New Moon in Cancer: Imagining Radical Care

As the sun and moon both sit in the sign of Cancer this new moon, you have an opportunity to imagine what radical care might look like for yourself, your loved ones, and your community. While the cardinal water sign of Cancer is often associated with emotions (as all water signs are), it is also linked to love, caregiving, mothering, family (whether chosen or biological), and home.

The theme of feeling safe and comfortable in your home is reflected in the crab, the animal associated with the sign of Cancer, with its protective exterior shell. Unlike the crab, you get to decide what home, family, and caregiving/mothering mean to you, and you get to change your mind as often as you want.

This new moon is an ideal time to be aware of your relationship with and feelings about themes of family, mothering/caregiving, and home. Whether or not you're a mother or live with your family of origin is irrelevant. This new moon invites you to investigate what it means to care for yourself and others, what family means to you (even if it's not your family of origin), and what it means to feel at home (even if it's untraditional).

New moons are a time of curiosity, imagination, and receptivity. We live in an overculture that devalues the role of caregivers and mothers and often views self-care as something purchased. There's no idea too big or "out there" when it comes to how you reimagine caring for yourself and others. The core theme of this moon asks, "What does radical care look like?"

Keep reading for themes, ritual suggestions, and prompts for the new moon in the sign of Cancer.

New Moon in Cancer Themes

Themes: radical care, love, family, home, caregiving/mothering, tuning into your relationship with these themes, being aware of what home means to you

Sign: Cancer

Element: water

Modality: cardinal

Quote: "The ethos of mothering involves valuing in and of itself a commitment to the survival and thriving of other bodies. It presents a fundamental contradiction to the logic of capitalism, which un-moors us from each other."

― Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Revolutionary Mothering: Love on the Front Lines

New Moon in Cancer Ritual Support

What better way to sink into a Cancer new moon than to create a radically cozy and caring space for yourself? The ritual support for this new moon is simple: take radical care of yourself, get curious about how you might create more care for yourself and others, and consider using the prompts shared below to explore these themes more deeply

This ritual can be sweet to do with a friend or a loved one. Consider swapping foot or back rubs, doing each other's nails, or giving a scalp massage. As always, adjust this ritual as needed to make it work for you.

You'll need:

• 30-60 minutes of uninterrupted quiet time

• Cozy clothes and anything that makes you feel cozy

• Optional: candle, crystals, tea, snacks, and anything else that feels supportive

  1. Begin by preparing yourself and your space to create a cozy atmosphere. Consider wearing your favorite and most comfy clothes, grab your favorite comfort beverage and snack, and set the space with items that make you feel cozy. Take your time with this. If this feels difficult, imagine setting up a space for a beloved friend or family member who is visiting and needs some love.

  1. Invitation: Before you decide to purchase anything to set up your cozy space, consider stretching your imagination and creativity to discern if you can create an ideal environment with what you have on hand or by asking a friend or loved one.

  2. Take any time to cleanse the space energetically or call in spiritual support in a way that aligns with your practice.

  3. Look over the prompts outlined below or notice what themes of home, family, and mothering are arising within you. Consider journaling or pulling cards to explore these themes.

  4. Pamper and care for yourself and/or a friend or loved one for as long as your heart desires.

  5. Remain open and curious about the ways that you might extend more love, care, and coziness to yourself, your beloveds, and your community.

  6. If you opened this ritual in any specific way, consider closing with intention and gratitude.

New Moon in Cancer Prompts

Utilize these new moon in Cancer-inspired prompts to journal about or with your favorite tarot or oracle card deck.

1. What people and places make you feel most cared for and comfortable?

2. What does home mean to you?

3. How do you mother and/or care for yourself? How do you mother and/or care for others?

4. What would radical care look like for yourself, your loved ones, and your community?

5. What barriers prevent you from caring for yourself and others in the way you want to?

6. Imagine three ways you could creatively create more care and comfort for yourself and others alongside these barriers.

