This is today, the 2nd July, at about 8:15 pm GMT.
The sun and moon are close to the north node in Cancer, meaning this is a solar eclipse - a more intense than usual new beginning in the Cancerian realm of emotions, roots, family stuff, your sense of home. Your inner, emotional life should be the focus for the next month, along with your relationships with family and with what constitutes "home" to you.
Saturn and Pluto are still conjunct at the south node, which means plenty of stuff you don't want to look at will be coming up from the depths. You might as well just look at it. Maybe it isn't trying to hurt you this time - maybe it was never trying to hurt you. Just to be seen.
We have a Mercury retrograde this month, running from the 7th July till the 31st. The usual Mercury retrograde cautions re. travel difficulties, appliance failures and miscommunication apply. The risk of these kinds of difficulties is currently heightened as Mercury is conjunct Mars in Leo and squaring Uranus. Sudden accidents are more likely at this time - be careful driving and around machinery. And try not to let your ego run your mouth, there's just too much firepower here and people will get hurt.
Big mental breakthroughs are also possible at this time. With the sun and moon conjunct the north node in Cancer, something new is coming into the world, and you should go to meet it.
And with Saturn and Pluto on the south node, something old has reached the end of the line. Whatever form this takes in your life, something might be grinding on, persistent as hell - but you know in your heart it's done for.
Like this blog, which I've kept going out of habit, despite wanting to stop writing it for a few months now. I began it exactly six years ago, and it's been an interesting discipline and sometimes a lot of fun! But it's time to stop.
Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read my astrological meanderings - I hope they've been of use to you. I will remain available for chart, I Ching and tarot readings at clock.arrietty@gmail.com.
It's the day after the winter solstice: the turning-point between light and dark. And it looks like an emotional turning-point as well.
Cancer has to do with our family, roots, home, emotions and whatever we turn to for emotional sustenance. At a full moon in Cancer, the sun is in Capricorn, sign of rules, authority and outward achievement. So there is always a tension between rules and feelings, outer vs. inner life, work vs. family, head vs. heart. It's fitting that this should happen around the time of the holidays, when we're (often uncomfortably) thrown together with our families, and subject to family rules and traditions.
The family stuff should be especially tense this year, as the sun and moon are squaring Chiron, which is about a deep sense of woundedness. We also have Mercury conjunct Jupiter in Sagittarius, an influence that can lead to tactless blurting of painful truths. And Mercury and Jupiter are squaring Neptune, which means communication may be unclear, deceptive or manipulative. Beware of pity plays and “poor me” stories: sometimes the person claiming victimhood may actually be the abuser. That sort of tactic is very likely at this time. Beware also of drink and drugs, which can really escalate conflict and confusion. It's a good holiday season to stay off the sauce, if you want family interactions to be less fraught. This could be a very wounding and painful time.
Helpfully though, the full moon beneficially aspects Uranus, meaning a departure from established rules and traditions is favoured. It's OK to do something radically different and change the script – you can focus on what you want to do rather than what you think you have to do. And you can change your definition of “family” - it doesn't have to be only people you're biologically related to. It doesn't even have to be people.
We have a somber new moon in Capricorn on the 6th January, just as Uranus stations direct. It looks like a bit of a punch to the gut – harsh realities are setting in. There is still plenty of love and joy on offer though. Happy holidays to you and your family, whatever form it may take.
So eclipse season is now upon us, starting off with this new moon which is also a partial solar eclipse. Eclipse season is an intense time of accelerated change with long-lasting effect. We have two eclipses this month so what's happening in your life this July is super-important. Long-term shifts are kicking off NOW, at this emotional pressure cooker of a new moon.
Cancer is a cardinal water sign. Cardinal signs are initiatory and forceful, and water signs are concerned with emotion. Cancer is about your roots – the deepest part of you, where you draw your emotional sustenance. It's about where you come from and what you call “home” in this world, so it's associated with childhood, mother, family, nostalgia and memories.
So a new moon in Cancer is about a new emotional start, bound up with issues relating to home and family and your roots. The fact that this is an eclipse gives it an added intensity.
But what amps the intensity up to 11 is that the sun and moon will exactly oppose Pluto. And Pluto is all about intensity and deep, gut-wrenching transformation. Pluto heaves everything we're ashamed or afraid of, the Shadow stuff we'd prefer not to look at, into the light of day. The process is analogous to pus coming out of a boil, and unpleasant as it may be, the purpose is purgation and healing. What's rotten has to come to the surface to be released.
So you can expect long-buried emotions to erupt this month, especially stuff connected with home and family and mom. Formative patterns that have been deeply unconscious may become conscious. Situations may come up that radically alter your notion of “home”, or painfully expose your vulnerability. Your feelings may seem overwhelming.
I'd say, don't attempt to shut them down – it won't work, they'll just manifest in destructive ways. Welcome them and let them wash through you like water, flushing out the pent-up toxicity.
Cancer is good at hiding and defensiveness and clinging to the past, but the point here is emotional catharsis and release. Pluto is retrograde at the moment, so it's all about going inward and facing your demons. With Pluto, there's also a theme of ruthless amputation of what's no longer viable, be it an attitude, a habit, or a relationship. So this is a great time to extricate yourself from toxic family dynamics or to deal with an addiction. This is potentially a powerfully healing new moon, despite the intensity and discomfort. You can't expect to get through it without some kind of drama, but overall it looks very beneficial.
There's a lot of nice stuff happening in the sky around it. Jupiter, the “great benefic”, stations direct in Pluto's home sign of Scorpio on the 10th July. This is some very helpful backup for the process of dealing with our Shadow stuff. Jupiter will also be in beneficial aspect to Neptune in Pisces, and forming a grand water trine with the sun, moon and Neptune at the time of the new moon – more backup for letting emotions flow and trusting your intuition and your gut.
We also have a grounding and stabilising grand earth trine in effect at this time, involving Venus in Virgo, Saturn in Capricorn and Uranus in Taurus. This is great for radical yet practical new approaches to money, work and relationships.
Mars is retrograde in Aquarius until the end of August. Traditionally, it's not advised to begin new ventures until he resumes direct motion. You may run into blockages and frustration despite your best efforts. It doesn't matter – things are developing all the same and you don't have to bang your head against walls in the effort to push forward. Refine your plans and wait it out.
Mars will be tangoing with the south node for the next three months, passing over it in his retrograde on the 20th July, and then passing over it again on the 26th September in direct motion. What this means is it's a fateful time. There's an imperative to act from creativity, generosity and heart, but also a greater potential for getting stuck in violent, reactive rage. This potential is really intensified at the time of the full moon on the 27th July, a total lunar eclipse which is just a doozy.
