the full moon in cancer is exact on thursday january 12th at 3:34am PST, marking the midway point of the current lunar cycle we are in that began with the new moon in capricorn in the last days of 2016 (december 28th). with the cancer/capricorn axis highlighted during this lunar cycle there’s a focus on professional and personal spheres of life and the journey of how we find balance between them. capricorn is a sign that is focused on structures, discipline, hard work and success: capricorn is the sign of the patriarch. cancer, on the other hand, is a sign that is focused on home, family, nurturing and nourishment: cancer is the sign of the matriarch. this full moon opposite the sun straddling the signs of the Mother and the Father can bring focus to our relationship with our parents, parent/child dynamics playing out in our lives (and i don’t just mean between adults and children) as well as the underlying archetypal energy of Mother and Father that we each carry within us and how it is unified within or not as the case may be.
full moons tend to bring heightened emotion and with this full moon in cancer, the sign the moon rules, it’s likely to be unusually emotional. having healthy outlets and expression for emotions is key- as stuffing them can lead to passive-aggressiveness, depression or illness, and overreacting in them can create destruction and chaos in our lives! one of the main signatures of this full moon is the Cardinal Grand Cross that is formed by the moon, the sun and pluto, jupiter and uranus/eris/ceres. a grand cross is made up of oppositions and squares- the aspects known for creating tension but also for creating opportunities for growth. we tend to not grow if we are comfortable and things are easy- if a mother did not start having intense, uncomfortable contractions to push the baby out of the womb the baby would probably stay in there forever! so tense aspects push us out of our comfort zones and force us to grow- and this lunation is definitely an intense, growth producing one!
let’s break the Grand Cross down into it’s parts and see what kind of energies are incoming this week. first of all the moon is opposite the sun and pluto- the Lord of the Underworld. the sun and moon are technically past pluto’s degree (he is at 17’20 capricorn) but they are definitely within orb and in the days leading up to this new moon the sun cojoined pluto on friday january 6th with the moon triggering pluto on the evening of wednesday january 11th. so paying attention to these days leading up to the full moon can be insightful as themes of death, rebirth, shadow, transformation, empowerment, toxicity and revelation of that which is hidden from sight can be in focus (both personally and politically).
the full moon is also square to jupiter in libra. jupiter is the Greater Benefic and is typically seen as beneficial- but he also has an energy of expanding or exacerbating things and with a Grand Cross full moon his presence can throw more fuel on the already hot and heavy fire. keep in mind that jupiter is in the midst of squaring pluto and opposing uranus- both occurred for the first time end of november and end december respectively and they will do so 2 more times each this year carrying us through the end of summer 2017. the exact uranus/pluto square from 2012-2015 is technically over but these two planets are only 3-4 degrees apart right now so anytime another planet triggers one it will trigger the other shortly after. jupiter’s position in the T square with uranus and pluto can exacerbate the shocking and shadowy energies of uranus and pluto but he can also bring in big time opportunities for liberation, evolution, transformation and healing if we work with uranus and pluto consciously.
of course last but certainly not least the full moon squares not only uranus in aries- which can bring upheaval, unexpected events and volatile emotions- but the moon also squares eris, the Goddess of discord, and ceres the Great Mother asteroid Goddess. this triple conjunction was exact in june and these 3 have been traveling with each other for the last 6 months of 2016. ceres is on her way past uranus and eris now- but there is one last uranus/eris conjunction in march- bringing big energies of change, rebellion, revolution and upheaval into focus. the moon and ceres are the first two things i look at in a chart to get information on the Mother, childhood/family dynamics, how someone would want to be mothered and nurtured as well as how they would mother and nurture others. with the moon square ceres there is tension between needs for emotional connection, sensitivity and support from others (cancer) and the need for radical change, revolution, independence and personal power. with uranus/eris/ceres in aries there’s a lot of fire in this triple conjunction- also the potential for a lot of anger and rage. having healthy outlets for both is key. anger is not bad- it’s simply an emotion that gives us information. often anger is a sign we need to set boundaries or take a stand for ourselves or something we believe in. suppressed, denied or internalized anger can get very destructive- whereas consciously expressed anger can clear the air, set the right boundaries and help us take necessary action in our lives.
as you can see this Grand Cross full moon is no joke! shadow and underworld dynamics can be brought to the Light of consciousness and radical or unexpected energies are afoot! and these are not the only aspects the full moon makes. she also quincunxes saturn and juno and trines mars and chiron- activating the approaching mars/chiron conjunction (exact january 16th), mars/saturn square (exact january 19th) and the longer term transit of saturn square chiron (first one was end of december and carries throughout 2017). there are some heavy energies playing out with mars’ trigger of the saturn/chiron square- with a need to honestly look at where we are checking out, in denial, avoiding taking responsibility or accountability for our lives, playing the victim or the martyr, or perhaps playing the perpetrator, turning to addictions to numb out and escape and generally spiritually bypassing to avoid facing the reality of ourselves and situations in our lives. luckily the full moon trines mars and chiron- supporting us in diving deep into our emotions and really FEELING the pain and wounds so we can move through them, rather than stay stuck in them.
