Cancer New Moon | July 2023

I am a western tropical astrologer, all of my updates will follow that astrological format. I use the sacred interpretation method meaning your astrological forecast will always be described in the sense that challenges are opportunities, not a form of punishment. And that you have free will, meaning nothing is set in stone, I use astrological forecasts to help give you permission to listen to your intuition and live your best life as your true authentic self.

I use the whole house sign system, meaning your rising sign rules the entirety of your first house and every person has all 12 zodiac energies within them. I use the archetypal energies of the planets, the zodiacs, and history to create something similar to a weather forecast so that you can make plans and validate your emotions based on the kind of energy you are swimming in at this time.  

Of course, I can only give generic forecasts without looking at your unique individual chart. If you want a more personalized energy forecast or reading, I offer personalized astrological reports like a PDF, this is the most affordable option available on the elevated aura website, and I have one-on-one virtual readings as well, which you can schedule on the elevated aura website. 

Without further ado let’s get into the Cancer New Moon, happening on July 17, 2023 at 11:31 AM Pacific Time, so you can adjust that based on your timezone. 

The Moon feels at home in Cancer so the energy of this New Moon may feel expanded, like it’s on steroids. Remember when we have a New Moon, this is a powerful time to plant the seeds for what we want to manifest in our life. So look at your natal chart and find which house Cancer rules for you because that is going to give you an indication as to the area of your life most illuminated by this New Moon which can help guide you in planting the seeds for what you want to come, what you want to grow, expand, or manifest in that area of your life.

If you are doing any kind of New Moon ritual for this Cancer New Moon I highly recommend incorporating water in some capacity, putting your feet in water, taking a bath, taking a shower, and adding water to your altar because water is the dominant element during this time.

What is Cancer Energy Like?

Cancer is the nurturer of the zodiac. It’s an energy that is all about family, family roots, feeling nurtured, supported, taken care of, but also taking care of others. It’s that maternal energy that is empathetic, sensitive, wanting to protect those we love. Cancerian topics also include housing, property, food, nurturing, children, things having to do with caring or hospitality industries, such as social work and nursing.

Cancer is the sign of the Mother, representing motherhood, pregnancy, children, and rules parts of our body including our breastbone, stomach, and womb; so this is often a potent New Moon for plant the seeds for manifesting pregnancy or relationship-related news like engagements. Or perhaps you find a reason to love and care for yourself more around this time because you start to understand that when I am kind, patient, and nurturing to myself, there is a ripple effect on my external world.

The reason I bring up self love and filling up your own cup is because Cancerian energy has a tendency to come off as emotional or moody because it’s a water sign. But unlike the other water signs like Pisces who is openly emotional or Scorpio whose emotions almost appear to be frozen over, the emotional energy of Cancer is hard to pinpoint because it’s constantly changing. Like the crab symbol that represents Cancer astrologically, the soft heart of Cancer is protected by a hard shell. 

So Cancer, like the crab, is an energy that has a tough outer shell, it puts on a tough appearance, tough upper lip, but under the surface, there’s a waterfall of emotions flowing, and that is Cancerian energy. The crab has a tough outer shell, but a soft heart.

Cancerian energy is all about our home life, which makes sense given that Cancer is the natural ruler of the fourth house, which is all about our home life, the mother, family, our emotional well-being, ancestral roots, and feelings. The big emphasis on home and emotional security is why those with strong Cancerian placements tend to be more security-conscious and highly value their home life compared to other signs.

They feel their best when their home is a safe, nurturing, warm space, and all of their loved ones are in a happy, healthy place. Those with strong Cancer placements may appear passive, and tend to rely on their feelings to make decisions more so than logic. And they can also perceive those with strong air placements like Aquarius, Gemini or Libra, in particular to be a little aloof, too logical, insensitive. But again, that’s because Cancerian energy lacks the discipline sometimes to take your emotions out of the decision making process.

