Cancer Full Moon, January 19, 2011

Cancer Full Moon



Cancer Full Moon, January 19, 2011
Cathy Pagano







This symbol is in the form of the infinity sign indicating a shift toward conscious integration of the energies of spirit/Sol and soul/Luna.



[Let’s get this out of the way right away. For an explanation of the astrological ‘news’ that has everyone wondering if they’re not who they thought they were - and that 13th sign, go to the end of this article.]



Every year at Winter Solstice, the world stops and holds its breath – will Light and Life return for another year? We are blessed by having it so. Each year the Sun returns and brings new life with it. Ancient peoples and modern religions celebrate this return of the Sun with celebration and festivals.

One of those ‘sons’ is called the Prince of Peace at this time of year. He is called this at his birth on the Sun’s return. The Light of the World wants Peace to reign in this world of ours. Those are our cosmic instructions.

And so each year, in that moment of greatest darkness, we each secretly yearn for the new ‘light’ to bring us a life of peace, a life of joy and a life of love. Unfortunately, we’ve talked ourselves into believing that we can only find that peace in an ‘other’ world - in another life.

But two things happened during this Winter Solstice season that might have changed this old story. During the 12 Days of Christmas, January 4th represents the 10th sign of Capricorn, the one concerned with our social structures – the structures that determine how we relate to each other. January 4th was the day of the Capricorn Solar Eclipse as well as the last conjunction of Jupiter and Uranus in Pisces. Perhaps that day was the beginning of a new story. It was, after all, the cosmic New Year.

The symbol for that solar eclipse/new Moon at 14*Capricorn is: An ancient bas-relief carved in granite remains a witness to a long-forgotten culture. The solar eclipse seeded this urge to re-discover the things that have lasting value. The way these values or archetypes are re-discovered is through the doorway of the Collective Unconscious.

The story begins in Pisces, the sign of the Collective Unconscious, where the archetypal energies of life are stirring with new images and symbols, stories and songs. Pisces symbolizes the completion of the cycle of life, a return to the origins so rebirth can occur. This past year its’ waters were energized to birth new archetypal images, new constellations of life. A few years ago when Jupiter passed over the Galactic Center (26*Sagittarius) with Pluto, I had a dream that I saw the Pleiades shining brightly in the daytime sky as another constellation disintegrated behind me. A new story was being birthed into consciousness while the old one slipped away.

First, we need to understand the old story. And then we need to discover our part in the new story that emerging.

Jupiter and Uranus met up for their 3rd and final time at 28* Pisces: A fertile Garden under the full Moon reveals a variety of full-grown vegetables. This symbol shows us the power of growth that gives rise to abundance. The image tells us that we have an abundance of archetypal energies available to work with and nourish us. It is up to us to harvest these fruits by opening up to them consciously.

Jupiter, which usually takes one year to travel through a sign, just raced through Pisces, from the middle of January 2010 to early June 2010 and then retrograded back into Pisces from September 8, 2010 until next week on January 22, 2011, when it enters Aries. Jupiter met up with Uranus twice in Pisces and once in Aries in the past year, opening and expanding our spiritual 3rd eye to see these new energies and to open up to our ‘real’ spiritual identities. Yes, we are all being called to be the hero/ines of our own lives so that we can bring back a unique gift to our people - the gift of our talents in this time of radical change.

Many people are upset – look at what’s happening in our country and in the world. The shooting in Arizona has brought up the question of our civil discourse – can we learn to see each other’s viewpoint? Can we discover the balance? (Saturn is going through Libra and challenged the solar eclipse energies to incorporate a more fair and balanced discourse.) Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could learn the lesson of the Tucson killings and stop hating someone because their views differ from ours?

President Obama, speaking about the Tucson murders, noted the instinct to protect each other displayed by the victims and survivors: “These men and women remind us that heroism is found not only on the fields of battle. They remind us that heroism does not require special training or physical strength. Heroism is here, all around us, in the hearts of so many of our fellow citizens, just waiting to be summoned – as it was on Saturday morning. Their actions, their selflessness, also pose a challenge to each of us. It raises the question of what, beyond the prayers and expressions of concern, is required of us going forward.”

We need to learn the lessons of fair discourse, of taking a stand, and of concern for the future so that the sacrifice (meaning: to make sacred) 6 people made – especially a young girl born on 9/11 – will be honored.

What values make you the person you are? What values and virtues do you want to express in your life: Honor, courage, vision, fairness, grace, beauty, wisdom, integrity? It’s time to know. And then it’s time to walk your talk and be them.

