On January 1, 2018, the first Full Moon of 2018 ushers the year in. This Super Moon (largest appearing moon of the year) is called Wolf Moon. Like the wolf, it calls us together to find safety, protection, peace, fidelity, and forgiveness with our families. Family, whether it be kin or friendship in nature, is where we find ourselves at home. The Full Moon at 11 degrees of Cancer (second decan) is in opposition to Venus in Capricorn.
The Moon is at home in Cancer, and emphasis is on the family and gatherings of all kinds that promote congeniality, compassion, and mutual support. What we need and want seems to fall right into our laps at this time if we are open to recognizing and receiving the gifts life has to offer.
The Full Moon in Cancer will aspect four planets in its oppositional transit: Saturn, Venus, the Sun, and Pluto form a cluster of powerful planets in Capricorn. How we define love and affection is tested and challenged during this Full Moon cycle. At the same time, the Cancer Moon forms a trine with Mars and Jupiter in Scorpio and Neptune and Chiron in Pisces. This Kite Pattern formed by the Moon's opposition to Venus and the Sun and the Moon's trine to Mars and Jupiter in Cancer and Neptune in Pisces brings about what Marina of DarkStar Astrology describes as bringing "hope and spiritual harmony. Jupiter trine Neptune is ...a very charitable aspect, but one that needs to be channeled realistically so that the help really does go to the grassroots and needy people." Our capacity for true compassion grounded in practical application in meaningful ways is a major gift of this Full Moon in Cancer. The unhealed/growing edge of Cancer is the tendency to smother and over protect...all ways we try to maintain control. Learning to let go and trust that what is meant to unfold will, is one way Cancer can become more genuinely loving and nurturing.
Cancer is all about love. The Moon is all about our emotional responses. Together they challenge us to grow in love and how we love. Compassion, love, and affection are never meant to be only about self gratification and wish-lists kind of fulfillment. Love comes when we are capable of giving what is needed where it is needed without fear or worry of repayment. The stellium of heavenly bodies in Capricorn enable us to put theory into practice as we learn more about how to express love, nourish affection, and act with compassion in all areas of life. This makes for a challenge during full moons when our shadows are thrown into the light. During the Full Moon, the veils between what is hidden as the veils (inner and outer worlds) is lifted.
The Moon's opposition to Venus in Capricorn has the effect of highlighting the polarity between nurturing and satisfying our own desires. When we identify our worthiness with our ability to perfectly nurture others or provide the 'perfect' setting, we miss the point of how love is best expressed in mutuality. Allowing ourselves to release control over every last detail, enables everyone to participate in creating the perfection of loved expressed in whatever activities are being shared. Remember, the issue of polarity is alive in every area of our lives, all the time. We cope with the extremes by finding ways to combine the best of both worlds somewhere in the expression of the happy medium. The same is true in love and all types of relationships. I remember my young daughter confusing the idiomatic expression, "It takes two to tango" for "It takes two to tangle." Equally true, it's our choice to first, recognize what sets us off and second to make some attempt to turn that conflict into a dance.
Shadows are those areas of ourselves that we've not acknowledged, we're learning to deal with, or we're trying to discern. We discover ourselves feeling emotions we have not expected to feel or behaving in ways that make us feel uncomfortable (guilt, fear, worry, anger, jealousy). Whatever is boiling up from our own subconscious may spill over into the way we react or respond to all manner of relationships. Cancer is about protecting those we love, providing a safe, nurturing environment, and like the wolf, we will do what we must to protect those we love. Direct confrontation is best avoided, though when some allow their unhealed shadow to loose the reins on emotions, conflicts and anger may be the result.
Since the Full Moon in Cancer also opposes Lilith, the Black Moon, in Capricorn, it is imperative that we maintain awareness of where we are bordering on draining our lovers rather that mutually satisfying each other. There's a fine line between being loving and supportive and smothering and vampirish. Make sure your expectations of others and yourself are somewhere in the healthy and less dominating range...that is if you're looking for a lasting partnership and long-term friendships. This Full Moon in Cancer has the potential for very loving and fulfilling energy provided we do not allow our shadows to overwhelm or subconsciously control us. Ways to recognize when this is happening is to notice what you fall back on when you're feeling vulnerable or less confident. Addictions may trap us into repetitious patterns and behaviors that are not necessarily helpful in maintaining healthy relationships and family structures.
Full moons are good times to release and rid ourselves of outworn and unnecessary objects, patterns of behavior, and needs.
The turning of the solar new year is also a great time to clean up and clear out (before the full moon if possible), so that we enter the new year with the light shining on what we've accomplished, achieved, managed to rid ourselves of, and released from our experiences and relationships. With the light of the Full Moon in Cancer, we prepare to enter the new year with a lighter burden, clearer vision, and greater insight on what it takes to really create security, safety, nourishing, and fulfilling families and relationships of all kinds. Appreciation for and forgiveness of whatever needs to be atoned for are best expressed in the light of this full moon.
A good friend always signs her letters and posts with the words, "Be gentle." This Full Moon in Cancer also asks us to be gentle with one another, with ourselves, with the Earth and all her resources and life, and with our understanding of what we have come here to do. Go gently into life as a means of creating peace, love, and compassion in your heart and the hearts of all you touch.
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