NEW MOON IN CANCER (22 degrees) 5:04 am PDT, July 14th, 2007

New Moons are always good times to envision our future and set new goals and intentions. A New Moon in Cancer invites us to reflect on the current level of sustenance in our lives. Are we taking good care of our body? How's our mental hygiene? Are we conscious of our thoughts? Our feelings? Our soul desires? What are we yearning for? This New Moon reminds us of the importance of monitoring each level of our being.

The crab provides the perfect metaphor for the sign of Cancer. Like the crab, we must periodically molt and let go of what has defined and protected us, in order to grow. What was once beneficial later becomes constrictive or even toxic. We outgrow clothes, habits, ideas, jobs, and relationships. Just as a child's requirements change, adult needs change, too. The crab offers further analogies. If we have too thick a shell, we become isolated and imprisoned in our own little world. Too thin a shell, and we are unable to meet life's challenges. Too far from the water, too removed from our emotions, and we shrivel rather than thrive. Where this New Moon falls in your chart is where you are molting, requiring extra nourishment, and preparing to go to the next level.

Several alignments increase the potential power of this New Moon, making it easier to see what we need now and where to find it. Neptune at 21° Aquarius closely aspects the Sun and Moon, expanding our identity and extending our sense of family to those who share our ideals and goals. Neptune, the principle of unity consciousness, blurs boundaries and distinctions so that we can recognize our interconnectedness. With this aspect in Cancer-Aquarius, we're required to integrate water with air (feeling with understanding), cardinal with fixed (establishing new, long-lasting associations), and feminine with masculine (transcending gender differences). Neptune's passage through Aquarius (1998-2012) coincides with quantum leaps in technology, which always defines a coming advance in collective consciousness. The Internet access that allows virtually instantaneous, worldwide communication is a physical representation of telepathy, a skill that will eventually become the norm rather than a paranormal ability. Neptune's aspect to this New Moon awakens our awareness of more subtle realities and tells us that we are part of a worldwide web of like-minded souls.

Pluto at 27° Sagittarius is very close to the Galactic Center (exact on July 17); such a conjunction, which only occurs every 240 years, represents the closing of an era and the dismantling of the beliefs and structures that supported it. This is the second of Pluto's three exact alignments with the Galactic Center (GC) at 26°56' Sagittarius. The first was on December 28, 2006; the third will be on October 28, 2007. Like remodeling a house, things can get quite messy until the new constructs are in place. Pluto also represents the shadow and the necessity to confront all that has been suppressed, in order to ascend to a more unified level of consciousness. The mythic Lord of Death and Rebirth reminds us that, just as there is no real death but only transformation, there is no real darkness - only places where light (i.e., consciousness) has not yet shone. Pluto's conjunction with the GC activates our cellular memories of other times and dimensions, holding open a door to a much more expanded awareness of who we really are and why we came to planet Earth.

This New Moon represents a time of reunion with forgotten parts of ourselves and with those who share our values. It's never been easier to move beyond our wounding and into our wholeness. Our feelings will guide us, like a Geiger counter, toward what we need to do, whom we need to meet, and what we need to know. Watch your day and night dreams around this New Moon, and remember: "You grow only by coming to the end of something and by beginning something else." (John Irving)

PLAN YOUR OWN NEW MOON CEREMONY. Give yourself some quiet time in meditation to see where you need to seed new ways of becoming. List these areas within your life you want to change. What areas do you want to break free from the norm and become more productive and discerning? The NEW MOON is the time to manifest the personal attributes you want to cultivate as well as the tangible things you want to bring to you. Possible phrasing: I now manifest ____ into my life. I am now _______ . Remember, think, envision and feel with as much emotion as possible, as though you already have what you want. Thoughts are things and the brain manifests exactly what you show it in the form of thoughts, visuals and emotions. The Buddha said, and I am paraphrasing, "We are the sum total of our thoughts up to today. " If we want to be different than we must change our thoughts. "If you always do what you've always done then you'll always get what you've always got." CONSCIOUS CHANGE is the key.

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