This Moon is like a car packed to the brim, including a roof rack, for a new vacation home destination. Your opportunity is to unpack and find all of the things there to make this place a success. You’re going to be in unfamiliar territory but it’s a destination your soul chose for both delight and expansion (also known as education). How do you want to set up the eating area, seating area, the sleep spot? With Venus going retrograde during this Moon cycle, we spend the next couple of months fine tuning what brings us pleasure. It’s squaring off with Uranus, so get ready play where you haven’t been before. The adventure is also in the unpacking. You have more supplies than you ever knew you had.
Because Uranus is in a hard aspect to Venus, we may first miss what makes us comfortable from home. Which is why I use the metaphor of the vacation home. We so rarely stop and realize how much our surroundings reveal about our unconscious. How much of yours is a carryover from childhood? This New Moon is also opposite Pluto and the Sun follows suit shortly after the New Moon. This means embedded structures and habits will be challenged. Oppositions mean you are literally as far apart from what you think you need for security as you can get. It may feel a bit confrontational to decide what you want your living space to look and feel like. There may be more than a little rearranging required between now and early October to get it to fit well.
Don’t despair, the Moon is also in a trine with Neptune to offer compassion for yourself as you walk through this new experience. In fact, being gentle and kind with all the parts of you is a vital part of going forward. Research shows that we treat others just a little bit better than we treat ourselves. Looking at the world today there are a lot of people with a brutal internal dialogue, right? If you’ve despaired over the state of things, good news is at hand. You can make a definite impact when you raise the quality of how you think and talk about yourself. It will naturally spill over to those around you. Kindness decorates any environment well.
This is where it gets a bit tricky. What makes us talk smack about people, be so unkind? Mistrust is one of the biggest culprits. Remember, judgement is mostly an ineffective boundary. When we slow down and investigate what we want and trust we can work out a way to have a version of it, much of the need to judge another dissipates. They can’t take what’s meant to be yours. But we also doubt ourselves. Which is when our stories are the harshest. Question that harshness. Do you really want it in your living space? Especially when the reason for it is less valid than we think.
There is more than enough life to go around. There may be shortages or mismatches, but that can inspire you to innovate and do things differently. Of course, hint, hint, this requires creativity. Which is where many people get stuck. When you can’t get what you want the way you want it, we tend to defend our perceived loss with a story. Being able to stop yourself on this path and redirect is a good muscle to build. This is where the hidden treasure rests for you to tap into the next few months. Because the story you tell is the limit of what you know now. But it’s not your actual limit…
The question is, where can you accept whatever is in front of you. Usually we go into story about what should be different or what’s fair. We spend precious mental resources reimagining what ‘should be’. That’s an inefficient way to deal with what’s unfolding. Your fear brain prefers to impose restrictions on the world to keep this ‘loss’ from happening again. But it also keeps you stuck in a power struggle wanting things to be different instead of making the change with the raw material at hand. There’s better, more enjoyable options and this action-packed Moon cycle serves them up. The Cards and Stars will help…
Thank you,
Lisa Greenfield
7/17 cancer New Moon high priestess
What’s the difference between allowing and accepting? It’s important… that’s why I pose the question. Accept is to receive with an open mind. Allow is to give permission. If you are not happy with what’s being offered, knowing the difference between those two states of mind is a huge game change. To accept where you begin is not the same as to agree that it is what you want. It merely acknowledges that it is a starting point. Plus, it stops a battle before it begins. Then you can even invite curiosity into the mix. Which enriches the whole experience. Accepting repurposes your energy into creation instead of defense.
We still have our child’s mindset of being vulnerable and could use some compassionate re-parenting to help us move out of that space and into the adult place we actually occupy. In fact, this New Moon will cause all kinds of young behavior that requires good parenting. You may want others to meet your needs even when you haven’t stated them. They should just know. Or you may feel compelled to take care of someone in pain, to ease your pain in watching them go through it. Right now our inner landscape is our best focus. Be sure to include your own inner reparenting. Which is why being kind is the essence of nurturing. From there, it’s easier to be brave and take on a challenge, or stretch our capacity for change. Even a firm ‘no thank you’ can be kind.
