January 13 5:27 PM EST
This is a highly emotionally charged full moon with potential to stir up, and resolve, situations from the past. Cancer is connected to our childhood, our parents, our early emotional environment, as well as the homes we create for ourselves as adults. The two are, of course, intimately connected. Depending on our childhood emotional experiences, and how much we have processed them and matured through them for better or for worse- our adult home environments and familial experience tend to either mirror similar dynamics (and literal surroundings) or reflect the maturation of our emotional journey and personal cocoon into something that genuinely supports and nourishes us. This is the healthy Cancerian trajectory from emotional and physical dependence on others to authentic and empowering self-love and self-care.
We have all been getting lots of (indirect) information about this over the course of the past decade+ as Pluto was in Cancer’s opposite sign of Capricorn from 2008 until this past November. While this was primarily concerned with Capricornian themes around the breakdown (Pluto) of structures, institutions, bureaucracies, and authority systems. It was also heavily impacting Cancer by virtue of its opposition, and hence secondarily concerned with demanding that we all question the very foundations of what give us our roots in the world, what makes us feel safe and secure, and how we may need to transform or cultivate that. We could be looking externally for answers to those questions. But the real work is internal.
That this period has overlapped neatly with Neptune in Pisces (which began in 2012) was a subtle (or maybe not so subtle) whisper to remember who we truly are at a spiritual level and re-connect with that True Self, that higher part of ourselves. For that is where our true stability and security can be found.
And this full moon, indeed perhaps the first quarter of this year as a whole, is a strong reminder to remember the lessons we have been learning and apply them even as old emotional stories, wounds, or dramas may come up- or as familial themes take center stage.
Mars, the planet of action, purpose and drive is currently in Cancer, retrograde, out of bounds, and conjunct the full moon. This is a very powerful aspect. Together the full moon and Mars Rx OOB are opposed to the sun in Capricorn conjunct Pluto (now at 1 degree Aquarius). So while Pluto may have finally “officially” moved on, it is still very much part of this story. And the whole “story” of the past 16 years of wrangling with Pluto/Capricorn/Cancer may be on the table so that we can see it and potentially have our essential pivot/course-correction/or re-do (Mars Rx).
As a brief but necessary aside, if you are not familiar with out of bounds planets, I would refer you to an article I wrote about Mars OOB several years back. In general OOB planets behave in an “uninhibited” way and have a bold quality about them. They are literally unrestricted. So while traditional astrology might balk at Mars Rx in Cancer being a “debilitated” or weak placement, in reality this is a highly charged and potent Mars- but it’s priorities and focus are on *emotional re-alignment and revitalization* rather than on external goals or ambitions. While Mars goes direct on February 23rd, it stays out-of-bounds until April 7th.
With so much stirred up from the past now and seeking resolution- the answer, just as before, lies in intuitive Pisces. Not only is Neptune still in Pisces (about to make it’s first trip across the threshold of 0 degrees Aries in March after more than 150 years), but the north node of the moon has just moved into Pisces on January 11th. It will remain there until July 2026. The last time the north node was in Pisces was between June 2006 and December 2007 so we can reflect back on what was happening in our lives during that time and may anticipate some similar themes and turning points. The north node points our way towards our highest karmic path and most crucial lessons over an 18 month period.
Neptune and the north node are conjunct in late Pisces and together they trine the full moon and Mars Rx, offering abundant support and spiritual encouragement. THIS is the time, this aspect nudges, NOT to ignore the whispers of our soul, of our heart, of our deepest dreams. It is time to USE Mars in Cancer’s ultra potent position, retrograde and out of bounds, to HEAR the REACTIONS of our bodies, our whole energy systems as they meet the choices and options that are on the table before us. While sometimes we are so pre-occupied in the world of ideas and information (air dominance) or daily material concerns (earth dominance) that it is easy for us to stay on auto-pilot or tune out the more subtle messages of our bodies or energy systems- those messages are LOUD and CLEAR right now. And we are wise to both register them in the moment, as they happen in REAL TIME, as well as BE PATIENT with the insights they are offering.
