Summer Solstice: Sun enters Cancer: June 20, 2020 5:44 PM EST
New Moon Solar Eclipse in Cancer: June 21, 2020 2:41 AM EST
When I first sat down to make YouTube videos for each sign for 2020 YEAR AHEAD in December 2019, the thing that was most striking to me was that 3 out of 4 of the equinoxes and solstices of 2020 have MAJOR aspects occurring simultaneously. This is a sign of major collective changes. The Pluto/Saturn conjunction of January 2020 was another big sign that this year would be transformative, but it is having such powerful aspects at the solstice & equinox points that is really giving this year such a sustained runaway train energy.
Astrologers always look at what is happening at an equinox or solstice to see the themes of the upcoming season. The spring equinox on March 20 occurred just as Saturn was moving into Aquarius. This June solstice is marked by a solar eclipse in Cancer. And on December 21, 2020 (the next solstice), we have the “grand conjunction” of Jupiter and Saturn which hasn’t happened since 2000.
In 2020, the autumn equinox alone is the only major ‘power point’ of the year that does not have a POWERHOUSE aspect attached to it. Even in September we could say that Mars, having just gone retrograde in Aries on September 9th, is highly influential and near stationary at the autumn equinox. Indeed, Mars is extremely powerful this year.
Returning to this summer solstice solar eclipse in Cancer, we are now close to the middle of the calendar year and things are finally “hitting home” on many different levels. Cancer has to do with home, family, safety, security, “our tribe”. So much has been changing in the collective since March of this year, and there may be just enough clarity now for us individually to have a sense of how things will impact us personally in the long term. What started as career uncertainty could be becoming a plainly worrying new reality. What started as an inkling that perhaps a change of homes or locations was a good idea, is now turning into meetings with realtors and conversations with landlords.
The solstices and equinoxes are known as the ‘cardinal points’ of the year. They can show trends on the world stage and mark pivotal turning points in our private lives. Eclipses, by contrast, CATALYZE change and transformation. There is no getting around the shifts and adjustments that are happening around us collectively, many of them are long overdue. So then it becomes a question of how are we PERSONALLY going to integrate, process, and respond ? In order to best support and nurture ourselves and the collective ? This is the work of Cancer.
Cancer is the archetype of the Mother. We must learn how to mother ourselves so that we can be strong enough and healthy enough to bring our Mother’s Love into our relationships, communities and the world at large. Being in the Mother archetype not only has to do with love and compassion, but also with the way we communicate.
Love and compassion are expressed through intentionality and energy first, but also through our communication. And we are in a major process of learning how to improve our communication, both internally and externally. Mercury retrograde in Cancer is reminding us to not be so subjective and reactive. Venus retrograde in Gemini is reminding us to have healthy energetic hygiene when it comes to the news sources we ingest and the way we broadcast our ideas and beliefs. This is part of a much larger two year theme we are experiencing in the collective with the North Node now in Gemini, pushing us to transform our ways of thinking and belief systems.
But in order to stay OPEN to new ways of thinking and belief systems (Gemini), we must know at a deep and fundamental level that we are SAFE (Cancer). That is what this eclipse is reminding us of, and it may feel uncomfortable. Where do we NOT feel safe in our lives? We may point to social structures or authorities that do not have our best interests at heart. Or we may point to personal relationships or community dynamics that makes us uneasy. Or all of the above.
It is challenging to face the situations in our lives that touch us at such a deep sensitive level, and that we feel are paining us in some way. 0 degrees of Cancer, the degree where the eclipse takes place, is perhaps the most sensitive angle of the chart. The deepest, softest part of ourself is what is now open on the operating table. The situations, and relationships, in our life that we feel cannot (or do not) take great care with us, should no longer have a space in the operating room.
People who cannot take care of themselves are not very good at taking care of other people. And then a dangerous and destructive domino effect ensues. The only way to stop the process is to step away and be firm about not tolerating situations, people, social dynamics that are not healthy and supportive. As we do the work of this weeding in our lives, invariably people will have hurt feelings and relationships will end.
But our commitment right now needs to be on RE-learning (Gemini) how to RE-mother (Cancer) ourselves. Many of us were not taught to properly take care of ourselves (Cancer) or communicate (Gemini) in a healthy respectful empowered way. Culturally, we have been taught to give our power away to authority figures and institutions (Capricorn). Those structures are now crumbling and being re-negotiated.
That leaves something of a “power vacuum” at the moment. This is something to celebrate! That means it is a KEY MOMENT when we can TAKE OUR POWER BACK, not only in the collective as we are seeing happen around us, but also in the most deeply personal way (Cancer). And in the most deeply personal areas of our life.
There does not need to be drama around this process. In fact, drama is extremely disempowering. No need to call up those you wish to disengage from in your life and give them an ear full – that is not healthy self care or communication. Instead, this solstice solar eclipse is about WALKING OUR TALK, all the way from deep inside that seed core inside of us. That 0 degrees Cancer most personal point.
Six months ago- during the last solar eclipse, at 4 degrees of Capricorn, I used the analogy of the climb up the mountain that was in store- each of us walking our paths with patience, in our integrity, and ideally with minimal extra baggage (emotional and otherwise). Now is our check in time to see what baggage we have been carrying so we can shed it, as gently and completely as possible. While Capricorn is the mountain, Cancer is the ocean. There are many waves crashing around us these days. This Cancer eclipse asks us to remember from DEEP within our hearts that we are SAFE in the arms of the Great Mother. This is what fortifies us to relax and ride the waves in peace, maybe even in enjoyment.
To get to that place, we must take an active role in liberating ourselves from the past. With every person and situation in our lives – Is this a YES for me ? Is this is NO for me? How does it make me FEEL ? And then we can choose accordingly. Not by attacking others for wanting something different, but simply by choosing if we are going to put any of our precious life energy into this situation or not. THAT is true self-empowerment and healthy self-mothering, and that is our invitation now and for the next several MONTHS while this beautiful eclipse is in effect.
*Artwork by @indg0
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