The High Priestess symbolizes an instinctive wisdom that helps us survive and even thrive. Too often the subtle and slower cues from our intuition get lost in the outsized protective efforts. This Cancer New Moon opposite Pluto is a fresh start that helps us right size our current capabilities to create with whatever life serves up. Our innate wisdom is as old as our bodies. Think about that. How well do you know your intuitive navigational system. Your body sends you information all the time. Mostly we impose our mind’s will over it and steamroll through. Which can cause your body to speak in all capital letters with pain or illness.
It’s time to separate out what you think is happening from what is actually happening. Be patient with the stories your mind tells to ensure your safety. It’s got good intentions. But it doesn’t see the whole playing field. The High Priestess says you have ancient wisdom from 360 degrees slowly filtering in for you to use. Take your time. You don’t have to give permission to anyone to mistreat you. You do get to build a world where you are safe, loved and respected as both your own mother and father.
This Moon cycle is a chance to learn more about how to do just that. But first you have to leave the bunker where you’ve been dug in and hiding from dangers that may not longer be a real threat. Your out in uncharted landscape. A slow pace helps you feel your way to safely creating. Your body knows the way…
7/18 justice
The Nodes of the Moon have moved into Aries and Libra after spending a year and a half in Taurus and Scorpio. How appropriate that we have the Justice card which corresponds to Libra. We’re back to that internal dialogue making its way to our external world. When you show up feeling mostly safe in your own skin, there’s less threat for others to engage with and it shows them what it looks like. You’re less likely to react when they react, stopping the dominoes from falling. You teach others how to safely enter the space of connection with you, rather than pushing them back. Or in some cases you just hold the line, curious.
The Moon trine Neptune casts a rosy glow over what we would like to happen. The trick is to accept that you begin where you stand. It isn’t perfect. You may not have all the elements you want or need, so no glossing over what’s missing or required. But accepting where you start frees up energy to create with what is there. See how to rearrange it to get it more in line with what matches you. Hint, you have room to grown in understanding what you really want versus what you think you can get. Mars aspects Chiron, which illuminates where your actions have been limited by your wounds instead of your wants.
There is a whole vacation home to set up, just the way you want it so you can enjoy the adventure life’s offering you. Let what you desire steer you in a direction. Then work with the resources to arrange it in a way that feels good. Where has the battle in your head about what ‘should be’ robbed you of a chance to work with what is? Don’t bring that into the new space, right? This card is ruled by Venus, who is about to retrograde for the next few months. Our desires are some of what makes us unique. My bet is you desire more than defensive structures that shut out exciting play time. You can a home that is safe and beautiful with a little effort.
7/19 strength
We are moving into a Mars opposition to Saturn. Really, there is no rushing change. Now, one meaning for the Strength card is to subdue the hostile forces within you. Your ability to assemble and check in with all the different parts of you is consensus building behavior. What goes on inside of you spills over to outside of you. Or sometimes what you experience with another inspires you to talk to yourself differently. Can you encourage yourself more and thought-bully yourself less?
Instead, why not give yourself little mental pep talks. Like a coach, what inspires you to do the hard thing, make the scary choice or try something that feels bigger than you’ve dared before? Fear will try to rush us and have us judge results before we’ve barely begun. Your strength grows each time you resist the urges to cut short your exploration. There’s mental muscle building when you refuse to bully yourself or another to get ‘better’ results, sooner. There’s strength in not letting yourself be pushed to do what isn’t a match for you. Find a way to arrive at a more desirable outcome through shared strength rather than power over. It leaves you so many more options.
