Cancer New Moon: From the Roots Up

... as one moves

toward the future,

the strongest and clearest

way to do it is

if you have a good sense

of your past.

You cannot have

a very tall tree

without deep roots.

Cesar Pelli

The New Moon on July 14, 2026, at 22° Cancer

offers a fresh perspective on the events, people & decisions that have shaped us. Recognizing how far we have come and what we have overcome, is a springboard for new growth and opportunity. We are discovering another level of emotional intelligence by engaging our past with softness rather than self-reproach. We are ready to embody the wisdom born from lived experience. The story we tell about our life is being revised as we move up and beyond the older version we have outgrown.

Mercury Retrograde conjunct the New Moon

Venus is:

conjunct the South Node

square Uranus

at Apex of Yod with Pluto and Neptune

Chiron enters Taurus

Cradle Configuration - Jupiter in Leo:

catalyzes the rare Small Grand Trine

trines Neptune

0pposes Pluto

sextiles Uranus

Personal Reflection and Story

The house in our natal chart where 22° Cancer resides illuminates the area of life where we are emotional intelligence is growing and where we are rewriting our personal story so we can engage the societal shifts and the future we feel called to create with greater courage and authenticity.

The optimal time set an intention for what we want to manifest over the month is within 24 hours after the exact moment of the New Moon, when the Moon has been quickened by the Sun and yet is still dark and not yet visible again in the night sky.

Cultivate the root;

the leaves and branches

will take care of themselves.

Confucius

Growth and Change Begin with the Personal

The Cancer New Moon meets July's Cradle Configuration

Attention is drawn to the fundamental human needs of safety, connection and nurturance (New Moon and Mercury Retrograde in Cancer). We are looking for an expanded perspective on home, family, early childhood, or our relationship with our mother that grants us permission to take risks in our life and not let fear prevent us from leaping into some exciting unchartered territory.

July is marked by a Cradle Configuration created by the outer planets (Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto) which holds the promise of inspiring us to let go of what is safe and reach towards something new: a dream, an opportunity, a gut feeling. The question at the New Moon revolves around how we can best work with our feelings, vulnerabilities and needs at a time where we will potentially be catapulted out of complacency and our comfort zone in response to new information, awarenesses or opportunities that will change the course of our life.

The Cancer Moon seems to conflict with the month’s overall theme of growth, and out of the box decisions, until we think of a tree. A tree does not break away from its roots so it can grow, nor does it stay hanging out with the soil and its past. Reaching for the sky, it draws strength from its roots, from where it has been. It is because of its roots, not in spite of them that it can grow higher and farther than was previously possible.

We are primed for new growth. To set sail on a new adventure, one must cast off from the shoreline of the familiar. The prospect of leaving something behind in order to embrace an exciting opportunity can have us feel hesitant and insecure. Yet, if we do not grow, something in us will start to whither. Rather than believe we are unmooring from our comfort zone, we can think of a new adventure less like a boat leaving the harbor and think of our life more like a tree. While we are growing beyond our roots, it is where we have been and what we have learned that continues to feed and form the foundation for the newfound growth and the larger perspectives we will be discovering as we move towards the future.

It was when I stopped searching

for home within others

and lifted the foundations

of home within myself

I found there were no roots

more intimate

than those between

a mind and body

 that have decided to be whole.

Rupi Kaur

Our Personal Story Seen Through a New Lens

Mercury Retrograde in Cancer (June 29 – July 24, 2026)

Mercury is our mind and how we perceive, understand and put things together. We are re-evaluating and revising the narrative around what we tell ourselves and others about our personal story. We may be contemplating a childhood wound or a family pattern that we are ready to reframe. Parts of our past that stir blame or self-judgement, we are ready to engage with compassion and vulnerability.

It is curious that Mercury is Retrograde is occurring during the month where a rare alignment of outer planets in fire and air peaks, initiating global shifts and fertilizing the seeds of a paradigm shift in how we live. Retrograde, Mercury encourages us to slow down and think through how we are framing these shifts for ourselves and the story we are telling about it. 

It is also curious that Mercury, which values intellect and facts, is in the sensitive, water sign of Cancer. Our mind becomes subjective, colored by our personal needs and perspective with Mercury in this sign. As we engage the larger societal movements, we are reminded to be mindful around how we choose to get swept up in the energetics or rapid pace of the news and shifts or get carried away by how we want to harness and ride enthusiasm we have for something.

