Full Moon in Cancer

Wednesday, January 19th.  It is during the time of the Full Moon, when the Sun and Moon are at opposite points in the zodiac, that we have an opportunity to find balance between them. This month the Sun is in Capricorn and the Moon is in the opposite sign of Cancer.

Mara Berendt Friedman

This beautiful image called “Rooted in Reverence, Seated in Spirit” represents what I feel this Full Moon is all about. Cancer, a water sign, is the zodiac sign most aligned to the Moon, and in astrological terms, the Moon is said to “rule” the sign of Cancer. Both Moon and Cancer represent love, caring, nurturing, gentleness, and protection. Under this Cancer Moon our hearts can hold extra amounts of love and compassion, so much that we can feel our hearts breaking, exploding with deep care. Cancer acts as a container and holds within it our sense of family and home. We want the best for our families, friends, and communities. And it is with the people closest to us that we are able to relax, drop our guard, and allow ourselves to express our true feeling.

I think I resonate so fully with this image because it reminds me of the wounding and healing that our nation is going through right now after the tragedy in Tucson. The image brings together the loving feeling of Cancer with the hard reality of Capricorn. The mountains in the background remind me of the southwest desert, and the woman in the image is grounded, rooted deeply to the earth. Capricorn is an earth sign, practical, full of deep commitment. Tucson, like many of the communities where we all live and work, has long been building families, jobs, and political networks. Our communities come from years of hard work and responsibility, key words to describe the determined energy of Capricorn.

When something as terrible as this shooting occurs, it feels like our community is ripped apart, undone, destroyed. The emotional pain is great and our temptation is to run and hide, like a crab, and bury ourselves under the sand. But the practical, resilient strength of Capricorn is there to catch us, and brings real tangible support to the emotions of Cancer. By dropping our roots even deeper into our communities, by working even harder to support the things we care about, we can provide a foundation that is so strong that our hearts feels safe. And all those deep and confusing emotions become fused in love and become transformed, and like the Phoenix bird, lift up and spread our hopes and blessing on the world.

To do: This Full Moon is exact at 4:21 pm EST on Wednesday, January 19th. From Tuesday to Thursday, and beyond, sit in silence and visualize this image. See yourself as this woman, in the desert in Tucson. Feel yourself grounded to the earth. Feel the pain of your community, the pain of your nation. Allow your heart to open. Feel the safety of your emotions. Extend your chest out, and imagine that from your heart a transformational energy takes flight that carries your love forth to heal our nation. Imagine your energy dropping like gentle rain across our land, to nourish the earth that will soon give birth to new seeds of hope.

2 comments

  • Lilan Laishley says:

    Wow Donna, I am honored and touched for such words from an artist such as yourself. It means a lot to me.
    Lilan

  • Everything about your work is beauty-full. Like the moon. Like the many phases of its Mystery and Mystical connection to the Divine Feminine…you reflect and share on levels that touch and open depths and breadths.

    I respect and love what you bring.
    thanks you
    d