Emotional sensitivity guides us as the Sun shifts into Capricorn at Winter Solstice. The intensity increases with the Cancer Full Moon peaking less than a day after.
December 21 – the Sun Moves into Capricorn
2:23 PM PST (22:23 GMT)
We can feel restrained and even a bit glooming by the heaviness and authoritarian tone of both Sun and Saturn in Capricorn. Whether there are authoritarian figures telling us what to do or not, the parental tone of both Cancer and Capricorn at this traditional time of year can weigh on our psyche.
December 22 – Cancer Full Moon at 0 degrees
9:49 AM PS (17:49 GMT)
This is an emotionally charged full moon. We want to celebrate the holidays, but we may feel over burdened, stressed out, and that we aren’t doing enough. Cancer wants to stay home and be cozy, and this could be a good choice if you have the option. After all, in the northern hemisphere it is cold outside.
The problem is that at this most inner time of year, the holiday hype artificially imposes celebratory tinsel on mass consciousness. Another part of the problem is that the Sun in Sagittarius (from November 22 through December 20) fosters an outgoing and joyful mood that supports holiday festivities. But when the Sun moves into Capricorn just 4 days before Christmas, the party atmosphere evaporates.
We can do our best to fake an outgoing spirit. But winter solstice and Christmas are times to go inside, to connect with Spirit within, to be grateful for what we have, and to quietly evaluate the past year. It is also time to enjoy being with our families. So focus on simply being together with whoever you share the time with. And be sure to enjoy the relief and rest starting on December 26 — the sacred lull before the new year.
Active, and often combative, Mars in Pisces adds to the emotional and sentimental mood. Compassion and not taking things personally are our best survival strategies during these emotionally active times. We need to feel what we feel for our own sanity, health, and healing, but acting out and projecting our negative emotions on others is not an adult strategy.
There is an opening now to release the past and welcome in the new. All the planets are direct except Uranus, which is retrograding through the last degrees of Aries. Uranus at 28 degrees Aries trines the Full Moon at zero degrees Cancer, adding a pleasant surprise element to the mix. In Aries, the surprise is likely to be personal, but it will affect all those willing to embrace magic and miracles in their lives.
Mercury is conjunct Jupiter in Sagittarius, reminding us to elevate our conversations by speaking the truth, while avoiding judgments. To follow both these ideals, we might find that there are times it is best to be silent. The square aspects in this full moon chart emphasize the dynamics of choice. Whatever we choose, we need to be mindful of the consequences of our words, actions, and decisions.
The North Node in Cancer – November 7 – May 4, 2020
The North Node moved into Cancer November 7, 2018 where it will stay through May 4, 2020.
The South Node is always in the opposite zodiac sign, thus now in Capricorn. The Nodes in our birth chart indicate our personal path and how and where we must point our arrow of evolution. During their 1.5 years in a polarity pair, the zodiac signs of the Nodes indicate areas where social consciousness must change to advance the collective in new and more functional directions.
The South Node indicates familiar territory and the path of least resistance, where we can fall prey to habit patterns that keep us stuck in out-moded ways of doing and being. The North Node represents new and unfamiliar territory that we must explore to discover how to resolve problems, uplift our life situations, and become more whole and mature human beings. Both the Nodes must find a way to cooperate with their more relevant and functional expressions. Their integration in expanded consciousness brings resolution, understanding, and fulfillment.
The South Node resists until it is seriously squeezed out of its comfort zone. The North Node must rise to the occasion, develop its skills, and claim its power to save the day. Without an empowered North Node, the South Node has no way to turn — no alternative that can release it from being a slave to the past.
The subconscious is the domain of the Moon. The Nodes help us understand our subconscious conditioning. The South Node indicates subconscious motivations and habitual patterns that keep us anchored in what is convenient, but not optimal. The North Node represents new motivations and powers that we can develop as we become more conscious of our old subconscious ways of being. We impede our growth when we cling to the false security of what we know and refuse to welcome new experiences that help us develop and move into a richer future. The North Node represents the nature of the growth challenges that we face and the inner work that we must do to develop new faculties and to attain emotional and spiritual depth.
We Feel What We Eat
With the North Node now in Cancer, the collective consciousness is being directed to take a closer look at the role that nutrition and food play in our health and well-being. Since November a new awakening has been taking place concerning the relationship between what we eat and chronic and autoimmune diseases, including diabetes, obesity, leaky gut, cancer, dementia, Parkinson’s, autism, and Alzheimer’s.
Recently the Internet has been the venue to share several in-depth programs (summarizing years of research and clinical experience) by medical doctors who are leading the way to a new medical approach called functional medicine. A primary area of research is the micro-biome in our gut that is composed of multi-billions of living organisms that regulate our digestion, elimination, ability to absorb nutrition, the greater part of our immune system, moods, and more. The basic conclusion is that our diet is a major cause and solution to widespread diseases that have arisen in the last decades and now constitute a wide scale health crisis.
The other day I was talking with a special education teacher in a public high school in Chicago. Her observation is that all the problems and disabilities of her students are directly related to and perpetuated by their poor diets (junk food, processed and GMO (genetically modified organisms) foods, and refined sugar, all of which are addictive).
The North Node in Cancer stimulates more awareness of the relationship between food, disease, and health. Collectively we will also be examining other aspects of the deep feminine, our need for unconditional love, our relationship with our mother, the Earth Mother and the Divine Mother, and the hidden emotions that when repressed create serious physical health and psychological problems.
The program Interconnected: The Power to Heal from Within hosted by Dr. Pedram Shojai from Encinitas, California talks about the relationship between our gut and our brain. One of the researchers pointed out that the micro-biome in our gut sends something like 100 times more messages to the brain than the brain sends to the whole body. This leads us to question what is really in charge of our psyche.
Another program that aired recently is called Autoimmune Secrets hosted by Jonathan Otto. I found it interesting (and a bit confusing) that these two series ran at exactly the same time. Both were deep, audacious, and presented a groundbreaking paradigm shift to medicine, health and healing. Of course, many of these ideas have been around for a long time. What is significant is that doctors in the medical establishment are fearlessly speaking out to a wide public audience.
Mind, Moon, and Menu
The Cancer Full Moon is a good time to launch our personal investigation and forge a new path for our own emotional and physical healing and health. The Cancer Crab urges us to examine the relationship between our mood, emotions, motives, and our menu!
January 5-6 — Capricorn Solar Eclipse New Moon
The Capricorn New Moon eclipse focalizes Capricorn energy. This is a very important new moon because it sets the tone not only for 2019 but for the massive shifts happening in 2020.
I will devote a special blog to this topic as we head into the new year and beyond.
I wish you all many blessings and lots of love during the holidays and in the new year!
Resources
Collis, Diana McMahon, Cancer Full Moon – December 22, The Mountain Astrologer, December 2018/January 2019, p. 91.