Jupiter goes into Aries just after this full Moon, so watch for the energy shift on Saturday January 22nd. The expansive energy of Jupiter leaves the watery realm of Pisces for the fire of Aries. Be Inspired!

Uranus has been traveling through Pisces since March of 2003. Uranus releases energy from old forms and structures, and awakens new and original forms in the sign it transits (to go through; transition; transformation; to change.) In Pisces, Uranus has awakened us to higher and deeper dimensions of life and of ourselves. The reality of the Unconscious, of other dimensions, of personal spirituality has changed us in the past 7 years of Uranus’ transit through Pisces. The imagination has re-awakened and we have to learn to relate to it, as Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell saw, experienced and predicted.

On March 11, 2011 Uranus begins to transit Aries (yes, it is still Aries, with an underpinning of Pisces) awakening us to our courage, initiative and identity. What interests, creativity and talents do you possess? Uranus in Pisces opened us to the archetypal energies of life. Just remember – archetypes ‘pick’ you, you don’t pick archetypes. You need to be opened to the archetype that is working to manifest through you. If your ego decides who you should be, you will never fulfill your potential. If you allow your Self – your inner Truth – to guide you, you will discover a creative power within that will bless your life and bless the lives of those people you love and interact with.

Several asteroids form a mutable t-square with Jupiter and Uranus in Pisces. With Juno, the energy of equal partnership at 30* Virgo and Vesta, the energy of transformative fire and sexuality, focus and commitment on the Galactic Center in Sagittarius holding down the other two legs of the t-square, we have the opportunity to learn the new story if we open ourselves to it.

Prepare for your original blessings! (Matthew Fox, the Anglican theologian, wrote a wonderful book called Original Blessings. It will take away some Catholic guilt.)

With Neptune, the ruler of Pisces traveling through the last degrees of Aquarius (Uranus’ domain), we have created over the past 14 years a global community (Neptune) through technology (Uranus). Neptune in Aquarius has opened us to a vision of world-wide unity and freedom, for we have seen how fragile our world is and also the truth that we are all at this crisis point of life together. We are learning that we are indeed all one people, all one Earth.

Full Moon in Cancer

The full Moon in Cancer occurs on Wednesday January 19 at 9:22pm GMT/4:22pmEST/1:22pmPST. The Sun in Capricorn and the Moon in Cancer bring up family issues and obligations as well as the issues that face us as citizens of our respective countries.

If we need a new story to guide us into the future, we also need to know what story we need to leave behind. Or, like Samwise talking to Frodo about their part in the story of the Ring, we need to see what part of the story we’re in so we can decide where to go from here. That’s one of the functions of a full Moon. It makes us aware of what we’re feeling about our current situation.

I’ve picked the story of ‘The Maidens of the Wells” to describe our society at this moment. Your reaction to the story will tell you a lot about what you’re feeling about the old Capricorn story.




The Maidens of the Wells

In ancient times Logres was a rich country but it was turned into a Wasteland so that it was worth scarcely a couple of hazelnuts. For the kingdom lost the voices of the wells and the damsels that were in them. These damsels would offer food and drink to wayfarers. A traveler had only to wish for food and seek out one of the wells and a damsel would appear from out of the well with the food he liked best, a cup of gold in her hand. No wayfarers were excluded from this service.

But King Amangons broke this custom. Although it was his duty to guard the damsels and keep them within his peace, he raped one of them and took away her golden cup for his own service. After that time no damsel was seen issuing from the well and the only service which wayfarers received was done invisibly. The king's vassals followed their king's actions and raped the other damsels also, carrying off the golden cups. And so the service of the wells ceased. The land was laid waste: trees lost their leaves, meadows and plants withered and the waters were dried up so that no man might find the Court of the Rich Fisherman, he that once made the land bright with his treasures.

After this time, King Arthur instituted the Knights of the Round Table, who, when they heard this story, were determined to recover the wells and protect the damsels. They swore they would totally destroy the kindred of Amangons and his men. But though they made vows to God, they could never hear a voice from the wells nor could they find any damsel, for these had been pierced by the swords of Amangons' followers or else hanged.

The Round Table knights found damsels in the forest accompanied by well-armed knights. One of these was captured and brought back to Arthur's court where he told the following tale. "All of us are the children born of the damsels whom Amangons and his men raped. These great wrongs shall never be redeemed in worldly time. We are bound to travel in common, knights and damsels, through this land until God wills that the Court of Joy be found, for that will make the land bright again. Whoever seeks that Court shall find greater adventures than were ever in this land before."

