What are you nurturing in your life right now? What are you nurturing in your mind? It’s a new moon in Cancer, and this archetype calls us home, to a place within us where care and love are offered generously, and where the rise and fall of thoughts and feelings, the waves and cycles of emotions, are held tenderly. 

We begin this lunar cycle in the womb of the mother, where there is receptivity and discernment, unconditionality and specificity, openness and boundaries. 

Water, which is the element of this astrological archetype, is a life giving power. All life begins in water, no food grows without it, and its moving nature is mirrored in the constant change that flows at the core of all life. It moves in ways that allow it to shapeshift. Its form is defined by its container. It accommodates and adapts and allows. Over time, it also changes the shape of that which contains it. Water is patient. Like a mama (on a good day).

The caring quality of this archetype invites us to notice what we feel deeply about, and consider the kind of energy we want to give our projects, the people in our lives, our work, current events, and also our thoughts, our inner world, the state of our being, and our personality traits. 

What do you want to grow? What do you want to feed and cultivate? Where do you want to put more weight? Where do you need to create clearer boundaries for both focus and safety, for you and for the collective? Ask yourselves these questions as this lunar cycle begins. Journal about it, or talk to a friend. Let what comes up as you contemplate inspire your actions as the moon waxes, peaks, and then wanes. 

Cancer is the crab, a creature of the ocean, a soft tissue, delicate being who needs a hard shell to protect it. It’s the parts of us that are so vulnerable, and the energy we need to form around this tenderness, to keep it contained and safe. 

How safe though? That’s always the question. As a mother, I am constantly in the process of trying to figure this out. How much risk do I let the kids take? Where is the clear NO, and when do I need to release my command and let them take charge, make mistakes, get hurt a little, build their muscles. There’s never a clear answer, and this is work in progress. 

How safe do you need to keep your vulnerable, tender, inner life? How protected do you need to keep yourself? When is getting a little hurt good for you? When does it build resilience, and when does it destroy you? 

Cancer is the mother of emotional resilience. With her we feel ALL the things. We go there. We dive deep. With her we learn to not be over protective, and yet keep a close eye on, and a gentle hand reached toward the parts in us that need more support. We build a strong foundation, so that we can explore and build beyond limits, so that we can take risks. 

Water as the ocean is the presence of the infinite. It’s vast and expansive and evokes boundlessness. It’s the unconditional devotion of the mother archetype. And when you think deeply, you realize that the ocean is also a boundary. You can’t just cross it. When you arrive at the ocean you can’t keep going, unless you have a boat or a plane. A healthy mother creates boundaries that must not be crossed. And like the water element itself, those boundaries must shift their shape as the child grows. Boundary isn’t the end, it’s the edge, a space to pause, to figure something out, to transform, to create.  

The ocean hosts in it many life forms, a wide range of possibilities. And while all forms emerged from the ocean, evolution has turned many of us into creatures that cannot breathe underwater. The source of life must allow the life forms that emerge from it to become their own. If she tries to keep them under her care where they cannot express who they are becoming, she will suffocate them.

The waters of the river flow, freely streaming, gushing, nurturing the life around it, its liquidity expresses movement, change, and the capacity to twist and turn, carve pathways, overcome stuckness – an embodiment of a liberated power. 

And yet, when one arrives at the banks of a river, in order to cross it, a bridge would be necessary. We need to build a bridge in order to connect between two sides. While water itself flows, the river can act as an obstacle. And an obstacle can become an opportunity. The waters of a river both connects and separates, offers sustenance and imposes an element of danger. It provides a moment to stop, a space to ponder, a breath to consider what direction, and what action would be the next one to take. 

In the northern hemisphere, Cancer is the beginning of Summer, when fruit ripens and the natural world offers food in abundance. This is the time of the mother in her nourishing role. She’s making fruit platters, baking bread, and packing picnics for fun days out in the world. 

This is the time when the sun is high in the sky, offering strength and energy, light and food, while it also begins its descent. Our long days with the Cancer archetype moves us into the waning time of the year.

In the southern hemisphere, Cancer initiates Winter, when the world around is cold and barren, and the home is a safe haven. This is when the hearth fire is the source of warmth, time for cooking and inward turning. This is womb time, when we are the bread being baked in mama’s oven. 

This is the time of night, of darkness, when the sun is low and the energy is nocturnal, sleepy, germinating. This is also when the sun begins to climb its way back from the underworld, into the waxing time of the year. 

In astrology, Cancer is ruled by the moon. The phases, the tides, and the cyclical nature of our being are held sacred in her temple. Here, we are made whole by breaking, put together by shifting, stabilizing by changing, incorporating lunar energy into solar power. 

We will spend the first half of this lunar cycle with this archetype, and allow its nurturing qualities to lead and to inform us when the season of Leo begins with a roar halfway through this lunation. We get to play with the power of the moon and the power of the sun, let the light and the dark commingle, receive and generate, and then express, make it about others, and also allow ourselves to take space.  

Suggested support for this lunation: Make a list of words and ideas that come to you through the exploration of the Cancer archetype. Place it somewhere where you can see it, so that throughout this lunar cycle you can remind yourself to incorporate these pieces, and weave them into your life. 

Watch this FREE video to explore more of the Cancer New Moon. 

And if you want a ritual, the Summer Solstice Somatic Ceremony is still available. Mother energy is strong there, and it would be deeply supportive for you on this new moon and throughout the season. 

May the new moon nourish the places in you that need nurture and support. May you mother yourself with love and devotion. May the work that you do on yourself become healthy threads to weave into your work in the world, into relationships, and into all that you care deeply about. 

Share this with a friend, watch the video, and then come together for a meaningful discussion where you can hold space for one another and witness each other’s exploration…

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Have a meaningful new moon, and a beautiful lunar cycle. 

Much love,

Hagar