!! OMG Stars: New Moon in Cancer !!

Welcome to OMG Stars: an astrology column written by Amelia Ehrhardt (@soft_aspects) a queer astrologer currently practicing from bed. Every two weeks, on the new and full moons, I’ll give you a report of the upcoming astrology with a focus on how to navigate current events (astrological and global) with the help of the *stars*.

New Moon in Cancer June 21st 2020
Happy solstice and Pride, Queers. The work is never complete.

When OMG.BLOG approached me to write horoscopes a couple months ago, my goal was to create a fun source of distraction during a garbage fire of a moment. I’ve always found horoscopes to be a bit silly and I intended to write them with this energy. But alas, my chart is too full of Scorpio to not do anything with passionate intensity, and the past couple months have turned out to be everything that they have been (which is to say: predictably unpredictable, whether speaking to an Astrologer, Epidemiologist, or Activist), and I’ve instead buckled into this project to write Queer horoscopes for profound inner and outer change. That is just so typically me!

For the previous Full Moon in Sagittarius we opted to bow out of posting as there were more critical things to make space for, and other voices to listen to. This lunation we’re back, but I want to also take this moment to point you in the direction of some Black astrologers doing excellent work: @lilithastrology, @thehoodwitch, and @houseofgoodspirits_ to start.

At this moment of continued physical disconnect, people have a profound need to gather.

On the 25th of June, Venus will complete her 45-day retrograde movement in Gemini. Ruled by Mercury, this Venus retrograde has had some of the qualities of a Mercury retrograde, with information and communication struggling through the backwards dance of our solar system’s fastest mover. But on June 18th, a week before Venus stations direct, Mercury joined Venus where they’ll spend eight days holding hands and fucking up our shit. By and large, the astrology of 2020 has primarily and profoundly been about our shit getting fucked up. Interestingly, Capricorn as a sign is literally in rulership of structures, such as statues and monuments, and is also about the conceptual structures we live in such as white supremacy, and Pluto in a sign is literally about demolishment of the things that sign rules. Right now Pluto is in Capricorn and statues of white supremacists are literally being demolished. I am making popcorn and watching with glee as Pluto does their thing.

On a cultural level, this Venus retrograde has shown us, for better and for worse, where our societal values lay. In the sign of Gemini, these values have been shared and communicated widely and frenetically. Mercury retrograde is a time of unreliable detail, and its lesson is to show us where we need to pay more attention. Retrogrades are also about re-visiting the past, so Mercury retrograde also has an annoying habit of showing us how our past decisions have or have not worked out for us. In the sign of Cancer this retrograde will likely be another emotional one.

Missed phone calls that leave people feeling abandoned, technological hiccups that prevent us from communicating with our loved ones. Questioning whether we really should have had that conversation, made that decision, or gotten so touchy during that preceding Venus retrograde.

These horoscopes are officially for the New Moon in Cancer, which is also a Solar Eclipse in the same sign. Eclipses are thoroughly written about as pivotal moments that often represent crisis or substantial change. New Moons are always a time for beginnings, so when they occur as an Eclipse it is that energy underlined, bold, and italicized.

A cardinal water sign, Cancer is about new life: Cancer is about the relationship between the birthing parent and the baby: the feeling of safety when brand new life is placed in the arms of a caring parent for the first time, or the feeling of joy when an adopted child is embraced by their new parents for the first time. Cardinal water is a fresh water spring, a stream, a trickle of new water melting in the spring to feed a lake and our bodies. Embrace the sides of you that are feeling vulnerable right now: comfort the part of you that is weak in this moment of massive upheaval. Parent the young child inside of you so that you can enter the world with fortitude to join in our shit getting fucked.

Find your sun and rising sign horoscopes after the jump!

Horoscopes are written using whole house calculations and are meant as inspiration and affirmation of what you already know. They are written for both sun and rising signs, and you can read for your moon sign for extra emotional information.

Aries and Aries rising
I just spent a week with a toddler, my beloved nephew, a double Leo with Mercury and Sun conjunct the Ascendant. I spent a lot of time observing his emotional responses because recently someone dear to me with Aries placement described it as having “toddler feelings”, and I’ve subsequently used that with my Aries clients quite a lot. Aries does have to do with our early life.  All this to say: Toddlers can’t differentiate between emotional stimulus very well, and neither can you all the time, Aries.

Aries rising folks will have the opportunity of this new moon and solar eclipse to start new cycles in how you relate to family of origin, while possibly having past wounds dredged up. Aries sun (and moon) people might find the day of this new moon and eclipse to be particularly uncomfortable, feeling hit where it hurts as this moon briefly squares your Aries placement. When my nephew wept, no matter the issue, what he needed was to be held and comforted and assured that his feelings were OK to have. I suggest you hold yourself with the same level of softness, Aries.

