New Moon Eclipse in Capricorn

This is on the 6th January 2019, 1:30 am GMT.

So here we are the first new moon of 2019, and it's an eclipse, which means it's a supercharged new beginning. We also had Mars changing signs on New Year's Eve, from Pisces to 0 degrees Aries, the “Aries point” or birthplace of the whole zodiac. So all signs point to 2019 being a doozy of a year. It's certainly starting off with a lot of heavy, dramatic symbolism.

This solar eclipse is heavy and dramatic for sure – but in a very cold, stark way. It's like being stuck between a rock and a hard place: the sun and moon are wedged between Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn. Saturn is about hardship and karma and Pluto is about death, depth psychology and transformation – so neither of these are fun planets. They are especially not fun in Capricorn, a grimly realistic sign. We also have thought-and-communication planet Mercury in Capricorn, meaning communication will be terse and factual.

So all in all, it's a lot of Capricorn, and Capricorn is about structure, authority, rules and slow, dogged achievement. The Neptune-fueled excesses of the holiday season are over, and we're back on planet Earth. It should feel sobering and real and grounded - depressing even. There isn't a lot of fun to be had here. Instead, there are responsibilities to be attended to and hard realities to be faced.

Shirking your duties / trying to avoid your demons is inadvisable here – Saturn and Pluto reward focus, commitment and going deep.  They do not look kindly on escapism and self-delusion, and if that's what you've been doing, you can expect this eclipse to feel harsh: a stark, painful wake-up call. Time to grow the hell up.

This energy is not a fleeting influence. The eclipse is a lead-up to the big event of next year, when Saturn and Pluto will be exactly conjunct in Capricorn. They will be approaching that conjunction all this year, so this harsh, hardcore energy is something we should all get used to working with.

With Saturn and Capricorn, you get back what you've put in. And with Pluto involved, this is so to an extreme degree, and it applies to the psychological work you do as well as to your outward life. Achievement and progress come from hard work, there will be no magical windfalls here.

So whatever you're starting this new year, commit yourself to it as much as you can and devote serious time and effort to it. The payoff for hard work and seriousness is great under this sky. The payback for frivolity and slacking is also great.

This eclipse is also defined by Uranus stationing direct later on the same day. What this means is it's a big shift in tone – an upheaval really. Change is afoot, and the structure of your life is going to be altered, for good or ill. And you might as well get with the program.

It's not all harsh drill-sergeant stuff though: we also have a beautiful grand water trine in effect between Venus in Scorpio, Chiron in Pisces and the north node in Cancer. This is about healing of psychic wounds via emotional honesty and compassion. Again though, it's not light. It's deep and painful stuff, potentially cathartic.

So this new moon eclipse is a pretty heavy dose. It opens up a heavy month and a heavy year. We'll have Uranus re-entering Taurus in March, where he will disrupt the stable structures of our lives. We'll have Saturn and Pluto moving toward full conjunction in Capricorn all year, and both conjunct the south node of the moon into November – a situation that means the default tone will be stressful, harsh and punitive as established structures fall apart and we all have to pick up the slack.

Remember the north node is in Cancer, so however bitter and emotionally guarded you may feel, the way forward this year is about opening your heart and being gentle and nurturing toward yourself and others.

That might be hard this month, as frustrations abound. January culminates with a shocking and disruptive full moon eclipse in Leo on the 21st. I'll write about it closer to the time, but I think the main thing to do with this new moon eclipse energy is get yourself grounded in reality and commit yourself to the road ahead, even if it looks like an uphill battle.

The longing to escape reality is present in the form of a square from Jupiter to Neptune, exact on the 12th January. This is the first of three: the others come on the 16th June and the 21st September, so it's an influence we'll be dealing with all year. Given the harshness of this year's astrology, I can't blame anyone for wanting to escape into some kind of internal or external Shangri-La. But with the Saturn-Pluto stuff happening in Capricorn, there's really no way out of difficulty but through.

Full Moon in Capricorn

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.

New Moon in Capricorn

This is early tomorrow, the 17th January. It's exact at 2:15 am UTC.

