Clow’s ‘09 Summer Solstice & Cancer New Moon Reports

Happy 2009 Summer Solstice everyone. Here’s Barbara Hand Clow’s ‘09 Summer Solstice report, AND, because the New Moon is on Monday June 22, (a 22 day) she put both reports up.  www.handclow2012.com/astroflash.htm

2009 Summer Solstice: June 21, 2009 / View Chart

“The Sun moves into Cancer, bringing summer to the Northern latitudes and winter to the Southern latitudes. In the North, the time has arrived for nurturance, for remembering that our mother, Earth, supports our desires and wants us to thrive. For you readers who created spring intentions during the Spring Equinox, have you been seeing aspects of these intentions materialize in your life, or maybe you have first been planting these possibilities in your fertile mind? With the arrival of summer, the time has come to fertilize and water these seedlings, to flesh them out by adding new possibilities, facets, and perspectives. The 2009 Summer Solstice is really going to facilitate the deepening of these creative processes with the New Moon in Cancer arriving only a day and a half after the Solstice. This combination of summer awakening followed so soon by the New Moon offers us two concentrated days in which to model and envision our creations.

Saturn recently went direct in Virgo on May 16, when the material world really began cooking after a time of repose since early February. This forward motion is a welcome relief; during late winter/early spring, many of us were strangely tied up in knots under the influence of Saturn and Venus retrograde while Mars was wallowing in Pisces. Thankfully, now, action is the game. Amidst the unrelenting influence of this spring’s frustrating Venus/Mars transits, many people were all wound up in severe relationship stress. Since the time to get moving is normally in the spring, these transits have very disconcerting; even the plants in my garden were very late this spring. Did the cosmic master set it up this way during this spring to encourage us to pop and process unresolved and limiting emotional patterns? Surely, removing such blocks would better allow us to handle the Triple Conjunction of Jupiter, Chiron, and Neptune in Aquarius. Like clearing out a dusty, cluttered attic, many of you did a lot of deep work on useless old patterns this spring, which will serve you well this summer. Now the time has come for action based on what this subtle and mind-boggling Triple Conjunction is pushing us to do- heal ourselves of primary catastrophobia. [See Clow, Catastrophobia: The Truth About Earth Changes in the Coming Age of Light.] This stunning dance in the sky is pushing us to balance and activate all four bodies of consciousness-physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual-since we need to achieve total balance during the last few years of the Mayan Calendar.

Before I interpret the Summer Solstice chart, please refresh your mind on your spring intentions. This year-in light of all the wreckage caused by the spring’s Venus/Mars transits during Saturn retrograde-how did your creative intentions hold up while you were handling severe relationship stress? These days, many people have learned how to create things alone rather than in tandem with their partners, except for those rare partners who create well together. So, if you had a partner (lover, child, friend, parent, associate) who made it almost impossible for you to create your new intentions this spring, take just a moment to analyze how this person sabotages or blocks your heart’s desire. Is this person limiting you because he or she feels blocked? Can you reassure this person about his/her own special value so that you can be liberated? If you can, you are in for a big treat: Sensuality and luscious passion will rule our nests this summer with Venus and Mars in Taurus. You will love it!

Turning to the chart for the Summer Solstice, as you contemplate this reading, think of this chart as a spring or lock that will release its potency over more than a day, and then its power will release during the Cancer New Moon. (I will discuss the New Moon release in the reading for the Cancer New Moon.) The last three days of any lunar cycle are the balsamic phase when the real wisdom of the previous lunation is distilled and perfected. The Gemini lunar cycle was the quickening of life, which was strong this year because Saturn had just gone direct while the Triple Conjunction in 26 degrees Aquarius was tight. Then Chiron and Neptune intensified the Triple Conjunction by going retrograde right after the Gemini New Moon. I did my best to prepare you for this alchemical fusion in last month’s reading, yet I suspect that most of you had a very hard month; you may even have questioned the value of your own existence. The Triple Conjunction is thrusting us into our deepest layers of “chirotic” wounding while Neptune is melting our boundaries to spirit and Jupiter expands the process. This planetary dance is decimating our resistance to feeling the full potency of life itself; as we move through old pain, we often feel like we are dying.

