The First Cauldron: Traveling with Capricorn

Head of an Old Woman by Jordaens

Crescent Moon in Aquarius
January 4, 2014
10:40 am EST / 3:30 pm GMT

First Quarter Moon in Aries
January 7, 2014,10:39 pm EST
January 8, 2014, 3:30 am GMT

Gibbous Moon in Gemini
January 11, 2014, 8:51 pm EST
January 12, 2014, 1:51 am GMT

Full Moon in Capricorn
January 15, 2014, 11:52 pm EST
January 16, 2014, 4:52 am GMT

We're in the time of Capricorn, an easy link to the archetype of the Father––Father Time, authority, the senex who is the old goat, the one who holds us back, holds us down, and says "no" a lot.

Capricorn's much more complex than that. As Elaine Kalantarian notes in her solstice essay, Capricorn is a feminine sign, a yin energy, and linked with water as well as earth, agriculture as well as 'business' in the modern sense, and the Earth itself.

Indeed, our limited view of Capricorn may well be linked to our separation from the Earth, mythically, spiritually, and (we think) physically. Now, we're traveling in Capricorn territory, facing some of the things we'd rather not: limitations, physicality... you know, the fun stuff.

Today, I am iced in. Not literally––I can open my door and could probably drive if I had to––but there's a snow drift against my front door, they've closed the university for the day, and the wind chill is more Alaska than Southern Indiana. Folks are out of power, and the limits of the physical are very real.

It's a day to appreciate all I have, physically, and I do. This also is part of the Capricorn journey. I have power, made quiche yesterday, have soup in the fridge, and the scent of the fresh lemon I sliced for my morning hot water with lemon was citrus personified––clear, clean, awakening.

I'm also confronting limits in another way, as Blogger isn't wanting to save my work and didn't want me to sign in in the first place. The grid is stretched today, and I need to appreciate that too.

And then, I feel older when it's this cold––stiffer, creakier, more wary of sudden moves. Another Capricorn reminder that helps me appreciate warm sweaters and even warmer baths. Oh, and this hot water with lemon, which also has ginger in it.

Why all this carrying on about Capricorn? Because we're in a strong Capricorn cycle. This year's Capricorn New Moon (on New Year's Day) was in early Cap, so the coming Full Moon is also in Cap. We're meant to be diving deep into this earthy territory now.

The Crescent Moon of January 4 landed on the extra-strong, final degree of Aquarius, asking, what's our vision for the Earth? For our lives? For this day? It'll be transformative, whatever else may happen, we know that much.

Tomorrow's First Quarter Moon is in energized Aries, part of a Cardinal Grand Cross that will push hard for new action. Moon opposite Mars, squaring the Sun, Pluto, Venus and Mercury who are all opposite Jupiter. The definition of "up close and personal"!

And yet, the strong Capricorn vibe will keep our feet on the ground, asking at every step, is this viable? Can it be done? Can we do it? The Aries Moon may feel like charging into the snow; the other energies will be holding out wooly scarves and cups of hot soup.

The Gibbous Moon in Gemini will look for ways around any obstacle. Well, Gemini will go over, under, around, negotiating, wiggling, cutting a deal––anything but straight through. Again, the Capricorn planets will play the heavy, pointing out the things that must be faced.

It's not about holding us back. It's facing the fact of living in a world with structure and form. The physical world, certainly; the spiritual or imaginative world as well––without form, nothing can be perceived, apprehended, worked with. And the very forms that allow this, create limits.

We don't like limits. We need limits. This is the Capricorn paradox. 

Back to the this morning's lemon. Our greatest joys as well as our greatest challenges are inherent in each present moment. I think if I could really, really know this, many of the things that trouble me would fall away. But it's tough. Capricorn is not an easy energy for me.

This Capricornian space feels slow and heavy. Words don't come as easily, ideas take times to tease out. As an Air type, I prefer something more cerebral, less dense.

And yet this earth is our ground, in every sense of those words. That from which actions and thoughts emerge. When I can appreciate that deeply, it feels good. It's something I need to practice accepting and, more than that, loving.

We're all on this journey this month. It's a time to celebrate simple things––food, warmth, friends, our bodies, shelter, song, hugs. The Full Moon will bring illuminations around this, so exploring limits from all sides this month is good.

Here's a way to celebrate Capricorn I learned of recently, I'd like to share: Aleah Chapin's Aunties Project, paintings of women's bodies that set aside the artfully presented so-called ideal in favor of the actual, which is art of a much deeper kind.

This is the Capricorn journey. Here, take this hat ... stay warm.
    

New Moon in Capricorn: Stone and Bones

Ancient stones © MP Lynch 2013

New Moon in Capricorn
January 1, 2014
6:14 am EST / 11:14 am GMT

At New Year's, we confront the tradition of resolutions. We'll be asked what ours are, and how we did last year. Maybe we did alright, often not all that well. Oh, well ... time to try again.