It's a blood moon, so-called because the eclipsed moon will glow a dark red. And it looks raw, emotionally super-heated and shocking – a blood moon indeed. It's a game-changer.
This will be the longest lunar eclipse of this century and also a supermoon, meaning it'll be closer to Earth than usual. And it'll be tightly conjunct Mars, who will be at his closest point to Earth in 15 years - so the bloody moon and the red planet will both appear uncannily bright. Uranus in Taurus will be involved, forming a t-square with the sun, moon and Mars. Uranus in Taurus, recall, is a force shaking up the stable structures of our lives, altering the ground beneath our feet.
Beyond the potential for political upheaval, I'm thinking of climate change in relation to this hotted-up eclipse. There is an unprecedented global heatwave going on right now. No question, the planet frying has long-term, serious effects for all of us.
I will write more about the full moon closer to the time, but I think as this is happening during Cancer lunar cycle, we are being given an opportunity at this new moon to release our toxic emotions and unconscious patterns. There is an angry flashpoint coming, but pain is at the root of anger. If you can allow yourself to feel your pain and flush it through, you can hopefully avoid acting it out unconsciously and destructively.
We are also getting a Mercury retrograde this month, starting on the day before the full moon, the 26th July. He'll be retrograding through Leo till the 18th August. Expect the usual issues with communications and travel, and hold off on signing major documents until the retrograde ends.
This is exact on the 28th of June, about 6 am UTC.
It's not a feel-good kind of moon. It's in Capricorn, a sign which is about authority, sobriety, responsibility. Not only is it in Capricorn, but it is also conjunct Saturn, the ruler of Capricorn.
Saturn is about maturity and earning your keep. He is also about karmic payback – he can reward, but only in proportion to the work you've put in. Not a penny more and not a penny less. There are no sudden lottery windfalls with Saturn – you have to pull yourself up by your bootstraps, inch by inch.
So if you've been staying on the right side of Saturn – being a grown-up, doing your work, living within your means and taking good care of what you're responsible for – you might just be rewarded here, in exact proportion to what you deserve. It's not a fun or light moon, but for you it should feel pretty OK! You'll have a sense of solid backup and you'll know you're on the right track, even if progress is a bit stalled at the moment. (Mars just stationed retrograde a couple days ago, on the 26th, so you can't expect to be barrelling ahead with anything at this time – blockages and delays are to be expected.)
If you're on the wrong side of Saturn I would expect this full moon to be a conclusive wake-up call and to feel kind of shitty. Look to where you've been evading responsibility, behaving childishly or selfishly, or enabling the bad behaviour of others. That's the stuff you have to work on.
The full moon squares Chiron in Aries, which means it could feel painful and wounding to your sense of self. Whether you're on the right or wrong side of Saturn, it's likely that you'll have to absorb a loss of some kind. The necessity of it will be clear and you're just going to have to deal with it, though it may feel like a punch in the gut.
Whenever we have a full moon in Capricorn, the sun is in Cancer. The Cancer-Capricorn polarity is about emotions (Cancer) vs reason (Capricorn), emotional needs vs. duty and responsibility, being the child vs. being the adult. Issues of work-life balance often come up: the domestic sphere vs. the world of work; private self vs public persona. Family issues also come up. So I'd expect some of that stuff here.
The way forward is shown by the north node in Leo, which is about living with creativity, heart, integrity, pride in yourself and joy. These qualities may be feel hard to access under this sober, austere full moon, but please try to remember they're your goal. And to reach that goal, your heart and your sense of responsibility have to be working in concert, not at cross-purposes. Otherwise you get this:
--The current furore in the US over separation of asylum-seeker families is a good illustration of the energy at work this full moon, by the way: heartless authority (Capricon) vs. families and children (Cancer), and a wound to America's sense of national identity (Chiron in Aries). What you're dealing with in your life is hopefully less extreme, but the themes will be similar: an identity crisis of sorts, involving the conflict between your heart and your head.
We are headed into eclipse season now, a time of intensity and accelerated change. With Uranus shaking up the status quo in Taurus, it promises to be a doozy, so be ready for a bumpy ride. (It's worth noting that Melania Trump is a Taurus, and we can expect to see bizarre and rebellious behaviour coming from Taurus folk with Uranus in their sign. That weird jacket was very Uranian.)
We have a partial solar eclipse in Cancer on the 13th July, where the themes of rules vs. emotions will be revisited and intensified. We have a total lunar eclipse in Leo on the 27th July, which looks like a game-changer and a profound shock to the system. And we have a partial solar eclipse in Leo on the 11th August which looks like a proud, inflexible ego kind of vibe. There's a lot of fixed energy in the sky at the moment, meaning people aren't likely to compromise or back down, even if they're demonstrably on the wrong track. I'd avoid waving the red rag at the bull if you can help it!
It's just a harsh, strange time and people are going to be prone to unpredictable aggression. Acting with integrity and real caring are not the easy path right now, but they're the way through.
It's the first lunation of 2018, and a beautiful, strong start to the year.
The moon in her own sign of Cancer will be part of a grand trine in the water signs involving Mars and Jupiter in Scorpio and Neptune in Pisces. This represents some profound, cathartic emotional stuff.
If that were all, it'd be nice but unfocused – just kind of turbulently emotional and sentimental. But this grand water trine is also part of a kite formation involving the sun, Venus and Pluto – in Capricorn, sign of structure, rules and authority. So clearly, this is emotion that can be powerfully directed toward achieving something of great practical value for yourself.
And it involves a changing of the guard – an internal revolution. Uranus stations direct in Aries, sign of bravery and raw selfhood, 12 hours later on the same day as the full moon is exact.
We are still in the lunar cycle opened by the new moon in Sagittarius two weeks ago, and it's a humdinger. It's all about graduating to another level – and this full moon represents the moment where things click internally. Emotional clarity about the road ahead is at hand – you'll get a feeling for what will be required of you.
It's definitely not about repeating the same old played-out stories (especially re. love and money). It's about setting solid foundations for a different, truer kind of life. There is a breakout energy to this - in addition to Uranus shifting direction, we also have Lilith, representing female rage and rebellion conjunct the sun and Venus in Capricorn. So this is an important full moon for women especially, and it's about breaking out of stereotypical female roles (nurturer, mother, nurse etc), reclaiming power, standing up for what YOU want for a change, and not caring if you're called a bitch for it!
Recall that Saturn switched signs just after the new moon – and now at the full moon, we have Uranus stationing direct. Saturn is about structure and rules, and Uranus is about novelty and rebellion – so these shifts signify the start of a new order. It's a big theme of 2018, and Uranus and Saturn will be working in tandem through the year to ground the (potentially shocking and uncomfortable) changes.
