Would it be Cancer season if we didn’t go on talking about tender themes and emotions? This week the transits point to the intersection of care and evolution. I’m going to share some thoughts on how care is wired into our animal body and instincts, and I also want to take a moment to discuss here how care is evolutionary in this lifetime in terms of allowing us to develop. In a supportive environment, we can flourish. We might be blessed with this environment already, or in some facets of our lives at least, while in other areas of our lives we are intentionally cultivating that nest.
You can watch the video version of this forecast here, or continue reading below!
I brought into this forecast some research I’m currently doing through a book Religion in Human Evolution by Robert Bellah, which I’m developing into a talk for a summit I’ll be taking part in soon. It wasn’t until writing this forecast and including some of this research that I made a lot more significant connection between care and a deeper instinctual urge for intimacy (cue the Sun in Cancer opposing Pluto this week).
Because it’s Pluto, and Pluto his such a deep, tricky, sticky, complex, shadowy archetype related to transformation and power, it’s also had me think a lot about the primal dynamics and the power dynamics of emotional vulnerability, and the ways we honor this very deep gateway.
If it’s useful/helpful, I have some personal anecdotal thoughts to share on these themes, and then will get into the transits as usual.
Earlier in the year I’d become curious/concerned that I don’t tend to cry very much and couldn’t get myself to cry on demand, and I wanted to have more access to my own emotional range.
A few months ago, I had the experience of being skillfully provoked by a leader of a workshop who I trust and I ended up ugly-crying uncontrollably in front of a group of people which somehow was like a nightmare for me realized. The group detoured and became focused on me for a while. I had a flashback to elementary school and learning how to hold my tears in, and swallow them, because of the bizarre distorted feeling that would open up when it feels like the room was closing in on me and everyone was looking at me.
For those several months since, I’ve been contemplating the energetic gateway that tears are, both for the emotional release it provides the one crying and the way the environment instinctually responds to it.
I had a false belief that being messy or emotional would reduce the amount of love in my life, but have subsequently discovered that being able to actually display signals of distress, instead of hiding them with iron reserve, actually becomes an invitation for other people to be caring, supportive, and loving – especially from people who happen to be more tender and self-accepting of tears than me. 🙂 I remembered this has also been true in the past. As I realized it was safe to be that emotional, I stopped being as judgmental in the places where I was, and have noticed a deeper capacity in myself to be caring with others – not just intellectually (because I have always valued love and kindness) but from a deeper place in my body and heart.
Likewise, being withholding or not revealing is a way to keep people out, which can be useful in instances where that is the intention or where privacy and space is needed more than involvement. (Or simply owning and stating those boundaries as needed, regardless of emotional expressiveness.)
Another’s vulnerability (such as tears) can often be a gateway for erotic feeling to spontaneously emerge in the person playing the role of protector, where the was no previous involvement, and it’s not necessarily the kind of care that a distressed person is asking for – as always consent should be deeply considered and acknowledged. It is a better idea to empower people in distress by letting them express what they need, than to assume, or to come with an agenda.
Why I’m sharing these thoughts above is that I think it is highly likely that with these transits this week, there will be a pronounced dynamic of emotional need and caregiving, whether you should fall on either or both sides of the spectrum – the vulnerable one or the protector. The opposition of Sun in Cancer to Pluto in Capricorn suggests that. This transit can relate to emotional transformations that happen within relationship, and ones that may be especially life-enhancing could happen in the context where there is TRUST. It might very well be literally erotic in contexts which support that, as Pluto does connect with Eros. Regardless, instinctual life-force energy.
Welcome back! Or in case this is your first time here, I’m Sabrina Monarch and I’m a soul-centered astrologer. I love providing perspectives on the opportunities of transits and putting into words what the vibe feels like at this moment in time, to support you on your path & open a dialogue between us and the cosmos. If you would like to receive these weekly forecasts to your inbox, sign up for my mailing list here.
Here’s our week, after a few announcements:
Kickstarter to fund the year ahead of astrology forecasts and Magic of the Spheres podcast episodes: June marked the beginning of the sixth year of writing these weekly forecasts and I’m asking for your support to crowdfund the year ahead. I’m offering astrology readings, discounted tuition to my Evolutionary Astrology course, and more. These forecasts have long been free and providing so much value to many people’s lives, and I truly need the support of you as my community to thrive. (Consider me like public radio!) I aim to keep sharing valuable free content for years to come and I ask for your help keeping Monarch Astrology around. Please help me reach my goal of having 200 backers – we’re at 72 at the time of publishing this forecast! The campaign lasts till July 30. Back the campaign here.
