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The January 2023 Full Moon of 17 Capricorn-Cancer Pt. 1 – Reviewing and Reconsidering Many Things

02 Jan 2023, 08:57 pm

by Robert Wilkinson

We have the Full Moon coming Thursday just before Mercury makes its Inferior Conjunction to the Sun! This “soberly humorous,” educative, organized, rehearsing, and reviewing Full Moon occurs at 3:08 pm PST, 11:08 pm GMT on January 6, and falls at the 17th degrees of Capricorn and Cancer. Use the light of the honesty of a new knowledge of who you are and what role you’re playing since the New Moon. Through focusing on the inner rather than the outer, release inhibitions or see how you released them in the past, and embrace your wider understanding and deeper compassion.

So what can we expect from this Lunation? Given the power of the recent eclipses, we’re still releasing many things in our Taurus and Scorpio sectors, and reconnecting with Source. We’re rapidly finishing our time of learning to wield spiritual power wisely. The next two weeks offer us the understanding of dispassion, and should show us how our current skills and wisdom are the result of past “disciplines of self-conquering.” Responsibility is the keyword of this period, whether to accept it or see who is responsible for what.

With the Plutonic emphasis in this chart, we can get to the core of whatever we’re reminded of, or whatever is a return, echo, or memory. By eliminating inhibiting actions, feelings, and thoughts, we can come to a new understanding of the power we have to shape our responses to life’s challenges and responsibilities. This Full Moon features the Light of the Inferior Conjunction with Pluto expressed through the Moon in Cancer. This is a powerful merging of past, present, and future expressed in the Now. Allow yourself to be educated through roundabout insights, or flashes from the past.

Mars is on the degree where it will go stationary direct in a few days, so those themes will be very powerful factors in the next two weeks because Mars affects how Jupiter expresses itself in Aries. As Mars retrograde helped us get behind and around inhibitions, how we see what to do has evolved. We’re now in a time when we can take aim at our goals and set things into motion.

The Inferior Conjunction falls on the Solar degree of this chart, so that’s a core factor in how the light will manifest. Still, as Mercury is at 18 Capricorn, it blends the theme of that degree with the Full Moon “tensional awareness.” Capricorn is a cautious sign, and calculates its moves carefully. This is another Full Moon focused on actional and material levels of functioning and awareness. It’s almost time to act, so get clear about what you need and how you feel moving forward from here.

Today’s Full Moon post will be an overview of the Lunation and some of its primary qualities. In parts 2 and 3 we’ll cover the Sabian Symbols, aspects, distributions, and patterns.

An Overview

This Full Moon brings the Light of the Capricorn New Moon into a release from old inhibitions now that we’ve gotten an honest look at what’s going on. This is a totally growth oriented Full Moon, with great release for those with a sense of humor. Saturn’s in a sector teaching us an emotional or social technique involving dispassion and an ability to utilize difficult past experiences to teach others how to manage their own challenges.

The next two weeks helps us organize or reorganize based in understanding we didn’t have before, or an ability to see things from multiple organized angles. Educate and be educated! This Lunation marks the death of the old Pluto cycles set into motion this time last year, and the opening of new ones. It’s also the last Lunation where the Sun has no planet leading it, ending several months of the Sun itself as the entry to the Great Light.

As with all Full Moons, use the light you’ve been seeing and expressing since the New Moon, and give it form and focus to see how to anchor those themes in expression. The New Moon’s themes were about understanding the wrong use of power is damaging, being honest in every way, and seeing clearly what role we are to play and how to keep the initiative and momentum in our own hands. This helps us integrate all of that information in ways which help us leave some inhibitions behind.

Is the Sun Following the Moon, or the Moon Following the Sun?

This Lunation is the eighteenth Full Moon where the Sun is in the same sign (Capricorn) as it was in the New Moon two weeks ago. We are now in “the regular order” of the Sun/Moon relationship cycle, and this one brings Life and Mind together in unique forms of spiritual mobilization, with the inner supporting the outer. We can now take the last New Moon themes of accepting power as well as the result of claiming that power, along with the culmination of what began last Spring which is now rapidly accelerating in both growth and release.

