Capricorn Full Moon

The Full Moon on 3 July activates the polarity of Cancer and Capricorn, cardinal signs which utilize inward receptivity as part of their potent ability to initiate change and new growth. While Cancer is a watery place of fresh springs and tidal currents that nurtures life and amplifies inner emotional processes, the solid stones and wild forests of Capricorn test resolve by bringing the adversity necessitated by mortality and time into focus. Capricorn is zodiacal terrain ruled by the resilient endurance of Saturn which further exalts the courageous will-force of Mars, a zodiacal place that nurtures our capacity for facing challenges and persevering through experiences of uncertainty and changing conditions. The bright light of Luna will draw from the pragmatic perspicacity of the Goatfish for guidance, as the Capricorn Full Moon will be flowing away from a fertilizing trine with Jupiter in Taurus and applying toward a distinguishing opposition with Mercury in Cancer. A balance will need to be struck between sustaining faith in our creative capacity to rebuild our world anew, while simultaneously using discernment to question potential directions and ensure that we are constructing a stable foundation to house our dreams.

Venus in all of her pleasures and radiance will take center stage under the light of the Full Moon, as she will be luxuriating in her brightest phase as an Evening Star while engaged in a catalyzing square aspect with Uranus that will untether desires from places where they have been tied down by restraint. The propulsive force built between Venus in Leo and Uranus in Taurus will shake up parts of ourselves that had become stagnant through resisting change in favor of the comfort of stability, driving us to pursue the life direction that will allow for greater freedom of expression and fulfillment of authentic joy and creativity. With Venus in the fiery home of Helios shining her solar radiance and roaring in the face of limitation, the influence of Uranus will kindle her determination to do what she pleases, sparking inspirational desires to actualize our creativity in daily activities as well as through longterm planning. Due to Venus stationing retrograde on 22 July, the square between Venus and Uranus will be the first of three to occur in the months ahead: the second will take place on 9 August with Venus retrograde and invisible under the beams of the Sun, while the third will take place on 29 September with Venus direct and visible as a Morning Star. Thus the Uranian intimations and premonitions of future potential received by Venus under the light of the Full Moon will be be undergoing a process of refinement in the months ahead.

Since Venus will become increasingly bright in night skies in the week following the lunation, reaching her maximum brightness on 10 July, the Capricorn Full Moon will illuminate the ways in which our inner values, attractions, and aesthetics are in a state of intensified flux. Due to the hard aspect between Venus and Uranus, the fluctuation and magnification of our desires may feel liberating and volatile, requiring adjustment within relationships and established routines. The fiery heat and passion of Venus will be further increased by her cohabitation in Leo with Mars, prompting movement in new directions that can feel exciting as well as disruptive to our old sense of normalcy. Each night following sunset in the week after the Full Moon, all eyes will be drawn toward Venus glimmering extremely bright. Yet as the Sun sinks deeper into the darkness of night, the red planet Mars and the royal star Regulus, the Heart of the Lion, will also become visible nearby Venus. The celestial lineup of Venus, Mars, and Regulus together is a call to take command and leadership in life, courageously claiming the personal power available to reshape your life while reassessing the personal values that need to be prioritized to be in your integrity.

While Venus and Mars will be visible together in the night sky following the setting of the Sun and the rising of the Moon, they will also be joined by the invisible presence of the Pallas Athena asteroid nearby in Leo. Pallas Athena is pleased by guiding the heroic on quests, and so is in perfect position to mentor the star of Ares while accentuating the foresight and vision of Venus for long-range goals. Pallas Athena and Mars will form a conjunction on 10 July at 00º21’ Virgo, the same night that Venus will be glowing with maximum brightness. In myth, Pallas Athena and her glimmering gray eyes possess an “in-betweeness” like Hermes that can utilize disguise, deception, subterfuge, and cunning dialogue in her heroic mentoring, scanning the environment to devise solutions that facilitate success. Walter Burkert in Greek Religion wrote that “more than any other diety Athena is always near her proteges – ‘Goddess of Nearness’ is how Walter F. Otto described her. Wherever difficulties disappear and the impossible becomes possible, Athena is at hand . . . ‘In league with Athena set your own hand to work,’ says the proverb.”

Mars and Pallas Athena will leave Leo together on 10 July to enter Virgo, the same day that Mercury will also be leaving Cancer to join Venus in Leo. As 10 July will mark the waning last quarter Moon, Pallas Athena can be a helpful intermediary presence in confronting how our inner changes are opening new potential pathways which will require critical decisions and choices. The combined magnetism of Venus and Mars in Leo can be overly ambitious and could put some at risk of becoming too hubristic in action and plan, yet Pallas Athena can provide the counterpoint of recognizing the larger implications of individual choices. As Walter Burkert described, the fierce presence of Pallas Athena can look Mars in his eyes to hold his anger and arrogance in check when needed:

“Her most characteristic manifestation is to Achilles: as he grasps for his sword in his quarrel with Agamemnon, Athena stands behind him and catches him by the hair; to the others she remains invisible, but Achilles recognizes the goddess ‘in amazement’; her eyes shine terribly. She counsels him to check his rage, lightly inserting the words, ‘if you will follow me,’ and Achilles obeys without question. It has often been discussed how a psychological process of self-control is here anatomized and presented as divine intervention. Athena’s shining eyes make a moment of lucid prudence in the darkening quarrel.”