Our feelings, sensitivities and need for others is amplified. We feel less heroic and more connected with our humanity. We are in touch with our inherent vulnerability, as we explore the best way to respond to the call of the adventure that is pulling us forward. This has us weaving a story whose fabric honors our sensitivities and our bravery, our needs for connection with our need to strike out to realize a dream.

Mercury squares Saturn the remainder of July 

This planet combination shines an unforgiving light, like police use in interrogation rooms, on some issue or detail we are grappling with so that all the cracks, shadows and wrinkles are apparent, even exaggerated. Saturn is holding us to a higher standard, having us look at areas where we have been immature, unaware, or selfish. It is easy during this time to be hard on ourselves or self-recriminating. Having compassion for not knowing better invites softness and connection. Being honest about our feelings and taking responsibility for who we have been and who we are will nurture inner strength. We are ready to build something new and we are exploring how we can rise to the occasion and be the best version of ourselves possible.  We are rewriting our internal script to reclaim courage, trust and self acceptance.

Roots are not in landscape

or a country, or a people,

they are inside you.

Isabel Allende

Ways of Finding Comfort in the Face of The Unprecedented

Venus square Uranus and at the Apex of a Yod

Venus is in a challenging dynamic with the Small Grand Trine (she squares Uranus and quincunxes both Pluto and Neptune). In Virgo, Venus wants to understand things, have a clear plan to follow and seeks to simplify processes. She wants life to feel ordered and clear.  The stress she is under signals us to be aware of where we are looking to control something that is beyond our control.

We may be trying to understand something that cannot yet be defined, especially in areas Venus rules: relationships, finance, creative endeavors. During change, we move into unknown territory which naturally creates discomfort. There is benefit in letting go of the need to understand or be in control of how life is unfolding. Relationships or work or something we value may be lost at this time. We are to trust that in the larger scheme, what was lost was blocking our growth.

We are reminded to look for what we can affect in the moment. It might be found in grounding ourselves, in folding laundry, in paying an overdue bill, or calling someone who left a message on our voicemail. Comfort is found in handling what is right in front of us and choosing to trust something larger than ourselves (God, higher self, Source…) to guide and handle the big stuff.

Coming Home to Our Body

Chiron in Taurus (June 2026 – July 2033)

Chiron's entry into Taurus heralds a healing process we will undertake for the next eight years. Taurus is an earth sign, and so we are to heal our relationship with the physical realm, beginning with our relationship with our body. We are invited to strengthen our mind/body connection to become more embodied and present to life. Chiron in Taurus will help to slow us down and stay connected with ourselves so we are not swept into the fast-moving changes, news of the day, and societal developments that will be whirling around us in the coming months and years.

Because true belonging only happens

when we present our authentic,

imperfect selves to the world,

our sense of belonging can

never be greater than

our level of self-acceptance.

Brené Brown

Reflections on the Cancer New Moon

Contemplating the New Moon, my thoughts went to my mother and several maternal ancestors and how they left their hometowns or countries in search of a new life. Some would never see their childhood home or families again. Like the Hero in the Hero’s Journey, they heeded the call that had them step away from all they knew. I can only imagine the hopes, fears, anticipation and courage they each must have felt as they moved towards an unknown future.

At age 19, my mother Sue was living at home with her immigrant mother. Her administrative job paid the household expenses for both of them. My grandmother Margaret, wanting her daughter to experience more of what life had to offer, responded to an ad in the paper for stewardesses. In her daughter's behalf, she filled out and mailed the application. Margaret told her daughter what she had done when she received a letter that said she would be granted an interview with a notification of the date, time and place it would be held. My Mother had protested, saying that she wanted to stay home and make sure her mom was okay.  But Margaret told her to go to the appointment, and if it worked out, it would be good for her to see the world.

My Mother went to the interview and out of the 44 people interviewed that day, she was the only one hired. Whenever Mom told the story, invariably someone would ask why she thought she was hired. Her response was that all she remembered was that she chattered on telling stories about her family and the people she loved growing up.

