July 31st, 11:12pm EST-Black New Moon: 15 degrees Cancer, Pushya
This month we have two New Moons and this is called a “Black Moon”, just as two Full Moons in a month are called a “Blue Moon”. It is taking place on July 31stat 11:12pm,15 degrees of Cancer in the nakshatra of Pushya. This means “to nourish” and spans from 3.2 to 16.4 degrees of Cancer, and is ruled by Saturn. The symbol is a cow’s udder that produces milk, a lotus, or an arrow or circle shape. The deity that rules this nakshatra is Brihaspati, or Jupiter the Guru of the gods. The stars that belong to this nakshatra are the three stars in the Cancer constellation, and the North and South Asellus stars indicating care giving and nourishing abilities.
The mythology is of Brihaspati the Guru as the teacher of the gods and he was the lord of speech and prayer; Shiva, the god of destruction, made him into the planet Jupiter. Brihaspati, or Jupiter, had his wife, Tara or the Earth, stolen from him by Soma, or the Moon. Here we can really see that the story of our solar system’s creation is told in the Vedic myths. The child that Tara, the Earth, had with the Moon was Mercury, or Budh, as he is called in the Vedas. Brihaspati cared for the child and took him under his wing to raise him as his own. People born with this nakshatra prominent in their chart will be very family-oriented as all Cancers are, but their focus is on nourishing others which can mean they love to cook, and can put on weight. There is a high-mindedness with this nakshatra that can make these natives snobs, and their religious views are very traditional, which can tend to make them insecure about their beliefs, as their inherent stubbornness comes out. This placement makes great teachers as it belongs to Brihaspati, and as it is ruled by Saturn there is a love of teaching the traditions as they love to follow the rules, and help others to follow them, as well. In Persian astrology these stars correspond to the planets Mars and Mercury.
On this second New Moon we have Venus, Sun and Mars conjunct the Moon. This produces a lot of passion and caring for others is a great way to express this Cancerian energy. Having Rahu and Mercury retrograde 12 places away could indicate a security breach with technology; make sure you have your anti-virus software up to date, lock your doors, and basically watch your back. Getting something installed like a video camera would be a great idea at this time; the next day Mercury goes out of retrograde, so don’t worry about installing technology during a retrograde period, but it would be best to do this ASAP. The difficult Saturn, Ketu and Pluto conjunction is in the 6/8 quincunx aspect, so don’t be forced to let go of something, or have something stolen at this time. Since Saturn rules this nakshatra and he’s in Sagittarius which is ruled by Jupiter, we should look to transit Jupiter to unlock this New Moon. Jupiter is retrograde in Scorpio, ruled by Mars, and transit Mars is sitting with the Moon in his sign of debilitation, Cancer. This feels like a frustrated New Moon; Venus wants to love, but she is perhaps being ignored and rejected. Jupiter is trining this New Moon from his 9th aspect, and since he is retrograde we will see a lot of flooding at this time. Look to what house is in the sign of Cancer in your chart to see where this energy plays out.
