Full Moon in Cancer
Visions of Childhood in a Time of Maturity
The Full Moon and Sign Polarity
What is it about a Full Moon? Why does it seem so magical? Why might it make some people “crazy”? The astrological answer is in the illumination of the two “lights”, the Sun and the Moon, through opposite signs of the Zodiac.
The Zodiac can be viewed as 6 pairs of opposite signs, or polarities. The signs of each pair are poles of an axis whose function they both share and serve in contradictory, yet complementary, ways. For example, Taurus (birth) is at one end of the axis it shares with Scorpio (death), the sign at the other end. There’s a time for everything, including “a time to be born and a time to die”. It’s the natural economy, the way all values in Time are kept in balance with one another. A different value is toggled in each of the 6 polarities.
Sunlight is the light of conscious life, shining steadily on our thoughts and activities through a single sign for a whole month at a time. Moonlight is the light of unconscious life, reflecting our feelings, moods and dreams through signs that change every 2 - 2.5 days. While we are always functioning in the present in the objective clock time of the Sun, we may feel and dream of a remembered or imaginary past or future in the subjective dreamtime of the Moon.
During the days and nights when the Moon is Full, the Sun and Moon are in opposite signs, ‘speaking’ to us simultaneously from opposite poles of an axis. The Sun affirms conditions of the current moment. The Moon reminds us that there was or will be another moment in time with conditions exactly the opposite of whatever they are now.
The effect of the contrast between the opposing lights is a feeling of bittersweet poignancy as we experience simultaneous contradictory emotions. They are equally compelling. We seem to be stuck with one of them, while the other haunts us from somewhere out of reach. For relief from any discomfort from the effect, we can seek connection with the paradoxical center point between the two extremes, where they meet in timeless union and perfect peace.
In this series, we explore the Full Moon’s effects each month as the two lights confront each other across successive sign polarities.
Full Moon in Cancer: Forever Young
When the Moon is Full in Cancer, the Sun is opposing it from Capricorn. The two lights are illuminating the Cancer-Capricorn axis, bringing us in touch with its complementary energies. The purpose of Cancer-Capricorn is “nesting”, i.e. to establish and maintain protective boundaries around a safe home space within which to nourish and train the young and inexperienced. The dynamic is that of Child & Parent, Follower & Leader, or Subordinate & Authority. Though it can operate anywhere, it’s most appropriate to the family.
Cancer is the homelike sign at the nurturing end of this axis. It’s all about security, comfort, food, fundamental training, and soothing, predictable routine. It evokes feelings of childhood, innocence, vulnerability, dependency, and the attentions of a personal caretaker. In spite of frequently shifting moods, Cancer maintains the peaceful routine at home with consistent respect for the needed protection and support provided by Capricorn.
Capricorn is the sign at the structuring end of this axis, which is neither whimsical nor warm and fuzzy, but serious and firm. It has to be, because it bears responsibility for the family’s safety and security. It’s necessarily concerned more with the framework containing and supporting the family than the details of its internal functions. In a Capricornian role, one carries a heavy burden for the sake of the dependents, earning their respect for keeping their environment prudently controlled and safe.
Because this time is about old age and the past, the influence of the Capricorn Sun puts us mentally in the place of the parent or elder. We tend to think of our responsibilities to those who depend on us. It’s easier for the young to sympathize with a parent or grandparent. Grandparents may think of the challenges they had to deal with during the years when they were raising a family.
The Moon is the only memory planet. With the sponge-like impressionability of a little child, it holds all of our memories from the time our life begins. It rules Cancer, which is all about childhood. But although the Full Moon in Cancer is more about childhood than any other Full Moon, it only occurs during Capricorn time, which is about old age and endings. Its light can evoke memories of any children or childhood scene we ever knew, and it can shine very far into our past.
The Full Moon in Cancer tends to bring out our feelings about the years when our families were younger. Parents may reflect on the necessary sacrifice of facilitating changes in a cherished young life that they wish could stay changeless. Long family histories may be recalled in memory.
The light of the Full Moon in Cancer bridges an ever-widening gap in time between childhood and old age. We’re aware of the age of our bodies, yet we can recall and feel all the wonder of childhood as though no time had passed. We may long now to relive precious moments with little ones in the enchanted domestic world we remember. How different are we now from the younger people we once were? How far back do our memories go? What was our story? How vivid are our memories? During this Full Moon we may well find out.
How a Full Moon in Cancer Might Feel
The songs below express some feelings individuals might experience under a Full Moon in Cancer.
[Newsletter Readers: To listen better on the website, click on the purple & black Elixir banner at the very top.]
Forever Young
Never Grow Up
Child of Mine
Turn Around
Slipping Through My Fingers
There Goes My Life
Sunrise, Sunset
Next Thing You Know
Remember When
Kisses Sweeter Than Wine
Lament for a Frozen Flower
Bless the Beasts and Children
House at Pooh Corner
Lyrics:
Christopher Robin and I walked along
Under branches lit up by the moon
Posing our questions to Owl and Eeyore
As our days disappeared all too soon
But I've wandered much further today than I should
And I can't seem to find my way back to the wood
So help me if you can, I've got to get
Back to the house at Pooh Corner by one
You'd be surprised, there's so much to be done
Count all the bees in the hive
Chase all the clouds from the sky
Back to the days of Christopher Robin and Pooh
Winnie the Pooh doesn't know what to do
Got a honey jar stuck on his nose
He came to me asking help and advice
And from here no one knows where he goes
So I sent him to ask of the owl if he's there
How to loosen a jar from the nose of a bear
So help me if you can, I've got to get
Back to the house at Pooh Corner by one
You'd be surprised, there's so much to be done
Count all the bees in the hive
Chase all the clouds from the sky
Back to the days of Christopher Robin and Pooh
{Bridge}
So help me if you can, I've got to get
Back to the house at Pooh Corner by one
You'd be surprised, there's so much to be done
Count all the bees in the hive
Chase all the clouds from the sky
Back to the days of Christopher Robin
Back to the ways of Christopher Robin and
Back to the ways of Pooh...Only in Sleep
Lyrics: Only in sleep I see their faces, Children I played with when I was a child, Louise comes back with her brown hair braided, Annie with ringlets warm and wild. Only in sleep Time is forgotten— What may have come to them, who can know? Yet we played last night as long ago, And the doll-house stood at the turn of the stair. The years had not sharpened their smooth round faces, I met their eyes and found them mild— Do they, too, dream of me, I wonder, And for them am I too a child?
