by Erik Roth, Shamanic Astrologer
The first Full Moon of 2022 comes to us in the sign of Cancer, the archetype of the Mother. It takes place at 3:48 pm PST / 6:48 pm EST on January 17th. In the sky, we can see it between the constellations of the Twins and the Crab at 27˚50’ Cancer (essentially 28˚ Cancer), just outside of the Sacred Hoop of Stars with many easily recognizable constellations and stars. The last one, which took place in December at the Galactic Edge inside the center of the Sacred Hoop.
A Full Moon is our most powerful and experiential transmission of an opposition or more appropriately understood as a polarity. The Moon is reflecting the Sun’s great light upon us and takes into account the Sun’s expression in the sign of Capricorn as well. Oppositions in astrology are not something opposes something else. In most ways, the two signs that “oppose” actually have a lot in common. In the case of Capricorn and Cancer, they share the responsibility and caretaking of building for the long-term in civilization.
A Full Moon in Cancer is about the spaces we create to be safe, nurturing and supportive of our long-term health and sustainability for families and community, so that we can thrive! The Capricorn Sun adds in an additional flavor of utilizing constructive knowledge and grandmother wisdom to our lives. It is also a creative point between constellations, making this a more dynamic an imaginative window of time.
Also, the Full Moon is more than just the one moment where it is in the phase of fullness. Experientially, the Moon looks “full” for about three days. So we can take in it’s silvery light on the evenings of the 16th and 18th as well (though on the 18th, the Moon will be in the sign of Leo). This is a wonderful time for giving and/or donating, being of service to the community and/or family and to focus upon our caring responsibilities. Sustainability is a key element here.
Another layer to the Full Moon to consider is that Pluto, at 26˚29’ Capricorn, will be in conjunction with the Sun and may add a wrinkle straight from the land down under. No, not Australia, but the shamanic under world. 2022 is the last year where Pluto is ONLY in the sign of Capricorn (in 2023, it briefly ingresses into the sign of Aquarius).
The Sun’s position with Pluto in the latter degrees of Capricorn are still relatively sensitive in that they were strongly activated during late Feb-March, 2020 (at that time, the Covid-19 was declared a pandemic and lockdowns took greater hold across the world) when Pluto, Saturn, Mars and Jupiter were in conjunction in that zodiacal area of the sky. It has also been recently activated in December with two Venus-Pluto conjunctions (December 11th and 25th) between 25 and 26 degrees of that sign.
Adding Pluto into the mix for this Full Moon creates a greater transformational quality to this Moon phase. As we care for others and give, perhaps we can experience our own feelings more deeply and surrender to what may be manifesting before our senses as truly meeting ourselves without turning away.
Inquiries we may make could be centered around how we can responsibly and sustainably nurture our long-term future, create safe spaces to integrate our fears , feel our feelings without judgment, know our limits and evolve with them , tap into the human reservoir of compassion to give and illuminate what systems and structures in our lives, families and communities could use that compassion to perhaps form a new foundation to be built upon.