Walter Burkert, Greek Religion

With Mars and Pallas Athena uniting while also in conjunction with Regulus, the heart of the Lion, the more we can be heart-centered and deepen into the perception of our heart, the greater the capacity we will have for centering within the true desires being magnified by Venus. Alignment with the nobleness of the heart and the integrity of your values and moral code will serve as the lodestar that can bring guidance through the regenerative, underworld passage of Venus retrograde in the months ahead.

Neptune stationed retrograde on 30 June at 27º41’ Pisces, casting imaginal tidal waves over the lunation that can disintegrate the structures that have been defining our identity. Neptune retrograde in Pisces will slowly creep backwards until stationing direct at 24º53’ Pisces on 6 December 2023, giving us a second opportunity to experience its impact upon 27 to 24 degrees of Pisces. It takes time to learn how to adjust to the trance-like effect of Neptune by transit, and so its retrograde passage brings opportunities to face disillusionment with the way things have been while simultaneously unearthing imaginative insights that have been washed ashore by its tides. As old patterns and boundaries dissolve underneath Neptune’s waves, it can feel as if we’re opening to messages from far outside our known reality.

In the wake of Neptune washing away the familiar, our ability to effectively reorient can be impacted by insecurity over leaving the secure known for an unknown potential. Neptune retrograde can facilitate release from illusions of the past while engaging with rising inspiration that brings life to our imagination. Fortunately in the week following the Capricorn Full Moon, Mercury in Cancer will form a flowing trine aspect with Neptune on 9 July in between Mercury forming a sextile with Uranus on 6 July and and opposition with Pluto on 10 July. If you’ve been dealing with difficult confusion or disillusioning events in relation to the stationing of Neptune, the flowing trine between Mercury with Neptune can help in finding ways to bridge the aspects of immaterial visions that can be brought into material manifestation.

Saturn is the ruler of the Capricorn Full Moon and is sharing the oceanic water of Pisces with Neptune. The Capricorn Full Moon is emanating away from a harmonious sextile aspect with Saturn, activating the supportive sextile that recently formed between Saturn and Jupiter. Neptune’s station on 30 June was the first time that Neptune has stationed since Saturn has joined it in Pisces, and follows the first stationing of Saturn in Pisces on 17 June that took place the same day as the New Moon in Gemini. The dissolving force of Saturn and Neptune in Pisces will peak in 2025 and 2026, but we are already experiencing the initial stages of them warping reality together and calling authorities and systemic structures into question. Although it may feel difficult to build sold structures within the watery landscape of Pisces, not only is is it possible but the fluidity of Pisces can enable ingenious solutions and synthesizing diverse creative ideas and inspirations together as part of planning. The earthy practicality of the Capricorn Full Moon is an ideal lunation for reflecting upon whatever creative ideas and dreams have been developing since Saturn entered Pisces on 7 March, discerning which ones can gain traction with planning and be set into motion.

Capricorn 2 Decan

The Full Moon will illuminate the second decan of Capricorn associated with the Three of Pentacles card illustrated above by Pamela Colman Smith. The image contains an artisan in process of creating a divinely inspired masterwork in stone. There is a consultation taking place between the artist and authorities associated with the institution reviewing carefully drawn plans. The second decan of Capricorn is ruled by Venus and Mars and is a face in which great works can be created through collaboration, planning, and incredible effort bonded with artistic vision. As the light of the Capricorn Full Moon culminates, Venus and Mars will be close together in the night sky. Venus in her phase of brightening will be outshining Mars, increasing the heat of visionary desires before she pulls back away from Mars by stationing retrograde on 22 July. The full light of Luna will enliven passions and yearning for the ambitious plans taking form within the heart and mind, yet with Venus approaching her stationing we will need to allow developing creative directions to undergo a liminal passage of alteration, regeneration, and deepening in the months ahead.

Austin Coppock in his book 36 Faces ascribed the image of “The Pyramid” to the second decan of Capricorn, noting it is a place where sublime works of material manifestation are completed. Coppock described this face as showing “visions of what might be wrought upon the earth, blueprints as a type of revelation.” There is not only a necessity for blueprints but also disciplined, hard work in collaboration with numerous resources in order to complete the grand visions that emerge in this face. Coppock wrote that while it is necessary to bind effort to accomplishing ambitious goals, he also cautioned to take care in the “enduring consequences” created by becoming consumed by the creation of a grand magnum opus. Images in both the Picatrix as well as Three Occult Books of Philosophy speak to this face inspiring a search for what cannot be known and seeking what cannot be done, leading Coppock to note the importance of finding a balance between having enough ambition to envision worthy goals while refraining from the kind of hubris that can envision “impossible or ill fated projects.”

Thus as Venus approaches her dissolving and purifying phase of regenerative retrograde in the month ahead, we can explore if we need to release ourselves from past ambitious goals that are no longer aligned with the emerging values we are coming into relationship with. The Full Moon illuminating the second decan of Capricorn can bring realization that continuing to purse a particular vision will make you complicit in a pyramidal hierarchy of power you no longer wish to be involved with. While the symbol of pyramids can be linked with problematic hierarchies, pyramids were also associated in ancient Egyptian culture with creation itself, as they represented the mounds of earth that would arise out of the fertility of water. Allow Selene and the Sea Goat of Capricorn to lead you into the depths of your inner fertility in order to contact the vibrant visions ready to emerge through your work and planning.

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References

Burkert, Walter. (1985). Greek Religion. Harvard University Press.

Coppock, Austin. (2014). 36 Faces: The History, Astrology and Magic of the Decans. Three Hands Press.