We have a big stellium in Capricorn for this: the sun, moon,Venus and Pluto are conjunct in the later part of the sign, and Mercury, Lilith and Saturn are conjunct at the beginning. It's a serious dose of a very serious, work-and-achievement focused sign. We are at the start of a long uphill climb.

New moons represent new beginnings, and this is our first new moon of 2018, and the first with Saturn in his home sign of Capricorn. The symbolism is of a sober, intensely pragmatic new start, especially as regards love and money matters. This is the right time to begin something – but it has to be something grounded in the real world, not fantasy. Capricorn works with the world as it is, not as we'd like it to be. What's valuable to this sign is what's solid, tangible and secure, and what's built slowly and carefully, step by step. Rome wasn't built in a day.

With Saturn in Capricorn, we are working to create solid foundations for future security. And I mean WORKING – Saturn rewards effort. You get back what you put in and there's no such thing as a free lunch.

Mars and Jupiter in Scorpio beneficially aspect this new moon, meaning there's a lot of very focused energy to be poured into new projects, and big potential gains to be had.

But Uranus squares the new moon from the end of Aries, and this denotes disruption. Don't expect things to run easily – there will be blockages, shocks and setbacks. But if you're willing to work with them, they can lead to beneficial adaptations to changed circumstances.

The point of the Uranus square is innovation, which can be difficult for traditionalist Capricorn. But doing the same old thing the same old way will not work anymore – we are rewriting the rule-book.

We saw this breakaway Uranian influence at the full moon in Cancer two weeks ago, and it continues for this new moon. We'll be dealing with the conflict between following established rules vs. creating an entirely new operating system all this year.

As at the Cancer full moon, this applies to women especially. We have Venus and the moon squaring Uranus, and Lilith conjunct Mercury and Saturn in Capricorn. That's a lot of fed-up, enraged female energy – but it's also articulate, independent, authoritative and decisive. There is a theme of women examining their relationship with authority and power, and taking responsibility for their own security.

Mary Beard is my mascot for this new moon – she embodies this energy. She's a classical scholar – very Capricorn – who has brought the world of ancient Rome to life in documentaries aimed at a popular audience, and with an emphasis on the lives of ordinary people – very innovative and Uranian. She is also a Lilith figure, a target of vicious misogynist bullying and derision because of her refusal to conform to societal beauty standards – and she has made a point of standing up to the bullies and exposing them. She also published a book on women and power last year. More power to her.

The stellium in Capricorn at this new moon gives a serious emotional tone to the month ahead – but the moon, Venus and the sun will be moving into Uranus-ruled Aquarius over the next week. Also Mars shifts signs on the 26th January, from dark Scorpio to happy-go-lucky Sagittarius. So it's not all heaviness and gloom. Things should start to feel lighter and zingier as we move toward the full moon in Leo on the 31st January, which looks a bit revelatory and surprising! I'll write about it closer to the time.

Full Moon in Cancer

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_of_Baza

This is on the 2nd January, 2:25 am UTC.

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.

Happy new year!!

Full Moon in Capricorn

Hokusai dragon

This is tomorrow morning: Sunday the 9th July, around 5 am GMT.

It's a tough one - brutal, actually. There is bound to be conflict with this, and it could get violent. See the picture above: dragons, volcanoes. Something's about to spew fire, so please be careful.

The moon in Capricorn signifies a guarded, fearful, security-seeking emotional tone – quite cold and authoritarian really. And this full moon will also be conjunct Pluto, which adds an undertone of deep compulsion and hellish intensity.

Basically this denotes an obsessive, emotionally driven need for power, control and security. And on the other side, we have the sun and Mars in Cancer, which is about fired-up emotions, defensiveness and rage – especially concerning family stuff and primal needs.

Also we also have Jupiter in Libra aspecting the sun, moon, Mars and Pluto in a cardinal t-square. Jupiter can be protective and beneficial, but he also inflates everything he touches. Needless to say, we don't need any inflation of the emotionally-driven ugliness.

Mars opposite Pluto is not a nice aspect, and we have it here. It has to do with killer aggression, fights to the death, extreme competitiveness, brutality. As this is an opposition, the vibe is likely to play out interpersonally. As this is a full moon, we are dealing with high drama, culminations and endings.