There are two patterns; one is when the Full Moon Sun is the same sign as the previous New Moon Sun, and the other is when the Full Moon Sun is in the next sign from the Sun in the previous New Moon. The Sun was in the same sign in both the New Moon and Full Moon, the so-called “natural” order, between April 2019 and August 2020. At the August 2020 Full Moon we entered the “reverse pattern” of the Sun of the Full Moon occupying the sign after the New Moon Sun, since the previous New Moon Sun was at 29 Cancer and that Full Moon Sun was at 12 Leo.

Now that August 2021 brought us the New Moon Sun at 17 Leo and Full Moon Sun is at 30 Leo, we’ve been back in the natural order which will continue until the New Moon of April 19, 2023, which will be at 30 Aries, with the following Full Moon Sun at 15 Taurus. (That Full Moon is a Lunar eclipse). You can find out more about the “seed forms” of the New Moon two weeks ago by going to the archives.

Past As Prologue

The 2020-22 Eclipses moved us all in new directions, reorienting wherever we have Taurus, Cancer, Gemini, Scorpio, and Sagittarius in our charts. Remember that all Eclipses are “Cosmic recyclers,” taking away what is obsolete or de-magnetized in our lives. These losses clean out psychic and physical spaces so newer life substance can come forth. We’ve cleared out many old ideas, truths, habits, and perspectives the past 2 years, and now have a wider view regarding our life and the Life around us at the beginning of a new 20 year Aquarian era for humanity.

As you know from other articles, 2020 was the last year of a 200 year Earth era, with Air power building throughout the year which primed the pump for the 200 year Air era which began on the Solstice with Jupiter conjuncting Saturn at 1 Aquarius. However, we will still be “under the beams” of the powerful conjunctions in Capricorn, since between January and March 2020 we began new Saturn/Pluto, Jupiter/Pluto, Mars/Jupiter, Mars/Pluto, and Mars/Saturn cycles. The first of these launched a new 33 year era into motion.

Due to these conjunctions in late Capricorn and both Mars/Saturn and Jupiter/Saturn conjunctions at 1 Aquarius, we are in a long term period of finding wisdom by understanding transfiguration and enlightenment as verbs rather than nouns. We’ve now officially taken the first step into the coming Aquarian era. While this is not yet “The Age of Aquarius,” this is the final intensification of those energies which will sprout seeds in the second quarter of the century which will take us across the threshold of the Great Age soon after 2050.

Planetary Distribution

In this Full Moon, the span occupied by the inner planets (in this chart the Sun at 17 Capricorn through Venus at 5 Aquarius is 18+ degrees, a fairly narrow span. This will be the primary area stimulated in our charts. At this time Mercury, the Sun, and Venus are filling in the front end of the outer planet span, preparing us for a series of Bucket Jones pattern Full Moons over the coming months.

Right now all the planets occupy in half the chart. The inner planets span Capricorn and early Aquarius, so the occupied span runs from late Capricorn through Mars in early Gemini. This month the Moon adds the Cancer focus.

Because the occupied span runs exactly 180 degrees, and the empty span runs 180 degrees, we now have a perfect “Bowl” Jones pattern. In this chart we have 3 oppositions made by the Moon to Sun, Mercury, and Pluto. In this “tensional awareness field,” the Moon is very strong, while the Cap planets defer to their ruler Saturn, who is in a very favorable biquintile with the Moon.

At this time we have the 10 traditional planets occupying 7 signs. Currently, the outer planet occupied span begins with Pluto in late Capricorn, then moves through Saturn in Aquarius, Neptune in late Pisces, Jupiter in early Aries and finishes with Uranus in mid-Taurus. At this time, Mars has extended the span into Gemini since August which continues through late March.

So What is a “Bowl” Jones Pattern and how does it work?

This type of spread, with all the planets occupying approximately half of the signs with an empty half opposite the occupied half, creates a “special type of conscious selfhood,” which Dr. Jones says “marks the Bowl type of temperament. He goes on to state “Fundamentally it is an extreme self-containment,” which “holds things, and a Bowl individual is one who always has something to bear.”

He goes on to state that with the Bowl, “the whole dynamic of man, his total power of achievement, arises in his instinctive realization that he is set off against a definite part of the world, that there is a complete segment of experience from which he is excluded in some subtle fashion. The Bowl not only holds something, but also places whatever it holds into relationship with a larger consideration.”

