Hello hello,
Welcome to another week in the Cycles of Time, a project where I’m experimenting with feeling the changes of thce seasons deeper in my body, and sharing some insights with you! I appreciate all your shares so much, so please don’t hesitate to comment or DM me on Substack or cyclesoftimepodcast on Instagram.
Last week I got a few messages from folks about how challenging the arrival of Cancer season was for them. One listener noted that they have lots of Gemini and Sagittarius placements, which are signs about knowledge and wisdom and the mind, so the transition into the realm of the body and the Gate of Stillness felt extremely uncomfortable for them.
I’d have to agree. The shift between Gemini and Cancer feels dramatic, which is strange, because the weather doesn’t change too much. It goes from hot to hotter, though, and the shift from Gemini season’s “ahh, it’s nice and hot! let’s go swimming!” to Cancer season’s “close the doors! you’re letting the heat in!” felt palpable over the course of last week.
How did the Gate of Stillness show up for you? I again took the assignment seriously, and if I was ever torn about what to do in a given timeframe, I erred on the side of napping, taking a stroll in nature, and doing the slow yoga class over the hot and intense yoga class. My partner was out of town for the whole week backpacking and my daughter was in summer camp until 3 every day, so I got some serious alone-time, and it was sooo nice. In my chart, Cancer falls in my 12th house of surrender, spirituality, the unity of everything, and it did feel like stillness and inaction were perfect for my mood.
Stillness does have a way of bringing up alll the emotions, though, and I definitely waded through a lot of feelings this week, noticing how it took my all to not try to distract myself with busyness. But with the sweat collecting on my brow inside the house last week, I leaned into feeling the feelings, because it was too hot to move around quick enough to distract myself. A lot of the feelings coming up for me were about motherhood, parenting, and body image, which are all such Cancerian themes!
Do nothing. Feel Everything.
As we begin this week, we move from Inaction and Stillness to Provocation and Dynamic Creativity…. which are both potential reactions to the “do nothing/feel everything” vibes of last week. Read/listen on for more.
xoxo
Alison
This week’s highlights:
July 5th: New Moon In Cancer
Human Design/I’Ching:
June 30-July 6: the Sun is in Gate 39, the Gate of Provocation, after leaving the Gate of Inaction
This week’s themes:
Provocation = Growth
Evolution through turning toward emotional responses
Planting seeds relating to the part of your chart that contains Cancer
Our Place in the Wheel of the Year
Medicine Wheel Direction: South (Fire, Youth)
Wuxing Cycle Element: Fire
Pagan Season: Litha
Zodiac Season: Cancer (June 20-July 20)
Moon Phase: New Moon in Cancer
I Ching Hexagram/Human Design Gate: 39 (Sun-Sat)
39 = Water over Mountain (Jian: “Obstruction”) or The Gate of PROVOCATION
Gate 39: The Gate of Provocation, aka ”Obstruction”
As we deepen into Cancer season, we enter the Gate of Provocation, known as “Obstruction” or “Temporary Obstacles” in the I’Ching. Fitting for the season of the crab, Gate 39 is a feeling and emotional gate, focusing on themes of challenge, provocation, and evolution through triggering emotional responses in others. After a week of stillness, restraint, and the stress that may have come with it, the energy this week is a reaction or a response to how that energy felt for us.
To the people who felt vastly uncomfortable, stuck, or trapped in the Gate of Stillness, it is quite natural to react to that feeling by lashing out. Like an animal in a cage, or a crab in a shell that it’s grown out of, the tendency is to get angry, to thrash around, to let the heat and the stillness built up to a trigger point and then…. bang. Provocation.
When I lived in New Orleans, I remember hearing that the homicide rate would increase significantly in the middle of the summer. Studies have shown correlations between summer heat and violent crime, including mass shootings and assault. 278 mass shootings occurred in the summer months of 2022, between June and September, according to the Gun Violence Archive’s mass shooting database. The mass shootings that occurred during this time period make up 86% of all that happened in 2022.
It has been studied that heat can increase aggression, with increasing body temperatures in turn increasing heart rate, blood pressure, and discomfort, which researchers attribute to the correlation between hotness and increased anger and violence. More people spending time outside, especially in densely populated areas, could also be connected to increased crime rates in the summer.
