It’s Cancer season. If Cancer season had a soundtrack it would be that of waves gently lapping on an ocean beach. If it had a taste, it would be sweet ripe berries. As the Sun warms the soul, when nostalgia beckons from the corner of our memories, this is the season to seek soul-contentedness because when it comes down to it, in a sweet and sorrowful way, summer stimulates our desire for happiness – be it a nostalgia for happiness past, or the happiness we want but don’t have.

I’m reminded of the way America, a Cancer Sun nation, puts a premium on “happy”, as if it’s something that can be purchased or had; mostly, chasing elusive happiness is used to make us feel bad about our lives. If you’re interested in the secret to happiness, study the Moon. The Moon is the fastest moving planet in our astrological system, it governs our changeable moods and tides, and yet astrologically we look to it for inner stability, happiness. There’s something to that lunar logic. Emotional security isn’t had from having things nailed down, but learning to flow with constant change. Happiness isn’t gotten from life events, but is the result of heeding our inner voice, feelings and whims.

Turning the Ego’s attention away from cultural pursuits of happiness -chock full and loaded with expectations about the life one should lead, look, or how one should be feeling, and toward a more intimate inner relationship with one’s true feelings, can be daunting. There’s a sort of dark romance, we have culturally, with our darker emotions. This pressure to feel and be a certain way, and reject our darker emotions, reflects the way the world regards the feminine. We believe we need to feel a certain way, and if we don’t, that there is something wrong with us. We torture our selves for having those feelings, instead of honoring their value. This is the lie that keeps us powerless, and always looking outward for sources of stability and happiness, instead of right here, inside.

What if we gave our self permission to feel what we feel, to want what we want, to like or dislike our experience, as we pleased — but to feel it fully?

What if we ditched self-judgment and offered our self compassion beyond our wildest imagining, instead? 

I did something radical, recently. I had struck up a relationship with someone, and just as it got going, it started feeling energetically off. I noticed I felt slightly stressed whenever we interacted, but in the time it took me to realize that big plans had been made. I knew if I pursued the connection it would compromise me. What to do? In the past I would’ve agonized over hurting their feelings, judged myself for not catching on sooner, and felt obligated out of loyalty to finish what we’d started. I would’ve created drama and stress. Sound familiar? This is how many of us torturedly relate to our uncomfortable feelings (otherwise known as the greatest source of our internal knowing — our intuition!!).

Instead, I bypassed all of that and simply asked my energy, is this right for me? NO. I politely thanked this person for their time, and remained peaceful throughout.

This is what self-compassion looks like. This is what honoring the feminine looks like: Allowing your deep truth arise, from deep inside, and acting from that place. Feeling things, things that you are tempted to judge, disregard or overlook. Understanding that the only person who pays the price of silencing your uncomfortable feelings is you.

This is the season of the Moon, of the Witch. The Moon, like Hecate, knows the world too easily discards what’s valuable, leaving it for trash- the nagging intuition or dark feeling, the lingering energy that won’t clear. Hecate wandered lunar landscapes; she was often found at garbage sites, graveyards – sites that the solar world discards, devalues, ignores.

Be alert for incoming messages from Hecate right now.  The first thing she requires is a quality of inner attentiveness that only you can give you. We may need to sit with our self, on a rock, or at our favorite spot. We may need to cancel our plans for the day, and just be. We need to set the intention to be there for our self, feel into our interior space – that sacred place of truth that no one else can influence – and allow our truth to bubble up. If it’s a particularly uncomfortable feeling we’re feeling, we vow to love our self even more.

We can develop new levels of intimacy with our inner life, connect to our soul’s whimsy, and intuition, during Cancer season. Moon Goddess Hecate instructs you to look at what you too easily discard at your own peril: An annoying feeling. An uncomfortable emotion. An off-energy. This is your soul, la luna, speaking. This is your treasure (not your trash). This is the Divine feminine asking to not be ignored.