CANCER FULL MOON - 4/5 January 2015

Exact at exact at 04.54am Monday 5 January GMT, exact at 11.54pm on Sunday 4 January EST.

Well, this is quite a humdinger of a Moon to start 2015 off with! This Full Moon is part of a Cardinal Grand Cross involving the infamous Pluto Uranus square and the Nodes of the Moon. Grand Crosses can cause crisis and tension which create big shifts, both personally and collectively. This Grand Cross is in the same degree of the Cardinal signs as the one that came to a head around April 24^th last year, so there could be a link between what we are experiencing now and whatever was going on then. This could represent a very significant turning point in our evolution, both as individuals and as part of the human race. We need to be very aware during this time and do our best to release old patterns rather than falling back into them or allowing them to rule us. This could be a particularly emotional Full Moon, as not only do Full Moons tend to bring things to a head but this Moon is in emotional and sensitive Cancer who is ruled by the Moon herself! It targets the very root of our being, which is a sensitive place indeed.

The Sun is in Capricorn, the sign of maturity, control, discipline, mastery and the Father. It is sitting directly opposite the Moon in Cancer, the sign of family, nurturing, emotional roots and the Mother. Full Moons bring the energy of the two signs into focus and show where the balance might be tipping in favour of one sign or the other. Cancer represents our past; our childhood and the emotional patterns formed during that time. It is our inner world; the root of all that we are and forms the foundation that we spring from out into the outer world, which is Capricorn. We need a solid base to move out from so that we can go out into the world and be a successful human being, and this is what the Cancer/Capricorn polarity represents. Whatever happens in our childhood and the traits we have picked up from our family relationships, especially from our Mother and Father, have a direct bearing on how we function in the world. Capricorn represents authority, responsibility and commitment and our childhood, parental and familial relationships can have a huge impact on our attitude towards these principles.

Somewhere along the way we make certain decisions, or pacts with ourselves, based on what we see our parents do or the mistakes they made, and these decisions are then long forgotten and become part of us; deeply ingrained patterns which hold us back from being all that we could be. We all have so many of these unconscious habits, patterns and defence mechanisms which we are completely unaware of until someone close to us points a mirror back in our face! We formed these  for one reason or another, while we were too young to remember, and while they may have protected us back then they can go on to become quite destructive in our adult lives, sabotaging our relationships rather than helping them. This Full Moon will very likely bring some of these patterns up into our conscious awareness to be cleared and while the process might not be that pretty it could be powerfully healing and allow us to move past some very big blocks indeed.

Pluto is sitting right on top of the Capricorn Sun during this Full Moon, opposing the Moon, while Uranus is forming a square to Pluto, the Sun and Moon. There is a real sense of purging with this combination! Pluto and Uranus have been encouraging us to release outworn habits and patterns in recent times and during this Moon it will all become very personal, as it involves Cancer, the most sensitive, hidden part of ourselves; our tender underbelly. Pluto’s involvement will force us to face our shadows; the parts of ourselves that we have denied or suppressed due to fear. Often our shadows are aspects of our parents that we have experienced as negative and which we deny in ourselves. We may spend our whole lives vowing never to become them but the more we disown these parts of ourselves the more they come out in unconscious, indirect ways that we are completely unaware of.  

Pluto and Uranus could help bring these shadows out into the light of our awareness during this Full Moon. Anything sent into the shadows tends to have power over us, while acknowledging those parts of us that we have disowned will help us become whole and empowered. We are the sum of all of our parts, the good, the bad and the ugly and it does not go in our favour to hide from the parts we don’t like so much. Pluto represents deep, emotional honesty and in Capricorn he urges us to stand resolute in the absolute truth of who we are. No more hiding. This particular Moon is so personal that we are very likely to confront our shadows through our closest relationships. We are being giving an opportunity to clear the past and recognise our self-sabotaging patterns and it is very important to be aware of them rather than falling back into them and repeating past mistakes. It is easy to fall back into the “familiar” reactions, habits and patterns, but Uranus is trying to push us out of our comfort zones and try something new on for size. These patterns are only holding us prisoner and it is time to shake them off and break the chains that bind us! We just have to be very brave and be willing to not only recognise how we hold ourselves back, but also make the shift towards another way of being.

The Nodes of Moon are the final part of this Grand Cross and symbolise a personal and collective push forward in our evolution. The Nodes are in Aries and Libra at the moment, which is the relationship axis, so it is very likely that the shift will occur in our personal relationships and will help us move towards a better way of relating. Aspects involving the Nodes have a sense of fatedness or a change of destiny. My feeling is that this Grand Cross and Full Moon have the potential to bring things to a head to such a point that it is impossible to ignore our unconscious patterns. Our intimate relationships provide us with the means to discover those parts of ourselves we tend to hide from, because the closer we get to someone the more our unconscious reactions and habits come out. Our partners tend to shine a mirror right back at us that makes us all too aware of our shadows! It is quite painful to look in that mirror sometimes, but when we are able to without being defensive the greatest growth can occur. Becoming consciously aware of our sabotaging tendencies, shadows and ingrained habits means that we are better able to make the decision not to repeat them. It is empowering, because it gives us greater control over our emotional responses.

The good news is that Chiron, the Wounded Healer, is forming a harmonious aspect to both the Sun and Moon during this Full Moon. This will help us approach whatever comes up with compassion, gratitude, kindness and forgiveness, both towards ourselves and others. There is something quite raw about the energy of this Moon and, as I said, it touches the most personal part of ourselves and could bring a lot of unconscious, messy crap up to the surface. As such, I am quite thankful that Chiron is helping the situation out and reminding us to be loving towards ourselves and those close to us. We all have our quirks, insecurities and not so pretty parts of ourselves and there is something somewhat terrifying about showing them to another human being. This is what can bring true intimacy, however; allowing ourselves to be open and vulnerable when all we really want to do is run off and hide! It can also bring about profound healing when we become consciously aware of something that has had such a strong hold over us all of our lives. Guilt, blame and shame can be transformed into loving acceptance.

There is a strong sense of our past coming up to meet us with this Full Moon and we must be very careful not to fall back into old, familiar, outworn tendencies. It is so easy to do because they are what we know best. Instead we must be brave and try out a new way of being, based on who we really, truly are rather than who we are afraid we are. It takes a lot of strength and courage to be willing to face our shadows and change ourselves. This Moon is giving us the opportunity to do just that. Some pretty raw emotions could come to the surface over the course of this week, but they can teach us an awful lot if we are willing to face ourselves honestly and with compassion. We have the potential to break down some long standing patterns, both individually and collectively, which is very exciting indeed! It is time to “walk down another street”.

Much love

Amy

xoxo

“I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost... I am helpless.
It isn't my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don't see it.
I fall in again.
I can't believe I am in the same place.
But, it isn't my fault.
It still takes me a long time to get out.

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in. It's a habit.
My eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault. I get out immediately.

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

I walk down another street.”

by Portia Nelson