Astrology Now: New Year's Cancer Full Moon, January 2018
New Year’s Day brings a Full Moon in Cancer, ripening to 10⁰21 Cancer, at 7:24 pm EST.
The Cancer Full Moon arrives in the timely wake of the holidays. Cancer rules our roots, family, and homeland, but it’s also the pack we roll in. The Cancer Full Moon illuminates our awareness in regard to what family means. Chances are, you spent your holidays with your loved ones. What is the takeaway? What traditions resonate with you? What makes you feel at home?
Maybe you are feeling especially worn out after the holidays and you need some extra TLC. The sign of Cancer also represents the nurturing principle, so connect with the rituals that help bring you back to center. Nourish. Replenish. Practice self-care.
Ruling our roots, Cancer also rules our infancy. Human babies cannot survive without the nurturing of others. At that age, we are functioning from a primal, instinctual level. We do not yet know the spoken language, relying purely on our senses. We respond to our environment at a young age with noises, laughs and tears; as adults it could be our body language and our facial expressions, which ironically are still subconscious! The Full Moon is going to intensify these very senses, so pay attention to your responses and feelings.
Compounding these instinctual responses, Mars approaches a conjunction to Jupiter. This is kind of a big deal. The Full Moon trines the duo, serving as a taproot from the subconscious habits to the conscious. Mars perfects its union with Jupiter on January 6th, so we have the entirety of this lunation to gain clarity on how these two sides of ourselves are so intimately connected.
Mars conjunct Jupiter is going to bring more exposure to the occulted shadow we all carry – personally and collectively. Since Jupiter entered Scorpio in October, several people have been ousted for inappropriate behavior. Mars is going to animate this theme even more. The Vedic name for Jupiter is Guru, which means teacher, but literally translates as: “from darkness to light.” It’s those very disempowering experiences that can become our greatest teachers. Mars brings an eagerness to dig deeper. Unpleasant at first, but the sooner the pain can be processed, the more comfortable we can be in our skin. There is much power to be gained from surviving, but even more empowerment by thriving.
Additionally, this combo can be insanely competitive, healing and/or sexual. If you are trying to conceive, practice tantra or sex magick, this lunation is supremely potent, boosting virility and eroticism. Other primal reflexes are anger, territorialism, sadness, or laughter. The only caution is on how we release emotions such as anger, so as not to lower too much into the animal brain, but rather to ask ourselves, what are these instinctual responses showing me? What’s the lesson?
Mars and Jupiter square the nodes of destiny offering us the choice to evolve or stay. This potent energy offers us a huge invitation to move forward with courage and a willingness to face the deepest part of ourselves. We’ve got two weeks; now go forth! (And don’t forget to nurture yourself!!!)
January 2nd: The Wild Card
Uranus stations direct at 24⁰34’ Aries. If you’ve got planets at this degree (any sign), it’s probably a very exciting time in your life! Big changes, sudden revelations, jars exploding in your kitchen, nervous breakdowns and breakthroughs… And similarly for the collective, we can expect some extra stress dodging these curve-balls.
Intuitively, I feel like someone may make a discovery, or find a loophole of some sort that can turn things around. Uranus is moving forward, remember, along with Mercury. We are retracing our steps; the Republican Tax Bill and the Net Neutrality Bill were recently passed within just one week. They say it's final, but Uranus is like Robin Hood, the rebel who up-swoops the status quo. Let’s see if there’s a rebuttal.
If someone pulls the wild card on you, remember that this energy is meant to AWAKEN, to stir the pot. Uranus stations can make us more anxious, high strung or energized, so make sure you have outlets. And try to be open to seeing things in a new way. This energy gets wrapped into the Full Moon, again, we may be feeling this amplified energy for the next two weeks.
January 2nd and 3rd: Sun and Venus sextile Neptune, inviting inspiration and idealism that you can use. Get a positive boost and let your creativity flow.
January 6th: Mars and Jupiter perfect their conjunction (see Full Moon above); Mercury trines Uranus, bringing an inventive, creative, hyper-perceptive quality. See things for what they are. Pick up the pieces, see the clues and put it all together.
January 8th: Sun and Venus sextile Mars and Jupiter; if the revelations shook you up this past week, this is the rainbow after the storm. You’re on the other side of it and feeling more positive now. Mars sextiles Pluto, offering resourcefulness and an unrelenting will to keep going. How can I use these gifts?
January 9th: a vivid day indeed. Most importantly, Eris stations direct. Eris is the archetype of the enraged and the excluded. We’ve been hearing a lot from Eris lately. She made her first conjunction (since her discovery) with an outer planet in 2016, igniting the BLM movement, Bernie Sanders’ grass roots political movement, NFL players kneeling, the Women’s March in DC the day after the inauguration and even now, the wave of #metoo confessions – all of these movements are saying the same thing: “we’ve had enough!” We can expect to be hearing from Eris today in a big way. Eris has zero fucks left to give, so let’s see who has a meltdown or makes a big political statement.
Venus overtakes the Sun as they cross over Pluto. It’s a race and Venus, love, wins. Look for small victories. And I say small because Venus is combust, (burnt up) under the sun’s rays. However, she does move ahead. It’s as if we are all wondering, “where is the love?” determined to love harder in a world that can be so callous.
Venus conjunct Pluto: intense love, obsessions. Pay attention to where you get fixated with finances or relationships.
Sun conjunct Pluto: power, embodiment, awareness, evolution, mastery, growth, transformation, empowerment, will to succeed, healing.
January 11th:
Mercury enters Capricorn, effectively clearing his shadow and completing the retrograde story. On to something new! If you haven’t yet envisioned your year ahead, now is an excellent time to set goals and plan.
Mercury in Capricorn wants to get serious and focus on strategy. For those living in colder regions, you’ll want to take extra vitamin D, as this extra seriousness can also manifest as depression or feeling blue. If you are prone to seasonal blues, arm yourself with positive music and good friends.
The positive side of the negative mind is developing caution, realism, careful planning, pragmatism and FOCUS. Mercury conjoins Saturn tomorrow, for an added dose of temperance. But not to worry, things should brighten up a bit in a few days.
The Moon is void all day. So go ahead and relax if you can.
January 13th and 14th: Sun and Venus square Uranus: Illumination; urge to break free from anything that’s limiting. What’s stopping you from more joy, more bliss, from living in more of your truth? Is there a practical way over the hurdle? Remember, Mercury in Capricorn wants to operate responsibly, so we aren’t as reckless as we would otherwise be with this aspect. Do less of something, so that you can do more of what you enjoy. Design a new schedule that supports your innate freedom and creativity.
January 14th: Venus and Sun sextile Chiron: the wisdom borne of the healing process. See how far you have come!
January 15th:Jupiter sextiles Pluto for the first of 3 times. This is about exposing the rot, the ugliness. Pay attention to what emerges today because it may become a theme that we work with all year. Watch for themes of corruption, manipulation, taking advantage of others, use of power, whistleblowing, and truth-bombs. This aspect could also be about sex or finances. Both planets are focused on exposing the TRUTH in order for GROWTH and TRANSFORMATION to take place on a massive level. Wahe Guru!
Aho Mitakyue Oyasin. May Mother Earth and all her inhabitants be awakened to our unity, and the highest LOVE of the Universe.
Love, peace and unity to ALL....
-Catherine