this full moon actually forms a Grand Water Trine between the full moon and vesta who is retrograde at the karmic 29th degree of cancer, chiron in pisces, and mean black moon lilith in scorpio (opposite algol the Dark Goddess fixed star to boot!). the emotional, intuitive, psychic, creative and mystical energies of a Grand Water Trine are potent but they can also be quiet subtle and we can miss them if we are over focusing on outer things and not giving ourselves enough time to be quiet and still to turn within. moon trine chiron is an opening for deep healing- emotionally, in home/family dynamics, ancestrally and more. add lilith into the mix and we have the Dark Goddess’ potent power of deep perception available to us. if we so choose we can pull back the veil of illusion and see more deeply into the matrix and the Truth- both in our personally lives but also collectively.
interestingly mercury is also at the karmic 29th degree- about to move into capricorn less than 3 hours after the full moon. pay close attention to your dreams when you wake up on the full moon morning- as powerful messages from the Higher Self can be incoming and you want to have the ears to hear and the eyes to see (which means you need to pay attention!). important information, communications, ideas, thoughts and perceptions that come from a Higher Place are downloading- all you have to do is connect into the right server ;)
and last but not least i want to mention the midpoint of the sun/moon opposition. it’s exact position is 22’27 libra and jupiter is at 22’11 libra- just 16 minutes from being exact. remember jupiter is the Greater Benefic and his energy can be very benevolent and expansive. libra is the sign of the scales and is a sign that is seeking balance between opposing energies. a full moon always opposes the sun- and this full moon highlights the cancer/capricorn axis. this duality with jupiter in libra mediating speaks to the need to find balance between personal/inner life and public/outer life, between Mother energy that accepts us as we are and Father energy that challenges us to better ourselves. this polarity is also about sensitivity and vulnerability and capability and strength. if we are overdoing cancer energy without balancing capricorn we are like little children wanting others to save us, take care of us and protect us from the harshness of life. if we are overdoing capricorn energy without balancing cancer we are emotionally shut down, overly focused on success and disconnected from our own softness and receptivity. ultimately we are being asked to get strong in both energies so they can work together rather than against each other. this is part of depth psychology’s individuation process: we need to stop projecting the Mother and Father onto others and start becoming both the Mother and Father for ourselves- we need to find both softness and strength, mercy and severity within.
of course we cannot forget that jupiter in libra is teaching us lessons about compromise, collaboration, connection and relationship. inner relationship with our masculine and feminine within- but also outer relationship. if we use jupiter’s energy wisely we can work to find balance between different areas of life that are calling for our presence and attention. wherever jupiter is in your chart right now (where libra is)- is a key area of life where big opportunities to grow and expand are present, if you choose to engage with the growth opportunities that is! ;)
i leave you with ellias lonsdale’s star sparks meditation for 23 cancer (the degree of the full moon when you round up). for me this degree is a reminder that we need to balance being there for others with being there for ourselves. one of the shadow sides of cancer is overfocusing on everyone else and their needs at the expense of one’s own. this can come from a kind place of wanting to help others, but it can also come from a manipulative place of ‘i did this for you so now you owe me’. even further it can Source from a deep place within of avoiding doing our own work as we overfocus on helping/healing/awakening others. so this degree reminds us to put together the pieces of our own broken pottery first- before we attempt to help others. kind of like putting your own air mask on first. good advice during this Grand Cross full moon week- as there are likely to be key areas of life up for us to address and we want to be sure we are helping ourselves get aligned first. as a person out of alignment cannot really help others get aligned. do your work first and the path to helping others will naturally unfold :)
blessings…
~divine harmony
STAR SPARKS
Cancer 23 A man putting together pieces of broken pottery
When we know things and we meet a world full of ignorance and chaos, we want to help everybody around us to keep it together and to put it back together when everything has fallen apart. We cannot help but feel this way. Our own wisdom heritage goes way back and endows us with an understanding which we can only offer to a world that is very thin and tenuous in the direction we are so richly endowed and imbued with.
We embark upon the journey of providing missing pieces, restoring lost connections, making the impossible possible. Much of this takes a very practical form. What comes from worlds beyond seeks entry into the common life in grounded and highly specific directions.
We perhaps become quite skillful, building a reputation for our expertise, our whole body of knowledge and capacity. And we can come into a whole way of life founded upon a greater service capacity and the willingness to be there for those who are often not there for themselves.
There is a shadow lurking under all of this. We may neglect pivotal matters of our own, become absorbed in issues and dilemmas outside, and perhaps even lose all palpable sense of our own way of being and it’s needs and desires and impulses. For it is tempting to identify with the role, become the archetype, forget everything else as quite secondary.
So then come the reckonings. We awaken to the fact that we have this the community, this the family, this the work situation, and yet we haven’t really been there in a deeper sense. Somehow the mental aspect took over. And the core of life really was lost in the bargain.
Over and again, we must reclaim what is second nature to us and easy to take for granted. Time and time again, we are called to be less extremely driven and more alive to everything here, not just what fits within the ideas and ideals and cultural streams. Returning to the fount, we remember why we had so much to offer.