New moon, July 5th 2024
About
These blog pages, focused on the energies of the new moon, are designed to help people attending the Wheel of the Year online group, alongside anyone wanting to engage with shifting, cyclical energies month-to-month.
Designed to be worked with for at least a full yearly cycle, they are primarily suitable for people living within the Northern hemisphere, and the U.K. in particular, as that is where I am based.
The energy of a new moon is a time of new beginnings, a time to set intentions and plant seeds for the coming month.
We can connect with the specific energy of each moon cycle with a variety of tools:
Understanding the energy of the season, following the wheel of the year around the sun
Researching the wisdom of our ancestors, especially those who lived closer to the Earth
Having an awareness of astrology, forming part of that wisdom
Current local and global events
This month we focus on mid-summer and the energy of the astrological signs of Cancer and Capricorn, two strong action makers with themes revolving around home and family, protection, career, finance and the outer manifestation of success.
Perhaps hoping to utilise these energies, the U.K. government has called a general election to take place the day before the new moon. These are interesting times.
If you would like to join the monthly group, click on the link below.
Journey with the wheel of the year
Energy of the season
This is the time of year when things start to naturally slow down on the work front, with the hot midday sun forcing siesta’s and the long, warm days inviting social gatherings.
There is a tendency for people to focus on family and friends, holidays, festivals and parties. With schools coming to the end of term, exams finishing and the long summer break beginning, people are getting ready for their summer holidays.
In the heat of the middle of the year, it’s time to rest, rejuvenate and celebrate. It’s time to stop running around and tend to self-care. Soak up the sun, slow down and feel into what’s really going on for you.
The invitation this month is to pay attention to our domestic and emotional world; what we most care for and what lives close to us, on all levels. As we relax our working, endlessly thinking minds, we may have space to notice the beings that live amongst and around us, those more-than-human beings.
It’s a good time to visit the wilder spaces you may have access to, particularly those in your local area and start to connect with the more-than-human beings who live there.
What beings live around you, perhaps in your garden, and what might you be able to do to help them thrive?
We often have a view of humans as being either a dominating, controlling force over nature or feel that we should leave our non-human kin well alone. Yet we are part of the Earth, part of nature and we have a place within our shared ecosystem, a beneficial place.
This moon invites a caring, collaborative approach to working with the non-human beings around you. Through this process, can you learn something of what it means to be a human animal?
What is your place in the more-than-human world? What is your human life adding to the ecosystem in which you live?
Cancerian energy
With the moon rising in her astrological home sign of watery Cancer, it’s all about emotion as the ebb and flow of the tide, pulled by the moon, reflects our changeable emotional world.
The invitation is to ride these changeable energies, forming a secure and stable emotional world. This moon asks you to feel into who you are and whether you are you living your best life.
Symbolised by the crab, the energy of Cancer revolves around protecting our home and creating stability within our emotional realm. Issues of home and family will be prominent now and any difficulty here will be highlighted.
Cancer is nurturing and protective of those it loves. The energy is deeply empathetic, acutely feeling the pain and distress of others or in situations where they have themselves been hurt.
Questions to consider this moon: do we have a solid community of supportive friends and family around us? If not, why not and how can we best invite this in our lives?
Are we protecting ourselves enough and where might we be leaking energy? Are we paying attention to our nervous system and resting enough?
Where have we been hurt and what pain might we have caused? What can we do to heal wounds? Finally, what might we be ignoring and what might it be time to face and tend to?
Cancer-Capricorn axis
There is a strong emphasis on Capricorn this moon cycle as the new moon in Cancer is unusually nestled in between two full moons in Capricorn.
Cancer and Capricorn are linked astrologically via an axis and share core themes around self-care, advancement, family and protection.
Whilst Capricorn is largely focused on career and service, worldly success and financial advancement, Cancer’s focus is on the emotional side of life, prioritising self-care and the creation of a stable and successful home and family life.
Both are cardinal signs, which means they instigate the start of a season, so that Cancer heads up the summer season and Capricorn brings in the winter. Cardinal signs take the initiative in any given situation and can be bold and forceful within their particular form of energy.
The energy of the full moons in Capricorn focuses on issues with governments, corporations, institutions, the status quo, and those in positions of power. Combined with Cancer’s focus on protecting the home and family, it’s an interesting time for an election in the U.K.
On a personal level, you may have to challenge something in your life that has been the same, long term, and needs to change to improve your life.
U.K. election
The U.K. general election this year falls the day before the new moon; a period known as the dark moon, the in-between or liminal space after the waning moon but before the new moon. It’s an incredibly significant time as the energy holds much potential for manifestation.