With Saturn now in Capricorn, it's time to stop pontificating and start building. It's not about your philosophy or your dreams anymore – it's about what works in the real world. It's time to act like a grown up and get real about what you desire, what you actually need for security at the most basic level, and what you can realistically achieve. No frippery or dreamy bullshit – we are not in pie-in-the-sky land anymore.
And given the turbulent emotionalism of a full moon in Cancer, please remember that you're not a child. You're an adult with responsibilities, and your first responsibility is to take care of yourself, because you're no good to anyone else otherwise.
Boundaries, standards, realism, independence, integrity and WORK. These are your Saturn in Capricorn keywords. The sky is emphasising these themes right now, and it's going to get even more stripped-down and real in the months ahead. We have four planets in Capricorn now (Saturn, Venus, the sun and Pluto), but for the new moon in Capricorn on the 17th January, Mercury and the moon will be there as well. That's a very heavy dose of a very heavy sign.
Things might feel harsh and dull for the next couple of months, as reality sets in. Keep your nose to the grindstone and your eyes on the prize. Saturn will help you achieve whatever you're looking to achieve – provided it's realistic, and provided you work for it. Progress may be slow and full of setbacks, but it'll happen.
For this we have a stellium in Cancer: the sun and moon conjunct at 2 degrees Cancer, with Mercury and Mars also nearby. This speaks of emotionally charged, potentially painful communication about family and the past - the kind that opens up some kind of new start.
Home, heritage, family, food and feelings. That's Cancerian stuff. Feeding and nurturing your dependents and defending your home ground. Mom, apple pie and the atavastic sentimentality those ideas call up. Tribalisms and nationalisms of all kinds – Cancer at worst is clannish and clingily focused on “my” people, distrusting outsiders.
As Mercury is involved with this new moon, there will be discussions of feelings, primal needs and family issues. Emotions / thinking / communication will be bound up together.
With Mars involved, interactions will be tense. Mars in Cancer has to do with intense emotional energy and rapidly shifting moods, and it can be touchy and defensive. In this case, Mars also squares Jupiter exactly, which amps up the emotional energy and edgy "hangriness". (It's a good idea to fill up on comfort food before approaching tense discussions.)
Hangry care bear
Mars-Jupiter aspects are about leaping before you look, and getting yourself into hot water via careless aggression. In this case, the aspect speaks of relationship imbalance and disharmony brought on by emotionally-driven aggression.
Pluto is also involved, meaning the issues here are profound and disturbing. This is a cardinal T-square that will be in effect till mid-July, and there's nothing light about it - it's harsh and full of potential ugliness. A lot of painful shit (especially family shit) is likely to be exposed, and you can expect some rage attendant upon that. But deep structural change is demanded here, and the point is balance and fairness - there are wrongs to be redressed. Resisting this will do nobody any good.
Anyway, heading into these choppy waters, please remember: just because you feel something is true doesn't mean it is! Hold back and try to ascertain the facts. Try to stay balanced and to see the other's point of view – this is an important theme, with Jupiter in Libra.
You can either speak your deeply held convictions here, or blurt hurtful things out of irrational rage - it's up to you. Fighting things to the death is possible, but also pointless. Neptune aspects the new moon beneficially, meaning softness, compassion, forgiveness and acceptance will be helpful.
For this new moon, Venus in Taurus also trines Pluto exactly. There's solid love underneath the conflict - something valuable to be protected. Please try to remember that.
We're dealing with a lot of intensity this month, in the next two weeks especially. The run-up to the full moon in Capricorn on the 9th July is very heavy, and that full moon itself is a doozy of emotional violence.
The changes we're undergoing, in the context of family especially, are powerful and long-term. Conflict on the world stage is to be expected as well. It will be hard to keep a cool head about any of this stuff, when so much emotion is involved, but here's hoping cooler heads will prevail.
These are dangerous days. Women especially are likely to feel under fire. Please be nice to your mom - she'll need it.
This is tomorrow: Thursday, the 12th January, 11:34 am GMT.
OK, it looks painful and shocking.
I haven't been a big fan of these Cancer full moons, the past few years – despite the fact that the moon is at home in Cancer, her own sign.
The problem has been the now finished (but still potent) Uranus-Pluto square. Having these jolting, ruthlessly transformative energies hitting that soft, gushy, moody Cancer moon is just a recipe for hurt feelings, destructive outbursts and emotional trauma. Especially family trauma.
That's what we're dealing with here. Be nice to your mother please - she's under a lot of pressure.
The chart of this full moon is a cardinal grand cross, an intensely uncomfortable aspect pattern that demands change. The aspects are very tight. And our sensitive Cancer moon is under heavy fire from Uranus in Aries (rebellion, abrupt change), the sun and Pluto in Capricorn (illumination of structural rot) and Jupiter in Libra (the need for justice and balance, especially in close relationships).
Jupiter in Libra may sound like a benign influence, but if you keep in mind that Jupiter magnifies whatever he touches, you are looking at some potentially over-the-top emotional reactions here. Also power struggles, and abrupt relationship changes and re-balancings. Plus some cruelty, courtesy of Mars square Saturn. All in all, it's not pretty.
But at best, this looks like a necessary catharsis to me. Mars is applying toward conjunction with Chiron in Pisces (exact on the 17th January), and Mars and Chiron beneficially aspect the full moon. This is a big emotional outpouring – a bloody mess, basically – that must be acknowledged. You're allowed to feel hurt, to cry and to mourn your losses. It's not self-indulgence but emotional necessity.
Turning pain into art – or faith, or boundless compassion for all suffering – is also an option, with Venus exactly conjuncting Neptune in Pisces for this full moon. This is a beautiful, gentle, dreamy influence. Unfortunately it can also translate into romantic delusion and victim-saviour dynamics in relationships – but given the harshness and violence of this sky, I think it's nice to have so much soothing Pisces action going on. It's anodyne; it softens the blow.
We had a coldly realistic new moon in Capricorn a couple weeks back. It was not a feel-good scenario, but I did think it was a flash of illumination about the road ahead. Now at this full moon in Cancer, the view comes clear – we see exactly what we're dealing with and what must be done. Again, it is not a feel-good scenario. It's ugly. But it is workable.
Mercury is direct again, trining the north node in Virgo, and about to enter no-nonsense Capricorn a few hours after the full moon – and all this speaks of sober, bleak, no-nonsense insight that can be directed with immense practicality. You know the stark truth now, so what are you going to do? It's pretty clear you can't keep doing what you've been doing.