While Mars is a planet that likes to move full speed ahead (like Mercury), when it is retrograde, it needs more time to reflect and process. And in reality, while total epiphanies and clear redirects DO happen (usually with an assist from Uranus), we are usually not served by taking drastic unplanned actions *especially* when we are feeling highly emotional or angry. The major caution with this full moon is REACTIVITY, defensiveness and un-checked explosiveness. Mars and Pluto are forming 3 exact oppositions over the course of a 6 month period between November 2024 and April 2025. So this entire chapter is marked by these potentially dramatic dynamics. And the overall atmosphere is heightened by the intense reactivity and hyper-personalization of planets in Cancer, especially Mars.
It is thus essential that we do our best to slow down when we feel *triggered* and re-connect to our bodies. Now that Pluto has fully moved on from Capricorn it’s like we are experiencing Capricornian energy anew in our lives, after an extensive 16 year “renovation”. As an earth sign, Capricorn is intimately connected to the somatic physical reality of our lives, and especially of our *experience* as we “climb the mountain of our destiny”.
Capricorn, at its highest, is after all the spiritually driven sea-goat, as I talked about in the Capricorn new moon post which began this lunar month. Its interaction with the physical world is rooted not in its sensory pleasurable/un-pleasurable responses (like Taurus) or its cultivation of remedies/procedures that soothe or galvanize it (like Virgo) but rather in the step-by-step lived experience of “reaching your highest potential” and how you navigate what you encounter along the way. We all needed to have our “personal path cleared” and boy did Pluto accomplish that for us over the past 16 years, ruthlessly (but never cruelly), discarding the outdated from our lives and forcing us to confront some uncomfortable truths along the way.
Whatever has *still* not been seen, acknowledged, or “cleaned up” could be coming up for us in the upcoming weeks and months. Although Mars goes direct in Cancer on February 23rd, it does not re-enter Leo until April 18th. So we are currently in an overall PROCESS that is unfolding for the first half of the year and from which we may not fully feel clarity or completion until after Mars re-crosses 6 degrees Leo in early May. This is the degree where it originally went retrograde in early December.
If we consider early November (when we had the first Mars/Pluto opposition) until early May as a single significant chapter, then we can look at this full moon as a major clarity point about what is still most emotionally raw, vulnerable, sensitive and where we can most effectively use Mars drive and energy to make meaningful adjustments. Old patterns of reactivity/volatility/defensiveness need to be left in the past and if we allow it, Mars can “burn away” the tethers to these old patters so we can respond to, and experience, emotional situations differently.
Our Piscean intuition and deep inner knowing, as we have discussed, is our north star and ally now. This is further enforced by the fact that we have Venus, the planet of love and beauty and relationships, transiting through mid-Pisces and conjunct Saturn. Saturn in Pisces is a 3 year aspect that is helping us re-align this inner spiritual compass. Venus currently conjunct Saturn in Pisces continues to highlight the themes of both spiritual knowing and compassion, and provides a “reality check” on our current circumstances and relationships. Saturn is connected to Capricorn- he shows things how they truly are, not as we *wish* they would be.
Again, it is import to see this an ally, helping us with important discernment in our decision making and path forward. When we see things/relationships/situations clearly (Saturn/Venus) we can choose wisely. This is extra vital since Jupiter in Gemini is throwing ALL of the options and ideas at us, including the proverbial kitchen sink. It can feel a bit much.
We need to come back to earth and see things as they really are, then we can allow ourselves to fully feel all of the emotions (full moon in Cancer) of that experience whether it is excitement/disappointment/frustration etc which can prompt us to take *helpful* and *self-loving* actions (Mars Rx) as we process this experience- rather than “allowing” it to overwhelm us emotionally or even feel “too big” to handle (Pluto opposition). When things feel “too big” right now, we just need to slow down and spend some time getting back into our bodies (sun in Capricorn) and remind ourselves that these situations are coming up so we can resolve them and reach a whole new level in our lives and experience (which again may not feel fully present until May). But we are *not* in a rush. Capricorn must have steady footfalls as it climbs the rocky and unknown terrain of the mountaintop.
We too are served now by fully feeling EVERYTHING, then taking a deep breath and choosing wisely and calmly as we take our next step.
*artist unknown
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