Sun in Cancer

Sun on Rails

(photo credit: Herbert Smith, October 2004)

The Sun enters Cancer on June 21st at 10:52 in the morning (UT/+0). And as it does, astrologically life moves from six months (and six signs) of overall pro-active or experimental mode into a six month (six signs) period where all of the signs...Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio and Sagittarius...at some level all speak to that which ‘responds’ or which causes us to take stock, build a better understanding of how to be or become more effectively based on experience - which is to say ours.

Cancer is all about feeling that ‘experiencing’...either in the most basic ‘who we are and where we come from’ sort of way...or in the receiving, containing or utilizing the emotional motivation we either get from our past or as we look to our future.

And yes, sometimes where those two things overlap...you know, where we get ‘motivated’ to work towards a better future, be it that of ourselves or in any more general or worldly way?

Cancer tends to have two very different modes - the emotionally confidence which comes from feeling at home with being ourselves in this life...and the insecure side of Cancer, that which most know as an ability to nudge, nag or get snippy, impatient or frustrated. Wherever we find Cancer in the natal chart, that house describes where and how we will experience some very ‘under our skin’ as well as ‘salt of the earth’ Cancerian moments.

And now all that comes to the fore as the Sun enters Cancer.

 2014 Cancer Ingress (Aries Wheel/Location Not Specific)(glyph chart)

2014 Cancer Ingress (Aries Wheel/Location Not Specific)(text chart)

Seeing that this ingress happens with Mercury still in retrograde suggests that from the time of the Cancer Solstice (June 21st, UT/+0) we are all likely to be wrestling just a bit with internal matters, be that in our mind, our heart...in some tug-of-war involving both...or  in any other ‘behind-the-scenes’ sense.

Plus there is one other little Mercury notion: because this ingress shows Mercury at 27 degrees of Gemini, part of the questions and self-questioning conflicts we will all face not just in the next month but over the next zodiacal quarter (the months of Sun in Cancer, Sun in Leo and Sun in Virgo - call it until mid-late September)...all of that time will have flecks and quirks of how well we have (or haven’t) reconciled our Self to the idea of what we give to the world against what we get from the world, some of which is likely to concern our home, home life, cultural heritage and the very Earth we call home - replete with it’s many other denizens, furry, fishy, feathered and otherwise and inclusive of anything good or bad about our very human life on said Earth.

27 Gemini is known for utter loyalty to some ideas as well as the utter rejection of others - which is very much in keeping with it’s position exactly in opposition to the Galactic Center (the center of our local Milky Way galaxy at 27 Sagittarius), a point which is all about needing to give (or make something of one’s self which ‘gives’ to others merely by nature) in order to fulfill one’s personal potential.

As Mercury goes direct on July 1st, some degree of questioning or discussing (with our Self or others) ‘takes a turn’...and we’ll feel a bit more clarified as the days roll forward until Mercury exits the shadow of its retrograde on July 15th. Add to that the implied (sign-to-sign) square implied by the Sun transiting Cancer against Mars in Libra and there will be distractions. And yes, there will be situations and reactions/commentaries (on our part or coming from others) which test our ability to merge or mesh our interests/perspectives with those favored or indeed needed by others. With Mars still in Libra and our notion of life [the Sun] being in Cancer, some of these messages will be purely about ego and need internal compromise while others will bring us into an awareness of (or the need to understand) some particular weakness which, in being expressed by Mars, is mental, conceptual or theoretical in nature.

All this will come to a head as we pass July 14th and move towards July 20th, that being the date when Mars finally (finally!!) wraps up its retrograde cycle in a conjunction with the Sun - which is something of a guarantee of a red-letter day.

What kind of a red-letter is up to us.

Jupiter and Io photographed in thermal-infrared from the Paranal Observatory

(photo credit ESO, November, 2000)

With that said, done and experienced however, then Mars heads for the end of its transit of Libra (read: the raising of personal issues through interactions/lack of interactions with others) which began back on December 7, 2013.

As for the Sun/Mars transiting conjunction, that can mark a finding of peace on any individual or collective level (even both). Then again, it can signal a moment in time when sheer stubbornness wins out.

Yet best beware: the ‘win’ of this moment doesn’t necessarily indicate success. Nor does it mean that which is done couldn’t be undone. Much of the good and bad of all here depends on us - on how well we handle the experiencing of our Self through our emotions. Mind you, this isn’t about ‘happiness’ per se, but rather more about our ability or willingness to ‘own’ our emotions in a world where everyone else has equally valid feelings.

As for the chart of this ingress...though you may be looking at the red lines (indicating square aspects) and think you’re looking at a Grand Square, you’re actually not - which is good, as Grand Squares tend to manifest as situations which need to be balanced and handled and pursued without any clear sort of resolution. Instead we get two t-squares, an idea which may produce a few groans (even more than a few) but which also speaks to a period of time (both the next month and the whole of the quarter) which asks whether we are able to operate for the good of all and not just in our own interests, be they defined by family, race, culture, heritage, affiliations individual or group, private or public, financial status or...well, you know - simple personal preference.

Both of these t-squares are in cardinal (pro-active) signs, with the Pluto/Vega t-square indicating the need to ‘get real’ in order to deal with some sort of powerful, even ‘controlling’ idea, ideal or allure (that being Vega’s charismatic touch) in order to affect some needed change...lest we experience change which is driven by someone else’s allegiance to some sort of ‘dream.’

Against this we have Jupiter at 24 Cancer - the expansive or expansion of will in overcoming others which when done without sufficient regard for others and/or care for human values and human beings fails utterly, whether in the short or long run. There is a decided Moon-Eris-South Node tendency to take the road known and to listen to those who are prone to agreeing with us simply because we feel so invested in our perspective that to (Sun in Cancer) experience anything which would tremble, however gently, our convictions feels intolerable.

Welcome to Sun in Cancer. That feeling? That reaction to the notion of needing to feel or being forced to feel who we’re being or what we would feel like if someone was doing-saying-acting as we are...all that would seem to be the point here. The ‘goal’ of this second t-square (the one in blue) being described as Ceres/North Node, we know the goal is a stable and productive relationship with our world, with life and with others.

It’s just that getting there is rather challenging - particularly to those who prefer to function in theory.

One other notion here: Capricorn against Jupiter, when split as it is in this image is often a signature of ‘those in power’ against ‘those who follow,’ be that a simple matter of parents with children or the more esoteric (if no less real and certainly no less important) concept of a government and its citizens. This is not so much a ‘power play’ dynamic as it’s likely to display a difference in orientation, with the Capricorn side stressing rules and/or consequences against a Cancerian need for continuity, lest that which needs to be done fails to hit its mark. Some manipulation of facts is to be expected. Yet where such tactics are used, chaos and destruction of that which is most cherished is likely to occur.

To some extent we are all likely to want to avoid some issues this month...but if we do, we’re only compromising ourselves.

So...do we want to do that?
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