Enter the Capricorn New Moon, aligned with transformative Pluto and sharp-eyed Mercury, squared by incendiary Uranus and hard-nosed Mars, widely opposite Jupiter and Lilith, both retrograde in Cancer. Chiron the wounded healer is also involved, exchanging energy with the new Moon. Oi vey!

This Moon looks like it's all about getting down to work, stop messing about, nose to the grindstone, should to the wheel. But when I think of it that way, I already feel tired. Let's look for other perspectives.

The presence of all these other planets, which include a mix of the outer message-bringers as well as the close-to-home personal planets, invites us to look more deeply into the meaning and message of Capricorn.

This is not only the sign of hard work and consequences, pragmatism and transactions. Capricorn is an initiator, a manifestor. Capricorn is connected deeply with the Earth. In Capricorn, we have the chance to know what we know because we feel it in our bones.

There are some excellent blogs out there diving deep into the meanings of this New Moon. Check out Molly Hall's post at About Astrology and Julie Dembowski's ASTROLOGY. Here, I want to focus on the idea of intentions and resolutions.

For some years now, my New Moon practice has focused on setting intentions at this time. As I've explored this, it's become clear to me there's a much deeper process going on than will-based affirmations, or the idea that I, solely, create my reality. New Moon intentions are about aligning with the universe, sensing into something deeper than what I want now.

The New Moon is a time of making wishes when we don't know it all, when we can't see the way clearly, when we realize we're not totally in charge. In no way am I suggesting we are weak, or unimportant. We are strong, and we are essential. At the same time, we're part of larger stories, including the lives of the people around us.

No man is an island,
Entire of itself,
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
~ John Donne

No being is an island, which makes it tricky to figure out what to do in complex, chaotic situations. Which we are living in today, and will be, for the foreseeable future. What do we do? Throw up our hands and throw in the towel?

This New Moon offers, I believe, an alternative. Capricorn is never one for giving up, and yet facile resolutions are not the answer either. Instead, we're invited to go deeper.

What do we know in our bones? When we reach our roots right down into the depths of the Earth, what do the stones tell us? 

This deep knowing is the source, not of individual resolutions, but of resolution itself. At this New Moon, we move past the idea of intentions to look at the process of intending.

As always, look to see where this New Moon falls in your birth chart. See what you have going on in Capricorn, and what else is happening in your chart in and around 10 degrees in any sign. 

These planets, points and houses will be the focus––areas where we may feel confronted with what isn't working in our lives and offered a chance to find a new way.

In general, though, we're all being invited to work together to find a new way for our world. The ways we are together, the ways we treat each other, how we get things done––is it what we really want? Is it what we know is right and just?

Capricorn is all about making. At this New Moon New Year, we have the opportunity to choose new ways of making the world better. Our personal worlds, definitely, and the wider world too.

The words "Be it resolved .." begin many official statements, or at least, official-sounding ones. At this New Moon, what will we resolve? What can we re-solve, solve again, in a new, more effective way? What solution can we apply to dissolve problems and distill a new elixir?

We're stepping into a new year, a new time, a new age perhaps ... with the pace of change surrounding us, it certainly feels like it. What do we know in our bones that offers the strength to face our challenges, succeed, and enjoy together the good things of this world?

Let those kinds of things be the bedrock of our resolutions.
    
 

Virgo New Moon Cycle: Chop Wood, Carry Water

Wikimedia's Picture of the Day ... perfect!

We're just past the New Moon. The window for wishes and intentions is still open, as Virgoan ears gently listen.

Today's post looks ahead through the week to amazing events coming our way, with that New Moon window open, lace curtains fluttering in the breeze. Looking ahead, noting the possibility of challenge, tucking a few extra provisions in our pack––these are Virgo moves.

September 18, Pluto stations direct, which means he's especially powerful that date, and a few days on either side. Calling Pluto "especially powerful" sound like a message from the Department of Redundancy Department, so think of this as a time when we notice in a deeper way how power is moving, where it's moving, and how it works, both in our own lives and in the world.

The Moon and Saturn are conjunct in Libra this day, semisextile the Virgo Sun, which also pulls attention to how things are structured and how they work.

On September 19, we reach the Crescent Moon, a time when we first see the shape of what's to come peeking through the soil. Have we set intentions for more mindful living? We may begin to see what that looks like for us.

Also arriving on September 19 is the second exact square between Uranus and Pluto, revolution and tradition, the explosive and the tectonic, the lightning and the glacier. Pluto's first direct action, in other words, is to engage Uranus.

This Crescent Moon, pulling away from the careful Virgo Sun in an edgy semisquare, is in psychic and wary Scorpio. Life is not as simple as it seems! How can we expect to continue living simply, taking small steps, when events are exploding around us, when our foundations are rocked and split open? The night is dark and we have far to go.

And yet, this is the message of Virgo and mindfulness and simple living: When all hell breaks loose, there is still that next step. The garden needs tending, the dog needs a walk, we are hungry, we need to sleep, the baby is laughing.