The Round Table knights decided to seek for the Court of the Rich Fisherman, who was a shape-shifter. Although many knights sought it and few found it, none asked the right questions when the Hallows were processed about the hall of the Rich Fisherman who appeared in such splendour that none recognized the fisherman they had seen earlier that day. At that table the Grail appeared by itself and served all who sat there, providing food in great variety. . . .

On the day that the Court of the Rich Fisherman was found, and the correct answers received by the seeker, the waters flowed again, fountains which had been dried up ran into the meadows. Fields were green and fruitful and the forests clothed in green leaf on the day that the Court of Joy was found.1

Like all good stories, this story shows us both the wound and the possibility of its healing. Through Story, we become aware of our options, just as the full Moon stretches our awareness to the ‘other’ so we can see the results of our actions. And perhaps chose a different result. This story asks each of us to go on the Grail quest and find the source of life again within ourselves, so we can be life-givers to our community.

Our nurturing waters are represented by the Cancer full Moon, for Cancer is the sign of the Mother who births us and nurtures us. Her waters, in the Gulf of Mexico as well as all around the world, are desecrated and dying. Birds mysteriously drop out of the sky to die en-mass; fish are going belly-up in rivers, oceans and streams. This full Moon urges us to become aware of our part in this desecration and change our ways, first personally and then collectively.

At times like this, do we stand by and let the king Amangons amongst our cultural leaders guide our actions or can we stand up for our values and demand that something be done? And we also have to do something to change things. So shop locally, support your local artists, make your own clothes, grow your own food to start with. And learn to be a maker – learn a craft. We do not know when we might need it. And it will make you feel more grounded and secure to know you actually can create something you need.

This is the time to test yourself and your true values. The Cancer Moon is your emotional body – what is going on in there? How is it reacting to our civic dialogues - in all countries around the world? How is it reacting to the very real news that our environment is on the edge of crashing and our way of life has to be transformed?

This is the fourth of five full Moons that occur in the last degree of its sign. This means we have to finish up Capricorn business. With Pluto transiting through Capricorn, turning up the deadwood and rot in our social and corporate structures, we have to look to ourselves and reclaim our own authority and with discipline and dedication, take responsibility for healing our world. When the North Node leaves Capricorn the first week of March, let’s make sure we’ve learned its lessons of responsibility and emotional maturity.

The Sabian symbol for the Sun at 30* Capricorn is: A secret meeting of men responsible for executive decisions in world affairs. This symbol can refer to secret meetings of the power structures of the world or even the old idea of a White Lodge of benevolent souls which guides human destiny. But that’s the old story. The new story might see this symbol as an opportunity for each of us to gather with like-minded individuals who hold one piece of the puzzle, which when put together, can help us see the bigger picture. Learn to work in groups – this is the ideal of the Aquarian Age that we all seem to be waiting for. Work together for our future.

The Sabian symbol for the Moon at 30* Cancer is: A Daughter of the American Revolution. It seems to me that this image urges us to remember that freedom is more important than security. That if we want to create something new, we have to take a chance. The Great Mother doesn’t offer to coddle us with infantile dreams of abundance and constant nurturance. Sometimes life calls us to step up and defend the values that make us who we are. Those old values might not be honored anymore. But if they are the true spirit of humankind, then it is up to each one of us to embrace it and live it.


Saturn goes retrograde on January 25-26th at 17*Libra. See where that degree falls in your chart. It will be where you have lessons to work on. The Sabian symbol for 17*Libra is: A retired sea captain watches ships entering and leaving the harbor. It symbolizes the ‘capacity to gain an objective and calm understanding of human experiences in which one was once deeply involved.’(Dane Rudhyar: An Astrological Mandala) Saturn’s retrograde is a reminder to develop a calm mind that sees beyond struggles and victories.

With Saturn about to go retrograde on January 25th, we will have a chance to figure out how to integrate these values in our lives. A free society needs to value the masculine and feminine spirits equally, just as men and women must have equality in a just society. We can learn diplomacy and how to dialogue with others who disagree with us. We can move toward having a collaborative vision of how to work together rather than thinking we have to do it all ourselves. Those groups I mentioned earlier are a good way to learn how to do it.

Don’t be afraid of failure, because we are learning a new story and it takes experience to get things right. Consider the outcome of not doing anything.

If you want to read up on the brouhaha surrounding astrology and the 13th sign, go to my blog at: http://wisdom-of-astrology.blogspot.com/




Blessed Be,

Cathy