Cancer Full Moon 1/8~ Nourish & Nurture

Cancer Full Moon~ Nourish & Nurture
From the top of Capricorn mountain, our attention is now drawn down and west, to the depths of the ocean, or the Cancer full moon.


Cancer is cardinal earth, the initiator of emotion, and for me, nothing has embodied the mystery, healing, sensitivity, life giving qualities of this sign more than the ocean. 


Well, except for my own mama, who happens to have a Cancer moon and arrives the day this lunation begins. She did not know that when she bought her ticket, but these are the synchronicities that assure me we are in the flow of nature. Cancer is the only sign that is also ruled by the moon, so this is where the lunar goddess feels most at home. I did not know my mom had a Cancer moon until I was older, but now it is extremely easy to see.


Where the moon falls in your chart generally indicates what you need for emotional fulfillment. It is our "feeling" side, where we are most sensitive, fragile and also truly fulfilled. If you are ignoring the needs of your moon, you will probably never feel completely whole. My mother is the most loving, sensitive, intuitive, healing person I have ever known. She cries at the drop of a hat, has the most nurturing hug and I don't think I have ever had a single friend my entire life who did not love my mama and claim her for their own. Some people were just meant to be moms, to everyone, you know? And I would make a little wager that a lot of those women have Cancer somewhere close to their moon.


This is the weekend of receiving the motherly love you need. 2012 has come in strong and most of us sense this is going to be a big year of change and growth. Capricorn has already gotten many making plans, preparations and their heads "in the game." But the universe is about balance, and lest we burn out before February even gets here, Cancer asks us to take a break, check in to see if our "physical" plans harmonize with our "emotional" needs and lay our heads in her lap. I cannot wait to put my head in my mother's lap and I know how blessed I am to have my very own Cancer moon Great Nurturing Mama with me this full moon cycle. But a lot of folk don't have that and there are a lot of other ways to receive the tenderness we all require to thrive.


A trip to the ocean and just meditating on the waves is a great practice. As you sit on the beach, imagine each inhale pulling in cleansing waters and every exhale letting go of your anxieties, fears and doubts. With each breath, let the salt air soothe you, the singing birds soften you and the power of mama ocean hold you.


If the ocean is not available, sitting under the full moon will work just fine. Perhaps pull out your favorite blanket, stuffed animal or pictures of a healing mother in your life, whether it is your own, mine, the Saint Amma or even a mother goddess like Durga, Demeter or Isis. Bundle up under the moon feeling "held" by the images or items and again work with your breath. Let your breathing invoke the ocean, pulling the inhale like a wave of love and support, and releasing the exhale as if letting go of anything that does not nourish you. 


It would also be a nice idea to get LOTS of hugs from friends, take a warm salt bath or hit the spa. If you feel like journaling, maybe just list all the emotional qualities you want to manifest in your life as you move forward in the new year. It is so easy to disregard our feelings when we are beginning a new year, and without a healthy relationship to the emotional body, a lot of plans will eventually fail. I would recommend, if you don't know it, finding out what your moon sign is and then spending the last two weeks of this cycle nurturing it. 


Finally, Cancer is the sign when I most like to make an offering back to the mother. She is always giving and if we only take, soon she will have nothing left. If you feel comfortable ringing out your moon-blood in water and giving the water back to the ocean, earth, stream, etc, that is a very powerful gift. Or, if that is not your style, make a donation to Heal the Bay or Plant a Fish, non-profits that take care of our waters. I also plan on treating my biological mom to the spa for the same reasons;)


Be gentle with yourself this weekend. Drink lots of fluids, be around water in whatever way you can, pay attention to your emotions, do activities that are nurturing and take time to honor and receive the Great mama in your life. 

Capricorn New Moon~ Building the Foundation

Capricorn New Moon~ Building the Foundation


I am greeting the last week of the Sagittarius cycle with an irritating cold. It seems appropriate, really, as I spent the majority of the cycle that favors expansion and freedom feeling contraction and limitation. Much of this was due to the intensity of lunar and solar eclipses as well as the added lessons of Mercury retrograding in the same signs. As an astrologer I read yesterday said, we were so busy dealing with these alternate energies that we could not put our complete focus into the intention of the cycle.

But I trust there are no mistakes in the cosmic space. As often as I cannot possibly fathom why things happen, I always have to come back to a truth I feel in my gut. That truth is we are finite. Finite, human, fragile and almost incapable of grasping the enormity of the universe. Sagittarius is one of the signs that tries to raise our awareness, get us thinking bigger and brighter, but even the fires of spirit can only blaze so high in these little human bodies. We cannot ever comprehend the infinite possibilities and size of the universe.

