First…
Substack Has Won Me Over!
True confession. I had been on the fence with Substack for a while. The main reason is that I don’t really identify as a writer and I was feeling kind of alienated. I write to share experiences and insights and to pass on what I learn, which is different than identifying as a writer. Writing, for me, is a tool that let’s me do those other things that I care about.
But, having experimented with Patreon with my Project Astrology endeavor, I have come to appreciate Substack much more. And, as if by magic, the dissonance between my sense of identity and Substack’s writer identity seems to have disappeared. In fact, when it comes to Substack now, I’m all in and have decided to move Project Astrology to it.
Discovering the early access functionality (more on that in the next section) and then the incredible video functionality won me over. While Patreon has the advantage in terms of offering multiple tiers, Substack, in my view, especially with all the new features it has added and no doubt will continue to add, is much better in just about every other way, its editor in particular being far - far, far, far - superior. And its new video options, as mentioned, are pretty much amazing.
So, thank you, Substack and bless you for all of the thought and care you put into this platform. I feel a bit like Scrooge waking up on Christmas Day.
About Project Astrology - Vision
Project Astrology arose for me on the heels of a whole lot of frustration encountering various obstacles in my efforts to find my own relationship with astrology. I got so frustrated one day a couple months ago that I sat down and wrote up my vision for something different. That vision is what I now call Project Astrology. The vision is compelling and inspiring. That’s not just what I think. It’s what others have said who have read it.
At its core, Project Astrology is about freeing and supporting the creative spirit of aspiring astrologers. It endeavors to do that through the creation of an astrology platform that incorporates comprehensive learning modules covering all aspects of astrology as well as programming basics specific to astrology needs.
I invite you to read the full vision statement, including the rationale for the project. It can be found on the new Project Astrology Substack. It is an ambitious project, but, as mentioned above, a compelling and inspiring one. I would also add worthy to that list. If you would like to follow the progress of the project and offer your support, you can do so by subscribing to Project Astrology.
The Substack is private because of my desire to allow access at this early stage only to those who explicitly sign up. All that means for you is that you have to subscribe before you can see anything there. It also means that you get to see what the public doesn’t. Once you’re onboard, you can read the full statement. All subscribers will also receive access to updates. Paid subscribers will receive additional access to sneak peeks and behind-the-scenes posts, some of which may be released later to all subscribers.
If you want to see Project Astrology evolve from its very beginning stages to an inspiring reality, now is the time to sign up :).
See you there! And thank you ahead of time for your interest and support!
And never fear, I will be continuing with Astrology Journal, too :).
(Btw, I also moved my RedCircle podcast episodes over here to Astrology Journal. I haven’t set up distribution beyond Substack, but it’s a start! In fact, you will be able to listen to this audio recording via the podcast section of Astrology Journal’s Substack website.)
Now, onto the Cancer New Moon!
About the Cancer New Moon: Rest and Be Thankful Audio Recording
I tried my hand at recording an audio version of the Cancer New Moon article. It was fun to do! It includes additional commentary explaining some of the context for the themes I touched on, which may be of interest and provide more clarity about what I was drawing on and expressing.
For the written version of the text, see below.
For the podcast version, see the podcast section of the newsletter website.
For the additional video reading I did on the Cancer New Moon, see my YouTube video.
PS
I finally realized that Substack has an early release option, so that means I can make early release posts available to free subscribers here instead of having to send you to Patreon. Yay! (For those of you who have Substacks, Yes, I can be that clueless.)
PPS
I will be taking the Patreon page down in the next week or two. That means that the Cancer New Moon and Capricorn Full Moon videos won’t be accessible there. But, you can still watch them on YouTube (links below). In the future, lunation videos will be set up as early release and so be available here. SOOO much better!
Cancer New Moon video on YouTube
Capricorn Full Moon video on YouTube
For the full version of the article I wrote accompanying the Cancer New Moon post, which is the article I read in the audio recording at the top of this post, see below.
I hope you enjoy the recording :). I am leaning strongly towards doing more of these for shorter articles, so let me know what you think in the comments.
Cancer New Moon: Rest and Be Thankful
The energy of this chart speaks of those momentous moments in life when we have successfully completed one stage of development and stand on the edge of a new, completely unknown stage. The Cancerian symbolism of the New Moon and its quindecile to Pluto speak of the initiation of a birth cycle and the path before us beckoning us into a new dimension of reality, one we have never experienced before and for which we have no rule book.
But the time in this moment is to rest, to enjoy, to appreciate what we have accomplished, to celebrate all that we have already become.
The Sabian symbol - a group of people relaxing after a satisfying, lavish feast - speaks of this time of rest and highlights the celebratory energy of these moments, the celebrations marking the spot of this great transition and also providing a preparatory pause before entering an entirely new reality.
Consider the child entering puberty. What was is no longer, what is ahead is unknown. At this moment, this morphing child stands on a precipice, unable to turn back, unable to resist the pull of this mysterious force rising up within it and compelling it forward. In some cultures, this transition is marked with a great celebration, a sending off of sorts into a new developmental and social reality.
Bar mitvah came to mind for me. Although I am not Jewish and do not know the details of this tradition, it arose in my mind as an archetype for this idea of a celebration of a meaningful life milestone and transition of which the energy of this New Moon speaks.
For another such life moment, think of the student walking across the graduation stage. Something great was achieved and something equally great, though completely unknown, lies ahead, just as is so for the child who reaches puberty and the fetus who readies for the birth canal. The stage on which we walked on graduation day will be disassembled, the dorm rooms no longer available to us, the school no longer there to structure and support our path.
Once we reach this point, everything that was falls away, just as it is meant to. If it didn't, we couldn't continue to grow, couldn’t continue our evolution of becoming.
All we can do in these moments-between is trust the inner urgings to go where we have never been before, to let our Inner Beings turn us towards the rapids before us, readying us for entry. The purpose of those rapids, like the purpose of the contractions in the birth canal, is to prepare us for the new environment, an environment that was previously unviable for and unavailable to us but which now summons us.
This new environment is far more expansive than what we have known before, offering exponential new potential for freedom, for learning, for growing, and for evolving, just as each previous stage did.
For now, though, the time is to rest and to celebrate all that we have already become and all that we have to look forward to. The rest will take care of itself, just as it does in any new birth.
For a timeframe, on January 13, 2025 (EST), we will have a Cancer Full Moon. At that time, the light will be shining on what we have become in the time between now and then. If you keep a journal, the time of this New Moon might be a period to look back to when reflecting on what is going on for you during the Full Moon phase in January.
Cover Image Credit
Audio Version | Cancer New Moon: Rest and Be Thankful