The Summer Solstice chart is really enigmatic with two combust (conjunct within one degree) pairs of inner planets-Venus combust Mars in middle Taurus, and the balsamic Moon in Gemini combust Mercury. The Triple Conjunction is still very tight and, outrageously, it is about to intensify more! Jupiter turned retrograde June 15, and it will exactly re-conjunct Neptune on July 10, and then Chiron on July 22 right during a solar eclipse. What does all this suggest? It means that the pressure to penetrate encapsulated inner wounds amidst flashes of astonishing enlightenment continues on full bore! The magic degree is still 26 Aquarius, which is just fascinating because the 1776 USA Moon is 27 degrees Aquarius-exactly conjunct Barack Obama’s lunar South Node. This indicates that the US is the central processor of global wounding, with Obama here as the conductor. Thus, just before the Sun in Gemini squared newly direct Saturn in Virgo, Obama went to Egypt to offer his “New Beginning” lecture, which very clearly addressed East/West tension. On June 5, as the Sun squared formative Saturn, the media was awash with the speech and the global response to it. Obama changed the rules of the game during Sun square Saturn, setting up a new game board that will shift realities while Saturn moves forward into its third opposition to Uranus in mid-September. Regardless of what you think about the building rapprochement between East and West, Benjamin Franklin, that sly Masonic master, once said, “There never was a good war or a bad peace.” Maybe the US should take this founding father more seriously?

Returning to the Summer Solstice chart, there are multiple aspects to the Sun moving into Cancer, which means our annual enjoyment of nurturance will be deepened by all these complex, multi-faceted, and expressive aspects. Sun in Cancer closely opposes Pluto retrograde in Capricorn bringing hidden shadows into the light this summer. The Sun/Pluto axis in early Cancer/Capricorn is closely aligned to the Galactic Center/anti-Center axis in 27 Sagittarius/27 Gemini. Thus, attention to the influence of the coming end of the Mayan Calendar in 2011/12-as well as to Exopolitics-will build through the summer. The Triple Conjunction trines the Solstice Sun, so we will feel our individual healing processes as facets of the collective healing. More and more you will find yourself flowing within the evolutionary critical leap that is building up; you may feel your own nervous system growing as Earth grows.

The lunar North Node in Aquarius exactly quincunxes the Solstice Sun. Mature Aquarian themes are germinating new structures that will be born while the North Node is in Capricorn from late August 2009 through March 2011. The North Node went into Aquarius in December 2007 just after the opening of Night Five of the Galactic Underworld, and the transformative power of Uranus has released the financial collapse that is breaking down the structures of the Planetary and National Underworlds. [See Clow, The Mayan Code: Time Acceleration and Awakening the World Mind.] This breakdown of the old structures will be supported by almost everybody when the North Node moves into Capricorn in late August 2009. As things that nobody wants anymore crumble, people will start to actively participate in throwing out the old and seeking new paths.

Uranus in late Pisces squares the Solstice Sun opposite Pluto in Capricorn, a very potent T-square. Uranus has been in Pisces since 2003, and he will go into Aries briefly in 2010 and then permanently in March 2011. Uranus rules the transformation process itself; and when Uranus is in Pisces, we transform our spiritual processes as the world adopts new spiritual perspectives. Individually, many people are formulating a new Christology by envisioning the deity as a sexual partner with the goddess; and globally, there is a building distrust of scientific materialism. As much as everybody enjoys all the gadgets and comforts, many people are realizing that they don’t even want to live without spiritual communion and respect for Earth. This T-square signals life-changing spiritual realizations this summer, which is also the agenda of the Triple Conjunction. All that sounds fine and dandy, but how? This is where these tight Venus/Mars, Moon/Mercury planetary pairs come in.

When planets are conjunct less than one degree (combust), the forces that these planets rule are fused, and they work together to accomplish big things. When an individual has a natal planetary pair, often they cannot distinguish between the feeling and demands of each planet. Collectively, the two planets are like a couple in which two people become the equivalent of three. Venus combust Mars in Taurus is the ultimate passionate androgyny: Nobody cares what sex you are or whether you switch it back and forth; everything is sexual. Then with Venus/Mars in Taurus exactly trine Saturn newly direct in Virgo, people will be locked into creating new worlds and patterns, and they will love doing it. What a hot combination for summer 2009! It will also tend to favor economies, even make people feel greedy and throw caution to the winds. So, this summer is the last period to get your financial house in order before Saturn moves into cardinal Libra in late October after opposing Uranus again in mid-September. These transits will combine with the evolutionary flowering of Day Six to topple old systems, especially those supporting war and financial hierarchies.