Although Cancer is a cardinal sign, meaning it’s initiating, pioneering, creative, and enterprising, Cancerian energy is moody and subtle, rather than clear and direct, largely due to the fact that Cancerian energy sometimes acts like a sponge.

Those with strong Cancerian placements can sometimes be like little emotional sponges and they can feel the emotional needs of those around them, which again plays into their nurturing role and why they are overly concerned with the emotional well-being of their family and loved ones. Their home life really affects their sense of self and sense of safety; and this is not a bad thing if you have strong Cancer placements. I know I do and this is why it can be helpful to learn what is in your chart, which elements are you dominant in, which zodiac energies do you tend to regularly express more so than others?

Where will the planets be during the Cancer New Moon?

During the time of the July 2023 Cancer New Moon:

• Sun in Cancer
• Moon in Cancer

• Mercury in Leo

• Uranus in Taurus
• Jupiter in Taurus

• Venus in Leo

• Mars in Virgo

• Saturn in Pisces (retrograde)
• Neptune in Pisces

• Pluto in Capricorn (retrograde)

Overall this Cancer New Moon looks to be emotional. Cancer is a water sign after all and with the Moon, the natal ruler of Cancer, in its home sign, it’s feeling particularly powerful.

The Sun and Moon are squaring the nodal axis in Aries and Libra (more on this change below), and are opposite Pluto in Capricorn which is forming a Cardinal Grand Cross. Cancer, Capricorn, Aries and Libra are the Cardinal signs and when we have planets active and aspecting one another, it forms a Cardinal Grand Cross. So you’ll want to look and see if you have any planets or angles around 24-29 degrees of Cardinal signs, Cancer, Capricorn, Aries, and Libra, as those are likely to be illuminated at this time.

With the sun and moon opposite Pluto, we may find ourselves becoming aware of behaviors in ourselves or others that need to end, perhaps unhealthy coping mechanisms or ways we are getting in our own way that may have served us in the past but no longer serve us as we head forward into the future. For example, our relationship with our body, we may find ourselves being overly critical of our body, our shape, our size, what we eat, how we look, and at one point in time that may have served us, and even now we may find that our critical analysis of our body may inspire a new health goal or fitness regime. But it could also be something from our past, an unhealthy way of viewing ourselves that needs to shift at this time.

We may even encounter losses at this time, it could be the death of a loved one or we could find relationships ending either romantic relationships, friendships, or even work relationships. Whatever sparks this loss in our lives could inspire us to dig deep into studying psychology, alternative lifestyles, occultism, mindfulness, etc. 

As I mentioned the sun and moon are also squaring the nodal axis, which can make us feel confused on our life path, we may have thought we had clarity around what we believed and where we were headed, the people in our lives, what we stood for, but now we may find ourselves saying wait a minute, was I just going along to get along? Did I just agree because I didn’t feel safe to express how I truly felt or what I truly believed?

The Nodal axis is also squaring Pluto – like I mentioned it’s part of that Cardinal Grand Cross. The good news with this aspect coming into play is that we may feel a surge of energy to overcome feelings of shyness of having a different perspective, we may be gifted courage to stand up as a leader and forge a new path. But the shadow side of this energy is that we may feel vilified or hesitant to follow through on what we believe due to fear of how we may be perceived by others. 

We do have some harmonious aspects at play thankfully. 

The sun and moon are forming a trine with Neptune. This is bringing a flavor of creativity, imagination, spirituality, a sense of harmony to our relationships with other people, it’s inspiring us to live a pleasant lifestyle, to really find our path by joining with other like minded people or by studying some kind of new age spirituality topic. The shadow side is that we may be wearing rose-colored glasses, not seeing things clearly, and lack structure to actually accomplish our goals or even clean our house.