People get killed under a sky like this. Don't be ashamed to back down from a fight – it isn't worth it. With Jupiter in Libra, blessed are the peacemakers and those who can see the opposite point of view. And with Neptune beneficially aspecting the full moon, compassion, forgiveness and acceptance will be helpful.

This is the culmination of Cancer lunar phase, which began with the emotionally-charged new moon in Cancer two weeks ago. Look to the issues you were dealing with at that time, as they are likely to intensify now. This full moon is a flashpoint, and the point is resolution and justice. It can either be an eruption of atavistic brutality and a fight to the death, or a catharsis that shifts a compulsive, ossified situation.

Because Pluto is involved, there is an imperative for deep transformation, and you would do well to obey this imperative. There's really no resisting it – resistance is useless with Pluto. Pay attention to what makes you feel most uncomfortable, and get to the root of it. Look at your addictions and compulsions – what are you using them to avoid? You are not going to be able to avoid it so easily, this full moon. Your most fucked-up shit will be all lit-up – and as we are dealing with a cardinal t-square, change is required.

On the plus side, this is a great opportunity for healing. Things fester when they're hidden away; they can only heal if they're exposed to light and air. If the fierceness of this full moon takes the form of ripping some putrid psychological band-aid off a festering wound, it could be a very good thing.

If it all feels overly uncomfortable and violent, please keep in mind that in two weeks' time, the cardinal t-square will have broken up and we'll have a new moon in Leo, and it looks a lot less harsh and a lot more fun. So hang in there! Deal with the discomfort, make the required changes, and have faith that things will feel less shitty soon.

New Moon in Capricorn

This is tomorrow, the 29th December, around 7 am GMT.

We have a lot going on in the sky heading into this new moon. Today (the 28th) in particular, is an important day. Today Uranus stations direct in Aries in exact opposition to Jupiter in Libra, and in tight trine to Saturn in Sagittarius. Plus Saturn squares Chiron in Pisces. Plus retrograde Mercury conjuncts the sun in Capricorn.

This symbolism here is of illumination – hidden truth coming to light, or a flash of insight that lights up the road ahead. As Mercury is retrograde, you will not have all the information, so don't make the mistake of thinking you do. (That will come later, as Mercury stations direct and moves to conjunct Pluto in January.)

What you will have is something solid to go on – a hunch that'll lead in the right direction. There will be practical things you can do with it, and your next steps will probably be quite clear.

Because this Mercury retrograde is so tied up with Pluto, what's revealed might be uncomfortable and ugly. With Saturn squaring Chiron, it could bring hopelessness and a painful awareness of limitation. And with Mars conjunct Neptune on the south node, it might feel easier to get drunk or take refuge in fantasy than to deal with what's happening. This is not exactly a feel-good new moon.

But it's better to know the reality than to be left in the dark – because then you can start taking practical steps and figuring out how to work with the situation. We are not eating pie in the sky in cloud cuckoo land here. It's just a shit sandwich on Planet Earth and we have to try to make the best of it.

As Mercury is retrograde in cautious, sober Capricorn, the appropriate response to new ideas or information right now is not a headlong rush to action. It is calm and quiet and industrious – focused on pragmatic, strategic structural changes and adjustments.

The new moon trines the north node in Virgo, which helps!  Rome wasn't built in a day – it took a lot of little steps. Virgo is all about the little steps.

Here is hexagram 53 from the I Ching – it feels relevant to this new moon. It concerns the need for gradual progress in order to build something of lasting value.

Please don't be discouraged if the road ahead looks long and hard! “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice”, per Martin Luther King. It's a very Jupiter in Libra sentiment – faith (Jupiter) in balance and justice (Libra) – and it's the way to go right now.

We will need more than faith though; we will need effort. I think this new moon looks fantastic as a scenario where faith and committed effort come together, along with righteous anger and the desire for change.

We do have a Mars-Neptune conjunction at this new moon, exact on New Year's Day and very close to the south node. So discouragement is definitely an option – dissolution of energy and will. This can be about illness, exhaustion and vulnerability to drugs, alcohol and delusion. Careful with all these things, please. The boundary-dissolving substances are especially dangerous this month.

