Full Moon in Capricorn

(Tsuchiya Kōitsu, Nijo Castle, Kyoto, 1933)

This is exact tonight, the 20th July, at midnight (GMT). The sun in Cancer opposes the moon in Capricorn.

Cancer is private, moody, domestic, emotional, creative; Capricorn is status-oriented, focused on outer achievement, authority and public persona. So a full moon across the Cancer-Capricorn axis will tend to highlight issues of inner life vs. outer life:

-inner self vs. public persona
-home and family vs. work life
-emotional truth vs. money / career / status
-feelings and needs vs. responsibilities
-nurturance and gentleness vs. order and discipline

Because these signs have to do with matriarchal (Cancer) and patriarchal (Capricorn) values, family issues are likely to be highlighted.

So how do you, personally, navigate this stuff and integrate these polarities? That's the question this full moon shines a bright light on. The odds are, something in your work-life / public-private balance is changing pretty rapidly right now, or has to change. Or your family dynamics may be shifting in unexpected ways.

Full moons are always a bit fraught, and this one is no exception. The sun and moon are in cardinal (initiatory, action-oriented) signs, and both square Uranus in Aries, which is an explosive, impatient, erratic influence. It looks frustrating – Uranus wants to rebel and break free, but Cancer and Capricorn are quite conservative and attached to the status quo.

Emotional control and pragmatism will be pretty important in dealing with this kind of energy. I think these will be on hand, courtesy of the moon in Capricorn. This influence can be repressive and depressing, but it is also very sober, grown-up, grounded and realistic.

We have seen plenty of eruptive violence on the collective level in the past few weeks. Much of it relates to Cancer-Capricorn themes: homeland (Cancer) and order (Capricorn).

I hope we don't see more violence this full moon – hopefully having the moon in Capricorn will lend a bit of stability and sobriety. It does look violent though – like a crackdown.

(human kindness) 

Collectively and personally, we are dealing with the aftermath of the transformative Uranus-Pluto squares of 2012-2015. These set populist anger and desire for change against a rigid and corrupt status quo, with very unpredictable results. The landscape has altered - often in shocking and disturbing ways - over the past few years. The dust hasn't settled yet.

Compounding the confusion, we have a Saturn-Neptune square now – and this is about the dissolution of whatever we took to be stable and secure. Also, a corresponding mood of unease and free-floating dread.

Fragmentation and chaos are the order of the day, the future is lost in fog, and people are scared – and angry. Under these circumstances, extremist and reactionary movements gain traction. I think things will get worse before they get better, and it will take a good while.

It's not a cheery prospect, but it is what it is.

Some Yeats:

“Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.”

Anyway, how do we deal with this frightening collective stuff, and with the smaller-scale ways these influences play out in our everyday lives? The sky does indicate a way through.

1. Jupiter and the north node are in Virgo, and have been for the past year. This is about a humble, service-oriented, systematic focus on the details of everyday life.

-So: you could take out the garbage, walk the dog, cook the dinner, clean the house, honor your commitments, do the small stuff that needs doing. Keep your head down and your mind on the task at hand. This sort of thing is very beneficial and grounding right now.

2. Venus and Mercury are in Leo, just past an exact conjunction but still conjunct for the full moon. This is a beautiful, loving, heart-centered influence on our minds, communication and relationships. Both planets are beneficially aspecting Saturn in Sagittarius, which, at best, is about realistic vision, taking the long view and having a sense of proportion.

-So: you could let your words and actions be governed by kindness, generosity and faith in the future, not hatred, cynicism and reactionary fear. There isn't going to be much of a future otherwise.

3. Finally, Mars (now direct in Scorpio) is beneficially aspecting the full moon, and we still have a grand water trine in effect, involving Mars, the sun in Cancer and Chiron in Pisces. This is painful emotional force and insight that can be easily directed toward compassion, forgiveness and healing.

-So: you could let pain and frustration open you up to the world instead of closing you off.

I think what we do and how we behave in our small lives has a huge ripple effect on the collective. It's the only real influence we have. So this stuff is very important.

Anyway, it's a well-balanced full moon overall – harsh, angry, childish and emotionally reactive on the one hand; but steady, realistic, kind and grown-up on the other. You can pick which side of the equation you want to be on.

New Moon in Cancer

This is today, the 4^th of July, around noon GMT.

We have a big stellium in Cancer for this new moon: sun, moon, Mercury and Venus. So this is a heavy dose of Cancer energy.

I think it's much-needed after the crazy mutable intensity of the past month. This is like a big soothing duvet over our frayed nerves and minds. It's a bit of a break – a chance to retreat, regroup, lounge around at home eating nice food and rebuilding our reserves.

Cancer is about home, family, our roots, motherhood, nurturance, emotion. It is ruled by the moon, and can be as changeable – it is a moody sign, with a lot of fast-shifting emotional intensity.

Our Cancer stellium this new moon opposes Pluto in Capricorn. So expect the emotional intensities this Cancer season to be a bit amped-up. Please cut yourself and others some slack if things get kind of PMS-y and hormonal... It's probably not a big deal, and not worth starting WW3 over. It's just a mood that will pass. Maybe it's a mood that you need to examine and go deeper into, instead of acting it out with others or trying to block it out.

Despite the Pluto opposition, the new moon is well aspected overall. It looks good for emotional catharsis - Neptune in Pisces and Jupiter and the north node in Virgo send support. Maybe there's some emotional processing to be done after all the shifts and WTF moments of June. Things have changed pretty drastically – we are all trying to get our heads around the changes and what they'll mean in a practical sense. (And with Saturn squaring Neptune, this is extremely hard – the road ahead is lost in fog.)

This month looks like a good time to let our hearts catch up with our heads. There are probably a lot of pent-up feelings we haven't had time to look at, busy and buzzing as things have been. I think it's a chance to focus inward and let those feelings come up and be acknowledged.

 

Not in a melodramatic way – with Jupiter and the north node in Virgo, the point of this kind of emotional processing is very practical and sensible. It's about reaching a point of calm in ourselves, because what's ahead will not be this calm again for a good while.

So please use this month to be kind and motherly to yourself and others. Eat well, rest and focus on healthy, practical things. There are more intensities ahead – August looks quite cruel, as the t-square across mutable signs regroups and tightens, and Mars (now direct in Scorpio) catches up with Saturn in Sagittarius. I think retreating a bit now in order to rebuild the reserves is not a bad idea.

Neptune is very close to the south node, so beware of using drink and substances to blot out stress. The hangover will be pretty swampy. (This is a good influence for anyone who wants to make art, though. This month is full of creative potential.)

 

And please remember you can't go far wrong if you focus on the Virgo stuff: health, everyday routine, humility, order, service to others. The current Cancer stellium - which is all about emotional nurturance - supports this focus on Virgo themes. So taking care of ourselves and others in a very practical, gentle way is what the sky is asking us to do this month.

 

That includes letting yourself feel what you feel - not beating yourself up over it, suppressing it, or using it to construct a sob-story that perpetuates your suffering. Pluto is about purgation and clearing-out of old gunk. So Pluto's involvement with this new moon indicates it's time to let whatever's emotionally dammed up or stagnant in you start flowing and moving again. You're allowed to feel what you feel and to let it flow through you.

You don't have to use it against anyone - please don't! But it's important to honour your own feelings, and make the space and time for them to come up out of the watery depths. It's healthy and pragmatic, irrational as it may feel.