Dr. Jones continues that “the occupied segment of the Bowl horoscope reveals the activity and organization of the self, since planets are significant according to their place by sign and house, and the unoccupied segment becomes a challenge to existence, or the need and emptiness to which the native must direct his attention. The outstanding characteristic of the Bowl temperament is its marked sense of what is self-contained in contrast with what the self cannot hold, and this take an everyday form in an advocacy of some cause, the furtherance of a mission, an introspective concern over the purpose of experience.”

He concludes his explanation of how the pattern works with “The Bowl native always has something to give to his fellows, whether literally or psychologically, whether constructively or vindictively, because his orientation to the world arises from division; that is, frustration and uncertainty. The leading planets, determined in exactly the same way as for the Locomotive pattern, give a point of application, and shows where and how the native seeks to carry out his mission or gain his everyday justification for existence.”

He brings up another important point of analysis, as he states “the leading planet is of secondary importance in the Bowl pattern, unless it is found in a strong opposition or cosmic cross. The fundamental attack on the problems of life by the Bowl individual is indicated more significantly by the tilt or house-position of the Bowl-segment.”

He concludes this section by stating “the Bowl character is definitely more self-expending, or self-seeking, and more practically interested in what things mean and what they are. It continually throws the emphasis from the signs into the houses. It a general way the Bowl tends to ‘scoop up’ things and initiate experience when the position of the leading planet ranges from the fourth cusp, up and over the ascendant, to the Midheaven cusp, and then inclines to “capture” things or consummate various phases of life when the leading planet is placed similarly from the tenth angle down over the descendant to the nadir.”

The Sun at 17 Capricorn is the leading planet on a degree of shedding any inhibitions which hinder the expression of our natural power within a group setup. It is in the Taurus decan, adding a Venusian form of Capricorn Light with Mars adding influence. This entry to the Bowl tells us to mobilize in an organized, mature way, preparing for a new year of effectiveness and taking responsibility for being educated from a well-rounded view. With Moon at 17 Cancer closing, we’ll all be left in a state of instinctive growth as a result of how well we’ve integrated our personalities up to now. This leads with actional and material group performance, and closes with actional and material consolidation.

Is the Grand Irrationality A Factor in this Full Moon?

Because this section is so long, I decided to create an article which explains what it is, how long it’s been in effect, and which zones of the zodiac have been most impacted and when. You can find all you need to know about this configuration associated with widespread irrationality and hard-edged “forks in the road of destiny” we’ve all confronted at various times by going to The Grand Irrationality. As we’re at the very end of the long wave configuration, I’ll update the main article to sum up all that has happened to our world these past 29 years.

Any transit making multiple 7th harmonic aspects put this “7-pointed Star of Destiny” evolutionary configuration into play, bringing choices and changes affecting our future. The generic configuration is why things seem so crazy and hard-edged at this time in history, and why humanity seems to have been at an unending “fork in the road of destiny.” In this chart Uranus is in the heart of its last septile to Neptune, but there is no other planet in a septile series aspect to either of these spiritual heavyweights.

Obviously, this evolutionary configuration is activated throughout the year when a planet moves through any of the hot zones of the configuration. This configuration will next be triggered when planets transit early Aquarius and make septiles to Neptune and biseptiles to Uranus. I’ll speak more about the aspects in part 3 when I cover the special configurations.

Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend

Because Saturn continues to occupy center stage in its home sign of Aquarius, it is the final dispositor of all planets transiting Capricorn and Aquarius from now through March. This chart gives us permission to move forward in multiple realms, with Venus in Aquarius bringing the wisdom of our “spiritual ancestry.” As each planet transits Saturn’s last station at 19 Aquarius, we can expect those lessons to be front and center.

This month Saturn has so many favorable aspects that it’s safe to say we’ll find unique elements of understanding related to dispassion, seeing difficulty from the past as opportunities to embrace a greater wisdom of the heart. The next two weeks will show us how past self-discipline has contributed to our intelligence, and how our past experience can be put to good use. Detachment and friendliness are the keys to keeping the boundaries clear.

Saturn, ruler of our Capricorn and Aquarius sectors and any natal or progressed planets we have in those signs, is not taking through the last part of our Aquarian training to play our part in the larger group work of the future. Though Saturn can feel heavy and bring heavy life lessons, it also in the part of us which can take charge of our lives and destiny by using Saturn’s virtues in the right way and time. Our ability to steer our “ship of personality” into its rightful “role of destiny” has brought us to the threshold of new parts to play on the stage of Life.