Taurus and Taurus rising
As though a Venus retrograde wasn’t uncomfortable enough for you sensual Taureans, Mercury’s retrograde has joined in to make sure that now you are feeling hit by horrible and sensitive communication problems. Taurus rising folks have this new moon and Mercury retrograde in your third house of communication. Use this time of revisiting and rewording to set new intentions for yourself in how you communicate your emotional needs. Taurus sun/moon people will have a brief little shot of confidence from this lunation as it glows though a sextile with your placement.

Let yourself feel confident in a moment of fear, and use your capacity to think of the earthly delights and detail to help out anybody who seems to be flailing. Ask them: are you upset, or would you like a snack?

Gemini and Gemini rising
Ah gemini, you of the gossip and info and details and energy-spread-wide-and-thin. When your ruling planet stations retrograde there is even more stimulus for you to be curious about since things are careening wildly and unpredictably. In the sign of Cancer this one is particularly emotional so Gemini folks will have to watch that the information you come across is not going to be harmful to anyone, particularly for Gemini folks with a lot of air placement in general.

For Gemini risings this eclipse and retrograde are happening in your 2nd house of resources, so at once you will likely be revisiting old decisions about finances, and at the same time in a place to make big changes to how you want to think about your resources moving forwards. Use this as an opportunity. You can at once have your old choices bite you in the ass while also learning from them, thanking them, and leaving them behind. All Gemini people will be affected by this eclipse and retrograde, so be sure to care for the other parts of your chart that are a bit more tender than Gemini is known to be. Seek out your friends, Gemini, you usually have so many of them who love you and your freakiness dearly.

Cancer and Cancer rising
Oh my dear sensitive Cancer friends, whatever is happening for you right now must really be making you extra soft! This retrograde and lunation are in your sign, and the capacity for hurt is high. I read a line in a poem by Billy-Ray Belcourt, in his book “NDN Coping Mechanisms”, that made me think of Cancer: “Just once, I wanted to be unhinged from sentimentality.” (from “The Wall Clock Caught Fire from Neglect”). I don’t think this is what he was talking about, but this resonated with me in thinking about the sign of Cancer.

To allow yourself to be free from the need to take everything personally. To allow yourself to start a new cycle of every way in which you see yourself as weak. To reframe your sensitivity as a source of major strength. I don’t know when I’ll next be on a plane, but I always think those safety announcements to put your own air mask before helping others must have been written for a plane full of Cancer-people. As we drown in the collective swirling waters of a Mercury retrograde in your sign, be sure to pull yourself to shore before you start trying to rescue those around you.

Leo and Leo rising
I’ve been working to always talk with my Leo clients about how it is only because of the patriarchy that we only associate Leo with the male lion. Leo is in equal parts the Lioness: generous, knowing their strength alone and amplified by a team, and constantly surrounded by cute kids. I hope my Leo readers will think about this during a time when everyone could really use some love and support. Many Leo people are highly creative and expressive: we all really need that entertainment during this collective garbage fire moment.

My hope for you, Leo, during this eclipse is that you can use this natal creativity to bring expression to quiet wounds that have festered intergenerationally in your lineage for too long. Let them come out: they serve nothing by being held onto, and can only be healed through release.

Virgo and Virgo rising
As your ruling planet stations retrograde it can be challenging for Virgo people, so fond of orderly detail, to feel moored to anything. When the details that you need in order to feel safe go haywire, a lot of Virgo people can become completely incapacitated. For Virgo rising people, this eclipse-retrograde combo will take place in your 11th house of community, calling on you to be certain that the communities of friends that you have around you are both helping you serve *and* serving you.

All Virgo people will be affected by this retrograde, so try as best you can to both keep your own sense of order, whatever that means to you, while meditating on how letting go of order can help you deal with your relationship to expectations. Things rarely go as planned, and a Mercury retrograde will simply show how true this old nugget really is.

Libra and Libra rising
The tail end of these days with Venus retrograde in your ruling sign, with Mercury joining along, will be a moment of really having to ask yourself if you are *sure*, Libra friends. The Venus retrograde has likely been very painful for you, as people have gone in on themselves leaving no one to really talk to you. Libra badly needs to feel itself reflected in another. Now that the retrograde is coming to a close, think about what emotional information was shared with you during the past six weeks that you really need to carry forward, and what you can leave behind as having been people acting in crisis.

