Full Moon in Cancer: Deep Roots

Roots   Glendalough, Ireland

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

... Before diving in to explore tomorrow night's rich Full Moon, let me acknowledge I misspoke in my last post in saying this would be a Capricorn Full Moon. It's not, it's in the cozy sign of hearth and home, Cancer. And yet, I wasn't wrong to focus on Cap energy for these last weeks––it's intense, right? It is for me, anyway.

In my time zone, tomorrow's Full Moon arrives at pumpkin time, when the fairytale sparkle disappears and we turn back into who we really are, soot and all. Which is just what this Full Moon is about, in a way––not the magical, ethereal, pie-in-the-sky, but the mundane, everyday reality.

Boooooring, you say? But think about it. It's only when the prince comes to find Cinderella where she really lives that the happy ending happens. This Full Moon is about that part. It's about seeing where we actually are in all its quirkiness and rough edges, and seeing the happy there.

The Full Moon is part of a Grand Cardinal Cross, which means stuff wants to happen. The Sun and Moon opposite (as always at the Full Moon). The Sun is widely conjunct Venus, with Pluto just outside range (but still a presence to be felt). The Moon is conjunct asteroid Lilith and widely conjunct Jupiter. The other sides of the Grand Cross are held by Mars, Vesta and Ceres in Libra, and Eris in Aries.

It's an interesting mix. Capricorn and Cancer are the signs of traditional, the way it's always been done. Venus in Capricorn amps up the traditional vibe, and Jupiter in Cancer makes it all bigger.

We could see this Full Moon as a call to return to traditional values, that (mythical) golden age: "In those days spirits were brave, the stakes were high, men were REAL men, women were REAL women, and small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri were REAL small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri."

... except I couldn't resist putting that Doug Adams quote in, and that tells you there's something more going on with this Full Moon.

Because what are these "traditions" anyway? Aren't they constructions? Yes, it's true, culture itself is a construction but today we're far more influenced by advertising than human (and humane) concerns.

The presence of Pluto, Lilith and Eris challenge us to ask the deeper questions about what's real, and what's important.

The Moon is strong in her home sign of Cancer, brim full of traditional womanhood. And yet, Lilith stands with her, as close as close, challenging us to look beyond apple pie and gingham aprons to the real strength and power of women.

Venus and Mars move toward a perfect square, offering enough switches to confuse even the staunchest traditionalist: Venus in Capricorn, hard-nosed and pragmatic, in a sign thought of as masculine but actually feminine (it's in Earth). Mars in Libra, charming and diplomatic, in a sign leaning toward the feminine but actually masculine (it's in Air).

With all the asteroid asteroid goddesses in the mix, there are so many female role models, all we can do is throw up our hands and say, who are we, really? (And I mean all of we, not only the women we.)

That "who are we, really?" is the illumination of the Full Moon. As always, check your birth chart to see where the Full Moon's light will fall. But consider these questions and maybe take them into your dreaming with you tomorrow night:

Who am I when I'm at home? Who am I when I really need to get something done––when the rubber meets the road? Who am I deep down, when the glamour and the fancy goes away, when the party's over and it's just me with the toothbrush looking in the mirror?

That person, that you deep down, is the one who can bring you (and me and each of us) to the happy ending. Maybe by going out and getting it (Capricorn) or maybe by realizing we already have it at home (Cancer).

Or maybe (probably) a little of both. Wishing you moonlight on your face tomorrow night.
    

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.