The cardinal grand cross denotes forced change. We are not going to be able to sail through this without adapting to radically changed circumstances. There is no pretending the changes away. They have to be worked with, and it hurts. The future isn't what we thought it would be.
But all the Pisces stuff in the sky says: at least we can try to be compassionate and kind to each other, and have faith that this mess serves some larger design. Jupiter in Libra adds that we should strive to stay fair, diplomatic and balanced, and to be generous in our dealings with others. And Mercury in Capricorn and the north node in Virgo are advising absolute pragmatism: doing what needs to be done to adapt, whether you feel good about it or not.
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.
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.
The sun will be at 3 degrees Capricorn, the moon at 3 Cancer.
The Cancer-Capricorn polarity is about home and family life (Cancer) vs. outer achievement, career and persona (Capricorn). Private vs. public; the inner, emotional life vs. the outer persona. Vulnerability vs. control.
The moon is in her home sign in Cancer, so she's comfortable there. Plus she'll be well aspected at the full moon: harmoniously aspecting Neptune (compassion, emotional openness) and Mars (great emotional energy and force). So it might actually be possible to get along with your crazy family on this holiday so fraught with family tension.
I hope so. Best wishes to all.
But here's the inevitable doom part: Uranus and Pluto are squaring each other tightly, and Uranus will go direct later Christmas night – just as the moon moves into Cardinal t-square territory against those two heavies.
Be prepared for some kind of emotional eruption or jolt. Uranus direct provides the zap, and Pluto the deep, manipulative nastiness. Mercury in Capricorn is involved, so very harsh words may be said. Mars in Libra is also involved, amping up the irritation.
This comes post-Christmas dinner, when everyone's sitting around all semi-sloshed after their sherry trifle, exhausted from the effort of trying to stay civil. Perfect time for some nasty barb to be flung, or for some deep dark family secret to be aired.
This fraught atmosphere continues into the day after Christmas, as the moon moves to square Mars in Libra and oppose Mercury. Fighting words, words that can deeply wound.
I am not trying to be negative here – this is a heads-up. If you're aware this is the atmosphere, you can hopefully do something to mitigate it.
In this case, I think the best way to mitigate it is represented by Jupiter and the north node nearing conjunction in Virgo. Humility and attendance to little details; serving others. You could go into the kitchen and do the dishes. You could put all the leftovers in little goddamn color-coded Tupperware containers. You could bring the dog for a walk.
Mercury in tight-lipped Capricorn will also be harmoniously aspecting Jupiter, the north node and Venus – you can use this to communicate truthfully, practically and with kindness. Or you can just tell a lot of terrible jokes – this looks like a good influence for terrible jokes. Mercury in Capricorn has a way with deadpan absurdity.
Anyway, if you can't say anything funny (or helpful, or practical, or healing), you don't have to say anything at all. There's just no point.
There is the potential for truthfulness and deeply comforting talk with these aspects – but there's also a lot of emotional upset going on. So things could go either way – or both ways. With Uranus direct, you can expect some kind of shock. It might be liberating, if you keep it in perspective. But with the moon (emotions) under fire, it's likely to register as hurtful.
Regarding perspective (a theme now, with Saturn in Sagittarius): it has been a hell of a year, so maybe cut people some slack.
The calendar year kicked off with an incredibly intense full moon in Cancer on the 5th January, and the moon's monthly transits of Cancer since then (and really for a few years previous), have been a recapitulation of that energy – another kick to the gut, more or less – as she squares Uranus (shock) and opposes Pluto (death).
The final exact pass of the Uranus-Pluto square was back in March – so we are standing in a changed landscape now, for better or worse. There isn't any going back to how things were.
And then we had Saturn in Scorpio for 3 months this year, dragging us through some dark psychological debris. There isn't any unknowing what we've learned.
And then, late last month, we had the first round of the Saturn-Neptune square we'll be dealing with for the next year. The scales have fallen from a lot of eyes; the ground is dissolving beneath a lot of dreams.
There isn't much energy left for bullshit. It's safe to say, astrologically this has been a heavier year than most, and people are tired and shell-shocked. For many it's been hellish. Full of great gifts and surprises, sure – but the losses and betrayals have a way of impacting us harder.
And now the year is ending with another Cancer full moon on Christmas day, a day that holds the accumulated ghosts of Christmases past. It's bittersweet – an emotional summing-up of what this year has meant.
So I guess...the kinder we can be with each other, the better. The humbler and more honest we can be, the better. No one has had it particularly easy, and no one needs any more nastiness at this time.
But the nastiness will probably be pretty easy to come by. Easy to fall into, in a reflexive, emotionally reactive way.
Relationship planets Venus and Mars are both in signs where they don't function well: Venus in nuke-em-all Scorpio, Mars in passive-aggressive Libra. And the moon is under fire in Cancer, as we've seen.
And the south node – the place this story will tend to get stuck – is in Pisces. Which means it's much easier to sit around feeling depressed and victimised then to focus on what we can do practically to help others. Even though helping others and being grounded and practical is the exact way out of this morass of self-pity and chaotic emotion.
Granted, some scenarios have become untenable. There are some people you just don't need to have dealings with, whether they're family or not. If they're family, it makes everything harder – you might just have to suck it up and humour them this Christmas, but it sure doesn't mean you have to do it the rest of the time.
Hell, they might not like you either. Big deal – not everyone has to like each other.
Anyway, a shift is coming. Venus leaves Scorpio for Sagittarius on the 30th December, and this should lighten the relational friction up considerably. And then Mars moves to Scorpio, a sign he rules, on the 3rd of January.
And we will also have every planet in the sky moving direct! For the brief window between Uranus direct on Christmas till we start a Mercury retrograde on the 5th January – and then a Jupiter retrograde on the 7th – everything will be moving forward. So it's full speed ahead. New horizons are opening up.
So whatever emotional claustrophobia is going down this Christmas – remember it's fleeting. It's just a mood! Better days are coming. And you don't have to let yourself be dragged into it. You can go out to the kitchen and sort the recycling or something. Or make everyone watch “Airplane”.
It's a very tense and angry full moon – full of potential emotional violence. Also full of potential happiness, blessing and freedom. It really looks like a fairy-tale battle to me: the forces of light vs. the forces of darkness, simplistic as that sounds. There is such a contrast between the heavy, dark, emotionally claustrophobic stuff and the joy and release on offer. (But they are two parts of the same story, remember.)
It's like, Perseus cuts off the Gorgon's head – this monster whose gaze has the power to turn life to stone. And Pegasus, the beautiful winged horse representing freedom, inspiration, poetry – is born out of the wound.
I keep thinking of that story in relation to this full moon! I guess it's really an allegory for facing what we fear. Fear ossifies.
