Astrology maps the synchronicity of cycles inner and outer to help us best navigate the terrain. Yes, things have been intense (I have fielded many messages and emails regarding this). There are themes of Truth revelation, uncovering, unveiling, and transparency. Radical accountability is called for. Freedom is another theme that has been rising of late. How we have defined it- how we are meant to define it. Certainly, we are being asked to take a closer look at that force in our lives (more on that in a minute).
Full Moons tend to highlight times of culmination and fulfillment where the light from the Cancer Sun illuminates the Moon in Capricorn.
The dance between Cancer and Capricorn is a powerful one and not at all random. It is astrology’s way of reminding us of the importance of balance, not letting one force overshadow the other, and revealing to us which side we have a tendency to gravitate. This dance of Capricorn and Cancer is a reminder to harmonize logic with empathy, our IQ with our EQ, and our inner world with our outer world. It means we need to think, and we also need to FEEL. Cancer may be the origin of an idea. Capricorn is the action of reaching that goal. We need BOTH to realize mastery.
Like all goals, though, intention is everything. What is driving that goal? Many of you have heard me speak about the Law of Attraction in more grounded terms (some say critical). That would be an accurate assessment. Most vision boarding, attracting, and manifesting are run by our wounded esteem systems, which do not feel enough. If I have that…then I will be enough. (For more, check out Getting Real about the LOA). However, this kind of goal setting becomes selfishly sovereign and ultimately ineffective.
“To REALLY change, we don’t need to set goals that take us too enough. We need to uncover why we don’t feel enough in the first place.” ~Robert Ohotto.
There is a need to contemplate the relationship between “roots and direction” with this full Moon. To get clear regarding the goal driver. But that isn’t all. We are also called to check our criteria of success. Both determine the direction we will travel and whether we will realize change or find ourselves back at the same place. Again.
What happens to things like values and integrity when ego goals define success?
What happens when ‘likes’ instigate our words or shares define our ideals?
What happens when the “shoulds” represent our direction?
This is the place of contemplation we find ourselves. Thus, the need to get clear on intention. Because intention sets the foundation for all action.
Which brings us to freedom.
A theme we are exploring deeply right now. Our nation was built on the concept of freedom, which was a grand and incredibly enlightened concept. Principles like equality, free speech and religion, due process, and assembly were innovative compared to the current tradition. We are told we can be anything we want. Have anything we want. Be free to do and think anything we want. Yet, there is more to the story. Within the current revelation, though, we have seen cracks in the foundation of these ideals. Racism, sexism, nativism, and even religious imperialism, all present from inception, have emerged to blatantly obvious levels. We are questioning the limits of free speech (think social media outlets, the dark web, certain ‘news’ channels), what to do with our bodies, and the “right” to bear arms.
Does freedom imply no boundaries or responsibility?
Has the word freedom simply become an easy cover for fear-based or self-serving intentions?
What happens when your definition of freedom limits my own?
These are complicated and layered questions that require more energy than simple yes or no answers. What I do know is this. When ideals become static, no light can get in. Nothing grows there. Just as the freedom on which our nation was created may have been innovative at the time, maybe time has offered perspective and natural evolution. Maybe we need to look to the past not to stay comfortable in tradition but to allow the space to do better in the future. Not necessarily an easy task for those uncomfortable in the shadowy layers of change. We often choose which truths to align by how comfortable they make us feel, not their actual validity.
But it is impossible to know everything about everything. Though our human righteousness often demands we can. We like things to fit into a straightforward model and have it “make sense” (why conspiracy and cults are so alluring). However, the world is much more complicated than that. What is required is trust (Cancer) of those that know what we don’t and the personal clarity to discern (Capricorn) well. It takes us believing those who might know more about something and the humble ability to trust it even (especially) when it challenges our own more comfortable narrative.
Perhaps, there is some quiet knowledge regarding how we (re) define freedom with that understanding.
I know I am focusing on our outer world a bit, but it is to better illuminate our inner world. Certainly, looking at your own personal relationship with freedom (as well as truth, responsibility, and change) is important? Are you really free? Or are you letting reaction (and then reaction), comfort, and tradition run the show? Are you open to change? Are you open to seeing things from a different perspective?
This Full Moon happens at 3° Capricorn adding significant relevance to this theme. The Sabian symbol for that degree reads, “A group of people outfitting a large canoe at the start of a journey by water”.
As James Burgess explains, “At times a group needs to change its situation at a radical level. Out of war, climate change, or other critical factors, what can become necessary is collective migration, or at least a major reorientation of attitudes, methods of production, or levels of consumption, for example. It’s happening all the time somewhere on the planet. The rights of individual expression are suspended then, each member of the group has to do their bit and surrender to the will of the collective need for joint concerted action under clear strong and dynamic leadership.”
Freedom is only truly free when it works within the balance of the personal and the collective. Acceptance and innovation. Collaboration and expression. Words like sacrifice, surrender, and discipline are Capricorn words and come into play here. Those words were never meant to limit us but to create sacred boundaries to better facilitate authentic expression.
We need both. The flow and the function. The vision and the container. Flexibility and formation. Without both, we have dysfunctional chaos. Capricorn does represent law, structure, and government- both inner and outer. It is the necessary foundation for building the freedom we so desire and precisely the balance we are being asked to assess.
“When freedom does not have a purpose, when it does not wish to know anything about the rule of law engraved in the hearts of men and women, when it does not listen to the voice of conscience, it turns against humanity and society.” – Pope John Paul II
Want to better understand what this current cycle is revealing in you? Contact me for more personal insight.