Heaven knows we try! This month with so much powerful mental and spiritual energy we were trying, trying desperately to inspire transformations... and since the eclipses are felt for at least 6 months, some of those changes will come to fruition in 2012. But now it is time to turn our attention back to our humanness, to welcome the winter season by invoking the Capricorn cycle and getting back to work in the limitations of the physical realm.

Capricorn is cardinal earth. Cardinal energy is the initiator and earth energy is focused on form: body, home, work, family, manifestation. Last month we were completely caught in the adapting, changing, transforming, mutable energies of spirit and mind. Perhaps you felt like your head might explode or that your body just can't handle all the shifts moving through the ethers. That is the reason I love astrology, just when I can't bear another "spiritual experience", the most stabilizing force on the planet claims the moon light.

I grow to appreciate Capricorn more and more as the years go by. When I was younger, I felt simply bewildered by this sign's focus on the material. Creating structure, routine, schedule and building the most effective foundations on which most anything will thrive successfully. Capricorn is the mountain goat, who sees a huge winding mountain and without a thought, ignores the longer, easier side trail and climbs right up the middle to the top. This sign initiates physical manifestation and generally thrives in any terrain you put in front of her. She accepts the challenge, works hard, knows how to manage her time and is generally victorious in her endeavors.

Part of her confidence is that she understands the restrictions of earth. It might seem miraculous that she can climb that mountain, but her ability to discern where she can step is what makes that climb possible, rather than just a blind faith that she will make it. It is the experience of putting one foot in front of the other, taking a single step at a time and really comprehending the weight and ability of the form that enables her success. If you know many mountain climbers, they will tell you it takes incredible strength, knowledge and practice to scale a summit.

I need that initiative right now. My spirit and mind worked overtime last month and it is the body that feels the effect. The body is the vessel in which spirit, emotions and thought survive. If the vessel is weak, it is hard to rise to the tasks suggested by the other energies.

I can just see Capricorn standing in my doorway this weekend, eyeing me with her cool gaze that can immediately assess that I haven't changed my clothes in 2 days, washed my hair or even shaved my legs in a few weeks. My nails are bitten to nothing and I have been been pretty much ignoring my physical appearance. Laundry needs to be done and the house overall needs some attention. She steps forward, dressed stylishly, but conservatively, not a hair out of place. Jewelry placed and matched perfectly, seemingly effortlessly, as few know how hard she actually works.

I hear her voice, grounded and confident, as she hands me a cup of strong herbal tea and says "You can do this for another day or two. I know you have been struggling. But we have a busy week and you need to show up for it. Another day, and then it is action time. Clean the house, clean yourself. Take pride in your appearance and get back to work. Winter solstice is this week and while I won't begrudge you some time alone in the dark, if you want that light to return, you need to give it a form worth coming back to."

I groan and roll over, pulling the pillow back over my head, welcoming the darkness. She doesn't get angry, she sits beside me, strokes my hand. Her own hand is firm and strong, but still well manicured and soft. "I will stay with you. I will help you. I can pick out your clothes, do your make-up and organize your schedule. This is a big year and winter is the most important season for setting the foundation. I need you to climb these mountains with me and continue to work towards your dreams. This is my time, though all time is my time, and I can show you how to use your time efficiently and powerfully. Just ask for my help, and I am here, I will show you the middle path and together we can manifest anything."

Now I sigh, but I look into her eyes, grey and wise like the tops of ancient mountains. She is the mother of time, ruled by Saturn, one of bigger outer planets that demands we walk the right path and is associated with taking responsibility and the limits of time and matter. She knows the restrictions, but in that knowledge, she also knows exactly how to help us grow within our own boundaries. I understand that this is the year I need her most. I smile wearily and say "Okay. I am with you. I want your help. Please stay with me."

She smiles back, her hand now at my forehead, "I will stay. Now you can go back to sleep and I will be waiting for you to start our work."

Take time to honor the darkness, celebrate the solstice. Rest as much as you need to, but set a limit. The solstice is Wednesday and the new moon is Saturday (which also falls on Christmas eve) The holidays alone can distract us and keep us lethargic. We are gathering on Monday to set intentions, but even if you cannot join, us, perhaps Monday will be a good day for you to start welcoming the Capricorn tasks. Start by cleaning up the vessel, looking the part of the life you want to create. Start to consider your foundation of 2012, what kind of year you want. Get your new calendars, datebooks and start organizing your schedule. Meditate on the mountain top and ask Capricorn to guide you in initiating the foundation. Remember that Capricorn is a realistic task-master and if it feels she is not supporting you in one endeavor, perhaps she is trying to put your focus elsewhere. Welcome her wisdom, her experience and trust that she knows how you need to grow.