7/20 the chariot
We’ve had a lot of expansion energy thrown at us the last three days since the New Moon. Mars is directly opposite Saturn and the stand off is complete. What can we do that isn’t just the same old, same old actions. The chances are those actions aren’t even a match for what you feel in the present anyway. The shadow side of this card is impatience. The light side is Victory. Which means you reap rewards when you don’t let yourself rush to judgement, action and story on anything that unfolds right now. This card ends the run of four days with Major Arcana cards that highlights you are dealing with a big life lesson, right now.
Your efforts are well served to reflect on what the last few days revealed to you about YOU. What kind of compassionate mothering do your bring to your world? Can you encourage yourself to take a smart risk at the right time as a good father might do? Spend a little quality time here and it builds your strength and courage. Which are two things to take with you on any adventure that definitely improve the experience. Once you have a more confident view of you, you’re less likely to overestimate a threat and more inclined to explore. That’s a recipe for a life that can go beyond your wildest dreams… one step at a time.
7/21 Prince of cups
Oddly enough, this card often signals advances in a love affair. On the shadow side it speaks to immaturity in relationships. Both options are readily available today based on how you use what gets served up. Will you accept whatever emotions come up in you? Let’s just dispel the myth that some emotions are ‘negative’ and some are ‘positive’. That’s a young understanding of our emotional dashboard. All of what we feel has direction, insight and information for us. It’s what we do with that information that helps us forge better connections or harms them.
Anger helps us consolidate and stand up for ourselves where it feels like a boundary is being tested or violated. Disappointment helps us reset our expectations and go back to the creativity starting point. From there you can reassemble your resources and try again with fresh insight. Resentment is a subset of envy. When others do for themselves what we aren’t doing for ourselves, the young response is to resent them for it. The other alternative is to let it inspire you. What will you create with the emotions that come up today. Try less judgement about what you feel (or project judgement on to others) and more investigation. What’s the want, what’s the need. The skies serve up a sampler platter of ease and challenge. Trust yourself, learn from your mistakes and keep going.
7/22 king of swords
We have a little test of our story telling ability today. This King is the big picture, wise counselor. Where are you at in any process that began around April 2022? We have no shortage of aspects to inspire or insist on evolution today. The Moon’s Nodes make the first of three squares to Pluto in Capricorn. Simply stated, the structures we’ve relied on as our safe frame of reference up until now, aren’t going to get the job done. While you may long for some of your familiar conveniences or begrudge the inconvenience of the new, it serves a purpose. Why not find ways to install or decorate in a manner that gives you some of what you are used. And there may be a more sleek new version of it, too.
Don’t let worry win. You have the raw material or can get it with a little exploration and comparison shopping. The Virgo Moon makes a supportive aspect to Uranus in Taurus to help break us out of the rut. However, once you’re free it’s likely to unsettle you. Navigate step by step. Bring curiosity along for the ride. That beats letting yourself be frightened. Venus goes retrograde today for the next 42 days. There is room to see what you’ve not yet experienced and pick which ones appeal. Stay open…
7/23 queen of wands
The Sun rolled into Leo at sundown last night and here’s the feminine side of that royal sign. Which means we benefit from both the feminine side and the courageous pride of a lion as Chiron goes retrograde until December of this year. Since it stays pretty tightly on those middle degrees of Aries, this Venus Retrograde is going to hook into the Chiron retrograde. The upshot of this is to find where you wanted to shine in childhood and didn’t. Whatever the reason or story, the important thing is to explore what praise, applause, recognition and respect you still crave, even if you don’t want to admit it.
Once you see those spots, you can set about retelling a story that gives you credit as an adult. You may have tailored the desire into a modified version of it, but I’ll bet you have some version of it, no matter how diluted it is, in your life. See what you discover. While it can be challenging to see what’s right in front of us, a little help from Mercury square first Uranus and then Neptune helps open up our eyes. It can also have us trying give or receive parenting from others, when doing more of your own work here is best.
Squares mean it can jar you when you see it. But the information is going to benefit you if you let it. See how clever your mind is at getting what it wants, even if it had to morph into a shadow version of it?? This Queen is receptive to inspiration. So it is a chance to learn how to safely receive information that doesn’t fit what you think it will look like.