We also have the sun and moon forming a sextile with Uranus further aiding us to be independent to work on issues, projects, businesses that benefit the greater good, not just ourselves. There’s an energy here to be progressive, original, to tap into your intuition and demonstrate your ideals, your unique perspective, to others, even in our family environment. There’s a sense that it’s ok to live a conventional life, but of course we may on the one hand feel like we are finally independent and free to be our true selves, on the other hand we may feel like we are being unfairly judged for marching to the beat of a different drum and either separate ourselves from others or experience a lot of mood swings, lose our temper when sharing our ideas with others who may not be as receptive as we hoped.

How will this Cancer New Moon affect you on a personal level?

Find the house Cancer rules for you – this is the area of your life illuminated most by this Cancer New Moon and make a conscious wish, focus your energy on what you want to manifest so that by the time the Cancer Full Moon comes around later this year, hopefully you will start to reap the rewards, or see the sprouts of the seeds you planted during this New Moon start to grow.

If you are a Sun or rising Cancer, Capricorn, Aries or Libra, you are likely to feel the effects of this New Moon the most, especially if you have any aspects or angles around 24 – 29 degrees of Cardinal signs, Cancer, Capricorn, Aries or Libra.

A few other energetic updates I want to flag for you:

Nodal Axis Moving from Taurus-Scorpio to Aries-Libra axis

The North and South Node will move from the Taurus-Scorpio axis to the Aries-Libra axis the following day, on July 18, 2023, where it will remain until January 11, 2025. So there’s a lot of new beginnings, new energy going on here. 

The Scorpio-Taurus eclipse axis is all about money, values, desires, what is important to you, desire for food, desire for sex, desire for sensuality. While the Aries-Libra axis is all about relationships. 

The Nodal Axis transit is something we experience collectively, they are powerful pivot points related to karma, our destiny, our soul’s purpose. The North Node signals where we are headed, what kind of energy we are growing into, needing more of, and the South Node is the energy we are leaving behind, what we are shedding. 

We have our own personal Nodal Axis in our Natal Chart, where our Natal North Node represents the direction we need to move to in life, what we need to experience for our soul’s journey; it’s tied to our soul’s purpose in this lifetime, the qualities we are meant to develop, focus on, represented not just by the sign that our Natal North Node lives in but the house as well. And the Natal South Node is more so representative of our past lives, what qualities or energy we are leaving behind.

Then there’s the collective nodes. The Nodal Axis moves every 18 months or so and will revisit or complete its cycle around the zodiac every 18.5 years or so. 

The Nodal Axis has been on the Taurus-Scorpio axis since January 2022 and is moving to the Aries-Libra axis on June 18, 2023, the day after the Cancer New Moon.

Aries is ruled by Mars, Libra is ruled by Venus, so there’s this energy of assertion, accommodation, being concerned with ourselves and being concerned about others. There’s energy around wars, military action, ceasefires, alliances, treaties, wildfires, firearms, speeding, surprise legislation, laws and elections, gender identity and gender relations, our identity and our personal relationships.

Aries energy at a lower vibration is more selfish, aggressive, and assertive, but with the inner authority, autonomy, sense of independence, sense of being a leader and hero in your own life, courage, independence, being a pioneer, initiator energy to do what hasn’t been done before – not ego focused, but being confident in who we are and what we need to do. Aries has a clear sense of self. I know who I am and I know what I can offer to the world. 

Libra on the other hand is more so focused on relationships with others instead of the relationship with the self. It’s an energy that considers the needs of others, community, family, groups. Sometimes Libra energy can be that get along because I don’t want to rock the boat kind of energy. But as we collectively experience the North nodal axis in Aries, we are likely to get clarity on areas in which we have just been agreeing to get along and relationships where we are sacrificing our needs and our beliefs putting the needs of others before our own, we may get clarity on when and how we default to people-pleasing tendencies, and start to move toward being clear on what we truly believe in, how we can have our needs met, even if that means having the courage to express a different point of view. 

Aries is ruled by Mars, Libra is ruled by Venus, similarly Taurus is ruled by Venus, Scorpio is ruled by Mars and Pluto, so there is a lot of relationship energy highlighted here. And we may find that as our relationships are further highlighted with the nodes on the Aries-Libra axis, we may find ourselves shifting what is important to us, we may find our relationships shifting as we get clearer on what is truly important to us, what we truly value.

