To my stepdaughters last night, I remarked that the Moon was full in Capricorn, to which I’m invariably asked, what does that mean? They want a simple answer, something neatly packaged. I notice it’s never a simple answer – even though I want to give them an easy one, one that doesn’t involve being a beginner all over again walking through the steps I’ve traced so often before. But I cannot. She’s the Moon, I groan inwardly, not easily understood… The Moon is reflective of the Sun’s light, and translator of all other planets, in short, she’s much more than the sign she occupies, or the Sun she reflects. There’s much to consider. So we start simply, as we always do.
At this, the yearly crossroads of summer’s Capricorn Full Moon, we see forward and back. Capricorn reminds us of the passage of time, our obligations in the world, the pinnacles we want to achieve in the world of men (and women). And now, during this time of the year when we’d rather be sunning on a rock, deaf to the cares of the world, lost on our own private beach, on an outpost far away from civilization surrounded by the people who remind us of home in the best sense! It sounds like a summer vacation, doesn’t it? Life can appear both contradictory and complete at Full Moon. It’s the unification of opposites, el Sol and la Luna pulling us in two directions at once – the soul yearning for her opposite – the self-aware ego. The soul, La Luna, magnetizes the ego’s desire, El Sol, into a tangible feeling or event, a purposeful awareness that will soon be actionable.
Dreams mingle with memories during Cancer Sun times, urging us toward inwardness, taking form in watery reminiscing, nostalgia for the way things were, once, and questions about what’s coming next. Family members visit in dreams, if not in real life. Hearts are full of bounty, the sweetness of summer like a magical spice, seasoning everything we do with hope and tender romance. Souls are gentle, loving. As the fruits of our labors bloom, we are at the height of our own personal summer. What of Capricorn Moon, the desire for recognition and personal soul-spirit achievement? Can you take conference calls from your beach chair? Certainly, but don’t expect a response. I’m remembering a boat slyly named “At The Office.” Everyone’s on vacation, including the CEO’s and decision-makers. This is your private time for reflection, time to find the silence in your heart before moving ahead with your ambitious plans.
It’s time for romance, crazy. Big love is in the air. Love Goddess Venus and her Lover Divine Neptune cover everything with shimmer and glimmer. That tantalizing object of desire may’ve been just out of reach before, but today has never felt so close – just like the extraordinarily large, illusory Full Moon in the night sky. As Venus dances between Neptune and Saturn we come to realize even the promise of a storybook romance, a killer career, or swearing off sweets requires practical steps – the least of which begins with the question: are you truly ready? Saturn gives us a realistic picture of where we are in the process: whether it’s opening our hearts to love, expressing ourselves, or moving forward with a creative project. A commitment involves making a definitive choice, which definitively excludes others. This promise (building over the past year) has never really satiated an unquenchable thirst – it’s provoked and egged it on, to epic proportions. Use this Full Moon to meditate on it, because when Mercury directs (July 9 and through the rest of the summer) you’ll take the necessary steps to make your vision real.
Finally, the asteroid Ceres is part of a spectacularly rare and special kite formation in the sky, between the Full Moon and the Moon’s Nodes. Ceres is the caretaker of the Zodiac, enhancing the feminine, unconditional love energy of Cancer Sun and Capricorn Moon. She’s a mother, a step removed, a stepmother, adoptive mother, grandmother, special auntie or nanny, anyone who’s loved and nurtured you selflessly, unconditionally, especially through loss, grief, trauma and abandonment, as though you were her own. In the sign of Taurus, Ceres births everyone’s inherent nurturing, provider gifts to the fore. What nurturing gift do you have to give or receive? As a step mom, I’m being called to act on the behalf of my own Ceres this Full Moon. Because the way I “take care†is through philosophizing, teaching and identity-seeking (my Ceres is in the sign of Sagittarius) I’m “coincidentally†giving my stepdaughters astrology lessons! Of course I’m not sure who’s more eager for our daily lesson – them or me.
This brings me back to their simple question: what does it mean? Of course they want a simple answer, we all do. Which means we’re at the beginning, again. So we climb the mountain anyway, despite the noontime heat, knowing we’ll have plenty of time to rest underneath the shades of palm. And as we move from chapter one to chapter two, always a beginner, the complexity we face, we face together.
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