7/24 nine of swords
The Moon opposes retrograde Chiron today. Which means our wounded inner self may try to grab the wheel in order to avoid danger it’s sure is up ahead. Since nines represent mental mastery, this airy one helps us master our needless worry. The Moon gets help from chatty Mercury who is more than happy to point out what you can do when you try. Those unloved bits of us that Eris represents makes an appearance tonight, possibly through interactions with others.
But once again, pay attention to the story you tell about whatever you ‘think’ the other person means. It is less about what they think or feel than it is how you interpret it. Why do you see it the way you do? This Nine is the card of needless worry. Then there is the statistic that most of what we worry about is never going to happen. So why not try retelling whatever interpretation you get first as many times as it takes to land on one where you feel good about yourself in the situation. I guarantee it will pull creativity out of you, if you only try.
7/25 the wheel of fortune
The only thing constant is change, right? This Wheel reminds us to take the ups and downs as they come, rather than be dragged along resisting the inevitable. Today Pluto squares the Nodes of the Moon for the second of three times this Moon cycle. Squares are the hallmark of change, sometimes even abrupt change. It’s no use to try to stop things unfolding. Instead you can shape what happens when you accept where you are and what’s present.
That doesn’t mean you agree, you aren’t saying ‘Yes sir I’ll have another’. There’s no punishment in this process. It’s actions and consequences. The more you keep on doing what you’ve always done, the more you resist change, the more you feel dragged forward. Stand up, find a way to let go of habitual patterns, one finger hold at a time. Try on new viewpoints, fresh perspective. Stay open to all the resources around you.
It won’t help to constantly compare what is real to what your ideal situation would be, unless it gives you direction for next steps. If you feel yourself tensing up, breathe. Stay with the moment. Invite curiosity and let all your emotions give you information. Nurture yourself into the next brave choice. Then and only then does it include more of you than those reflexive reactions offer. Change is at hand and there is as much good in it as anything you let go. It just takes time, some trust and a little patience to see it.
7/26 the fool
Do you know the difference between compulsive reaction and an intuitive leap? They can feel similar. It’s in the detail and layers if you wish to separate them out. Which is actually a helpful thing to do today. Moon/Mars in harmony can give you cat like reflexes. But opposing Jupiter, they may show you where you leap without looking or where your body instincts can help you adjust your direction. Which brings us to look for the way you feel in your body at that moment. Mercury is in a confused relationship with Neptune. One minute it helps you stretch and learn, the next it reveals where you want to shrink and hide.
So the intuitive leap has a quality of presence to it that isn’t rushed, even when things happen fast. It can feel like muscle memory except this is a new action. Which means you haven’t any memory to draw on for it. Yet it clicks in more naturally. Compulsive reactions are muscle memory but tend to be a contraction, like flinching when something flies at your face. Your intuition can help you reach a hand up to catch what’s heading your way. Reactions have you avoid it altogether if you can. Today is skill building at innocently wise expansion instead of contraction. Feel your way.
7/27 eight of pentacles
It’s wise to approach today as a student of you. This Eight is more than just sitting in a classroom to be talked to for educational purposes. It represents being immersed in learning something that you can master with attention to detail and time. Like old school apprentices who would work along side a master until they became one, you are meant to master being YOU. Towards that end, we have a mixed bag of aspects to both help and challenge you today. One minute your intuition gives you remarkable insight, the next when you try to communicate it you wind up learning your delivery could use some work.
Because one of the key things about this foundational work we are doing is how to get the balance right between what works for us and how to connect with others in a way that also works for them. This doesn’t mean there is easy agreement. In fact, some of the best enlightenment comes when you can thoughtfully discuss opposing viewpoints. If your goal is to one up with the best argument or the winning view, you’ve already lost. This is about exploring what a different viewpoint can offer you. It doesn’t need to change your mind but can definitely improve your view of things. The invitation is there. Let differences show you more about the global view. You don’t have to see it the same way, but don’t miss the opportunity to understand what filters and motivations drive opinions that don’t align with yours.
