening force with it.
Pluto’s presence in this lunation symbolizes the death of the father figure in society, but also extends to the potency of government and other structures of society. That Pluto is in exact square with the Nodes indicates that something that is happening now will both shift people’s perception and imbed itself there for the foreseeable future. The Lunar Nodes square underlord Pluto once every decade, and as they do, they provide an opportunity for the dark side of power dynamics in the world and in our personal lives to come to light, while offering a path to integrity along the way. The Sun will illuminate this aspect all week, culminating in the 29th degree of Cancer on July 21st and 22nd before it moves into Leo.
Pluto never acts as a flash in the pan so whatever is bubbling up now may have also been happening for years in the past and it may take many years yet for the story to fully unfold. However, once the story is known it will forever stick in people’s minds as an understanding. I gave the example of the Holocaust’s 1939 Lunar Nodes-Pluto square. The first concentration camp was established years before in 1933. Things intensified in 1939 when the German government started conducting surveys to identify disabled people living in homes that would be killed, cremated, and their families told that they had died of natural causes. It wasn’t until 1945 that the world was able to understand and accept the true atrocity of a government that executed millions of civilians as enemies of the state for more than a decade. Movies, books, museums, and dinner conversations now keep this piece of history embedded in humanity’s consciousness and will not be forgotten anytime soon.
Of course, there are less severe expressions of this aspect, such as in 1956 when the first diagnoses of Minamata disease, were linked to methyl mercury poisoning from seafood that had been contaminated by a factory producing acetaldehyde. The factory had started production in 1932 and after the diagnoses were confirmed, the government protected the factory from blame until 1968. Yet today, every pregnant woman knows to limit seafood consumption in order to avoid the possibility of methyl mercury poisoning. This is the kind of long-term effect that is seen when the Nodes square Pluto.
With so much going on in the world, it is difficult to say what it is that will make its way into the history books, but it is important to keep this in mind because we can be sure that at least one aspect of Pluto’s domain will be in play. Pluto rules many things including death, poison, domination, disease, sex, genitals, raw power, manipulation, the subconscious, and also galvanized integrity provided by facing one’s shadow and one’s fears.
You can see the kite formation pointing towards Pluto this week, originating from the Sun and New Moon, and tethered by Cupido and Neptune. Here, Cupido provides an opportunity to be struck by deception. You will either be struck by how egregious this deception is or you may become fully enamored with the illusion.
There’s a lot of good in the world, but I would be remiss if I didn’t point out the potential for some pretty dark stuff to be unfolding now. Be on the lookout for it. This New Moon wants to bring it to light so that it can be known now and benefit people in the future.
The other piece of advice I have for you hinges on the placement of Venus in 28º Leo that is trine the North Node, sextile the South Node, and inconjunct Neptune. Venus has a key for us in this lesson. There will be a temptation to respond to life in the way that you think you ‘should’ respond. But the inconjunct says that an adjustment is needed - that doing what you think you should won’t get you where you think it will. Venus in Leo says that holding love for your authentic self is what can guide you into progress now. Don’t be afraid to stray a bit from the crowd, embrace your inner guides, and look fear in the face to find your integrity. There is tension in the world that we cannot change, and yet, each of our individual consciousness impacts the entire world. Stay focused on walking your true path and others will benefit too.