New Moon in Cancer: Clearing Old Memories and Emotions

The New Moon in Cancer is a healing moon. Of all the new moons in the year, this one carries some of the gentlest and deepest medicine, because it works on the places we usually keep hidden: our emotions, our memories, and our needs.

In this post, I want to share why this moon holds so much healing potential and what you can do with its energy.

The Cancer New Moon: a moon of healing, intuition, home, family, emotions, and needs.

The Moon Is Home in Cancer

Cancer is a water sign, and the Moon is its ruler. That means this new moon is happening in the sign the Moon calls home. In astrology we say the Moon is in dignity here, which means its qualities come through strong and clear: intuition, sensitivity, receptivity, emotion.

The Moon rules the night. It is the luminary that illuminates the evening, and that is why it is connected to the subconscious mind, to your emotions, your feelings, your home, and the things that live more internally within you. The Moon also rules the 4th house, the foundation of the chart. Home. Family. Roots. Ancestors. Mother.

So when the new moon lands in Cancer, all of that gets activated at once.

Cancer Asks: What Do You Need?

Cancer is the mother of the zodiac. Nurture, nourishment, care, protection. These are her gifts, and they are also her assignment for you right now.

Let's be honest, Sis. The world feels really intense right now. And when the world is heavy, we have to go out of our way to take care of ourselves. Cancer also rules protection, and that is not an accident this season. You need to be putting some protections in place to make sure you are taken care of in this rough world.

But here is the thing about nurturance: you cannot nurture what you have not named. Before you can meet your needs, you have to know what they are. Maybe your need right now is rest. Maybe it is nourishment. Maybe it is more relaxation, or tending to your health, or time with family, or reconnecting with your ancestors. This moon is inviting you to get quiet enough to hear the answer.

Go Deeper: Understanding Your Needs

This moon asks you to know your needs before you can meet them. I walk through exactly how to do that using astrology and your moon sign in the Lunar Mother episode of From Stuck to Sacred, and you can listen to the full episode right here: https://bit.ly/gbmslunarmother

Cancer Is the Sign of Memory

Now here is the teaching I really want you to ponder.

Cancer is about memory. And so much of what we carry is memory.

Your emotions start in the subconscious mind, and sometimes they are connected to things that happened to you long ago, even when you do not realize it. A path gets set up inside you. Then somebody does something today, and it triggers that old memory, and suddenly you are having a big emotional reaction that feels like it is about right now. But if you can trace that emotion back far enough, you will discover the truth. Either it is just an emotion for today, or it goes back years and has nothing to do with today at all.

I remember the moment I recognized this in my own life. I realized that just because I had an emotion did not mean I had to do anything about it. That awareness changed everything for me. Emotions are natural and normal to being human. But when we are working on self-mastery, we have to stay connected to our awareness and ask: why am I emotional right now? Especially when it is a problematic emotion.

The goddess Auset, also known as Isis, holds the faculty of memory. And Auset asks a question I want you to sit with this moon: are you serving the goddess of your higher self, or the goddess of your lower self? Because sometimes our emotional reactions are not coming from our truth. They are coming from our conditioning.

What Water Does Best

An affirmation to carry with you through this Cancer New Moon season: I respect my emotional limits.

Here is where Cancer's element becomes the medicine.

Water cleanses. Water purifies. Water clears.

Old emotions and old memories can be washed, cleared, and cleansed either through using water directly or by emotional release such as crying.

And the goal of the clearing is not just to feel better, although you will. The goal is to get lined up with what Spirit has for you and to help you tune into your body and intuition. When the old memories are running the show, they crowd out the divine voice. When you clear them, you can finally hear.

A Clearing Practice: Ho'oponopono

One of my favorite healing and clearing tools is Ho'oponopono. Teacher Dr. Hew Len taught that most of us are living in memory, and what we want is to get ourselves so clear that we only hear and are guided by the voice of the Divine, The Great Mother.

That is exactly the medicine this Cancer new moon is offering.

I created a song around Ho'oponopono, all about this clearing work, and I want to share it with you as a gift for this moon. Let it play while you journal, while you rest, while you set your intentions. Let the waters do what they do.

🌺HO'OPONOPONO PRAYER SONG🌺

Listen Here

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Bringing Water Into Your New Moon Ritual

Since this is a watery moon, let it be part of your ritual in a way that feels good to you.

You might take a spiritual bath or cleansing shower with the intention of releasing old emotions, letting the water carry away what is ready to go.

You might sit with a bowl of water on your altar as you set your intentions, or drink a glass of water slowly and mindfully, blessing it first.

If you live near a river, lake, or ocean, spending time near the water is its own ritual.

Even the sound of water, rain, ocean waves, a fountain, can support your clearing work.

Choose what feels good for you and enjoy the nuturing energy of water.

Setting Your New Moon Intentions

Every new moon invites you to set intentions and the Cancer new moon asks you to set intentions around self-care, home, and family for the year ahead.

Some intention themes that belong to this moon:

• Rest and relaxation.

• Self-care and self-love.

• Emotional healing.

• Home and family.

• Ancestral healing and learning your ancestors' history.

• Your health, including your hormonal, gut and breast health.

• Protecting your peace in an intense world.

An affirmation for this Cancer New Moon: I allow myself to release what no longer serves my highest good.

Since the Cancer new moon returns every year, this is also a beautiful time to check in annually.

• How did you care for yourself over the past year?

• What do your home and family need in the year ahead?

Let this moon become your yearly appointment with your own needs.

Set your intentions, do your clearing, and then trust. The intuition of Cancer will guide you. Maybe you will hear the answer as an inner voice. Maybe you will see it written somewhere, a message waiting for you in words. Open yourself up to trust the Universe, and you will find yourself exactly where you are supposed to be.

Nourish and Heal Bundle

And if you are ready to do this clearing work with support, I created something just for this moon: the Nourish and Heal Bundle.

It includes a Sacred Mini-Reading to give you personal clarity on what this season is asking of you, Let It Go, Let It Heal (guided hypnosis and mindfulness sessions) to help release the old memories held in your subconscious, and $20 in Goddess Bucks to nourish your next visit to the shop.

When you say yes to this bundle, you are giving yourself the kind of deep nurturance Cancer season is calling for.

🌙 Get the Nourish and Heal Bundle

May this moon cleanse what is ready to be cleared, and may you hear the voice of the Divine more clearly than ever.

Happy New Moon in Cancer!