7/28 page of pentacles
Today is the third time Pluto squares the Moon’s Nodes. The Moon also squares first Saturn and then Mars. To translate the aspects for you, this Page says start with the inner landscape. You are going to make mistakes. Others are going to make mistakes. When you have personal responsibility and accountability even less than great moments can become a great pivot point to make needed adjustments. Can you offer grace to any misstep? Whether it’s yours and another’s, no one wants to be defined by their worst moments.
When you are part of making it safe to own mistakes and learn from them, those inevitable oops moments offer raw material to make something useful out of them. The main way to accomplish this is to have a kinder conversation inside your head. Maybe you want a do over, maybe a simple apology will do. How do you handle mistakes? It needs an upgrade, for everyone really. So this Page helps you feel strong enough inside to do those uncomfortable things outside. Have the hard conversation. Show others what it looks like to be accountable without beating yourself up unnecessarily. And remember, the best apology is changed behavior that clearly demonstrates you understand.
7/29 empress
An inspirational trine between the Sagittarius Moon and both Chiron and Eris can give you a wealth of creativity based on the work you’ve done so far. You’re doing great. Even your mistakes are just an opportunity to learn and grow. The wound doesn’t decide your story, the reality of who you are and all your resources now does. The goal is still to help map and learn your healthier boundaries now. Adjustments to who you help, who helps you and what an equitable exchange actually is, makes your life expand in interesting and even exciting directions. The Empress speaks to endless abundance, fertile growth and unlimited options.
But all that expansion can create confusion. Especially if your mind is used to the confines of what you should and shouldn’t do. To go beyond that programming and into the wide open horizon ahead can make you dizzy. So be kind. All you need to do is make one choice at a time, learn from it and incorporate what you learn for the next choice. You can’t get it wrong. Everything can serve you when you let it. By late evening the Moon moves into Capricorn and meets up sweetly with Mercury to help you see and tell a much better story about you and anything you do. Which, of course, opens all kinds of vistas. Bon Voyage…
7/30 seven of cups
This Seven matches the aspects today well. Venus and Neptune are in a muddled conversation. It’s because what we want can often feel better in our imagination than in real life. When we picture having what we want, we primarily think of it rather than imagine how it might feel. Thoughts are very linear. Whereas emotions are fluid and move in so many ways. The multi dimensional realm of feelings is hard to accurately anticipate, since our mind is what pictures it.
The opportunity here is to sort through your imagined outcomes and then pair it with a feeling you’ve already experienced. Except you want to leave room for the Universe to expand on that previous feeling. So I always add this to my mantra or meditation. ‘I’d like to feel this, or something better.’ Then you don’t box in the Universe. Yet you are giving yourself more than just a thought to connect your wishes to for what’s possible. This combination is magnetic and can help you know which step is the next step to take to move you in the direction that feels good. It’s a bit of an adjustment that offers a bonanza when you try it.
7/31 king of cups
We began this Moon cycle with the High Priestess bringing our intuitive self to the forefront. We end it with the King of Cups, who is the ‘lesser’ magician in Tarot. Because the masculine King with the suit of feminine cups can make one plus one equal three. The babies that come from you combining intuition and heart are the unique expression of YOU. Venus and Ceres are in an awkward relationship early in the morning. This brings the limits of the stories we learned to tell ourselves when we were young forward. The Moon square to Chiron echoes that theme.
But thanks to Uranus, the Great Awakener, you can look back at the last couple of weeks and see where you’ve already gone beyond where you knew you could. Yes, there is always more fuel for those transformational fires, but you’re getting better and better at turning them into light and warmth instead of stories that burn. Now that is a magic trick, right? Here’s the bonus. When each one of us does it for ourselves, those ripples spread like water in a pond. The changes go farther than you know. It only takes five percent of people to do things differently and it brings about great change. You are part of that percentage with each evolutionary step you take. You are history. And that is truly magical when you think about it.
