December 26 7:33 PM EST
The final full moon of 2023 falls in the moon’s own domicile of watery Cancer. While Cancer can sometimes get swept up in the depths of their deeply personal sensory experience, this full moon encourages us to maintain a bit of distance between ourselves and our emotions so we can build on them and use them constructively. The full moon, at 4 degrees of Cancer is making a beautiful trine to stable pragmatic Saturn at 2 degrees of Pisces. This means that even though our hearts may be soft now, and we may be having lots of big experiences, we are wise to zoom out a bit so we can discern the ‘reality’ of the situation, apart from our feelings about it. In Buddhism, this might sound something like remembering we are the observer rather than the feeling itself.
The sun, at 4 degrees of Capricorn, is conjunct Mercury retrograde at 25 degrees Sagittarius and Mars at 23 degrees Sagittarius. This is a whopper of a combination. Since the sun has been traveling closely with Mars since early November, most of our recently lunations have had hot-headed Mars as a key player. So “inflammation” in its many forms has been up for us recently and continues to be during this full moon cycle. Mars can fly off the handle, charge into situations head first, and have a “Me me me” mentality. When combined with the moon’s subjectivity and emotionalism this can also create a combination for some personal drama if, as mentioned, we don’t keep an eye on things from a big picture perspective. And Mercury retrograde means that communication may not come out how we intended, or that changes of plan can be a catalyst for frustration and drama.
But Jupiter in Taurus is an ally here. Jupiter is very strong during this full moon since it is stationing at 5 degrees of Taurus, the very degree where it will come out of retrograde and resume its forward motion on December 30th. Jupiter has been in Taurus since May of this year helping us get rooted and grounded in what we truly desire and want to focus on in our lives. Jupiter in Taurus is about building the garden of our dreams, and tending to it with diligence and care. We can reflect now on what seeds we have been planting since May. And then we can double down on them! Jupiter will fly forward through Taurus (once it comes out of retrograde on the 30th) and spend the first half of 2024 helping us experience the flowering of our garden. Then it moves into Gemini in May 2024 and begins a new journey. But in the meantime, the persistent, consistent, diligent effort and care we put into nurturing our true dreams and desires, pays big dividends.
And this full moon, in beautiful supportive sextile to Jupiter in Taurus, is also helping us tune back into our *feelings* around how everything has been playing out since May, and what we may want to adjust moving forward.
The full moon falls at the half way point of a lunar cycle that was started by the new moon in Sagittarius. Sagittarius is the archer, always looking to hit its target in the future, to aim itself on the path, the direction, towards its grand visions and aspirations. This full moon helps us with feeling our way through all of that. Not continuing on auto-pilot or overthinking things, but really feeling our way through each of the decisions and choices that are on the table for us right now.
Some of the options before us could be pushing us into new and unfamiliar territory. But some may be quite familiar indeed. Pluto is currently at 29 degrees of Capricorn, about to re-enter Aquarius for a second time, and definitely dredging up things from the past. From the past 15 years to be exact! Pluto first entered Capricorn in 2008 (around the time of the financial crisis) and will not *fully* exit Capricorn until late 2024. During 2023 and 2024 it is dancing between both Capricorn and Aquarius. Whenever a planet is a 29 degrees it’s like a “hail Mary” when big issues come up for “one last chance” at being resolved. So people or situations that have been front and center for us for this entire “Pluto in Capricorn” 15 year phase of our lives, are on display again now. And we can use the invitation of this sensitive Cancer full moon to feel our way through anything we may be willing to release or see differently.
But again, it’s wise to take it slow and zoom out a bit, even though Mars in opposition to the full moon continues to want to push us forward. Especially when our tempers are activated. But remembering that Mercury is still retrograde may be enough to dissuade us from poking the bear too hard. Instead this Mercury retrograde can help us see things from a different perspective and when those perceptions line up with our lunar Cancerian sensations and intuitions, then we can have some meaningful breakthroughs during this full moon.
*art by @shastamcbride
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