As the election also falls between two full moons in the astrological sign of Capricorn, it is very auspicious for those in power and dealings of the state. As ever I wonder who is advising the prime minister to set these important dates.
By the time the new moon rises on the 5th July, the majority of the vote count will be achieved and we will know what form of new government we will have in the U.K.
Whilst Cancer is largely a positive energy, the shadow of its protective nature, which could manifest as domination, repression and prejudice, doesn’t bode well for this election. Unfortunately, the energy of Cancer can be dogmatic and hard to persuade when it’s in its shadow side.
These are incredibly challenging times, both globally and locally in the U.K. and with the general astrological energy focused on themes of power, security, protection and boundaries – themes the political right prioritises, they may achieve a greater win than many people realise.
There is much at stake, though I am hopeful, as I see that the old paradigm, the old patriarchal system, is crumbling. These systems are fighting back in the only way they know how, by using the system they created.
Whilst it’s so important to vote in this election, progressive voters throughout the land face a difficult dilemma this election.
Whilst the signs are that the Conservative Party will lose, many are pointing to the Labour Party not having an easy win. It’s sad times indeed when the left is in tatters, with the Labour leader paying more heed to lobbyists and the media rather than the electorate.
The real fear this election is the rise of Nigel Farage’s far-right party, Reform, particularly as throughout Europe at this time, the far right is gaining momentum.
Definitely interesting times and I predict some surprises all round in this election. In many ways, it has the feel of a deck of cards being thrown up in the air as many people are unclear who to vote for.
I am praying for the strong solar energy this mid-summer, also in Cancer, to shine a compassionate light over the political stage in the U.K. this election, bringing hope and beginning to change the power away from the oppressive right-wing regime that has dominated British politics for 14 years.
If you are wondering who to vote for and you’re reading this, I would invite a focus on the environmental crisis of our time.
With our primary home, our Earth, under threat and the pollution of our waters, ruled over by the moon, strongly in the public eye, a good proportion of the population will be voting for politicians who can prioritise our environment.
Whilst neither of the two main political parties are offering much, if at all, safeguard there, where Green MPs are standing, the signs are that many of them can win, which will make a huge difference in parliament.
Meanwhile, with our outrageous and unfair voting system, the focus must be on pushing the political right out of parliament, to protect our land from those who will see any win as a mandate to trash the ecology (and therefore life) once and for all.
Whilst I have never voted anything other than Green, this election is so very important for the future of our planet and our children that the choice this time is very simple - vote tactically to prevent the right having a voice.
Invitation
This month the moon invites you to nurture your connection with your heart, with your wild soul, with the more than human beings all around you.
Take some time out of your usual life and nurture what is important to you. Connect with your body and the body of others, including the more-than-human world. Dance and feel the pulse of life within you.
Feel the force of the great mother energy of the Earth and nurture and protect those that you love, all the beings on the planet, including yourself, with fierce unconditional love. This is the month to feel and tend, to love and to delight, to nourish and protect.
It’s a fantastic time to protect yourself, your home and those you love, whether through shamanic ceremony or another similar way, protecting your boundaries and practicing self-care.
The moon invites us to check in with our concept of home. Do we feel stability in this area of our lives and, if not, what can we do to address it, both in the short term and long term. The cardinal aspect of this Cancerian moon invites you to instigate a plan aimed at bringing security into your life.
This new moon invites us to check in with our emotions. Are we honouring our feelings in life right now? Are we looking after ourselves well enough? If the answers to these questions are less than we would like them to be, what can we do to be more aligned with ourselves, on a true and soul level.
On this moon, check in with your own personal journey through life, on an intimate level. Make plans to set straight anything that isn’t aligned with your well-being. Reach out to others to support you and know that this is the time that support will be most likely to come.
The mother energy of Cancer extends to us all and we will all want to ensure our communities are looked after. As such, be aware of the needs of others around you, bring them into focus and help out when needed.
Turn up and vote at the election! Feel gratitude to our ancestors for fighting hard for ordinary women and men to gain the vote, and make a difference to our world.
Summary
In essence this is a time of caring, not just of yourself but for all beings. Be aware of your boundaries, instil good boundaries and protect yourself and your home. But from this core place of self-care, feel the expansive awareness of your emotional world and reach out to connect with others, both human and more-than-human.
It’s time to share joy with loved ones. A time of tending to your emotional world and making sure the whole of our Earth family is well and protected.
There is so much positive potential with this moon. Like any water sign, Cancer can be complicated and can equally balance light and shadow but the potential for positive growth with this moon is intense. Enjoy!
Samara, July 1st 2024