The New Moon Friday, July 1, will be exact in the wee hours of the morning and the partial solar eclipse will not be visible in most parts of the planet. The Sun/Moon conjunction will take place at 9 degrees 12 minutes Cancer. As always if you have access to your own chart it's good to take note of the house position of this degree of Cancer.

This will help you visualize how these energies might affect you, in which realm of activity at the least. In my case, just for example, it falls in my 5th House, where I like to express myself, mostly through my art, although sex mixes in to matters of the 5th. Opposite is the 11th House of friends and wishes. So when I'm setting intentions for this next month's cycle I will keep this placement in mind. I may want to take the hint about "wishes." What does the heart desire?

Cancer energy is a story unto itself and a powerful one for each of us. Start with "mother" and early home life and work forward from there. We all have our version of this archetype and most of us are still working it out on some level. And the work of "working it out" is always emotional work, mostly dealing with the tracks of memory laid down before anything we can now consciously remember. A tricky business this, for sure.

The new Soul Speak card above was my personal exploration of Cancer this time around: I started with water (Cancer is a water sign and is ruled by the ever-changing feminine, emotional Moon) and then jumped to SECURITY. This has been a nagging issue for me ever since I moved to Taos. Yes, I love it here, but my financial future just refuses to take any hopeful shape. And this cannot be blamed on Taos. Yes, the town is also wondering about its own security and financial future. So there's a mirror there that holds my attention. Hmm...

I made sure there was plenty of water in my card. I recall when I was in the dream group back in Ketchum that my frequent dreams of being near water were always the happiest. It was as though there, in that place next to the water, I was HOME. My whole being felt it. So if "at-home"=water=nurturing life blood then I take that as my main symbol of the security I long for. I leap ahead and see that it is my feminine self that is my own source of nurturance, my willingness to be sensitive, to be vulnerable, to be part of the larger life force that impels and informs humans.

So fine there on the water but who is that riding a rooster? and why? First of all, it's from a painting by Marc Chagall, only one of many similar images. He frequently painted women with horses and with roosters. I recently began looking at his work (thank you library) and felt drawn to it now as though seeing it for the first time. And no wonder as it seems to be mostly focused on women and their sensuality.

Truth is I have at this writing two, yes two, separate photos of roosters taped to my white storage cupboards. I've been happy to see them there and not too analytical about why. I will let your own imagination decide. Still it was a coincidence I paid attention to when thumbing through the book of Chagall paintings. So what about security, our topic here? Well a woman might feel more secure when she's backed up by a strong, robust, crowing man I'd think? It's always something a woman can try out.

I read this in a current We'Moon calendar book: It's taken from some larger writing by Padme Rain Crowe in 2009.

"There is a gathering of forces, aligning to re-story ourselves; to go beyond Empire culture, and through the discomfort of not knowing exactly what shall come to pass, to oracle earth's wisdoms, in preparation for the journey of coming HOME to ourselves."

Again there's that word, "home" like an arrow pointing me/us to the Self as the safest place to be, to nurture, to trust. I think in this quote she is saying that we can't trust the culture, which we've mostly figured out by now, but she points to Earth Wisdom as something we can trust as we progress ever forward to the Oneness that is alive and well within the true Self.

Yes, this New Moon comes with a partial solar eclipse and is part of a Cardinal Grand Cross so is nothing to sneeze at. The other three planets making up the Grand Cross are Pluto, Saturn and Uranus, all potentially upsetting energies in their own right. They are pressing us onward this month to clean up the debris of the past, to follow Higher Guidance even if it means some painful partings and challenging new adventures. And with Cancer setting the tone there will be feelings felt and in some cases loudly expressed.

Be kind to yourself and your loved ones.