The last Full Moon of 2012 occurs on Friday, Dec. 28 at 5:21 am EST. This is the Cancer Full Moon, in which the Moon opposes the Capricorn Sun. The Moon is in Cancer, its home sign — the sign of nourishment, raising the young, maternity, the home and the emotions.
The Capricorn Sun will be aligned with Pluto, just one degree away. The Moon will oppose the Sun and Pluto, adding an urgent quality to this lunation: emotionally urgent, something palpable and even physically visceral. This Full Moon tends to translates to ‘nourishment or death’ — or perhaps, nourish or death.
We have a strange relationship to nourishment in the era of processed foods and kids raised by daycare, TV and computer. Families are in crisis; the concept of the family is in crisis, with little to replace it; the notion of taking care of another person is straining in our era of gimme, gimme, gimme.
Because the Full Moon is happening early in the season, opposite Pluto, and therefore in a square to Uranus, this event is linked to the solstice and the meta-themes of 2012. After a revolutionary 2011, 2012 was introspective and thoughtful by comparison.
Let’s take a quick look at the Sabian symbol for the Moon’s degree on Dec. 28. (The Sabian symbols are a set of channeled symbols created in the early 20th century, one for each degree of the zodiac, most famously interpreted by the Rev. Dr. Marc Edmund Jones and then by Dane Rudhyar.)
The symbol for the Moon at 8 Cancer is, “A group of rabbits dressed in human clothes walk as if on parade.” Rudhyar in his book An Astrological Mandala explains that this represents, “The tendency in all forms of life to imitate higher forms as a stimulus to growth.”
If nothing else, we’ve had plenty of growth stimuli this past year: a series of inner planet retrogrades, Venus transiting the Sun, the beginning of the Uranus-Pluto squares, a much-hyped solstice and countless personal, social and global challenges and celebrations.
Now here we are in the days just past solstice and Christmas, on the edge of a new year. It’s a time when, if you can cut through the noise of toy ads and super-sales and carols (and this year, Mayan hype), you can start to hear the stories that actually make this season meaningful. Those are the stories of generosity and service, compassion and inclusion, gratitude and love. Not the latest Hallmark Cards TV special. I mean those everyday acts of kindness, done with humility, that can turn someone’s day (or even their life) around.
It’s unclear what to imagine in terms of a “higher life form” to emulate. Right now we could learn a lot from emulating allegedly ‘lower’ forms of life, such as cats and dogs, who have neither forgotten how to take care of their little ones, nor refuse to do so.
This Full Moon brings some extra juice to the signal of our higher selves: Mercury will be within a couple degrees of its conjunction with the Galactic Core. That’s sort of like hooking up our galactic and spiritual homing signal (the GC) to a condenser (Mercury) that’s pointed directly at our minds. The Full Moon, though not in an aspect to Mercury and the GC, is suggesting that emotional sensitivity needs to be connected to other sensibilities if it’s going to be useful.
Full Moons, no matter how groovy they look on paper, are still oppositions. They are accompanied by emotional tension, sensitivity and the sense that it all has to do with ‘the other’ — and this one involves Pluto. This is a caution not to overreact, and a suggestion to go deep.
Note that receiving nourishment involves vulnerability. Offering nourishment to another involves vulnerability. This all requires taking a risk.
External relationships may in fact be asking for your attention; you may feel pulled between opposing views or desires. There’s also a chance that what’s going on outside yourself is a reflection of what’s going on inside, just as the Moon reflects the Sun.
Speaking of the Sun, and what’s going on inside, and relationships, it’s worth noting that the Sun will be close to Juno (as well as to Pluto) at the time of the Full Moon. Planet Waves published quite a bit about the Sun-Juno conjunction that occurred on the solstice, in terms of its significance for gaining some space and light around our relationships to ourselves and to our intimate partners. Juno is infamous for not being able to state her needs, and a power struggle often results.
Sun/Moon/Pluto is carrying this theme forward. Sounds like now that these issues have entered our consciousness with increased awareness, it’s time to get to work on the foundations in some tangible way. The Full Moon can be involved in the breaking of a deadlock or impasse. The key is to go gently, be clear about what you want, and let the momentum of the planets do the work for you.
How exciting! Under a post called ‘Nourishment or death’ we have a new community of exhausted-but-radiant-and-being-reborn women!
“With that note albeit a bit late to the fray, may I say “me too, please” Dawn? jannkinzatprodigydotnet” On it’s way to you momentarily, Jann!
I see Ceres is opposite Mercury and Pholus in this Full Moon Chart. . . hmmm.
With that note albeit a bit late to the fray, may I say “me too, please” Dawn? jannkinzatprodigydotnet. Thanks.
JannKinz
Will pop the same info to you too, Pam and Cassandra, no prob!
“Would you like to exchange about remedies a bit?”
please! 3pips3joys26atorangedotfr
many thanks
xxxp
“Would you like to exchange about remedies a bit?”
