Sun into Cancer; midsummer tension and flow

The Sun’s ingress into Cancer marks the Summer Solstice here in the northern hemisphere, and the chart for this year’s Cancer ingress / Solstice reflects the intense astrological energies which are around us right now. There’s a grand cross in the fixed signs - a grand cross is an aspect pattern with four planets all in square aspect with each other and two oppositions. So in the Cancer ingress chart, you can see the squares (red lines) between Uranus in Taurus in the 11th house, Mars in Leo in the 2nd house, Moon in Scorpio in the 5th house and Saturn in Aquarius in the 8th house. Uranus and the Moon are in opposition and Mars and Saturn are in opposition so that the whole thing looks like a square with a cross going through the middle - you can see it in the centre of the chart below. Aspect patterns like these are not rare but neither are they hugely common. And as the Cancer ingress chart also marks the Solstice, the chart is seen as covering the whole season, not just the astrological month ahead.

So. What does all this mean? We’re already in the midst of an intense astrological season, with Saturn square Uranus exact on June 14th and a solar eclipse in Gemini on June 10th. Not to mention Mercury still retrograde. A grand cross in the fixed signs shows up resistance and tension. There might be issues around resources, both inner and outer, around what we hold onto and what we release. We are called to value our individual creativity, our Solstice shining, but also to make a tangible contribution to the collective. The grand cross is softened by plenty of flowing, watery energy, with both Sun and Moon trine Jupiter in Pisces and indeed the Sun and Moon in a wide trine aspect. Jupiter is just turning retrograde at the time of the Cancer ingress, returning us to the source of our being, even of all being, helped by Venus trine Neptune adding even more empathy and sensitivity. There is tension in this dynamic, yes, the potential for the kind of “learning opportunities” we all love (!) when we’re forced to face up to what we’ve been resisting and let go of what we cling to so desperately. But there is also the potential for healing, for trusting in the universe and in our ability to find creative solutions, for taking ownership of our power and putting it to work.

Mercury turns direct the day after the Solstice and maybe we’ll be able to start the process of getting our heads around it all. On June 27th Venus moves into Leo, joining Mars who has been there for a while already. Time to honour our desires. Finally, on July 11th, Mercury leaves Gemini for the tidal waters of Cancer, for imagination and intuition rather than logic and reason. The connections are still important but as we move further into Cancer season, they go ever deeper.