Capricorn Full Moon

The Full Moon in Capricorn is upon us, giving us a hint of how Pluto in Capricorn will be for us as individuals and as part of the collective.

In general, what you seed at the New Moon and should begin to show results at the Full Moon. It may be a flower or a weed, but you'll have something. Then you must decide if you want to keep it or not.

In many traditions of the world, but not all, the Sun is considered masculine, the Moon feminine. What we have now, is the opposite. Presently the Sun is in Cancer, which represents the archetype of the Mother; the Moon in Capricorn, the Father. Each has a role to play in society and within our own psyches. The Mother bears, nurtures and protects the child. The Father teaches the the child how to function in society, often by preparing him/her to work. In tradtional societies boys learned their father's trade and moved into it when they grew up. Mothers taught their daughters, usually by example, how to cook, sew, raise children etc. Of course, now days these roles are not as rigid as they once were. I do believe, however, that they have made an imprint on our psyches after the thousands of years that they were in operation and that they have made their marks on our karma.

It has only been a short time since the societal roles for men and women were rigidly defined. For most people in the world, they still are.

In any case, Our inner Mother is how we nurture ourselves and others. Our inner Father is how we work with structure in our lives and discpline ourselves to accomplish things. This Full Moon gives us another opportunity to look at this. Do we work too much leaving no time to enjoy life and be with our loved ones? Are we in touch with what we need to be nourished besides food? Studies indicate that most Americans are sleep deprived and/or have trouble sleeping. Yet, how many hours do we spend watching T.V. or on a computer (blogging)?

Not only does our body suffer from this lack of sleep, but also our dream life. Dreams serve many functions. Dreaming is a way for the psyche to process the events of our day and an avenue for inspiration. Many famous scientists report that they got the idea for a breakthough from their dreams. Artists, writers and composers are often inspired by dream images.

Stephanie Austin in The Mountain Astrologer, says that the Full Moon illuminates the shadow side of each sign as well as its spiritual tasks. Cancer must learn about receiving, Capricorn about giving back. The Crab can build too thick a shell; the Mountain Goat may climb the wrong mountain. The fourth sign must develp healthy roots; the tenth must share the fruits of its labor. The more we diregard our own feelings and needs, the greater is the risk that we will violate the rights and concerns of others. The less responsibilty we assume, the less power we have. The light of this Full Moon reveals whether our crab shells are too thick or too thin--showing us where we need to shed our defenses or establish better boundaries. We wee whether we are climbing the right mountain, or treading someone else's path.

Yesterday Karyn Sanders on her radio show The Herbal Highway on KPFA, talked about how so many Americans are like children and how remaining a child also means you have no power. The entire show was about herbs and flower essences that would help one face reality and grow up and that the among the rewards of adulthood was the increased sense of power and authority. Right in line with this Full Moon. You can listen to this show or any other archived at KPFA.

So the challenge is balance. Retaining the open-heartedness of childhood and the responsibility of adulthood. Learning when to give and when to receive, when to work and when to rest. On my blog Hamida the Herbalist, the issue of the week is about the relationship between gratitude and abundance - which are related to giving and receiving. What is true security? Being heart-centered. It's all connected.

Navigating Pluto in Capricorn - We Need All the Help We Can Get

Just listened to a recording of Darby Costello from the recent UAC conference in Denver and felt this was important and I wanted to share it.

As I understood it, she said that one way to work with Pluto in Capricorn (which is ruled by Saturn), is to look at where Saturn is right now. Saturn is in Virgo and therefore trines Pluto. So, since trines are "helpful" "supporting" aspects, Saturn work can help us as we go into Pluto in Capricorn, a difficult transition, since it's kind of like going from the feast to famine. Easier to go from famine to feast. The Saturn work, because in Virgo, is about slow, small tasks, incremental progress. In fact, she said that if we do the Saturn work, Pluto in Capricorn will take care of itself. Nice thought.

Saturn in Virgo is about determining whether what we are doing is useful or not. It is also about finding ways to be efficient with everything, including our time. She suggested stopping as we go through our day, and asking ourselves if we are off on tangents or if what we are doing is what we planned to do. With Saturn in Virgo (ruled by Mercury) there might be a tendency to think about doing things rather than doing them - or thinking we are doing them when actually all we are doing is thinking about doing them. Does that make sense? Even if what we do is small compared to what we "should" do, the effort is well worth it. In fact, she suggested that the smaller the better, since accomplishment will encourage us. If we make the job to be done too large, we will not be able to complete it and the resulting discouragement will stop our progress.

The next part was to look at where your Mercury is, since Saturn is in Virgo, ruled by Mercury. Mercury by sign and house. This will give you clues about what "the work" might be, if you don't already know.

My Mercury is in Cancer in the 11th house. As I see it, my work is about nurturing and healing on behalf of the collective. I do volunteer work for the Master Gardener program. At home, I grow vegetables, herbs and pollinator-friendly plants. I am an herbalist and an astrologer. With Gemini in the 10th house, I feel part of my role is to disseminate information, so I see my various vehicles - blogs, website and even my products, as means to educate as well as heal. Continuing to do this work, in whatever way I can, will be good for the collective and for myself. Saturn in Virgo is in the 1st house right now, so "the work" "heals" "me" too. Healing includes providing useful information - another way that I serve.

As the Leos would say, "enough about me, what do you think of me" LOL - back to Pluto. After the extravaganza of Sagittarius, Capricorn might be felt as restrictive. A belt-tightening. But that is not necessarily bad. After persuing all the options, time to choose. Time to stand up for what you have chosen. Time to focus, organize and give form to what you believe. Do you believe anything?

For us Baby-Boomers, who are now officially seniors, did we learn anything from all that exploration? Do we only mourn our lost youth or value our gained wisdom? Is the famous expression "is that all there is?" what we are left with or do we instead feel the richness of life, the as yet unexplored depths?

This is a tme to assess what we have that is important - both inner and outer resources. What no longer serves, must be eliminated. No room for excess baggage. As I write this, the idea of shedding things so that one can become mobile - return to Nomadism. Huh I wonder what that's about?

I am still running the give-away. To the first three people who send a comment with their birth data: time, place and date of birth, and email address, I will send a free astrological report. I am expanding the give-away to give you a choice of 1) the Sky Within - a reading of the entire chart, 2) Opportunities - a reading focusing on your career potential, or 3) Asteroids - a reading of the four major asteroids plus Chiron. Your choice. I will not publish the comment if your email is on it. But I must have your email in order to send the report.