Cancer Full Moon - December 23, 2007

I work from home, so the career/family duality is collapsed, in a way. Although I don't see colleagues on a daily basis, I have the comfort of my wife and daughter being around in the afternoons. Although there's not a whole lot of interaction, I do have someone to touch base with throughout the day. The downside is being interrupted when I'm focused on something, as well as feeling I need to do dishes after I eat lunch instead of letting them sit in the sink until nighttime ... or hoping someone else will do them.

Nonetheless, I put in many hours, and it's difficult not being able to sit back and relax, to just go within and be with my feelings. Instead, I'm interacting with a computer screen all day. But I don't have it so bad ... I could be working at an office, commuting two hours a day, not being be able to spend much time with my daughter before she goes to bed. I don't want to be the dad who comes home from work after the kid is fed and reads her to sleep.

We all struggle with balancing work (Capricorn) and home (Cancer). Some people would rather work more and do less puttering around the house. Others would like to spend less time at the office. This Full Moon in Cancer puts the focus on our emotional need for a home base, a feeling of security in family connections. Yet it's more difficult to achieve this now, as Jupiter has just entered Capricorn and is conjoining the Sun. The world of work is celebrated now, and for the next year we'll be taking advantage of opportunities to climb the ladder in our fields. If anything, that means spending less time with the family.

Meanwhile, retrograde Mars in Cancer conjoins the Moon. Mars, a work planet, is both moving (apparently) backwards in the sky and in the sign of his "fall." The action planet does not thrive in such an indirect sign. The crab moves sideways, while Mars (ruler of Aries) wants to charge forward. Mars is in a defensive posture, and while both conjunct the Moon and residing in Moon-ruled Cancer, he fights to protect those he loves, at the ready to keep the women and children safe.

Yet the opposition between Jupiter and Mars is the backdrop of this Full Moon. Both are in the sign of their fall, yet in each other's sign of exaltation. (If I were a traditional astrologer, I could tell you that means something!) Typically, the Mars-Jupiter aspect relates to an expansion of the Martian principle, leading us to over-act on our desires to copulate or conquer ... or that our assertive energy is fueled by higher principles to justify our actions. The opposition, though, is about relationships: someone takes on the role of Jupiter while you take on the role of Mars, or vice versa. Perhaps a business mentor (Jupiter in Capricorn) inspires you to clean up your act at home, clear up unresolved family issues that hold you back from success (Mars retro in Cancer) ... so that when Mars stations direct in late January, you'll have the drive to move ahead, with the security of knowing that you have your eggs lined up at home.

The Fine Print: The Cancer Full Moon is at 1 degree Cancer. Mars and Jupiter exactly oppose on the day after Christmas. If you have any planets or angles in the first 5 degrees of cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn), this Bud's for you.

New Moon in Cancer - July 14, 2007

Family is where our lives begin, and many of us derive joy from starting our own. Yet families are also severely screwed-up. I just finished watching the last season of Alias on DVD. This show, starring Jennifer Garner as Sydney Bristow, was about a CIA operative whose parents were also spies. However, her mother was a "bad guy," and Sydney was constantly deceived (or had information hidden from her) by both her parents. The theme of this show is appropriate for this Cancer New Moon, because the Moon and Sun are exactly inconjunct (150-degree angle) Neptune in Aquarius. The misinformation and lies (Neptune) perpetrated along various networks (Aquarius) was intimately tied to Sydney Bristow's sense of family -- her very past (Cancer), in fact, as she was the progeny of a Russian spy who pretended she was someone else, to get close to Sydney's father, a CIA operative. (I know, it's complicated!)

What forms of deception were part of your family? Many of us grew up with a gut sense -- way below conscious awareness -- that our parents were hiding something from us. Family secrets -- a gay uncle, an alcoholic father, a sexually abused step-sister, a pedophilic great-grandfather, take your pick! -- were hidden supposedly to "protect" us, but the withdrawal of this vital information ("intelligence") left us feeling incomplete, that there was something missing, if we could only identify what that was. Once we learn about our family's past, the missing pieces come together, and we finally understand why we felt off-center.

Even though the secret was about something that didn't directly impact you, it affected you anyway. You are a part of your family, and a family is an organism, a unit by itself, of which you are a part. You cannot separate yourself from what your great-grandfather did to your grand-aunt, because these patterns are inherited. Mistakes are often passed along the generations, and it takes both consciousness and will to not repeat the "sins of the fathers." Thus, it is imperative that the veils of our family's past are pulled aside, so that, with awareness, we can choose to stop the dysfunction.

The Fine Print: This New Moon occurs at 21 degrees Cancer. This lunation will mostly impact those natives with personal planets or angles around 21 degrees of the cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn).

Full Moon in Cancer - January 3, 2007

The New Year rings in with the Sun in Capricorn -- serious, withdrawn, a little melancholic. The light is growing after the Solstice, but it is still dark and cold. What better way to combat hardship than by cozying up with the fam in front of the fireplace? A home-cooked meal, a hug from Mommy -- we've stored away acorns all year for this moment. To hide in our little hole in the tree, shielded from the winter chill.

Cancer craves security and that down-home feeling, but unfortunately we have to work our buns off to create a safe haven for our loved ones. If both parents have to slave away at their jobs to afford a Tivo and a full-time nanny, then the boys and girls at home are going to suffer. Yes, they will be able to watch SpongeBob at any hour, but where's the love? In our Capricornian pursuit to have it all, emotional needs are neglected. And when the Moon is in Cancer, our feelings matter.

Capricorn and Cancer may oppose each other in the zodiac, but they can't live without each other. Both want stability, both are conservative, and someone's gotta surrender to Saturn so that everyone else can have the Moon. Cap is willing to make this sacrifice, for he feels more valuable when he can provide -- but spend too much time at the office, and your inner life starts to shrivel. You've got to replenish yourself with loved ones in a cozy environment. It's called home base because work is war, and you have to return once in a while to get your rations and rest on your cot.

This Full Moon is making a 120-degree angle, or trine, to Uranus, planet of revolution. How can you shake things up domestically? We're not talking about breaking down the walls -- a trine is supportive, offering an opportunity to change. We have an awareness of our stagnant emotional patterns or rigid family dynamics, and Uranus provides the impetus to disrupt the usual flow, so we can do something different this time around. Happy New Year!

This Full Moon will mostly affect people with personal planets or angles around 12 degrees of cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn), as well as those with birthdays around January 3, April 2, July 4, and October 6.