Photo by Ian Panelo from Pexels
By Rachel Hicks
www.Rachelle Hicks.com
IG:@RachelleHicksAstrology
A clear new moon: Tuesday, July 14, 2026 at 5:43 AM ET
The sunat 21° Cancer |MoonCancer at 21 °
In the spirit of Mercury retrograde in Cancer, let’s take a moment to reflect on the past week. In particular, How is everyone doing after the Mars-Uranus conjunction?
This connection was evident between July 3rd and 4th, but was palpable for several days leading up to those dates and gradually dissipated as we moved towards the New Moon in Cancer on July 14th.
Mars-Uranus transits are known for bringing energy that can be chaotic, fast, or impulsive. The good thing is that they can feel excited and free. But common difficulties include irritability, impatience, and even the possibility of accidents.
Treading carefully is usually a good rule of thumb, especially with Mercury retrograde in the mix. By the time we get to the New Moon in Cancer, Mars has moved beyond Uranus, and we can say it’s more or less within the circle of this sparkly conjunction.
Even though we’re still in the middle of Mercury retrograde (which ends on July 24th), this The New Moon in Cancer can offer more balm, suggesting deep reflection. You may or may not be in the process of integrating some of the lessons you’ve learned over the past few weeks. Perhaps at this point a deeper message or insight begins to emerge.
Think of this new moon in Cancer as a pause at the end of your breath. Perhaps you’ve processed some of your Mars-Uranus experiences, are still mulling over a few Mercury retrograde concepts, and are ready to move forward with a little more wisdom.
Art by Albert Aublet, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
The story of the Moon Goddess Selene and the Dead Shepard Endymion
A legendary figure that comes to mind when I think about it The combination of Mercury Retrograde and the New Moon in Cancer is Selene, the Moon Goddess. She was one of the Greek Titan goddesses, meaning she existed before the Olympian gods. He was famous for driving his silver, shining chariot across the night sky, driven by white horses.
One of her most famous stories concerns her love for the dead shepherd Endymion. Since she was a mortal and an immortal Titan goddess, he knew they could never be together. So he asked Zeus to give him eternal life through a deep sleep. In this state, he will never age or die. It has become something liminal, neither dead nor immortal.
At that limit, Selena could be with him in her dreams.
In archetypal terms, we can see this as Cancer’s desire to experience life through memory or impression, rather than through the concrete ‘real world’. In the same way that the moon does not create its own light, but reflects the light of the sun, Cancer is associated with a kind of abstract impressionism. It is very similar to a liminal dream state. There is truth there, but it is filtered through symbols. It is rarely literal.
It’s a really exciting story, and we’re mostly getting it from Selena’s point of view. Many of Endymion’s views have not survived. This is a myth, either because ancient texts have been lost or because translations have changed over time.
But here we can play with myth and work with it in the archetypal realm.
“Looking back may be the only way forward.”
– Taylor Swift’s handwriting
(Moon-Jupiter conjunction in Cancer; exact time of birth.)
Photo by Ralph Ryan Gejon from Pexels
Studying this myth: When does remembering become wisdom and when do we get stuck?
With this myth in mind, let’s consider some questions about this New Moon, the waning Mars-Uranus conjunction, and Mercury retrograde:
- On the subject of exploring the past, there comes a point where you have to sit down and understand the events and feelings of the past to make sense of them. But there comes a point when enough has been learned from the past and it’s time to move on. Do you know where this point is in relation to various topics or events in your own life?
- Are there memories or experiences you revisit in these liminal spaces, like Selene did with Endymion?
- Does this revision process feel fulfilling and meaningful? Or does it take you away from your present experience and intentionally creating your future?
- If this revision process is no longer serving you, are you ready to energetically let go of the past?
Further studies of the season of cancer
If you want to dive deeper into the energies of the Cancer season this last week, I recommend Safron Rossi’s new Zodiac Mytho-Poetics series. His first webinar in the series is titled Cancer “Cancer and Luna’s Silver Thread”.
Photo by Sekatsky from Unsplash
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