Cancer Season 2022:  Mothering Yourself Anew to Achieve Greater Autonomy

Jun 20, 2022 | Personal development, Solar ingress, Transits

Summer and Cancer season are here—a profoundly nostalgic time of year. Work lives slow down, schools are closed, and we spend more time with family and friends. Outdoor activities also reign: barbecuing, camping, amusement parks, beach vacations, playing poolside or at the lake. 

Whatever Summer activities are essential for you, there is a desire to feel nurtured, connected, and secure within the familiar. 

Most of what we associate with Summer is rooted in childhood memories. That said, Cancer season 2022 asks us to evolve out of familial patterns that no longer support our need to act independently.

Cancer Season Quick Takes

Duration:  June 21 to Jul 22, 2022 

Archetypes:  The Mother, Healer, Empath

Planetary ruler: Moon

Element: Water

Mode: Cardinal

Lunations:

  • New Moon: 7° Cancer on June 28 at 7:52 pm PST
  • Full Moon:  21° Capricorn on July 13 at 11:38 am PST

Retrogrades:

  • Neptune stations retrograde:  June 28

Additional planetary shifts (ingresses) during this period:

  • Venus enters Gemini:  June 22
  • Mars enters Taurus:  July 5
  • Mercury enters Cancer:  July 5
  • Venus enters Cancer: July 17
  • Mercury enters Leo: July 19

When the parent-child dynamic gets misused

At the moment of the Sun’s entrance into Cancer on June 21 at 2:13 am PST, it does so under a challenging connection with its ruler, Moon in Aries, moving into exact conjunction with Jupiter in Aries.

As a collective, Cancer season will bring to the surface feelings of distrust of people in positions of authority whose actions go against our autonomy. This challenge isn’t new but is coming into greater focus during the summer months ahead.

Remember when you were a child and conflict erupted between you and a parental figure around bedtime. You weren’t tired and wanted to stay up an hour later to play. 

I mean, why can’t you sleep when you want, it’s totally unfair! 

You had very little autonomy then, but your caregiver had the wisdom and foresight to prioritize your need for rest. 

The type of control parents usually inflict on their children are in the form of healthy boundaries.

Unfortunately, that parent-child model gets imprinted inappropriately on other relationships. And where your parents usually had your best interest at heart, adult relationships are more complicated. 

Whether it’s your significant other, boss, or the government, look where conflicts arise based on the inappropriate application of a parent-child dynamic. 

You will know it when you feel betrayed or unfairly treated in the situation. 

When the parent-child dynamic of control vs. autonomy gets misused, there is a tendency to fall into victimhood. You have more power here than you realize. Begin to shift out of this dynamic by learning how to mother yourself anew.  

How to begin mothering yourself anew to achieve greater autonomy?

During Cancer season, you have an opportunity to connect with the energy of sensitivity, kindness, and protection. Even if you didn’t have a good working model as a child or you heavily relied on others to provide that mothering energy, know that you are capable of learning the skills necessary to mother yourself anew. So what are these  “mothering skills”? The short-list includes:

  • Kindness. Part of mothering yourself is being more tender with yourself. Offer yourself compassion and grace, especially in stressful situations. 
  • Protection. In addition to being kind, mothering yourself requires knowing how to protect yourself by establishing boundaries. Let others know how you want to be treated and the consequences for violating a boundary.
  • Healing. Finally, wherever a hurt exists, it’s an opportunity to heal. Addressing any pain and suffering is an important part of mothering. Whether physical, mental, or emotional, find the support and care you need to begin a journey towards healing.

Where it’s happening in your chart

Below is a brief description, based on your Rising sign, where the Sun’s transit through Cancer will provide an opportunity to evolve out of unhealthy familial patterns. Remember, these are general interpretations and do not constitute medical advice or professional services.

Aries Rising.  The Sun is transiting through your 4th House of home and family. You’ve never been on board with certain family traditions or how you were raised. Yet, you opted to keep the peace by going along to get along. You may choose not to stay quiet this time because it no longer benefits you. Go with your gut on this and speak up in a way that respects all involved.

Taurus Rising. The Sun is transiting through your 3rd House of communications, siblings, and neighbors. Summers are typically a busy time of year for you, planning and organizing Summer fun. This Summer, you’re instinct may be to pull back a bit from your usual lead role to focus more on self-care or other personal projects. Allow others to step up and fill your shoes in their way. Try not to critique how things get done in your absence. You’re attempting to reset or break the parent-child dynamic that can occur even among peers by stepping back. 