We’re still in a long wave period of crystallizing visionary roles to play in the emergent Aquarian era, and the past friction between Saturn and Uranus in 2021-2022 have now given way to coming realizations of a deeper nature. We now know what matters to us and what doesn’t, with a transformation coming to each according to what they’ve learned and done since 2020. Uranus awakened us to new roles to play, while Saturn brought new mutations and an accelerated evolution which are part of us learning to use spiritual power effectively through deliberation rather than instinct.

I explain how Saturn and Uranus work together to awaken us to our Higher Powers to take command of our destiny in my book Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend. Saturn helps us give form and structure to our quest for Self-realization; in Capricorn, it teaches us how to accept and use personal power within a socially responsible context, while in Aquarius it teaches us how to make a greater contribution to our civilization and come together with others in a great effort “ensouled by a great vision.” Coupled with Uranus having awakened us to the fact that the old answers aren’t enough along with the need to accept spiritual power to shape our world, we are collectively “breaking on through to the other side” into an unfolding Higher awareness.

The book was written for both astrologers and non-astrologers. Even those with little or no understanding of astrology will benefit from understanding why you had to make certain choices at crucial times that shaped your life in profound ways.

Each time you read any section of this book you will find new insights about your power to throw off all the attitudes and memories which hold you back from finding and living the life and purpose. If you’ve haven’t already gotten your copy, you can go to the Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend page on Amazon and this should be all you need to order your copy. It’s also available on Amazon and as an ebook on Kindle, so if that’s more to your liking, go for it! If you would, whether you’ve gotten the ebook or the paperback, please write a review on the Amazon site, since the more reviews, the more of a boost they give it.

On A Final Note

See you in the near future with parts two and three on this Full Moon which will offer us opportunities for renewal, different ways to see how we broke free of obsolete inhibitions in the past, as well as in the present, as we reorganize what we need to. This is a mobilizing Full Moon which activates growth in our Cancer and Capricorn life areas. In previous months we “dreamed the dream of the future,” and now that dream begins to organize itself in our lives.

Because Venus is in a very harmonious trine to Mars, it should bring lightness to interactions these next two weeks. After that, it forms a tredecile with Mars, bringing this chart’s Mars tredecile Saturn to the fore. It then becomes the first inner planet to conjunct Saturn this year, beginning a new cycle of forward-looking relationships for us all. Saturn in the emotional/social level of management brings that quality to Venus’ Aquarian lessons beginning 2023. As Venus makes a conjunction with each outer planet, she receives that planetary wisdom but expresses it in her own Venusian ways in the months which follow.

If you want to know more about your Venusian power to shape your relationships into enjoyable interactions and friendships, please consider getting a copy of my newest book The Magic of Venus: Friendships, Soul Mates, and Twin Flames. It is the most comprehensive book on Venus ever written, and explains why we attract who we do and how to create more satisfying relationships in the future. You will understand the foundations of long term healthy relationships and friendships, why Soul Mates come into our lives, and how to dance with your inner Beloved and mirror that to your world.

Since 2019, we’ve all seen greater truths and taken on new roles and responsibilities which led us to new social effectiveness in 2021-22. Where we have late Capricorn and early Aquarius in our chart is the focus of coming years. The compressions in Capricorn led us to forms of personal power and very long wave cycles showing our work for a long time to come. We finished the 2022 Aquarius compression in March, creating cycles of learning how to manage our responsibility to become better educated to fulfill a greater role in the long wave Aquarian energy.

We’ve entered a new chapter in our spiritual journey at a fork in the road of our collective destiny. 2020 was about forging our connection with the World Soul, our Wisdom, and our greater dedication. 2021 began the new era in our lives. We’re all wiser than we used to be, have been given ample opportunities to value our heart connections with our friends, and display the vaster spiritual awareness we share with our Brothers and Sisters.

2022 brought us training and skill, divine mutations, endings and beginnings. 2023 begins with one last look back before a rapid acceleration forward in late January!

I’ll see you soon when we’ll discuss Sabian Symbols, evolutionary configurations, and other important chart factors.

This article explains past, present, and future compressions, where they fall, and who they affect. The Great Compressions of early 2020, 2021, and 2022

This one explains the January 2020 compression and the multiple conjunctions setting themes for decades! The Great Compression of January 2020 – Mercury, Sun, Saturn and Pluto all Conjunct in Capricorn

© Copyright 2022 Robert Wilkinson


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