Like a Mother looks after her child, the Moon at home in Cancer provides a place of protection, a sanctuary from the chaos of fast-changing times, and an anchor in rough emotional seas. Take comfort with this first full Moon of 2017, the Full Cancer Moon, as it stimulates our ability to awaken the Divine Mother (within each of us), to show care and consideration in love, unconditional and pure, for all beings, at home, at work, in partnership and with friends.
At home in Cancer, and exact Thursday 12th January, at 11:34am GMT, this Full Moon is not just any old reassuring the kids with mom’s apple pie kind-of-moon, as Luna moves into an extremely rare formation as she culminates, to revisit historic and astrologically exciting moments of 2010 – reminding us of the burgeoning stages of this currently spiritual era. For those who cynically question the validity of the transcendent and mystic, only giving weight to the plutonic overbearing forces of evil or chaos at work, be aware that when a light begins to shine, darkness often mobilises and many obstacles and difficulties come creeping out of the shadows – as indicated by the Sun currently conjunct Pluto, all of which is now given the Full Moon spotlight treatment. For a few short days little can remain hidden, however hard it tries.
Events or situations around this exceptional Full Moon offer an astral opportunity to bring light and karma, self and others, into focus; to create safer boundaries that enable one to work within a sacred space within a configuration called a ‘Grand Cross’. To give you an idea of the rarity of any Cross formation, these only happen around four percent of the time. This Full Moon is therefore rather special, even if such potency is fleeting, lasting only for the three Full Moon days – and nights, then the planetary pattern reverts to a tense T-square. Although, it might be helpful to note here how my teacher, the late great Howard Sasportas, taught that we extend a T-square into the empty leg when looking to stabilise, or for ways out of any difficult circumstance. Its good, therefore, to bear in mind how this Moon position, at 22°Cancer, while sensitive to aggression also brims with courage and militant tenacity, so that confronting challenging issues can be made easy with a bolthole to retreat into.
It’s also worth knowing how every Cross has one of three different characteristics, representing the various qualities of the signs of the Zodiac: Cardinal, Fixed and Mutable. A cross occurs when two sets of planets are in opposition; the four planets therefore form a perfect square in the heavens, which is then called a ‘Grand Cross’. This particular Cross is no ordinary Cross either. In Esoteric Astrology, this particular set of oppositions carries the glorious title: the ‘Grand Cardinal Cross of the Central Spiritual Sun’, because four planets are in the four Cardinal signs: Uranus in Aries, Moon in Cancer, Jupiter in Libra, and Sun with Pluto in Capricorn. In a Grand Cardinal Cross, revolutionary Uranus is THE agent of change in self-directed Aries, at 20°; all the while it is Jupiter at 22°, in harmonious Libra, that offers a compromising synthesis. This is, without doubt, a dynamic Cross of action, of making things happen, by oneself, with others, colleagues and loved ones, and of allowing the power of the Divine within to rise and make itself known (Need I say not in an egotistical manner? This Cross accents a spiritual Sun, not an identity driven one). Remember that when you see the Divine in everything, everything becomes Divine. You see, the heavens are now asking us to work with greater devotion to the sacred and care for everything around us, with greater cooperation with others as we co-create with the universe, noting now how we have moved away from negative habits and developed more helpful ways of being these past seven years, since twenty-ten.
Admittedly, a ‘Cardinal Cross of the Central Spiritual Sun’ is intense – all Crosses are. This one is about getting to core issues – subjects that affect your very spirit, the work you are doing and your purpose. And when the Sun and the Moon are major players within a Grand Cross, most everyone gets to feel the rising tension of some sort or another, a momentum that peaks with the Full Moon. But just as soon as Luna culminates the effects will also begin to diminish as the Moon begins to wane.
The Capricorn Sun with Pluto also highlights the need for personal and professional transformation: to be reborn. Rising like a Phoenix from the ashes may well be the theme for the coming year of the Fire Rooster, as this Full Moon sets the initial tone for 2017. This, then, is no ordinary Full Moon: it’s a Full Moon with the potential to awaken personal wisdom, and to illuminate the (collective) subconscious, which can then empower one to transform, including innovative ideas into accomplished action. ✫
Image is the Kalachakra Mandala, the 'Time Wheel' Mandala for World Peace, which His Holiness, The Dalai Lama, is conferring over this Full Moon in Bodhgaya, India, the place of the Buddha's enlightenment.
May all beings be enlightened, finding inner peace, outer peace and peace of mind _/\_
Full Moon blessings to One and all! from Laura https://www.facebook.com/DharmaStars https://www.facebook.com/DharmaStarsAstrology/
