As discussed in this column on Friday, today’s Full Moon is rather unique because it takes place in the degree of Capricorn where Mars is exalted. Nonetheless, today’s opposition between the Sun (in Cancer) and the Moon (in Capricorn) has at least one thing in common with all Full Moons.
When the Sun and Moon share the same degree of the same sign during a New Moon, any trend initiating at the same time (and seeming to correlate to the New Moon) will tend to elaborate for weeks on end. Not so with a Full Moon. In contrast, any energy corresponding with a Full Moon will often taper off rapidly.
When a Full Moon takes place late in a sign, the usual tendency towards the ephemeral is even more pronounced because both participants (Sun and Moon) move on to other signs soon after. That’s a big deal.
In mundane astrology, a celestial object changing signs is one of the biggest deals of all. One metaphor that might help you to understand the significance of a sign ingress is a theatrical one. Think of the object in question as the actor, and the sign as a costume. Although there are some notable exceptions to the rule, most of the time the same actor in a new costume represents a different role.
A bit more than four hours after today’s Capricorn Full Moon, which occurs shortly before 7 pm EDT (22:56:31 UTC), Luna will doff its Capricorn costume and don Aquarius raiment. If you are awake for the occasion, you might well note a more intellectual detachment taking over. If you are asleep when the Moon slips into Aquarius overnight, you could very well experience a difference in dreams as compared to the few nights before.
Because the Sun is likewise in the latter days of its role in the costume represented by the sign Cancer, you can also anticipate a new solar role coming up. That will come on Friday shortly after 5:30 in the morning EDT (9:30:08 UTC), when the Sun comes home to the sign that represents its astrological dominion: Leo.
As Robert Hand succinctly noted in his book Horoscope Symbols, the astrological symbolism of the Sun is rather straightforward. The Sun’s emblematic role in astrology corresponds directly with the role of the actual Sun in your life. As Mr. Hand put it, the actual Sun is day and light at its most fundamental. Correspondingly, then, foremost among the Sun’s astrological correlations is the illuminating light of consciousness.
Hence, the annual tour of the Sun in its home sign of Leo represents a time when one might be best able to be more consciously aware as compared to other times of the year. Of course, that role is also yours to play.
The process of raising your understanding from just below the level of explicit awareness and into the daylight will differ depending on who you are. Nearly everybody, however, has the experience of a light ‘coming on’. Sometimes the experience happens in the process of being educated when a teacher says just the right thing and you ‘get it’. Other times after a long process of persevering in solitary study, a metaphorical bulb will appear over your head. Either way, you get the idea. The impending role of the Sun in Leo is to set the stage for you to get any idea that has been eluding you up to this point.
Your role after today’s Capricorn Full Moon is thus to do a bit of costume changing on your own. In all probability, your part will consist of putting on a proverbial thinking cap and persisting through whatever conundrums you are facing right now. There may be some significant work involved. You may need to extend the Sun’s light into the night by putting some so-called ‘midnight oil’ to use. On the other hand, clarity could come rapidly (in which case you might want to double-check to make sure that your brilliant insight is indeed correct).
No matter how it works for you, the hours and days to follow today would be a good time to be proactive in achieving greater awareness. If there is anything to the astrology (and if you do your part to bring it about) a dawning of some sort could be just over the horizon for you.
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