Anyway, there are some very scary monsters to be faced here. And there is the possibility of really defeating them, really getting free – getting to the root of the toxicity and amputating it from your life.
There is also some crazy magical aid on offer to help you in this task. I am not exaggerating here – it is actual magic, and it's on the side of human happiness and freedom.
I think this is all about the idea of a 'threshold guardian' - the force you have to defeat before moving to a new level, like in a video game. When you've just reached the crossing between two different states of being, there is always a struggle, and this can be internal or external. There are powerful forces of inertia and fear that manifest as blockages, setbacks or demons you have to fight. If they can scare or discourage you enough, you back down, stay on the same level and stagnate. If you keep fighting to get past them, you eventually break through to the next level - a new world., where you are no longer defined by your pathology or other people's craziness or the family ghosts or whatever.
A new world is definitely on offer - life really can turn on a dime right now. You really can get free between one minute and the next. But it looks like you have to fight for that freedom.
Maybe the freedom on offer takes the form of a painful loss or an amputation – you might have to let go of something you thought you couldn't live without. Loss can open up a space for something new and unimaginable to enter your life.
Anyway, re. the dynamics of this full moon: Mars and the sun in Cancer will be facing off against the moon and Pluto in Capricorn.
Mars in opposition to Pluto is quite violent, focused, brutal energy. It is likely to play out as interpersonal conflict - the kind that feels like a fight to the death.
Having the moon involved with Pluto and opposite Mars – and disposited by Saturn in Scorpio - means there is quite a hellish emotional load here. This speaks of buried emotional stuff coming up to be dealt with – especially family stuff. Toxicity, rage, control issues, manipulation, secrets, debts, illnesses, shattering losses. The full weight of the past. It's tough.
If battles, ordeals or painful revelations are coming up in your life, externally or internally – well you just have to face what you're afraid of. Have to. You can't let fear ossify and block up your life – there are absolutely no rewards for doing that.
Saturn (duty, karma, fear) in Scorpio is the dispositor of the full moon, and the stakes couldn't be higher. Saturn in Scorpio is intense, scary and all-or-nothing. It demands a fierce commitment to emotional excavation and dealing with your shit. Sorting out the energetic imbalances, the debts, the trauma and garbage. Doing the dirty work.
I have written plenty about Saturn in Scorpio and won't re-hash it here. It is quite dark and hellish, but the effort to deal with your demons will pay off.
At the same time, we have heaven on offer: Venus is now conjunct Jupiter and trine Uranus. This is intense, unexpected sweetness and luck. Magical loveliness, lucky breaks, open doors of possibility. Unicorns and rainbows, seriously.
Neptune in Pisces is also involved with the full moon, harmoniously aspecting the moon and sun. Meaning dreams, art, compassion and faith can carry the day.
More unicorns and rainbows!
You cannot go wrong with unicorns and rainbows, and that's a fact.
It reminds me of all the epic fairy-tale battles in Lord of the Rings-type movies. Somehow, against all odds, good always prevails. Life defeats death.
Ask yourself: what's the worst that could happen, if I face what scares me most? Is it worse to take a chance and potentially fail...or to go on living under Mordor's rule?
It's really about life or death – that's the choice on offer. And the life option involves fighting what you're afraid of, fighting for the kind of life you want.
This may involve hardship and pain - but please remember that this story favours bravery, openness, joy. Taking chances, accepting new opportunities, walking into the unknown, getting unstuck.
Unicorns and rainbows, seriously. And magic, and singing frogs.
(Please note - when I talk about fighting, I don't mean fighting by returning whatever ugliness is thrown your way. To win this fight, you have to be better than the forces arrayed against you - more aware, calmer, more compassionate, kinder. You have to be the bigger person and keep doing the right thing, even when it would be easier to just blowtorch everything. Good is all set up to prevail, so you have to put yourself on the side of the good, and not be dragged down to the level of whatever is opposing you.)
This is tomorrow, the 5th January 2015, around 5 am (GMT).
I'll try to be very brief here, because I'm late in writing this, and the full moon is nearly upon us! Maybe you can feel what it's about for you already. The moon is in her own sign – Cancer – and this brings some heavy emotion into play.
It's a very tense full moon, and coming as it does after the holidays, it's safe to assume people will be feeling exhausted and jagged. It's like a big tension-dump, where all the issues you've been trying to keep a lid on all through the holidays potentially get vomited out. Or cried out, or yelled out. Or maybe you'll just feel them rotting in the pit of your stomach like an indigestible Christmas pudding.
We have a cardinal grand cross - a very tense planetary aspect pattern – involving the sun and Pluto in Capricorn (control issues), the moon in Cancer (emotions), Uranus in Aries (individual anger and revolt) and the nodes of the moon in Aries (war) vs. Libra (peace).
On the world stage, it could look kinda like the photo below from Ferguson, Missouri. We've been seeing a lot of pictures like this lately, courtesy of the revolutionary Uranus-Pluto square. The public demand for radical change coming up against an entrenched, inflexible power hierarchy, with explosive results.
On your own individual stage, it could be about what you're trying to establish in your life vs. the obstacles. Your own capacity for self-sabotage; the drama and rage that keep drawing you back into the past. Specifically, the issues here revolve around family (Cancer), career (Capricorn), close relationships (Libra) and individual will / personal autonomy (Aries).
The cardinal signs (Aries, Libra, Cancer and Capricorn) are initiatory and commanding – all about the establishment of a new order. And this cardinal grand cross is tied up with the Uranus-Pluto square, which is about radical change and upheaval. It also involves the moon's nodes, which are about movement toward an objective – in this case, the objective is signified by the north node in Libra, sign of harmony, fairness and balanced relationship.
This story is supposed to be about moving from conflict and war to peace and coexistence, in the context of radical, necessary change – try to remember that.
The problem is, the path of least resistance here is war. Selfishness, rage, jagged nerves, destructive emotional distancing, abrupt relationship breakups and endings – these are all things we're likely to see, courtesy of the south node conjunct Uranus in Aries.
Basically, a new order is being established, but there are some fierce emotional rapids to navigate before we get there. However this plays out in your life, if you can calm yourself and try to stay calm as the people around you have their temper tantrums and blowouts, that should be helpful. Don't get sucked into drama. We have three planets (Mars, Venus and Mercury) in rational, detached, free-spirited Aquarius now – and if you can access this energy, it should help.
I don't mean that it's OK to act like an uncaring, self-absorbed, emotionally cut-off dickhead, which is one of the dangers of Aquarian energy - and one specifically highlighted by this full moon! But try to maintain your sense of internal freedom and individuality, however externally bound you may feel – that space inside yourself that is always already free, no matter what happens.