The balsamic Moon in 8 Gemini is combust Mercury in 8 Gemini, a really hot trigger in the Solstice chart. Like Venus/Mars in Taurus, it pulls our attention down into small details and gets us going. The Moon rules our emotions and Mercury rules our computing mind (Uranus rules the higher mind), and they are really active in Gemini; we will really feel like taking action. This combination will inspire us to experience the world as our oyster, a very nice way to enjoy summer. Moon/Mercury in Gemini is in a wide closing quincunx to Pluto in Capricorn, making us want to end old patterns, like that moment when you are cleaning out the attic and you just throw all the crap out. This summer, you might feel like a master of fencing as you carry out your work-swish, take this, swoop, cut that. With Venus/Mars in Taurus trine Saturn inspiring us to have fun while creating things, and Moon/Mercury in Gemini making reality move and flow, expect unique and fun activities this summer for sure!

With all that said, how do we integrate the highly spiritual quality of the Triple Conjunction; the Sun in Cancer stimulated by so many aspects; and the practical aspects of the two combust pairs? I think the answer is to intentionally connect the more subtle aspects of life with the mundane. Great spiritual teachers often stress that God is in the garden or in the eyes of a little child. The divine is interwoven into ordinary reality, and most often that is where we find it. This is a summer to bless life, find joy in small things, and have a great time creating and living. The New Moon reading follows shortly, which offers more tools for releasing the potency of this wonderful summer, the Flowering Phase of Day Six of the Galactic Underworld.”

Cancer New Moon: June 22, 2009 View Chart

“It is the New Moon in Cancer, the time to evaluate our feelings about our own security and a time to be nurtured and loved. Occurring little more than a day after the Summer Solstice, it infuses our bodies and feelings with the potency of summer, making us feel stirred, joyful, and safe. Because this New Moon occurs so soon after the Solstice, the added keys to its message are in the aspects that have changed a lot since the Solstice: the fast-moving Moon, Sun, and Mercury will cause subtle changes in the overall harmonics of the slower-moving bodies. I will consider these subtle shifts as well as offer a traditional reading to ascertain how the potent, sensual, and highly transformative Solstice dynamic might release during the New Moon in Cancer.

The Sun’s opposition to Pluto has tightened to less than 1 degree (combust), and it will be exact around eight hours after the New Moon. This intensifies the Sun/Pluto opposition of the Summer Solstice. Of course, since the Moon conjuncts the Sun during the New Moon, they are fused in opposition to Pluto, which will be very challenging for your feelings and sense of personal identity. You may experience a cathartic emotional crisis that presents you with a newly truthful sense of who you really are. In the collective, Pluto in Capricorn (2008-2024) is directing a total transformation of our economic and societal systems and the way we use resources. Most people realize nothing will stop this process, and they have no idea what will replace this crumbling edifice. Our brains are hard-wired into the collective field, so beware of getting sucked into the collective dynamic and losing your identity on this day, since the Cancer New Moon is your time to discover yourself.

The New Moon in early Cancer inspires each one of us to find the goddess within, to find new ways to nurture life and ourselves. As we experience the rising of the goddess within, Pluto’s opposition reminds us that Pluto takes the goddess Persephone into the Underworld while her mother, Demeter, searches for her and grieves. This mythical story of Demeter and Persephone reminds us that now the darkness is coming back as the strength of the Sun begins to wane.

Uranus in Pisces forms a T-square to the New Moon-opposite-Pluto, which brings another Greek god into the dance with Pluto. Uranus was so rabid to transform the world that he even ate his own sons and disgorged them in new forms, and Pluto stole Demeter’s daughter for half the year, so who wants to hear anything more about these evil Titans? Well, this New Moon evokes a potent memory that has been lurking dormant within our societal memory-our experiences during Uranus-conjunct-Pluto in Virgo in the mid-1960s. This aspect during the sixties inspired great change, rebellion, and the desire for a better world-a desire that has been cooking and waiting to manifest for more than forty years. Since Uranus is stationary and turns retrograde on June 30, this wide T-square during the Cancer New Moon sends out a warning shot about the first (waxing) exact square of Uranus to Pluto since the grand conjunctions. The waxing Uranus/Pluto square will bring back the desire for a better world that came up during the 1960s, the hopes that were not realized. In July 2011, Uranus comes very close to squaring Pluto, and then there will be seven exact squares 2012-2015. Wow!

