Before the Uranus-Pluto square began making matters of life direction (and pretty much everything) tougher to unravel, it was much easier for me to offer Joseph Campbell’s career advice to those clients who were miserable in their professions. “Follow your bliss” I’d say, and point to the major career indicators in the chart: Sun (creative ego), the MidHeaven sign and Tenth House Planets (mission, purpose; what you are here to contribute to the world), Venus (joy). But in recent years it’s struck me that some people cannot or do not know how to connect their own happiness. Happiness belongs to the Moon.

What makes you happy? When I ask this question of a client who says she is unhappy in her chosen career path, her answers are simple. Time in nature, with animals, being creative etc. may appear to be unrelated to what we do in the world. But are they? When we have a relationship to our heart and what it wants, we can follow the whims that have the capacity to deeply nourish our sense of purpose. Maybe this is what Joseph Campbell meant when he instructed us to find our purpose by following our bliss… bliss is to meant to be followed, as one follows a lover to a magical, unknown doorway. When we do that, and allow this flow into other areas of our lives, miracles can happen.

To bring it back to the heart, look to the Moon, la luna. La Luna holds court in our heart. She measures the quality of our life by how much soulfulness and feeling satisfaction we receive from our daily life. Where is the Moon in your chart? Where is your bliss? Virgo in the Eighth House? Research your psychology, heal your heart, take your need for intimacy seriously, follow your bliss for being helpful, for organizing deep minutae. Libra in the Third? Create a harmonious, nurturing daily life, teach relationship skills to those in need, be an empathic communicator, follow your bliss for artistic self-expression. While not the destination in and of itself, these Moon-y activities could be magical doorways to new fulfillment.

You can also use this Capricorn Full Moon to check in with your mission. Go to a special, familiar comfy spot that feels like cinnamon and vanilla smell, warming, nurturing and nourishing to you. Locate that invisible energy behind all you do, the heartbeat that fills your being with purpose and promise. Are your emotions (Cancer) aligned with your role and mission in the world (Capricorn)? For more clues, look to your MidHeaven sign. Mine is Cancer. My mission is compassion, understanding. Recently, it was pointed out to me that when I go into emotional negativity during physical pain sensations- instead of compassion for others like me, and seeking meaning from my experience – my emotions aren’t in alignment with my mission. When my emotions undermine my confidence, instead of touching hearts, I retreat into invisibility, Cancer’s shadow. A Capricorn MC might undermine their purpose with an emotional attachment to empty roles and duties, a shadow of Capricorn. The shadow traits of our MidHeaven sign shows us how we undermine our purpose.

How is your heart doing? The heart has a language; it speaks in moods and feelings. Under the clear light of this Capricorn Full Moon, you can step back from your emotions and get a more objective view on your heart. Are you purposefully and soulfully moving through life, are you celebrating hard-won and deeply fulfilling accomplishments, or are you wrestling with the stranger in your heart? Because none of us have to make the time to get to know what fills our heart with milky warm bliss, what causes it to ache and hurt, all its little self-sabotaging traps. Care of the heart can always be put off for a rainy day in the future…which generally causes that ugly Saturn malady, depression. Or we can get intimate with our heart, follow the gentle nudges it quietly whispers every single day, and allow those to gently guide us to who we most want to be. At this Full Moon, we can see the shape of our heart. Honor what you find, and happiness can grow from that place.