Libra sun/moon folks might have a brief stressful day as the lunation squares your placement, but this is such transformative astrology that I think you can carry it forward. Surround yourself with people who will affirm you. Have fun and be chatty to pass the time. Later, write, journal, meditate on your dreams, and otherwise reflect on what these trying times have taught you. But for the immediate, give yourself the lightheartedness that is native to your sign.

Scorpio and Scorpio rising
I bet you’ve inherited some troubling secrets over this lunation and Venus retrograde, Scorpio. My Mother, a deep Scorpio, used to say to me that she feels like she walks around with a sign on her forehead that says “Talk to me, I will listen”. It’s funny to me that given Scorpio’s reputation for prickliness that this side fo the Zodiac is such a good listener.

As Mercury stations retrograde it’s likely that the details around the secrets you carry might start to leak. Be sure that you’re texting the right person and have your privacy settings correct as you communicate over this next week, Scorpio. These details will be particularly unreliable right now and it’s important for you to keep those secrets where they belong – in your trustworthy front pinchers.

Sagittarius and Sagittarius rising
This eclipse and Mercury retrograde, Sagittarius rising, is happening in a tough part of your chart. Moving through the 8th house of transformation, this eclipse is a good moment to let go of the trauma other people have dumped on you. Let their shit be their shit. For all Sagittarians: Let yourself transform in the way you need to. Let your innate senses of power shift as you use them for your own growth.

As the details of life go haywire and things stop working, try to tap into your natal capacity for expansion. Be a tourist in your own neighborhood, try to find new alleys and roads and thickets, and try to see new perspectives. Yours is a sign that deals pretty well with change, and we all need some of this Sagittarian optimism to help us see how this moment can truly be transformative and not just turbulent.

Capricorn and Capricorn rising
A conversation with a Capricorn-rising friend recently made me notice how many Capricorns I know who do not quite identify with Capricorn as an archetype. I think this is probably true for many of you, since Capricorn is so often described almost as more fo a Disney villain than a complete and whole person. So here is a compilation of Cool Capricorn things, taken from Rex E. Bills’ “The Rulership Book”, that I think will help all of you Capricorns struggling with this side of yourself, particularly in a year of Big Capricorn Energy: abandoned places, air conditioning, caves, cemeteries, concentration, decomposition, efficiency, fields, goats, hair, hemlock (the plant), integrity, land, moonstones, mountains, old people, pine trees, pottery, ranches, reliability, salt, snow, stones, time, trees, urns, vaults, and watches.

There is so much more to Capricorn than the Monopoly Man. This eclipse happens opposite your sign, and is asking all Capricorn people to tune into a part of themselves that is most vulnerable. Build the structures around yourself that you need to protect you during this time. Spend some time with your favourite stones. Detail might be unreliable right now, Capricorn, but you are unlikely to be.

Aquarius and Aquarius rising
The scattered energy of 2020 doesn’t have anything to do with Aquarius placement, but it might be something that Aquarians can deal with best. For aquarius rising people, this eclipse and mercury retrograde will wreak havoc on your day-to-day life. As if anybody needed more disruption from reliability this year! Details in your everyday will be particularly frustrating right now, Aquarius, so I suggest you use your natal Uranian qualities to just let the unpredictable be that way.

All Aquarian people are so community- and friend- oriented that I think you might be able to be a good support system to your friends. If you find yourself flailing, be the person to suggest a distance-hang. Set up some Chill Park Times and see your people in the great outdoors. Lead the vent session and see how everyone’s Tough Feelings are interrelated. Aquarians tend to think of each one fo their friends as their best friend: make sure they all know that in this trying moment.

Pisces and Pisces rising
My favourite Pisces Representation in Pop Culture is a vine that went around a couple of years ago. A gay, out in a swamp kayaking with his friend, somehow gets stuck in some weeds and starts sinking. It’s so slow and this gay is just flailing as his kayak fills with water and he has no clue what to do. His friend (probably some combo of Gemini/Scorpio/Aries) watches the whole thing unfurl while filming. He shouts at her continuously: SAARAAAHHHHHHH. SSSSAAAAARAAAAAAAAAAAH. This is such Pisces energy: sinking into the water, incapacitated by a sort of minor problem, and unable to see that you can actually stand up.

While this retrograde and eclipse grazes your tender water-sibling of Cancer, maybe google that vine and have a good laugh at the ways that you can relate to it. Are you really drowning or are you just overwhelmed? Enlist the Aquarian in your life to write a to-do list to pull yourself out of the muck while Mercury retrograde shovels it higher around you.