The “provocation” from the heat is really real as global warming worsens. Saudi Arabia more than 1,300 pilgrims died during the hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca, as temperatures exceeded 50°C. India’s capital, Delhi, endured 40 days above 40°C between May and June. And in Mexico scores of howler monkeys have been falling dead from the trees with heatstroke.
It’s interesting that the 4th of July falls in the week of provocation each year, too! The fireworks and mid-summer revelry might just be a perfect outlet for the desire to burst out of our shells in the heat of Cancer season.
A visual comes to mine of heat waves rising off a beach to reveal two crabs battling with their giant claws. Crabs fight to protect their territory and impress potential mates.. and, I mean, I might fight too if I had built in claws and armor!
But the thing about crabs too is that they know when to retreat, when to sidestep, when to shed their shells and find new ones. Crabs have a strategy of adaptation, and there are many ways to react to the feelings that are coming up for all of us this Cancer season..
In the Gene Keys, the progression of Gate 39 goes from the shadow of Provocation, at the lowest frequency, to the Gift of Dynamism, to the Siddhi of Liberation. When confronted with discomfort or feeling trapped in something that is not right for us, snapping and popping off is definitely one way to go. (I feel the most provoked when my 5 year old straight up ignores me and has no concept of time when we have to go somewhere… I’ll be fine for a while, coaxing and negotiating, and then something inside me gets so triggered by that feeling of trapped/stuckness!)
But if we can release that energy of feeling too still/stuck in other ways, before the pressure builds beneath the surface, we have the potential to be dynamic, creative, and inspiring as well.
Richard Rudd, author of the Gene Keys, says in his book 64 Ways: “The 39th Gift is all about unlocking freedom, at all levels. These people are either utterly locked, or they’re the great unlockers and unblockers. Once they’ve learned the art, they become expert at helping others. They can apply this Gift into any field we can imagine, because ultimately they know how to release stagnant energy through a system. They’re very valuable people.”
Releasing stagnant energy through a system can be expressed as dynamic creativity, The 39th I’Ching Hexagram is Water over Mountain, and this visual shows the dynamic flow of a river carving through even the hardest rock of the mountain, moving and shaping things that may seem unmovable, unshakable.
At the enlightened level of the Siddhi, this gate is responsible for liberating us from thought patterns and habits that keep us in victimhood, shame, and blame. When the sun is transiting through this gate, or if it’s your birthday this week or if you have a planet in Gate 39 in your chart, your calling is to provoke and stimulate change by challenging existing norms, perspectives, and emotional states, which can catalyze new ways of thinking and feeling.
At the highest frequency, this gate allows us to stand firm in our beliefs of something better, even when others project their fears onto us. As a Cancer gate, Gate 39 knows that when they provoke someone out of their rut or their comfort zone, they will be the first line of defense, the first to be projected upon by the person coming out of their conditioned ways of being. So with this provocation also comes the Cancerian nature of caring, knowing that their provocation is ultimately for the benefit of the other person, for an expanded state of love and acceptance.
New Moon in Cancer
On Friday July 5th, the moon meets the sun in Cancer, the sign that we know is ruled by the moon. So the full moon is home here, making it a perfect time to plant seeds and set manifestations in the area of your chart that contains Cancer. The moon and Sun are both wrapping up their transit through the Gate of Provocation here, too.
This moon will highlight the nurturing, caring themes of Cancer, but it will do so through the lens of provoking, dynamic action. Right on the heels of the 4th of July, we might feel mischievous, flirty, and a little excitable on this new moon.
I think about flintily spritzing someone with a hose in the heat of a summer day when they were complaining about being overheated. It’s provoking; they might be upset freak out for a moment, but as they feel cooler they might actually appreciate what you did for them! Who knows, it could even start the best neighborhood watertight that gets everybody out of their shells and into a playful state By kindly provoking and then also holding space for whatever emotions come up from that provocation, it is possible to liberate people from a sticky, hot, and stagnant place.
Be mindful of your tendency to be provoked, or your desire to provoke others this week, especially on the new moon, and recognize that follow through and care is needed after any provocation in this season of the heat.
xoxo!
Alison
A Provocative New Moon in Cancer: Weekly Forecast for July 1-7