On January 6th, at 5:08 p.m. CST, the moon opposes the sun in almost 16°22′ of Cancer initiating the first full moon of the calendar year. We are called into the depth of our emotional body to identify our needs and strengthen our inner connection.
This particular full moon coincides with the intentions that we planted near the 28th of June 2022, and as those seeds are now ripe and ready to bear fruit, its time think back to that time, reflect upon the themes that were arising then – to do some soul searching to gain a deeper understanding of the desires that were sparked by that cycle, in preparation for this energy to be made manifest.
Cancer as An Archetype
Cancer is the first water sign of the zodiac and initiates a deeper understanding of our emotional body and psychological patterns beyond the logical mind. To feel vitalized, Cancer must relate to emotional needs and find emotional reasons for living.
Cancer is the archetype of safety, healing, nourishment, and developing our roots. Through acute sensitivity and attunement to the world around them, they bring healing through compassion, connection and nurturing. Cancer is associated with belonging and our bloodline. Through the traditions we pass down in the family line we connect to lineage.
Cancer is associated with the Mother Archetype. Mother from the ways in which we learn to nurture ourselves and others, to the nurturing role that unites families and communities. Our first experience of home on this physical plane in is our mother’s womb. No matter what type of mother we had, we must learn as an adult to nurture and care for the child within us.
In a patriarchal society, generational trauma and oppression of women are unconsciously passed down to the next generation. We often are conditioned into roles and put into a box of who and how we nurture, instead of learning how to be present and care for ourselves. Regardless of our gender, we have been conditioned into specific roles in our family and inherited mindsets and expectations that are a result of the patriarchy.
This lunation asks to uproot the conditioning of misogyny and examine what aspects of the mother wound we are upholding that we learned in our family and culture that has kept us from accessing our authentic feeling nature and ability to be with our needs. It is through learning to value and care for ourselves that we can become the person that we wish to be in our relationships, work and community lives.
The Cancer / Capricorn Polarity
Cancer connects us to our feeling nature, our relationship to home and our personal needs. Capricorn represents our roles in society, drive to achieve practical goals. Capricorn brings our attention to our deeper commitments and goals, and wants to see them through to completion. We may be feeling frustrated where things aren’t flowing on the one hand, or we may need to get serious about where we wish to grow in this next year. Cancer reminds us that to reach our goals we must take care of our ourselves, honor our needs and approach our larger goals in a nurturing way.
This polarity asks us to find balance between our inner and outer worlds. It is vital to recognize our limits in a healthy way. To honor what is practically realizable given our existing obligations and the number of hours in any given day. This lunation brings us into deeper reflection of our needs, relationships and the areas in which we need to create and maintain boundaries in order to build a life that is sustainable.
In the shadow of this polarity, Cancer must learn to tune into their emotional needs and honor them. They may search for home outside of themselves or become so focused on the needs of others that they abandon their own. Cancer must learn to self-parent. It is necessary for us to have a sense of security and stability within ourselves and connect to our needs no matter where we live. When we disregard our needs, we abandon our inner child. The more we abandon our needs, the more likely we will disregard or even violate the concerns or rights of others. We must learn to stay with ourselves and continue to check-in. We must learn to receive and give to ourselves as well as others.
Capricorn may risk becoming blinded in their achievements and cultural values to the detriment of their own agency. They are meant to reflect on their success and achievements and embrace a role that empowers them to give back, contribute to society and mentor others. Capricorn is associated with Elder archetype that embodies wisdom to support the next generation and teaches about healthy conservation to sustain the planet.
This polarity reminds us that our emotions are integral to our internal compass in informing what is authentic and aligned for us and connects to our higher vision, and should be valued as such. We must learn to take exquisite care of ourselves and the earth and commit to what is required to sustain the work that we have created and show up in the world.
We Are Called Into Our Heart
This moon heightens our awareness to our emotional needs and the ways in which we protect our heart. We unravel habitual patterns that keep us stuck in the familiar so we can awaken to what we are feeling and allow it to flow and inform. In staying too loyal to comfort, we have forgotten how to listen to the deep longing of our heart. The past few years have kept us operating from a position of security, and the unconscious beliefs associated with it which are out of touch with our compassionate feeling nature.
“Grief is the honor we pay to that which is dear to us.”
Toko-pa Turner
This full moon is a call to bring our presence to and stay with our emotions. We open to layers that we have been suppressing and now can process and release what has been deeply embedded. We may find ourselves feeling nostalgic and reviewing previous chapters of our history. We feel grief and pain that has been longing for a witness. This may require us to be open to feeling uncomfortable, and to make the conscious choice to look towards and be with our pain and the pain that we have created, when we have been conditioned to look away. This may mean to support and acknowledge those who don’t have the privileges and resources that we have been blessed with. This may require increased accountability in our relationships and for our role in the collective narrative. We may need to listen more for a greater understanding of where others are coming from and make less assumptions. We may need to take inventory of the ways in which we keep ourselves distracted. We are invited to cultivate a baseline practice of checking in regularly in a world that models checking out. We began to notice more of our intuitive sensation and how we respond to life. Through feeling and flowing with what is present, we are able to connect to where we are called to bring our heart and our light into the world.
