Family Matters

'Seeds of Hope' May hope take root, and may your dreams be carried on gentle winds.—Meredith Chandler

New Moon | July 14, 2026 | 21 Cancer 59’

We shape our stories as we live them and this New Moon bids us to tell stories of our choosing as we move along. We are not hung up on old hurts and disappointments, destining ourselves to repeat, and replicate the things that we do not want. We are masters of our souls and captains of our fate.

My story is my story. I tell it as I live it. If I am joyous and expectant, I live as I want to live.  A person's life portrays their mind, perspective, and emotions and therefore, even more than what happens to me, I am the originator of my story.

We all have pasts that are a mixture of triumphs and disappointments. In some cases, we may be preoccupied with our disappointments. What are we pulling from in the creation of the lives we are living? Where are we now? What’s our emotional soup? What is the story going forward? If we are disenchanted or heartbroken, what now? What if we are injured or sick? Do we wait, wallow, or stagnate?  Or do we pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and start all over again?

The recent full Moon highlighted family matters. Where do we come from? How does family shape us? This New Moon asks you to distinguish between your family and yourself. Tell a new story if necessary. Break the patterns that repeat unwanted story.

Your story is not about where you went and what you did or what happened to you. It is your emotional recollection and reflection. It is how you felt and how you feel as you experience life. Your story is how you transcend, survive, and thrive.

With a New Moon in Cancer, what we want to do is slough off old memories that will weigh us down moving forward. William Henley’s “I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul” is perfect metaphor for a new moon in the water sign Cancer.  I am in charge of my inner nature, what I let in and how I respond to it, and what I keep out. I am in charge of steering my ship. I am in charge of how I feel, my memories, dreams and reflections. My feelings shape my journey. Feelings are the pattern or blueprint that my desires generate. How I feel creates the vessel or instrument of my being and dictates how I go.

Planets in Aries square the planets in Cancer. I am in charge of where and how I travel the world. There may be tension between caring for others and protecting my own sacred fire. I need to feel my story, grasp its pattern, and choose a wiser way forward.

My responsibility is to feel what is mine and choose what I will and will not carry forward. The purpose of the waters we call memories, dreams and reflections is to shape our future.

Practicum

Sit quietly and ask: What memory am I ready to release, and what feeling am I willing to carry forward? Write one sentence naming what was yours, one sentence naming what was never yours, and one sentence choosing the story you will live now.