Lunar Living Astrology

The full moon in Cancer has the potential to leave us feeling emotionally vulnerable as the holiday season winds to a close. This last full moon of the year, is considered to be the Cold Moon of the year. For the northern hemisphere, that's because it typically is a lot colder with a whole lot less sunlight during the month. But, thankfully, the maximum declination of the Sun peaked on December 21(22) and now, ever so gradually, our daylight will start to increase in the northern regions. The Moon and Mars, however, exceeded the Sun's maximum declination, and are now transiting Out of Bounds. This always adds to feelings of vulnerability and a general lack of control over our situations. It has a way of teaching us about what we don't know. The full moon is tied into a cradle pattern today, with Saturn in Pisces and Jupiter retrograde in Taurus. This actually is a bit like a floatation device for us as we head into the new year. Saturn contributes in a productive way by teaching us about solid foundations. Jupiter retrograde reinforces these foundational teachings. Dusting off our patience helps to reduce the frustrations with feelings of hope for the future.

Speaking of frustrations, how is the Mercury retrograde treating us? On January 2, Mercury will station direct and eventually, Mercury's mischief will settle back down. Mercury is conjunct with Mars in Sagittarius, adding to some confusion with our decision making process. While we may feel our words have a specific intent when we hear them in our own heads, yet, all too often, that intent is lost once we speak the words. Add in the fact that Mars and Mercury are square to Neptune in Pisces. Confusion seems to be the main issue. What we consider to be reality, may come across as fantasy, or even delusion, to another.

Where we get some reprieve is through our natural skills and our friendships. Venus in Scorpio is trine to Neptune in Pisces. Venus is also tied by sextile into the sextile between Pluto in Capricorn and Neptune. The generational perspective shifts may actually feel cohesive, for the short time that Venus is involved. Use this influence to reach out and mend a few relationships that we may have tripped over or torn during the past year, or so. If we truly want to rekindle a friendship, this is a great time to initiate the restoration. While it may never be the same as "before," there is absolutely nothing wrong with creating a different type of friendship than what we had before.

Pluto is transiting through the Anaretic degree of Capricorn. Tense much? Probably more than we would like. This feeling is going to be with us for about four weeks into mid January. Don't even bother to attempt to "shake if off." It's with us for the month to try to get us to look inward. Despite being the final Capricornian influence, this last degree is actually more open minded than the earlier degrees of Capricorn. If we have actually learned what we needed to learn with Pluto's transit through Capricorn over the past many years, we should be more open to new ideas and different perspectives with reduced tension. But, if we have not learned the essential lessons, we may be feeling really frustrated over the next month, as Pluto will continue to pound on us in hopes of finally getting us to transform. Of course, for each of us, the lesson is completely different. Finding others to commiserate with may not be so easy.

The net sum of this full moon's vibration is that we will be more comfortable within our own thoughts. There are more feminine influences (8) than masculine (2). We don't want to change anything. We may not want to venture out, nor are we inclined to meet new people at the moment. That's okay! This is a great time to explore our inner self. To ask ourselves, "Why am I feeling this?" or "What is it that makes me do that, so much?" It doesn't need to be negative feelings, it can be positive, as well. There's an equal number of Earth and Water placements, but only two Fire placements and no Air. So, yep, we are likely to be emotional and we are likely to feel a bit stuck. Truth be told, it is not all about change in the moment. That time will come later. Hence, it is a great time to look inward to explore our wants, needs, and hopes.

To those who celebrate one or more of these holidays, may your festivities be filled with love; Happy Yule/Feast of Juul, Merry Christmas, Boxing Day, Zarathosht Diso, Happy Kwanzaa, and Happy New Year, 2024.