Also, catharsis is something entirely different to unthinking drama, and could be a very good use of all this tension. “Catharsis (from the Greek κάθαρσις meaning "purification" or "cleansing") is the purification and purgation of emotions—especially pity and fear—through art or any extreme change in emotion that results in renewal and restoration.”
Here's a poem relevant to this theme of catharsis and release: Messengers by Louise Gluck.
A full moon represents a culmination or ending, so please remember that the emotional discomfort and intensity associated with this full moon is really a kind of summation, not a permanent state. This is the emotional high-water mark of a period of serious transformation that began around the time of the winter solstice a couple of weeks back. It's the release-point for what has been quite a stressful and heavy time.
We are headed for a zero-degree new moon in Aquarius on the 20th January, and Aquarius is future-oriented, progressive, full of novelty and excitement. Things will start to feel lighter, so hang in there.
This is tomorrow, the 12th July, around 12:30 pm GMT.
Full moons signify culminations or endings. This particular full moon is a real exciting one, with an end-of-era feel about it. Big shifts are underway! It's a “one door closes, another door opens” scenario.
Specifically, the issues that are being wrapped up relate to old family issues, old emotional dependencies and baggage, old power hierarchies.
Some Morrissey. Don't much like this song, but it expresses the mood.
“Break up the family, let's begin to live our lives.”
Time to shut the door on something old and outworn in your life...some closet full of rotting family mementos and clothes you wore 10 years ago. Fiery new portals are opening all around: opportunities for new alliances, creativity and self-expression, fun and mayhem.
But you can't step through a fiery portal of fun and mayhem carrying all your old crap and your parents' old crap and their parents' old crap...that doesn't work.
So what is the story here? We have a cardinal grand cross again, but it's looser this time than the ones we've been dealing with all summer. So tension is still in effect, but it's starting to break up.
We also have a grand water trine involving the sun, Saturn and Chiron. It actually makes a kite formation with the sun-moon opposition as the axis.
So we are looking at jagged tension, drama and power struggles via the grand cross. But also inward emotional strength and deep feeling via the grand water trine.
Plus we have some madcap social stuff going on: Venus and Mercury in Gemini trining Mars and the north node in Libra. That's easy communication, mental energy, lots of romantic options, excitement.
All in all, a big weekend! If you have scores to settle, this is the right time to settle them. And hopefully without too much ugliness either. There'll be plenty of emotional restraint available, and shiny new doors opening for every door that's closing.
Underlining this theme of shifts and endings, we have three major shifts happening in the weeks after the full moon, leading up to a brash new moon in Leo on the 26th July.
First Jupiter switches signs, then Saturn goes direct, and then Mars switches signs. This is what I mean by new doors opening.
Let's look at these changes.
Shift 1: Jupiter moves from Cancer to Leo on the 16th July. This is huge! Jupiter has been in Cancer for a year, so the emphasis this past year has been on home and family stuff. Nurturing those closest to you, dealing with turbulent emotions, taking care of your nest, makin' babies, wiping snotty little noses, lying around on the couch eating comfort food and watching boxed sets, etc etc.
But now our faith / hope / luck (Jupiter) shifts to Leo, which is about self-expression, drama, creativity, fiery self-regard, fun.
What this means is for the next year, it's not about dealing with your crazy family and their issues anymore... We've done that for a whole damn year and now it's over for another 12 years, thank god. The emphasis for the next year is going to be on YOU and how freaking amazing and special you are. How you are making a unique work of art of your own life. That's where your luck is going to be at.
Shift 2: Saturn goes direct in Scorpio on the 21st July after a retrograde period that started in early March. Karma comes due and starts being a bitch again.
If you've done your Saturn in Scorpio work and cut away the deadwood in your life, this will probably come as a relief. If you are still hanging onto crap that no longer serves you, it will hurt.
Saturn in Scorpio is about a kind of emotional ruthlessness – with yourself first and foremost. It's about taking responsibility for your pain. There are trade-offs to be made here for the sake of survival...the stakes are very high.
It's like, if you're walking around with a gangrenous leg...you are going to have to amputate the leg, and it will hurt like hell, and you'll have to learn to live differently. But if you don't amputate, this rotten thing attached to you is going to poison and kill you. It's that stark.
For 'gangrenous leg', substitute whatever in your life you know is rotten or unsound – it could be a relationship, a habit or addiction, a way of thinking. Bite the bullet.
(That expression comes from the days when wounded soldiers were given a bullet to bite while undergoing amputations without anesthesia. Very apt here.)
Shift 3: Mars will leave Libra and enter Scorpio early on the 26th July. He has been in Libra (the sign of his detriment) since December of last year – 8 damn months already. (He usually spends around 2 months in a sign.)
This was a long time for the planet of raw male energy and war to be stuck in the sign of peace and social harmony....like forcing Mike Tyson to sit around drinking tea in a never-ending BBC regency drama. And his stay in Libra was made even more fraught by the cardinal t-squares and crosses he got involved in there. Just a very drawn-out and frustrating time.
Well anyway, that's nearly done and he's moving out... to Scorpio, which is more his style. We go from passive aggression, enforced politeness, metrosexuality and wussiness to...film noir. Mars in Scorpio is a private dick (ahem) out of film noir: obsessive, secretive, probing, boiling with concealed passion.
Here is Mars in Libra:
And this is what he looks like in Scorpio:
And I know which of the above pictures I'd be happier in, if I were Mars.
--So anyway, these big shifts are underway and you'll feel it. The full moon tomorrow represents the last stand of the issues we've been dealing with all this summer – and really since the start of the year. Look back to the new moon in Capricorn in January and think about what you've been slogging through since then. Time to draw a line under all that stuff and move on.
--OK, I could leave it at that, but I'll write a little more background on the full moon tomorrow. The sun at 20 degrees Cancer will be facing off against the moon at 20 degrees Capricorn.
Capricorn is about the old order: the tried and true. Authority, stability, duty, responsibility, following the rules. And Cancer is about home and family, roots, nurturance, emotions, the past.
They are also about public life vs private life: Capricorn is the outward image or persona, and Cancer is the inner world. Career and worldly status vs. home and family life.
They are very 'parental' signs: Capricorn is patriarchal, and Cancer matriarchal. Ideally these polarities should work together: the point about polarities is they are two sides of the same thing, requiring each other. So Capricorn's rules and discipline can turn into cruelty if they don't originate from a Cancerian will to nurture and protect. And Cancer can get lost in emotional turbulence and sentimentality without a dose of Capricorn's restraint and pragmatism.
