Cancer Full Moon: January 6, 2023
The Cancer Full Moon at 6:08PM ET on January 6, marks the peak of the Mercury retrograde cycle in Capricorn. Cancer is the culture of our home and family. What it feels like inside the space. The food you eat, where you sleep, the way you interact, and how you bond. The individual striving of Capricorn is, in part, in service to the larger unit. Capricorn is concerned with legacy and that starts with providing for their relations. Many holiday stories, like Last Holiday with Queen Latifah and LL Cool J, are cautionary tales for what happens when Capricorn gets too far away from the heart of Cancer. (Although that film offers more of a Sagittarius yolo motto as a remediation for the drudgery and responsibility of Capricorn’s grinding).
The Mercury retrograde in Capricorn that began on December 29, is an investigation into our long term plans as it relates to profession and financial stability. What we need to achieve out in the world to adequately provide for our family and build security in the future. The Full Moon at 16°22 Cancer is illuminating whether our family sytem is supportive of our professional achievements and personal goals. And whether the water we’re swimming in, both at home and in the workplace, is beneficial to our emotional and physical health.
Often we can’t achieve our dreams not because we don’t care or we’re lazy, although Capricorn will try to convince you that with enough hard work anything is possible. Its because we have emotional blocks and deep patterns of resistance of avoidance in our system. The Moon is our physical body, but it also correlates to our emotions and attachment style. Whether we feel safe in the world to pursue our grand vision is impacted by how we were nurtured at a young age. If there was a lot of insecurity and fear in our inner sanctum as a child, we are more likely to approach the outer world expecting the same.
Mercury goes cazimi, in the heart of the Sun, at 16°57 Capricorn at 7:57AM ET on January 7. This download of divine information marks the midway point of the retrograde cycle. Mercury has been steadily moving towards the Sun, but now will fall behind. We have received insight about the Capricorn-Cancer axis of life and will spend the next 11 days grappling with this truth. Some questions to consider for this weekend is whether your work-life balance feels in harmony. Some people are naturally career oriented and driven to achieve in the public realm while others are more focused on homelife. Jobs traditionally classified as care work or feminized labor, like nurses and early educators, do not afford the same kind of recognition and financial compensation. The first week in January is an ideal time to ask yourself what you feel more pulled towards in 2023. What would make you feel abundantly supported at your job? What adjustments would encourage a more supportive environment at home?
Most adults struggle to care for themselves and families while working full time. The successful piloting of a 4 day work week has been raised as a solution for the modern crisis. We laud the sacrifice made by teachers and frontline workers, but the burnout rate in healthcare and education, which has seen employees leaving in droves since 2020, is unsustainable. This Cancer Full Moon is asking whether the conditions you work within are asking you to give too much without adequate compensation.
Although the Scrooge archetype, which depicts the worst of Capricorn, is old it is not outdated. This Mercury retrograde, and the global inflation rates, has been a reminder that we are still run by this energy globally. The rich miser who won’t share the wealth, even with the people who helped accumulate his fortune. The one who sacrifices precious family moments with loved ones and expects all their employees to do the same. The power broker at the top of the hierarchy made miserable by petty grievances. Serious and unpleasable, the Cancer Full Moon opposite Mercury retrograde is highlighting Capricorn’s workaholic tendencies. Without Cancer on the other side of Capricorn, all we have is a solitary goat staring desolately at the distant vista on top of a cold mountain. Cancer brings the warmth and soft touch that melts the heart when we get too rigid.
There is no “enough” for Capricorn or Capitalism, and although tech companies promised to usher in a new dawn of corporate culture. We have seen much of the same. The richest man in the world, Elon Musk, with his Cancer Sun and Mercury demonstrates how the human ego will continue to grab for more long after we’ve achieved what was once a lofty goal. When people climb high, they often have the Cancerian impulse to insulate. It is recommended to stay grounded by surrounding oneself with family and old friends. But we also need to continue to reach out towards our human family and global community. Books like The Seven Husbands of Eleanor Hugo remind us that material wealth is nice but we can’t take it with us. Without people to share our fortune with, life can lose all meaning. If we become unethical in our bid for success, we may alienate those who would allow us to become truly happy.
Jupiter in Aries has got us excited about all the new potential in 2023. But with both Mars and Mercury retrograde, the solution is to let yourself do less and feel more in January. Mars in Gemini stations direct on January 12, and Mercury stations direct at 08°08 Capricorn on January 18. There will be some bumpiness mid-month, but it will eventually smooth out. Mercury will depart the post-shadow at 24°21 Capricorn on February 7, and we can expect things to start moving forward after that.
Start the year off right by moving towards the squishy depths of Cancer’s inner belly: warmth of the hearth, messy joy of children, humbling perspective of generations, and the ancestry line that began before you and will carry on long after you’re gone.