I would like that too. carecare7atmsndotcom.
The depth of feelings linked to Pluto, the intensity but not something negative. The eve of full moon was strange at all as usual. Of the irrational of Neptune that passed through there? the magic of Pandora in sextile March… Good Weekend Planet Waves 😉
Paola, I will email you. I know a few women personally, but am on many support groups, There are nearly 10,000 members on the largest group, mostly female.
Dawnbrocco, I totally agree. And it’s quite interesting that you know *many* women experiencing this, like it was sort of a collective thing.
Would you like to exchange about remedies a bit? paolamayaATvirgilio.it
If not, never mind.
rucognizant says, “ONLY…………….if you believe that! ”
Except I’m not talking about beliefs, I’m talking about one’s endocrine system messing with you so badly you can’t function, can’t sleep, can’t think, and just want to go dig a 6′ hole in the back yard and give up.
And not just menopause, tho meno can be an instigating factor in further endocrine decline. I’m talking more thyroid and adrenal dysfunction. I can’t tell you how many women are unable to work, never mind have the energy to try and change the world for the better. And the world ends up missing out.
Fortunately, all these things are fixable, naturally, so long as one doesn’t really expect help from the medical system. You end up in a vastly weakened state, but *must* be pro-active if you want to rebuild your health and then your life.
“A woman spends her youth rearing children, then just when she reaches a certain age, after gaining knowledge and wisdom, she finds herself incapacitated by her endocrine system, keeping her from wielding any power within the world. And it is women’s collective wisdom the world needs most.”
ONLY…………….if you believe that! I watched my Mother do that………to her credit she managed to get past it partially…………….in her later life. Imust have been taking notes unconsciously……………..because I am now reaping the results of “crone power”, antithical to the meme of society. IT IS WORKING!
Eric, along with the Sun-Juno (Pluto) conjunction, my natal Sun that’s in Cancer is now also currently trine Uranus. And Moon is also sextile both Pluto and Uranus, trine Neptune too. I am (and have been moreso recently) very open…thank you for the reminder to be clear in that- as you offer to us here…
“Note that receiving nourishment involves vulnerability. Offering nourishment to another involves vulnerability. This all requires taking a risk.”
This is a great post, wise in its cautious encouragement and perfect, timely advice for me (Cancer Moon) as I sit here trying to temper my reaction to a messy situation with lifelong implications. So glad I checked in here before I hit the send button 😉
@ dawn –
“I can’t stand to see people, mostly women from what I’m seeing, suffering needlessly, from docs kowtowing to the idiotic Standard of Care, and refusing to acknowledge natural treatment options, keeping their patients, to whom they are responsible, ill.
“A woman spends her youth rearing children, then just when she reaches a certain age, after gaining knowledge and wisdom, she finds herself incapacitated by her endocrine system, keeping her from wielding any power within the world. And it is women’s collective wisdom the world needs most.”
Beautifully said, Dawn. Though I have no children, I am living through the same experience. I share your perspective, and it leaves me angered and bewildered.
“the notion of taking care of another person is straining in our era of gimme, gimme, gimme.” and “There’s also a chance that what’s going on outside yourself is a reflection of what’s going on inside, just as the Moon reflects the Sun.”
This hooks up with Tuesday’s oracle: “As time has passed you’ve mysteriously become the person who had foresight; who had guts; who believed something was possible that others doubted. The fact that you persevered is all the more to your credit. Not a sense of mission: an actual mission. Lead on.”
My world, for the past 4 years has been my health, first, into major decline, on the way Out The Door, now resurrecting, like the Phoenix. It is possible. What is becoming clear, from my journey, is how many others are suffering from related imbalances, all self-repairable, beginning with the oldest of my 3 younger brothers, whose poor health has mirrored my own.
Just Christmas Day, I declared to make him my mission. He is my favorite brother, partly because he’s also an Aries, and so, we are more alike than the others, and partly because we had only each other for our first 4-5 years and were quite content with each other’s company, til the other 2 brothers came along and unbalanced the energy! He won’t listen to mother, but he and I have a deeper level of respect for each other, so I am hoping he’ll let me help him.
And just yesterday, I heard of my husband’s friend’s wife who has been suffering badly from fibromyalgia, on the verge of surgery, as that’s all that doctors know to do. Again, fixable. So, I’ve reached out to her with resources which can help.
I can’t stand to see people, mostly women from what I’m seeing, suffering needlessly, from docs kowtowing to the idiotic Standard of Care, and refusing to acknowledge natural treatment options, keeping their patients, to whom they are responsible, ill. It is one way the world is trying to keep down, and out of power, more than half the population, which so pisses me off.
A woman spends her youth rearing children, then just when she reaches a certain age, after gaining knowledge and wisdom, she finds herself incapacitated by her endocrine system, keeping her from wielding any power within the world. And it is women’s collective wisdom the world needs most.