It was the 1950s when Sue traveled the corners of our country and lived alone in our country’s biggest cities (Chicago, Los Angeles and then New York). She gave into her spirit for adventure and while she traveled far from home, she carried home with her; her family stories became interwoven in her relationships and new life.  There was something infectious about her smile, her love of people and the stories she would tell about her childhood and family. She met and served many people, including celebrities. Bob Hope wanted to put her in his holiday special, but the airline nixed it. She had her picture taken with some, like Desi Arnez (see below. She is on the left)

 Optimally, our childhood provides us with a feeling of strong roots, with a pervasive feeling of being safe and surrounded by love. But that is not a given. For many of us, our roots were forged through struggle and longing. The New Moon invites us to make peace with our roots so that, rather than drain our vitality, they can support and feed our future growth in a good way.

This past week, I had a session with a longtime client. I offer her story here in contrast to my mother's, both as reflections of the Cancer New Moon.

Zoya [not her real name] grew up in within a traditional family in Pakistan. Her family was respected but they lived in an impoverished part of town. She fell in love with a boy but his parents condemned the relationship because her family was not of the same class and standing as theirs. As arranged marriages were the custom, the courtship ended and she never saw the boy again.

Zoya wanted to go to college and have a career. Her father did not support this. So, she found a way to pay for college herself. She had to come up with the money for everything she wanted to do, including getting a passport. When her studies led her to wanting to continue her education in the United States, she did the research and navigated the different schools and scholarship applications, immigration and visa processes. She completed her doctorate and post doctorate work in dentistry in the States, received her green card, and is currently working in a U.S. university teaching, doing research and practicing dentistry. 

During our sessions, we often focus on current struggles or hurdles she is looking to overcome. In her session last week, she took a step back and reflected on how far she has come from the girl in the impoverished Pakistani neighborhood who had limited options available to her.

 I began to see her life as a tree, always focused on reaching and growing upwards. Then, for a moment she shifted her gaze and looked down to see how far she had come and how tall she had grown. As we both reflected on this, Zoya could see that she could not cut away her past. It was part of her. In trying to do this, she would be cutting away her roots and disconnecting herself from the very foundation from which she has grown so tall and strong. 

Zoya said, “It is time to stop hiding my past”. She went on to talk about how she had been ashamed of where she had been raised and always thought if others knew where she was from, they would ridicule or reject her just at that boy’s family had. 

There was a new strength, a new sense of wholeness within her as decided it was time to embrace her past and not try to hide it from others. She realized that her past is her past. It is what it is, and is not something to hide from, reject, or even downplay. To move forward, to grow further in her career and life, she needed to embrace her roots, and where she is from.

"I am ready to be my whole self and not live separate lives", she said. In doing this she embraced her past as an integral part of her life, like how roots are part of the tree. She dropped the shame she had felt about her roots, when she recognized that for her to get to the next level of realizing her dreams, she needed to integrate her past with her present and live her full self. She had once thought to leave part of herself behind and in effect live two lives. Moving forward, she is ready to live and be seen in the fullness of her whole life.

The conversation with Zoya exemplified the themes and potentials of the Cancer New Moon and its place within the month of July when it is time for us to grow and reach for some unknown potential calling to us. We find ourselves looking first at our roots and our childhood experiences of love, home and family. From our current vantage point, we can see how far we have grown and how those roots, that are so distant from where we are now, raised us and gave us life. We can see how these roots support us and do not trap or pull us down.  They in fact form the foundation for our continued growth. It is not about wishing the roots were different and it is not about going down and dwelling in the content and stories that reside in the roots. It's about having compassion and softness around what we went through that inevitably gave rise to our life and continues to nurture our future growth. From this perspective, we can revise the story about what has shaped us, about what our life is about, and where we are heading. This is the opportunity for us at the New Moon.

We are not to play it small now. The Cancer Moon can have us feeling vulnerable and sensitive, but rather than disappear into our shell or shut ourselves away from the world, we are to recognize that playing it safe is not going to have us feeling alive and vital.  We are to discover how we can care for ourselves while we move into the world. We may need to redefine boundaries we put in place that ensured our safety as we suddenly feel that they have become confining in how they have walled us in. Like my mother, we can all move out into the world while drawing from our roots and connections with those we love. And like Zoya, we can feel how all that we have experienced, the good and the bad, have all supported our growth and are part of the foundation that has given rise to our strength and the beauty of who we are and wish to become.

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Liv By Design Astrology