Cancer New Moon & The Power of Possibility

"Pleasure disappoints, possibility never. And what wine is so sparkling, what so fragrant, what so intoxicating, as possibility!"

— Søren Kierkegaard

Søren Kierkegaard’s natal chart is untimed, so we don’t actually know where his Moon was when he took his first breath. Still, I found it a lovely synchronicity to find that the noon version of his chart put the Moon at Cancer 20° and Jupiter just inside Leo—much like the upcoming Cancer New Moon on the 14th July 2026.

And there is a curious energetic overlap here as this new moon does convey possibility (and it was Kierkegaard who also said that “hope is a passion for the possible”)—so let’s break it down.

The Moon represents—among all else—fluctuation, change, and becoming. The coniunctio of the Sun and Moon is the union of ‘being’ and ‘becoming’—a cosmic reset of patterns. Some patterns are most certainly harder to live through than others (which many will argue is the whole point of looking at astrology, n'est-ce pas?) and its worth noting when a pattern offers an olive-branch of possibility.

First off, the Moon is in domicile—and William Lilly deems this to be the strongest dignity a planet can hold, so the strength here is undeniable.

The new moon is not only in the exaltation of Jupiter (giving us one reason to examine that planet)—it is also in the terms of Jupiter! And Jupiter is in a sign of their own triplicity, and so carries the strength of friends/family who have their back—a beautiful expression of potentiality.

The monomoiria (the apportioning of individual degrees to each of the planets starting with either the sign ruler and continuing in descending Chaldean order, or the triplicity / trigon lord, and varying with sect as per Robert Schmidt and Robert Hand) of this new moon is…the Moon!

And while there is a superior square coming from Saturn, it’s worth noting that Saturn is slowing down to station retrograde, and so is separating from the lunation. Furthermore, Mars is averse. And while it’s true that Jupiter is as well, Venus does witness the new moon by sign, so there is some bonification there (yes, Venus is in fall in Virgo, but that does not mean what you think it means).

The conjunction of Mercury Rx within 3° speaks to the shift from outer expression to inner reflection—the very realm of possibility. In Jyotișa, the retrograde of the planet of intellect, logic, trade, and communication represents a powerful cycle of inward focus and deep, unconventional thinking.

Finally, it’s worth noting that Cancer in esoteric traditions was seen as the Gateway of Man. Cancer and Capricorn were seen as forming a cosmic doorway between human life and the divine, with the former marking the descent of the soul into flesh.

This mirrors the manifestation current where intuition and abstract ideas travel from the upper chakras downward into the lower chakras. They move from the spiritual realm into the physical world and this whole process is dependent on the idea of possibility and hope.

I do find it curious that this lunation arrives just before the perfection of what Barbault thought would be glorious aspects between the outer planets (in his case, referring to Jupiter through Pluto)….it’s hard to not think these are connected somehow.

So far so good. Now let’s examine the 12th Parts.

The 12th Part of this lunation falls in Pisces—the very essence of oceans of consciousness and possibility. And a 12th Part in a trine aspect to its own natal position increases beneficence or fortune (while one in opposition may increase difficulty).

And a 12th Part in a trine aspect to its own natal position increases beneficence or fortune (while one in opposition may increase difficulty).

While the benefics are in detriment and fall respectively, for me this describes the hopeful struggle and unconventional approach to possibility that this new moon may be promising.

And we need to note that the 12th Parts of benefic planets falling in important places such as the angles—or conjunct the radix benefics will strengthen them.

What to make of the 12th Part of the lunation falling opposite the 12th Part of Saturn?

This would normally portend difficulty and obstacles getting in the way of possibility. But again for me, this is where the unconventional nature of the benefics is highlighted—and important. Conventional means of shutting down possibility (and therefore hope) is baked into the history of humankind—and yet unconventional means have also existed and catapulted us forward (although I appreciate this is not always for the better).

But to a certain extent, I think that to engage with a lunation is to fuse it with some kind of feeling. We can choose to feel despair, or we can choose to let that despair go—even if it’s only for 1 hour. And that becomes the space for possibility to exist. And what are thoughts but ideas in motion? And the quality of those ideas depend on the environment we marinate them in.

And before wrapping up, I would like to introduce one other concept in understanding 12th Parts and that is “Dwad Houses”. I go into this further in the talk I hope to release in my shop later this month, but for now, look at the degree in which the lunation falls and count how many signs that is in a 12th Parts chart from the radix sign.

So in this case, we’re looking at 21°59’ along the Cancer line. This brings us to the NINTH sign—which means that the lunation is in the 9th Dwad House.

This is a particularly good way to get at a broader meaning for the lunation as it is not tied to a specific chart.

Essentially, we have a lunation that is speaking to 9H topics—beliefs (philosophical/political/spiritual) and “foreign” engagement. I put the latter word in quote marks because this is perhaps the perspective of the tribal nature of Cancer. Nevertheless, it does not take away from this feeling (how Cancerian!) of having to engage with “the other” (and I do find overlap between the Cancer-Cap axis meaning and the Aries-Libra axis meaning)…Could this lunation be setting the foundation of the changes in belief structures, the connection with the other, and the necessity of out-of-the-box thinking that Barbault’s aspect pattern describes as potential launching pad for humanity?

After all, what is humanity if not our built-in ability/need for hope? (cf Venezuela)

The Dwad Houses are amazing—and a wonderful way to further parse the meaning of the 12th Parts holistically. Hopefully(!), this scratching of the surface of this technique has piqued your interest :)

But in the meantime, wishing you a lovely weekend ahead and all the blessings of the upcoming Cancer New Moon!

Addendum: I don’t normally think too much about the 12th Parts of the outer planets, but in this case, the 12th Part of Uranus more or less conjunct the radix degree of the lunation is something hard to overlook! Uranus as Prometheus was the original trickster, but also the Titan god of forethought.

He was initially tasked with moulding humans out of clay, and later provided the means by which the human race could grow (through Fire as the spark of action and the energy to think and grow).

The astrologer Caroline Casey talks about how Uranus often goes beyond surprises and actually speaks to the need for radical authenticity. She argues that the sudden-ness of events may (not always!) speak to energy piling into an event on the back of some fundamental denial of the authentic self. The ‘surprise’ then becomes the net result of not dealing with an authentic part of self that was demanding expression (please note, that this is more of a natal delineation, not a mundane one, and does not extend uniformly across all charts—it’s just ONE way we can parse Uranus).

At the very least, I think many people will agree that Uranus speaks to out-of-the box thinking, technological innovation, and not settling for the status-quo.

As such, the 12th Part of Uranus falling on the radix position of the new moon can be infusing this lunation with those very pieces. And with the lunation in a Water sign, I believe that this gives added importance to trusting the inner voice and using the upcoming cycle to lean into navigating Water rather than simply resisting the waves through those Uranian qualities.