Gemini Rising. The Sun is transiting your 2nd House of money, resources, and values. This time of year always brings your financial life into focus. We’re all influenced by familial patterns around money. For you specifically, this Cancer season may bring up memories of the impact of your family’s socioeconomic status on your ability to connect with peers, organizations, and particular aspirations. You have a vision that always seems to be undermined by your bank account. Once you realize that you are enough and get clear on what you value, you’ll no longer feel limited by who you have access to and what you can achieve.

Cancer Rising. The Sun is transiting your 1st House of identity and body image. You can always be relied on for nurturing others. Sometimes at the expense of focusing on your career or purpose in life. Since childhood, there have always been people around you vying for your keen mothering skills. Now is your time to utilize those skills on yourself. How can you start putting yourself first and relinquish some unhealthy parent-child dynamics you have running that no longer work? 

Leo Rising. The Sun is transiting your 12th House of spirituality, secrets, and institutions that separate, i.e., prisons/nursing homes. This time of year is traditionally your time to rest and recharge away from everything. However, this Cancer season, a situation out of your control may unfold to pull you out of that space and into something more active and public. It’s definitely something that you care strongly about protecting and may have taken for granted recently. Remember also to practice mothering yourself anew and begin to heal what comes up for healing.

Virgo Rising. The Sun is transiting through your 11th House of friendship, groups, and aspirations. Despite familial patterns to the contrary, the last few years have taught you that you can depend on your friendships in times of need. Your faith in others has slowly been restored. During Cancer season, you might deal with the final remnants of feeling unsupported and misunderstood. This situation is here to teach you balance. Sometimes you may need to fight for the support you need, and it’s not an indicator of not being supported. People and institutions get distracted and sometimes require more nudging on your part to get to the outcome you desire.

Libra Rising. The Sun is transiting through your 10th House of career/status in society. This Cancer season, you are tasked with updating your leadership style, especially within your workplace or business. Have you applied the parent-child dynamic inappropriately to colleagues, bosses, or clients? If so, during Cancer season, you might be facing a massive disappointment in those relationships involving work. Take a look at your parental figures and try to tease apart what you learned from them when it comes to being an authority figure. How are you the same, and how are you different? One-on-one romantic partnerships may be the catalyst for you wanting to develop a new way in your career. If how you show up at work negatively impacts the quality of your relationship, something has to change.

Scorpio Rising. The Sun is transiting through your  9th House of religion/philosophy, long-distance travel, and higher education. You’ve had a hard-won battle to reignite your day-to-day to keep it feeling exciting and fresh. Yes, you’ve come into a place of mastery when living amongst the chaos. During Cancer season, you’ll have the urge to re-engage with the world to share or gain wisdom. Perhaps it will involve some travel or taking classes. However, seek a different way than how people in your family of origin have always done it. Another challenge for you will be maintaining autonomy while galvanizing others to another way of thinking about things. 

Sagittarius Rising. The Sun is transiting through your 8th House of transformation, death, inheritance, and sexuality. Cancer season is highlighting for you a period of death and rebirth. Deeply held familial patterns around your duty to family is asking to be released. Letting go of the guilt and/or grief is essential to take a courageous next step towards a higher level of self-expression. There might be some fear around disappointing or offending the ancestors by choosing to nourish you before any other relational ties. You might, however,  understand that was the old way passed down from generation to generation. Now you get to make updates to the inheritance.

Capricorn Rising. The Sun is transiting through your 7th House of marriage and partnerships. The Sun moving through Cancer will likely test the power dynamics in your close partnerships, catalyzed by a situation in the home. Does your partner want to move or make drastic changes to your home? Equally possible is an outside interference by an inlaw in how you and your partner create home life together. Either way, this very sticky situation will require a high level of mutual respect and sensitivity. There is an opportunity for healing however things come to a head. Remember to work on how to mother yourself throughout as things unfold.

Aquarius Rising. The Sun is transiting through your 6th House of daily routines, work, health, and pets. You may have grown up in a family that overvalued work and deprioritized rest and feelings of weariness. And yes, you’ve come a long way, yet this Cancer season is asking you to keep improving on your efforts. Easy said and done if you’re moving through a quiet period. However, you’re in an immense period of more doing. Remain vigilant to ensure your daily balance of work and play doesn’t fall into deprivation. This kind of tracking is part of mothering yourself anew.

Pisces Rising. The Sun is transiting through your 5th House of children, creativity, and fun. All you want to do is play and create, yet, responsibility is calling around your money. Perhaps you need to earn more or manage what you have more actively now. Maybe growing up in your family of origin, you were never taught or supported to value making money as a fun and creative endeavor. During this Cancer season, seek ways to make earning money and managing your resources nourishing to your creative spirit. 

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