1st Qtr Moon, 4 April 2017, Cancer

Exact time & zodiac degree of this moon | Understanding Quarter Moons |

The fire vibe at the New Moon in Aries a week ago set the stage for the month’s energy template, and now at the 1st Quarter Moon, the month’s theme reaches a turning point through the water vibe of Cancer. Every month the 1st quarter moon brings a challenge, i.e. a decision-point or a confrontation with the month’s theme. So now that the 1st Qtr Moon is in Cancer, what do we confront? Cancer’s core themes are ‘belonging, home, security, safety, nourishment, support, protection and family or tribal connection’. Aries is about ‘self, me, my life, my independence’. As energy programs, Aries and Cancer constantly challenge each other to get the balance right between the needs of the self and the needs of the ‘tribe’ or the group/s to which we belong. Of course the greater family is the whole connectedness of every living being on the planet in both the seen and unseen realms, and within that we settle into our ‘family groups’ whether with just one other being or a group, or groups, of others. The confrontation this week of the quarter moon is about how to assert the sanctity of ‘self’ while still contributing to family. Sometimes we feel forced into isolation if we do not ‘buy’ family loyalty by paying our dues according to win-lose family expectations. Other times we feel nourished heart and soul by the bonds of love and natural flow of loyalty that comes from heartful connection and shared love experiences with family. When Aries and Cancer clash we might wonder if we were born to a secret mafia, a family that never lets you leave to individuate and follow the ‘core self’, the ‘true self’, and therefore the ‘true path’, or lets you leave but slams the door behind you. If these kinds of feelings arise at this 1st Qtr Moon in Cancer, there could be some deep down watery material in need of healing at the inner child or soul level of things so that no-one feels forced to become a hostage to a family system, but equally people are not so independent they do not contribute at all, leaving a family to feel taken advantage of. At this 1st Qtr Moon in Cancer, we persist with finding innovative ways to give and receive to and from a family system that lead to both the family and each individual within it flourishing. Or we question where we belong, and if necessary, forge new family pathways.