That said, the Mars-Neptune conjunction beneficially aspects this new moon. What this says to me is that disillusion and disappointment can act as a spur here, and not as a swamp you get stuck in. It's when our illusions drop away that we're most capable of working with reality as it is.

I think the key to this new moon – and to the month ahead – is Uranus, planet of shock and revolution, stationing direct NOW in Aries, sign of anger and individual will.

Change is demanded. We are not going back to the old realities; we are creating radically new ones. New models of relating, new ways of making a living, new values, new visions of the future, new political groupings, new modes of protest and collective action – everything has to change, and all the old tried-and-true stuff we took for granted is just not gonna work anymore.

This kind of structural change is not going to happen overnight. But here at this coldly realistic new moon in Capricorn is where we get a sense of the road ahead - an intuition of what's possible - and start plotting our next moves.

The time to start implementing changes will come soon, as Mercury stations direct on the 8th January.

We'll have a stomach-churning full moon in Cancer on the 12th January. It looks tense, and I'll write about it closer to the time. I don't think the month ahead looks emotionally easy at all! But it does look great for gaining clarity about the road ahead, putting necessary changes in place, and getting things done.

It's a good time to make your New Year's resolutions. I think, make them wilder and stranger this year than you've ever dared. Why the hell not? Happy new year to all!

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 Capricorn

see here

This is tonight, the 10th January – around 1:30 am GMT.

The holiday season happens while the sun is in Sagittarius, which is about bounty, jollity and excess (among other things). But a new moon in Capricorn signals the end of the festivities. Time to take the shiny decorations down and get back to work.

Capricorn is about sober reality, discipline and achievement - so it makes sense that we start implementing our New Year's resolutions around this time. It's when we set intentions for the year ahead, and embrace austerity after the excesses of the holidays.

This return to sobriety is especially in evidence this year, with the sun and moon conjuncting Pluto, which speaks of deep, focused intent and a will to transform.

Also, we have Mercury retrograding through Capricorn, and this is about serious mental consideration. Mulling things over, seeing reality with sharp clarity. Communication that cuts to the bone.

And Saturn – Capricorn's ruler – is conjunct Venus in Sagittarius. This is about limitation and commitment in love and money matters. With Saturn and Venus in Sagittarius, a sign that loves freedom – and also squaring Neptune – there may be a longing to bolt, to escape, or to blot reality out altogether. Keep in mind that escape is not actually a viable option here. You have to work with what is being presented to you; there's nowhere to run.

Bearing this out: Saturn in Sagittarius is disposited by Jupiter in Virgo, which just went retrograde yesterday – and is conjunct the north node in Virgo.

Saturn and Jupiter are basically opposites. Saturn is about contraction, focus, duty, limitation – while Jupiter is about expansion, exuberance, fun and hope. What we are looking at with this new moon is a deep and intense focus on the Saturn side of the equation – while Jupiter's influence is blocked. In other words, party time is over. There are deep and intense burdens and commitments to be taken on, and you'd best put your head down and get on with the work. No escape.

There is just a hell of a lot of blockage, restraint, discipline and focus on the small-picture stuff here. It might feel tremendously heavy and depressing and bleak. On the plus side though – there is the power to see clearly and get things done. And with Pluto and Uranus involved (Pluto conjunct the new moon, Uranus squaring) – there is the potential to restructure things at a deep level.

Maybe your finances are shot to hell, and you have to do some serious belt-tightening. Or maybe your liver is shot to hell and/or you need to start a new health regimen. Maybe you're doing the dry January thing – and with headlines like this, we're being frightened into collective sobriety this new moon.

Or maybe it's time to commit to a new project or to a relationship, or a career change, or whatever.

Whatever you're taking on, rest assured there is plenty of follow-through available. Capricorn is about perseverance. You keep at something despite the obstacles (which often have a lot to do with your own fears), until it is achieved.

But the only way out is through.

Full Moon in Cancer

This is on Christmas day, around noon GMT.

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.

Three of swords

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”.

Full Moon in Capricorn

.


This is on the 2nd July, around 3 am.

