Full Moon in Capricorn: Depth Woven into Light

The Capricorn Full Moon of June 27th, at 6 plus degrees, offers us some powerful opportunities to ground our visions into very practical no-nonsense structures. The Full Moon is in any case the time in the cycle when lunar light culminates and is at its turning point from waxing to waning back to darkness. It is a time brimming with rich potentials for harvest when we attune our awareness to them. In this case, the Moon’s conjunction with Saturn announces a focus on structure, strategies, and plans, provided we can slow down and bring ourselves present with what is being offered. This is no high apple pie in the sky Full Moon. With sobering Saturn less than a degree away, it’s time to take it slow, and be gentle but also very real with ourselves. In Capricorn, Saturn may be at his very best, as it’s his own sign of rulership. His more optimal functions can therefore perform well, things like tending to the nuts and bolts, taking 100% responsibility for ourselves, and creating coherent and thoughtful structures and plans. The Moon as emotional outlet may be subdued in Capricorn, not the place where her inherent flowing and soft ways are able to shine. With Saturn so close at hand, there is a push to dim her bright reflection of the Sun’s light, in favor of the strong presence of limitation and contraction represented by Saturn. This could look like emotions seeming unwelcome, resulting in feeling lonely hearted, or like there’s just something blocking the free expression of self.

Perhaps this powerful Saturn-Moon conjunction is inviting us to give loving observation to our own emotional and receptive nature, with two feet firmly rooted in what’s truly helpful in practical application for our lives. Looking at these two archetypes as reflected in each of us, in our internal worlds (for each of us have an inner Moon and Saturn!) we may want to ask how can our parts of self that are more calculated and serious be in better communication with our flowing, emotional Mooney parts? Looking within yourself, which aspect is stronger in you? Does one voice tend to win out and drive the ship? Finally, is there a negotiation that could occur between these two aspects of your being so that both are invited to the table?

The Sun is also in declinational aspect to Pluto, as is Saturn, so that there is a hidden dimension of power and depth woven into this Full Moon. This is an opportunity to look with piercing clarity into our relationship with power. How do you see power being used by others in the world? What does that bring up for you? How do you embody your own power and express that in the world? There can be a tendency with Pluto connections to contract in fear, holding onto what arises too tightly. See if you can create some space in your approach and hold these issues loosely in your awareness. This can allow for movement and re-orientation to a new way of being, as Pluto asks us to evolve and transform. And always remember to be gentle with yourself; and with others.

It is also extremely important to note that Mars stationed retrograde the day before this Full Moon, on June 26th, and this adds another internal impulse to pause, look inward, and proceed with mindfulness. Within this astrological indication you may wish to bring more awareness to the areas of your life where you’re feeling impatient, want to rush ahead, force agendas, or doggedly pursue outcomes. Alternatively, look at where in your life you avoid taking action, or get bogged down in the process of making decisions. You may also find and reflect on potential fears of moving toward the future. The next two months will see in each of us a re-organization around Mars themes of willpower, taking action, and the yang/masculine principle. (For more information on this you can read the article here.)

The Sabian Symbol for the Moon, in the seventh degree of Capricorn, is “A veiled prophet of power.” Marc Edmund Jones speaks of the “unerring insight into the motives of (wo)men, and a consequent gift for organizing their efforts.” This can be seen as another nod to the Plutonian and Saturnine dimension of this Full Moon – looking into our depths, and re-organizing ourselves around what we find, there. The symbol for the Sun, in the same degree of Cancer, is “Two fairies on a moonlit night.” Jones writes of, “Nature’s illimitable potentialities on the side of the release that she offers [and] the necessity that [we] achieve some lightness in self-expression as a balance for the strain of everyday existence…” Indeed, in these trying and heavy times, it is crucial we find moments of levity, light hearts, magic, and imagination. May we equally plumb the depths as we rise above – and may the experiences of both be beautifully woven into the tapestry of Self and Soul as we individually navigate the great mystery of life.



Leslie Benson