Whether we experience tragic upheaval, or the wondrous beauty of spiritual joy, the laundry is there. Virgo invites us to look past the burdens of ordinary life and see loveliness, comfort, symmetry––not to overlook the burdens, but know them, deeply, as beautiful.

Can we breathe through whatever comes, and still walk the path? This is the question of the Crescent Moon arriving with the Uranus–Pluto square.

On September 22, we reach the First Quarter Moon and the Autumn Equinox. The Equinox arrives first. Astrologically, this is the moment when the Sun enters Libra, cardinal Air. 

For those who love Autumn, this is a longed-for moment, a breath of fresh, cool air after the overheated stillness of late summer. Now life feels possible again. New books, sharp pencils, crisp apples, clear nights.

At the Equinox, the Moon sits in late Sagittarius, optimistic and expansive, opposing Ceres in Gemini, abundant and generous. Saturn in harmonious Libra trines Ceres and sextiles the Moon, supporting realistic appreciation of all we have.

How is this a challenge?

When the First Quarter Moon arrives a few hours later, the Moon has shifted into 0 Capricorn, squaring the Equinox Sun. The waxing Moon continues to pull away from the Sun, eager to move on, move ahead.

At 0 degrees, the opening degree, each sign is focused and intent. These are cardinal Air and cardinal Earth, the Moon ready to take action and the Sun wanting to be sure the plan is clear.

Do we really understand what we've committed to? Have we fully explored the risks and benefits? Are we prepared? The Libra Sun wants to know.

Strike while the iron is hot! says the Capricorn Moon. Time and tide wait for no man. This push-pull reflects one of Virgo's core issues: Do we take the small steps we can see, or do we suffer the paralysis of analysis?

Virgo is careful, anxious, keenly aware of the many pitfalls and errors out there, and the inordinate consequences of failing to prepare properly. Virgo is also the helper, the healer, the willing servant who sees what needs to be done, and simply does it.

At this First Quarter, with the Sun poised at a balance of the year, in Libra the sign of balance, our Virgo equanimity is tested.

Here, we see where we're holding ourselves back with overplanning, trying to control what cannot be controlled. We also see where we're avoiding information we find troubling, moving ahead with the plan as it is.

Neither extreme will work; we need just-right planning and timely action. In fact, one informs the other. Action brings response, which is information. Thought allows us to anticipate and gauge the effects of action. At the First Quarter, we bring ourselves into balance.

A lot for one week. A good time for mindfulness and caring.
    

Waning Moon in Capricorn

The Moon entered hard working Capricorn overnight, and today joins the North Node and Pluto. We're now in the territory of 2011's first New Moon, which arrives tomorrow afternoon along with a solar eclipse. Getting ready for this seed time, resolutions in hand, means learning about Capricorn.

There's a construct in psychology called Need for Achievement (NAch) that captures a lot about Capricorn. Those with high Need for Achievement are intense, driven, and committed to reaching their goals.

Defined by Henry Murray in 1938 as "intense, prolonged and repeated efforts to accomplish something difficult. To work with singleness of purpose towards a high and distant goal. To have the determination to win," this statement is something Capricorn can definitely get behind.

Capricorn is a traditionalist, respecting the hard-won knowledge of the past and skills honed over time. This sign wants to win, but is not a gambler. Those with high Need for Achievement tend to focus on challenging but achievable goals; they like to work but hate to lose.

The "hate to lose" part points to one area of Capricorn's shadow: the drive to reach a goal can turn into an ends-justifies-the-means willingness to accept high levels of collateral damage. If the goal is important enough, no cost appears too high. Capricorn can be the sign of burnout as well as success, and the sign that sets feelings and comfort aside to reach a desired outcome.

So, at this New Moon, wishes and intentions relating to how we work, why we work, our determination, and our commitment to reaching goals, would all be supported. If we tend to let our tenacity get in the way of our health, our relationships, and our joy in life, then wishes and intentions to develop a more balanced view of life are also supported.

We all have Capricorn in our charts somewhere; check your birth chart to see where this sign falls. Most likely, you'll see Capricorn in two houses, one where falls on the cusp and therefore rules the House, and one for the degrees before the cusp.

In the Dalai Lama's chart, for example, Capricorn falls on the Descendant, which is the 7th house cusp, making Capricorn an angular ruler (sitting on one of the four angles of his chart). Yet his Descendant at 27 degrees of Capricorn means that most of Capricorn actually falls in his 6th house, where (in the Placidus house system) we see his North Node.

The 7th is our house of relationships, with the Descendant marking the place in our charts where we move from the private to the public sphere. The 6th house is our workplace, our service, and physical health.

The houses in which Capricorn falls in your chart will tell you something about where the energy of this sign influences your life. For an introduction to the houses, visit Cafe Astrology and The Mountain Astrologer.

Linking New Moon wishes and intentions to the spheres of life in which Capricorn falls in our birth charts will increase their power, by aligning them with our own energy patterns.