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.)

Winter Solstice / New Moon in Capricorn / Saturn into Sagittarius

From the Madonna del Parto by Piero della Francesca

“but set down
This set down
This: were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly
We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.”


As of today (20th December), we have 3 planets in Capricorn: Venus, Mercury and Pluto, all conjunct and squaring Uranus in Aries and the north node in Libra. We also have Capricorn's ruler, Saturn, on the last minutes of the last degree of Scorpio.

This is intense heaviness and seriousness. A profound reckoning is coming due. Capricorn and Saturn are about commitment to earthly reality, perseverance, work. Sobriety and absolute realism. What's before you may not be easy, but the path will be coming clear now...

Venus conjuncts Pluto exactly later today, and squares Uranus. The sextile between Mars in Aquarius and Uranus in Aries is also nearly exact.... This stuff is about endings, final ruptures – also commitments. Breaking with the past and starting anew.

The Venus-Pluto conjunction is difficult, and might involve the ghost of Christmas past rising from the grave and shimmying around in front of you beguilingly. Dead loves come back to fuck with us under Venus-Pluto aspects, and you have to beware – remember what's dead is dead for a reason. “The best indicator of future behaviour is past behaviour”, per Dr Phil.

But there is such a counterbalancing push for the new at work - I don't think the ghosts are going to be able to do much damage. This looks more like a summation or final reckoning than a scenario where you get pulled back into past patterns.

The death-and-rebirth symbolism of the next few days is extraordinary. One door is closing forever, another door is opening. It's profound and it may be very painful - but it must be accepted. We are dealing with reality here, which is as it is, not as we might wish it to be.

Tomorrow (21st December) is the winter solstice: the darkest day of the year, but also the moment when the light begins to return. It's marked by the moment the sun enters Capricorn, which this year happens at around 11 pm (GMT). At around the same time we have Uranus (revolution and liberation) going direct in Aries, a sign representative of birth and new beginnings. This is a big jolt of light amid darkness – a significator of intense change. It's really beautiful and hopeful.

Then we have the new moon a few hours later, as the moon enters Capricorn. 22nd December, around 1:30 am GMT, 0 degrees Capricorn. New moons represent new beginnings – in Capricorn, we see the beginning of something austere, true, reliable. The symbolism here couldn't be clearer or more stark – or more beautiful. Like the face of the Madonna del Parto above: she looks like she knows exactly what she's getting into.

This is the 3rd in a series of 0 degree new moons – we are moving from possibilities (Sagittarius) to realities (Capricorn) here. This is the door opening into a new world. It might not be the life you've dreamed of, but it will be something you can trust – it will be credible.

Hope and change we can believe in. (Ha. Black humour. Black humour is very Capricorn.)

Then, the next day (23rd December), Saturn changes signs – from Scorpio, where he has been for the past 2 years, to Sagittarius. Because Saturn moves so slowly, a sign-shift is a momentous occasion.

Saturn is about limits, karma, duty, responsibility. He rules Capricorn, and we will have a total of 5 planets in Capricorn as he shifts signs. And this is all about the concrete solidifying on the road ahead.

Saturn in Scorpio was about dealing with our psychological shit, and it was not an easy transit. Many of us have been to some very dark places over the past two years. Hopefully we've come out of it with a lot of our garbage and dross burned away.

Saturn in Sagittarius is not as psychologically heavy at all – it's more about grounding (Saturn) a vision of the future (Sagittarius). So again, we are looking at a death-and-rebirth scenario with Saturn's sign shift - from purgation (Scorpio) to building a future (Sagittarius) - and this is fully in keeping with the symbolism of the winter solstice and the new moon in Capricorn.

There are some difficulties to be expected of this transit, though. For one thing, Saturn in Scorpio has been in a mutual reception with Pluto in Capricorn over the past two years. Pluto in Capricorn is about the rot underlying the old order – the process of unearthing that rot (Scorpio) has been relatively measured and grounded during Saturn's transit of Scorpio. But with the end of that beneficial relationship, we may see accelerated societal breakdown, and extremism spreading like wildfire.

