January Astrology Forecast: Cancer Full Moon
This month, the full moon peaks at Friday, Jan. 6, at 5:07 p.m. Read on for the Cancer full moon report and the astrology forecast from our resident astrologer, Mandee Sheeler.
Deep retrospection and agreeable surprises
January is typically seen as the time to make changes and overhaul old habits. If you are feeling that pressure, I invite you to wait. Use from now until early March to come up with a solid plan and begin at the start of the astrological new year, the Aries season. This is still prime time to tend to one’s soil. Nature isn’t blooming yet, and you don’t have to either. Additionally, Mercury is retrograde and there’s a solid chance you will have to revise your plan anyway.
Why care about a full moon?
Full moons are a time of opposition and tension. This tension can put pressure on our relationships with “other.” This other can be another person, another point of view or another way of doing things. Full moons also make us feel restless, emotional or emboldened. There is an increase in the energy level floating in the ether. This is also a time of culmination when all is illuminated. Compare it to shining a flashlight in a new area of your psyche each month. During this time we have two distinct energies that are highly active and highly aware of each other. They have locked eyes and are watching every move the other makes. There can be volatility, creativity and breakthroughs.
This month’s lunation
This month’s full moon is taking place in its home sign, the water sign of Cancer. The sun sits in opposition in Capricorn. Due to the nature of the signs involved in this lunation, there may be some tension between domestic responsibility and career or public responsibility. This may highlight the struggle between work-life balance or transitioning from old habits and values. If you know your chart, your cardinal (Capricorn, Cancer, Aries, Libra) houses are where this energy will be playing out. The moon is pulling us into our shells—and the sun is applying some pressure, suggesting what we should be doing instead. My advice right now? Do what feels the most nourishing on a soul level. Tend to your soil.
This full moon is a little unique in that it’s ruled by itself, which only happens once a year. The moon is at home in the empathetic, nurturing, emotional sign of Cancer. This lunation also includes a Mercury Retrograde Cazimi that puts Mercury on a pedestal. During this time the planet Mercury and the sun are exactly aligned or conjunct, which means they rest at the same degree. Imagine Mercury has defeated all the king’s defenses and earned a spot at the table and a cushy place to crash for the night. Mercury is seen, recognized and uplifted because it’s sitting so close to the solar king.
Mercury, through the process of getting here, has been distilled down to its purest, most true form. As it is now, Mercury Cazimi in Capricorn is the epitome of the mountain goat that made it to the top of a cool, snowy, sunny mountain. There have surely been some missteps and losses along the way. But the goat is having a moment.
Mercury in Capricorn is very logical, clear-cut, chiseled and pragmatic. Mercury will also be opposing the moon, which will highlight this theme of further reviewing our emotions and feelings. It’s important to note that any major changes made at this time may not take full effect for a while. Capricorn is all about making the right moves at the right time. As a result of a supportive aspect from Uranus, you may find yourself better able to tap into your inner knowing. You may feel pulled down the road less traveled. It’s crucial to do what you need to do to nurture yourself on a soulful level at this time.
The Cancer-Capricorn axis
Capricorn and Cancer both have a natural orientation toward preservation, protection, nourishment and remembering. Cancer is more concerned with the needs and nourishment of the individual, and Capricorn is more focused on the necessities and preservation of the structure or tradition. Capricorn builds the steps we take to get to where we are going. Cancer lives in the now and asks how we currently feel.
This is a time for reminiscing on past traditions, our elders, our lineage, the structures we dwell in and how they make us feel. It’s time to ask what are we carrying forward.
What is Chiron?
This lunation is in a separating t-square to Chiron, a small body in our solar system which may be the focal point of your full moon story. Chiron may have to do with old wounds, around simply existing as yourself. This old hurt may be about how you have related to others in the past, times when you did not feel seen or recognized as your own person. Or it may relate to a time when you wanted to go your own way or do your own thing and were stopped from fulfilling your personal desire. Maybe now you are able to see why someone tried to stop you or why they felt the way they did toward you. You don’t have to agree to be able to forgive, free yourself and heal your wounds.
This is an ideal time to turn inward and search for further insight and wisdom. You may find yourself being a little more soft, diplomatic or understanding. There could be a moment of clarity, a sense of appeasement, a lessening or a lightening up.
Only through the passing of time are we able to look back and see things as they really were, not just how they made us feel in the moment. With this new rationale, we may be able to find some salve for our deepest wounds.
Full moon prompts
These are meant to serve as inspiration to help deepen your
own astrological practice. Feel free to use these prompts to journal, meditate, contemplate or spark conversation.
Look back at your accomplishments from last year. What are you most proud of?
Check in on your goals from last year and begin anew. What helped you achieve your goals? What got in the way?
Look at your self-care rituals. Are your practices truly nurturing? When do you need nurturing the most? Where do you turn?
Going deeper
Want to listen to the audio version of this report? You can find it on The Cosmic Dispatch podcast’s New Year’s Day episode. Explore the Capricorn archetype in episode 52 of The Cosmic Dispatch. In this winter solstice edition of the show, host Cory Nakasue offers Capricorn 101. Capricorn is the house where Mercury will be retrograde for the next few weeks. Tune in for some further Mercury in Capricorn themes.
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Interested in a private consultation with Mandee? She is currently scheduling 2023 astrology readings. Discuss the upcoming transits and what that means for your personal life. Year-ahead consultations are like a weather report for your upcoming 12 months. You will identify major themes and look for times when things may flow easier than others. If you are interested in scheduling a 60-minute reading via Zoom visit, Mandee’s website or email her at mandee.sheeler@gmail.com.