7. What feelings arise for you as you tune into these themes?

In an over-culture that consistently devalues the role of mothering and caregiving, this new moon is a loving reminder that everyone needs care and a place that feels like home. It's our sacred task to imagine what a radically caring world looks and feels like.

In radical care,

Cassie

Understanding the Energy of Cancer Season

Welcome to Cancer season! Our cardinal water sign, this archetype is here to help us tap into our inner world of emotions, heal our ancestry, and connect with the themes of home, family, and mother.

Whether you have Cancer placements in your birth chart or not, we’re all feeling into this energy during this season. In this blog, I’ll be sharing what Cancer is all about, the planetary and tarot associations of Cancer, and how to understand Cancer in your chart. 

CANCER ENERGY

As a cardinal sign, dynamic Cancer initiates us into the swirling, watery, fiery container that is summer. Ruled by the moon in western astrology, this archetype connects us to the inner world, to the chaotic nonlinear world of feeling.

If you feel grief coming up during Cancer season, rest assured - that’s normal. If you feel deep swells of feeling, rest assured - that’s normal, too. As many have said, we are bodies of water on the planet of water and so, of course, our emotions flow with the moon. When the sun is in Cancer, we all feel the movement of the moon through its phases and cycles more acutely. We can feel its pull on our hearts, our intuition, our bodies.

Featured deck is The Ritual Deck.

There’s an inherent vulnerability to Cancer season, and the protective urge that comes with it as well. Picture the crab shell that represents Cancer: the crab makes its body a home and is protected within it. We can learn from Cancer how to protect ourselves and others, and we can also learn how to distinguish between what is protection and what is hiding from ourselves, our lives, our feelings. 

This archetype’s association with family and the archetype of the mother connects us not only to our relationships with our families and the ways we mother ourselves but to our ancestors as well. Cancer season can be a time of deep ancestral healing, waking us up to patterns, traumas, and wounds in our lineage that we are invited to heal. 

All signs have a shadow energy and expression, and in its shadow Cancer can be reactive, overprotective, and overcautious. There is a tendency for Cancer to hold things in, and a danger in holding them in for too long. When balanced with its polar energy of earthy, structured, Capricorn, Cancer’s watery energy is free to flow within a safe and boundaried container. 

Watch more in this video from Eryn.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Cassie Uhl (@cassieuhl)

THE PLANETS

As I mentioned above, Cancer is ruled by the moon in western astrology. In esoteric astrology, Cancer is ruled by Neptune.

The Roman sea god, Neptune is associated with water, sensitivity, imagination, and the dream world. According to astrologer Heidi Rose Robbins, Cancer at its highest Neptunian level is all about being a great mother for the world, wrapping humanity in its arms, and nourishing us all. 

CANCER IN THE TAROT

In the tarot, Cancer is associated with the Chariot, the High Priestess, and the Knight of Cups.

Featured deck is The Starchild Tarot. 

The Chariot, the seventh card in the major arcana, teaches us how to move from the heart and tap into a deeper kind of knowing to guide us on our path. This card speaks to the balance between holding boundaries to protect ourselves and still allowing our water to flow. The High Priestess shows us how to descend into our own underworld (where there are no gurus, no masters other than ourselves over our own energies and lives) to gather the knowledge we seek of our own mysteries. Lastly, the Knight of Cups, the initiator of water, invites us to embody love and compassion.

CANCER IN YOUR CHART

To understand Cancer in your chart, you’ll want to look at a couple of pieces:

• Any planets in Cancer

• The house that Cancer rules in your chart. Whatever house Cancer rules indicate the area of life where you are meant to let water lead. 

• Your 4th house. The 4th house is the Cancer house. The sign that rules your 4th house can add another layer indicating how Cancer themes show up in your life.

Another way to understand Cancer energy in your life could be to ask your oracle or tarot deck: how is Cancer energy showing up in my life right now?

Want to connect more deeply with Cancer energy? Work with moonstone to tap into the power of the moon, green aventurine for emotional clarity, or rose quartz for heart healing.