Happy Solstice!
It's time to click your heels and go home.
As of the June Solstice, the Sun is lighting up Cancer, the sign most associated with home and family.
And feelings.
We've just come through an especially bumpy part of 2022. (Eclipses, anyone? Both lunar and solar? How about a Mercury retrograde on steroids? Let alone everything that's going on "out there" in the world.)
Feelings have been running high, and you may feel depleted.
Now it's time to acknowledge and deal with whatever we've been through in the first half of 2022 and how we're feeling about it. Fortunately, Cancer is GREAT at doing exactly that. (Plus a whole lot more that we absolutely need every year - especially this year.)
Read on for all the details you need to make NOW your personal turning point in taking care of yourself.
Whenever the Sun enters the zodiac sign Cancer, we experience something beyond the usual monthly "changing of the astrological guard" into a new zodiac sign:
In 2022, the June Solstice or Cancer Solstice arrives on Tuesday, June 21 (or June 20, in a few locations).
The Sun leaves Gemini and enters Cancer at 4:15 a.m. U.S. central time on Tuesday, June 21.
The moment that happens, we're officially in the new zodiac sign and new season. It's also the signal that it's time to celebrate our annual June Solstice.
The word "solstice" means "Sun stoppage." It's a time when the Sun appears to stop and pause in the sky for about three days before its position begins its daily, gradual shift away from one of its two extreme points toward either shorter or longer days (and toward one of the two equinoxes three months later).
That suggests solstices are Sun focused events, yet in reality these times ask us to honor BOTH the Sun and the Moon.
In astrology, the Sun and Moon generally are called "planets" for the sake of convenience when talking about the various celestial bodies in our solar system (and in birth charts).
These two bodies, however, actually are called the "luminaries." That means they're the two lights in our sky, and their dance through the heavens gives us the monthly changes in the Moon's phases as well as the great beauty and drama of full Moons.
The Sun lights our days, while the Moon lights our nights.
Because of its sheer power and brightness plus its location at the center of our solar (Sun) system, you might think the Sun is more important. Not only does the Sun light the sky in the day, it lights the Moon, which shines not through its own light but by reflecting the light of the Sun.
Actually, Moon and Sun have equally important roles in general - and at the solstices:
At the Cancer Solstice, the Moon becomes even more important because it outranks the Sun.
The sign Cancer is ruled by the Moon. So when the Sun (or any planet) visits this sign, it, too, is ruled by the Moon.
During the month of Cancer, the center of our solar system is visiting the Moon's realm and pointing directly at the Moon, as if to say, "Luna's in charge!"
This annual "Moon in charge" time starts at the June or Cancer Solstice, which explains why this solstice and this time of year may feel even more extreme, more challenging, than the December/Capricorn Solstice. Anything lunar bypasses thoughts for a straight shot of feeling - and wanting to feel safe, comfortable, and taken care of.
For most of us, the place we go to feel safe is home.
It's time for all of us to go home, both literally (by spending more time at home) and symbolically (by going within, to our spiritual home).
Just like Dorothy in The Wizard Of Oz, in our hearts we know "there's no place like home."
In the story of Oz, Dorothy clicks her heels at the end to get herself back home.
Without those magical, sparkly red shoes, how can we do the same?
By tuning in to the Moon and the zodiac sign Cancer, that's how.
Cancer is a sign deeply associated with creating and fertility. (That's why it's so strongly linked to mothers and children.) It's also associated with imagination and intuition, which help us see in our minds the ideal home we want and then "see in the dark" so we can follow the perfect path home...not just to our physical address but to the center of our being.
In each moment, these powers help us make the most of being at home, when we're physically there. And when we need to be away from our actual, physical homes, they help us "feel at home" or centered by figuring out how to get what we need while allowing and even helping others do the same.
It's our equivalent of "click your heels." Whenever things feel out of balance, go back home by centering yourself. We're actually always "at home," wherever we are, by virtue of being spiritual beings. Like the crab, which carries its shell or home around with it, we carry our true home - our center, core, or heart - around with us always.
Remember that, and you'll always feel safe because you'll always be home.
Here's some help for how to get home (or "home") now.
First, remember that Cancer is a receptive sign. Time to pause for a month to assimilate all that stuff we've been reading, thinking, and doing during Gemini time.
Second, remember Cancer is a water sign. That means FEELINGS. (And consciousness, intuition, and all that inner, flow-y stuff. Do all that. Oh, and dreams and sleep - get more rest.)
Third, check out these two helpful Cancer items:
1. The Cancer Time article
2. The Cancer Guided Meditation
They'll give you the tools you need to do Cancer energy well, all month.
Bookmark both and repeat throughout this month.
In addition, as you come home not just physically but come home to yourself, you'll realize better what you must do or change to take better care of yourself.
That's where the new Moon in Cancer comes in: you can use its extra oomph of Cancer vibes to take "taking care" to a new level. One of the best things a new Moon can teach us is how to balance giving (the Sun) with receiving (the Moon).
Every year, we get a new Moon in every zodiac sign. Whenever that happens, it's a double dose of the sign's energies because both our luminaries, the Sun and Moon, come together in exactly the same place as if to say, "Here's your booster rocket to really do this sign well."
In 2022, the Sun and Moon will join in exactly the same place in the star sign Cancer on June 28 at 9:53 p.m. U.S. central time. (For many parts of the globe, this event will be happening on June 29.)
Mark your calendar and check out my new Moon article for tips on making the most of this special day and its "fresh start" opportunities.
And then imagine: after a month of taking care of yourself, you'll turn the corner on "taking care." In fact, you could become a whiz - and your own "Wiz[ard]" - at feelings and sensing so you know exactly what you need in every moment to nurture yourself and feel safe.
That's the great gift of Cancer time each year: making us feel so we learn how to parent ourselves so we're centered and stable enough to "take care" of our families, our communities, and our planet. (Extra credit: use all these skills to imagine how to "take care" of all things and even the universe.)
When you master these skills, you don't have to go "off to see the Wizard" because you can just "be" the Wizard - the wise one inside who helps you navigate life beautifully by flowing with its currents.
So happy solstice to you! Happy Cancer time!
And most of all, welcome home and please "take care."