Sagittarius New Moon/Partial Solar Eclipse~ Balancing Spirit

Thanksgiving day is usually filled with family, food, tradition and all the things that come along with them. That can include: traveling, shopping, prepping, driving, cooking, eating, drinking, fussing, fighting, laughing, crying, glutton, excess, pleasure, pain, cleaning and I am sure you can each personally add a few more.

 

All of this is intensified by both the Sagittarius new moon & a partial solar eclipse that occur on Thursday November 24th.

 

I am still trying to find the earth from the emotional, watery depths of the Scorpio cycle, even after the grounding Taurus full moon last week. But earth is not the element inviting us into the next month; it is the beckoning of mutable fire that claims the twenty-eight days ahead.

 

The Sagittarus cycle is normally quite welcome, especially in the holiday season. Sag is the centaur, gypsy, philosopher and story-teller. The energy is gregarious, voracious, social and hard to keep still. It's kinda like being hauled out of a deep, dark well (Scorpio) that you have been sitting in for a month and being plopped in front of a giant bonfire with a cup of tea and a camp full of gypsies, singing, laughing, telling stories. It can be a relief, but also a pretty extreme change of scenery.

 

An eclipse intensifies whatever sign it falls on, and solar eclipses intensify the outer, masculine, active qualities, where lunar amp up the emotional, feminine energies. The eclipse on Thursday is partial solar (not as powerful as total solar) and as the sun and moon will be in Sagittarius, that is a lot of fire energy.

 

I feel like we are going to want to do one of two things during this new moon.

 

The first is to completely rebel against all the truth seeking, cleansing and changing Scorpio was demanding and to just hide our heads in too much food, drink, shopping, socializing and playing. I get that, I am tempted to do the same. I am half way through the cleanse I started with the waning cycle and every ounce of me wants to justify ending early and starting to enjoy the pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, cookies and goodies already springing up everywhere. Sag, after all, is the fun loving story teller that can easily make up a really good reason why you have done enough work and should party party party.

 

OR you may just want to burn out. Scorpio brings up all our deep dark secrets, fears, resentments and with the heightening fire energy, it may feel appropriate to spend Thanksgiving telling your relatives exactly what you think of them or forcing your spouse into discussing every intimate issue you have or any other extreme heated exchange you can come up with. Fire energy is always alchemical, always trans-formative and mutable energy makes it faster, hotter and more changeable. It can be really appealing to want to harness all that hot stuff and just burn those metaphorical bridges, houses and villages to the ground. Because, again, we all are recognizing that we have stuff to work on, things to release, why not just get it over with in a huge blaze of drama and glory?

 

Naturally, neither of those plans is sustainable. Neither support our overall health or the healing of our communities and countries. Following the moon generally means we are invoking more of those intuitive, nurturing, balancing qualities rather than the linear aggressive desires solar energy creates. We start to sense, based on the movements of moon and earth, that everything is cyclical and gradual changes stand the test of the seasons better than immediate destruction and instant gratification.

 

The challenge in this cycle is to build a healthy fire and care for it in a good way. Yes, you deserve rest, joy and a full tummy AND yes, you must continue to let go of the things that no longer serve you and work towards the life you want.

 

Use that visualization this month, if you can. Imagine the fire in your belly, see it being built upon the foundation that supports your dreams, lit by your new intentions and the things that bring you joy and burning through that which you carefully choose to let go of. As you move into celebration, see your fire being tended to by love as well as release. When you feel it getting too high, or dampening, use your breath to come back to center and bring it back to that middle place. The place where it is warm, inviting and likely to last all night.

 

Perhaps you will spend Thanksgiving somewhere an actual fire can be lit, either candles, fire place or outdoors. Take time to look into the flames and again, use your breath, imagination and intention to clear negative energy or honor positive. Remember that Thanksgiving is ultimately about gratitude. Be grateful for the heat, the ability to make and use fire. Be grateful for the moments you can let worries go and be with loved ones and be grateful for the times you can burn away something you don't need anymore.

 

Sagittarius can be a mischievous one, but like most gypsies, if you are straight with her about what you need, she will make sure you get exactly the right medicine, be it food, dance, drink, sleep or a good story.