On January 6th, 2023 we have a Full Moon in Cancer.

The Moon loves being in Cancer, her home sign. The Full Moons in Cancer are some of the most emotional Full Moons. When the Moon is in Cancer, we all find it easier to feel and express our emotions.

Joy, excitement, sadness, anger – tears of joy or tears of sadness – Cancer makes us “feel” our emotions. Emotions are meant to be felt, and the Full Moon in Cancer is an opportunity to embrace our feelings even if – in fact, especially if – we don’t usually feel comfortable doing so.

Our emotions are our body’s way to show us what’s important to us. When we hold back our emotions, we withhold our deepest truth. We are who we are because of what moves us. When we stop feeling, we forget who we are.

When we have a Full Moon in Cancer, the Sun is in the opposite sign, Capricorn. During the sober Capricorn season we need our Cancer emotional compass more than ever. Without it, we can’t reach the summit.

Full Moon In Cancer – The “I” In the Middle

Cancer is our roots – where we come from, our culture, our early upbringing.

Capricorn is the summit – what we aspire to become, the person we aim to be.

The Cancer/Capricorn axis is one of the 2 cardinal axes, and it shows how our environment shapes our identity.

The other cardinal axis is the Aries/Libra axis, or the axis of “I am”. Aries is the conscious part of our identity, while Libra is that part of our identity we project and seek for in others.

Aries squares the Cancer/Capricorn axis, suggesting that our identity (Aries) is the midpoint of our upbringing (Cancer) and our ideal self (Capricorn).

We’re not just a genetic replica of our parents, but we are not that ideal Self either. We are somewhere in the middle. We are something in between.

Full Moon In Cancer – Growing Pains

Our identity is continuously unfolding, and growing pains are a natural part of the process.

Chiron in Aries is at the apex of the Full Moon opposition. At the Full Moon, the tension of the Cancer/Capricorn opposition will be released through Chiron in Aries.

The Full Moon will trigger our identity wound (Chiron in Aries) but it will also offer us tools and approaches to look at this wound with a fresh set of eyes (sextile Uranus).

Our identity wound – a wound we are all born with – purposefully pushes our buttons, because it’s in the process of embracing our dual nature that we can become our most authentic self.

The Full Moon is opposite Mercury retrograde in Capricorn, inviting us to take a closer look at our ideal Self. Who do you want to be, and why? Why is that Ideal Self so compelling to you?

Often, we want to become the opposite of what we have been brought up to: “I don’t want to be like my mother”, “I don’t want to be like my father”. This approach is helpful from an evolutionary perspective because it’s through exploring complementarity that we grow and evolve.

But it’s also important to recognize that the tail and the head belong to the same coin, and being ourselves is not about being either/or, but about holding the tension of the opposites and just “being”.

At the Full Moon in Cancer, allow your pure, raw emotions to guide you to your deepest self. Honor where you’ve come from. Keep looking for the stars. And surrender to the growing pains of being human.