The First Full Moon of 2023!
January 2, 2023 8:42 pm
Welcome to the first Full Moon of the year! On January 6th 2023 we are welcoming a full moon in the sign of Cancer. The full moon always rises in the sign opposite of the Sun- meaning, the sun is in Capricorn, and the moon is in Cancer. Capricorn and Cancer are sisters signs, often referred to in astrology as the Mother & Father Polarity. What does this all mean? Basically, we have two opposing forces in the sky right now- and they will either clash, or be perfect for each other, depending how you harness the energies. Are you setting them up for marriage or divorce?
A full moon is already an intense time. You may have heard about how emergency rooms are the most hectic on a full moon, noticed your pets are little more scattered, or even felt the effects yourself. Think of the full moon as the “fullest” expression. It is the final stage, fully grown, fully powerful. Understanding this, we can go a step further and study whichever sign the moon is rising in that night. During a full illumination in Cancer, you can expect a lot of emotion, focus on home, family, personal space, and nurturing. Try to forget your own associations with the word mother, and look at the “mother” as an archetype. She is, ideally, nurturing, caring, self-sacrificing, and enveloping. At her worst, she can be strict, suffocating, and controlling. You may conjure up your own keywords… what does the word “mother” bring up for you, spiritually? Womb, birth, internal, feminine, creation, magical… All very fitting, though you may have your own ideas too. Cancer is actually ruled by the moon. meaning this is some particularly “moony” energy coming at us… so it’s no surprise that many people experience such intense emotions during this transit.
This is going to be a time of heightened sensitivity, intuition, compassion, and maybe even a little crying. You may be more concerned than usual with domestic matters- relationships, children, pets, your home… all those people and things you like to take good care of. Being the crab in the zodiac, Cancer is also notorious for retreating to it’s shell when threatened. You may take a lesson from this brilliant animal… sometimes when words fail, you really just need to *feel* things out, and take a step back to observe it all. This moon is notable for inducing mood-swings, crying episodes, and basically all those big blubbery feelings that you can’t always explain. The best thing to do? Just let it happen. It’s important to let things come to the surface when they’re ready… feel it to heal it! While the full moon lasts for the evening, the shadow period and effects will stick around until the next new moon, when the moon begins to grow in her next zodiac sign.
In contrast to the sun being in Capricorn currently (which means yes, it’s Capricorn season!) we have opposing forces of work vs. home. These energies can seem contrasting, but you can integrate the two if you look at them from a new perspective. Capricorn, ruled by Saturn, can be seen as the “father”, while Cancer, ruled by the moon, can be seen as the “mother”. Whatever feelings these words may conjure up for you, try and think of them abstractly. This is a great time to try and balance out your masculine and feminine qualities! Work vs play, active vs passive, outer vs inner, etc… This full moon will ask you to compare your home life to your work life- do they feed into eachother, support eachother? What can you do find peace between the two if you find tension? Or likewise, how can you push it further if they are already in balance?
We have a few suggestions for you, of course! Let’s start with crystals. You may like to meditate with or hold a few crystals through this next month to help control these energies and keep yourself level-headed through it all. Here’s a few and what they can help with!
A great stone for balancing the feminine and masculine qualities inside of yourself! This stone would be good to carry around in a pocket or purse for the next few weeks while you walk the line between this Cancer & Capricorn energy. It will help these energies to “get along” rather than create tension.
A great stone for honoring the Cancer moon! As you can tell by the name, it aids in amplifying the moons energies. It’s also a very beloved stone by many practicing witches (us included!) in that it just emulates ~moon magic~.
A great crystal for uniting opposites! Use this to settle any tension or contrasting feelings inside of yourself. Do you ever feel like you want two different things? Unsure of which path to take? This is a great stone to keep on you at all times to mellow everything out.
Note that all of these feelings will linger for about a month until the next full moon, and depending on how you navigate this period, you may be sorting out your choices and next steps for the entire year. Consider this the groundwork period of how you want to move forward.
Happy full moon, witches! <3
Categorised in: Astrology
