Cancer is about the most tangible level of actual human feelings. Yes it has the intuitive dimension, but really it's where feelings come home to the gut level, the bosom and maternal instinct. I would propose that this is about a reconsideration of how and whether we take care of ourselves, our families, and those we say we love.
What is the balance of giving and receiving in your life? What are your motives to share or to express your needs? Can you discern a need from a desire? Mercury ingresses Cancer on May 31, where it stays through Aug. 8 (more on that in a moment). Through nearly all of the month of June, Venus is in Cancer.
Meanwhile, Jupiter ingresses Cancer on June 25, a few days after the Sun does. It's there for about one year. This is the faster-acting piece of the grand trine—Jupiter spends just a year in Cancer, and when it shows up it will be accompanied by several other quick-movers passing through this sign.
Mars enters Cancer on July 13, where it stays through August 27. So through Northern Hemisphere spring and summer, there will be a rather impressive grand trine in the water signs, involving the following planets: Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter (all buzzing around in Cancer), as well as Saturn, Chiron and Neptune. If you count times when the Sun and Moon are in water signs, all of the traditional planets will be part of that grand trine for part of the year.
There's one more fun thing to consider: every time Mercury is retrograde, it will be in a water sign. Indeed, during the retrograde phase it will not leave the water sign it's in—that is, it doesn't dip into the neighboring sign.
The Mercury retrograde beginning February 23 is exclusively in Pisces (Venus, Mars, Neptune, Chiron and the Sun will also be there). The one beginning June 26 will be exclusively in Cancer. It will be joined by the Sun, Mars, Vesta, and Jupiter. The one beginning October 21 will be exclusively in Scorpio, joined by the Sun, Saturn, and the North Node.
Okay, that's a lot of water. This is coming from someone with about 10 water placements in my natal chart, depending on what you count, and it still feels like a lot of water. The meta theme here is that it's time to connect with the truth that we are beings made of water, with feelings attuned to water, which flow like water.
We need to nourish our bodies with water, and take care of the Earth's limited supply of fresh water. And it's time to imbibe those forms of watery creative expression, and tune into the "psychic" or intuitive realm—which will be coming through more distinctly (that's a topic deserving of another article). Water is the medium of intuition. Imagine that all water resonates with all other water.
There are no secrets and no point trying to keep them. Sooner or later, anyone aspiring to a more spiritually grounded life figures this out.
