Ah, summertime. It’s hot, it’s muggy and it feels eternal.

When I think of the middle of summer, the height of Cancer season, I think about sitting on the lanai after dark with the crickets creeking and tall glass of Arnold Palmer on a table next to me. Of course, this is more of a realistic fantasy if you’re surrounded by lowcountry vibes and not a never ending stream of hungry mosquitoes. It may be hot here in Florida but for a southern state it doesn’t feel very southern here on the Gulf Coast.

Tonight is the new moon in Cancer. It’ll be exact at 9:16 p.m., according to Cafe Astrology. To me, Cancer is very much about the nighttime. It’s ruled by the moon, after all.

You know the Cheshire Cat from “Alice in Wonderland”? The one who appears out of nowhere and then slowly disappears, piece by piece, until just his smiling, crescent-shaped mouth remains? This is Cancer. That smile, standing alone, wide and almost ready to crack, is Cancer incarnate. A lot of times you’ll see a Cancer smiling like that, and it will take up their entire face. Most Cancers have round, moon-like faces, after all.

Cancer is like a spring that suddenly bursts out of a river. It’s sudden, it’s noticeable and it just keeps going and going. When you meet a Cancer person, you will notice them. It could be because they’re crying. It could be because they just seem so darn warm and nice. But there’s something implicitly emotional, moody and even motherly about them.

Is it their round face, or is it their big watery eyes that look like they’re about to start pouring out at any second? It’s hard to say right off the bat. We might actually never be able to put our finger on exactly what it is about Cancers, but hey, they are a water sign, and water has no definite shape.

Keeping with the themes of Cancer, I think the New Moon is a great time to cry if you need to, to release old emotions and burdens you’ve been holding on to, and to let go of resentments.

I see a lot of stuff on the internet about self-care on the New Moon, but honestly, those same sites tell people to practice self-care EVERY New Moon – not just when it’s in Cancer or Taurus – so let’s chill with that, shall we. Sure, you should probably journal, but you should probably be doing that every day anyway. And you should check in with your emotions – especially those emotional skeletons – whenever you get some quiet time.

So maybe this Cancer New Moon should be less about caring for ourselves and more about caring for others. Do you know someone who needs to be mothered? Do you have a friend that could use some love? Did your aunt ask you to babysit but you don’t really want to? Just do it! Be caring, be nurturing and maybe find some space in your heart for a little more compassion for others.

That’s my Cancer New Moon advice. Now go out there and give someone a hug.