The new Moon

Cancer is a cardinal water sign. Cardinal signs occur at the solstices and equinoxes, refer to the generation of power, and generally indicate change. The water element represents universality, particularly with respect to sensory, emotional and creative life experiences. The Moon is literally at home in Cancer, being its ruler.

In daily experience the native of Cancer is protective of what's hers/his, tries to hold situations together, is emotional, and can be tenacious. More abstractly, home and hearth are represented by Cancer; the family as a social unit; lands -- especially one's domicile; and mining, farming, and chemicals.

Sun and Moon are clustered (or cloistered, perhaps) with Vesta in Cancer. This combination stresses responsibility to home and family.

Another long-standing cluster is Chiron-Neptune-Jupiter in Aquarius. At this Moon event the combination forms an out-of-sign trine with Sun-Moon-Vesta. Jupiter is exalted in Cancer, and its favorable position with respect to the new Moon suggests a relieving of pressure and expanded opportunities.

In the U.S. chart Sun-Moon are positioned in the eighth house, the house of other people's money and the national debt.

The Sun-Moon-Vesta combo are conjunct the U.S.'s natal Venus and Jupiter with transiting Pluto in Capricorn in opposition. Pluto is the natural ruler of the eighth and is posited in the second, house of the nation's wealth and taxation revenue. Like a rubber-band, it's snap! -- back to the tension between debt and revenue. Maybe this month revenue wins...

Note that the Chiron-Jupiter-Neptune combo spoken about earlier is conjunct the U.S.'s natal Moon and asteroid Pallas Athena. Chiron and Neptune have been approaching a conjunct with natal Moon-PallasAthena for over a year. Transiting Jupiter joined the combo and all were closely conjunct and direct in motion at the full Moon in May. In this cycle the transiting combo members are all retrograde and still conjunct natal Moon and PallasAthena.

There must be some significance to this, but what? When seeking astrological answers, I sometimes turn to Dane Rudhyar's Sabian symbols (An Astrological Mandala, Vintage Books, 1973). Sometimes they help, sometimes not. His entry for 26° Aquarius is --

A garage man testing a car's battery with a hydrometer.

Keynote: Skill in applying knowledge of natural laws to the solution of everyday problems resulting from life in our technological society.

Here we see a man using his analytical mind to check up on the operation of the machines his inventive genius produced. This simple commonplace operation is used here as an indication of how deeply technology involves us in small matters, yet matters which in some circumstances could make the difference between life and death — i.e. a mechanical failure in a car on a crowded freeway. The need for "management" therefore is seen to affect every detail of our individual lives; this applies as well to the complexities of interpersonal, social or political relationships, because our modern society is indeed like a huge machine speeding on dangerous ground. Safety depends on available power.

This is the first of five degree symbols in the sixty-sixth sequence. It tells us that we constantly need the use of our intellectual power of observation and analysis to check on the effectiveness of the energies at our disposal. It is a symbol of mental efficiency.

At this full Moon, the Sun-Moon occupy and activate a Cancer-Capricorn axis. With Cancer representing the Matriarch and Capricorn the Patriarch, there is a strong emphasis on family, family values and being conservative.

There are some notable patterns in this chart, if you allow wide orbs:

• Mystic Rectangle - Sun-Vesta-Mercury in Cancer, Moon in Capricorn, Saturn-Ceres in Virgo and Uranus-Juno in Pisces
• Seer - a Mystic Rectangle with Mars in Taurus added
• Grand Trine - Moon, Mars, Saturn in Earth signs
• Grand Kite Trine - Grand Trine with Uranus in Pisces forming sextiles to Moon and Mars