The coming Uranus/Pluto squares in Libra/Capricorn will be the driving force that creates a new evolutionary agenda based on human enlightenment, once the time acceleration of the Universal Underworld during 2011 is complete. [See Clow, The Mayan Code: Time Acceleration and Awakening the World Mind.] When two outer planets conjunct, as Uranus and Pluto did during the sixties, a whole new creation cycle begins. Uranus-conjunct-Pluto rules the transformation of the underworld-the shadow world-and in Virgo, the agenda is cleansing emotional wounding and healing ecosystems. Ecology, a conscious movement to heal the planet, emerged in the sixties. Now as Uranus and Pluto begin to achieve their first square, our species will manifest real and practical ways to achieve true ecology.

[Uranus goes into Aries from May 2010 through August 2010 and then fully in March 2011, and this will begin a new 84-year process of transformation. The last Uranus-in-Aries transit was 1927 through 1935, which might cause some of you to reflect on the likely condition of the economy from 2011 to 2019! When Uranus is in Aries, the old goes out and the new comes in, and when Pluto is in Capricorn, all basic structures are totally transformed. So, Uranus in Aries square Pluto in Capricorn will usher in a whole new world that nobody can even imagine now. Like all births, the process will be tumultuous. Maybe stationary Uranus in his T-square to the New Moon reminds us that everything always changes, even during the deep yin energy of the Cancer New Moon? The sign that resists change the most is Cancer. Regardless, you won't be able to ignore the creeping awareness of a roaring energy coming soon with Uranus-square-Pluto in cardinal signs. Radical change coming soon will slip into your consciousness during this New Moon, and then it will slip into a dormant place in your consciousness when Uranus turns retrograde June 30.]

This New Moon in Cancer trines the Triple Conjunction of Chiron, Neptune, and Jupiter in Aquarius. This is rich in meaning and suggests that our healing and nurturance this month comes from the energy of the Triple Conjunction. For the past few months, we’ve been whipsawing between flashes of enlightenment and searing deep wounding. We’ve been driven into old pain, and many can see that these wounds are what have been limiting the expansion of feelings and knowledge. Each time we’ve allowed the process to run its course, we’ve been rewarded with stunning spiritual insight and exquisite ecstasies. This ability to break through blocks is becoming Pavlovian (people being ruled by conditioned responses); we are learning how to dive into the pain to find ecstasy. The lovely trine from the new Moon to the Triple Conjunction helps us know that ultimately it is the goddess who heals; we find ourselves by going into the dark. So, even though Persephone was stolen away from her loving mother, she discovered how to be a woman and a lover. This lunation is really about loving your woman within, and you have her too, guys. The goddess within is the deepest source of creativity for all beings; only the goddess can show us how to live in balance with Earth.

Between the Solstice and the New Moon, Venus was exactly conjunct Mars in Taurus in exact trine to Saturn, and these aspects are very tight at the time of the New Moon. These are earthy and deeply reassuring aspects that take us back to being a secure child of loving parents, an experience we have all had at least in some lifetimes. Venus/Mars in Taurus is passionate and secure, while father Saturn in Virgo is the perfect guardian and organizer. This month you may find you can accomplish almost anything as long as you allow the wounding/breakthrough process of the Triple Conjunction. This lunation is a great time to fall in love and to insist upon things that are good for you. Mercury is moving into a square to Saturn that will be exact on June 26, so you can easily solve problems and clean up details right after the New Moon.

Pluto is closely quincunx the lunar South Node in Leo, which moves into Cancer in late July. Pluto in early Capricorn is pushing us to finish the last issues that have come up while the North Node has been in Aquarius since December 2007. While the North Node has been in Aquarius, we’ve been pursuing idealism and selflessness, and when the North Node goes into Capricorn in July, we will focus on practical ways to manifest these ideals. Thus, Pluto in Capricorn quincunx the South Node pushes us to reevaluate our cherished ideals during this lunation, since soon we will focus on hard realities and figure out how to bring those ideals into working form.

This New Moon sends out a strong message to consider what really matters to you, so that you will have the strength and resources to face great changes. It is a time to value the small things, the tender things, and to make sure you are finding new ways to protect them no matter what. The New Moon trine to the Triple Conjunction informs us that healing ourselves is the way to create a healthy, nurturing world, and Venus/Mars in Taurus trine Saturn assures us the path is there if we take the time to enjoy simple pleasures. This will be an exceedingly pleasurable and thought-provoking month.”

Barbara Hand Clow