I’m really excited to share this course in part because I literally don’t think there is anything else out there like it! It’s a psychological, intutive, mystical exploration on the process of cultivating an online presence. This includes moving away from the narrative of the internet as a place of soul-depleting scrolling and moving toward an imagination of the internet as a place of magic, opportunity, and connection — and then actually embodying that more enriching perspective in how one participates with the collective airwaves.
This course also explores the inner-psychological, often hidden/private, processes that go into the cultivation of an online life or a public presence. The resistances and anxieties that come along with this are archetypal and human, and very much part of the path.
I hope that this course unlocks catalytic insights that makes way for businesses, friendships, colleague relationships that are now just awaiting in the wings. Enrollment is open through the Kickstarter at its lowest ever price.
Learn Evolutionary Astrology with me in August! The next run of the Evolutionary Astrology intensive begins this August. Note you can enroll at a discount through the Kickstarter! This is a transformational course with glowing alumni feedback – learn more about the program and read reviews on the course page here.
This course is all levels. Have that click where you *get* astrology and can begin to form your own interpretations, or profoundly deepen your existing awareness. Learn how to read charts as a whole from the perspective of reincarnation – what past life themes have you brought into this lifetime that you are still working with? What is your purpose in this lifetime, and what helps you to evolve? Gain a personal mythos and a soulful context for a deeper understanding of any area of your life – and learn wisdom teachings of depth astrology that you can engage to empower your soul’s potentials.
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If you’re considering this course and have any questions, start a conversation with me by sending me an email at sabrina@monarchastrology.com. Most logistical questions should be answered on the course page itself, but if you have personal questions about your learning journey with astrology or what you wish to gain out of this class, I’m here to talk with you!
No new episode of Magic of the Spheres this week – catch up with one of the past episodes where you listen to podcasts!
Here’s our week:
July 15, 2020
Sun in 23 Cancer opposite Pluto retrograde in 23 Capricorn: 12:12 PM PDT
(Image: Helice Wen)
Given that Cancer and Capricorn are an axis of care, and Pluto is so primordial and evolutionary, I want to share some thoughts on the deeper instinctual drives that come from wanting to offer or receive care and/or protection.
From a book Religion and Evolution, a passage from a section exploring the evolution of care and love in organisms –
“…But the origin of love he finds in parental care, which ‘unites the parents with their offspring and is clearly excellently united in reinforcing the bond between adults. We drew attention to the fact that only animals that care for their young have formed closed groups. They do it all by means of behavior patterns of cherishing which originate from parental care, and by making use of infantile signals which activate this behavior.”
Quick translation: in the evolution of mammals, the practice of being attuned to one’s young (sensing what they need and giving it to them), was adaptive for survival and so caring was evolutionary. “Infantile signals” from the baby mammals activates parental care. So the one with the capacity to care looks for need, and the one who needs care signals the need.
“He also notes that what he calls the flight drive, the natural response of a startled animal to seek refuge with a conspecific [same species], particularly the most powerful conspecific available, is rooted in the child’s rushing to its mother at the first sight of something unusual.”
- Our impulse to seek support and to be of support runs deeper than our lifetimes and even deeper than humanity – it is embedded into the evolution of mammals. (I am focusing on mammals here, but this is not to say other groups of species do not exhibit care/love) Mammals give birth to offspring which have to be nurtured and cared for for a time – offspring which are not ready to survive on their own, while they develop under the protection of more powerful/mature others.
- This underlying, primordial dynamic is powerful, and invites our development of maturity in learning how to navigate it. For one, being in distress and seeking support can induce love and connection. It can build family and kinship-like connections. It forms a bond that goes deeper than the mind or intellect, because it is literally so primordial. On the other hand, disparities of power are complex and tricky, and can be sites of abuse or abuse of power.
- So, more simplistically, vulnerability is a powerful connector and source of bonding and trust is important here. Do we trust who we are opening up to? Do we trust ourselves to be sovereign? Do we trust ourselves to be aware of our boundaries?
(Image: Peter Mohrbacher)
- Cancer and Capricorn are very protective archetypes, and they each have their own way of being guarded – with Cancer, it is the hard crab shell that protects the soft, gooey crab on the inside. With Capricorn, it’s walls, boundaries, and procedures that reduce ease of accessibility. Sometimes our work is lessening these defenses so we can be more open to life. Sometimes, we are already plenty open to life, and the work is having these defenses and boundaries because we are worth protecting and not everyone will treat our life-force with the respect we desire.