Anyway, Pluto in Capricorn is widely conjunct this full moon, meaning part of what's lit up here is the corruption and abuse underlying the old, patriarchal order. And the sun in Cancer is applying into a conjunction with Jupiter in Cancer, meaning truth (Jupiter) is on the private, emotional side of the equation. And these poles are bound into a grand cross involving Uranus in Aries (individual revolt) and Mars in Libra (fighting for justice).
We have been dealing with this scenario for awhile, and this is just another iteration of it. One way of translating it is to say that it represents a stand-off. The corrupt old forces of outer power / authority / respectability / status... vs. your own inner emotional truth.
Pretty tense. Again, Jupiter (luck) is on the side of the inner truth stuff, so I would pay attention to that. If you have some kind of stand-off in your life between what is expected of you, what you 'should' do and what you truly feel...well your own feelings are the thing to trust here, of course.
But with a caveat: restraint and an awareness of limits are called for. There are responsibilities to be attended to even if you don't like it.
The sun and Jupiter in Cancer are disposited by the moon in Capricorn, which represents emotional containment. Don't go spilling your messy emotions all over the place...now's not the time. Try to be realistic, pragmatic and disciplined about what you feel and what you need.
Bearing this out, we are moving into a conjunction between Mars in Libra and the north node, exact on the 14th. The story for the next few weeks is still about enacting a balance, fighting for fairness and right relationship.
A full moon is a balancing act really: you have two opposing themes (in this case Cancer and Capricorn) that must be reconciled. Hopefully in yourself: the point of all this astrology stuff is self-understanding. Otherwise you mindlessly play out one side of the equation and someone else comes along to play the other side and it's just a battle of puppets.
The real work is this alchemical thing of reconciling the opposites within yourself. This is tricky and takes a lot of awareness. And it's also always a work in progress: you have to keep at it forever. But ultimately there's no other way to be free.
With this full moon, we're dealing with these parental signs, Cancer and Capricorn, and a conflict between emotional truth and practical necessity. And then Jupiter moves from Cancer (which is about the undertow of childhood, mama and the past) to Leo (which is about the self, YOU in all your glory). And we have Saturn going direct in Scorpio, which is about the sloughing off of an old skin.
So I think the story here is about taking responsibility, becoming your own authority, your own parental figure – and that means you rely on what you know to be true deep down, not what the powers that be try to force down your throat.
And also you get rid of the psychological baggage of the past: the stuff you can't bring through the fiery portal. Your granny's lovely tablecloths, moldering in the attic; your father's sense of inadequacy; your mother's rage; whatever. It's not yours and you don't have to carry it anymore. Something new is trying to be born - your life, maybe.
(Yeah. Always.)
We are the sons of no-one, bastards of young!
And here is some Tsunami. I used to listen to this when I was a teenager. Sitting in my room, waiting for my real life to start - ha.
This one is tomorrow morning: Friday the 27th June, around 9 am (GMT).
The sun and moon will be in the moon's own sign, Cancer. Cancer is basically big mammy energy: concerned with home, emotion, food, nurturing, babies. Nice day to hang out with your family and eat comforting snacks. Nice day to not get out of bed at all if you don't have to, and just lie around eating chocolate and watching 'Moonstruck'.
I think I saw that movie with my parents when I was a kid. If I remember right, it's about a big Italian family being all Italian and arguing over dinner, eating spaghetti, stuff like that. Very Cancerian. Plus a dreamy love story, and Cher weeping at an opera. It seems like the right kind of movie for this new moon.
Wow, it's hokey. But that's ok, right?
Cancer can be hokey. Home, roots, mamma, the past...and the sentimentality that goes with that stuff.
You know what Jung said about sentimentality? That it was "a superstructure covering brutality". With Pluto in Capricorn (rotten societal structures) opposing this new moon, maybe that's a useful quote to keep in mind.
Still, it looks pretty sweet and lovely overall. I don't mean to be snarky about it.
As with the last new moon (in Gemini), Neptune is involved with this one. But Neptune is much happier in the arrangement this time. So we are looking at a very dreamy, kind, romantic influence... Good for artistic inspiration, good for calming family tensions, good for forgiving and forgetting, good for easing ragged nerves.
Let's listen to some Chopin:
Re. ragged nerves: there is still a background of high angst courtesy of the cardinal t-square. Wednesday the 25th saw the Mars-Uranus opposition hit exactitude... this energy is waning now, but it will still be pretty strong all week. And Mars-Uranus is a blitzkreig. Fury coming out of nowhere. Sudden accidents, explosive anger, nerves at breaking point. Factor in a square to Pluto, and the consequences can be profound and disturbing...life or death.
So I think this dreamy, romantic new moon is a welcome respite. If you're lucky enough not to live in Iraq, you should find it quite pleasant really.
What the hell, let's listen to ALL of Chopin's nocturnes. I guess we need them after the past few weeks.
Anyway, the weekend ahead should be nice too. The moon conjuncts Jupiter on Sunday morning (29th June), which makes for a buoyant emotional tone.
And then later in the day on Sunday we move into an exact square between Venus and Neptune. This is...Chopin's nocturnes again, basically. It's about unrequited (and therefore perfect) love, spiritual longing, pining for the ineffable: divine discontent. You can use this as a spur toward artistic creation or spiritual growth.
Venus-Neptune is also about trying to rescue people or dreaming of Prince or Princess Charming arriving on a white horse to rescue you, and that side of it is just stupid.
With Venus in Gemini, it could be about being tantalized by multiple options (Gemini) that are just out of reach (Neptune). If you're drunk in some bar on Sunday evening I'd say you'll know exactly what this aspect is about. Try to have fun with it and don't take home any loquacious charmers with substance abuse issues! Maybe don't take home anyone at all, because physical reality is only going to be disappointing, compared with whatever woozy fantasy you're entertaining.
Early on the 2nd of July, Mercury goes direct in Gemini, and you should be able to view your options with greater clarity after that.
OK, so we have a busy sky heading into the full moon in Sagittarius on Friday the 13th June (around 5 am GMT). It's just kinda all over the place and intense. Awkward, complex, brutal, dramatic. I'm not sure where to begin.
I guess we had better look back at the new moon in Gemini a couple weeks ago for guidance. If you recall, that one had something to do with artistic license and inspiration...or on a more mundane level, misinformation. Confusing news coming from multiple sources, unclear new developments. Drunken networking and siren songs.
The Gemini-Sagittarius axis has to do with knowledge vs. understanding. In Gemini, you gather up the raw data. In Sagittarius, you use that information to intuit broader truths; you find the underlying meaning.
So I think this full moon is a scenario where the swirly mists dissipate and the actual landscape comes into view. The truth becomes self-evident: the actualities are all lit up, and they are likely to be quite stark.
