It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.

It was the best of times.  It was the worst of times.  So said Charles Dickens in his famous novel ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ as he described contrasting times of conflict between family and love, hatred and oppression, light and dark. 

 At the solstice point, as the Sun enters Cancer and we experience the longest day of the year, we, particularly in the West, have for sure experienced the best of times on a material level.   Is it though also the worst of times?

 The Sun’s entry into Cancer marks a point that has impact on a global level.   And we find the Moon, just hours after the last quarter Moon, also at a critical point globally.   The Sun is in the sign governed by the Moon, which should give power to the people and to ordinary families.  But this current Moon is uncomfortable in Aries, a sign where the Sun is treated royally, as an honoured guest.   And day by day the Moon is losing her light. 

 The Sun, representative of Kings and leaders, is in the Moon’s sign of Cancer where he professes to be caring of the people and families (the Moon).   He is supposed to care, but does he?   Can the Moon see the truth?   No.   The Moon in Aries is blinded and trapped by her awe of the Sun’s treatment in the sign she occupies – he’s a rock star.  

 For the UK the Moon, Mars and Jupiter sit in the 8th house of crisis.   The 8th house is also the house of other people’s money, investments, pension funds, taxes, inheritances etc.  In The Tale of Two Cities Dickens speaks of the human despair and poverty of a class war between the rich and the poor.  Contrast to now and we have major warnings of imminent financial crisis as well as food and product shortages.  While the Sun might pretend to care, the Moon just can’t see how much he is filling his own coffers at her expense.  What’s really happening with our pension funds?   How is our money being frittered by Governments?   We can’t see.

 In late 2019/early 2020 I spoke about how we were at a tipping point that could be ‘as small as the Industrial Revolution’ or as big as a ‘civilisation change’.   The line-up of planets at the time in Capricorn signalled the breaking down of institutions and traditions that we took for granted.   It’s been a ‘slow burn’, but I think we can really begin to see the actuality now.  

 Governments and leaders have throughout time sought to control the people according to the vagaries of their minds.  The difference between the world of Dickens and our current epoch is twofold – there are now many more very very slick and covert ways to control without the people seeing, and secondly, with the advent of the internet, this control can now be global.   Uranus sits with the North Node right on the Midheaven of the UK chart at the Cancer Ingress.   We are moving towards a conscious disruptive change following a controlled demolition of our ‘old normal’.

 Dickens goes on to warn of ‘the epoch of belief contrasting with the epoch of incredulity’.   The Moon’s passage through the sky always tells us the story.  The opposite of blind belief is just too incredulous to be true.   Or is it?  The Moon is so blind here she believes what the Sun is telling her.  But it is more important than ever to realise that it’s pointless and a waste of valuable time to just stand around being incredulous.   We need to concentrate on resilience in the face of the inevitable change so that we are able to adapt to survive whatever changes are coming consciously, without being a victim of those changes.

 The Moon has the advantage over all the other planets.   She travels the horoscope every month – she is constantly challenged by and exposed to life’s vagaries.   This Moon has the potential to control her ‘fortune’ – her luck.   She will meet Jupiter, who has the ability to look at the bigger picture.   She must learn from him and try to control her blindness.  Like Jupiter she must think big, as though she was on the stage of the most incredulous film set; if she thinks small she will continue to be blind.   But by the same token she must keep a sense of proportion so that in the face of everything she keeps a sense of humour.   She quickly reaches a sextile to Mercury in his own sign of Gemini – she has the ability to target her thoughts and her communications.   She knows that Mars, her ruler, awaits her, and he too lauds the Sun and the sheer power and money he wields – but she also knows that she quickly moves on away from his grasp.   No-one contains the Moon and no-one contains the people for ever.