The Heart of the Matter: Full Moon in Cancer 2015

An artist's impression of the binary star system, Sirius A and B;
photo by NASA, ESA and G. Bacon. Sirius A and its companion, Sirius B,
a blue white-dwarf star, revolve around each other every 50 years. Only
8.6 light years away, these companion stars are fairly close to home,
the fifth closest stellar system that astronomers are currently aware of.
Doesn't Sirius B look rather tiny? It's actually smaller than our home planet, yet 
its surface temperature is actually hotter than Sirius A.
Crazy, eh?

Full Moon @ 14 Cancer 31' 

Jan 4, 2015

8:53 PM Pacific

11:53 PM Eastern

One of the greatest challenges of being a sensitive, empathic individual is the inevitability of having to face the world—a world that can be cruel, unyielding and seemingly unfair. It is a painful thing to realize, as a sensitive soul, that you must somehow harden yourself just to get by and survive on this planet. Not all of us are so sensitive; many people have developed a thick skin quite early on in life due to certain conditioning factors. But those of a strong Cancerian, lunar or fourth house nature will have to deal with that harsh and challenging adjustment throughout their entire lives. Other mitigating astrological factors will either ease that process or make it exceedingly difficult.

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The tropical sign of Cancer holds space for this Full Moon following the New Year transition and the end of the holiday season. This Full Moon brings to light our vulnerabilities and amplifies sensitivity, even if we aren’t particularly wired for that heightened awareness. To make things even more interesting, this month’s Full Moon finds itself in the crossfire of the Uranus/Pluto square forming a grand cross with the Sun conjunct Pluto and Uranus sideswiping from Aries conjunct the Nodal axis. That dynamic contact exposes our intimate and personal lives with that of the collective—political, economic or ideological influences. 

As many people across the western world set their New Years’ resolutions, they can’t help but feel slightly beleaguered by a sense of uncertainty and maybe a slight pessimism. Recent events in the world’s political and economic arenas have given us all good reason to remain alert and committed to realism. But the greatest challenge of all is to maintain our connection to our heart’s true calling while remaining fully conscious of the obstacles that lie ahead of us and which seek to prevent us from pursuing it.

As this Full Moon comes to a climax in the sky, hovering directly above one of the brightest stars, Sirius (the “dog star”; though actually a binary star system comprised of two stars, Sirus A and B), it symbolizes the awareness of a higher calling, purpose and mission which may not be concretely defined but can be intuitively sensed. The heart is calling us outward to participate in the world, though the path or destination may be unclear. This lunation comes with the realization that full participation in life requires that we break out of our comfort zone and make some compromises without completely shutting off our sensitivity and emotional awareness. 

To embrace the transformative quality of this Full Moon, we must do so cautiously and gently, that is we must not lose sight of our vulnerabilities and limitations—aware of the risks and dangers we may encounter. Pluto’s conjunction with the Sun in Capricorn urges us to embrace and honor what we’re really feeling without getting too overwhelmed or caught up in it. One way to do that is through Mercury and Venus’ conjunction in Aquarius: to openly communicate our feelings with others to receive a detached perspective of ourselves and what we’re experiencing. 

In order to rise up and take on the world, we often need to go inward to acknowledge those aspects of our unconscious nature that often get ignored. The external world is a mirror of the world within ourselves and it simply reflects those things we do not usually perceive. Take some time to acknowledge yourself with this Full Moon. Hold space for your fears, vulnerabilities and those deeply embedded feelings you have forgotten about or disregarded. When we are comfortable with ourselves, regardless of external circumstances, then we will have the strength and capacity to change the world, and that takes a certain level of sensitivity, a sensitivity that the world truly needs right now.

Note--Mercury will turn retrograde this month, believe it or not. We enter the shadow phase on Jan. 5 and Mercury turns stationary retrograde on Jan. 21. I will cover this along with the New Moon in Aquarius which occurs the day before the retrograde begins. Get ready for a wonky and glitchy New Moon, everyone!

Happy Gregorian New Year!

I am available for personal readings; please contact me directly by e-mail: kosmicmind@gmail.com