Here is Emily Dickinson on having the scales fall from your eyes:
It dropped so low -- in my Regard -- I heard it hit the Ground -- And go to pieces on the Stones At bottom of my Mind -- Yet blamed the Fate that flung it -- less Than I denounced Myself, For entertaining Plated Wares Upon My Silver Shelf --
This full moon should light up exactly where you stand with regard to issues of love, money, values and self-worth. Venus in Taurus will be exactly opposing Saturn in Scorpio - and not just to the degree, but to the minute. This is all about the bottom line in relational and financial matters. There won't be much leeway available with personal and shared resources, inheritances and debts (and this means energetic debts as well as the financial kind). You either have it in the bank or you don't, and that's that. It's either the real deal or it isn't.
There is constraint and austerity involved here, which is not so pleasant. But there's a solidity and depth to this aspect that is comforting. Knowing where you stand is always good, even if it involves knowing you're broke as a joke and all your romantic prospects are fantasies. At least you can work with that: it is a bedrock fact.
And if you do possess something solid in the love or money departments – well that's good to know as well, even if it feels like a ball and chain at times.
It may feel like more of a ball and chain than usual, with the moon in freedom-loving Sagittarius aspecting revolutionary Uranus in Aries and an excitable sun in Gemini. This all represents an urge to cut loose, to leave the past behind and strike out alone...but it is bumping up against the reality of limits and responsibilities to others. Especially to family.
The Sagittarius moon is disposited by Jupiter in Cancer, and the Gemini sun is disposited by Mercury (now retrograde till early July) in Cancer. Cancer is heavily involved with this full moon, and the energies (air and fire for Gemini and Sagittarius, water for Cancer) don't sit comfortably with each other. It's like a really awkward family reunion...everyone is desperate to leave already and do something fun, but they're all held there by the undertow of a shared history.
Cancer is about family and home life, nostalgia, the past. So the emphasis is really on family stuff for now...and this ties in with the Venus-Saturn aspect outlined above.
Where do you come from, what is your bedrock inheritance? What do you owe to your family; what do they owe you? Probably you won't be able to avoid looking at these kinds of issues right now.
Anyway, family duties are going to feel damn uncomfortable and constraining when there is such a contrary pressure for freedom, personal expansion, fun and adventure at work. Things look quite uneasy and emotionally awkward: this is courtesy of a whole bunch of inconjunct aspects, which speak of mutually irreconcilable imperatives.
And also potentially violent, shocking and explosive. Sigh. Now we get to the ugly part.
I'm sick of this shit, but this is the cosmic weather we're in: a cardinal t-square involving Mars, Pluto and Uranus, in effect for the rest of June. The god of war vs. the god of death vs. the god of shock and upheaval. Can you see what this might look like in your mind's eye? It's not a garden party.
The Mars square Pluto aspect will be exact at the full moon, and here are some fun key phrases for that: killer rage. Death instinct. Power drive. Intense aggression.
It is damn uncomfortable. You combine it with a tense aspect to Uranus (shock)...and it's pretty clear you'd better keep your wits about you for the next few weeks...and especially at the full moon (Friday the 13th, ha). Try to avoid bashing anybody's head in, or getting your own head bashed in. Be careful driving, be careful around machinery, try to stay alert, obey your instincts, be ready to jump out of the way of the oncoming train or whatever. Be prepared!
Here are some less scary Mars-Pluto key phrases: physical endurance. Rising from the ashes. A will to transform. Survival instinct. Fighting to the death.
Nothing about this is pretty or nice: it is a relentless, angry kind of energy, and it demands action. So if you start feeling it, you'll need to DO something with it...hopefully something that doesn't involve decapitating anyone. Run 12 miles, destroy the hell out of something inanimate, chop all your hair off like Katy Perry in this promotional video for the US army, I don't know.
& here is Rihanna gyrating on tanks & blowing shit up in Afghanistan, while we're watching disturbing US army ads.
Well that was disgusting, but so is Mars square Pluto. (They are sex gods too, remember. Very Freudian.)
(sex & deth, yo)
I should probably play a bunch of punk rock to balance out all this pop, because punk rock fits these aspects - and punk involves some level of honesty and integrity. But I don't feel like it right now. Here's some Destiny's Child instead.
Soldiering through is where we're at.
OK, stupid videos aside, the best use of this energy is transformation. What we are looking at for the next few weeks is an intense rage for transformation of circumstances that seem stuck. Corrupt old power structures, corrupt old family and societal dynamics: these things are going to be glaringly obvious. The rot underlying the old order is going to be glaringly obvious.
Things have got to change. And what's too far gone to change has to die.
This story has been in the news lately where I live, and it encapsulates these themes perfectly. The hidden abuses of a rigidly patriarchal society coming to light.
Infuriating as this stuff is, I think compassion, rather than righteous fury is the way to go here. Righteous fury will be easy to come by, courtesy of the cardinal t-square. But we also have Mercury and Jupiter in Cancer, which is nurturing and emotional. And we have Saturn in Scorpio exactly trining Chiron in Pisces - again, not just to the degree but to the minute.
This is a grand trine in water signs, emphasizing compassion, forgiveness and deep understanding. The real task here is not to blowtorch the past, but to understand it.
A song for the end of the old order, by Shakespeare:
Full fathom five thy father lies; Of his bones are coral made; Those are pearls that were his eyes: Nothing of him that doth fade But doth suffer a sea-change Into something rich and strange. Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell: Ding-dong. Hark! now I hear them,--ding-dong, bell.
A sea-change; a transmutation. That's what's required here.
To sum up, I think this full moon has to do with understanding our debt to the past. “The damage that was done and the treasures that prevail”, as Adrienne Rich says in Diving into the Wreck – a poem about confronting collective psychic damage.
I'm thinking too of what Joyce said about history: "History is a nightmare from which I am trying to awaken."
And hexagram 18 in the I Ching, about corruption originating in past abuse or neglect, and the effort of righting it.
Individual freedom is impossible without an awareness of where we came from. We may want to be our own people – but we are products of our social and familial conditioning. There is no getting rid of it; there is only recognizing it and reconciling with it. It's tempting to split off from it and fix upon a perpetrator to blame, but that only absolves us of personal responsibility.
In order to be free, we have to 'own' our roots, in other words. However uncomfortable and ugly this process is.
So all in all, this is a complicated and uneasy kind of cosmic weather we are headed into...and full of danger and drama to boot. Please remember that luck (Jupiter) is attendant here upon engaging with deep emotional and family responsibilities, however much you might want to run away and do your own thing.
And please try to avoid killing anyone, or getting killed!