Find which houses Aries and Libra rule in your chart. Do you have any planets in those houses? Is your natal north node or south node in one of these signs or in the first or seventh house, which are the houses that Aries and Libra naturally rule? 

Look back or think back at what was happening in your life around December 2004 through June 2006, that was the last time we had the Nodal Axis on the Aries-Libra axis. 

Also look at what was happening in your life around April 19-20, 2023, when we had the Solar Eclipse New Moon in Aries because that happened at 29 degrees which is where the Nodal Axis will be. If you have a copy of your natal chart, you’ll want to look and see if you have anything around 29 degrees of Aries or Libra. If you do you may feel this more so than others. 

Not only are the Nodal Axis points illuminating the 29th degree of Cardinal signs, but the Aries Solar Eclipse New Moon we had in April squared Pluto in Aquarius and then Pluto in Capricorn, so this energy of 29 degrees Aries and Libra is really going to be present and active into 2024.

The 29th degree indicates that a planet is at its most mature point of a sign, its representative of clairvoyance but it’s also known as the anaretic degree which means that any shadow sides of the energy are likely to come out, it’s this energy that says, I’m almost complete but I need to make sure I get anything and everything that isn’t for the greatest good out into the open so that change can occur.

Not only is 29 degrees this indication we’re experiencing fated energy, but when a planet is at 29 degrees we usually experience challenges at least as a collective when we have planets or angles around 29 degrees. How beautiful then that the 29th degree is ruled by Leo energy, so there is a fiery, heart-led energy here, an energy of courage to look within and make the changes we know we need to make, the changes that are in our best interest individually and collectively. 

Not only is the Solar Eclipse we had in April at 29 degrees amplifying the energy of this shift in the nodal axis, but Pluto in Capricorn is squaring the nodal axis and will do so until November 2023, which is further breaking us open, it may feel like we are being squeezed, going through an uncomfortable metamorphosis for the rest of the year. 

So I encourage you to remember that this energy is like a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly. The caterpillar’s metamorphosis is a painful process, the caterpillar doesn’t necessarily know it will become a beautiful butterfly, but there is a sense of trust in a higher power that allows the caterpillar to surrender to the process of transformation. 

We also have Venus going Retrograde in Leo starting July 22

Venus will be retrograde in Leo from July 22 until September 3, 2023.

As I mentioned, Venus is the ruler of both Taurus and Libra, so her energy has been quite active on this Nodal Axis. But when Venus goes retrograde, it tends to be a time to reflect on the energies that Venus represents.

Specifically, the Venus retrograde is likely to be a time where money, generosity, relationships, your passion and gifts may be highlighted. This retrograde is about digging out our values, what brings us joy, what makes us feel loved, what do we treasure. And with Venus in Leo there can be a sense of childlike innocence and joy, we may find that the more we follow our heart the better we feel. 

That being said, when Venus is retrograde we want to enter into new relationships slowly, we want to think twice about redecorating, making big financial purchases, or even getting a haircut, changing our style, because when Venus goes direct we may regret dying our hair for example, or we may find that the person we entered into a relationship with isn’t really our cup of tea after all.

The important thing to remember is that all of these changes are not happening to you, they are happening for your greatest good. Surrender and trust like the caterpillar that there is a higher power that is orchestrating something more beautiful for you than you could ever have imagined. 

If you find yourself getting overwhelmed, you can always breathe in and out of your heart space for at least 17 seconds, or allow yourself to meditate on a high-vibrational word like love or peace.

I hope this helps you find some peace and validation during this time. Whatever happens externally at this time, know that you are safe. You are loved. You are divinely guided and supported and I love you. 

As always, Natal Birth Charts, Solar Return Reports, Future Forecast Transit Reports and more are available at elevated aura. You can also book a 1:1 reading with me for a deeper understanding of your chart.