Another difficulty is that Saturn will be squaring Neptune in Pisces for much of his transit of Sagittarius. This is about reality dissolving, and it reinforces the theme of societal breakdown that the end of the mutual reception portends.

“All fixed, fast-frozen relations, with their train of ancient and venerable prejudices and opinions, are swept away; all new-formed ones become antiquated before they can ossify. All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned, and man is at last compelled to face with sober senses his real conditions of life and his relations with his kind.”- per Marx.

How do you build a new reality when the ground keeps dissolving underneath your feet? That's a question we'll probably be looking at in detail over the next few years.

But for now I am not going to speculate - we have enough to be dealing with over the next few days, and into Christmas (as detailed in the post below as well). Happy solstice to all.

Full Moon in Capricorn

(Otherworld - Andrew Wyeth)

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.  

Full Moon in Cancer

This one's at 26 degrees Cancer on January 16^th, around 5 am GMT. 

And it's...not so bad. Really, ha. It's actually sort of nice! Provided you've been doing your work.

The moon will be in her own sign of Cancer, which is a very nurturing and motherly kind of vibe. And she will have just passed a conjunction with Jupiter in Cancer the day before, which is kinda like getting a cupcake from the universe. Or a big smoochy kiss. It's a fleeting influence, but sweet. 

The moon will be opposing the sun in Capricorn, which is widely conjunct Venus: so this story is still about having rock-solid standards in love and money matters. Making sure your commitments are solid. 

So basically we are looking at a very motherly, nurturing, cupcake-bearing emotional tone opposing the cold, bedrock reality of limits and standards. You can't always get what you want...

Oh crap, I'll play the song even though it's kind of hokey. You get what you need. 

Yeah, very appropriate for this full moon. (There's even a cake on the cover of the album.) 

Mars will be exactly squaring Venus in Capricorn later on the day of the full moon...so this theme of wants vs. requirements really does seem to be what we are looking at here. Mars in Libra wants one-on-one relationship, social harmony, social justice and fairness. And Venus in Capricorn requires solid investments and security. Something you can bank on. And the moon in Cancer is about hunger and sustenance.

What do you want; what is your heart set on? And is it something that can actually nourish you, or is it junk food? It's the full moon, so you will know: the issue will be all lit-up and in your face. 

Here is a link to hexagram 27 from the I Ching. It's about issues of right nourishment. 

http://deoxy.org/iching/27

There may be something you want that you just can't have. Or something you really want that you probably shouldn't have (another cupcake maybe?)

Maybe you're emotionally invested in something that just does not work in the real world. Or maybe you're involved in some unjust relational dynamics that need to exposed and weeded out. 

Saturn in Scorpio (karma coming due, especially regarding dark collective psychological patterns) will be hitting the sun, Venus, the moon and Jupiter with beneficial aspects, and this is a very steadying influence on the emotional tone. It should be possible to cut off any toxic or unworkable patterns this full moon exposes. It should be easier than usual to walk away from temptation, to stop doing what you know is bad for you, to dissociate yourself from shitty interpersonal dynamics. 

And because Mercury is in Aquarius and sextiling Uranus in Aries...you will probably find it easy to understand, in a fairly detached way, exactly what's going on. And to articulate it brilliantly and with great clarity! To issue your revolutionary manifesto in a very electrifying yet rational way.

I think if you've been doing your work and dealing with your shit (Saturn in Scorpio again), the skies at this time will really be on your side. You'll get back some sort of solid return on investment; you'll have laid the foundations of your security...and you'll probably be feeling pretty damn ok.  

If you've been lying to yourself and others, indulging what's worst in you, attempting to nourish yourself on toxins...well you'll get a solid return on those sorts of investments as well. It's harsh, but that's just how it is.

Something I'm seeing in my own life under these skies: there is a real theme of women being fed up with deeply ingrained cultural patterns of patriarchal power and abuse, and refusing to put up and shut up anymore. It's exhilarating. 

Jupiter in Cancer is some big fat female energy. And this full moon will be conjunct Lilith, a signifier of scary, socially unacceptable female power and rage. And these points are involved in the current cardinal grand cross, which is about rotten social structures that must be changed. 