- Though these dynamics explored above are highly relational and often involve two or more beings, these dynamics exist internally as well. Self-care, self-parenting, self-soothing, self-protection, etc. are ways we draw upon these dynamics in our own being.
- Depending on the range at which we inhabit these themes, we might find ourselves on both sides of this axis – receiving support, giving support. It is community-building at this time and can increase love on the planet.
July 20, 2020
New Moon in 28 Cancer: 10:33 AM PDT & Sun in 28 Cancer opposite Saturn retrograde in 28 Capricorn: 3:28 PM PDT
(Image: Frida Kahlo)
This is our second New Moon in Cancer in a row – the last one happened at 0 degrees, and was an eclipse, on June 20. This lunation is opposite Jupiter, Pluto, and Saturn in late Capricorn, and trine Neptune in Pisces.
- The Full Moon ahead (on August 3), which is a peak moment of the lunar cycle beginning now, is on the Leo/Aquarius axis (full moon in Aquarius) and Uranus in Taurus will square the full moon axis. This will be a way different vibe from the New Moon. The New Moon highlights the care/emotional labor axis of Cancer and Capricorn due to the oppositions to Jupiter, Pluto and Saturn in Capricorn. As the New Moon occurs, we might feel emotional pressure due to feeling upheaval, fear, insecurity – anything that makes the animal in us run for safety. Regardless of how we are keeping it together or not, there is a lot of pressure signified in this transit. However, the Full Moon implies new freedom, paradigm shift, and even fun. Symbolically, we can be on a story arc right now of recognizing where we feel deeply pressured and oppressed (by life, by our patterns, by the world, by the weight of our memories, by the weight of our minds, etc etc.) by actually feeling it. And then making a choice that we want something new, and starting to become open toward innovation and play.
- Again, we are in a massive historic moment of contraction (the Saturn-Pluto conjunction of 2020, now with Jupiter involved for a triple conjunction as well) and even without the astrology it is apparent how much fear, anxiety, and upheaval is present in the collective zeitgeist. It’s probably important to acknowledge how you are feeling with the same compassion you would offer to an upset child. Cancer craves emotional cohesion and attunement, however, our most intense emotions (cue opposition to Jupiter, Pluto, and Saturn) can trigger our resistance and our desire to suppress and bottle up feeling. Sometimes ‘not going there’ is adaptive, but a lot of the time we do need to check-in, in order to move on. By the Full Moon, you can anticipate you might be coming up with some ideas to cheer yourself up or liberate yourself from what feels oppressive or difficult now.
- Now is also an important time to access or notice forgiveness in your field of awareness. It may not be forgiveness you have to force, either – but forgiveness that naturally arises from your own experiences that induce empathy where you did not have it before.
July 21, 2020
Mercury in 9 Cancer square Chiron retrograde in 9 Aries: 8:51 AM PDT
(Image: Uni Kaya)
This alignment last occurred on July 1, when Mercury was retrograde, and Chiron was direct. Here was what I wrote then:
- This tense transit may correlate with inner-confrontations of emotional states we find uncomfortable and the inner call-to-action that emerges within our distress. The call-to-action could be a coping strategy that assuages the problem, or taking action to remove oneself from the situation that is an ongoing cause of distress.
- Inflammation may be a useful image here – there is the issue itself and the puffy, tender energy around it. When we are encountering a problem or a difficult mental state, there is both the issue itself and our response to the issue (the inflammation) that we must tend to. The issue and the inflammation are different.
- As an example if we are finding ourselves afraid of something, there can be the pragmatic response to the fear at the most basic level, AND the emotional tending to the psychological inflammation around the fear. Again, they are different.
Thank you for meditating on the planets with me this week! If you would like further guidance, I do offer natal chart readings (book here) and have been increasingly focused on longer-term 1:1 work with my students and clients, in the form of mentorship – helping people form a depth relationship to their natal chart and personal transits over time, to develop themselves, to heal, and to reach their goals, all through the soul-making lens of evolutionary astrology. If you’re interested in working together in that capacity, I am currently accepting new clients. Send me an email at sabrina@monarchastrology.com to start a conversation and set up a free consultation call.
Find me on Instagram @sabrinamonarch and Twitter @Sabrina_monarch, get on my mailing list to stay apprised of all upcoming offerings and events, and I’ll see you next week!
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With love,
Sabrina Monarch
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