This lunation guides us into the heart of the matter, which is a rededication of trust with our emotions and awareness of our needs. We shed light onto our old defenses in order to surrender the old armor. We no longer need to be our running the old software in the emerging new paradigm.
“As you live deeper in the heart, the mirror gets cleaner and cleaner.”
Rumi
Finding Home Within
The archetype of Home refers to our physical surroundings as well as our sense of safety and connection to ourselves and our inner home. When we are at ease within ourselves, we have a sense of belonging, and we are confident enough to express our creative essence in the world.
A major theme in this lunation is finding a new level of home within ourselves. Whether it’s at home in your skin, your body or your heart. This lunation calls us into a new level of compassion, acceptance and connection to each and every part of ourselves. Through presence and awareness, we make space to include all of who we are. We are guided to practice more loving kindness and create a new anchor of home within. To move through the world with a sense of presence and contentment is a dynamic way to be at home wherever you are. We awaken to a deeper level of trust and ease in our intuitive wisdom.
“Find the love you seek, by first finding the love within yourself. Learn to rest in that place within you that is your true home.”
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Cosmic Weather
The moon occurs right before the midpoint of Mercury retrograde and is opposite Mercury Rx in Capricorn. As Mercury and the Sun align the following day, we go deeper into evaluating what are we really committed to, and whether or not are we happy with where we are in our lives. We are invited connect to our needs by stepping beyond our linear way of perceiving information and remaining attuned to subtle currents of interconnection. We need to find balance between our head and our heart. Our interactions with others facilitate compassion and a new perspective.
The moon is conjunct Pallas Athena in Cancer. Pallas Athena speaks of pattern recognition. It is essential at this time to take pause and reflect on the habitual patterns that have kept us numb or caused us to abandon our own needs. Through inner inquiry, we can create a new emergent strategy that guides us home.
The moon is sextile to Uranus in Taurus, which is still in retrograde motion, inviting us to shake things up in terms of how we approach life and our own perception of security. While staying in our comfort zone may feel comfortable and safe, it may hinder us on our path of transformation. Sometimes the safest thing we can do is to trust our emotional compass, step out into the unknown and begin anew. This aspect offers an opportunity to release what we have been holding onto and connects us to new truths regarding what authentically feels like home, so that we may more fully understand our true needs and take ownership of what we have created.
The moon is trine Vesta in Pisces which strengthens our capacity to see the sacredness of what we carry within and anchors us in the sanctuary of our own hearts.
The moon is trine Neptune in Pisces awakening us to the messages and synchronicity of our soul. We can easily feel into the collective energies and psychic impressions that form this deeper shadow inquiry.
The full moon chart is a T-Square with Chiron in Aries as the focal point. This speaks to the tension between our home and inner life vs our work and responsibilities in our outer life. For this to resolve we must connect to our own healing process and our issues around our identity, autonomy and independence. Healing happens when we make space for nurturing our Soul connections, the perspectives of others and in fostering collaboration.
The Invitation
This lunation is a call to step out of our linear process and into our emotional intelligence. We make space for the sacred information and anchor to what authentically feels like home and cultivate a practice of radical trust of our intuitive compass. Through this process we gain profound understanding of our patterns and open the door for more grace to enter.
“It was when I stopped searching for home within others / and lifted the foundations of home within myself / I found there were no roots more intimate / than those between a mind and body / that have decided to be whole.”
Rupi Kaur
Thank you Stacy so much for this post! I had a dream several days ago about vacationing for a while on the moon in a space ship, enjoying the view of earth and fresh air from the front porch outside the door to the spaceship and the respite from living in earth energies. You were in the dream! While enjoying the fresh air, someone else in the dream (I could only hear their voice – not see them), said that I must wear my spacesuit outside in order to breathe. That did not matich with my intention or experience, but I felt I had to comply with what they told me. Your post emphasizes following intuition and listening to that first rather than the brain’s social conditioning. I woke up happy from that dream, feeling refreshed from the respite from earth, and yet curious about the dream and your place in the dream. When I read this post about the full moon that you wrote, there were so many answers! The midpoint on my natal chart is between the 9th and 10th house is 16 degrees Cancer! So this post is very significant and right on for me in terms of what to focus on in my inner work! It also confirms and expands upon other messages I have received lately that are in harmony with this! Thank you so much! I appreciate your years of study and dedication to your work!