So I think for women especially...speaking out about relational injustice, even if you're initially branded a crazy bitch for it (and you probably will be), is really important. We have Jupiter (luck, blessing, justice) on our side right now and we had better use it! 

This goes for gay men as well, and men who don't buy into the patriarchal worldview. The cardinal grand cross represents a window of opportunity or a portal to a different kind of world. We can actually instigate revolutionary changes in the collective via individual action these days...and that means fighting for justice on your own home turf, in your own life. Speaking out, making a fuss, being loud and troublesome if that's what feels necessary. And also banding together with other women and like-minded men for support.

Things only change when enough individual people are willing to stand up and challenge the collective undertow...even if that means being isolated at first. We have to value our personal integrity and the truth of our feelings and intuition more than we value fitting into social structures that are inherently rotten.

New Moon in Capricorn / Cardinal Grand Cross



by Tom Thomson

 
This one happens at around 11:15 am GMT on New Year's Day.

And holy crap, what is there to write about this kind of intensity? It's so stark.

Here is a Pavement tune for you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9FYkXEFlE8

& another, while we're listening to Pavement:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NPeykShUVA

New moon in Capricorn conjunct Mercury and Pluto (deep, austere thought and communication). Opposite Jupiter in Cancer (big emotion), squaring Mars in Libra (social aggression, or a drive for relationship) and Uranus in Aries (individual revolt). It's a cardinal grand cross again, jagged and tense, demanding change.

What austere, difficult story is being initiated here? Is it about the beginning of an ending? Or the beginning of something absolutely true - all dross stripped away? All illusions burnt away.

A dream flayed alive, all stripped down like a winter tree... But surviving.

& this was on the other side of the Simple Machines 7" with that Scrawl song, so I'll include it. Holiday joy. Haven't heard these in a long time.

Yeah, it's Capricorn time again. Dark of the year, but with the promise of new light. The landscape in hibernation: stark and quiet, no frippery. The trees hoarding their light deep underground; enduring.

Earthly incarnation is hard going. That's the message of Capricorn...it's hard going and you will have to work for your security. And there will be times where you're stripped of everything but essentials, standing out in the cold wind and just holding on.

Capricorn is also about building something solid and reliable. Committement. What have you achieved this year...what can you build on? What are you committed to?

If you have committed to something unreliable, you'll know. With this cardinal grand cross in effect...you'll know because it will be battered to bits.

--Where I live, the winds were so high last night I thought the roof was going to fly off. It held.

But the same sort of testing is in effect with regard to relationships and investments of all kinds. Venus - ruler of love and money issues - is in Capricorn, demanding solidity.

And this lunation is disposited by Saturn, ruler of Capricorn. Saturn is about limitation. Duty, rules, karma...also fear, constriction, loss.

Saturn is in Scorpio now, so the karmic load is pretty damn heavy and dark. Not a lot of leeway here. We are facing into the consequences of collective patterns, not just our individual ones...and the changes required of us, especially in relationships, are profound.

Failing deep commitement and the will to relate profoundly, we are likely to see some shocking nastiness under these skies. People either get it or they don't. Either they're doing the work, striving for integrity and decency...or they aren't. It's that stark.

And the ones who aren't, you'll want to stay away from these days...they'll be loose cannons. If a person hasn't established some sort of bedrock ground to stand on via their words and actions...avoid them if you can, for your own safety.

People will be stressed and tense, overburdened and easily pissed off. And sudden violence is quite possible, given the Uranus-Mars opposition.

Sudden accidents are also likely, so drive carefully please!

Yeah...stark is the word for this new moon allright. But Jupiter in Cancer is also about faith and hope and emotional buoyancy. And Capricorn is about faith too. However dead and stripped-down the landscape looks...we are past the solstice, the days are getting longer. Grim endurance is not a permanent condition - soon enough it'll be spring again.

Happy New Year!

And no, it will not be an easy one. But we are getting used to this state of affairs by now, right? If we've come this far we can go the distance.

Here is a link to hexagram 32 from the I Ching. It's about enduring, persevering. Staying balanced amid the changes. It's a good hexagram for the skies at the minute.

http://deoxy.org/iching/32

by Toshi Yoshida