Jan

17

Remembrance of Things Past

Filed Under Cancer, Full Moon, capricorn | 3 Comments

I woke up last week to the phantom smells of coffee, toast and bacon. Like Proust’s madeleines, these familiar breakfast aromas evoked a remembrance of things past, calling to mind early mornings at my grandparent’s house in the Central Valley of California. I’d wake on these long ago days to find my grandmother in pink curlers at the kitchen table, lightly spreading toast with margarine and blackberry jam. My grandfather would be frying bacon on the stove, making Folgers coffee and pouring out bowls of his beloved grapenuts.

Sitting at their round, glass-topped table, I’d happily munch on my toast, crunching blackberry seeds between my teeth, safely immersed in the predictable comfort of a familiar breakfast ritual. Smelling my dream smells, those cozy moments from my childhood returned in sharp focus, and for a moment I was once more surrounded by the nurturing warmth of my grandfather in an early morning kitchen.
There’s nothing like having Venus in Cancer to bring back nostalgic moments from the past. Since Venus in Cancer rules my own Libra rising chart and is amplified by sitting in the power point of the tenth house, I’m particularly prone to sentimental feelings for times gone by. When I began studying astrology in my 20’s, I wasn’t too surprised to discover that I shared this placement with my beloved grandfather, an army cook and later a representative for the food and restaurant union. Two Venuses in Cancer, unique in a family of air and fire Venus’, we happily bonded over our deep love of food, family and tradition. These admirable traits co-existed with a few more troublesome Venus in Cancer tendencies: moodiness, possessiveness, and a penchant for sweets. But at least in my family of origin, there was someone who truly understood my heart of hearts, one crabby water Venus to another.

As the Full Moon in Cancer approaches (exact January 19, at 1:21 pm pst), our attention, whether we have planets in Cancer or not, is drawn to “memories, dreams and reflections” ala Carl Jung. Opposing the Capricorn sun, which demands a pragmatic, realistic approach, the moon in its ruling sign of Cancer calls us to dig deep down inside, taking some time and space to immerse ourselves in our own process of remembrance. The polarity and pull of these two opposites, one, earthy Capricorn, pulling our attention outward to the external world of achievement and accomplishment, and the other (Cancer), demanding that we feel our feelings and let our imaginations drift, may create some tension, but this lunation also has the potential to reveal where there are imbalances in our lives so we can self-correct.

Jupiter in Pisces trines this Full Moon, lending us the ability to be more compassionate and forgiving. We can draw on the “big love” vibe of Jupiter in Pisces now to soften and smooth over any rough edges that may separate us from others.

Full Moon in Cancer

This Full Moon calls on us to integrate the water and earth energies of Cancer and Capricorn, bringing heart into our work and applying a practical “can-do” attitude to our dreams.
Without Cancer, Capricorn is dry, lifeless and lonely, concerned only with success and achievement. Without Capricorn, Cancer is lost in a sea of emotions, helpless to act in the world and forever childlike.

January’s Full Moon occurs as the transiting nodes of the moon live out their final days in the signs of Capricorn and Cancer (the transiting nodes move into the Sagittarius/Gemini polarity in March). The North and South node of the Moon are like compass points, directing us all towards the energies that we need to grow, and helping us understand where we’ve just come from.

The North Node, which is currently in Capricorn, directs our collective attention towards hard work and survival. As a group, our evolving story now is to move away from the dark side of Cancer: nostalgic impressions, immature emotions and blood ties that bind us to destructive, rather than life affirming, tribal loyalties. The South Node in Cancer represents the past, or energies that have been developed to a peak and are now dying away. If we cultivate the more negative Cancerian qualities, we can grow weak and helpless, like fish trying to swim against the current.

The Full Moon helps us to acknowledge and see more clearly how the archetypes of these signs play out in our personal lives.
We’re reminded of Cancer’s positive qualities: the life giving nurturance of the Great Mother, the lush bounty of imagination that is available to us all, family memories that sustain and nourish us. But we’re also cautioned to stay focused on the Capricorn mission of conserving our emotional energies so that we can do the work necessary to reach our goals, without being distracted by emotions that may leave us shipwrecked.
So whether you experience your own Proustian Madeleine moment, reveling in the remembrance of things past; or, you decide to set forth with determination towards the future, digging in like the Capricorn mountain goat, this Full Moon promises to shine light on where you stand in the cycle of time, calling to you “like the wild geese, harsh and exciting–over and over announcing your place in the family of things.*
*From “Wild Geese” by Mary Oliver